Marley

gonna take a stab in the dark and say ~60mins. Will live queue times be displayed on the alton towers website?

With this recent poster reveal it does (unfortunately) point towards Emily Alton being a prominent character within the story of this new attraction. I say unfortunately as I personally couldn't really care less about a heavily story driven ride. I just want scary, spooky set pieces. On one hand I completely understand why they would bring back a character they own the rights to. I mean look at the final day of the Bubbleworks when they had Professor Burp knocking about despite the fact he hadn't been around for a decade. Just for fun. Here is footage of the girl who'd play Emily Alton in the dollshouse rehearsing the the scene that we'd all come to know and love. Would be interesting to see what similarities people see with her and the girl on the poster. https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1177934444543

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SINU_qyJf-o&ab_channel=LiftHillsandThrills Interview with John Wardley about SW9, Nemesis and Duel. Only just saw it so haven't watched it yet.

As someone who rode both Wicked Witches Haunt and The Haunted House (very young mind). I believe the transit system on WWH was the same one used on The Spirit of London at Madame Tussauds. Even though it's 2 per carriage, the carriages are in constant movement and are linked all together. Whether or not that means WWH's throughput was higher I'm not entirely certain but I am inclined to believe that it did have a higher throughput than HH but HH wasn't a slouch either. I think that only time I ever queued for HH was my first time going to Alton Towers around late 90's. My mother and I were amazed with Emily Alton effect. One of my most potent memories of HH to be honest.

Yeah, I'm with everyone in saying that Zombie ride is atrocious. Screens for the sake of screens and drowning in ultra-violet paint. A great example of a semi recent ghost train would be this one from Weston-Super-Mare, Is it the best? Not by a long shot. But if they can create something like this on a Pier than Merlin and Towers should be looking to blow an attraction like this out of the water (get it? Pier and water?)

I actually wasn't aware of the budget allocated to the project. I never even thought of a potential of an IP ruining the attraction. I'm sure we would of heard about a deal if one had been agreed on. Seeing how lots of revamped rides at Merlin parks get IP slapped on, I'd be very happy if this one remains it's own unique attraction. In terms of what I'd like to see brought in. Pepper's Ghost effects. I'd like to see Pepper's Ghost effect utilised loads. You could even use screens to create the effect, although you cannot beat using physical props.

This goes for all Merlin parks in the UK (except Legoland cos it looks like hell on earth). Years ago, when purchasing a ticket, on the reverse side there would be an offer to return to the park the next day at a heavily discounted price, last time I went it was like a fiver to return the next day. Does this offer still exist? I was planning of making a trip to Alton Towers at some point by buying a ticket on the day and then using Bounceback but I am unaware if the Bounceback offer even exists anymore.

The Ultimate now leaving the park and Raptor Attack gone. Definitely missed an opportunity to get up to LWV.

Let's reignite this discussion. Now that Chessington are constructing a B&M winged coaster. Could this be the investment that allows Chessie to retire the Vampire?

Time for my sporadic login. Been keeping an eye on this though haven't been to towers in a decade. Didn't they touch up Duel a couple years back during the Towers Loving Care (TLC) initiative? That didn't seem to prolong the lifespan by much. I'm a bit of a pessimist about this tbh. I do wish they make this great ghost train one of the best in the world once again but thinking about previous Merlin projects. Lets just say I'm very cautious. Also, I wouldn't even contemplate making a trip to Towers if Nemesis isn't available until 2024.

There is also the new coaster at flamingo land that is almost a carbon copy of Colossus so whether that is a factor for Thorpe to retrack/remove Colossus is not known. Thoughts?

Yeah it's a real conundrum isn't it? In an Ideal world they should of left Bubbleworks alone and when the new proposed coaster would open in the current picnic area would be the perfect time to bulldoze transylvania (minus trees) to get ready for a new dark ride. Could also plan on getting rid of Tomb Blaster as well as that's been on its last legs for a while now.

Would Vekoma be able to replicate the arrow track to do a retrack? You're only in the tunnel for a split second anyway so theming it would be a little pointless. I've bought up Vampires future previously and I'm quite astonished how long it's lasted. Loads of Arrow suspended coaster have bit the dust with only a handful remaining around the world. I think it could get refurbished in the near future as most of us understand that Chessie needs Vampire to be operating to draw in the crowds. Depending if the potential new coaster that's possibly coming can become Chessies main attraction then maybe Chessie my start planning the end of life plans for Vampire.

Had only been once on a school trip all the way back in '06 and it looks like it's only gotten better over the years. Beats the crap out of Disney Land Paris IMPO

people who add "The" in front of ride names that do not include "The" in the name. "Had you rode THE nemesis?" "Have you seen the queue for THE Colossus?" I could go on.

I've been toying with the idea of getting my backside up to LWV but with no raptor attack and Ultimate's future in the balance. I think I procrastinated too much.

Hadn't Towers done their TLC (Towers Loving Care) a couple years back? What is the general consensus on Duel's condition atm? Is there a possibility that it'll be removed in the next couple of years?

Just gone down memory lane with this one. Truly an amazing ride. I'm so grateful to have gone on annual trips to chessie in the late 90's into the 2000's to experience this gem. They don't make them like they used to...

On topic. The bins at Thorpe have a sickly sweet smell that attracts wasps like nobodies business. Whenever I smell it outside of Thorpe, that's where my mind takes me back to.

Is the smell of cannabis a regular occurrence at Thorpe Park?

Spoke too soon. Chessington have called an end to Black Buccaneer according to British Theme Park Archive on FB

I've done Thorpe a couple times by myself. Had got an annual pass for a birthday one year. You get on rides fairly quick but I dunno if this is the case anymore as I haven't been in years. I'm sure someone here would be up for going along with you.

Didn't intend for the thread to become specifically about merlin but I'm happy for it to go down that path. Out of the 3 merlin parks (no, legoland doesn't count). Chessington is the biggest disappointment of them all. As mentioned, I haven't visited in almost a decade. I think wild asia was the new thing at the time. What have we seen since? Zufari, which is a glorified jeep ride and a handful of rethemes. Ride reliability is apparently awful. Themeing has gone down the toilet. Overcrowded it seems. There used to be an undeniable charm about chessington around 15 years ago but has steadily gone down hill.