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Matt N

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Posts posted by Matt N

  1. Which major theme park have you gone the longest without visiting?

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    Hi guys. Over the years, I’m sure that most of us have visited quite a few different theme parks; each year, I personally visit a mixture of old favourites alongside trying to mix the odd new park or two in there as well to enhance my repertoire and increase my coaster and park counts. Trying to visit new parks can sometimes mean that there isn’t enough time to revisit some previously visited parks, however, and as the years rattle on, a park can sometimes get pushed down and down the list until you realise that you haven’t visited in a number of years. With this in mind, my question for you today is; which major theme park have you gone the longest without visiting? Which major park have you not visited in a ridiculously long time?

     

    For clarity, I say “major” because I’m aware that the hardier credit counters among us will likely have a number of “one-and-done” type parks where the main draw is the +1 from a Wacky Worm, Go-Gator or similar that they visited years ago and will probably never revisit.

     

    I’ll get the ball rolling with my answer.

     

    Personally, the major place I have gone the longest without visiting is Disneyland Paris. I have not been back to Disneyland Park or Walt Disney Studios Park since 27th March 2011. I’m not actually sure why we never went back after our first visit (although I imagine our discovery of Florida in 2012 could have something to do with it), but for whatever reason, I have not been back to DLP since 2011.

     

    Other than the two DLP parks, there is only 1 other park where my last visit was more than 5 years ago, and perhaps surprisingly given my general level of enmeshment with the UK Merlin parks, that is Chessington World of Adventures; my last visit to Chessington was on 26th July 2014. It was actually one of my first ever parks as a young child when I first visited in 2009, with Vampire and Runaway Train (as it was then known) being my 4th and 5th coasters respectively, but I’ve only ever been back twice more, in 2013 and 2014, and I have not visited for close to a decade now. My parents never had much desire to return once my sister and I passed a certain age (I was talking to my dad about parks the other day, just before our visit to Flamingo Land, and he described Chessington as one of only two UK parks he’s ever considered “a bit lame”, with the other being Drayton Manor), and to be honest, the park hasn’t tempted me as much as some others. The addition of Mandrill Mayhem did make it more tempting, however, and I’m revisiting for the first time in close to 10 years next month!

     

    After those two, the park I’ve gone the longest without visiting jumps all the way up to 2019, which I’d still consider relatively recent…

     

    But which major park have you gone the longest without visiting? Which major park have you not visited in a really long time? I’d be really interested to know!

  2. Stealth

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    Where could a Single Rider Queue on Stealth go, out of interest?

     

    In terms of removing Stealth; there are plenty of other development plots that the park could fill before touching Stealth, so unless the ride develops maintenance issues any time soon, I think we should be good for now!

  3. Pleasurewood Hills

    in UK Attractions

    Posted

    I think Pleasurewood’s main problem versus somewhere like Drayton is location. Suffolk is pretty remote, with the nearest major population centres being some distance away, so its draw will naturally be limited. As much as the phrase “If you build it, they will come” is often a favourite, people won’t travel miles to the park, so its feasible catchment area is probably limited by that.

     

    By comparison, Drayton Manor is in Staffordshire, so has quite a considerable number of the major population centres within easy reach. It’s pretty much in Birmingham, some boroughs of North London are less than 2 hours away, and some of the big population centres in the North like Manchester, Liverpool, Sheffield and Leeds are less than 2 hours away. As such, its feasible catchment area will be much larger.


    I get that the East Anglia seaside is a holiday destination, but that will probably only be the case for a certain cross-section of the population that lives reasonably near to East Anglia. For much of the country, another seaside destination is closer. People living overly far west, south or north probably aren’t going to holiday in East Anglia in the same way that people who live overly far east, south or north probably aren’t going to holiday in Pembrokeshire and visit Oakwood. 

     

    It’s also worth noting that Drayton was already a pretty established park with over 1 million visitors per year at the time of the buyout, whereas I’d hazard a guess that Pleasurewood Hills probably gets under 500,000 visitors per year and isn’t an established national brand in quite the same way.

  4. Pleasurewood Hills

    in UK Attractions

    Posted

    As someone who's never been, Pleasurewood Hills looks broadly comparable to somewhere like Oakwood, but with weaker major coasters.

     

    Don't get me wrong, I do have a soft spot for Oakwood, but I wouldn't like the park nearly as much if it didn't have a great major coaster like Megafobia at its centre and a decent-scale unique thrill coaster like Speed. It's a little hidden gem of a park, but it is definitely made by its coasters for me.

     

    I could be being overly presumptuous, but to me, Pleasurewood Hills' coaster draws look vastly weaker than Oakwood's (the main draw I can think of is Wipeout, as I am mildly intrigued to ride a traditional Vekoma Boomerang, but I can get the same experience at numerous parks in Europe and ride numerous more compelling headliners in the same park). And when the park is a 4.5 hour drive away from me on a good run, it does make it a tough sell, unfortunately.

  8. Nemesis Inferno

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    I think Inferno is a really decent coaster, personally; it’s definitely grown on me over time, and often, I think I’m one of the ones who actually prefers it to the original Nemesis these days! (Although it is admittedly pretty close, and can change if I reride either)

     

    For me, it’s intense without being excessively so, and it packs a nice sense of speed and has some good inversions. It’s also pretty smooth, too!

     

    If pushed, I’d possibly say that it was my favourite of Thorpe’s coasters, although I’d say that it vies for that position with Stealth. I can never quite decide which one I prefer; I’ll have to make a decision when I go back to the park in September! My favourite in the past was always Swarm, and indeed, it actually spent a 2-year stint as my number 1 coaster before I rode Mako, but I’m increasingly going off that one a bit; I still enjoy it, but I’m increasingly not a fan of the vest restraints, and I’ve also found it to be getting a bit bouncy on the outer seats in particular as of late.

     

    As for Inferno, though; it’s not a top 10 or 10/10 tier coaster for me, as inverted coasters aren’t necessarily a ride style I rate at that obscenely high level these days, but it’s definitely a top 20 coaster for me, and a solid 8/10 or 9/10. I really enjoy it; of the 5 B&M inverts I’ve ridden, I’d probably say it’s my 2nd favourite behind Montu.

  9. What is your favourite non-Merlin UK coaster?

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    Hi guys. In the UK theme park industry, Merlin theme parks are a very dominant force, and this is arguably most apparent in the arena of roller coaster hardware. If you were to ask an average enthusiast what their favourite UK coaster is, there’s a good chance that it would be at a Merlin theme park, and I dare say that most people’s UK top 10s would be relatively saturated with Merlin-operated coasters, with parks like Alton Towers and Thorpe Park in particular arguably having two of the UK’s most revered thrill coaster selections. With this in mind, I’d be intrigued to know; what is your favourite UK coaster not located at a theme park operated by Merlin Entertainments? Of the coasters at independent UK parks and UK parks owned by smaller chains such as Blackpool Pleasure Beach, Drayton Manor, Oakwood, Paultons Park, Flamingo Land, Fantasy Island, and numerous others, which is your favourite?

     

    As for my own answer to this thread, my recent first visit to Flamingo Land, and my first ride on Sik in particular, got me thinking about what my favourite non-Merlin UK coasters actually are.

     

    My favourite non-Merlin UK coaster is quite comfortably Icon at Blackpool Pleasure Beach, which is actually my favourite UK coaster even including Merlin parks, as well as my #8 overall out of 107 ridden coasters. I love the airtime, I love the fun twists and turns, I love the inversions, I love the smoothness and comfortable restraints… I just think it does a number of things very, very well! I know that liking Icon is a somewhat unpopular opinion, but I absolutely love it!

     

    After that, though, only two other non-Merlin coasters actually slot into my UK top 10, meaning that non-Merlin coasters make up 3 of my UK top 10. With this in mind, my top 3 non-Merlin UK coasters, and the 3 that make my overall UK top 10, are:

    1. Icon - Blackpool Pleasure Beach (10/10, UK #1, #8/107 overall)
    2. Sik - Flamingo Land (8/10, UK #8, #22/107 overall)
    3. Megafobia - Oakwood Theme Park (8/10, UK #9, #25/107 overall)

    If you’re interested, my overall UK top 10 (with non-Merlin rides highlighted in bold) is:

    1. Icon - Blackpool Pleasure Beach (10/10, #8/107 overall)
    2. Wicker Man - Alton Towers (10/10, #10/107 overall)
    3. Oblivion - Alton Towers (9/10, #11/107 overall)
    4. Nemesis Inferno - Thorpe Park (9/10, #17/107 overall)
    5. Rita - Alton Towers (9/10, #18/107 overall)
    6. Stealth - Thorpe Park (8/10, #19/107 overall)
    7. Nemesis - Alton Towers (8/10, #20/107 overall)
    8. Sik - Flamingo Land (8/10, #22/107 overall)
    9. Megafobia - Oakwood Theme Park (8/10, #25/107 overall)
    10. Thirteen - Alton Towers (7/10, #28/107 overall)

    But I’d be interested to know; what is your favourite non-Merlin UK coaster?

  10. Worldwide Operations/Throughput Timings Thread

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    26 minutes ago, Benin said:

    Mingo also has a more recent issue of removing seats off of things like Flip Flop and Pterodactyl, further reducing throughputs.

     

    Guess the caravan park been a bit quiet with the poor weather. But those throughputs are god awful no matter what way its spun as "only" 40 minutes. Would've been far less and a far higher ride count if things were run even slightly better, but sounds like maintenance wise there's a lot of issues with stuff breaking down often.

    That’s a good point that I forgot to pick up on. I noticed that Pterodactyl appeared to be missing arms, and I’m guessing that’s why Flip Flop looked more like one of the KMG frisbee-style rides with gaps between seats when I thought that it was supposed to be one of the Zamperla rides with a continuous ring of seats all the way around?

     

    I was perfectly content with the queues on the day I went; 40 minutes is no worse than I’ve encountered in many other places, and most queues were no longer than 30-35 minutes or so. Had the day been busier and the queues been longer, I can see how the operations may have been more problematic, and I can also see how my day may not have been as fruitful had I not followed prior advice on which rides to do first, but if considering my own day in isolation, I was satisfied with the amount I personally got on.

     

    Breakdowns were a minor issue, as Cliff Hanger remained closed all day and Zoo Monorail and Pterodactyl both broke down as I was waiting for them. However, I’m not sure if that’s entirely the park’s fault; things break down, and that can’t really be helped.

  11. Worldwide Operations/Throughput Timings Thread

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    I’m back! This time, I have readings from my first ever visit to Flamingo Land, and this is one that I was quite interested to time the throughputs of, seeing as it reputedly has throughputs and operations on the other end of the spectrum compared to somewhere like Europa Park or Universal Orlando. I was led to believe that if Europa has famous operations, Flamingo Land has infamous operations.

     

    Here are the readings I managed to gain today:

    • Hero (Theoretical: 600pph with 6/7 cars) - 167pph (2 cars, 7th August 2023, average of 10)
    • Kumali (Theoretical: 1,125pph with 2 trains) - 214pph (1 train, 7th August 2023, average of 2)
    • Mumbo Jumbo (Theoretical: 480pph with 5 cars) - 171pph (3 cars, 7th August 2023, average of 6)
    • Sik (Theoretical: 1,250pph with 2 trains) - 373pph (1 train, 7th August 2023, average of 4)
    • Velocity (Theoretical: 518pph with 1 train) - 252pph (1 train, 7th August 2023, average of 4)

    These are some of the slowest operations I have ever personally witnessed, but in fairness, I managed 9 rides, and the longest queue all day was 40 minutes, so I can’t really complain too much.

     

    The operations didn’t seem overly disproportionate to the crowd levels at the park, for the most part; they could have been faster, for sure, but a park of Flamingo Land’s calibre is never going to be hammering trains out at light speed and getting 1,800pph on every ride, and I honestly don’t think they really need to be given their visitor numbers.

     

    One thing I did notice, though, is that the people batching the rides were the same ones who checked the restraints and dispatched the rides. I don’t know if this is par for the course at Flamingo Land, but the number of staff operating each ride seemed low compared to most other theme parks I’ve been to. Maybe the operations would be faster if the rides had more staff?

  12. Which past or present Thorpe Park flat ride is your favourite?

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    Hi guys. Thorpe Park may have arguably one of the UK’s most well-known and well-liked selections of thrill coasters, but another aspect of the park that is commonly revered is its lineup of flat rides. Thorpe’s flat ride lineup is arguably one of the most expansive and varied in the UK, or dare I say the world, with quite a plethora of thrilling flat rides on offer. There have also been some intriguing past residents within Thorpe Park’s flat ride lineup. With this in mind, I’d be interested to know; which past or present Thorpe Park flat ride is your favourite?

     

    Personally, I’m not the biggest lover of flat rides overall, and I’ve only actually done 3 of Thorpe Park’s flat rides, but I am a big fan of drop towers, so of the ones I’ve done, I would personally vote for Detonator. I love a good drop tower, and Detonator is a great one; for a smaller drop tower, the drop is so punchy!

     

    I do have to say, however, that I also really enjoy Rush and would place that firmly in a close second. It’s not too nauseating, and I love the speed and sustained floater airtime it provides!

     

    The only other Thorpe flat ride I’ve ridden is Samurai. I found it OK, and surprisingly not too bad nausea-wise given the reputation of Mondial Top Scans as intense flat rides, but it’s not one of my favourites, and definitely a peg below the other two for me.

     

    But I’d be keen to know; which past or present Thorpe Park flat ride is your favourite?

    P.S. I included every Thorpe flat ride, past and present, listed on Wikipedia within the poll, but if I missed your favourite, there is also an “Other” option you can vote for.

  13. Alton Towers General Discussion

    in Alton Towers

    Posted

    On 8/2/2023 at 1:30 PM, Mark9 said:

     

    Don't forget our dearly beloved.

     

    I'm not really buying what they're saying to be honest. I think its to do with staffing. The way Hex miraculously reopened last year when Duel closed says to me they have recruitment holes that they can't fill. 

    But surely if this were the case, Hex wouldn’t have opened alongside The Curse at Alton Manor at the start of the season? At the start of the season, the two did operate alongside each other (albeit very briefly, as Hex was down again by April).

  14. Top 10's

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    On 6/25/2023 at 8:31 PM, Matt N said:

    Following my recent trip to Florida, my top 10 has changed quite a bit. The composition of this new list did take a fair amount of deliberation, and even now, I should add that I'm still slightly undecided on some of the placements.

     

    This trip presented me with some very interesting conundrums in terms of coaster ranking, as in many cases, I was comparing incredibly different types of ride that were all truly, truly excellent in their own way. It really did test me, and I often second guessed the relative placements of certain rides. Nonetheless, I think I've managed to come up with a final post-Florida ranking.

     

    For clarity, I gained 8 new roller coaster credits during my trip, taking my total coaster count to 99. Of the new coasters I rode, 4 of these made my top 10 and 10/10 tier (which I should add are now one and the same; my 10/10 tier currently encompasses ranking spots 1-10), and the other "new addition" to my 10/10 tier is a previously ridden coaster that exceeded my previous memories of it.

     

    Some of the placements may seem strange. I'm more than happy to answer questions on any placements you find questionable, but I should state that at a basic level, my favourite coasters are rides that have the perfect blend of fun, thrills and rerideability. Out and out intensity is not everything for me; it's the fun factor and rerideability that ultimately matters. There are certainly tangible things that typically correlate with me ranking a coaster highly (for instance, most rides in this list have notable airtime moments to at least a certain extent), but the most important thing for me is a good blend of fun, thrills and rerideability, and I think one entry to my top 10 in particular taught me that the qualities of "what I like in a coaster" are perhaps less tangible than I had previously thought they were.

     

    So, without further ado, my current top 10 is as follows... (new entries are in italics, relocated coasters are underlined)

    1. Mako - SeaWorld Orlando: Even 7 years after my first ride, this coaster still reigns supreme for me, and my recent revisit to SeaWorld (where I had 5 rides on it) reinforced that! The sustained airtime is absolutely biblical (particularly in moments like the first drop, first airtime hill and speed hill), the sense of speed is wonderful, it's blissfully smooth, and overall, it's just such a fun, thrilling and rerideable coaster that I could (and indeed tried my darnedest to) sit on all day! I truly love this ride, and on my recent revisit to SeaWorld, it didn't disappoint! 10/10
    2. Jurassic World VelociCoaster - Islands of Adventure: It may not quite be #1, but my goodness was it close, and VelociCoaster would certainly be a worthy contender for the top spot! There is so much that this ride does well; it packs a great sense of speed throughout, with the second section in particular feeling ridiculously fast, there are quite a few sublime moments of ejector airtime that really whip you out of the seat, there are some truly brilliant inversions, and overall, it's just a truly stunning, spectacular coaster, in my view! In terms of some specific highlights; it's hard to pick from the wonderful array of sensations on offer. But if I had to choose a few, the second launch is absolutely obscene, packing a euphoric thrill like few other rides I've ever experienced, the top hat is sublime, packing some breathtaking ejector airtime on the back in particular, and the mosasaurus roll is an absolutely mind-blowing inversion that throws you out of the seat with some sublime sustained negative g-forces and ensures that you fly into the final brakes blown away! Overall, VelociCoaster is a truly stunning coaster, in my opinion; its blend of stunning airtime, impactful elements, fun, comfort and rerideability certainly make it a firm favourite of mine! 10/10
    3. Silver Star - Europa Park: I had quite low expectations for this coaster given that it's not overly well liked, but I have to say that I was blown away; I absolutely adored this coaster! It has wonderful sustained airtime, it's smooth and comfortable, it has an awesome sense of speed, the ending is absolutely brilliant, packing some phenomenal ejector airtime (particularly the MCBR exit), and overall, this is a stunning coaster that I absolutely loved! I did rank this below Mako of the two B&M Hypers I've ridden due to my feeling that its airtime, while stunning, never has quite the same impact as some of Mako's strongest moments, in my view, and while smooth in its own right, it isn't quite as blissfully smooth as Mako. I also felt it to be slightly less consistent, as I did have 1 or 2 slightly weaker rides on it during my trip to Europa. Nonetheless, Silver Star is a stunning coaster with phenomenal sustained airtime, and I love how it is incredibly rerideable and keeps the thrills going right to the end with that awesome post-MCBR section! 10/10
    4. Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure - Islands of Adventure: Dismiss this as a “family” coaster all you want, but I think such quick dismissal would be a huge mistake, because this ride is phenomenal, in my view! Of the rides in my top 10, I’ll admit that this one probably has the least tangible reason to be there. However, the key reason why Hagrid’s ranks so highly for me is that purely and simply, it is a phenomenally, impeccably fun roller coaster! In terms of some specifics, the low-to-the-ground turns were a lot more thrilling than I expected and the launches were surprisingly punchy and great fun, but unlike many coasters, my love of Hagrid’s is for a much broader reason than any specific features of the ride layout. It is just so, so fun, and the ride will always leave you laughing hysterically and smiling on the final brake run, and that for me is really important. Riding Hagrid’s taught me a crucial lesson about my taste in coasters; it taught me that a coaster does not necessarily need greatness in the form of tangible elements for me to love it, and that fundamentally, all a coaster needs to be is fun. Hagrid’s is not the most intense ride by any means, but if you want pure fun, I’d struggle to recommend many better coasters than this one! 10/10
    5. Wodan Timbur Coaster - Europa Park: Wodan strikes the perfect balance between pure demented insanity and amazing fun factor and rerideability, in my view! It’s an absolutely relentless coaster, with phenomenal pacing right to the end, and it has quite a few really surprising pops of ejector airtime, including an excellent first drop, but it’s also a really smooth and comfortable wooden coaster, and it just manages to be a ridiculous amount of fun! Overall, Wodan is such a fast, airtime-filled and fun coaster that I absolutely loved on my visit to Europa Park! 10/10
    6. Iron Gwazi - Busch Gardens Tampa: This ride is phenomenal! In terms of some key strengths, it’s absolutely relentless in pacing and has some of the strongest ejector airtime I’ve ever experienced, and some of the big hitters in the layout like the first drop, outerbanked turn, death roll and wave turn are truly sensational elements that are right up there with the best, in my opinion! The first drop in particular is insane; whipping you far out of the seat with ejector airtime for a surprisingly sustained period of time never gets old! However, my reason for not ranking this coaster higher is that it’s almost a little… much at times. Iron Gwazi is not a rough coaster by any stretch, but it’s certainly fierce in places, and I did find the final few elements in particular to be toeing the line in terms of what I can handle from a violence and intensity standpoint. It does quite a bit of what I’d refer to as “snapping”, where it changes direction and exerts high forces very rapidly, and while this looks good on paper and probably looks good in NoLimits or whatever, it doesn’t ride quite so well in practice for me, and I did find Iron Gwazi ever so slightly uncomfortable in those snappier portions of the layout. If I’m being picky, I also wasn’t the biggest lover of the trains (and these could well have contributed to the slight discomfort I experienced in areas), although they’re admittedly far from the worst trains I’ve ever sat in. Nevertheless, these are minor niggles rather than total deal breakers for me, and the high points of the ride are high enough for me to override them to a certain extent; while I perhaps didn’t love Iron Gwazi quite as much as I’d hoped to for the aforementioned reasons, it’s still a phenomenal ride that I thought very highly of! 10/10
    7. SheiKra - Busch Gardens Tampa: I had remembered liking this ride back in 2016, but my reride in 2023 was even better than I’d previously remembered! I love a B&M Dive Coaster, and this was a fantastic one! The sustained airtime over both drops was absolutely phenomenal, and the sheer size of them produced a brilliant sensation of speed throughout the ride! You typically think of Dive Coasters for their initial vertical drop, but interestingly, I actually thought that the second vertical drop on SheiKra delivered just as much as the first if not more! Overall, SheiKra was phenomenal, and a really pleasant surprise; I often said that I preferred Oblivion, but I’d now say that I comfortably prefer SheiKra, as I do feel that the added height and length really add something to it! 10/10
    8. Icon - Blackpool Pleasure Beach: Icon is often maligned, but I absolutely love it, personally! Yes, the ride is not the most intense coaster by any means, but I just find it incredibly good fun! There’s some excellent ejector airtime on there, with some particular highlight moments being the top hat, the drop down into the second launch and one incredibly fun drop during the second half of the layout! I also think that the ride is fast-paced and thrilling throughout, and it’s also incredibly smooth and comfortable, with the overhead lap bars ensuring that the inversions in particular are negotiated comfortably in a way that ensures maximum floaty negatives! Overall, I love Icon for its fun airtime, fast pace, fun twists and turns and overall rerideability; it’s just such a wonderfully fun coaster, in my opinion! 10/10
    9. Ice Breaker - SeaWorld Orlando: I had pretty low expectations for Ice Breaker, as its reviews are generally middling to negative, but I have to say that it massively exceeded expectations for me; it was a phenomenal little ride that I absolutely loved! I should say that the much-maligned “comfort collars” have been removed, so I experienced the ride without them, but I found it to be fantastic, with a fun and punchy swing launch, a backwards spike with some brilliant floater airtime, some surprisingly excellent pops of ejector airtime in places, some fun twists and turns, and a smooth and fun ride experience throughout! The trains are a little tight to get into and out of, but I found the restraints unobtrusive when I was sat down enjoying the ride, so I didn’t find them to be an issue overall. All in all, I thought Ice Breaker was a fantastic ride that hugely exceeded my expectations; it may not have quite been my favourite coaster I rode in Florida, but I dare say that coaster-wise, it was possibly the sleeper hit of the trip in terms of how much it exceeded my expectations! I expected very little, but I ended up absolutely loving the ride, personally! 10/10
    10. Wicker Man - Alton Towers: It may now only be in my top 10 by the skin of its teeth, but Wicker Man is a fantastic GCI coaster that I absolutely love! It may not look like much on paper, but I find it to be an enormously fun and rerideable coaster that never fails to put a huge smile on my face! I find it to be a really fast-paced coaster with some really fun twists and turns and some surprising pops of airtime, with some particular favourite elements of mine being the initial s-bend drop, where you gain brilliant speed incredibly quickly, and the big drop out of the high u-turn and following airtime hill, with both elements providing some excellent airtime that really whips you out of the seat! Overall, I find Wicker Man a hugely fun and rerideable wooden coaster with awesome airtime, twists and pacing, and I think it’s a ride that is definitely far more than the sum of its parts, personally! 10/10

    In terms of other notable new Florida additions, the only major new coaster addition I can think of that is missing is Pipeline: The Surf Coaster, which I found to be a big disappointment and is ranked at #52 out of 99.

     

    Overall, I thought that this trip was brilliant, personally!

    I realise that I haven't posted a top 30 in a while, as I only did a top 10 with descriptions when I initially got back from Florida. My current top 30 is as follows:

    1. Mako - SeaWorld Orlando (10/10)
    2. Jurassic World VelociCoaster - Islands of Adventure (10/10)
    3. Silver Star - Europa Park (10/10)
    4. Hagrid's Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure - Islands of Adventure (10/10)
    5. Wodan Timbur Coaster - Europa Park (10/10)
    6. Iron Gwazi - Busch Gardens Tampa (10/10)
    7. SheiKra - Busch Gardens Tampa (10/10)
    8. Icon - Blackpool Pleasure Beach (10/10)
    9. Ice Breaker - SeaWorld Orlando (10/10)
    10. Wicker Man - Alton Towers (10/10)
    11. Oblivion - Alton Towers (9/10)
    12. Montu - Busch Gardens Tampa (9/10)
    13. Revenge of the Mummy - Universal Studios Florida (9/10)
    14. Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts - Universal Studios Florida (9/10)
    15. Blue Fire - Europa Park (9/10)
    16. Mine Blower - Fun Spot Kissimmee (9/10)
    17. Nemesis Inferno - Thorpe Park (9/10)
    18. Rita - Alton Towers (9/10)
    19. Stealth - Thorpe Park (8/10)
    20. Nemesis - Alton Towers (8/10)
    21. CanCan Coaster - Europa Park (8/10)
    22. Kumba - Busch Gardens Tampa (8/10)
    23. Kraken - SeaWorld Orlando (8/10)
    24. Megafobia - Oakwood Theme Park (8/10)
    25. Rock'n'Rollercoaster - Disney's Hollywood Studios (8/10)
    26. Cheetah Hunt - Busch Gardens Tampa (8/10)
    27. Thirteen - Alton Towers (7/10)
    28. The Swarm - Thorpe Park (7/10)
    29. Slinky Dog Dash - Disney's Hollywood Studios (7/10)
    30. Arthur - Europa Park (7/10)

    I should also say that after discovering some exact dates and confirmation of early theme park visits, I decided to change my coaster counting methodology and ditch my "enthusiasm start date", increasing my coaster count to 102. I had initially hesitated to rank and rate the added +3 from Disneyland Paris in March 2011, but when I sat down today and properly gave it some thought, I realised that my vague recollections of the rides I did at DLP are better than I had previously given myself credit for, and that my vague recollections of some of the rides I already had ranked and rated weren't much better (mainly a fair amount of Chessington, which I haven't done since 2014), so I decided to have a go at ranking and rating them. I did these coasters many years ago, so my recollections are vague and I can't remember too much in the way of specifics, but thinking about it, I do remember a vague hierarchy of enjoyment, and based on my vague recollections, I have decided upon the following placements and ratings:

    • My highest-ranked coaster from DLP is Big Thunder Mountain at Disneyland Park. This is the ride I remember most, and I remember thinking it was pretty fun at 7 years old; it was the only coaster I rerode, and from vague memory, I rode it 3 times or so. I figure that it was fairly similar to the Florida version that I did in 2019, but I do remember enjoying this version a little bit more at the time than I later enjoyed the Florida version, so I opted for #34/102, one spot higher than the Florida version, and a 7/10 rating. On a fun aside, this ride was of one of only 3 coasters I've ever been evacuated from (with the other two being Wicker Man in 2018 and Hagrid's in 2023)!
    • My second highest-ranked coaster from DLP is Crush's Coaster at Walt Disney Studios Park. I remember it being pretty good at the time, and possibly more fun than Spinball, but it probably wasn't quite as good as Dragon's Fury, so I opted for #45/102, one spot below Dragon's Fury, and a 6/10 rating.
    • My lowest-ranked coaster from DLP is RC Racer at Walt Disney Studios Park. I don't remember it being anything especially spectacular even at 7 years old, so I opted for #69/102, just below the similarly unremarkable Atlantica SuperSplash, and a 4/10 rating.

    I know it's weird that I suddenly counted these rides as part of my count and ranked them, but I finally felt able to add them to my count and visit log after finding out the exact visit dates and ride counts and such, and discovering that I hadn't ridden anything I didn't vaguely remember riding. I'd never rated and ranked them as I thought that my recollections were too vague for me to rate and rank them, but after giving it some thought, I realised that my recollections were better than I'd previously given myself credit for and that some of the rides I'd already ranked were things I had relatively vague recollections of.

     

    If you're wondering why I only have Big Thunder Mountain from Disneyland Park and Crush's Coaster and RC Racer from Walt Disney Studios Park:

    • I wasn't tall enough to ride Space Mountain or Indiana Jones.
    • I was tall enough to ride Rock'n'Rollercoaster, but I refused to ride it because someone from primary school told me it would give me tummyache...
    • I have no memory of ever having ridden Casey Jr, and I found no evidence to the contrary, so it's not counted.

    If you'd like to view my full, exhaustive ranking, here it is: https://captaincoaster.com/en/tops/192

  15. The Curse at Alton Manor - NEW for 2023

    in Alton Towers

    Posted

    Each to their own, of course, but I think one thing that’s important to remember is that The Curse at Alton Manor is a very different proposition to The Haunted House or Duel, so things like a lack of unique ghouls/characters in the ride probably doesn’t matter as much, or could even be a conscious choice.

     

    Unlike its predecessors, Curse has a storyline centred around the personal narrative of one central character (Emily Alton), so there’s bound to be less distinct “characters” in it than were featured in the ride’s predecessors by virtue of that.

     

    I’d also say that in terms of how scary the ride is, I don’t necessarily think that the ride is unduly dark for a family or family thrill ride. Many family rides have rather dark themes and elements of fear; things like Tower of Terror and Revenge of the Mummy are very popular family or family thrill rides with pretty dark themes and horror elements, and even The Haunted House itself was pretty scary, from what I can ascertain from anecdotes.

     

    In terms of personal choices for improvements, the main things I would change are the Hide and Seek scene and the Screaming Heads scene. Both scenes definitely lack something for me.

  17. Sea World

    in International Attractions

    Posted

    For some additional context, the ride is replacing the long-gone Antarctica dark ride, and plans discovered by ParkFans unearthed that the layout will be something along these lines:

    I'll admit that B&M seem like an unexpected choice, but I think that that looks like good fun, and exactly what the park needs!

  18. What is your favourite coaster lineup in the UK?

    in UK Attractions

    Posted

    Hi guys. The UK has a surprising amount of parks for a relatively small country in terms of landmass, and this naturally means that the UK has quite a number of coaster lineups. These vary in quantity and variety, but there are a surprising amount of coasters in the UK nonetheless. After a furious debate in the Blackpool Pleasure Beach topic yesterday regarding its coaster lineup vs Alton Towers' (amongst other things), it got me thinking about my favourite UK coaster lineups. As such, my question to you today is; which coaster lineup in the UK is your favourite?

     

    Personally, I would vote for the coaster lineup of Alton Towers as a gut instinct answer. Their top coaster for me (Wicker Man) is one of my favourite coasters in the UK and sits firmly in my top 10, Oblivion isn't at all far behind (it's at #11 and the very top of my 9/10 tier, in fact!), and overall, the park has a number of very solid headliners, in my view!

     

    However, I'd be interested to work out the answer to this statistically based on my coaster rankings and ratings from my spreadsheet...

    My UK parks ranked by measures of central tendency of all ridden coasters

    Mean Rating

    Ranking Park Mean Rating out of 10 (to 1dp) Number of Ridden Coasters
    1 Alton Towers 6.5 10
    2 Paultons Park 6 5
    3 Thorpe Park 5.7 7
    4 Oakwood Theme Park 5.3 4
    5 Drayton Manor 4.8 4
    6 Blackpool Pleasure Beach 4.5 10
    7 Legoland Windsor 4 1
    8 Chessington 4 4
    9 West Midlands Safari Park 3 2
    10 South Pier Blackpool 2 1

    Median Rating

    Ranking Park Median Rating out of 10 (to 1dp) Number of Ridden Coasters
    1 Alton Towers 6.5 10
    2 Paultons Park 6 5
    3 Thorpe Park 5 7
    4 Oakwood Theme Park 5 4
    5 Drayton Manor 4.5 4
    6 Blackpool Pleasure Beach 4 10
    7 Legoland Windsor 4 1
    8 Chessington 4 4
    9 West Midlands Safari Park 3 2
    10 South Pier Blackpool 2 1

    Mean Ranking

    Ranking Park Mean Ranking out of 99 Ranked/Rated Coasters (to 1dp) Number of Ridden Coasters
    1 Alton Towers 39.4 10
    2 Paultons Park 45.4 5
    3 Thorpe Park 47.1 7
    4 Oakwood Theme Park 51 4
    5 Drayton Manor 60.5 4
    6 Blackpool Pleasure Beach 61.8 10
    7 Legoland Windsor 67 1
    8 Chessington 69.3 4
    9 West Midlands Safari Park 78.5 2
    10 South Pier Blackpool 93 1

    Median Ranking

    Ranking Park Median Ranking out of 99 Ranked/Rated Coasters (to 1dp) Number of Ridden Coasters
    1 Alton Towers 33 10
    2 Paultons Park 40 5
    3 Thorpe Park 47 7
    4 Oakwood Theme Park 49 4
    5 Drayton Manor 61.5 4
    6 Blackpool Pleasure Beach 65.5 10
    7 Legoland Windsor 67 1
    8 Chessington 71.5 4
    9 West Midlands Safari Park 78.5 2
    10 South Pier Blackpool 93 1

    By the measures of central tendency for all UK parks, Alton Towers wins for me by mean and median rankings and ratings, with Paultons Park and Thorpe Park coming 2nd and 3rd in all measures respectively.

     

    However, I would say that measures of central tendency across a whole lineup are not necessarily an accurate indicator of how much I or anyone else likes a park's lineup, as for me (and I'm sure this is the case for many others), I can look past some slightly weaker links if the park's top few coasters are really good. Measures of central tendency for the whole lineup doesn't take the top-ranking coasters into account, purely considering what things look like at the centre of the park's ranking. They are quite good for determining how consistently strong a lineup is, but perhaps not for how much one personally likes a park's lineup. For instance, all of these measures have Paultons Park as my 2nd favourite coaster lineup in the UK. Would I personally say that was the case if asked? No, I wouldn't. This isn't a slight against Paultons by any means, but I'd say that its lineup lacks a few thrill headliners compared to some of my personal favourite parks in the UK.

     

    With this in mind, I'll try this out looking solely at the parks' top 3 coasters...

    My UK parks ranked by measures of central tendency of the top 3 ridden coasters

    Mean Rating of Top 3

    Ranking Park Mean Rating out of 10 (to 1dp) Top 3 Coasters and their Ratings
    1 Alton Towers 9.3
    1. Wicker Man (10/10)
    2. Oblivion (9/10)
    3. Rita (9/10)
    2 Thorpe Park 8
    1. Nemesis Inferno (9/10)
    2. Stealth (8/10)
    3. The Swarm (7/10)
    3 Blackpool Pleasure Beach 7.7
    1. Icon (10/10)
    2. Avalanche (7/10)
    3. Nickelodeon Streak (6/10)
    4 Paultons Park 6.7
    1. Flight of the Pterosaur (7/10)
    2. Storm Chaser (7/10)
    3. Cobra (6/10)
    5 Oakwood Theme Park 6
    1. Megafobia (8/10)
    2. Speed (5/10)
    3. Treetops (5/10)
    6 Drayton Manor 5
    1. Accelerator (6/10)
    2. Troublesome Trucks (5/10)
    3. Shockwave (4/10)
    7 Chessington 4.7
    1. Dragon's Fury (6/10)
    2. Vampire (4/10)
    3. Scorpion Express (4/10)
    8 Legoland Windsor 4
    1. Dragon (4/10)
    9 West Midlands Safari Park 3
    1. Rhino Coaster (4/10)
    2. Monkey Mayhem (2/10)
    10 South Pier Blackpool 2
    1. Crazy Coaster (2/10)

    Median Rating of Top 3

    Ranking Park Median Rating out of 10 (to 1dp) Top 3 Coasters and their Ratings
    1 Alton Towers 9
    1. Wicker Man (10/10)
    2. Oblivion (9/10)
    3. Rita (9/10)
    2 Thorpe Park 8
    1. Nemesis Inferno (9/10)
    2. Stealth (8/10)
    3. The Swarm (7/10)
    3 Blackpool Pleasure Beach 7
    1. Icon (10/10)
    2. Avalanche (7/10)
    3. Nickelodeon Streak (6/10)
    4 Paultons Park 7
    1. Flight of the Pterosaur (7/10)
    2. Storm Chaser (7/10)
    3. Cobra (6/10)
    5 Oakwood Theme Park 5
    1. Megafobia (8/10)
    2. Speed (5/10)
    3. Treetops (5/10)
    6 Drayton Manor 5
    1. Accelerator (6/10)
    2. Troublesome Trucks (5/10)
    3. Shockwave (4/10)
    7 Chessington 4
    1. Dragon's Fury (6/10)
    2. Vampire (4/10)
    3. Scorpion Express (4/10)
    8 Legoland Windsor 4
    1. Dragon (4/10)
    9 West Midlands Safari Park 3
    1. Rhino Coaster (4/10)
    2. Monkey Mayhem (2/10)
    10 South Pier Blackpool 2
    1. Crazy Coaster (2/10)

    Mean Ranking of Top 3

    Ranking Park Mean Ranking out of 99 Ranked/Rated Coasters (to 1dp) Top 3 Coasters and their Rankings
    1 Alton Towers 13
    1. Wicker Man (#10)
    2. Oblivion (#11)
    3. Rita (#18)
    2 Thorpe Park 21.3
    1. Nemesis Inferno (#17)
    2. Stealth (#19)
    3. The Swarm (#28)
    3 Blackpool Pleasure Beach 28.7
    1. Icon (#8)
    2. Avalanche (#32)
    3. Nickelodeon Streak (#46)
    4 Paultons Park 36.3
    1. Flight of the Pterosaur (#34)
    2. Storm Chaser (#35)
    3. Cobra (#40)
    5 Oakwood Theme Park 40.7
    1. Megafobia (#24)
    2. Speed (#48)
    3. Treetops (#50)
    6 Drayton Manor 55.7
    1. Accelerator (#44)
    2. Troublesome Trucks (#59)
    3. Shockwave (#64)
    7 Chessington 62
    1. Dragon's Fury (#43)
    2. Vampire (#69)
    3. Scorpion Express (#74)
    8 Legoland Windsor 67
    1. Dragon (#67)
    9 West Midlands Safari Park 78.5
    1. Rhino Coaster (#61)
    2. Monkey Mayhem (#96)
    10 South Pier Blackpool 93
    1. Crazy Coaster (#93)

    Median Ranking

    Ranking Park Median Ranking out of 99 Ranked/Rated Coasters (to 1dp) Top 3 Coasters and their Rankings
    1 Alton Towers 11
    1. Wicker Man (#10)
    2. Oblivion (#11)
    3. Rita (#18)
    2 Thorpe Park 19
    1. Nemesis Inferno (#17)
    2. Stealth (#19)
    3. The Swarm (#28)
    3 Blackpool Pleasure Beach 32
    1. Icon (#8)
    2. Avalanche (#32)
    3. Nickelodeon Streak (#46)
    4 Paultons Park 35
    1. Flight of the Pterosaur (#34)
    2. Storm Chaser (#35)
    3. Cobra (#40)
    5 Oakwood Theme Park 48
    1. Megafobia (#24)
    2. Speed (#48)
    3. Treetops (#50)
    6 Drayton Manor 59
    1. Accelerator (#44)
    2. Troublesome Trucks (#59)
    3. Shockwave (#64)
    7 Legoland Windsor 67
    1. Dragon (#67)
    8 Chessington 69
    1. Dragon's Fury (#43)
    2. Vampire (#69)
    3. Scorpion Express (#74)
    9 West Midlands Safari Park 78.5
    1. Rhino Coaster (#61)
    2. Monkey Mayhem (#96)
    10 South Pier Blackpool 93
    1. Crazy Coaster (#93)

    So by the measures of central tendency for the top 3, Alton Towers won those too, closely followed by Thorpe Park and Blackpool Pleasure Beach in 2nd and 3rd place respectively.

     

    As I can never resist a ranking, I also thought I'd have a go at ranking the UK coaster selections I've done by gut feeling and explain my reasoning for each placement:

    1. Alton Towers - This is definitely top dog for me. Wicker Man is right up there in my top 10, Oblivion isn't far behind, Rita closes out the top 3 nicely, Nemesis is great, Thirteen is good fun... the park has a lot of excellent draws, and to be honest, there's not much that's overly low-ranking. 7 of the 10 coasters I've ridden in the park are in my top 50%, which is no mean feat!
    2. Thorpe Park - Thorpe has a really good, solid coaster selection; Stealth, Nemesis Inferno and Swarm all make my top 30, and 4 out of 7 of the coasters I've ridden at the park make my top 50%. However, there aren't quite as many coasters as at Alton, and unlike Alton, I think they lack a 10/10 tier draw for me at present, if I'm being really pedantic. I'm optimistic that Exodus could end up being that draw, and if it is, it will make Thorpe and Alton a slightly closer match for me. At present, though, the slightly lower quantity of coasters compared to Alton and the fact that the park lacks a 10/10 tier draw for me does put its coaster selection below Alton, in my opinion. Colossus in particular also ranks pretty lowly for me.
    3. Blackpool Pleasure Beach - Blackpool starts off really well, with Icon being my top coaster in the UK and firmly placed within my top 10 and 10/10 tier overall, and the breadth, variety and uniqueness of the selection is undeniable. However, if I'm talking honestly from the standpoint of my personal preferences, I'd argue that the park's coaster selection is a bit of a one-hit wonder, with Icon being the only coaster of Blackpool's that I rate overly highly. It's the only coaster at the park that makes my top 10%, my top 25% or my top 30, and only 3 of the park's 10 coasters make my top 50%. It's a somewhat weak selection overall given the size of it for me (joint with Alton for the most ridden coasters of any UK park, at 10), and there are a few coasters that rank pretty lowly in my list, but I think that is more down to my personal preferences, as the park undeniably has some impressive rides. I'm probably being overly harsh, so I'm sorry for that.
    4. Paultons Park - Paultons sits lower than the other 3 by virtue of it lacking thrilling headliners that make my top 10%, top 25% or top 30. Nonetheless, the park has a very solid, fun selection of family rides and nothing that ranks overly lowly, so I think it does a great job given the target demographic. Pterosaur and Storm Chaser are a very solid one-two punch of family thrill headliners, sitting just outside my top 30, and Cobra and Velociraptor aren't half bad, either; 4 out of the 5 coasters I've ridden at the park make my top 50%.
    5. Oakwood Theme Park - For a park of its calibre, I've always felt that Oakwood has some impressive coaster hardware. Megafobia is a great headliner, sitting solidly in my top 25% and top 30, and Speed (and possibly Treetops depending on whether I consider 49 or 50 to be the cutoff) also makes my top 50%. However, you still cannot get past the fact that the park does not have many coasters, and that Megafobia is the only coaster there that I rate particularly highly, which will inhibit it compared to the others.
    6. Drayton Manor - I'd say that there's quite a notable drop off here. If I'm being honest, I would have said that Drayton Manor's coaster selection was one of its weak links, and I think my deserted day there last June brought this to the fore for me; when I had no queues at Drayton, the lack of a great, rerideable headline coaster did stand out. The park's main thrill coaster, Shockwave, is not a ride that I personally rate, and beyond that, you have a family boomerang, a junior coaster and a relatively weak powered coaster. None of the park's 4 coasters make my top 10%, top 25% or top 30, and only 1 of the park's coasters makes my top 50%. I'm very conscious of the fact that Drayton Manor is not aimed at my age group, so I'm probably being far too harsh, but I would say that I've ridden numerous coasters for the family thrill demographic that I would rate notably higher than any of Drayton's coasters, and I've also been to parks that have what I would consider to be superior selections of family and family thrill coasters. Time will tell whether the new-for-2024 coaster improves Drayton's selection, but personally, I would have said that Drayton had a relatively weak coaster selection, if I'm being completely honest. Admittedly, the park does have a coaster in my top 50%, and there's nothing there that rates overly lowly for me, but there's also nothing there that rates especially highly for me either, and as I said, only one of the park's 4 coasters is even in the top half of my rankings.
    7. Chessington - I admittedly haven't been to Chessington for 9 years, but I remember my overriding feeling towards Chessington's coaster selection being very similar to my overriding feeling towards Drayton Manor's, except for the fact that Chessington has a very lowly ranking coaster for me in Rattlesnake. Granted, I will reserve judgement on Mandrill Mayhem until September, but I don't remember Chessington's coaster selection being one that I overly rated; none of the park's coasters are in my top 10%, top 25% or top 30, and only 1 of the 4 coasters I've ridden there is in my top 50%. I'm probably being overly harsh on Chessington given it's a family-focused park, but even for the demographic, I would say that I've been to parks with stronger coaster selections and ridden higher-rating family thrill coasters than any of Chessington's.
    8. West Midlands Safari Park - This park has a perfectly adequate junior coaster and a Reverchon spinner, a ride type that I rate very lowly. There's not much more to say than that, really.
    9. Legoland Windsor - I've only ridden Dragon of the coasters here, and I wouldn't have said it was an overly exceptional family coaster. There's not much more to say than that, really.
    10. South Pier Blackpool - Like with Legoland, I have only ridden one coaster here, and it's a Reverchon spinner that I rate very lowly. There's not much more to say than that, really.

    It would seem that based on gut feeling, I agree a lot more with my ranking of the parks' top 3s by measures of central tendency than I would with my ranking of their whole selections by measures of central tendency. Doing measures of central tendency for the whole selection will always negatively impact a park with one or two lowly ranked coasters even if the top few are relatively strong. It also negatively impacts parks where you've ridden all of the coasters compared to parks where you've only ridden a select few of the top draws.

     

    So overall then, I think I can conclude that Alton Towers is definitely my favourite coaster lineup in the UK! I apologise for the long and likely somewhat uninteresting statistical and ranking-based detour, but I thought that it might be interesting to delve through my rankings and see empirically how the UK's lineups stack up with each other. But I'd be keen to know; what is your favourite coaster lineup in the UK?

  19. Your most ridden coasters and your most visited theme parks?

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    Hi guys. Over the years, I’m sure that most of us have done a number of coasters and a number of parks quite a few times. With this in mind, I’d be interested to know; what are your most ridden coasters and your most visited parks?

     

    For me, my answer to these questions would not have been exhaustive and exact until a couple of days ago. I always started my coaster and park counts and visit log from an arbitrary “enthusiasm start date” of 28th September 2013, the day I rode Alton Towers’ big coasters for the first time, as my recollections of exact orders and dates before that was spotty. However, my dad recently found an old hard drive with all of my parents’ pictures from when we were kids on it. This meant that I was able to ditch my “enthusiasm start date” and go right back to the very start of my life to the degree of exactness I desire. And it’s unveiled some interesting stats about my most ridden coasters and my most visited parks across the course of my entire life… not to mention that changing my coaster counting method gained me a bonus +3 from 2011 that tipped me over 100 coasters!

     

    Following the discoveries of the other day, my all-time unique coaster count is 102, and my all-time unique park count is 22. I have had 451 coaster rides in total, so I have averaged 4.4 total rides (to 1dp) on each coaster I have ever ridden. I have had 113 park visits in total, so I have averaged 5.1 total visits (to 1dp) to each park I have ever visited.

     

    My top 10 most ridden coasters of all time are as follows:

    1. Nemesis and Runaway Mine Train at Alton Towers - 29 rides (Nemesis first ridden 28th September 2013, RMT first ridden 30th May 2009)
    2. Oblivion and Thirteen at Alton Towers - 25 rides (Oblivion first ridden 28th September 2013, Thirteen first ridden 15th August 2010)
    3. Wicker Man at Alton Towers - 24 rides (first ridden 25th March 2018)
    4. The Swarm at Thorpe Park - 20 rides (first ridden 27th July 2014)
    5. Galactica at Alton Towers - 19 rides (first ridden 28th September 2013)
    6. The Smiler at Alton Towers - 18 rides (first ridden 29th September 2013)
    7. Rita at Alton Towers - 16 rides (first ridden 28th September 2013)
    8. Spinball Whizzer at Alton Towers - 15 rides (first ridden 15th August 2010)
    9. Stealth at Thorpe Park - 12 rides (first ridden 27th July 2014)
    10. Nemesis Inferno at Thorpe Park - 11 rides (first ridden 27th July 2014)

    My top 5 most visited parks are as follows:

    1. Alton Towers - 40 visits (first visited 30th May 2009)
    2. Universal’s Islands of Adventure - 11 visits (first visited 29th August 2012)
    3. Thorpe Park and Universal Studios Florida - 10 visits (Thorpe first visited 27th July 2014, USF first visited 31st August 2012)
    4. SeaWorld Orlando - 5 visits (first visited 28th August 2012)
    5. Legoland Windsor - 4 visits (first visited 28th July 2009)

    My first ever theme park visit was to Drayton Manor on 18th April 2008, and my first ever coaster was Troublesome Trucks Runaway Coaster on the same day. However, I have only visited Drayton Manor twice more since; once on 8th August 2018 and once on 9th June 2022. I have only ridden Troublesome Trucks once more since my first ever ride on it.

     

    Of the 102 coasters I have ridden, 42 of those are coasters that I have only ridden once, which equates to 41.2% of my count (to 1dp). Of the 22 parks I have visited, 3 of those are parks that I have only visited once, which equates to 13.6% of my count (to 1dp).

     

    If I extend that to encompass coasters that I have ridden 3 times or less, the number of coasters that I have ridden 3 times or less is 75, which represents 73.5% of my count (to 1dp). The number of parks that I have visited 3 times or less is 16, which represents 72.7% of my count (to 1dp).

     

    So overall, then, the bulk of my coaster rides and park visits are concentrated around a relatively small number of parks and coasters, with there being a significant outlier at the very top; Alton Towers. Of my 113 park visits since 2008, 40 of these have been Alton Towers visits, which represents 35.4% of my total visits (to 1dp). Of my 451 coaster rides since 2008, 201 of these have been at Alton Towers, which represents 44.6% of my total coaster rides (to 1dp).

     

    I have to say that I found this a very interesting insight into my coaster riding and park visiting habits… I’ll post my full visit log spreadsheet later when I’m not on the move and using 4G.

     

    But I’d be keen to know; what are your most ridden coasters and most visited parks?

  20. Project Horizon - New “indoor attraction” being built in Coaster Corner

    in Alton Towers

    Posted

    Yes, Alton Towers has had YULLBE in the Hospitality Suite as an upcharge attraction since some point last year.

     

    After Merlin’s ill-fated experiments with VR in the form of Galactica and Derren Brown’s Ghost Train, I’d be incredibly surprised if they ever put VR on a major ride again.

     

    Personally, I’m still leaning towards an indoor coaster of some description. I reckon an Intamin Multi Dimensional Coaster with some sort of dark ride element, similar to Uncharted at PortAventura, would be a logical fit, but I’m open to surprises.

     

    Whatever it is, though, I’m thinking it’ll be a family thrill ride (1.2m height restriction at most) rather than an out and out thrill ride.

  21. Top 10's

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    Following my recent trip to Florida, my top 10 has changed quite a bit. The composition of this new list did take a fair amount of deliberation, and even now, I should add that I'm still slightly undecided on some of the placements.

     

    This trip presented me with some very interesting conundrums in terms of coaster ranking, as in many cases, I was comparing incredibly different types of ride that were all truly, truly excellent in their own way. It really did test me, and I often second guessed the relative placements of certain rides. Nonetheless, I think I've managed to come up with a final post-Florida ranking.

     

    For clarity, I gained 8 new roller coaster credits during my trip, taking my total coaster count to 99. Of the new coasters I rode, 4 of these made my top 10 and 10/10 tier (which I should add are now one and the same; my 10/10 tier currently encompasses ranking spots 1-10), and the other "new addition" to my 10/10 tier is a previously ridden coaster that exceeded my previous memories of it.

     

    Some of the placements may seem strange. I'm more than happy to answer questions on any placements you find questionable, but I should state that at a basic level, my favourite coasters are rides that have the perfect blend of fun, thrills and rerideability. Out and out intensity is not everything for me; it's the fun factor and rerideability that ultimately matters. There are certainly tangible things that typically correlate with me ranking a coaster highly (for instance, most rides in this list have notable airtime moments to at least a certain extent), but the most important thing for me is a good blend of fun, thrills and rerideability, and I think one entry to my top 10 in particular taught me that the qualities of "what I like in a coaster" are perhaps less tangible than I had previously thought they were.

     

    So, without further ado, my current top 10 is as follows... (new entries are in italics, relocated coasters are underlined)

    1. Mako - SeaWorld Orlando: Even 7 years after my first ride, this coaster still reigns supreme for me, and my recent revisit to SeaWorld (where I had 5 rides on it) reinforced that! The sustained airtime is absolutely biblical (particularly in moments like the first drop, first airtime hill and speed hill), the sense of speed is wonderful, it's blissfully smooth, and overall, it's just such a fun, thrilling and rerideable coaster that I could (and indeed tried my darnedest to) sit on all day! I truly love this ride, and on my recent revisit to SeaWorld, it didn't disappoint! 10/10
    2. Jurassic World VelociCoaster - Islands of Adventure: It may not quite be #1, but my goodness was it close, and VelociCoaster would certainly be a worthy contender for the top spot! There is so much that this ride does well; it packs a great sense of speed throughout, with the second section in particular feeling ridiculously fast, there are quite a few sublime moments of ejector airtime that really whip you out of the seat, there are some truly brilliant inversions, and overall, it's just a truly stunning, spectacular coaster, in my view! In terms of some specific highlights; it's hard to pick from the wonderful array of sensations on offer. But if I had to choose a few, the second launch is absolutely obscene, packing a euphoric thrill like few other rides I've ever experienced, the top hat is sublime, packing some breathtaking ejector airtime on the back in particular, and the mosasaurus roll is an absolutely mind-blowing inversion that throws you out of the seat with some sublime sustained negative g-forces and ensures that you fly into the final brakes blown away! Overall, VelociCoaster is a truly stunning coaster, in my opinion; its blend of stunning airtime, impactful elements, fun, comfort and rerideability certainly make it a firm favourite of mine! 10/10
    3. Silver Star - Europa Park: I had quite low expectations for this coaster given that it's not overly well liked, but I have to say that I was blown away; I absolutely adored this coaster! It has wonderful sustained airtime, it's smooth and comfortable, it has an awesome sense of speed, the ending is absolutely brilliant, packing some phenomenal ejector airtime (particularly the MCBR exit), and overall, this is a stunning coaster that I absolutely loved! I did rank this below Mako of the two B&M Hypers I've ridden due to my feeling that its airtime, while stunning, never has quite the same impact as some of Mako's strongest moments, in my view, and while smooth in its own right, it isn't quite as blissfully smooth as Mako. I also felt it to be slightly less consistent, as I did have 1 or 2 slightly weaker rides on it during my trip to Europa. Nonetheless, Silver Star is a stunning coaster with phenomenal sustained airtime, and I love how it is incredibly rerideable and keeps the thrills going right to the end with that awesome post-MCBR section! 10/10
    4. Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure - Islands of Adventure: Dismiss this as a “family” coaster all you want, but I think such quick dismissal would be a huge mistake, because this ride is phenomenal, in my view! Of the rides in my top 10, I’ll admit that this one probably has the least tangible reason to be there. However, the key reason why Hagrid’s ranks so highly for me is that purely and simply, it is a phenomenally, impeccably fun roller coaster! In terms of some specifics, the low-to-the-ground turns were a lot more thrilling than I expected and the launches were surprisingly punchy and great fun, but unlike many coasters, my love of Hagrid’s is for a much broader reason than any specific features of the ride layout. It is just so, so fun, and the ride will always leave you laughing hysterically and smiling on the final brake run, and that for me is really important. Riding Hagrid’s taught me a crucial lesson about my taste in coasters; it taught me that a coaster does not necessarily need greatness in the form of tangible elements for me to love it, and that fundamentally, all a coaster needs to be is fun. Hagrid’s is not the most intense ride by any means, but if you want pure fun, I’d struggle to recommend many better coasters than this one! 10/10
    5. Wodan Timbur Coaster - Europa Park: Wodan strikes the perfect balance between pure demented insanity and amazing fun factor and rerideability, in my view! It’s an absolutely relentless coaster, with phenomenal pacing right to the end, and it has quite a few really surprising pops of ejector airtime, including an excellent first drop, but it’s also a really smooth and comfortable wooden coaster, and it just manages to be a ridiculous amount of fun! Overall, Wodan is such a fast, airtime-filled and fun coaster that I absolutely loved on my visit to Europa Park! 10/10
    6. Iron Gwazi - Busch Gardens Tampa: This ride is phenomenal! In terms of some key strengths, it’s absolutely relentless in pacing and has some of the strongest ejector airtime I’ve ever experienced, and some of the big hitters in the layout like the first drop, outerbanked turn, death roll and wave turn are truly sensational elements that are right up there with the best, in my opinion! The first drop in particular is insane; whipping you far out of the seat with ejector airtime for a surprisingly sustained period of time never gets old! However, my reason for not ranking this coaster higher is that it’s almost a little… much at times. Iron Gwazi is not a rough coaster by any stretch, but it’s certainly fierce in places, and I did find the final few elements in particular to be toeing the line in terms of what I can handle from a violence and intensity standpoint. It does quite a bit of what I’d refer to as “snapping”, where it changes direction and exerts high forces very rapidly, and while this looks good on paper and probably looks good in NoLimits or whatever, it doesn’t ride quite so well in practice for me, and I did find Iron Gwazi ever so slightly uncomfortable in those snappier portions of the layout. If I’m being picky, I also wasn’t the biggest lover of the trains (and these could well have contributed to the slight discomfort I experienced in areas), although they’re admittedly far from the worst trains I’ve ever sat in. Nevertheless, these are minor niggles rather than total deal breakers for me, and the high points of the ride are high enough for me to override them to a certain extent; while I perhaps didn’t love Iron Gwazi quite as much as I’d hoped to for the aforementioned reasons, it’s still a phenomenal ride that I thought very highly of! 10/10
    7. SheiKra - Busch Gardens Tampa: I had remembered liking this ride back in 2016, but my reride in 2023 was even better than I’d previously remembered! I love a B&M Dive Coaster, and this was a fantastic one! The sustained airtime over both drops was absolutely phenomenal, and the sheer size of them produced a brilliant sensation of speed throughout the ride! You typically think of Dive Coasters for their initial vertical drop, but interestingly, I actually thought that the second vertical drop on SheiKra delivered just as much as the first if not more! Overall, SheiKra was phenomenal, and a really pleasant surprise; I often said that I preferred Oblivion, but I’d now say that I comfortably prefer SheiKra, as I do feel that the added height and length really add something to it! 10/10
    8. Icon - Blackpool Pleasure Beach: Icon is often maligned, but I absolutely love it, personally! Yes, the ride is not the most intense coaster by any means, but I just find it incredibly good fun! There’s some excellent ejector airtime on there, with some particular highlight moments being the top hat, the drop down into the second launch and one incredibly fun drop during the second half of the layout! I also think that the ride is fast-paced and thrilling throughout, and it’s also incredibly smooth and comfortable, with the overhead lap bars ensuring that the inversions in particular are negotiated comfortably in a way that ensures maximum floaty negatives! Overall, I love Icon for its fun airtime, fast pace, fun twists and turns and overall rerideability; it’s just such a wonderfully fun coaster, in my opinion! 10/10
    9. Ice Breaker - SeaWorld Orlando: I had pretty low expectations for Ice Breaker, as its reviews are generally middling to negative, but I have to say that it massively exceeded expectations for me; it was a phenomenal little ride that I absolutely loved! I should say that the much-maligned “comfort collars” have been removed, so I experienced the ride without them, but I found it to be fantastic, with a fun and punchy swing launch, a backwards spike with some brilliant floater airtime, some surprisingly excellent pops of ejector airtime in places, some fun twists and turns, and a smooth and fun ride experience throughout! The trains are a little tight to get into and out of, but I found the restraints unobtrusive when I was sat down enjoying the ride, so I didn’t find them to be an issue overall. All in all, I thought Ice Breaker was a fantastic ride that hugely exceeded my expectations; it may not have quite been my favourite coaster I rode in Florida, but I dare say that coaster-wise, it was possibly the sleeper hit of the trip in terms of how much it exceeded my expectations! I expected very little, but I ended up absolutely loving the ride, personally! 10/10
    10. Wicker Man - Alton Towers: It may now only be in my top 10 by the skin of its teeth, but Wicker Man is a fantastic GCI coaster that I absolutely love! It may not look like much on paper, but I find it to be an enormously fun and rerideable coaster that never fails to put a huge smile on my face! I find it to be a really fast-paced coaster with some really fun twists and turns and some surprising pops of airtime, with some particular favourite elements of mine being the initial s-bend drop, where you gain brilliant speed incredibly quickly, and the big drop out of the high u-turn and following airtime hill, with both elements providing some excellent airtime that really whips you out of the seat! Overall, I find Wicker Man a hugely fun and rerideable wooden coaster with awesome airtime, twists and pacing, and I think it’s a ride that is definitely far more than the sum of its parts, personally! 10/10

    In terms of other notable new Florida additions, the only major new coaster addition I can think of that is missing is Pipeline: The Surf Coaster, which I found to be a big disappointment and is ranked at #52 out of 99.

     

    Overall, I thought that this trip was brilliant, personally!

  22. Worldwide Operations/Throughput Timings Thread

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    Hi guys. I don’t know about any of you, but one thing I personally like doing at theme parks is timing ride throughputs and observing the operations on rides. With this in mind, I decided to make a thread for like-minded people who are interested in throughputs and operations to share their throughput timings and operational insights from parks around the world. Whether your timings and operational insights are from Chessington, Europa Park, Six Flags, Cedar Fair, Oakwood or anywhere else in the world, I’d love to hear about them and I’m sure many others would too!

     

    My reason for deciding to create this thread is because I have some throughput timings and operational insights of my own to share. Currently, I’m coming towards the end of a trip to Florida, so I thought I’d share some of the throughput timings and general operational insights I was able to log at Islands of Adventure, Universal Studios Florida, SeaWorld Orlando and Busch Gardens Tampa.

     

    For various reasons, I could not time throughputs quite as comprehensively as I would normally like on this trip; things like metal detectors and themed queues obscuring sight of the rides at Universal and queues that were often too short to get a comprehensive average at SeaWorld and Busch Gardens meant that I had to rely more on chance occasions where I was standing within eyeshot of a ride at Universal in particular and as such, the averages are often based on lower amounts of dispatches than the 10 I normally aspire towards. Nonetheless, here are some of the throughput timings and general insights I was able to gain from Universal Orlando, SeaWorld Orlando and Busch Gardens Tampa.

     

    Islands of Adventure

    • Flight of the Hippogriff (Theoretical: 993pph on 2 trains) - 951pph (2 trains, 12th June 2023, average of 3) Note: I did not ride this, but I got a good vantage point from the queue line of Hagrid’s.
    • Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure (Theoretical: 1,700pph on 12 trains) - 1,617pph (unknown number of trains, 12th June 2023, average of 10)
    • Incredible Hulk (Theoretical: 1,920pph on 3 trains) - 1,138pph (possibly only running 2 trains (as I did not stack, which I didn’t think was possible on 3), 12th June 2023, average of 4), 1,608pph (unknown number of trains, 21st June 2023, average of 3)
    • VelociCoaster (Theoretical: 1,800pph on 4 trains) - 1,489pph (unknown number of trains, 17th June 2023, average of 3), 1,566pph (4 trains, 21st June 2023, average of 6)

    Universal Studios Florida

    • Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit (Theoretical: 1,850pph on 7 trains) - 1,329pph (unknown number of trains, 13th June 2023, average of 3)

    SeaWorld Orlando

    • Ice Breaker (Theoretical: 650-750pph on 2 trains) - 564pph (2 trains, 16th June 2023, average of 2)
    • Kraken (Theoretical: 1,500pph on 3 trains) - I did not get an exact throughput for this, but the ride was running 2 trains and stacking on the brake run was routine. According to the dispatch timer in the station, the ride’s average park time seemed to be around 3 minutes. (16th June 2023)
    • Mako (Theoretical: 1,680pph on 3 trains) - 960pph (2 trains, 16th June 2023, average of 4). In terms of general insights, there was quite often a gap in the station between trains and the dispatch timer showed the train being parked for as little as 60 seconds on some occasions.
    • Manta (Theoretical: 1,500pph on 3 trains/2 stations) - I did not get an exact throughput for this, but the ride was running 2 trains and 1 station, and stacking seemed fairly common. (16th June 2023)
    • Pipeline The Surf Coaster (Theoretical: Unknown on 2 trains) - 474pph (2 trains, 16th June 2023, average of 7)

    Busch Gardens Tampa

    • Cobra’s Curse (Theoretical: 1,000pph on 8 trains) - 527pph (unknown number of trains, 22nd June 2023, average of 2)
    • Iron Gwazi (Theoretical: Unknown on 2 trains) - 493pph (2 trains, 22nd June 2023, average of 5). In terms of general insights, stacking was routine and park times in the station averaged around 2.5 minutes according to the station dispatch timer, sometimes going as high as 3 minutes.
    • Kumba (Theoretical: 1,700pph on 3 trains) - I did not get a reading for this, but the ride was seemingly only running 1 train. (22nd June 2023)
    • Sand Serpent (Theoretical: 1,120pph on 10 cars) - 331pph (4 cars, 22nd June 2023, average of 4)
    • Scorpion (Theoretical: Unknown on 2 trains) - 357pph (1 train, 22nd June 2023, average of 2)

    I hope you find this interesting; I know I certainly found this data interesting to gather! If I’m able to do any notable readings at Universal tomorrow, I’ll report back, but as my Florida trip is mostly over, I thought I’d report my current findings.

     

    If you have any throughput timings and/or general operational insights from a recent park visit that you’d like to share, I’d love to hear about them in this thread!

  24. Vampire

    in Chessington World of Adventures

    Posted

    It’s funny you should say that, because Chessington Buzz reported back in April that the ride is rumoured to be closing at the end of this season for a Nemesis-style retrack, reopening in March 2025 for its 35th anniversary:

    Take this with as much salt as you like, but Chessington Buzz seem to be very reliable for predicting Chessington’s future plans, for what it’s worth.

  25. Ghost Train - NEW for 2023

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    According to Theme Park Insanity, Thorpe Park have stated in their pass holder group that they are taking on board feedback regarding Ghost Train:

    https://www.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=pfbid02A84hB12ci1nW1vtTL1h24okGHmwk1Xe9fNn2iV1LTKmjgyiHmgwSBZb8KxUNpjN8l&id=100063806040092

    Some of the key things they have said include:

    • They are currently working to optimise the experience, and they are still fine tuning the effects and such.
    • They are aware that Ghost Train is no longer primarily a ride and will try to stop referring to it as such.
    • The implementation of timed tickets on Ghost Train is being considered to improve guest experience and throughput efficiency.
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