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Toyland Tours

Alton Towers

Take a magical boat journey through a wonderous factory filled with colourful toys...

Theme ParkAlton Towers
Park AreaCred Street
TypeDark Boat Ride
AudienceFamilies
Opened19 March 1994
ClosedJune 2005 (replaced by Charlie and the Chocolate Factory)
ManufacturerMack Rides
ModelFree Flow Boat Ride
DesignerTussauds Studios
Cost£2 million
Duration5 minutes
Floating through the toy factory

Floating through the toy factory

Toyland Tours was an indoor boat ride which took visitors on an adventure through a toy factory packed with rooms full of colourful sights and animated characters, all set to a jolly soundtrack.

The factory was full of puns and visual gags such as the Elecopter (an elephant with a propeller attached to its back) and Snailextrics (a rather slow racing circuit). Castles bounced up and down on trampolines – they of course were bouncy castles.

As the star of 90s video games, even Sonic the Hedgehog made an appearance in the Sega Room. The ride’s finale took place in the Party Room with dancing hippos, toy soldiers playing their trumpets, a mermaid on a giant green jelly and a house band of teddy bears.

Prior to its retheme into Toyland Tours by Tussauds Group after they bought Alton Towers, the ride was originally known as Around the World in Eighty Days. It opened in 1981 as the first dark ride at the park, and was themed around a story based on the Jules Verne novel of the same name. Boats floated past scenes representing various countries including Egypt, Italy, Holland and the USA.

The Toyland incarnation of the ride closed in 2005. Over the winter the path of the water channel was shortened and the ride reopened as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory for the 2006 season.

TPJ Rating: starstarstarstar
Thrills: starstar
Theming: starstarstarstar
Experience: starstarstarstar

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