John Wardley

John Wardley
John Wardley
Born	John Richard Wardley; 6 June 1950 (age 74); Harrow, Greater London, England
Nationality	British citizen
Occupation	Attraction designer
Known for	Chessington World of Adventures, Prof. Burp's Bubble Works, The Vampire, The Haunted House, Nemesis, Oblivion, Air

John Richard Wardley (born 6 June 1950 in Harrow, Greater London) is a British developer for theme parks in the UK and Europe: an innovator of special effects, dark rides and roller coasters in the themed attraction industry.

Career

Wardley started his career as a stage manager at Windsor's Theatre Royal, then moved on to the film industry creating special effects. This included effect designs for five of the James Bond movies. He was later hired by the Tussauds Group due to his experience in designing animated figures and rides for amusement parks. His first project was the creation of the animated show "60 Glorious Years" for Tussauds' Royalty and Empire'ñ exhibition at Windsor. This led him to meet Elizabeth II.

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, constructed by Arrow Dynamics and Dragon River (now Tiger Rock) log flume. In 1990, Wardley collaborated with influential attraction designer Keith Sparks to produce the popular Prof. Burp's Bubble Works dark ride at Chessington World of Adventures, which ran for 15 years. Following this, he worked again with Sparks to produce a second large dark ride, The Haunted House at Alton Towers, in 1992.

Working for the Tussauds Group, John went on to produce famous attractions such as Nemesis, Oblivion and Air roller coasters. He also produced several of the developments at Thorpe Park from its acquisition by Tussauds in 1998.

One of his other accomplishments was that he, along with the late businessman Geoffrey Thompson, created a magic show called Mystique at Blackpool Pleasure Beach. The show ran successfully for nearly 20 years.^{[citation needed]}

Wardley also worked with Chris Sawyer and Frontier Developments for RollerCoaster Tycoon 3, a game about amusement park management. His name is also a secret cheat code in the game - when visitor's title is named after him all height restrictions are removed, alluding to the severe height restrictions that his most well-known work at Alton Towers was required to comply with.^{[citation needed]}

From 2000 to 2007, when the Tussauds Group was owned by Charterhouse and DIC, Wardley went into semi-retirement. However, in May 2007 Merlin Entertainments took over the company and he was asked to become actively involved in the group's theme park developments. He was employed as a technical design consultant for rollercoaster projects, such as SAW - The Ride at Thorpe Park, TH13TEEN at Alton Towers, Raptor at Gardaland, The Swarm at Thorpe Park and The Smiler at Alton Towers.

On 22 January 2013, Wardley announced his retirement.^[1] In April 2013 he published an autobiography entitled Creating My Own Nemesis, in print and as an audiobook.

Video games

RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 - consultation
NoLimits Coaster 2 - technical adviser

Publishing history

Creating My Own Nemesis - print edition (April 2013) - author
Creating My Own Nemesis - audiobook (December 2017) - author & narrator

Attractions designed by John Wardley

Significant rides designed by John Wardley
Yr	Ride name	Role	Description
c.1977	Uncle Frankenstein's Scream Machine (Barry Island)	Design & build	Dark ride
c.1978	Wacky Gold Mine (Barry Island)	Design & build	Dark ride
1984	Royalty & Empire	Animatronic production	Exhibition
1987	Dragon River	Ride design	Log flume
1987	Runaway Train	Ride design	Roller coaster
1987	The 5th Dimension	Ride layout	Dark Ride
1990	Prof. Burp's Bubble Works	Production	Water dark ride
1990	The Vampire	Ride design	Roller coaster
1992	Runaway Mine Train	Ride design	Roller coaster
1992	The Haunted House	Production	Dark ride
1993	The Spirit of London	Consultancy	Dark ride
1994	Nemesis	Ride design	Roller coaster
1994	Toyland Tours	Design consultancy	Water dark ride
1995	Dragon Khan	Ride design	Roller coaster
1996	Megafobia	Ride design	Roller coaster
1998	Oblivion	Ride design	Roller coaster
2000	Hex – The Legend of the Towers	Design consultancy	Dark ride
2002	Galactica	Ride design	Roller coaster
2002	Colossus	Ride design	Roller coaster
2009	Saw - The Ride	Consultancy	Roller coaster
2010	Th13teen	Consultancy	Roller coaster
2011	Raptor	Consultancy	Roller coaster
2012	The Swarm	Consultancy	Roller coaster
2013	The Smiler	Consultancy	Roller coaster
2014	Flug der Dämonen	Consultancy	Roller Coaster
2018	Wicker Man	Consultancy	Roller coaster

References

^ Interview with John Wardley ahead of his retirement

External links

[1] Interview with John Wardley ahead of his retirement

[1]

v t e John Wardley
Developed rides	Dragon Falls (1987) Runaway Train (1987) The 5th Dimension (1987) Vampire (1990) Prof. Burp's Bubble Works (1990) Runaway Mine Train (1992) The Haunted House (1992) Nemesis (1994) Megafobia (1996) Stampida (1997) Oblivion (1998) Hex – The Legend of the Towers (2000) Air (2002)
Related	Chessington World of Adventures Alton Towers Thorpe Park Gardaland Heide Park Merlin Entertainments PortAventura Park Oakwood Theme Park
Category:Rides designed by John Wardley

v t e Chessington World of Adventures
Roller Coasters	Vampire (1990) Rattlesnake (1998) Dragon's Fury (2004) Mandrill Mayhem (2023)
Other rides	Tiny Truckers (1993) Seastorm (1995) Tomb Blaster (2002) KOBRA (2010) Flying Jumbos (2013) Zufari: Ride into Africa! (2013) The Gruffalo River Ride Adventure (2017) Tiger Rock (2018) Blue Barnacle (2021) Croc Drop (2021)
Past rides	Safari Skyway (1986–2015) Runaway Train (1987–2012) The 5th Dimension (1987–1993) Black Buccaneer (1988–2018) Bubbleworks (1990–2016) Terror Tomb (1994–2001) Rameses Revenge (1995–2019) Samurai (1999–2003) Beanoland (2000–2009) Hocus Pocus Hall (2003–2018) Peeking Heights (2005–2017) Madagascar Live! Prepare to Party (2012–2014) Scorpion Express (2014-2022)
See Also	Chessington Zoo Merlin Entertainments John Wardley (designer) List of amusement parks in the United Kingdom
Category Commons chessington.com

v t e Alton Towers Resort
Alton, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, ST10 4DB
Rollercoasters	Runaway Mine Train (1992–) Nemesis Reborn (1994–) Oblivion (1998–) Galactica (2002–2015 as Air) (2016–) Spinball Whizzer (2004–) Rita (2005–) TH13TEEN (2010–) The Smiler (2013–) Octonauts Rollercoaster Adventure (2015–) Wicker Man (2018–)
Other rides	The Blade as Pirate Ship (1980–) Congo River Rapids (1986–) Hex – The Legend of the Towers (2000–) Cuckoo Cars Driving School (2006–) Battle Galleons (2008–) Marauder's Mayhem (2008–) Nemesis: Sub-Terra (2012–2015, 2023–) Curse at Alton Manor (2023–)
Former rides	Corkscrew (1980–2008) Doom & Sons (1981–1991) Around The World In 80 Days (1981–1993) The Flume (1981–2015) Beastie (1983–2010) Black Hole (1983–2005) Twirling Toadstool (1984–2016) Enterprise (1984–2022) Beast (1988–1997) Thunder Looper (1990–1996) The Haunted House (1992–2002) Dynamo (1993–2005) Toyland Tours (1994–2005) Boneshaker (1995–2003) Nickelodeon: Outta Control (1997–1998) Ripsaw (1997–2015) Submission (2001–2013) Charlie and the Chocolate Factory: The Ride (2006–2015) Duel - The Haunted House Strikes Back! (2003–2022)
Theme park areas	Adventure Land CBeebies Land Dark Forest Forbidden Valley Gloomy Wood Katanga Canyon Mutiny Bay The Towers & Gardens The World of David Walliams Towers Street X-Sector
See also	History of Alton Towers Alton Towers Waterpark Merlin Entertainments John Wardley The Grand Knockout Tournament Rollercoaster Restaurant
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