June 9, 201213 yr comment_137918 Looks like a good ride, kinda looks like it'll end up being something in-between a Huss Millennium and KMG XLR8, video of Millennium below. It's great to see AI attempting to create in-house rides, but it sure does take a lot longer for them to complete than if they were to have got it from a manufacturer. There must be some sort of reason as to why they decided to produce it in-house anyway (maybe cheaper?)
June 9, 201213 yr comment_137921 I see where you're coming from but when sat in and the seats rotated to your right then it'll be the same sort of seating position as a KMG XLR8...Would it not? Tom. Possibly, but the riding position angle on Time Machine appears to be about 90o! On the KMG XLR8 it only looks to be about 50o...
June 9, 201213 yr comment_137922 No more pressure, once 'erect', than enterprise or similar. A pop of maximum pressure at the bottom and a fight with gravity evening things out at the top, overall the forces are far from unbearable. When enterprise levels before the ride ends and your are put through sustained g's it really does drain you quickly, but all the time it is upright it is fine. I'm sure it will be the same with this.
June 21, 201213 yr comment_138331 Was in Southend the day before yesterday, this is what I saw..... So, it still ain't working. It is not quite like I thought it would be, I guessed the seats would be free swinging but they are in fact powered to rotate and have stopped in these positions. This is gonna be weird sensation!
October 30, 201212 yr comment_143428 It has finally opened. After almost two years the Time Machine is now operating and a POV has been posted. It looks insane!
October 31, 201212 yr comment_143439 F*** me sideways, that gets a wriggle on. Southend here I come....
October 31, 201212 yr comment_143452 I must say that looks absolutely brilliant, it's like they've taken all the best thrill ride ideas such as the Super Rides 'Superstar', KMG 'XLR8', and Zamperla 'Power Surge' and bundled it all into one fast, powerful, unique ride; just what was expected really. Must get down to Southend to try this thing out! I also wonder if they'll ever go into producing these things and putting them on sale... Unlikely but could be popular considering how unique it looks.
October 31, 201212 yr comment_143459 I think Time Machine on the eastern part of the recreation area, and the more family-friendly roller coaster ride Kiddi Koasta on the western part are good for visitors.
November 6, 201212 yr comment_143741 A much better video of Time Machine in action. Have to take my hat of to the Adventure Island engineers for designing and building this. They should definately put it on sale because I think they'd be very popular (you'd just have to ask a long time in advance for one )
November 6, 201212 yr comment_143745 Good video, looks a pretty decent ride! Gotta love the random bald bloke at the end too
December 9, 201212 yr comment_145569 I went on it the day after it opened back in late October (for Haloween!), didn't even know it was gonna be open. Its a great ride but really intense. You can barely lift your arms up on it. I agree, they'd make loads selling these, it will help AI be put on the scale a bit more.
December 11, 201212 yr comment_145795 OMG just looked at that video and the first thing I thought to myself - it's a self made puke machine, my body doesn't cope as well as it used to on that type of ride. GET ME ON IT NOW!!!!!! Southend will be seeing me in the new year looks wicked (and sickly)
February 22, 201312 yr comment_150887 Took a little trip into Southend yesterday and was pleased to find the whole of this little park was open, busy, and miraculously able to operate in the freezing cold weather too! I only had time for a couple of rides, but they were both firsts for me: - A rollercoaster in the snow! OK, only a small flurry but still a first for me. It was Rage, of course, which I thought was noticeably less smooth than last year. Whether that was due to the weather or actual ageing I won't know until the summer, but the whole structure visibly moves more than I remember as each car passes through. Still love it though. - Time Machine! It is fantastic, even faster than it looks in those vids and such an unusual feeling, especially as it turns you into the floor facing position. Even though it rises up the forces is puts on you feel absolutely constant rather than the peaks and troughs of g's you usually feel on lifting spinning rides. By the end I couldn't feel my feet and was quite light headed, needing a few minutes on a bench to recover and be able to walk properly. For Mrs pluk this was all a bit too much and she vowed never to get on it again, but these extreme things are what I crave. It is amazing that AI have come up with this from concept to realisation and they should be applauded for it. I will return for more. Also noticed some small works going on behind the whip, which looked like it might be the relocation of the strange tracked boat ride which used to go under the pier, and some big works where they have removed the massive wooden boat that has stood by the pier for as long as I can remember and I think used to house a waxworks walk-through type thing. This has opened up a rather huge plot of land for such a small park, I wonder what it is going to be used for?
February 22, 201312 yr comment_150896 That boat area is listed on the park map as under development and is covered over in white. Hopefully another new attraction.
February 22, 201312 yr comment_150942 I hope so! Years ago plans were drawn up to have a coaster with its station there, which would have snaked around the pier out to sea and back again. I'm not suggesting that is what they are doing now, but how amazing would that be? As boats keep crashing into the pier though that probably is a bit of a bad idea!
March 13, 201312 yr comment_153049 Took a trip for the first time ever last May. Love Rage, it's different and nice to ride a Eurofighter different to Saw. The go-karts are fun. I stayed in the nearby Park Inn hotel which overlooks it. Interesting how it's all lit up at night until all the lights go off at once when it's time to close.
May 2, 201312 yr comment_158103 https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=512733912119381&set=a.243971242328984.58689.242142325845209&type=1&theater Adventure Island have removed the Dock and Quay area which featured black beards. I wonder what will replace the foot print of the area.
July 7, 201312 yr comment_162667 Planning has been submitted for a star flyer and big big wheel. http://www.echo-news.co.uk/news/10519080.Adventure_Island_plans_big_new_rides/?ref=mc Not the most exciting of developments for me tbh. I can't see a star flyer working often with the wind that batters the seafront constantly, and the thought of a 'Southend Eye' is a bit depressing. What are you going to look at? The front is at the bottom of a very high steep hill, this thing will barely raise you above the level of the high street anyway!
August 24, 201312 yr comment_166763 This place really is my guilty pleasure. Went yesterday and had a great day. I'm going to go into why I love this place but first of all you have to understand that it's not a theme park, and it doesn't even call itself one. Adventure Island calls itself a "Fun Park" which suits the place very well. If you go expecting immersively themed areas then you will come away disappointed, but if you go wanting fun thrilling rides with very short queues even on the busiest of days you will come away very happy. So where to start, it was a lovely day yesterday and very busy on park. However, even with this the longest queue was 15 minutes for Rage. What I loved most was people were complaining about this saying that it was far too busy. 15 minutes for there largest ride?! I didn't have a single issue with this. This was also with the whole queue line full. Unlike many parks, they also added the third train at 3pm when it wasn't needed as such but they did and within 5 minutes that train was also transporting guests. Operations across the park were also superb! The staff were filling every seat possible on the rides to try and reduce the already minimal queues. The rides here don't have massive throughputs, but they were making use of everything they had available to them. If you see any of the rides with a full queue, the longest you'll wait is 20 minutes. The staff are another reason I love this place. They're all young adults but are great fun. They have the perfect mix of keeping throughputs high and giving guest the best day possible. Many staff had come up with dances to do with there rides music, coming up with ways to interact whilst the guests are on the ride, and getting you hyped up for the ride, all without affecting the queue time. The general park wide atmosphere is also superb, no it's not like a theme park with different themed tracks of music, but the use of Southend FM around the park gives a very lively feel and they also have characters walking around, great! Time Machine: This ride deserves its own mention. When I last went two years ago this was meant to be ready but it wasn't, and didn't open till last October, but the wait was worth it! This ride is insane!!! It is one of the most intense ride experiences ever and you can really feel it pulling on your face. It looks quite simple in what it does but when on it you have no idea where you are going. Adventure Island makes many of there own rides but this is by far the best. It's amazing how this thing doesn't tear itself apart and a huge congratulation is in order for the engineers who designed and built it. I would love to see what they could create if given the money and land!
August 24, 201312 yr comment_166809 Disturbing 'news' that the park is currently severely flooded to a damage causing extent along with most of the arcades and bars along the seafront. Hopefully this is just facebook rumourmill nonsense, but the way it has been chucking it down outside for hours on end I wouldn't be surprised! EDIT: I think this is the view from beyond sealife looking towards the park, so there might be something in it.
August 24, 201312 yr comment_166811 Oh no! I'm very glad I went yesterday, hope the damage (if there is much) isn't too severe! Something like this could severely damage the place in the long term money wise.
August 24, 201312 yr comment_166818 Looking pretty bad... This is the cliffs opposite adventure island, it isn't supposed to be a waterfall! I should imagine all this is pouring straight across the road and into the park. <iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/video/embed?video_id=10151816470927744" width="226" height="400" frameborder="0"></iframe> EDIT: park is opening again today so must have come off relatively lightly compared to the rest of the seafront. Edited August 25, 201312 yr by pluk Update
September 7, 201311 yr comment_167878 Unfortunately I couldn't take any pictures as I didn't have any device with me but on my visit on the 31st August concrete was being poured into the old Blackbeard's site it covered a rectangular area in the middle of the old area. Probably worth a mention but when I was queuing for Rage that day a very ignorant foreigner (sorry to sound racist) dropped his phone into the Rage ride area just underneath the brake run, so what does he do... he stupidly jumped over the railings and into the ride area to retrieve his phone, thankfully a ride car with the front row full of staff was coming down the brake run at the time and shouted over to the operating team to E-Stop the ride. They E-Stopped it immediately and the car with staff in stopped at the bottom of the brake run, another stopped on its way out of the station and the third stopped half way up the lift hill. After about 15 minutes it was reset and operations resumed but for some stupid reason the boy was not escorted off the park. Its a miracle he didn't get injured but everyone in the queue line was disgusted with him and I personally was flaming with anger that he wasn't escorted off park.
September 7, 201311 yr comment_167880 Its a miracle shame he didn't get injured. Sounds harsh, but such stupidity should be rewarded appropriately. And I totally agree he should have been kicked out.
September 7, 201311 yr comment_167881 I hate people like that. How thick can someone be to climb onto the ride area when it's in operation?
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