Nemesis Reborn

Development history In 1990, Alton Towers added the Thunder Looper roller coaster; the addition was only temporary due to planning restrictions imposed on its installation. The park began planning for a new roller coaster on unused land adjacent to Thunder Looper. They desired a roller coaster that was big, different, and exciting. But they were constrained by the tree-level height limit imposed on the park. The first roller coaster proposed for the area was a twin tracked racing wooden coaster, designed by John Wardley. These plans were not built as they could not build it in time for the 1992 season. Alton Towers then approached Arrow Dynamics for the new roller coaster. The Utah-based company was working on a prototype of a pipeline roller coaster, similar to TOGO's Ultratwister design. Tussauds directors rode Batman: The Ride prior to its May 1992 opening and wanted to add a similar ride to Alton Towers. The inverted roller coaster, dubbed "Secret Weapon 3", was planned throughout 1992. Wardley and Nick Varney, marketing director of Alton Towers, came up with the theme for "Nemesis" as an alien creature excavated from the ground. It opened as one of the first Bolliger & Mabillard rides to be installed outside the United States, along with Diavlo at Himeji Central Park, Japan, which opened four months later. In August 2004, Nemesis gained the Guinness World Record for the "Most Naked People on a Rollercoaster". The ride set the record at 32 riders – the number of seats on a single Nemesis train. It took the record from Thorpe Park's Nemesis Inferno roller coaster, which set the record at 28 just three months prior. The ride lost the record in 2010 when 40 naked riders boarded Green Scream Rollercoaster at Adventure Island. In 2009, Alton Towers received several complaints from nearby residents regarding increased noise emitted from the ride. New wheels had to be installed on the two trains before the ride returned to normal operation. Retracking In January 2022, Alton Towers proposed retracking a majority of the roller coaster for maintenance reasons, including replacing 89 of the 117 support columns. Nemesis closed for the refurbishment on 6 November 2022, and reopened on 16 March 2024. In April 2023, Alton Towers revealed the new Nemesis track, which is black with red veins painted along the side. During the refurbishment, Alton Towers built an observation platform next to Nemesis: Sub-Terra allowing up to 30 park guests at a time to view the construction taking place. A new promotional video was released on 3 November 2023 alluding to the backstory of the refurbished ride. On 8 January 2024, Alton Towers revealed that the coaster would be renamed Nemesis Reborn, and the opening date of 16 March was revealed on 21 February 2024. == Characteristics ==

Nemesis Reborn stands tall, but due to the modified terrain, features a drop height of . Its track length is , and riders reach a maximum speed of . The four inversions include two corkscrews, a zero-g roll, and a vertical loop. Riders experience approximately 3.5 times the force of gravity on the 1-minute, 20-second ride. Nemesis Reborn operates with two steel and fiberglass trains, each containing eight cars. Each car seats four riders in a single row for a total of 32 riders per train. == Ride experience ==

While the ride was operating as Nemesis, riders entering the station chose between the standard queue or front row, the latter of which added significant queuing time, and has been removed for Nemesis Reborn. Riders are batched into rows of 4. Once the train is ready for dispatch, the floor beneath it is lowered prior to the train departing the station. When it does, the train makes a 45-degree, right-hand turn toward the lift hill. Upon reaching the top of the hill, the train makes a small dip and a 180-degree turn to the left, followed by a small drop into a right-handed corkscrew. The on-ride photo is taken just before the drop into the corkscrew. == Theme ==

Nemesis was originally themed as an excavation site in which a dormant, alien creature has been discovered. The ride and the surrounding area were decorated with post-apocalyptic, scrapyard features. The station building was designed as the alien creature's body. At the entrance to Forbidden Valley was an old roadheader partly encased in alien flesh. The waterfalls beneath the coaster were also initially dyed red to resemble blood. At the original launch of Nemesis, guests could purchase a souvenir audio narration on CD or cassette, narrated by Tom Baker, known as the 'Nemesis Legend'. This described Nemesis as a mysterious alien creature from another dimension, found buried underground during excavation work at Alton Towers. Upon its discovery, steel was used to pin the creature down, becoming the steel that forms the coaster track today. In 1995, a limited run comic book was produced further imagining an extended story based on the ride. The opening of Nemesis Sub-Terra in 2012 introduced the 'Phalanx' as a fictional organisation brought in to control Nemesis, taking its name from an organisation mentioned in the 1995 Nemesis comic. In Nemesis Sub-Terra, the Phalanx find an egg underground belonging to the Nemesis alien, which is being housed in their facility P-A1X. A large nest containing multiple eggs is later revealed to be in a cavern directly beneath the facility. In the lead up to Nemesis Reborn, Alton Towers released several promotional videos beginning on 6 November 2022, when Alton Towers held its annual Fireworks Spectacular event. At the end of the show, a video was played that featured a Phalanx spokesman announcing the closure of Nemesis, confirming the start of an investigation. A promotional video released in April 2023 depicted surveillance footage from what appears to be a Phalanx testing facility, in which workers are examining the new Nemesis track. In November of that year, a further promotional video depicted scientists extracting DNA from a Nemesis egg before they are attacked and lose control, signaling the upcoming return of the Nemesis roller coaster. The redesigned attraction reopened in March 2024, now featuring a re-awakened Nemesis with the Phalanx theme introduced to the area, with the creature creating chaos in the Phalanx research facility. The roadheader was replaced with a black helicopter and helipad. All the structures around the area were also repainted in solid black, with added tentacles. Parts of the station were repainted and revamped, and a screen with a video of an eye was added, with 2 rows of moving claws surrounding it. == Reception and influence ==

Prior to its 2023 refurbishment, Nemesis was positively received by enthusiasts and the attraction industry, and it has consistently ranked among the best steel coasters in Amusement Today's annual Golden Ticket Awards. It is one of only seven roller coasters to appear in the top 50 every year since the award's inception in 1998, ranking tenth in its debut and peaking at seventh in 2003. , more than 50 million guests had ridden the roller coaster since its opening in 1994. {{GTA table Spin-off rides Two additional rides with the Nemesis brand were later added at Merlin theme parks. The first was Nemesis Inferno at Thorpe Park, another inverted coaster from B&M that opened in 2003. In 2012, Alton Towers opened another ride with a related theme, Nemesis Sub-Terra, a drop tower from ABC Rides which closed in 2015 and reopened in 2023 following an eight-year hiatus. == References ==