Rita, formerly known as Rita: Queen of Speed, is a launched roller coaster located in the Dark Forest section of Alton Towers amusement park in Staffordshire Moorlands, England. Designed by Intamin, the Accelerator Coaster model opened to the public on 1 April 2005. It features an acceleration from 0 to in 2.5 seconds. The ride is loosely-themed to a drag racing concept.
Ride experience
thumb|left|The catch-car of the Rita Roller Coaster at [[Alton Towers]]
Rita was Alton Towers' new attraction for the 2005 season, where it was marketed as "Your best Alton Towers ride ever". The ride starts with the train racing forward from the station area, accelerating from 0 to in 2.5 seconds,
History
In September 2004 UG Land was stripped of almost all of its attractions including The UG Bugs, The Bone Shaker and Lava Lump preparing for a major new ride. The only rides that remained were the Corkscrew and the UG Swinger.
On 1 April 2005 Rita Queen of Speed opened to the public and 'UG Land and the Thunder Rock Rally' was formed, incorporating the new ride, Corkscrew, and a number of other rides which would be removed in the following years.
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Rita - Queen of Speed (Alton Towers) 09.jpg|Rita as Rita Queen of Speed: <small> 2005-2009 </small>
Rita - Queen of Speed (Alton Towers) 10.jpg|Rita launching with Corkscrew <small> 1980-2008 </small> in background.
Rita - Queen of Speed (Alton Towers) 02.jpg|Rita Queen of Speed from the queue line
</gallery>
The ride was temporarily renamed "Camilla - Queen of Speed" on 8 April 2005 as a PR stunt to celebrate the marriage of Prince Charles to Camilla Parker Bowles.
In March 2010, following a change of the area to the Dark Forest, the "Queen of Speed" suffix was dropped from the ride's name, and Rita (as it is now known) received a retheme, with a redecorated entrance, queue line, station, control room and cars.
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Thirteen entrance.jpg|Th13teen entrance with Rita above.
Rita (Alton Towers).JPG|Rita <small> 2009–present in Dark Forest </small>
</gallery>
Incidents
On the morning of 24 July 2012, the ride's launch cable snapped during testing while attached to an empty train. A similar incident also happened in 2005. No injuries were reported, but the incidents were similar to the 2009 failure of the Xcelerator rollercoaster's launch cable in the United States. Rita re-opened on 26 July 2012.