Anyone that is lucky enough to be familiar with Alton Towers, will have enjoyed many hours riding the array of attractions in X-Sector. X-Sector is one of the key areas of the park and is home to two of the park’s main attractions, Oblivion and The Smiler. The area has gone through many changes over time, each adding to or changing X-Sector’s backstory, until it became what we know today. Within this article, we will detail X-Sector’s interesting history.
1980
Before the section of the park we now know as X-Sector was called such, it existed within the park as Springfield Centre. Springfield Centre was home to the Pirate Ship, the park’s first major thrill ride, Cine 2000, a 180 degree cinema , a collection of model dinosaurs in ‘Dinosaur Land’, and the Springfield Restaurant, an American fast food restaurant. The Alpine Bobsleigh (1979) and miniature golf course (1974) were also part of this land. However, these existed as part of the park before the area of Springfield Centre came to be. The golf course gained more theming once Springfield Centre opened, adding famous landmark miniatures to the holes.
1983
The Vintage car ride opened.
1984
Springfield Centre was renamed Fantasy World. Turbo Star and The Black Hole, a Schwarzkopf Jet Star II coaster, opened. These attractions replaced ‘Dinosaur Land’. The model Dinosaurs were moved to the park’s log flume ride. The miniature golf course also had to be shortened to make way for these attractions. The playground from Festival park was relocated to Fantasy World and renamed the Adventureland Playground.
1986
The Alpine Bobsleigh closed as the track was made of asbestos, which was banned the year prior.
1988
The Black Hole was renamed The Black Hole II after being dismantled and re-profiled. This was done to improve the rides capacity, allowing it to accommodate coupled trains rather than the single car trains it could before. Apart from this, the look and feel of the coaster was unchanged.
1989
Turbo Star was removed and replaced by Graviton. The Graviton created a weightless experience for guests, utilising a typical fairground Rotor ride technology.
1992
The Cine 2000 closed to make way for Astro Dancer. The Graviton was removed and sold to Flamingo Land where it operated until 2018. The attraction is now located at Henry Pantor’s Barry Island Pleasure Park.
1993
The golf course shut and sat unused until construction in 1997. The Vintage Car ride was moved to the Land of Make Believe, which later became Cred Street. The Adventureland Playground was also removed. Astro Dancer, a fast spinning ride, opened.
1996
The Pirate Ship was relocated to the other side of the park and renamed The Blade. It reopened the next year.
1997
All of the attractions apart from The Black Hole were removed and the area became a large construction site. Astro Dancer was moved to Festival Park (currently Dark Forest).
1998
Oblivion, the world’s first B&M dive coaster, opened. Enterprise and Energizer were relocated to the new area, which was now called X-Sector. Enterprise originally opened in 1984 and Energizer originally opened in 1995 but both were first located in Festival Park. A KFC also opened within the new land, along with the Rehydrator, a snack and sweet shop with a bar downstairs.
2001
Energizer was moved to Ug land and was renamed the Boneshaker. It was replaced by Submission, a Double Inverter.
2005
The Black Hole was closed. The ride was sold and is now operating at Furuvik 200 in Sweden. It is now called Rocket and operates outside rather than indoors as it did at Alton Towers. The tent which housed the ride was not yet removed.
2012
The Black Hole tent was removed to allow for the construction of The Smiler to begin. The KFC was also changed to The Fried Chicken co., an own brand chicken fast food location.
2013
The Smiler opened with its 14 inversions, becoming the coaster with the most inversions in the world.
2014
Submission was removed.
2019
The Donut Factory, a quick service window which sells donuts, opened in place of the Rehydrator‘s bar. The Fried Chicken Co. was renamed to Just Chicken.
2020
A Refresh & Refill (Coca-Cola Freestyle location) opened near Just Chicken.
X-Sector has evidently gone through many changes over the years. Some good, such as the additions of Oblivion and The Smiler, some bad, such as the removal of Submission, and others open to great debate, notably The Black Hole. So, now that we‘ve looked at the areas past and present, what do you think the future holds for X-Sector? Or, more importantly, what do you want the future to hold for X-Sector?
We will continue to explore the history of Alton Towers in our future articles.
