Th13teen at Alton Towers built its reputation on a single moment: a pitch-black crypt where the track itself seems to vanish beneath the train and riders genuinely freefall for a few heart-stopping metres before the ride catches them again. It’s the reason the UK’s original “psychoaster” still gets talked about more than fifteen years after it opened.
This guide covers everything worth knowing before you ride: how the freefall drop actually works, the height restrictions and full ride stats, what replaced the old Corkscrew on this spot in Alton Towers’ Dark Forest, and whether the scares live up to the marketing.
Quick Answer
Th13teen is a steel family coaster at Alton Towers with a genuine vertical freefall drop of about 16 feet (5 metres) inside a darkened crypt. It has no loops or inversions, reaches a top speed of 42 mph, and riders must be between 120 and 196 cm (about 47–77 in) tall. It opened in March 2010 on the site of the old Corkscrew and was promoted as the world’s first coaster with a genuine freefall element.
What Is Th13teen?
Th13teen was built by Intamin at a cost of around £15 million and opened on 20 March 2010 in the Dark Forest area of Alton Towers. During construction it went by the codename Secret Weapon 6, a naming convention the park uses for major projects still under wraps.
Its signature trick isn’t speed or height but a single disorienting drop: partway through the layout, the train is drawn into a coffin-lined crypt, comes to a near stop in total darkness, and then a section of track drops away beneath it, sending riders into a real vertical fall of roughly five metres before the track locks back into place and the ride continues. Alton Towers and designer John Wardley billed it at the time as the world’s first roller coaster to feature a genuine freefall drop element, rather than a simulated one.
Stats at a Glance
Height: about 65.6 ft (20 m). Top speed: about 42 mph (68 km/h). Length: about 2,480 ft (760 m). Overall drop: about 60 ft (18 m), including the roughly 16 ft (5 m) freefall section. Ride duration: about 1 minute 40 seconds. G-force: up to 3.2 G. Inversions: 0.
Capacity: around 1,100 riders per hour. Trains: 3, with 5 cars each, seating 20 riders two-across. Restraint: individual lap bars. Height restriction: 120–196 cm (47.3–77.2 in). Manufacturer: Intamin. Opened: 20 March 2010.
The Ride Experience
Th13teen begins as a fairly conventional family-style layout, winding through the Dark Forest with modest hills and turns at up to 42 mph. Alton Towers marketed the ride as a “psychoaster,” built to trigger psychological fear as much as physical thrills, with the tagline “If you go down to the woods today, you’d better not go alone.”
The real tension builds as the train is drawn into an enclosed, coffin-lined crypt, where it comes to a near stop in total darkness. Riders in the front seats have reported catching a glimpse of a robed, wraith-like figure moments before the floor drops away and the train falls. With no inversions, the coaster relies on theming, sound design, and the unpredictability of the drop’s exact timing to deliver its scares, making it more of a themed dark-ride experience than a high-speed thrill machine.
On Friday 13 August 2010, Alton Towers leaned into the ride’s superstitious branding and temporarily renamed it FOU13TEEN for the day, swapping signage and merchandise as a marketing stunt tied to Friday the 13th.
Inside the Crypt: How the Freefall Drop Really Works
The freefall section is what separates Th13teen from every other “drop” coaster. Rather than simulating weightlessness with a steep dip, a section of track beneath the train physically drops through a trapdoor mechanism, taking the train with it in genuine freefall for roughly five metres (about 16 feet) before the track locks back into position and the ride carries on. Total darkness inside the crypt hides the mechanism and the exact drop timing, which is part of what made Alton Towers’ “world’s first” claim notable when the ride opened in 2010.
Because it relies on a first-of-its-kind Intamin drop mechanism, Th13teen had a rocky start: reliability problems in its 2010 opening season required engineers to add speed-reducing devices to sections of the outdoor track, and the ride has periodically experienced downtime in the years since, which isn’t unusual for a coaster built around genuinely new hardware. None of this affects the core experience once the ride is running.
Height Requirements & Who Can Ride
To ride Th13teen, you need to be between 120 cm and 196 cm tall (roughly 47 to 77 inches) — tall enough to meet Alton Towers’ standard family-coaster minimum, but short enough to fit safely under the individual lap bar restraints. This puts it in line with other family thrill coasters at the resort rather than the park’s more extreme rides, making it accessible to most riders above small-child height while still excluding very tall adults for restraint-fit reasons.
As with all Alton Towers rides, pregnant guests and those with certain medical, back, or neck conditions are advised not to ride; check the ride’s posted health notice on-site if you’re unsure.
Is Th13teen Scary?
Despite its ominous branding, Th13teen is best described as moderately scary rather than genuinely terrifying. There are no inversions, no steep drops outside the crypt, and much of the ride is a gentle family-style layout through the woods.
The freefall moment itself is brief but effective: total darkness, an unnerving pause, and a real, not simulated, drop catch most riders off guard the first time, even if they know it’s coming. Riders looking for an intense adrenaline hit may find the rest of the layout tame by comparison, but the crypt sequence remains one of the more distinctive surprise moments among UK coasters.
Replacing the Corkscrew
Th13teen was built on the footprint once occupied by Corkscrew, a looping coaster that ran at Alton Towers from 1980 until its closure and removal in 2008. Ride designer John Wardley, known for other Alton Towers attractions including Oblivion and Nemesis, worked on Th13teen’s concept, aiming for a psychological scare rather than a purely mechanical one, and the Dark Forest setting was built out specifically to support that atmosphere.
Visiting Th13teen
Th13teen operates as part of Alton Towers’ standard theme park admission, within normal park opening hours, which vary seasonally. For current opening times, ticket prices, and any ride closures or refurbishment schedules, check the official Th13teen page on the Alton Towers website before you visit, since these details change throughout the year.
TH13TEEN is a Intamin creation — see our full Intamin profile for the company’s history and signature coasters.
Th13teen freefall coaster FAQs
What makes Th13teen unique among roller coasters?
It was promoted as the world’s first roller coaster with a genuine vertical freefall drop, where a section of track and the train itself drop roughly five metres (16 ft) in total darkness before continuing, rather than simulating the sensation.
How tall do you have to be to ride Th13teen?
You must be between 120 cm and 196 cm tall (about 47 to 77 inches) to ride, in line with Alton Towers’ standard family-coaster restrictions and the fit of the individual lap bar restraints.
Is Th13teen scary?
It’s moderately scary rather than intense — there are no inversions and most of the layout is a gentle family ride through the woods, but the total darkness and genuine freefall drop inside the crypt catch most riders off guard.
How far does the freefall drop on Th13teen actually fall?
The train drops roughly five metres, about 16 feet, in real freefall inside the darkened crypt before the track locks back into place and the ride continues.
Does Th13teen have any loops or inversions?
No, Th13teen has zero inversions. Its main thrill comes from the freefall drop element rather than loops or twists.
What ride did Th13teen replace at Alton Towers?
Th13teen was built on the site of the Corkscrew, a looping coaster that operated at Alton Towers from 1980 to 2008.
Why is the ride called Th13teen?
The name and “13” theming tie into the ride’s superstition-based marketing as a psychological thrill coaster; Alton Towers even briefly renamed it FOU13TEEN for Friday 13 August 2010.
Get More from Th13teen freefall coaster
Log the coasters, stadiums, and venues you’ve experienced, rate Th13teen freefall coaster, and see what your friends thought. Get the ThrillZing app.
Want the day’s theme park news in your inbox? Subscribe to ThrillZing Daily — free.
1 thought on “Th13teen at Alton Towers: Freefall Drop, Height Rules & Facts”
Comments are closed.