BenC

I was lucky enough to ride Wicker Man last Saturday - I say lucky because the ride's availability was like a yo-yo all day.
 
It's a winner. It's not going to win any awards for being the most extreme or "world's first <who cares>" or the fastest or the tallest... but of course it doesn't need to, to be a solid ride. It carries an excellent - and consistent - theme, complete with theatrical pre-show, matched with a comfortable and yet still out-of-control ride. Signature GCI. And the clear, standout highlight is that first drop, which starts tame, becomes more exciting with the airtime hill, and then totally surprises with the fast banked right-left turns. Outstanding.
 
The slow turnaround in the back half feels a bit of a waste to me, and I would have loved for it to have been longer, but all Wicker Man really had to do was show the UK market that wood can compete with steel. And with recent reports that guest feedback has been stellar, it sure does that.
 
Unfortunately, I can't speak of 2018's Towers with the same affection. Last Saturday was a sunny 21 degrees, and the crowd levels reflected that. A 10am - 5pm opening in these circumstances is inexcusable. There was no closing time extension, despite queues of over 60 minutes on all the coasters, all day. Smiler hit 100 minutes, Wicker 150. The crowd I was with had never been to Alton before, so we took the early call to invest in Gold Fastrack (at £60 each) to enable us to actually ride all the big rides in this shorter time frame. And even with the Fastrack, we found it more than a little stressful to get round the park in one day (ride breakdowns didn't help - and Rita eluded us altogether).
 
Not only that, but operations in places were abysmal. Oblivion was on one train loading, with just 3 platform staff; throughput can't have been more than 300 per hour. Galactica's queue was crawling (with the VR payoff far from a good enough justification). Congo River Rapids was closed all day. And with no Sub Terra, no Ripsaw, no Charlie, no Submission, and no Flume - not to mention the closed stalls & eateries - you can't help walk around the place wondering where all the magic has gone. Depressing stuff.

YAS! I have never seen a UK ride receive this much love and excitement for since well, Nemesis. It's an absolute pleasure to ride and it to me is the single most important ride built this century. (hyperbole necessary). I'm so glad it comes across as so middle of the road because when you get off the thing, you're blown away by how good it is and Alton fully deserve the praise.
 
And here's what bugs me. Wicker Man is excellent but it cannot paper the cracks of poor decision making. On a hot day the park should never close at 5. Oblivion only runs two stations on absolute peak days, thats crazy. Wicker Man is clearly having a big effect on the park, more people are visiting and therefore the park should be reacting quicker to this stuff. Galatica is a mess. The quicker the VR goes the better.
 
The sad thing is Saturday was a travesty but I went on Monday and at one point WickerMan only had a 5 minute queue, was running three trains all day and had no breakdowns. Thats the kind of guest experience the park should be delivering every day and a 4/5pm close to me seems no longer warranted or excused.

I was lucky enough to ride Wicker Man last Saturday - I say lucky because the ride's availability was like a yo-yo all day.
 
It's a winner. It's not going to win any awards for being the most extreme or "world's first <who cares>" or the fastest or the tallest... but of course it doesn't need to, to be a solid ride. It carries an excellent - and consistent - theme, complete with theatrical pre-show, matched with a comfortable and yet still out-of-control ride. Signature GCI. And the clear, standout highlight is that first drop, which starts tame, becomes more exciting with the airtime hill, and then totally surprises with the fast banked right-left turns. Outstanding.
 
The slow turnaround in the back half feels a bit of a waste to me, and I would have loved for it to have been longer, but all Wicker Man really had to do was show the UK market that wood can compete with steel. And with recent reports that guest feedback has been stellar, it sure does that.
 
Unfortunately, I can't speak of 2018's Towers with the same affection. Last Saturday was a sunny 21 degrees, and the crowd levels reflected that. A 10am - 5pm opening in these circumstances is inexcusable. There was no closing time extension, despite queues of over 60 minutes on all the coasters, all day. Smiler hit 100 minutes, Wicker 150. The crowd I was with had never been to Alton before, so we took the early call to invest in Gold Fastrack (at £60 each) to enable us to actually ride all the big rides in this shorter time frame. And even with the Fastrack, we found it more than a little stressful to get round the park in one day (ride breakdowns didn't help - and Rita eluded us altogether).
 
Not only that, but operations in places were abysmal. Oblivion was on one train loading, with just 3 platform staff; throughput can't have been more than 300 per hour. Galactica's queue was crawling (with the VR payoff far from a good enough justification). Congo River Rapids was closed all day. And with no Sub Terra, no Ripsaw, no Charlie, no Submission, and no Flume - not to mention the closed stalls & eateries - you can't help walk around the place wondering where all the magic has gone. Depressing stuff.

I was lucky enough to ride Wicker Man last Saturday - I say lucky because the ride's availability was like a yo-yo all day.
 
It's a winner. It's not going to win any awards for being the most extreme or "world's first <who cares>" or the fastest or the tallest... but of course it doesn't need to, to be a solid ride. It carries an excellent - and consistent - theme, complete with theatrical pre-show, matched with a comfortable and yet still out-of-control ride. Signature GCI. And the clear, standout highlight is that first drop, which starts tame, becomes more exciting with the airtime hill, and then totally surprises with the fast banked right-left turns. Outstanding.
 
The slow turnaround in the back half feels a bit of a waste to me, and I would have loved for it to have been longer, but all Wicker Man really had to do was show the UK market that wood can compete with steel. And with recent reports that guest feedback has been stellar, it sure does that.
 
Unfortunately, I can't speak of 2018's Towers with the same affection. Last Saturday was a sunny 21 degrees, and the crowd levels reflected that. A 10am - 5pm opening in these circumstances is inexcusable. There was no closing time extension, despite queues of over 60 minutes on all the coasters, all day. Smiler hit 100 minutes, Wicker 150. The crowd I was with had never been to Alton before, so we took the early call to invest in Gold Fastrack (at £60 each) to enable us to actually ride all the big rides in this shorter time frame. And even with the Fastrack, we found it more than a little stressful to get round the park in one day (ride breakdowns didn't help - and Rita eluded us altogether).
 
Not only that, but operations in places were abysmal. Oblivion was on one train loading, with just 3 platform staff; throughput can't have been more than 300 per hour. Galactica's queue was crawling (with the VR payoff far from a good enough justification). Congo River Rapids was closed all day. And with no Sub Terra, no Ripsaw, no Charlie, no Submission, and no Flume - not to mention the closed stalls & eateries - you can't help walk around the place wondering where all the magic has gone. Depressing stuff.

Great
 
*Drives straight past to ride Icon.

Right, but that isn't working. Park numbers are still down, trying to make an interesting dark ride for older teenagers hasn't worked, trying to regain the family market isn't working either. Thorpe's biggest problem is that it just doesn't know what it wants to be. X is Thorpe Park in ride form. Jumping from theme to theme, idea to idea for the last twenty years and never letting it stick or settle. All that effort with X to get it to be a 1 metre height restriction and a Walking Dead theme completely flies in the face of that. Look at any park that has numbers on the up around the globe, all of them know their branding, know who they are wanting to attract. Chessington, despite so many flaws, knows who it is advertising at. 
 
I'm not an expert but I can't be the only one fed up of these miserable themes at Thorpe Park. If I see one more barbed fence, run down wreck added to the line up...

http://x.news.altontowers.com/ats/msg.aspx?sg1=1e46301a5b5269831eae72fb4f47a522
 
Scroll down to Thorpe Park... we have the "safe zone" tagline with Walking Dead Fright Nights image behind it.
 
Walking Dead-themed 22-year old family roller coaster looking increasingly likely...

The park have broken their silence on Colossos and released a video (in German) about it.
 
Essentially, in summer 2016, the condition of the rails was found to be a terrible state and the ride had to close immediately.  Being Intamin (presumably), it's different to other wooden coasters, takes longer and more money to repair, and requires a full track replacement amongst other things.  Heide management are awaiting a decision from the big guys at Merlin as to whether they'll be given the money to fund the repairs, and an announcement of the decision will be made on 11th January.
 
Part of me feels that because they've made an announcement like this, this is actually a good sign.  Maybe they already know the ride is staying, and 11th January is when work starts  / a reopening date is set.  To me, it'd feel strange to publicly say 'we're waiting on a decision from people above us about money' when it's undecided.  But who knows..

It's a very good ride, packaged up in a world-class way. But it's not going to trouble my top ten... it doesn't do much other than twist and turn.
#TeamHelix all the way. More intense, more varied. Better trains. And the view! And the in-line twist finale! An absolute joy.

It's a very good ride, packaged up in a world-class way. But it's not going to trouble my top ten... it doesn't do much other than twist and turn.
#TeamHelix all the way. More intense, more varied. Better trains. And the view! And the in-line twist finale! An absolute joy.

Wow who remembers this short lived mascot from 2004
 

 
Only picture I could find, apparently even Wayback machine can't be bothered to store much of that year's awful website. The tagline is "If you’re here for fear, Thorpe Park will satisfy your twisted cravings. We’ll take you to limits you didn’t know existed." The first time the park went solely towards thrill seekers but went way too far in that direction, I remember the page for the 'new' Rumba Rapids tried to sell it as being so intense you were guaranteed to vomit. Ha ha
 

^ They sure are. Had the pleasure of riding Manta at SeaWorld San Diego a few weeks ago; pitched firmly as a family ride with the launch(es) just a little over 40mph, and it was still a joy. Smooth tracking, the most comfortable seating, and an completely nonrestrictive riding position. We were the only people in the station; I went round 5 times in a row
 
(Yes, SeaWorld are still struggling with attendance).

Merlin love a good "accidental" leak. They've been doing it for years. Just try walking under Storm Surge.

Ferrari World's next phase of development is "due for completion in early 2017", according to a senior executive (Linky). This is widely assumed to include the new SFX coaster (Mission Ferrari, originally slated to open in 2015), and the shuttle coaster (Vortex, with track expected to shoot vertically up through the centre of the building). In the meantime, the park is putting on some pretty imaginative Eid celebrations:
 

 
<Shameless plug>
 
Having enjoyed my trip to the UAE so much in 2014, I'm organising a much larger group trip to return in March 2017, for the European Coaster Club. If you have ever wanted to do the parks of the Middle East, but not had the chance, please join us! There are well over 50 signed up already, and with some luck we'll be able to tour Ferrari's new rides, alongside the 4 new Parks opening in the region just this year.
 
The invite is here: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/45676878/ECC_Invites/UAE_2017_Invite_UK.pdf, and the deadline for booking is 24th July. Throw any questions over to me via a PM .
 
</shameless plug>
 

The worst decision Disney have ever made. Selling out a classic attraction for a flash in the pan Marvel film. 
 
Massively disappointed. 
 
Still angers me, five/six months later.

??

It's a marvelous feat of engineering and design. I'm not sure why everyone was hyped thinking the ride was going to be the best thing ever. The hype should have been justfor the fact this legend has finally made it to the UK. And that it's silky smooth, travels Europe, operates better than anything we have in this country and is 30 odd years old. It's crazy! 
 
The ride is just fun. Good speed throughout with some flicky twists and turns. Didn't have any issues with the restraints either. 
 
Really dislike how nowadays everything has to be a "it's in" or "it's not in my top 10." Stop trying to compare every ride to everything and just sit back and enjoy. It's so much more fun! 

Expedition GeForce is over rated...

In the case of Energylandia, the answer is "the EU"! The Park opened in 2014 having cost 73 million Polish Zloty, of which 42m Zloty (just over £8m) was provided by the European Regional Development Fund.
 
Sauce: http://krakow.wyborcza.pl/krakow/1,44425,16156849,W_Zatorze_powstaje_najwiekszy_park_rozrywki_w_Polsce.html.
 
You can see the Park's original request for tender for "supplier of equipment for the Theme Park" (jointly with the ERDF) - which eventually all went to Vekoma - here: https://energylandia.pl/files/PRZETARGI/PRZETARG3/zapytanie.pdf.
 
No idea whether the latest round of investments (Intamin Water Coaster for 2017 and the above Intamin Mega Coaster in 2018) have been similarly assisted by the ERDF or not, but given that the Park has had a solid first couple of years in terms of attendance, they may well be doing it alone...!
 
The EU has its benefits... 

Queuing an hour for Storm Surge and getting into a boat that's not filled with water is worth cracking out the Prosecco for IMO...
 
But in all seriousness, the indoor drop in Saw is a fantastic moment that is let down by the rest of the painful experience. 

Was fortunate enough to be at the Preview Night tonight, namely to get as many rides in on Olympia München Looping as possible. Having not been able to get to Austria to ride it at Wiener Prater, it's more than pleasing to see it making its UK debut in Winter Wonderland's 10th year!
 
Taken at face value, it's a fantastic roller coaster. Run with German efficiency (there's one restraint-checker for each row of two seats), it's glass smooth, forceful (up to 5.2G), and long (c.2 minutes ride time; only Big One and Ultimate are longer in the UK). Then you consider that it's a travelling coaster, and that it arrived in pieces across 50 trailers only a week or two ago. And then you consider that it's over 27 years old. Then you realise how seriously impressive it is.
 
My only criticism is that the "concertina" OTSRs do tend to compress down as the ride goes on, sometimes making for a squashed back by the time you hit the break run. But this hardly detracts from enjoyment.
 
It's even looks stunning. Definitely deserving of nine of your British pounds, and I wouldn't be surprised if this increases to ten once they get the crowds in nearer to Christmas. Highly recommended.
 

 

 

 

Was fortunate enough to be at the Preview Night tonight, namely to get as many rides in on Olympia München Looping as possible. Having not been able to get to Austria to ride it at Wiener Prater, it's more than pleasing to see it making its UK debut in Winter Wonderland's 10th year!
 
Taken at face value, it's a fantastic roller coaster. Run with German efficiency (there's one restraint-checker for each row of two seats), it's glass smooth, forceful (up to 5.2G), and long (c.2 minutes ride time; only Big One and Ultimate are longer in the UK). Then you consider that it's a travelling coaster, and that it arrived in pieces across 50 trailers only a week or two ago. And then you consider that it's over 27 years old. Then you realise how seriously impressive it is.
 
My only criticism is that the "concertina" OTSRs do tend to compress down as the ride goes on, sometimes making for a squashed back by the time you hit the break run. But this hardly detracts from enjoyment.
 
It's even looks stunning. Definitely deserving of nine of your British pounds, and I wouldn't be surprised if this increases to ten once they get the crowds in nearer to Christmas. Highly recommended.
 

 

 

 

Was fortunate enough to be at the Preview Night tonight, namely to get as many rides in on Olympia München Looping as possible. Having not been able to get to Austria to ride it at Wiener Prater, it's more than pleasing to see it making its UK debut in Winter Wonderland's 10th year!
 
Taken at face value, it's a fantastic roller coaster. Run with German efficiency (there's one restraint-checker for each row of two seats), it's glass smooth, forceful (up to 5.2G), and long (c.2 minutes ride time; only Big One and Ultimate are longer in the UK). Then you consider that it's a travelling coaster, and that it arrived in pieces across 50 trailers only a week or two ago. And then you consider that it's over 27 years old. Then you realise how seriously impressive it is.
 
My only criticism is that the "concertina" OTSRs do tend to compress down as the ride goes on, sometimes making for a squashed back by the time you hit the break run. But this hardly detracts from enjoyment.
 
It's even looks stunning. Definitely deserving of nine of your British pounds, and I wouldn't be surprised if this increases to ten once they get the crowds in nearer to Christmas. Highly recommended.
 

 

 

 

Testing, testing, 1 2 3...
 
 

Thanks for this great post!
 
I'm actually quite excited about it now  Not that I wasn't at all, but I did start wondering if all the hype and build-up would leave me disappointed, plus I didn't realise it was such a long ride! And a smooth travelling coaster  
 
Aww and it looks so pwetty