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John Wardley
John Richard Wardley (born 6 June 1950) is a British developer for theme parks, particularly dark rides and roller coasters. He is known for Nemesis at Alton Towers and other major roller coasters in the UK and Europe.
Wardley started his career as an assistant stage manager at Windsor's Theatre Royal, then moved on to the film industry creating special effects, including several of the James Bond movies. He was later hired by the Tussauds Group due to his experience in designing animatronics and rides for amusement parks. His first work for Tussauds was as a consultant for creating the animatronic show "Sixty Glorious Years" at 'Royalty and Empire' in Windsor, Berkshire.
After this he was employed by the Tussauds Group to transform the declining Chessington Zoo in London to become the Chessington World of Adventures theme park. There, Wardley oversaw the production of attractions including The Vampire suspended coaster and the Tiger Rock log flume. Wardley collaborated with attraction developer Keith Sparks to produce the popular Prof. Burp's Bubble Works dark ride at Chessington World of Adventures in 1990 and The Haunted House at Alton Towers in 1992.
Continuing as a development director of the Tussauds Group, John produced roller coasters such as Nemesis, Oblivion and Air (now Galactica) at Alton Towers. He also produced several rides at Thorpe Park after its acquisition by Tussauds in 1998.
One of his other projects at this time was producing the Mystique show at Blackpool Pleasure Beach, with leisure developer Geoffrey Thompson, which ran for nearly 20 years.[citation needed]
Having completed Air in 2002, Wardley left Tussauds due to its acquisition by Charterhouse. However, Merlin Entertainments took over the company in May 2007 and invited Wardley back as a ride design consultant. He has consulted on various rollercoaster projects, such as SAW - The Ride and The Swarm at Thorpe Park, TH13TEEN and The Smiler at Alton Towers, and Raptor at Gardaland.
On 22 January 2013, Wardley announced his retirement.
Despite retirement, he consulted on the design for Flug Der Dämonen at Heide Park in 2014 and the Wicker Man at Alton Towers in 2017, among others. As of 2023, he remains a consultant for Alton Towers Resort.
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John Wardley
John Richard Wardley (born 6 June 1950) is a British developer for theme parks, particularly dark rides and roller coasters. He is known for Nemesis at Alton Towers and other major roller coasters in the UK and Europe.
Wardley started his career as an assistant stage manager at Windsor's Theatre Royal, then moved on to the film industry creating special effects, including several of the James Bond movies. He was later hired by the Tussauds Group due to his experience in designing animatronics and rides for amusement parks. His first work for Tussauds was as a consultant for creating the animatronic show "Sixty Glorious Years" at 'Royalty and Empire' in Windsor, Berkshire.
After this he was employed by the Tussauds Group to transform the declining Chessington Zoo in London to become the Chessington World of Adventures theme park. There, Wardley oversaw the production of attractions including The Vampire suspended coaster and the Tiger Rock log flume. Wardley collaborated with attraction developer Keith Sparks to produce the popular Prof. Burp's Bubble Works dark ride at Chessington World of Adventures in 1990 and The Haunted House at Alton Towers in 1992.
Continuing as a development director of the Tussauds Group, John produced roller coasters such as Nemesis, Oblivion and Air (now Galactica) at Alton Towers. He also produced several rides at Thorpe Park after its acquisition by Tussauds in 1998.
One of his other projects at this time was producing the Mystique show at Blackpool Pleasure Beach, with leisure developer Geoffrey Thompson, which ran for nearly 20 years.[citation needed]
Having completed Air in 2002, Wardley left Tussauds due to its acquisition by Charterhouse. However, Merlin Entertainments took over the company in May 2007 and invited Wardley back as a ride design consultant. He has consulted on various rollercoaster projects, such as SAW - The Ride and The Swarm at Thorpe Park, TH13TEEN and The Smiler at Alton Towers, and Raptor at Gardaland.
On 22 January 2013, Wardley announced his retirement.
Despite retirement, he consulted on the design for Flug Der Dämonen at Heide Park in 2014 and the Wicker Man at Alton Towers in 2017, among others. As of 2023, he remains a consultant for Alton Towers Resort.