John Wardley facts for kids

John Richard Wardley, born on June 6, 1950, is a super creative British designer for theme parks across the UK and Europe. He's a master at inventing cool special effects, exciting dark rides, and thrilling roller coasters. You might know his amazing work like Nemesis at Alton Towers, plus many other famous roller coasters.

John Wardley's Career Journey

John Wardley began his career working backstage at the Theatre Royal, Windsor. Later, he moved into the film industry. He helped create special effects for several exciting James Bond movies.

Designing Theme Park Attractions

Because of his experience, the Tussauds Group hired John. They wanted him to design animatronics (moving robots) and rides for their parks. His first big project was creating animatronics for an exhibition called 'Royalty and Empire' in Windsor.

After this, the Tussauds Group asked John to help transform Chessington Zoo in London. He helped turn it into the awesome Chessington World of Adventures theme park. There, he oversaw the creation of rides like The Vampire roller coaster and the Tiger Rock log flume.

John also worked with another designer, Keith Sparks. Together, they created the popular Prof. Burp's Bubble Works water ride at Chessington in 1990. They also made The Haunted House at Alton Towers in 1992.

Creating Famous Roller Coasters

As a development director for the Tussauds Group, John designed many famous roller coasters. These include Nemesis, Oblivion, and Air (now called Galactica) at Alton Towers. He also designed several rides at Thorpe Park after Tussauds bought it in 1998.

One of his other projects was creating the Mystique show. This show ran for almost 20 years at Blackpool Pleasure Beach.

Working on Video Games

John Wardley even worked with game developers Chris Sawyer and Frontier Developments. He helped them with RollerCoaster Tycoon 3, a popular game where you manage your own amusement park. His name is a secret cheat code in the game! If you name a visitor after him, all height restrictions on rides are removed. This is a fun nod to the strict height rules his real-life rides at Alton Towers had to follow.

Retirement and Consulting Work

After finishing the Air roller coaster in 2002, John left Tussauds. However, Merlin Entertainments took over the company in 2007. They invited John back as a ride design consultant.

He has helped design many more roller coasters since then. These include SAW - The Ride and The Swarm at Thorpe Park. He also consulted on TH13TEEN and The Smiler at Alton Towers.

John announced his retirement on January 22, 2013. In April 2013, he published his autobiography, Creating My Own Nemesis. Even after retiring, he continued to consult on projects. He helped design Flug Der Dämonen at Heide Park in 2014. He also worked on the Wicker Man at Alton Towers in 2017. As of 2023, he still works as a consultant just for Alton Towers Resort.

Video Games John Wardley Worked On

• RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 – He gave advice for the game.
• NoLimits Coaster 2 – He was a technical adviser.

Books by John Wardley

• Creating My Own Nemesis – This book came out in print in April 2013. John wrote it.
• Creating My Own Nemesis – An audiobook version came out in December 2017. John wrote and narrated it.
• Life After Nemesis – This print edition is set to come out in April 2024. John is the author.

Attraction Projects Designed by John Wardley