Alton Towers Resort has officially expanded its CBeebies Land portfolio with the introduction of Bluey the Ride: Here Come the Grannies!.
The project, which opened on 28th March, represents a sophisticated integration of high-performing digital intellectual property into a physical theme park environment, following a comprehensive twelve-month development cycle. While the attraction is designed to resonate with a younger demographic, the technical and creative rigour behind its construction reveals a complex undertaking in modern attraction design.
The development of the world’s first Bluey-themed rollercoaster was predicated on a deep immersion into the source material to ensure the transition from animation to reality remained faithful for the brand’s global audience.
Credit: Alton Towers
Beth Clarke, a designer for Merlin Magic Making who spearheaded the creative direction, shares that the team felt a significant responsibility to recreate the specific energy of the series. This process involved the creative team watching approximately 180 hours of the show – the equivalent of more than a full week of continuous viewing – to identify the minute details that define the programme’s aesthetic.
“We probably watched every episode about ten times,” Beth Clarke explained regarding the research phase, which covered all 154 episodes of the Emmy award-winning series.
“Bluey is full of little moments you only notice when you really dive into it. Our job was to spot those details children and parents recognise instantly – and then find a way to bring them into the real world”.
This exhaustive research led the creative team to focus on a specific narrative anchor: the ‘Grannies’ episode. In this fan-favourite storyline, the characters Bluey and Bingo engage in imaginative play as their mischievous alter-egos, Janet and Rita.
The choice was strategic, intended to mirror the spirit of family play that the resort aims to foster. Clarke noted that the episode “brings the whole family together – which is exactly what a theme park day out should feel like”.
Fun episode callbacks
The guest experience of Bluey The Ride: Here Come the Grannies! begins well before boarding the ride vehicle. Visitors first encounter a physical recreation of the Heeler family home, which serves as a central landmark for photography.
Care has been taken with the queue line design, which has been engineered as an active environment rather than a passive waiting area, incorporating four distinct interactive play zones.
These zones include elements inspired by the games ‘Keepy Uppy’ and ‘Rug Island’, alongside fairy rings for dancing. For the most dedicated fans, the team also integrated ‘Hidden Long Dogs’ throughout the site, a nod to the background characters often concealed within the television episodes.
Creating Australia on British terrain
The playful exterior of the attraction, however, belies a substantial engineering effort.
Senior Project Manager Dave Taylor highlighted that transforming an animated world into a functional rollercoaster presented unique civil engineering challenges. Due to the soft ground conditions at the site, the project required the excavation of foundations to a depth of 2.5 metres.
Beneath the vibrant theming lies a structural framework consisting of 55 tonnes of steel and 550 cubic metres of concrete. Taylor noted the pressure of delivering for such a passionate fan base: “The audience we are designing for are huge fans – and they will tell you quickly whether you have got it right”.
Credit: Adam Whittaker
The technical specifications of the family ride were carefully calibrated to serve as an introductory experience for younger guests. The Zierer-manufactured rollercoaster features a 210-metre track and reaches a top speed of 24 mph. A critical design choice was the 0.9-metre height requirement, which is intended to allow very young children to experience their first rollercoaster.
Each train is capable of carrying 28 passengers, ensuring the attraction can handle the high throughput expected for an IP with over one billion streams on BBC iPlayer.
For the engineering team, the culmination of the project was the initial test run. “When you see the coaster in action for the first time, there’s this huge sense of pride,” Dave Taylor said.
The attraction is now operational, supported by the resort’s wider infrastructure, which includes the UK’s only Bluey-themed hotel rooms at the CBeebies Land Hotel. Ultimately, the success of the investment will be measured by the reaction of the primary audience, with Dave Taylor concluding that the real test is whether children “get off and want to go straight back on again”.
The ride opened to rave reviews from families ahead of the Easter holidays, and celebrated with the UK’s largest ever drone display centred around Bluey.
Howard Ebison, Vice President of Alton Towers Resort, was accompanied by Cbeebies presenters and the Heeler family themselves to officially press the big button which opened the attraction to guests.
Commenting on the opening, Ebison said: “Bluey the Ride: Here Come the Grannies! is all about celebrating energy, play and those everyday moments families love about the show.
“Alongside even more bespoke Bluey-themed hotel rooms, we’re delighted that fans can now enjoy the new attraction and immerse themselves in the mayhem of the Grannies.”
Natasha Spence, Events Director, Live Entertainment at BBC Studios said, “We know that whenever the Grannies come out to play, it is a fan-favourite moment for those that love the show.
“We are excited that the energy of these much-loved characters is being brought to life in Bluey’s first-ever coaster at Alton Towers Resort – home to CBeebies Land.”
