I hope that if they decide to remove Spinball, that they also get ride of the hideous Hospitality Suite as well... I mean, they might as well. I'm sort of prepared for Spinball to go, but I do think there is life left in it, as it is one the most popular rides in the park. At the stage of its life it is in, a retheme is just out of the question, especially as the theming would have to be very little and therefore a waste of money, as it wouldn't actually have any effect on the ride.

See I think its so popular because of where it is in the park. I personally don't think its a bad ride but its not good. I more dislike how it sticks out as you enter the park. I wouldnt mind then either moving it or getting rid of it completely.

I really don’t think the best thing to do would be to remove another ride. AT is already poor value for money as it is.

It is likely that Spinball will be removed for a Cbeebies expansion, however, this rumour has been circulating for a few years now. Just this year, it has been rumoured that it will be relocated to Thorpe Park on the Slammer / Old Town site.

In reality, it is a popular family ride for Alton which always has a queue! Any relocation or removal wouldn't be done lightly or without good reason.

Justin wrote:

It is likely that Spinball will be removed for a Cbeebies expansion, however, this rumour has been circulating for a few years now. Just this year, it has been rumoured that it will be relocated to Thorpe Park on the Slammer / Old Town site.

In reality, it is a popular family ride for Alton which always has a queue! Any relocation or removal wouldn't be done lightly or without good reason.

Agreed, I'm just not a fan of the ride and in particular where its placed in the park and I think it looks like a temporary ride.

Would Spinball even fit in the Slammer site? I personally would rather see a new flat in Slammers spot. I also would be rather surprised if they decided to remove it, considering its often got a big queue and is one of the rides kids get excited for. 

I think they should calm down on Cbeebies for a bit, let the rest of the park sort itself out.

The ride is a heap of turd operationally, it's throughput is small and it's a maintenance nightmare. It also annoys the locals with noise, is obnoxious in theme and placement and infringes upon a 'protected view' of the towers. 

Every major planning app that references that area has stated the ride will be removed in the short term and the area rezoned to allow for attractions of a lower overall height (5m) so it really isn't expected to last much longer. 

I wouldn't be overly shocked if it vanished this closed season or next. As for what replaces it, I think a CBeebies dark ride is a sensible and needed expansion for that area, it doesn't need to be overly complicated or expensive but nicely done and with a fairly high capacity to keep the queues at bay. 

I'd like to see Spinball removed and replaced with a Cbeebies Land expansion, And with that sized land they could fit a Cbeebies dark ride and/or a Cbeebies water ride or even another show venue. 

Cbeebies Land is a very nice area of Alton Towers and I could see a big expansion either 2019 or 2020 as it feels nice but in terms of rides, It could do with a couple more(Not to say there isn't a lot to do). Obviously with a dark ride, they would have to have it lit up well to prevent children from getting upset of the dark and if a water ride was to be built it shouldn't get children too wet as they may also get upset. But Towers prroved to us they can build a woodie, so anything is possible! 

I'd really like to see a Cbeebies Land dark ride. That would be cool... but there is room behind the Octonauts Rollerocaster for a ride like that and would also avoid having a large showbuilding inside of the park.

I'd rather see it turned into it's own mini area. Maybe only consisting of a flatride or two since space is tight. It would replace the hospitality suite, spinball and the space between Octonauts and spinball. 

Something else which is kind of on topic, but after it's removal I think we'll need to see another moderate ride to fill the age gap between Cbeebies land and the thrill rides. I'd argue that one of the reasons for SW8 being a mostly family ride was to allow for Spinball to be removed without creating a major lack of any rides for this age group. 

TBH moving it to Thorpe seems the logical thing, but we need a good sized family ride to replace it, the ride may be pants, but it is very popular.

Dragons furry is already at Chessington, so moving it to Thorpe doesn't seem logical at all. One of the Lego parks maybe?

jackf1tz wrote:

Dragons furry is already at Chessington, so moving it to Thorpe doesn't seem logical at all. One of the Lego parks maybe?

Good idea! Legoland need some better rides for older children.

I personally always really enjoy a ride on the spinball, I agree it gets so busy maybe because of its location and the fact it can be seen both entering and leaving the park so people always run to it, however I don’t think it should go.

I always liked the concepts of the flat rides for dark forest when thirteen was announced however these never came to fruition. I would like to see it kept but maybe changed again in theming and moved elsewhere in the park.

I agree that this could be used for a future expansion of cebeebies and seeing as we now have the hotel this is going nowhere soon so this would be a very possible future development.

I would be sad it if went though as I always find it a highly amusing ride for some reason!

I still love Spinball- it should only go if it has to and it gets rebuilt somewhere else in England!, would be nice to see it themed closer to the original plans but as we know 'on budget on time' often = 'ditch some of the theming' Ideally Alton keep it, after all replacing a ride is a bit of a two steps forward one step back as you're not growing the park just changing it, they have space to not have to ditch it so don't have the 'Blackpool factor' where rides sometimes have to be cleared for space issues.

I mean, if Towers were desperate to expand CBeebies without using up any more back stage areas, then Spinball is really the only option. Considering the council also are keen for the rides removal, I do think it to be likely to go at some point in the near future.

It is a fun little ride and very popular so if it did go, I'd hope that a new ride for family's would open in a different location at the resort.

I think the ride has had a good run. I have been on it multiple times and it was enjoyable. The idea was simple but executed well. The Sonic theming was great and I enjoyed the concept. However, AT is lacking in family rollercoasters and I think they should have a new rollercoaster for families there. Obviously as many people have said a retheme is out of the question!

I wish Spinball was re-themed into a dark coaster and was modified to run multiple trains to improve capacity

Mikw wrote:

No. no, no, it should stay! It's a good fun ride - and we need more rides and not less

Correct, as I am sad to see no more Sonic. Spinball Whizzer has fresh theming and is a solid family ride. I remember when I was small, but wanted to go on the big rides, the only things I could go on were Thirteen and Spinball, maybe a couple of others. Spinball appeals, to those sort of children and should not go. If anything, Alton need a new family ride that is light hearted, not like Wicker Man. That would appeal to more children in that age gap. The last thing I see Alton doing is removing the family coasters, as I think they keep the magic in the park.