Alton Towers to remove classic Corkscrew

So from the article it sounds like they have a 'family' oriented replacement in mind. Any ideas?

Apparently the BBC didn't do much research, as an identical model was installed at Holiday Park the year before. Schwarzkopf also had a Doppel Looping by 1979, so at least two other "double looped" coasters opened in Europe before this one.

^Methinks to some degree the Brits consider themselves more separate than equal when it comes to "the continent". ;)

I'm just really confused as to how the press release on RCDB calls this "Britain's most iconic coaster". Nemesis, anyone? Oblivion, anybody? I can name at least 5 more I would consider more iconic than corkscrew.

TwinsGP said:
I'm just really confused as to how the press release on RCDB calls this "Britain's most iconic coaster". Nemesis, anyone? Oblivion, anybody? I can name at least 5 more I would consider more iconic than corkscrew.

I disagree! When the Corkscrew opened in 1980 it really was the first time any coaster like it had opened in this country. We had the woodies at the seaside parks, small steel coasters, but the only coaster on our shores to take you upside down at this time was Blackpools revolution (please correct me if I am wrong!). The corkscrew was Britains first taste of the fabled steel coasters like the ones in America. For its time, it represented the biggest rollercoaster challenge in Britain.

The Corkscrew was such an identifiable ride, everybody knew about it. It kickstarted not only the theme park industry in this country, but also the ongoing coaster arms race between UK parks. Without it there would be no Nemesis, Oblivion etc as it was exactly the huge push Alton Towers needed to establish itself as a theme park.

On a personal level, it was the ride that gave me the jump between kiddie rides and adult rollercoasters (I first rode in 1984 as a teenager!), and even when I grew too tall for it to be comfortable, it still has provided a fun ride. Of course now, even within AT it is pushed down the rank order, and putting RITA right next to it shows how coaster technology has evolved. Corkscrew looks now like an aging lumbering dinosaur, ironic given the areas prehistoric theme.

I won't be sorry to see it go now as it has served it's time, but Corkscrew desreves its place in UK rollercoaster history. Lets hope the replacement is something worthy.