Defunctland: The History of Alton Towers' Black Hole

For more pictures of the Black Hole and Alton Towers, check out this website:

Buy Defunctland T-Shirts:

Donate on Patreon:

In Defunctland's first international addition, Kevin explores the history of Alton Towers and its Space Mountain rip-off coaster, the Black Hole.

Follow Defunctland on Social Media:

*Obligatory Michael Eisner reference*

[madi]

"their jets arching like frisky caterpillars" has got to be the best description for a fountain i've ever heard.

[pallasathena]

I love how disney land build a castle on a themed park and Alton towers build a themed park on a castle

[JaceTout]

Slaps roof of an abandoned indoor coaster: This baby can fit so many haunted houses in it.

[leow]

I will never forgive my parents for refusing to take me to Alton Towers when I was a child because it was ‘too far’. IT WAS LESS THAN AN HOUR’S DRIVE.

[charliedCharltube]

This is the first time I've seen a foreigner cover Alton Towers without focusing entirely on the smiler crash. Thanks for getting the words of Northern England's best theme park out there

[MarkMcCluney]

My wife and I visited Alton Towers in the early eighties and the very first ride we strolled up to was The Black Hole. We had no idea what it was. I assumed it might be a 3-D movie so when the attendant grimly warned me that I might lose my glasses I wondered how he thought I'd see the show. Being that it was all in the dark there was no sensation of climbing the helical track. We were still expecting the movie to start when we dropped. We still talk about that ride today...

[linksbro]

"When 'Do you fancy a cuppa' takes on a whole new meaning."
Oh my god that intro so so incredibly British.

[flip]

The newspaper cutouts you see in this video were supplied by me. They were mostly from the local newspaper 'The Sentinel' who often report on news from the towers. Kept a scrapbook on the park through the 80s, maps, tickets, newspaper articles, ride photo tickets, letters, menus etc. Still have it somewhere.

[PanickedTato]

It amazes me how it seems the "turn the abandoned attraction into a building for a Halloween event" thing seems to have no boundaries. It is true of every theme park it seems, no matter its location or ownership.

[thisisnotharvey]

as a uk lad, you probably know alton towers more for it's ads, they were mad

[HaohmaruHL]

"Started 150 years too late"
ooh, that sick burn tho

[jonclauw]

"What's your favorite section of the park, little Billy?"
"Oh gee! My favorite has to be the OH GOD, NOT AGAIN area!"

[Jayfive]

Re: the serious incident on the Smiler mentioned at the end:
"A train carrying 16 riders and travelling approximately 20 mph (32 km/h) collided with an empty, stationary train. Of the eleven riders who required medical treatment, five were seriously injured. Two required partial leg amputations in the weeks following the incident. According to reports, the train carrying passengers was stopped automatically on the lift hill by a safety mechanism that prevents two trains from occupying the same section of track. It correctly detected that the empty train sent previously had stalled. A ride engineer manually overrode the mechanism allowing a ride operator to dispatch the halted train, which led to the collision."

[Larry]

I went on Black Hole's sister ride, Space Station Zero at Thorpe Park as a kid, smacked by head several times against the guard, but they took that outside eventually and renamed it The Flying Fish.

[stuartyoung]

Nemesis, in my opinion, has the best track design of any coaster, and I would include Space Mountain. Amazing theming as well; it's framed as being the skeleton of a prehistoric monster. Alton Towers went from a quaint English stately home to one of the world's best parks in a surprisingly short time. This video doesn't even touch on many of their memorable attractions like Air/Galactica, Hex and 13. Because of local restrictions on how high the rides can be they always come up with creative solutions - e.g. in Oblivion the drop goes underground. And the theming is way beyond aping Disney - can you imagine the House of Mouse theming a whole zone around a dystopian future where guests are 'test subjects'?

[BeMoreBroadway]

14:56 "Don't look down-!"
Oblivion: *kicks down door* I HAVE BEEN SUMMONED.

[xingcat]

"Fireworks, Clowns and Torture Devices" would make an excellent title for an autobiography.

[ewy]

What I love about Alton Towers is the whole kind of story behind it, how each of their record breaking rides is like a 'experiment'/'test' kind of thing.

[tuna]

“American theme parks could never”

How unprovoked😂😭

[lorennash]

There are rooms you can stay in that are “smiler” themed and they are SO creepy