JoshC.

Pretty much the complete definition of off topic, but if anyone was curious, this thing (called Flight of the White Dragon) is now open testing: So Flying Aces no longer has the 'tallest loop' record. But it still has the completely pointless 'steepest (non-vertical) lift hill on a coaster' record. Yay. EDIT: Apparently the park doesn't open until September. Whoops. And some translations suggest it's called the much less awesome-sounding 'White Dragon in the Sky'.

Looks fun enough. If the 'lift hill' is more a launch and gets a bit of speed, it'll be a lot better. Mix in the large set pieces, the general feel of the area and maybe an effect or two in the building / sound tunnel and it'll be a neat family coaster that'll fit right in at Alton. Nothing ground breaking or special, just a fun ride that'd get 'Europe's first launched wooden roller coaster' tagged onto it to draw a bit more attention to it.

I agree that Fastrack should never be considered as an essential thing. But if you see it from the perspective of someone who is visiting for their first time, doesn't visit theme parks regularly, and isn't planning a visit again any time soon. If the park is busy, then buying Fastrack seems like a logical option to help try and maximise the day. In that respect, whilst it's not essential, it's a huge, mighty helpful thing to offer, especially if it's limited. And I guess that's the whole point of it. Fastrack should be a product which is hugely limited, but, as it stands, isn't limited enough. But that extreme limited availability shouldn't happen by just making it ridiculously expensive. Yes, make it expensive, but not to the point where it becomes a rich man's product. I wonder just how different guest satisfaction would be if the park were to 'double the price, half the number' of Fastracks? Yes, it means there's less Fastrack users, but how much will that affect the overall queue times? Not that much I'd bet. And then less people will get Fastrack tickets, despite the obvious demand for them, and people might be put off by the price, leading to cries of the park being too expensive. So whilst it make queue times slightly shorter, you may end up with more unhappy guests in the long run. Of course, I'm not saying this would be the case, but it's certainly not implausible in my books.

Remember, it's only entered administration - so there's still a chance that it will pull through and have a good-looking future. For the time being though, I of course agree: make the visits whilst we can and support the place as much as possible!

Yes; it disappeared around 2011/12 I believe.

People also seem content with taking expensive shots at Merlin too... (I don't know if Thorpe sell shots during MOS club nights so this joke might make no sense and be a complete fail but oh well)

The 'First Plaice Queue' sign was introduced a few seasons back, but I don't think I've ever actually seen it used. It replaced the SRQ sign / queue, which was rarely used anyway.

The question of if this'll even have an IP is more on my mind. You only have to look at how strong a brand Smiler is to see that Merlin (or, Towers at least) can create a good in house IP. However, given how reliant Merlin have been on IPs lately, and that they've only made two non-external IP attractions in the UK since Smiler opened (Galactica and Pandamonium), it's hard to say they won't be tempted to go for one...

I can only do Saturdays really, but if it is a Sunday I'll see what I can do.

Interested!

"But if I wanted to look at grass, I'd go to a garden centre, not a theme park" Alton Towers - the park where you can do both!

I think once this eventually opens, word of mouth will play a massive part in getting people in. Once a date is set, the social media push will come again and that will hype up enough people to get the initial jump in gate figure for the first few days/weeks. Word of mouth will then spread and - assuming it is well received - people will hear "You've got to go there and do it", which will just continue and improve numbers all the more.

"BACK TO BASICS Theme Park set to go back to old fashioned roller coasters after losing trust in modern steel ones. Alton Towers Resort have submitted plans for a roller coaster to made entirely from WOOD, going back 100 years to old fashioned, basic roller coasters. This follows the tragic accident last year on steel roller coaster The Smiler, where 5 people were seriously injured after 2 trains collided together, including two girls having to have a leg amputated. Many have questioned the decision, saying that going back to lo-tech, rickety rides from the past is more dangerous. "They should be putting in more technology, making these rides safer" said a random Twitter user, who also added "Wooden roller coasters are not safe, you feel like you'll die on them!" A Facebook user said "To go back to such old technology shows they've lost faith in themselves - Alton Towers and Merlin should close down!!!' "

https://towersstreet.com/news/2016/breaking-news-sw8-plans-published/ GCI woodie to be exact, with a possible launch. Couple of nice, large, themed structures too - seemingly taller than the ride itself? The question now is - what will this ride's tagline be? Are we going to see 'Europe's first launched wooden roller coaster', or some obscure, currently hidden, world first element?

Sad news indeed. Hopefully they can bounce back, and that their Screamland event pulls in the numbers this year - assuming that it actually can operate.

I had a problem with mine (base was scratched); just take it back to Ghost Train shop and they can replace it.

It's interesting to note that there are gates in line with all the doors, as well as for the designated main entrance and exit as marked on the plans. I wonder if this is just for fire escape purposes or if they're making significant changes to it (fail a room, get kicked out)? Also interesting that they haven't put in the third container for staff despite there being fences.

Personally, I'd say head to Stealth first (if you're planning on doing that), then Inferno. Check out IAC, but be wary that at the beginning of the day the wait time can be quiet a while because they have to wait for a group of size 10 to go through. Afterwards, do X and Storm Surge before the queues get too large. From there, anything else of interest to you should have reasonably short queues. Wait till mid-to-late afternoon for Swarm and Depth Charge. If you're planning on ride Ghost Train (assuming it is open), just wait till near the end of the day; you'll have done everything else and you're going to have to wait a whlie for it either way.

^It's interesting you mention about dispersing crowds throughout the year. In the last MTDP, Thorpe did explicitly mention that they were expecting to have an growth in the number of visitors each year, and that this growth would come from more visitors on off peak / quieter days. Whether they had some sort of plan to do this (as opposed to just wishful thinking), I don't know, but it is something the park were at least aware of. In theory, this sounds great, but then you run risk of creating a situation where theme parks become too expensive for people to bother with. Fastrack has its positives too, especially for guests who rarely visit / can only visit once. If such guests could only visit on very busy days, and see the option of Fastrack avaliable, they might see it as one way to be able to maximise their enjoyment for the day. Make it too expensive, on top of the ticket price, and people might just not bother. Of course, I agree that Fastrack is a premium product and should be expensive, but there still has to be a balance. To make an unlimited Fastrack ticket cost £160 would be pretty outrageous in anyone's books.

I don't think so. This seems to be one of, if not, the, first day this season the fire effect has been operational this season, and I'm pretty confident that the park have had more than 8k visitors previously this season. So if that is the case, then it must be a very recent decision. I think a possibility of why we haven't seen it much this season is because they had to get the effect signed off from an independent inspector again and it just took a bit of time to happen.

Please be open by July 2nd...Please be open by July 2nd...Please be open by July 2nd...

I love a good bit of humour, but any joke gets tiring if you see again and again and again in fairness. Originality would loosen my knickers

I'm beginning to think the next person who makes the 'Derren Brown's Bus Replacement Service' joke should get a one way ticket to Bansville...

And many people are one day closer to lying on their deathbed realising they wasted too much time and energy on worrying and moaning about what week a theme park attraction opens. Yay.

And then purposefully build a bad woodie for the extra spite.