Barney (Alton Towers attraction)

Attraction Information
Location	Alton Towers in Staffordshire, England.
Land	Cred Street
Opening date	April 1, 2000
Closing date	2002
Replaced	Children's World
Replaced by	Tweenies
General statistics
Attraction type	Live Show / Playground
Theme	Barney & Friends
Music	Joseph Phillips (arranger)
Duration	25 minutes

Barney was the theme park attraction theme in Cred Street (now The World of David Walliams) in the theme park of Alton Towers in Alton, Staffordshire, England. Based on the children's television show, Barney & Friends, the theming was best known to feature an indoor playground called "Barney's Playground" and a daily sing-along show in "Barney's Theatre", with the characters of Barney, BJ, and Baby Bop that played three times a day.

The sing-along show featured the voice of Duncan Brannan, who was one of the voice actors who provided the voice of Barney after the retirement of Bob West in 2000. The attraction also featured the original voices of Baby Bop and BJ, Julie Johnson and Patty Wirtz, respectively.

The theming began on April 1, 2000, replacing the former theme of Children's World, and lasted until 2002. Scheduled to only appear in the park for three years, the Barney theme was replaced with a theme based on the British live-action children's show, Tweenies, on April 5, 2003.

History

Before the theming of the area, Barney performed at the theme park in Easter. Barney and his friends returned and had a successful summer appearance in the theme park in 1999, before officially having a permanent attraction spot there. The Barney theme was announced and scheudled to stay in the park for three years. The Barney theme was replaced with a theme based on the british live-action children's show, Tweenies, on April 5, 2003 , and continued performing there until the end of the 2005 season.

Attractions

Barney's Theatre

Barney amongst the audience in the Theatre. The Treehouse set is visible in the background.

Barney welcomes his friends (the audience) to the treehouse and leads into a sing along. BJ and Baby Bop join him as the show goes on. After the show, children and families were able to meet Barney.

Songs

1. Barney Theme Song (Audio Taken from: Barney's Open House)
2. Welcome to My Treehouse
3. If You're Happy and You Know It (Audio Taken from: Barney's Open House)
4. If All the Raindrops (Audio Taken from: Barney's Open House)
5. Mr. Knickerbocker (Audio Taken from: Barney's Open House)
6. The Baby Bop Hop
7. The Exercise Song
8. The Dino Dance
9. The Clapping Song (Audio Taken from: Barney's Open House)
10. I Love You (Audio Taken from: Come on Over to Barney's House)

Barney's Playground

Barney's Playground was a play area for children. It housed three attractions for children of different heights, including a large fun and exciting bouncy castle, with tunnels and compartments full of soft balls and inflatable animals.

Gallery

Exterior buildings

The entrance to Barney's Theatre.

The entrance to Barney's Playground.

Barney's Theatre

Advertisement

2000 Alton Towers "Special Event" advertisement featuring Barney, Baby Bop, and BJ

Trivia

• This was the second Barney attraction at a theme park after A Day in the Park with Barney.
• Most of Barney's singing was most taken from Barney's Open House and Come on Over to Barney's House.

People

• This was the first time that Duncan Brannan is heard fulfilling the entire voice role of Barney, unlike previous and some future instances where he splits the role with another voice actor.
• Actor Craig Salisbury would play BJ's costume during the summer season on 1999. From 2000-2002, he would get switched to play Baby Bop's costume during the summer seasons.
• Penny Wilson served as the performance director of the sing-along show.
• Sloan Coleman helped to launch the attraction.

Usage

• The setting of the Barney attraction was later used for Chocolate Follies show for Easter 2006 and for another HiT Entertainment property, entitled: Bob the Builder Live show, which only ran from one year during the 2006 season. This setting was also used for Draw-A-Toon event for Summer 2006, the Ice Age 4D Experience from 2012-2020 and currently The World of David Williams.

Video

Commercials

Alton Towers - 2000 Barney Show TV Advert

See Also

Other Barney attractions

• A Day in the Park with Barney

References

Stage shows Barney in Concert (1991) • Barney Live! In New York City (1994) • Barney's Big Surprise (1996-1998) • Barney's Musical Castle (1999-2001) • Barney's Colorful World! (2003-2004) • Barney Live! - The Let's Go Tour (2006-2007) • Barney Live in Concert - Birthday Bash! (2010-2011) Outside North America Barney's Musical Park (2004;2007) • Barney's Let's Imagine (2007-2010) • Barney's Dino-Mite Birthday! - Live On Stage (2008) • Barney's Space Adventures (2008;2010) • Barney Rocks! El Concierto en Vivo! (2010) • Barney Live! World Tour - A Celebration! (2015; 2017-2018) • Barney's Greatest Hits - Live On Stage (2016-2017) Theme park shows A Day in the Park with Barney (1995-2021) • Barney (2000-2002) Notable Personal Appearances Barney's Open House (2000) • Barney's Zoo Tour (2001;2015) • Barney's Beach Party (2002-Present) • Barney's Purple Park Tour (2002) • Christmas Fun with Barney & Friends (2004) • Barney's Christmas Star (2006) • Learn and Play with Barney (2007) • Barney's Big Fun Time (2007) • Barney's Big Purple Bus Tour (2007-2008) • Christmas with Barney & Friends (2007) • Barney's Sing Along Show (2008) • Barney's 20th Anniversary Concert (2008) • A Very Barney Christmas (2008) • Barney's World of Imagination (2009;2014) • Christmas Surprise! (2010) • Sing and Dance with Barney (2011) • Barney's Jukebox Party (2015-2016) • Barney's We're All Friends Show (2015) • Barney & Friends Favourite Hits (2016) • Barney's Birthday Surprise (2017) • Barney & Friends: Party Time (2017) • Barney's Magical Christmas (2018)