Sheepie

Aww Mark. Well done for finishing your TR mate, they were great. What an emotional journey. You've made me so excited about my trip but also dreading the trip home already.What I love about World Showcase is that you can see a very familiar attraction....Credit to allears.net.Yep, Tower of Terror. They designed the tower to visually fit in with the Morocco area of World Showcase. It's details like that which set Disney apart from the rest. I'd highly recommend taking a look around Allears.net, particularly the blogs, they're a great read, especially if you're a theme park geek like me.I've decided I'm going to use Wordpress for my Trip Reports. I want to try something different. ;)Don't worry Mark, you'll be back in Orlando before you know it!

Merged with existing Saw thread.As Marc said, the ride opened again today. Thanks for posting though.

I just thought I'd post this video of Alton. I thought it showcased Alton very well and made me think about what a special theme park that we're lucky to have in the UK. I loved the contrast between the rides and then the beauty of the gardens. I'd love to try and get down there during Scarefest.

For the life of me I cannot deduce the technical names for what I want to explain, but I shall try, so bear with me! :PIf you think of a ball and socket joint in the body. The Ball is underneath each car and as it progresses up the lift hill, it falls into each socket; so if the car were to be stopped on the lift hill, it would be supported by the ball and socket joint. These are anti roll backs. I'm sure you know this already.Basically the "ball" under each car is tested just as it comes into the station, you can often hear it drop. There is a little raised piece (humped back whale I believe it's called?) on the track that lifts the "ball" up and allows it to drop back again. For whatever reason, if the ride senses that the "ball" hasn't dropped back down, the ride operator is notified by a light on the control panel.In this case, they are to send the car around empty as it usually rectifies itself. If it doesn't rectify itself then they would need to call an engineer. It's unfortunate that there were two cars like it during your visit. It sounds as though the ride team were doing what they were meant to though. Hope I explained that well enough.

Excellent trip report Pluk! You should do more in the future. ;)I do agree with you on your Vampire and Bubbles disappointment. It's a shame because at points Vampire can still be an impeccable attraction- when I rode it last November it was probably the best rollercoaster I'd ridden all season. Thank you thank you thank you on the vampire ride operator comment. It really is too loud. There are some people who are trying to defend the loudness of it, but like you said, it hurts.I certainly think there is one train that feels rougher than the other two, there are times when I ride it and it's not too bad at all and there are others that beat me to bits. I could go on and on about Vampire's faults, but I can't help but enjoy the ride, people adore it and it's arguably still Chessington's most Iconic ride.Once again thanks for posting, I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. :PEdit: Embedded the picture for you.

You could say the same about many rides in the UK though. Fury doesn't like the wet, or when it gets too hot. In fact quite a few of CWoA's rides are badly affected by the rain.Then there is Inferno which doesn't like it when it gets too wet either.

^ Very interesting! Thanks for the info!

If the problem was with just that car then I'm sure it'll just run with a reduced capacity. They may want to check other trains to see if they'll be suffering from similar problems though.

Another video from Cheetah Hunt's media previews has emerged, this time from BGT Nation. Notice the trenches have had a little work done to them and look much better... not perfect, but better. Edit: There are several videos to be found on Youtube. The thing I love most is the huge smiles on people's faces whilst they're riding and after. Seems like a ton of fun!

It's the media preview night for Vengeance tonight! I can't wait to hear reviews start to pop up. When will you be visiting the Dungeons?

Thanks for posting. It looks like a great family attraction. I'm not too keen on how some of those trenches are unthemed and aren't to the same standard as the rest of the ride. Bit of a shame there. Though fantastic themeing has never been Busch Garden's forte.

Merged with existing Alton Towers Trip Plans topic. ;)Hi! Your Headmaster sounds like a right legend!Alton Towers is massive, so make sure you take advantage of the Sky Ride. Are you staying onsite at Alton Towers? If you are, you get an hour of Extra Ride Time between 9 and 10am before the park opens. That way you can take advantage of riding Spinball and Oblivion before the majority of the public.There are a selection of rides available for ERT, they can be found on the website. There is so set way to enjoy the park, though I would personally do Sonic Spinball, Oblivion and then head over to Nemesis during early ride team, so you're ready to ride Air for park opening. Then you can work your way back around the park at a more leisurely pace.Like you said, make sure you take advantage of rides like Hex and other family attractions. Alton has a large variety of rides and attractions and to miss out on them would be to miss out on the overall experience of the Towers. For instance, I love Sharkbait Reef, the park's Sea- Life centre, Congo River Rapids, Thirteen and the Mutiny Bay attractions, just off of the top of my head.If you are staying onsite, I love Marg's at Splash Landings. The Hotel's bar. It really is a tradition every time I visit now, to visit the place and just relax for a while.... or get very drunk indeed. :DOf course, I've just skimmed the surface on things to do and tips. If you have anything in particular you want asking then just ask away. I hope you enjoy your trip!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sCa7Xif3pXg http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTFl0qR8AIo&NR=1 Love these videos! I can't get enough of them! HA.

Made me giggle!