Alton Tower Planning 2013 Coaster

Alton Towers has submitted planning documents that are part of their request to build a new coaster in 2013 - a very twisted coaster indeed.

The documents share that the ride will be made by the same manufacturer as Saw at Thorpe Park, which is a Gerstlauer Euro-Fighter.  The ride will be about the same height at the park's Oblivion ride, but uses some excavation to create some below grade sections of the ride.

The ride's layout appears to contain 8 inversions, though it can get a bit confusing to follow the track.  The ride will have an interlocking Batwing and Cobra Roll, creating a unique visual for spectators.  The other inversions appear to be combinations of dive loops and Immelmans.

This profile shot exemplifies how twisted the ride is!  The lifts are a bit of a mystery to me, as it seem there is one traditional lift and one vertical lift at different points in the ride.  I can't be totally sure, though, as the drawings do not full explain the higher sections.

If the ride is approved construction would start in September of this year.  The ride will replace the building that housed the former Black Hole indoor coaster, which closed some years ago.  The site has recently been used for Halloween mazes, so it is ripe for redevelopment.

The coaster also will have theming elements, but no details surfaced in the planning documents.  Somehow in the middle of the twisted track some large structures are set to go up for the track to dive through.

Looks pretty cool, right?