Alton Towers Almanac

Become a pinball wizard on this crazy ride… you'd be flipping mad not to try it!

Why, where, when?

The construction of Sonic Spinball was the most open of any attraction that the park had installed. Because the park was open for Winter Weekends for the first time in the 2003-2004 closed season, it gave enthusiasts the opportunity to check on the coaster's progress almost every single weekend. It was also interesting to see how Spinball compared to Chessington's counterpart, "Dragon Fury", as the two Maurer Söhne spinning coasters were being constructed at the same time.

But what is it like?

As you walk down Towers Street after entering the park, Sonic Spinball can be seen quite easily to the right hand side of the grass in front of the lake. Once you enter the ride area, you notice the large amount of pinball style theming, and the variety of songs blasted through the sound system.

The queue line takes you all around the ride, most of the time underneath parts of the track itself. Once you get to the station, you are seated in a car that has 2 riders back-to-back with another 2 guests. The car moves out of the station and immediately you realise that this is not the kiddies ride it pretends to be! The ride starts spinning at an alarming rate, as the car traverses a short piece of track before the lift hill. You move up the lift quite quickly, speedier than most other attractions on the park.

The ride itself is a mad few minutes of big drops, an over-banked turn, some helices and a few tight twists. The cars spin independently from the track, so you'll find that every ride is different. Most riders get off the ride with a smile on their face; this ride does not pretend to be as frightening as Nemesis but it isn't tame by any stretch either.

To get the cars to spin up to the maximum 90 times during the ride, you'll need 4 people of different weights in a car. This makes it ideal for parents and two children.