Alton Towers' mysterious indoor coaster project has been rumbling away in the background for years. But the original plans may now be firmly consigned to the theme park history books, according to a leading theme park podcaster.
Project Horizon is one of those Alton Towers projects that seems to generate more questions every time we think we've got somewhere.
The giant building is there, planning permission is in place, paperwork continues to appear and the rumour mill refuses to shut up.
But what was actually planned — and what, according to new information, is no longer going ahead?
THE PROJECT WE KNOW ABOUT
Project Horizon is Alton Towers' planned £12.5 million indoor attraction on the former Coaster Corner site, behind The Alton Towers Dungeon.
Planning permission was granted in 2023 for a huge show building measuring approximately 71m by 46m and 19.4m high.
The resort has never officially revealed exactly what will be going inside, while environmental requirements and planning conditions have contributed to delays.
Then came one of the most interesting pieces of information we've seen about what could originally have been inside.
THE ORIGINAL HORIZON CONCEPT
Bex from Parkcast shared slides which she said had been sent to her by an 'anonymous source'. The material reportedly showed an indoor multi-launch straddle coaster, complete with state-of-the-art visual effects.
The concept was themed around a black hole, with the story centred around an ancient artefact called the Talon, supposedly discovered beneath Alton Towers. The Talon contained the secrets of the universe — including a black hole.
The attraction appeared to have been conceived as something of a spiritual successor to The Black Hole, Alton Towers' legendary indoor coaster which operated from 1984 until 2005.
Even the name Project Horizon suddenly seemed rather clever. An event horizon is the boundary around a black hole beyond which nothing can escape, making it a pretty fitting name for a coaster which would seemingly send riders into one.
It all sounded wonderfully bonkers — which, let's be honest, is exactly why thoosies got interested.
BUT THERE WAS A CATCH...
According to Bex and her source, the proposed attraction would have had a 1.2m minimum height requirement and used a straddle coaster design, similar to TRON Lightcycle / Run at Disney's Magic Kingdom.
While the lower height restriction would have opened the ride up to a much wider audience, the boarding process could have created a serious capacity challenge.
Because riders have to climb onto the vehicle, straddle their legs over the frame, pull the handlebars towards them, and secure a unique back-and-leg restraint from behind, boarding a straddle coaster takes significantly longer than boarding a standard coaster car.
If the park doesn't design the queue and station to guide riders into position quickly and efficiently, the line can quickly grind to a complete standstill.
For a major indoor attraction, that could be a problem. Alton Towers would need Horizon to move a serious number of guests through the building, so getting people on and off the trains efficiently would be crucial.
Whether capacity was actually a deciding factor in the project's development, we may never know.
SO, IS THE BLACK HOLE PROJECT STILL HAPPENING?
According to new information shared by Bex from Parkcast, no.
Bex says her source has told her that the ideas contained within the original Project Horizon concept have now been shelved, and she has said that she trusts the source.
To be absolutely clear, however, this has not been officially confirmed by Alton Towers.
If accurate, it would mean that the Project Horizon we've been discussing for years is no longer the attraction Alton Towers intends to build.
THE BLACK HOLE THEME MAY ALSO BE GONE
Perhaps the biggest revelation is that the proposed coaster wasn't simply a ride concept. The plans reportedly formed part of a much wider re-theme of the Black Forest area, creating an entirely new experience around the attraction.
That would have made Horizon considerably more ambitious than simply putting a coaster inside a big building.
According to Bex's source, that entire concept has now been shelved, including the black-hole storyline, the Talon, the multi-launch straddle coaster, the state-of-the-art visual effects and the wider Black Forest re-theme.
SO WHAT IS PROJECT HORIZON NOW?
If Bex's information is correct, we know quite a lot about what was planned, but very little about what might eventually take its place.
The original idea certainly sounded like peak Alton Towers: an indoor multi-launch coaster, a trip into a black hole, huge visual effects and a spiritual nod to one of the resort's most iconic rides.
But if that concept really has been shelved, the giant building behind the Dungeon is once again a mystery.
Maybe Alton Towers has gone back to the drawing board. Maybe Horizon has evolved into something completely different. Or maybe there's another plan sitting in a very secret folder somewhere in Staffordshire.
For now, we'll have to wait and see.
After years of speculation, Project Horizon has somehow managed to become even more mysterious.
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