Charlie and the Chocolate Factory: The Ride

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory: The Ride was a dark ride located in the Cloud Cuckoo Land area of Alton Towers theme park, Staffordshire, England. It is based upon the famous Roald Dahl book of the same name, and takes its thematic inspiration from the illustrations of Quentin Blake.

History

The building was originally constructed for Around the World in 80 Days, a water dark ride produced by Sparks Creative Services in 1981. This ride took you on a journey through numerous locations including Egypt, Las Vegas and Paris. The ride was scenically redesigned as Toyland Tours in 1994. During the 2005 season Toyland Tours was closed and work began converting it to its present incarnation. The transit system manufacturer Mack Rides were brought in to add a new disembarkation point towards the back of the ride building. This was necessary due to the new ride featuring two simulators as the second half of the attraction.

This attraction was closed to guests at the end of 2015 after the Intellectual Property license from the Roald Dahl Foundation was not renewed. It is currently SBNO (standing but not operating).

Ride experience

The ride is split into two segments, the first being a boat ride along the chocolate river inside Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory. Passengers encounter all the characters from the book (going from Augustus Gloop to Veruca Salt) either as simple animatronics or CGI projections. After disembarking the boats the second segment begins with a short pre-show video (involving Mike Teavee). The video is presented as if the viewers are actually trapped within the TV set. The ride continues inside one of two "Great Glass Elevators" which simulate passengers taking an airborne trip through the rest of the factory. Each elevator is a static room with semi-translucent walls and ceiling on which CGI animations are projected from the outside, and only the floor trembles slightly to give the impression of movement.

Trivia

• At the time of its launch, this ride's introduction coincided with the release of the adaptation of the book in cinemas.
• Part of the original Toyland Tour steamboat theming still exists hidden behind the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory theming.
• It is rumoured that the Roald Dahl Intellectual Property licence for the ride ends at the close of the 2015 season. This does fit with the 10 year anniversary of the ride. However, there has been no confirmation of the licence length.

See also

• Around the World in 80 Days (Alton Towers ride)
• Toyland Tours
• Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, the book that the ride was based upon.

References

1. ↑ "Our Projects". P&P Projects. Retrieved 2 February 2014. 

External links

• Charlie And The Chocolate Factory: The Ride at TowersStreet
• Charlie And The Chocolate Factory: The Ride at TowersTimes
• Charlie and the Chocolate Factory: The Ride at Towers Nerd
• Charlie and the Chocolate Factory: The Ride at Alton Towers Almanac
• Charlie and the Chocolate Factory: The Ride at darkrides.co.uk
• Charlie and the Chocolate Factory: The Ride at ThemeParks-UK

Alton Towers
Roller coasters	Runaway Mine Train (1992) Nemesis (1994) Oblivion (1998) Galactica (2002-2015 as Air) (2016) Spinball Whizzer (2004) Rita (2005) TH13TEEN (2010) The Smiler (2013) Octonauts Rollercoaster Adventure (2015)
Other rides	The Blade as Pirate Ship (1980) Enterprise (1984) Congo River Rapids (1986) Hex – The Legend of the Towers (2000) Duel - The Haunted House Strikes Back! (2003) Charlie and the Chocolate Factory: The Ride (2006) Driving School (2006) Marauder's Mayhem (2008) Battle Galleons (2008) Twirling Toadstool (2009) Nemesis: Sub-Terra (2012) The Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs - 4-D Experience (2012)
Past rides	Doom & Sons (1981–1992) Around The World In Eighty Days (1981–1993) Thunder Looper (1990–1996) The Beast (1988–1997) Nickelodeon: Outta Control (1997–1998) Boneshaker (1995–2003) The Black Hole (1984–2005) Dynamo (1993–2005) Toyland Tours (1994–2005) Corkscrew (1980–2008) Beastie (1983–2010) Submission (2001–2013) The Flume (1981-2015) Ripsaw (1997–2015)
Theme park areas	Towers Street Katanga Canyon Gloomy Wood Forbidden Valley Adventure Land X-Sector Mutiny Bay Cloud Cuckoo Land Dark Forest CBeebies Land The Towers & Gardens
See also	Alton Towers Waterpark Merlin Entertainments John Wardley History of Alton Towers The Grand Knockout Tournament