Toxicator – New Ride for 2025 at Alton Towers

So, we visited Alton Towers on opening day of the season (which you can read about here), and it was a bit hit and miss, but the main reason we were visiting was Toxicator – the park’s new for 2025 flat ride, located in forbidden Valley, across from Nemesis Reborn.

Toxicator is a Huss Rides Suspended Top Spin, just like it’s predecessor in the same spot – Ripsaw. Continuing with the Nemesis/Phalanx storyline, Toxicator is themed as the machine that extracts venom from the Nemesis creature and uses its centrifugal forces to turn it into Waspirium – a chemical strong enough to melt anything. I do love a good back story for a theme park ride!

Just inside the main entrance was decorated with green and black Toxicator banners and bunting along with Waspirium barrels to celebrate the occasion, and the frogs on the pond on Towers Street were back in their Phalanx gear with some Waspirium barrels floating in the water.

Down at the ride, things were a bit underwhelming. I love seeing YouTube videos of ride opening days to see the fanfare that some get, like Nemesis or Hyperia last year, but Toxicator didn’t really get anything. I don’t even think there was a countdown, it just… went, and then the first ride was underway.

We were there from around 9:30am and Me and Evan were headed straight in the queue whilst Jo and Elliott watched the first public riders take flight. It took us a moment to get in the queue, (which was looped around up to the Skyride station) as we could see the ride and see the queue but couldn’t work out how to get into it. The paths were blocked to allow for the excess queue, but staff were on hand to point the way.

Its green. Very green. Initially you feel like it doesn’t fit in with the area given the updates to Nemesis and all the black and red theming the area has, but once you see it in the flesh, it works. The queue line itself is a little sparse, with just a few black and green Waspirium barrels alongside the fences, whilst alongside the staircase was a small room with hazmat suits and Phalanx equipment. Over the other side of the ride is some rockwork with green slime leaking from the barrels.

The ride itself though really stands out. It’s been built to stand on a 5 metre high platform which makes Toxicator look more imposing. The platform has a tunnel so you can walk directly underneath the ride, and inside the tunnel is decorated with phalanx logos, green lights and slime on the walls, Phalanx warning signs and posters with nods to Ripsaw – Can you cut it?

The columns either side of the ride are giant illuminated screens shaped like barrels, that look like they’re being filled with venom and change from red to green as they fill. When the ride is down, which it was at one point, the screens change to show people cleaning the inside of the tubes. A nice touch. The ride also features a row of water jets along the edge of the ride, spraying up as the gondola passes by.

I loved Toxicator, and Evan enjoyed it too. It’s been many years since I’d been on Ripsaw, so I can’t remember it well enough to give a comparison – other than it used to soak you. Toxicator also has the water jets but didn’t drench us today – Not really the weather for it yet, but it definitely will, and there are new dryers nearby so it might also be a soaker.

I’ve heard a few people it’s not as forceful as Talocan, another Huss suspended top spin over in Phantasialand, Germany, so if you’ve been on that, you can get an idea. I haven’t… yet. But the cycle it was on when we rode was pretty good. Lots of spinning, hanging and lowering you over the water jets before sending you into multiple quick spins. And you get some great views of Nemesis.

The gondola sits two rows back-to-back, unlike Ripsaw where both rows front facing, so it’s a different feel from either side, and you get views over towards Galactica the other way.

We visited during the Alton After Dark event and Toxicator looks awesome at night. They have really spent the extra money to ensure the lighting package makes Toxicator stand out in the dark. The whole area around the ride is bathed in an electric green glow, with the two towers either side blazing across Forbidden Valley. Hope to see much more of Toxicator at night and hopefully get a night ride before the event finishes. We did try the following week, but it was down at the end of the night, so we jumped on Nemesis.

Toxicator made a good show of itself on opening day, with only one incident… and it wasn’t even the rides fault. A drain in the tunnel under the ride burst with sewage, causing them to close Toxicator and evacuate Forbidden Valley. A toxic spill under Toxicator? The headlines could write themselves. There was a worry that the ride would be down for the remainder of the day, but the team were quick to sort the problem, clean up and get it back open in quick time.

We visited the following week and did spot it down a couple of times on the app but was quickly back up and running. Fingers crossed it keeps up the good behaviour and can be a ride Alton Towers can rely on.

So far, so good. We were in the opening day queue at 9.30am which was looped around back up to the Skyride station at the top of Forbidden Valley, which was estimated to be about 3-4 hours long – which wasn’t exactly unexpected for a new ride. The ride opened a tad early and from then until we got on was about an hour, so it seemed like operations were good. It has a 38 seat capacity and seems quick to load and unload, so we’ll have to wait and see. The following week, it was on a steady 40 min queue, but I reckon it was probably less.

The Forbidden Valley gift shop – Bunker 94 – had a good selection of Toxicator related items for sale on opening day. Slime-filled syringe shaped pens, magnets, keyrings, badges, drink bottles, hats and t-shirts to name but a few. They even had a limited edition Toxicator lager, which you can find in the coffee shop in Forbidden Valley (ask at the counter). It was limited to 1000 units, but they still had some left on our second visit.

It’s a great ride, and a welcome addition to the park. Alton Towers needs a few more flat rides to soak up some capacity and it’s a shame they’ve just removed The Blade, but I’m sure they had their reasons (though I think a swinging ship should be a staple ride in every theme park).

If you’re into being forcefully spun around at great heights, then this is the ride for you. It’s definitely on my ‘to do’ list when I get to Alton Towers now, so here’s to many more rides in the future, and probably a soaking in the summer!