News about Gangsta Granny: The Ride

In November 2023, the context around Gangsta Granny: The Ride gained a less cheerful chapter. Looopings reported on renewed controversy surrounding David Walliams, the author of the book on which the dark ride is based and the figure behind The World of David Walliams at Alton Towers. Walliams had come under scrutiny in the United Kingdom after disrespectful remarks about Britain's Got Talent contestants, after which he left the programme.

The article placed that issue in a wider pattern of controversy. Walliams had reached a settlement with production company Fremantle, which he had sued over leaked conversations. Earlier debates had also surrounded his work and television shows, including the removal of series because of blackface and stereotyping. Looopings noted that Alton Towers did not respond to the news.

For Gangsta Granny: The Ride, this matters because the attraction is strongly tied to Walliams as both author and brand. The dark ride remained part of The World of David Walliams, alongside Flavio's Fabulous Fandango, Raj's Bouncy Bottom Burp and Royal Carousel. The article shows how the reputation of a creator can shape the way visitors and fans look at a themed area.

On 17 May 2021, the delay finally ended: Alton Towers officially opened Gangsta Granny: The Ride. The dark ride brought David Walliams' children's book into its own themed area, The World of David Walliams. For visitors, it meant a new indoor family attraction where story and recognisable book illustrations mattered more than pure thrills.

Looopings described a ride lasting more than five minutes and centred on the theft of the British Crown Jewels. The attraction uses many video projections with simple animations, based on the style of the book's illustrations. Guests travel through scenes featuring Ben and his grandmother while the vehicles spin. The area also included a souvenir shop and rethemed children's rides such as Raj's Bouncy Bottom Burp and Royal Carousel. Temporary fairground rides helped the park add capacity during the coronavirus period.

The location is historically notable: it previously housed Wobble World and was later used as a Halloween haunted attraction. Gangsta Granny: The Ride gave that space a permanent family-focused role after a year of delay.

In May 2020, Gangsta Granny: The Ride became a casualty of the coronavirus crisis. Alton Towers had planned to begin the new season on 21 March, with the dark ride as its major family debut. Instead, the park remained empty and announced that the attraction would no longer open that year. The opening was pushed back to spring 2021.

Looopings reported that Alton Towers described the decision as extremely difficult. A great deal of work had gone into designing and building the new experience based on David Walliams' book. That made the delay especially painful: The World of David Walliams was intended as a fresh draw in an anniversary year, but could not be launched as planned.

The delay also fitted into a much broader theme across the amusement industry. Parent company Merlin Entertainments had to tighten costs because of the pandemic and secured emergency financing of 500 million euros. For Gangsta Granny: The Ride, this article marks the moment when a heavily promoted new attraction turned into a postponed promise.

In early 2020, Alton Towers showed what its new David Walliams area was meant to become. The headline attraction was Gangsta Granny: The Ride, a dark ride based on the 2011 children's book. For England's largest theme park, it was a distinctly British family concept: the story of Ben, who discovers that his apparently boring grandmother is secretly a jewel thief.

Looopings described how the ride would begin as The Crown Jewels Tour. Before long, Ben and his grandmother appear, sending guests through sewers and a London chase built around the British Crown Jewels. Alton Towers promised that visitors would see, feel, hear and smell the story while spinning through the scenes. Special effects and video projections were intended to bring the book's world to life.

For Alton Towers, this was more than a standalone indoor ride. Gangsta Granny: The Ride became the central feature of The World of David Walliams on the former Cloud Cuckoo Land site. Together with rethemed children's rides, meet-and-greets and a shop, it was designed to add a story-led family corner to the park.