TPJames

The fountains have always been manual and always will be... This is the same with monkey swinger as well. I have never seen more than the standard 3 cycles you get these days. My guess is they have locked the other ones down meaning operators are only allowed to access those three cycles. Wish the cycles were changed up from time to time like samurai as would be nice to see the other ways in which the ride can perform!

It sounds so great! Was utterly expecting them to do a 'thorpe park' and be on reduced operations for everything! Really looking forward to this now, thank you for all your help! Will be asking for a soaking on ripsaw but hopefully will have time to ride it a couple of times to get soaked So excited, doing all three halloween events in the merlin parks this year

I did remember a video a while back when the operator was asking the riders what setting they wanted and they chose setting 6 which was an utterly dull setting they still use today(the first cycle before the spin cycle which does 3 rotations with the gondola locked and then unlocks the gondola upside down but doesn't do any flips). I am hopefully going to howloween this year so will be sure to ask the op(seeing as you walk past the control box!) what's up with all the cycles these days. When I asked for the program where it does one flip and then goes all the way over with the gondola unlocked(the other cycle you get before the spin cycle), he said he didn't know what it was but eventually found the cycle and we got it! I would really like to see other cycles programmed into the ride, would be interesting if there were any more intense than the 'spin cycle' itself.

Found another vid(last one I promise!)'they are getting really drenched this time on the last ride of the day, the op is even soaking the queueline! Really would want to be on this one as love getting soaked on rameses so hoping for a wet ride on ripsaw. Seeing as it's not meant to be too busy when I visit, I think I'll just do whatever but save smiler and spinball towards late afternoon/middle of the day. Hopefully all queues will be under 15minutes so won't really matter what rides I head to first

The operator has a choice of 3 program's, the two shown and a third. The one with 4 flips is most intense and the others are less intense so the operator will tend to do the less intense one(of his/her choice) first! Unless they press the wrong button of course which happened to us meaning we got the less intense one second! They are the only 3 program's that I am aware of, the only three I have ever seen in videos or in person. Would be interesting to see if there were any different cycles on the ride not used though

They definitely used to reach the front row, although u didn't get as nearly as wet as the back. Notice here how the front row gets a soaking, the water fountains did reach but they seem to have reduced in size now. Strange really...

Wikipedia states X takes 1000pph: "Capacity: 1,000 riders per hour" I see what you mean that it makes much lower, I reckon it makes in the region of around 600-700pph on a good day(1-2trains dispatched per minute). What I don't like about X is the popularity to throughput ratio, on a busy day a month or so back it had a 2 hour wait(despite saying 30mins I worked it out as the whole outdoor section was full). I know it's good that it's popular with the families but 2 hours for such a short ride which isn't even that exciting really isn't worth it. I can only bear about a 5-10min wait for X but I had to wait 45mins once and was really disappointed.

They used to get the front row wet but now only get the back row wet! Is this because the front row is closer to the bottom side of the ride in anyway at all?

Great to hear, really looking forward to this now as sounds like there are good operations! A question though, I know the mazes are inside the towers during scarefest but can you still go up to the viewing platforms at the top? Not the end of the world if we can't but would be nice! Is air on one station 2 or 1 trains, I'm not certain but heard it runs 3 on 2 stations if I remember correctly, would be nice to see a 2 train op even if it's only one station open Edit: sorry got a lot of questions, was looking at videos of ripsaw and none of them actually get you wet like rameses revenge does! If you ask are you able to get a soaking because this was the only one video I found where anyone got wet at all

I got a thorough soaking a couple of months ago on the back row. Although I was on the 6th seat from the right which is the long water jet and my friend and I were splashing each other! Was absolutely great. The water is my favourite bit about the ride, it's so boring when you don't get wet. Hope they don't discontinue the water feature as it looks good and is great fun in the ride itself

The preview evening tickets are now 'sold out'? Anyone got any idea of if there were actually 6000 given out or anymore or any less?

Sorry I don't exactly know much about alton towers, why is it always so popular? Is it due to low throughput or the fact it's close to the entrance, or it's a combination of both?I got given free tickets by the social media manager due to a previous incident and we may get given some ride passes to use as well! Are these valid on the smiler and if not, what ride do you reccomend using them for?

Thanks, I hope that queues don't peak that long when I am visiting seeing as it is my first trip in over ten years and hope to ride everything multiple times . Good to see that most things were around 5-10mins, will be happy to wait that long for any of the rides Out of interest, I've ridden dragons fury so hope to wait no more than around 15mins for spinball but which is better? Heard mixed reviews on both of them so would be nice to have opinions from someone who had ridden both!

Thank you, this I really helpful. Hopefully visiting on the same day or the Thursday however if not will be on the Monday. Is the Monday likely to be more busy or around the same busyness? Don't mind waiting up to 30 mins for something, as never been on anything before so it will all be worth it! Just hope that nothing gets any longer, I take it rides were on one train op/reduced car operation?

Likely to be visiting on the week before half term but not sure yet. How long do you think queues will peak at(considering it's off peak but scarefest) and is there a particularly way to tackle the park? Haven't been since I was little and we may not be getting there for opening time as it's a long way but want to queue as little as possible. I looked at the map and it looks like spinball is the closet coaster, however from what I've heard the lands are actually much further away than shown on the map. For instance I'd much rather take the sky ride than having to walk an hour from the entrance over to the forbidden valley! Anyone got any tips on how far the distances are and the ways to tackle the park etc, considering its off peak. Would be really appreciated, Many thanks.

Like the new central queue board however is there still only one of them because I think they need 2/3 planted around the park. Don't really like the tomb blaster one though, are the rest of the rides like this, unclear as to what is '5' as such.

I got to MBV 15mins early and was first people in... Saying that it was a ridiculously empty Sunday so don't think it ever went over 20/30mins throughout the evening.

Thank you Mark, I really appreciate you writing that. I do understand it is a sense of urgency within the staff and the fact that they are putting more effort into trying to increase throughput instead of it actually being about the train being dispatched so early. If I had received a decent answer like that in the first place, none of this would have started up. But seeing as some of you decided to call me dumb or an idiot I am going to take offence. And no, it's no the first time it's happened on this forum. I have seen many people been taken a victim by people who think they have control over others. There are some people on this forum and have no respect and decide to go round calling everyone idiotic because they think they are more superior to everyone. I'm not going to name any names but you know who you are. Get it sorted, this is meant to be a friendly community where we can share opinions and discuss theme parks, it's not a place where you can go around being horrid to everyone because you feel superior. I know I'm not an admin but some others on this forum have been victims of nasty messages by others and they would agree with me if this came up as a proper issue. Once again get it sorted, some of you(not necessarily in this topic but in general) have very aggressive attitudes on this forum so get it sorted before this forum turns into one big massive fight.

Even if I am being so dumb about all of this , there is no need for some people to be so rude about it. Everyone else can think about what they say before being so horrid just because I asked a question which I couldn't see a justified answer to. Cannot be bothered to argue with any of you anymore. Maybe I'm wrong , but it doesn't mean you all have to have a massive go at me for doing so. People make mistakes and have different opinions, everyone is an individual, and you don't have to have a go at me for being me. Fed up with several people feeling like they can control everyone's opinions on here(it's happening to others aswell). Everyone has their own opinion and the right to think the way they want, I was merely asking a question which I didn't understand. I hope this post wasn't too dumb or idiotic for any of you either?

Please explain to me how sending the train when the other is in the inline twist versus in the break run makes any difference at all. Surely then you will have an empty station of people waiting for the next train for about 15secs before they can board?I'm not dumb, I just fail to see behind this.

It doesn't actually make operations faster if you think about it. As long as the train isn't STOPPED in the break run before entering the station, the throughput is EXACTLY the same. If there were more trains running, it would be different but on a 2 train op it won't make throughput any higher if the train is dispatched in the inline twist versus in the final break run(as long as it's not stopped). Don't call me an idiot, it's rude and you have no structure to your point so if you want it be rude to me, make a good point instead of firing a load of rubbish at me and being extremely rude about it.

Don't know how RNR will work out with the mazes, but if it does happen I will be using it as it seemed like a MUCH better alternative to the main queues when being run on the coasters during the summer...

Well seeing as I have seen so many people on facebook asking when ultimate fright nights fastrack and the mazes fastrack come on sale, I doubt it will make much difference. Thorpe just saw it as an easy oppertunity to make plenty more money for themselves...

What's the point of dispatching in the inline twist versus in the final brake run? Doesn't make operations any faster or better does it? Really confused as to why they dispatch it so early instead of giving riders an extra 10/15 seconds to get on and operations being as equally decent.

That 90minute queue is NOT justified. Considering rameses is having ridiculously slow ops and a lot of restraint problems this year, that 90minute queue(if it actually existed), was due to the fact that each ride takes about 15mins. If you shifted that queue to ripsaw or another topspin, I would doubt that the length of that queue is more than 30-45mins. I really doubt rameses was busy enough the warrant a 90minute queue though, when I go on a busy day it's never been more than around 20mins wait.