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  1. Today
  2. I've had my suspicions all but confirmed in that Stealth's and Rita's are indeed unrelated. Thorpe will do their utmost to keep Stealth going, and I don't think we're anywhere near the point where they're considering getting rid of it. For those old enough to remember, Thorpe literally clung onto dear life with Slammer. It was closed more than it was open for a couple of years. S&S stopped manufacturing parts, so Thorpe sourced things elsewhere. They dedicated a lot of money and man hours into getting the thing running. Only once it had absolutely gone past the financial point of no return did they give up the ghost. And Stealth is obviously different; it is still such an iconic ride for the park, is a genuine reason that people visit, and generates money from merch sales. I'm not saying to take Stealth for granted, but at this point, there is no reason to think Stealth is facing an imminent closure in the next couple of years.
  3. I don't think there's a reason to panic at this point. Both Rita and Stealth being long term closed at the same time is a pretty wild coincidence. But the thing for me is that over the last three years both Formula Rossa and Xcelerator spent months and months closed only to return and still operate so Stealth could easily just reopen this month with no fanfare. I think this is just a problem with the accelerator model which is why we're actually down to 9 operating models now (Skycar has been SBNO since last April). I do agree with Inferno, enjoy our rides on Stealth whilst we can.
  4. Yeah I don’t think the lack of news is anything to be too worried about at the moment. It’s quite normal isn’t it for this to happen when things break. I do think however that we should all make a conscious effort to regularly get on Stealth going forward and appreciate it. We have seen a lot of rides around the world close out of the blue recently, and with Stealth being what it is, I suspect that one day something will happen that might force their hand in to making a decision perhaps. Stealth is actually something quite special now. A launch like that has become rare! We are lucky to have it just down the road.
  5. It ALWAYS goes silent when there's a long term closure. See Hyperia last year. It is not within the best interests of the park(s) to announce publicly any technical issues with the rides. Aren't Rita & Stealth trains the same? Just likely that the hydraulic launched coasters have a bit of a shorter lifespan. Presumably down to the launch system itself being incredibly high energy for short bursts of time so wear and tear is bound to happen. Fairly telling with there being only 10 Intamin ones operating with the last brand new one built in 2010.
  6. Yesterday
  7. Anyone know what happened?? All I have heard is the train only went half way up the top hat, rolled back and been closed since. Anyone know if this is true? I am getting concerned for stealth now guys. I really hope if Rita closes they salvage the parts and do everything to keep stealth open. Imagine Rita trains on the stealth circuit. That is if they repainted them back to Rita original colours but would still be so cool to see. Anyone reckon that's possible? I fear stealth only has a season or two left depending on operations for the rest of this season. It's literally gone silent. What if this issue continues to occur.
  8. Let's hope it opens soon. Planning on going next week, so I am too hopeful.
  9. I don't believe Stealth and Rita's closures are related, although that is little more than a hunch right now. If there's an update, I'm sure it'll be shared quickly, but for now all we can assume is it is still waiting for either a part or advice from Intamin.
  10. As Josh alludes to, TP is not likely to get more than 2.5 million, but not due to the needs of those visitors but the limit on capacity. As much as I like TP, it will always be a gravel pit. Alton Towers was a stately home and grounds, created originally, for one family. The Universal has a blank canvas, with access already being to it's advantage. It seems I am painting it up, but the better it is, more people will go there and leave Stealth at TP to me.
  11. Looks like the fastrack button on the app has completely disappeared now. Rita at Alton Towers has also been closed a week. I'm keeping an eye on Stealth... I'm going on Tuesday, but hopefully will have a return trip when Stealth is back open
  12. Anymore news from the park today?
  13. Last week
  14. Great ride, which can induce great cramps, then you cannot relieve that until off the ride. Luckily, I've given up wearing earings.
  15. Some parts have to be made, some decisions too. If the parts are very expensive it will not be paid for from the standard budget. The fix is getting closer, no doubt.
  16. A bit weird isn’t it. Perhaps there was an issue and it wasn’t the heat? Who knows. Either way it’s great news it’s opening finally I took Skyride for granted for years to be honest. It’s actually a brilliant experience even ignoring the extremely useful transport element of it! Looking forward to getting back on it again.
  17. Skyride planned to open tomorrow now. If it was just down to the heat then they should've said that, instead of "working hard to create a truly magical experience", there isn't a lot magical about a transportation ride
  18. Ahhh I see.... important to note that Stealth is listed as "Closed" instead of "Closed All Day" or "Closed Today" so maybe its back soon. Has there been any action? I know the park was closed a couple days ago so maybe that gave them a chance to try and get it going again....
  19. So finally manged to get Hyperia today. First ride was back row, and it was insane! 2nd ride was towards the back. Also did some rides I haven't done in years. Got 5 laps on Flying Fish, did Vortex & Zodiac ( which I immediatley regretted - getting older and lots of spinning do not go hand in hand), Quantum and Rush. Tidal Wave was a godsend today. Also did Swarm, SAW and Nemesis. We ate at Vibes which was very good, and price was reasonable. I also took some travel sickness tablets with me today which made the difference! More thoughts on Hyperia: Was surprised how much you are out of the seat. Didn't think it needed to be much longer, maybe a helix or additional bunny hop. Queue line leaves a lot to be desired, also think they need some sort of screening on the lift motor as its very loud. Surprisingly quite busy. Colossus broke down and was stuck on the lift when we arrived. Assuming it moved to one train operation as the queue was 60mins for a lot of the day. Stealth was out all day.
  20. No, they aren’t even selling FastTrack for most coasters tomorrow or the weekend. They can add/remove FastTrack allocation at any time so I wouldn’t look too much into it. They normally update ‘one shot’ FastTrack availability daily.
  21. Does this mean it'll be back on the 8th?
  22. Do they want to explain how similar sky rides run in hotter (and colder) temperatures then. Sounds like one of those 'Merlin enforced rules' which makes absolutely no sense and severely prohibits the ride from providing its basic function.
  23. Looks like fastrack tickets have been taken off sale from today to the 8th May. I am going on the 6th! Typical
  24. Relatively promising post from Thorpe on X yesterday.... Could Stealth be back soon?
  25. Cal

    2025 Season

    Went to the park last Thursday after grabbing an overnight stay deal on Black Friday for Wednesday (when the park was originally meant to be closed), breakfast included, plus unlimited FastTrack all day (including Hyperia) for just £72 total (£36 per person). I never usually stay over, but that price for unlimited FastTrack made it an absolute no-brainer. I was pretty much on Hyperia for most of the day, and managed over 30 rides on it, as well as a couple of other rides too. Saw it testing before 9am and it was open for 10. Should be standard but nice to see they’re making the effort to get it running on time this season - it’s a big improvement over last year’s late starts. As the day went on and the ride warmed up, I did notice it started to get a little jolty/rattly from around row 4/5. Might be down to the different wheel compounds they’re using, but honestly it wasn’t anything major and didn’t really take away from the ride experience. Operations were absolutely flawless all day, the team were smashing the trains out and I didn't see it stack once, trains were even dispatched before the other hit the break run which I hadn't seen before. There was a lot of people who had the same deal also lapping Hyperia, and with RAP usage on top, the main queue for Hyperia definitely took a hit. Bit of a problem when RAP and FastTrack is allocated for the whole park but people are just using it on Hyperia. Since I was staying over, I was actually there for park opening for once (normally I don’t bother till the afternoon. I hate how they keep all the gates closed until 10am. Other parks like Chessington and Towers let you in the park earlier, not sure why this one can’t do the same. Back in the day, they used to open the gates earlier (around half 9) and if rides were ready, you’d open them before opening. Much better procedure than having a bottleneck and lots of people running in my opinion. This was on a quiet day too, can’t imagine what this is like on peak days. Shame not to get on Stealth again, still not been on it this season yet. Didn't see any visible work going on last week but hopefully the issues will get sorted soon. Rumba Rapids was testing and there seemed to be a lot of staff over there training, the ride availability page shows this will be open on late May now. Vortex is running really well, and has done for the last few seasons. It still has its smoke machine from Fright Nights too, doesn’t have much effect without it being dark and the lighting etc but still nice to see.
  26. No different to most areas at Chessie then. Though this is also taking up the old children's zoo area as well as Mine Train. Rattlesnack survives somehow.
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