‘So good I went on four times’
Alton Towers’ white-knuckle Nemesis ride has been refurbished – Joel Moore jumps on board
“SEEK the truth” echoed across the misty conference hall. An opening speech for Nemesis Reborn, the refurbished Alton Towers classic roller coaster, was interrupted by a lone “protester” who was swiftly muscled out by expressionless security guards.
The animated activist was soon joined by his pals, who had snaked between prosecco-topped high tables prompting bemusement and amusement from their occupants.
They were calling for organisers to release the Nemesis, a monster cruelly, and apparently unsafely, caged underneath the ride.
As astute readers may have realised, the whole thing was of course an act (something I embarrassingly didn’t fully realise until the second protester appeared).
When I first received the invite to this first-look event, I thought the language seemed a bit over the top.
“Be prepared to face a fearsome creature,” one of the lines read. But after the conference dramatics – and subsequent array of actors on the walk up to the ride – I was sold.
As well as a complete relaying of its 250-tonne, 716-metre (2,349ft)-long track, the resort has invested in upgrading the Nemesis furniture. Additions include a new look monster, tentacle-wrapped bus and a helicopter wreckage.
More actors surrounded the ride, including shifty looking guards, scientists dressed in blood red hazmat suits, news reporters and more protesters.
Anyway, to the rollercoaster itself. When it first opened in 1994, Nemesis was one of the world’s first inverted roller coasters, boasting top speeds of 50mph. The ride, from what I can remember, follows the same path, only seemingly more frantically (in a good way).
With legs helplessly dangling, riders are given a brief moment for contemplation as they are lifted towards the summit. But this doesn’t last long, as a dizzying 40 seconds follow.
A loop-the-loop is followed by a sharp turn, another drop and then a cork-screw, all while at a breakneck speed. Nemesis was my first roller coaster as a child, and this experience took me straight back.
Boosted with adrenaline – and a lack of a need to queue – I went on again, and again, and again. If it hadn’t been for the need to eat I could’ve easily gone on another four times without tiring of it.
And it was a good job I made the most of it. On Saturday, the day of its full opening, people faced waits of up to three hours.
Equally eccentric queues had formed outside its themed shop, with riders keen to mark their first ride of the rebranded coaster with a physical nik-nack.