Tom

Let it be obvious from the start that this topic is in no way serious; the aim of the topic is simply to come up with fairly ridiculous ways to 'improve' the Dark Forest themed area of the Alton Towers Resort. This topic is 'photoshop' friendly so enjoy the example post: 'I would improve the Dark Forest with... Dragons.' This is supposed to be a bit of fun. Any useful points that contribute to actual discussion should be directed here in the Th13teen topic.

Sorry I misinterpreted your post because you were talking about restraints! Don't worry...

It's re-ridability would definitely suffer without the break in the ride; I could barely handle it with the break included.

Can anyone else come forward if they've had this problem?!

Not sure what you mean Benin. I for one think Tatsu is as smooth and comfortable as Air.

Beaten to it by Josh! Surely the ending would be horrendous and crush you?!

I was just thinking the exact same thing. Maybe because the following element (corkscrew) is a similar height and there's a chance it wouldn't make it round? But the second lift is after that so there would be no problems from then onwards.

I totally loved it. And I want the 75 minute one playing all day every day. Actually that would get a bit extreme. Although I am now fairly obsessed with The Smiler; sad times living in the south.

I THINK.. I THINK THIS TIME IT'S GOING TO WORK. Warning, coolant level rising... NO.. NOOOO. ^ That is clearly why. When it comes to the hulk I'm a big fan of the very different start to any other B&M, and the first inversion. But after that it does seem very samey and I'm not a fan of the floating corkscrew or the horrendous jank straight after it. Yeah I'm clueless Ryan. :/

Unfortunately there's no consistency! I would love to believe they'll run everything well from now on but I just know it's luck of the draw depending on what day you go, what teams are working...

But it still does hold the record for being the world's first 10 looping rollercoaster. Just like Dragon Khan holds the record for being the world's first 8 looping rollercoaster!

I would say they were both barrel rolls but to be honest it doesn't really matter; they're great.

No need for me to do a blog, I 100% agree. Although it needs to be said that the metal grating over the queue makes it horrendously claustrophobic, and it's a shame the best views of the ride are from outside the queue in my opinion. Every picture I've taken looks the same simply because there is just a tangled mess of supports and twisty black track. Really good ride and in a mini-report I wrote (and deleted as it's the same as this), I gave it an 8.5 too so we're on the same page. Love it, already planning my next trip!

As a note; I really don't know how anyone can say the ride 'duels' with itself. If anything it interacts and that is purely coincidental (for the moment anyway)... There are some real golden times when it interacts really well and looks incredible; very visually impressive. Really the whole ride is very visually impressive except from looking at in underneath with a metal grating an inch above your head.

Thanks a lot Ellie. I feel old, 2008 seems like way too long ago to have been part of this community.

^ This I 'sprained' my ankle about a month ago and it was incredibly painful to walk on for at least 2 weeks afterwards; I think I broke something but I never had it checked out and it got better so I'm hoping all is well. I do regret it now though as it could easily cause issues later in life!

If Loggers had a refurb what would you like to see changed/replaced? I can imagine even some good animatronics wouldn't go a miss; maybe even a plot line about a logging mill? I think I'm just dreaming of this. (Yes, another MiceChat link.)

I can agree about Nemesis, although I've always found the zero-g, for lack of a better word, 'janky' (note, not rough) but always thought that was just because it took the inversion with such speed. I can see that would be a perfect position to have the fire in front of you and then you swoop down towards it, but from the way I've seen Merlin operate I'm guessing the timing would be a total fluke. The fire seemed like a last minute introduction, and whilst really effective and eye-catching, it did really feel like 'Lets add something here, everyone loves fire'. So possibly one of the only redeeming features of the inverse for me felt like Merlin had lucked out. - I don't know why that should put me off enjoying the excellent theming, but I guess it's like going to McDonald's and ordering something you usually get and it for some reason tasted better than usual; it sort of makes you question whether it's a turning point for your meal or it was a one time thing.

I've had a long hard think and a few conversations about THE SWARM today and I felt I needed to make a post. It's come to my attention I don't enjoy the Zero-G or Corkscrew elements of The Swarm particularly. I think the Wingrider train makes the inversions lack any kind of natural flow and therefore (for me) ruin the experience of them. Don't get me wrong, there are so many other parts of the ride I find fantastic, particularly the first drop, helicopter turn, and inline twist over the station; and the wingrider trains are probably the reason for the enjoyment of these things. A zero-g for me is about the floating zero gravity feeling (Isn't that what the name suggests?), but The Swarm doesn't give that feeling, it seems to shoot high into the air, awkwardly hang and then drag you back down all the while being awkward. In my head it seems to stop at the top and then start again, a real unatural break in the ride especially after it has only just began! The corkscrew doesn't suffer from the same issue, but I still find something strange about it that isn't quite as enjoyable as it has been made out to be in the past. At first I really loved the wingrider concept and it does a lot of things extremely well, but I think it also limits a ride's ability to perform certain 'normal' inversions or elements well, my main example being the Zero-G which is pretty much ruined in my opinion. For reference: An example of how I think a zero-g should feel is highlighted perfectly by how majestically Nemesis and Nemesis Inferno, and any other B&M invert flows through the zero-g.

Please Thorpe, no togo. Disclaimer: I know Thorpe won't be getting a Togo.

It's open; queued an hour and 15 minutes the first time and just joined it again so I'll edit how long it took.

Yes; I suppose it says a lot about staff morale these past few seasons.

^ How is this a thing, do people actually do this now?

Yeah at the time of deconstruction Perilous was in a bit of a rusty old state. I'm welcoming the new family attractions even if the theme is very bland and 'been there'; a safe addition.