Mark9

I like parks that celebrate their past with nostalgic merchandise and subtle hints at their past. The Corkscrews at Towers for example or the gravestones at Chessington dedicated to Zappomatic and Professor Burp. I don't think parks should pander to their history though. Emily Alton & Nemesis Sub Terra mean nothing to the majority of park enthusiasts, let alone the general public. This is very Alton specific this topic, frankly theres a reason all these rides have left the park. Replacing them is the problem as all these rides gone have reduced the parks capacity considerably.

I can't wait to get back on the ride that everyone hated ten years ago.

You forgot Slammer, its just waiting there, biding its time in near mint condition, just waiting to reopen!

After a whole season of closure, Towers have now confirmed that Enterprise is no longer at the resort. I'm not sure if I have anything profound to say... I think I rode it twice and it was pretty short.

Nothing is ever as good or as bad as the first reports of excited people. Thats why I'm the go to for fright night maze opinions because I think they are all boring as hell.

So far nearly all of the launch track, the station and offload and half of the break run have been removed. Rumours abound that the track is being converted to take LSM which seems pretty obvious to me. Still weird to see such an iconic and important coaster in bits.

I think it will be half arsed attempt at refurbishing the ride. There will be an even looser story than Duel and a lot of the older animatronics will be completely removed.

Gosh its been years. Firstly, the top ten new rollercoasters of 2022:- 1. Wildfire 2. Velocicoaster 3. Monster 4. Goldstriker 5. Jetline 6. Kvasten 7. Hagrids Motorbike Rollercoaster thing 8. Flight Deck 9. Wild Mouse (Grona Lund) 10. Railblazer And finally, my current top ten rollercoasters. 1. Nemesis - Alton Towers. The saving grace of the park at the moment. The most consistent ride out there and one of the very best. It will be severely missed next year. 2. Steel Vengeance - Cedar Point. One of the finest rides ever built. 3. Blue Fire - Europa Park. One of my favourite rides and operationally the most perfect attraction. I love it. 4. Untamed - Walibi Holland. A sublime rollercoaster and one I really need to get back to. 5. Helix - Liseberg. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it the last time I rode and its definitely one that gives a beating to your thighs. The ejector air time is something else. 6. Katun - Miribilandia. A near perfect big rollercoaster. Very intense. 7. Wildfire - Kolmarden. I still am amazed that this random Zoo in the middle of Sweden has one of the finest rides in Europe. It stick outs like a sore thumb, but it must be one of the easiest RMC's to re-ride in the world. 8. Wodan - Europa Park. This one just grows and grows. Remarkably consistent and always deliver a fantastic ride. 9. Alpina Blitz - Nigloland. A fantastic ride and severely under-talked about. A really great ride. 10. Taron - This had to make it in there, I find it one of the most exhilarating non looping coasters in the world. Hopefully, with the pandemic pretty much done, there will be a lot more new parks and places visited in 2023. Onwards and upwards!

Good morning. With Monster becoming my 351th rollercoaster credit it also has the distinction of being my 50th B&M in total. And as a celebration of my absolutely, 100% favourite rollercoaster manufacturer ever, this blog will be relatively brief and a look through the 50. 1. Nemesis Inferno - 2003. Ah Inferno. Not the bang start but as a ride this has got so much better over the last two decades. Great solid ride. 2. Nemesis -2004. My favourite rollercoaster, one of the best B&M's ever built, in fact just one of the best rides ever constructed. Renewal secures its future for years to come. 3. Oblivion - 2004. One hit pony but it is a great hit. Ironically, one of the best dive machines out there despite the advances the ride type has made. 4. Galatica - 2004. This is okay. One of the weakest in Europe and other of its type are far superior. 5. Silver Star - 2006. A real grower, I wasn't initially a fan but now I find this a really solid crowd pleaser. Capacity and Efficiency to die for. 6. Black Mamba - 2006. I really like Mamba. It does have a weak finale but the theming and excellent makes this a stand out inverter for me. 7. Superman de Acero - 2007. For a long time this was one of my top five rollercoasters. I really like the long layout and darting off into the fields of Spain is actually better then it sounds. 8. Batman la Fuga - 2007. Not the biggest fan of this version. Just a bit meh and its theming doesn't extend beyond the queue and station. 9. Manta - 2011. Wonderful ride, very intense. I love a pretzel roll, give me more. 10. Kraken - 2011. This has grown on me since my initial ride. It's new colour scheme is a bit jerk but nonetheless, a great example of the flourless ride type. 11. The Incredible Hulk - 2011. The refresh has worked wonders and this is a fantastically intense and brutal Sit-down. Really great. 12. Fire Dragon - 2011 (RIP). The better of the two and I was fortunate enough to ride them when they duelled. Much missed. 13. Ice Dragon - 2011 (RIP). I hate JK Rowling. The loss of these two is enough to hate Universal actually. 14. Katun - 2011. An excellent example of an American style B&M but in the hot Italian sun. Fantastic ride and full of force. 15. Raptor (Gardaland) - 2011. A really nice low to the ground wing rider. Love how B&M nailed the concept with their first attempt. 16. The Swarm - 2012. I love the Swarm and the one I've ridden the most. A little short but has aged wonderfully with a very intense helix. 17. Oz'Iris - 2012. Excellent. Near perfection. Varied, unique and different layout and an absolutely perfect zero g roll. Beautiful theming. Three trains What's not to love? 18. Dragon Khan - 2012. An iconic ride. I think this could do with a retracking as legend has it its starting to show its age. Very aggressive ride. 19. Shambhala - 2012. The TPW famous ride, I remember loving this and its fun layout. I'm not PA's biggest fan but this ride alone would attract me back. 20. SheiKra - 2012. Never understood the dislike for this. I really love the absurdly big look of the ride and have always enjoyed it. 21. Kumba - 2012. Retrack please. It rode amazingly but wasn't great when I went in 2017. Absolutely iconic. 22. Montu - 2012. Really not a fan. After the great start, it just meanders around at the end not doing anything particularly special. Batwing is over-rated. 23. Dæmonen - 2013. Very cute. Yeah it's not substantial but at such a short queue and in such a beautiful location its hard to dislike this ride. 24. Medusa (Discovery Kingdom) - 2014. I really liked this car park coaster. Lovely and unique inversions and pretty forceful. Worth going to DK for. 25. Tatsu - 2014. Fantastic ride. It works so well flying above the hills of Magic Mountain and its strange layout really is unique and inspired. 26. Riddlers Revenge - 2014. Another fantastic, long B&M. Unique in one of the last stand ups out there. Really enjoyed it despite the crippling capacity. 27. Batman The Ride - 2014. Ridden backwards so not a true reflection. This was okay but these things should be done facing forwards. 28. Scream - 2014. Under-rated. American B&M's have an advantage in being very long and forceful. This has had a refresh since my visit so looks great now even if its still a car park. 29. Silver Bullet - 2014. Bit meh. It has some nice moments but its a bit too soft for my liking. Rumour has it that it has got a lot better since I rode. 30. Baron 1898 - 2017. Excellent. One of the best rides out there. The story engages me on every level and I could ride it all day. So much fun. 31. Monster (Walygator) - 2017. American style B&M in a field. Very good as only slightly better then Raptor at CP because it has no mid course break run. 32. Mako - 2017. I didn't think this would be for me but it was actually a lot of fun and a really good hyper. The mid course kills the pacing though. 33. Oblivion: The Black Hole - 2018. I liked this. One of the longer dive machines out there and its got a nice bit of decoration around the drop. 34. Flug der Demon - 2018. One of my favourite wing riders. Really nice use of the landscaping to create a varied and interesting ride. Great air time as well. 35. Krake - 2018. Dull. Almost as basic as Oblivion but without the prototype excuse. I like the Krake monster but thats it. 36. X-Flight - 2018. Wish I'd ridden more, we got a front row on the first ride so it probably wasn't at its fastest. Basically the Swarm but longer and more inversions. 37. Raging Bull - 2018. Very unique. Not surprised no more twister style hypers were made as this is a real odd attraction. 38. Superman Ultimate Flight - 2018. Boring. It has one stand out moment in the pretzel and the rest is just meandering around above the ground. 39. Batman the ride - 2018. The original inverter and absolutely fantastic. You can see why this was cloned so much based on the quality of this version. Hasn't aged at all. 40. Gatekeeper - 2018. I love this ride. Instantly re-rideable and instantly iconic over the entrance of CP. 41. Raptor - 2018. One of the more aggressive rides out there. What it lacks in variety it makes up with its just sheer force and speed. Recommended. 42. Rougarou - 2018. This is just alright. I'm not sure if the flourless really adds anything to a layout based around being stand up. 43. Valravn - 2018. Boring. The vest destroys any air time and in a park full of big drops, it's not really interesting or unique enough to stand up. Rubbish capacity as well. 44. Leviathan - 2018. Great first drop, the rest of it is very much meandering territory. Legend has it Fury 325 does the concept much better. 45. Behemoth - 2018. An absolute classic. Very good ride full of airtime, great setting over the river and a really long ride. The seating doesn't add a whole lot. 46. Valkirya - 2018. Aside from being a longer dive machine, the vest restraint just kills it for me. Why it couldn't have the normal restraints, I don't know. 47. Fenix - 2019. I really like this, its one of the more forceful versions of the wing rider. Great setting as well. 48. Flight Deck - 2022. Interesting getting back on an older B&M. It rides really well despite its age and I hope it finds a new home. 49. Patriot - 2022. Will probably be scrapped. Is now showing its age and it isn't the most inspired of layouts. 50. Monster (Grona) - 2022. I adore this ride. How they managed to fit it in is just magic. The elements are just so odd and you get crazy elements of intensity in some of the oddest places. And therein lies my truth. Here's to the next 50.

Well quite. What is the plan? Why is this the only investment, where's the smaller rides like some flat rides to keep the park ticking over. Where's the refurbishment for Inferno, Colossus, Stealth, Rush for example. Exodus can't be the only thing coming up.

Monster is a wonderful ride with a really interesting, intense and varied layout. It's really something how it fits into the park. I particularly liked its lake side first drop, overlooking the water. America may have the sheer quantity of Inverters but I'd rather have the quality of Nemesis, Katun, Oz'Siris, Monster and Black Mamba, anyday.

Better get on it Matt, you only have until next August to do it.

I'll be there. One of the finest rollercoasters ever constructed deserves a good send off.

I can only speak from where I stand on it. Massive investment in 2000's is one thing but for that target market (thrill seekers, up for it families), that investment can't just stop. it has to keep going. The park also has to continually re-invest in the older rides to keep everything fresh. Colossus and Inferno in particular are not new rollercoasters anymore and look their age. That isn't acceptable anymore. Thorpe is also obsessed with walk throughs, horror mazes and psychological experiences. None of these are reasons to visit a place, they compliment existing attractions. Somewhere in a board room, the Thorpe execs thought Black Mirror was a revolution but it isn't. Family rides are an issue at Thorpe because they are either over 25 years old at this point or aren't main events. There's absolutely no reason why a family ride could fit the bill in the park but they don't ever pursue it. X was a great example of a short sighted decision. I'm not convinced by Exodus, it's just another thrilling rollercoaster in a park that relies heavily on them already. It will have an amazing first year and then what. How can they sustain it? It's not going to convince anyone that wouldn't already go there for the thrill rides. it's why I think a B&M hyper is a better option, that ride is the ultimate crowd pleaser and has near 25 years of success already. Back in the 00's there was a balance, even if slightly skewed. Things like Eclipse, Flying Fish's refurbishment, Quantum and Tidal Wave appeal far more to a wider range of people. I mention Tidal Wave because even though themed to a catastrophe, it has a fun, cheeky theme to sell it. All of this is just my view and I'm glad I'm not in charge because I don't really know how to rescue Thorpe from its lull.

I've always loved that graph. It puts a lot of things into perspective. Nemesis just was the ride that completely changed Towers. Look at that massive jump in attendance, something Towers has never managed to reach since. Wicker Man did a lot of good in recovering attendance after the Smiler crash. Rameses at Chessington was such a hit back in '95 and it remained quite consistent up until Samurai. But the lack of investment and rubbish kids rides really didn't do much especially when big rides weren't forthcoming. The shoddy way Dragons Fury was marketed as well didn't help. Thorpe doesn't surprise me, the massive investments in the 00's was always going to be a problem when it stopped. The new ride doesn't fill me with confidence that they can reverse the decline. It's a plaster to a much bigger issue.

What is this thread and are we really to endure these cryptic clues for the next two years.

That must be a drag queens name.

Was it open for the whole of April, May, June, July & August. No. Was it still on the Towers website the whole time, yes. That was the point I was making.

Enterprise is still on the Towers website and that's been in pieces all year and Hex is on there despite it being open for only three days of the year so far. I don't think Merlin have a cut and dry rule for when rides are unavailable unexpectedly.

I love that you've made up this story based almost on entirely nothing. You could be right. But this fantasy is superb. You should work for Disney.

The dark rides are pretty alright. Never perfect, never outrageously awful. Of the newer era, Gruffalo is probably my favourite as it ticks all the targets of what it sets out to do and I find it disarmingly charming. Naturally, rides like Professor Burps Bubbleworks & Hex will always be my favourite dark rides the UK has ever had, purely from a rose tinted glasses position.

I love how wild some of those theoretical throughputs are. Colossus for example is so wildly over exaggerated by Intamin. Where is that Tidal Wave capacity from, I always assumed it was around 1000 an hour on three boats.

So I thought this was going to be a clone of Chessington's wing rider, but based on the pictures showing a lift hill it most certainly isn't. I'm even more intrigued now.

Back in the 80's Towers went from garden with the odd slide to a fully fledged amusement park. The locals already lived there and yes it caused massive issues. In the times we live in, things are very different and the locals seem much more forgiving of the noise from Towers. That being said, Nemesis received noise complaints in 2009 because of new wheels being louder. It just makes sense for Towers to get on with its neighbours. They know the value Towers brings to the area but their lives shouldn't be ruined by the park either.

Depends what they are doing exactly. And depends how good they want the attraction to be. I'm not sure how I feel about Towers opening up in 2023 with no Nemesis or Duel. It's not like Hex or Enterprise will be open and we can't rely on them getting fairground rides in again. Towers really needs to get a grip on what its offering has become. It's shockingly bad. Even going into Autumn this year with only one dark ride remaining is pretty indicative of where Towers sits right now.