View source for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory: The Ride

{{Short description|Removed dark boat ride}}{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2015}}
{{Use British English|date=January 2015}}
{{Infobox attraction
| name                = Charlie and the Chocolate Factory: The Ride
| logo                = <!--Use ONLY the filename, not a full [[File:]] link-->
| logo_width          = <!--Default is 250px-->
| image               = Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Ride, Alton Towers, UK.jpg
| imagedimensions     = 250px
| caption             = The entrance to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory: The Ride.
| location            = Alton Towers
| section             = Cloud Cuckoo Land
| coordinates         = 
| status              = Removed 
| cost                = £8 million
| soft_opened         = 
| opened              = 1 April 2006
| closed              = 8 November 2015
| previousattraction  = [[Toyland Tours]]
| replacement         = The Alton Towers Dungeon
| type                = [[Dark ride|Dark]] [[Water ride|boat ride]], [[Elevator]]
| designer            = Tussauds Studios
| model               = 
| theme               = ''[[Charlie and the Chocolate Factory]]''
| height_ft           = <!--Must be expressed in feet and may contain only numeric characters.-->
| height_m            = <!--Must be expressed in metres and may contain only numeric characters.-->
| drop_ft             = <!--Must be expressed in feet and may contain only numeric characters.-->
| drop_m              = <!--Must be expressed in metres and may contain only numeric characters.-->
| length_ft           = <!--Must be expressed in feet and may contain only numeric characters.-->
| length_m            = <!--Must be expressed in metres and may contain only numeric characters.-->
| speed_mph           = <!--Must be expressed in miles per hour and may contain only numeric characters.-->
| speed_km/h          = <!--Must be expressed in kilometres per hour and may contain only numeric characters.-->
| gforce              = 
| capacity            = 1000
<!--Use only one of vehicles, rows, participants, or audience-->
| vehicle_type        = Boat, Elevator
| riders_per_vehicle  = 9
| rows                = 
| riders_per_row      = 
| duration            = 11 minutes
| restriction_ft      = <!--Must be expressed in feet and may contain only numeric characters.-->
| restriction_in      = <!--Must be expressed in inches and may contain only numeric characters.-->
| restriction_cm      = <!--Must be expressed in centimetres and may contain only numeric characters.-->
| virtual_queue_name  = 
| virtual_queue_image = <!--Use ONLY the filename, not a full [[File:]] link-->
| virtual_queue_status= <!--should be available if above fields are used-->
| single_rider        = <!--Must be "available" if available.-->
| accessible          = 
| transfer_accessible = 
| assistive_listening = 
| custom_label_1      = Construction
| custom_value_1      = JJ Cavanagh Construction (started mid-2005)
| custom_label_2      = Projection
| custom_value_2      = Electrosonic<br/>[[Bose Corporation|Bose]]
| custom_label_3      = Elevator show
| custom_value_3      = [[Falcon's Treehouse]]<br/>nWave Digital
| custom_label_4      = 
| custom_value_4      = 
| manufacturers       = [[Mack Rides]]<br/>Rexroth Bosch Group
| vehicles            = 10 boats, 2 elevators
| custom_label_5      = 
| custom_value_5      = 
| custom_label_6      = 
| custom_value_6      = 
| custom_label_7      = 
| custom_value_7      = 
| custom_label_8      = 
| custom_value_8      = 
}}

'''Charlie and the Chocolate Factory: The Ride''' was a [[dark ride]] located in the Cloud Cuckoo Land area of [[Alton Towers]] theme park, [[Staffordshire]], [[England]]. It was based upon the famous 1964 [[Roald Dahl]] [[Charlie and the Chocolate Factory|book of the same name]], and took its thematic inspiration from the illustrations of [[Quentin Blake]]. The ride closed at the end of the 2015 season and was replaced by the Alton Towers Dungeon in 2019.

==History==
The building originally housed ''[[Around the World in 80 Days (Alton Towers ride)|Around the World in 80 Days]]'' and later ''[[Toyland Tours]]'', though the original layout was shortened when redeveloped into Charlie And The Chocolate Factory. Mack Rides, who had engineered the original ride hardware in 1981, returned to add a new offload point towards the end of the ride, allowing guests to move into the new simulator ending.

Following an unfortunate incident on [[The Smiler]], Alton Towers made the decision to permanently close Charlie And The Chocolate Factory: The Ride, with the ride being one of the six attractions that would not return for the 2016 season as a result of cutting costs.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Armstrong |first=Jeremy |date=2015-11-24 |title=Alton Towers to close six rides next year after Smiler rollercoaster crash |url=https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/alton-towers-close-six-rides-10497222 |access-date=2025-05-17 |website=Birmingham Live |language=en}}</ref> The ride stood standing but not operating for 3 years before the building and associated boat ride were re-themed into The Alton Towers Dungeon, which opened in 2019.<ref name=atauc>{{Cite web |title=Golden opportunity for Wonka fans! |url=https://www.altontowers.com/about-alton-towers/blog/golden-opportunity-for-wonka-fans/ |date=2019-02-13 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200930034843/https://www.altontowers.com/about-alton-towers/blog/golden-opportunity-for-wonka-fans/ |archive-date=2020-09-30 |access-date=2024-10-22 |website=Alton Towers Resort}}</ref>

Various theming object from the ride were put on sale at auction on 13 February 2019 to raise money for Merlin's Magic Wand.<ref name=atauc/>

==Ride==
The ride was split into two segments, the first being a [[Water ride|boat ride]] along the chocolate river inside [[Willy Wonka]]'s Chocolate Factory. Passengers encountered all the characters from the book (going from Augustus Gloop to [[Veruca Salt (character)|Veruca Salt]]) as either simple [[animatronics]] or [[CGI animation|CGI]] projections. After disembarking the boats the second segment began with a short pre-show video (involving [[Mike Teavee]]). The video was presented in a way that made it look like as if the viewers were actually trapped within the TV set. The ride continued inside one of the two "[[Great Glass Elevator]]s" which simulated passengers taking an airborne trip through the rest of the factory. Each elevator was a static room with semi-translucent walls and ceiling on which CGI animations were projected from the outside, and only the floor slightly trembled to give the impression of movement.

== References ==
<references />

==External links==
*[http://www.towersstreet.com/theme-park/ride/charlie-and-the-chocolate-factory-the-ride/ Charlie And The Chocolate Factory: The Ride at TowersStreet] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120923213043/http://www.towersstreet.com/theme-park/ride/charlie-and-the-chocolate-factory-the-ride/ |date=23 September 2012 }}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20110101085237/http://old.towerstimes.co.uk/attractions/cuckoo/catcf.htm Charlie And The Chocolate Factory: The Ride at TowersTimes]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20061217144419/http://www.towersnerd.com/tour/credstreet/catcf/ Charlie and the Chocolate Factory: The Ride at Towers Nerd]
*[http://www.towersalmanac.com/areas/rides.php?id=85 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory: The Ride at Alton Towers Almanac]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20080509064809/http://www.lewstube.fsnet.co.uk/dark/new/parks/rides/charlie.html Charlie and the Chocolate Factory: The Ride at darkrides.co.uk]
*[http://www.themeparks-uk.com/alton-towers-guide/rides/charlie-and-the-chocolate-factory.html Charlie and the Chocolate Factory: The Ride at ThemeParks-UK]

{{Alton Towers}}
{{British dark rides}}
{{Charlie and the Chocolate Factory}}
[[Category:Works based on Charlie and the Chocolate Factory|Ride]]
[[Category:Dark rides]]
[[Category:Amusement rides introduced in 2006]]
[[Category:Amusement rides that closed in 2015]]
[[Category:2006 establishments in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:2015 disestablishments in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Water rides manufactured by Mack Rides]]
[[Category:Water rides]]
[[Category:Alton Towers]]