Mitchada04

Slammer was running well today with no downtime. I even saw people using the main zig-zag queue instead of just the path up to the split point which I had never seen before. Good on you Slammer!

Stealth was down all day today and it didn't look like any work was taking place on it. No trains were on track so I'm guessing they're waiting for a part.

The Swarm has had some new cameras installed to capture those braving it backwards (I guess buying a photo of the back of your head wasn't proving popular. I noticed the one for the right hand rows last week and found the one for the left hand rows today. The one for the right hand side. And the cleverly hidden one for the left hand side.

Next summer when I can drive (hopefully) I'll definitely attend as Oakwood looks great and I've never been to Wales. This year though will more likely be a no but I'll still try and make it!

Each train is a different colour. We have the car we've all seen many times. The green car Red car (my favourite) The blue car which wants a race with the red car... I think red won. Love the colour of the track. All photos from Tripsdrill's FB page.

Was a great afternoon and excellent event/meet! The 6 rides on Inferno was brilliant and the ride area tour very interesting, especially to see how close the track comes to the ground at certain points. Hope those who went up the lift hill also enjoyed it. What made it better is how the staff were very enthusiastic about having us, ensuring we had a good time, and about the ride itself. Also a massive thanks to Thorpe themselves for allowing this to go ahead and the admin/mod team for arranging it! Happy Birthday Nemesis Inferno!

If it is The Harvester which one will it be, the one in Ottershaw or the one heading towards Windsor?

I'm not sure even *name removed* is awesome enough to sneak 20-30 people through a ride exit without it looking seriously suspicious

Here's a quote from Chessington Buzz when they interviewed Nick Varney which offers a view on why wooden coasters aren't being built by Merlin. So basically, the only way we'll see a wooden coaster is if it has a gimmick that will draw in the customers.

Personally, Fright Nights doesn't work well anymore regarding theming because of the two Monday to Thursday non Fright Night sections in the middle. Therefore, they don't do large park wide theming because it would confuse people going on these non Fright Night dates. I understand why they made it so they weren't Fright Nights as they were so quiet, but maybe Thorpe should consider opening later in the day so they can remain open later st night and attract people after they've finished work or school. I'm very excited to see what they do this year though with the way they keep teasing us with a big twist for this year!

Just flicked through Facebook and noticed this is an on going thing for the time being. I'm surprised they aren't actually advertising this properly through social networking etc. as I'm sure this will bring in the customers if they are made aware of it.

I feel the exact same way EC. There is just so much potential to be had with the speed after the top hat but this wasn't used. However, after reading this over on CoasterForce (posted by Newtrek5) I am a bit more understanding and feel that they have done the best they can with what they had/were given. Either way, I wouldn't say no to riding this even if it is just for the hang time of that massive loop and the lap bars

Ferrari. The 458 says it all. Vertical or beyond vertical?

You've also got to take into account how it starts on the MCBR with no speed where as during normal operation (I presume) it will be rolling through there thus carrying more speed.

Nemesis (for me) is pure perfection. Smiler was good, but not that good.

A picture of the new restraint system has been posted by Theme Park Guide. The ride also closed at 1 today and as the article by Theme Park Guide says that not all of the trucks have these installed yet so maybe that is why. Or possibly it was to do with Rameses or Runaway Train as the access road is just behind Zufari. Either way, these look like an improvement! http://www.themeparkguide.biz/news-page/17th-june-2013-zufari-restraint-upgrade

The 'U' stands for unavailable. They do seem to have changed again to just say the time, except Flying Fish which still has its slogan

Yesterday (16/06/13) was my annual trip to the wonderful place that is Alton Towers. The past few weeks I had been quite worried in hearing that Smiler had kept breaking down, stalling and so on. Luckily, we not only got one chance to smile, but we got two! The park yesterday was fairly quiet with queues ranging from 10-40 minutes for the main coasters with Smiler being between 80 and 120 minutes all day. Everything was working except Oblivion and Enterprise. We had lovely weather all day, not too hot, not too cold, it was just right. It was a great day and I did quite a few new things for me (Nemesis front row, Sub Terra, and The Smiler). Ride Count: Nemesis: 3 (1 front 2 back) The Smiler: 2 Air, Duel, Rita, 13, Sonic, The Flume, Rapids, RMT, Sub Terra, Battle Galleons, Ice Age, Submission, Skyride: 1 Now time for some Smiler pictures and a few others. Our day started off by seeing this lovely 3D Smiler advert in our hotel (I did want to take it home ) Sunny day at Towers, and the Monorail. Diving Corkscrewing Equalling Colossus' record. Now beating Colossus' record. Diving, again. No advocates... Advocates! Random Battle Galleons pic Oblivion closed, but don't want it to feel left out. Lots of tangled track. So much track! Laughing gas, I mean mist. Half way corrected! And I leave you with this sad picture of Harry the duck. All he wants is to become a yellow rubber duck but the staff at Towers can't fund his transformation. To help Harry, all you need to do is ride The Smiler instead of The Flume, then hopefully the staff will realise how important this transformation is for Harry. Thank you for your support. Thanks for reading

After my 2 rides on The Smiler yesterday I thought I'd share my views on it. Spoilers are therefore a possibility. My views may be a bit biased as on both of my rides I sat on the same seat and I believe the same train as from what I've heard each row and train varies quite drastically at times. Upon entering X-Sector you are greeted by this massive, shiny black, tangle of track compacted into a space that looks far too small for such a large coaster. The last time I saw the sight the Black Hole tent was still standing untouched so to see the sudden change was spectacular, and the space has been used so well! The walk down to the entrance is brilliant, the atmosphere really captures you with loads of people patiently waiting whilst the intoxicating music starts to get stuck in your mind. From this height, the ride and Marmaliser look huge, yet don't dominate the whole of X-Sector so the contrast has been perfectly found. Every time a car went round, 99% of peoples eyes were drawn into watching it squeak its way around the track, and with Oblivion closed all day the focus was purely on The Smiler (and Submission's one arm of course ) Through the entrance you go (I didn't find this to be as bad in person as it looked in pictures) and down the stairs to the queue. This is where the full scale of the ride can be witnessed! From here the Marmaliser looks and feels more immersive and with the cars speeding past you at close proximity you ignore everything else and are only caring of The Smiler. For both my rides I used SRQ (because I preferred queuing 20 minutes compared to 120) so did not get to experience the full cattle pen fun. But, I can say I think you'd forget about the massive winding queue when above is a massive mess of winding coaster track. The main queue also seemed to be moving fairly quickly. The mesh above the queue isn't really a big thing and at times you can understand why it had to be added. The small indoor queue was quite nice. Didn't quite see the point of it but it was nice to see the projection mapping instead of them just leaving it as decorated walls and dim lighting. Once batched at this point, you ascend the stairs with correction getting ever closer. Once at the top, you have to wait a couple of trains before you are on (longer for SRQ of course). The station does seem a bit bland with white walls but I like it as this means you focus all your attention on the trains leaving and returning. The dispatch sequence is good with the lights going on, mist being squirted at you as you speedily dive towards the first of 14 inversions, the process has begun! Much like Saw, the inside part is great fun and the inversion is a great start to the process. I also like the lighting on the ceiling and arrows on the wall whilst you wait to climb lift hill number one. My only niggle with the inside section is the amount of natural daylight that seeps in meaning you can see the lovely floor with all the puddles. The chain starts, the car is attached, and you swiftly climb to the top. At the top you get a nice view of the lake in front before suddenly you are speeding to inversion number 2, the inverted drop. This is taken at decent speed and doesn't bang your head, however, on my seat I was lifted out slightly so when flat again I hit the seat quite hardly on both of my rides. As I said though, this could just have been my seat or me because I leave ample room in the restraint to move at the start of the ride. The 2 dive loops follows and they are great fun, and the transition between them is ridiculously smooth, possibly B&M smooth! Through the Marmaliser you go for the first time with a great piece of airtime. Unfortunately, you are going so fast the effect on this part of the Marmaliser is kind of lost but it did offer a nice head chopper. Going down to the pit you can feel the train is trimmed but I didn't see the problem with this as it meant the batwing and corkscrew are taken at just the right speed so no head banging occurs. Happily, the brake run for the vertical lift is reached. At this point I was thinking that was great and would have got of then a very happy advocate. But the ride continues with a much appreciated break for you to regain sense of your surroundings. The vertical lift is nothing special, just nice and comfy to have a lay down before the fun starts all over again. the train seems to shudder a bit at the top as the chain jolts to slow you down, but none the less you're off again. Another inverted drop greets you and this time I didn't fly out of my seat (but on both rides my restraint was tighter at this point). A wonderful butterfly follows which is quite intense, it's also quite unique as I for one haven't ridden may rides with one of these inversions featured. Again, you speed past the Marmaliser with a nice pop of airtime. This time, the effects are a bit better as you past the Giggler which covers you in moist mist. Trims are in affect again but this time I seriously appreciated there presence. The first half of the cobra was as expected, and till this point the ride had been pretty smooth with no head banging moments. however, this all changed from after here. The transition into the second half of the cobra looks wrong with a very sudden and sharp change to inverting and diving. It rides just as awkward as it looks with your head getting a small battering here. The 2 corkscrew/roll things are also quite shaky probably due to the speed at which they are taken. A swift 180 degree turn to the station and the process is complete. The train returns to the station and you are now told that you are a smiling advocate. Rainbow stairs allow you to climb up and over the station (they seemed pointless, especially as they are now dirty so mostly brown). The exit route is brilliant, an excellent way to disorientate you even more after the ride. Tight corridors with wacky decoration, confusing use of paint to make you think that one way's the way out when in fact this is just a wall, and a bit more projection mapping. Great way to end the ride and makes me think how cool X's queue could have been! At this point I though the amazing stuff would be over and the shop would be bog standard. Wrong I was! Mirrors are dotted around the shop which can make it seem like you are wearing Smiler glasses, holding a bear, etc. They even made there very own cheesy shopping channel (much like when you see JML adverts in Robert Dyas). It is brilliant to see the effort that went into this whole project. the only let down in the shop (other than the high Merlin prices ) is the glass floor which was useless as you couldn't see through it due to the sun! Yes, the ride isn't perfect with a few areas needing correcting, mainly the inside part of the ride. Whilst it is a bit of a head banger at the end, it is no where near as brutal as Saw and up until the cobra roll it is pretty smooth. The people next to me were remarking how smooth the ride was at the end which is great to hear. Overall, the public were loving the ride and many queuing up again even though it was 2 hours! The Smiler is definitely something Towers have been missing for a while now and is an excellent way to bring back the thrill market. As long as this ride doesn't deteriorate badly over the next couple of years they have a winner on their hands! Personally, it is a brilliant ride but not quite as good as Nemesis (my opinion). The general public love it which is all that matters really at the end of the day. 8.5/10- could easily get a 9 if the indoor part is worked on and I try out other seats. Good work Towers, I am now a smiling advocate Well done if you read all of this

Well I'm at Towers tomorrow so I'd be happy with: 1. Open 2. 100 minutes 3. 4 trains

Today I went to Thorpe for the afternoon mainly to get my new pass for my trip to Towers on Sunday but also to explore what the park has to offer for kids as they try to shift their target market to include families. New pass, check. Drinks capsule, check. And away we go! Flying Fish is always a good start for your family adventure. Storm Surge is always good for families, and well liked. Why I don't know but the customer is always right. Look! Another family coaster and it seems popular today. And of course there is the good old teacups, even with Tetley sponsorship for all you tea drinking adults. Then you can continue spinning on the waves of Calypso (but not today as it was closed) Mr Monkey welcomes you to his banana boat. Yep, not just a pirate ship, a banana boat! There's also a Carousel behind me but forgot to get a picture of it, thought it might be to extreme for families. Children can then go on a great fun log flume, but with a double drop! Next up you can ride a wild train to some awesome music. Provides a great thrill for people of all ages. Speaking of trains, hopefully these will once again go down allowing families to go on a bear hunt. Now for the more thrill seeking youngsters Zodiac is a suitable option with only a 0.9 restriction! And the wild ride that is Quantum which even makes my stomach churn. Children between over 1.3 but not quite tall enough for the large coasters can also enjoy Rush and Detonator which both offer great thrills for their height restriction. To end your family adventure you can take a slide down Depth Charge and relax on the beach which is brilliant in nice weather! Overall, it isn't going to be impossible to shift the target market with lots of it going to be down to marketing as they have a handful of suitable family attractions. I'm sure in a couple of years with the proper hotel and a few years of investment in the park a change will have successfully occurred, and all for the best! As long as they don't lose sight and go too soft with their additions. I am very excited to see how this change turns out! Note, my day did not consist of riding these rides

From what I saw today operations were great. All the coasters were running at full capacity and dispatching well. Was great to see Stealth on two trains which is a first for me this season! The guy on Nemesis Inferno even made loading a train like a challenge by saying 'you have 35 seconds to be seated, your time starts now!' Little things like this just make the day much better on a whole.

Few things regarding X: It seems more smoke is present in the pyramid towards the end of the day, probably because it accumulates throughout the day. One staff member in the baggage area is not enough as they can't cope. Because of this many trains were being sent half empty. Two members are needed here, that way a 20 minute queue could have easily been under 15 minutes. They were only running 3 trains today which meant the trains didn't stop on the 3rd brake run. A train was always being loaded so I don't think it hindered throughput very much. On one of my rides today the train stopped at every brake run even though the track ahead was clear. Went on straight after but it rolled straight through them so must have been a small glitch on the first ride.

Probably that England has got another brilliant (will verify this on Sunday) coaster and he's jealous that he's stuck riding Wacky Worms and fake SLCs in China

Busch Gardens Tampa have announced their new ride for 2014 and it looks pretty spectacular! It's a 335ft drop tower and you'll reach 60mph when dropping, however, there is a twist. You will be tilted 90 degrees at the top to face the ground as you fall. The concept sounds amazing and even a drop tower of that height is quite intimidating! It's called Falcon's Fury and will open Spring 2014 (typical, just after I visit as per usual). Concept art From the restraints it looks like it'll be an Intamin as they resemble Lex Luthor Drop of Doom's. However, Merlin used Gerst restraints for Krake so that may not be accurate. Either way, looks interesting, will just depend if the drop is forceful or not! http://falconsfury.com/en/Parks/BuschGardens_Tampa/Home/Attractions/Rides/Falcons-Fury Edit: You beat me to it Josh! But my post has a lovely piece of concept art and a link to the rides page so mine's clearly the better post