John Wardley


John Richard Wardley is a British developer for theme parks, particularly dark rides and roller coasters. He is known for Nemesis at Alton Towers and other major roller coasters in the UK and Europe.

Career

Wardley started his career as an assistant stage manager at Windsor's Theatre Royal, then moved on to the film industry creating special effects, including several of the James Bond movies. He was later hired by the Tussauds Group due to his experience in designing animatronics and rides for amusement parks. His first project with Tussauds was the development of animatronics for the 'Royalty and Empire' exhibition at Windsor, Berkshire.
After this he was employed by the Tussauds Group to transform the declining Chessington Zoo in London to become the Chessington World of Adventures theme park. There, Wardley oversaw the production of attractions including The Vampire suspended coaster and the Tiger Rock log flume. Wardley collaborated with attraction developer Keith Sparks to produce the popular Prof. Burp's Bubble Works dark ride at Chessington World of Adventures in 1990 and The Haunted House at Alton Towers in 1992.
Continuing as a development director of the Tussauds Group, John produced roller coasters such as Nemesis, Oblivion and Air at Alton Towers. He also produced several rides at Thorpe Park after its acquisition by Tussauds in 1998.
One of his other projects at this time was producing the Mystique show at Blackpool Pleasure Beach, with leisure developer Geoffrey Thompson, which ran for nearly 20 years.
Having completed Air in 2002, Wardley left Tussauds due to its acquisition by Charterhouse. However, Merlin Entertainments took over the company in May 2007 and invited Wardley back as a ride design consultant. He has consulted on various rollercoaster projects, such as SAW - The Ride and The Swarm at Thorpe Park, TH13TEEN and The Smiler at Alton Towers, and Raptor at Gardaland.
On 22 January 2013, Wardley announced his retirement. In April 2013, he published an autobiography entitled Creating My Own Nemesis.
Despite retirement, he consulted on the design for Flug Der Dämonen at Heide Park in 2014 and the Wicker Man at Alton Towers in 2017, among others. As of 2023, he remains a consultant for Alton Towers Resort.

Video games

  • RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 – consultation
  • NoLimits Coaster 2 – technical adviser

    Publishing history

  • Creating My Own Nemesis – print edition – author
  • Creating My Own Nemesis – audiobook – author & narrator
  • Life After Nemesis – print edition – author

    Attraction projects

YearRide nameRoleDescription
c.1975Uncle Frankenstein's Scream Machine DesignDark ride
c.1976Wacky Gold Mine DesignDark ride
1984Royalty & EmpireAnimatronic consultantExhibition
1987Dragon RiverDesignLog flume
1987Runaway TrainDesignRoller coaster
1987The 5th DimensionLayoutDark Ride
1990Prof. Burp's Bubble WorksDeveloperWater dark ride
1990VampireDeveloperInverted roller coaster
1992Runaway Mine TrainDeveloperRoller coaster
1992The Haunted HouseDeveloperDark ride
1994NemesisDeveloperInverted roller coaster
1995Dragon KhanLayoutRoller coaster
1996MegafobiaLayoutWooden coaster
1997StampidaLayoutRoller coaster
1998OblivionDeveloperDive roller coaster
2000Hex – The Legend of the TowersDeveloperDark ride
2002AirDeveloperFlying roller coaster
2002ColossusDeveloperLooping roller coaster
2003Nemesis InfernoLayout draftInverted roller coaster
2009Saw - The RideConsultantEuro-Fighter typhoon roller coaster
2010Th13teenDeveloperMulti-Dimensional roller coaster
2011RaptorConsultantRoller coaster
2012The SwarmConsultantWing roller coaster
2013The SmilerDeveloperInfinity roller coaster
2014Flug der DämonenConsultantRoller coaster
2018Wicker ManConsultantWooden roller coaster
2023The Curse at Alton ManorConsultantDark ride
2024Nemesis RebornConsultantInverted roller Coaster