In 2004, a new family roller coaster opened in Adventure land, located next to the corporate hospitality marquee and manufactured by the German company; Maurer Söhne.
An advertisement for the new attraction located on the fence.
Another advertisement giving away hints to the general public about the theming.
A view of the construction fence, now taking up a large area in adventure land.
Taken from Squirrel Nutty – a significant amount of clearance has taken place.
You can see how close to the hospitality marquee the new coaster will be.
These photographs look over the fence from Squirrel Nutty.
New poster added to construction fence featuring an illustration of the trains and theming.
No view holes in this fence, which is a surprise since Alton are being so open about this coaster.
The same poster as the one found on the construction fence, found at the main entrance gate.
Groundwork starts – preparation for footers begins!
Metal for footer foundations can just be made out.
View from Squirrel Nutty – overview of work-site.
More clearance has taken place, as seen from Squirrel Nutty.
Porter cabins have been erected near the hospitality marquee.
The rest of the trees have been cleared in preparation for groundwork!
Wooden and metal framework has been constructed to form concrete bases for the station.
Here you can see the framework from an alternative angle.
Concrete has already been poured in some places.
Metal framework erected.
Work on the station area commences.
The advertisement sign up close.
Some footers are now in place, whilst more concrete is being set for the station.
More concrete grids are laid.
More foundations for the station.
Preparation for more groundwork continues.
Groundwork at both ends of the site is taking place.
As you can see most of the work is taking place near to the fence at present.
Large foundation holes have started to appear.
Many more footers have popped up.
The station area is starting to take shape, lots more concrete poured.
Here you can see how much concrete has actually been poured for the station area.
The station structure begins to take shape.
Here you can see an overview of the construction so far.
As you can see, most the footers are now in place.
You can start to get an idea of what the layout is really going to look like.
The footers are much closer together than expected.
Groundwork near the station continues – the base is looking fully concreted now.
Groundwork has been leveled off.
These footers are ready for support work to commence.
More footers installed.
The turquoise-green supports and the red track have finally arrived! You can see that the supports are protected from any damage with small pieces of foam wrap.
Track erection has already begun; here you can see the brake run track.
Construction on the lift hill has begun. Coaster track is being erected at the same time as the supports!
The lift hill construction from other angles – you can also see the station track now in place!
Here you can see the electronics for the chain lift.
The station track is in place, with the its groundwork coming along nicely.
Here you can see progression throughout the day on the erection of the lift hill. Construction is coming along very quickly; if this rate continues we estimate the full circuit will be completed in less than two weeks!
Work continues on the station.
Not really much to report in this area.
From Adventure Land you can get an idea of just how big this ‘family coaster’ is going to be!
Not much happening in the station, although the protective wrapping has been removed.
There were no workmen on site today.
The lift hill is now complete; you can now get an even better idea of how high this coaster will stand!
A view of the lift hill from the adventure playground!
In this picture you can see the support wire which is used to keep the structure vertical until construction finishes.
Here you can see the stairway for the lift hill being put into place.
By the end of the day the lift hill stairway was complete.
The station structure begins to take shape.
Track construction has come on dramatically. Here we can see the tight helix section.
The over-banked turn now in place! Nearly as over-banked as the final turn on Millennium Force!
As you can see, most of the track is now in place – the final major section not yet in place is the first drop.
You can see the midcourse section from different angles.
You may notice a few block brakes; these are needed as there are so many cars used on a spinning mouse ride.
From this angle the track certainly doesn’t look like a ‘family coaster’.
A metal duct has been attached to the side of this support of a block brake section, possibly to protect the wiring.
Some uniquely shaped supports are popping up.
Preparation for landscaping around the lift hill has started.
The station is coming along nicely. Landscaping has already started around this area.
Final pieces of track. We anticipate that they will finish the track fairly quickly, as it’s coming close to the icy cold time of year.
You can now see Spinball from quite a distance!
The rest of the cars sit waiting in the car park.
Each one is wrapped and stored on a pallet.
Eight cars are waiting in the car park.
Possibly one of the nine, four-seater Spinball cars, but it’s more likely a test car sent by Maurer.
Notice the evacuation steps from the mid-ride brakes dominating the ride.
Looking in at the completed Spinball Whizzer, high banks and loads of drops!
The first spiralling drop, drops straight into some brakes.
Snow covers the untidy ground.
A view of the whole ride.
A view even further away.
A close up of the helix.
Some close-up pictures showing the finished track layout, without theming.
As you can see, the site is still very much one of construction.
Spinball Whizzer’s footprint seen from the lift hill.
Construction for Spinball Whizzer’s shop has begun.
Block paving for the area have arrived.
The test car in the station.
In this picture its obvious the car has been used lots which suggests it will be used for the purpose of testing only.
Here you can see the queue path and the storage track.
A close-up of the queue line behind the station.
Here we can see the car seats up close.
Here we can see the car wheels up close.
A Spinball car finally on the track.
Testing was in progress today.
The queue paths.
Two spinball cars are now on track.
Here we can see the photo shop foundations.
An overview of the site.
A view from the Immelmann.
Spinball is looking complete from this distance.
Another view showing off the impressive Immelmann.
On a test run, one of the cars valleyed!
Six cars now on the track!
A marquee tent, which looks fairly temporary, has popped up.
Here you can see both cameras which will take a photo of each side of the car.
Pathway bricks still being laid.
A close up of the photo shop.
Another building features in this shot, as well as the photo shop.
Here we can see all the cars in the nearly complete station.
In this photo you can see some theming painted on the floor.
Here we can see the area being landscaped.