October 3, 20159 yr comment_219461 I assuming the third closed ride is Sub Terra? Yeah, that's closed for actual reasons, rather than just being broken... 3 closed rides is Jamie's limit then, poor Thorpe...
October 3, 20159 yr comment_219464 It's a shame the Flume [much like Tidal Wave] won't be seeing the year out, however I can see why their doing this as the park in the present day is in a poor state following the Smiler accident and considering the ride is: 1/ Potentially less popular this time of year due to temperatures 2/ Must close at dusk for safety reasons 3/ Is likely one of the park's most expensive rides to run [Rita costs more to run but somewhat has the popularity to keep running it] Then the park must be ruthless with their decisions to try and prevent further loss and problems as guests numbers this year are likely to be down by at least 20% even if Christmas somewhat turns on to be a success. This isn't the first abrupt/negative cutback we've seen at the park's this year and I'm sure it probably won't be the last. If Dragon Falls closes however, they've made a foolish decision though.
October 3, 20159 yr comment_219468 Just to be clear, I wasn't actually planning on attending Scarefest but I don't see any reason to travel three hours for a park with three rides that I enjoy closed. As for the comments about Blackpool, all rides are open here!
October 3, 20159 yr comment_219469 I went to Alton Towers in the summer and was surprised to see The Flume still existed, and it certainly wasn't popular. It still works alrightish but it's clearly out of place and out of date, with any old charm worn out by now. I do remember when it would get 2 hour queues but this year it's unlikely to get anything. Not a big loss really, although a nice filler
October 3, 20159 yr comment_219470 I went to Alton Towers in the summer and was surprised to see The Flume still existed, and it certainly wasn't popular. It still works alrightish but it's clearly out of place and out of date, with any old charm worn out by now. I do remember when it would get 2 hour queues but this year it's unlikely to get anything. Not a big loss really, although a nice filler A nice filler? more like a big waste of space..
October 3, 20159 yr comment_219471 I assuming the third closed ride is Sub Terra? Yeah, that's closed for actual reasons, rather than just being broken... 3 closed rides is Jamie's limit then, poor Thorpe... Or perhaps like me, he faces a four to five hour car journey to get to Alton, and doesn't see the point in spending all that time travelling when a quarter of the decent* rides are closed. *open to interpretation.
October 3, 20159 yr comment_219472 Majority of the members of this forum are from the South of England, we all have to travel the four/five hours to Alton. I'd agree with you all if it was, say Nemesis, Oblivion and The Smiler closed. The problem really comes to how badly the Smiler incident is biting our theme parks. You can either choose to support our theme parks or not. Just to be clear, I wasn't actually planning on attending Scarefest but I don't see any reason to travel three hours for a park with three rides that I enjoy closed.As for the comments about Blackpool, all rides are open here! Brilliant.
October 3, 20159 yr comment_219477 Or perhaps like me, he faces a four to five hour car journey to get to Alton, and doesn't see the point in spending all that time travelling when a quarter of the decent* rides are closed. *open to interpretation. This is exactly my point, I'm not prepared to spend the money and time travelling with a poor ride availability.
October 3, 20159 yr comment_219479 If Alton was the only park then yes Marc I could buy that, but since Chessie, Thorpe and Legoland are within spitting distance, I don't see the point of driving all that way when I can drive for between 10 and 50 minutes and have the same experience. Not forgetting the cost of petrol, which isn't insignificant nowadays.
October 3, 20159 yr comment_219480 This is exactly my point, I'm not prepared to spend the money and time travelling with a poor ride availability. You weren't planning on going anyway so the point becomes irrelevant. If Alton was the only park then yes Marc I could buy that, but since Chessie, Thorpe and Legoland are within spitting distance, I don't see the point of driving all that way when I can drive for between 10 and 50 minutes and have the same experience. Not forgetting the cost of petrol, which isn't insignificant nowadays. Well thats then. With that mindset, going to Alton would be a pointless endeavour anyway, even if all the rides were open. Of course, Chessie comes with its own problems such as two major rides closed and major capacity problems on Fury, Rattlesnake and Vampire and of course Thorpe has Tidal Wave, Samurai and Vortex down. Still, there's always the closing at 5pm Loggers Leap or the completely unthemed to within an inch of its life Dragon Falls to enjoy for Log Flume fans.
October 3, 20159 yr comment_219482 You're missing the point, if Alton was the only park, or I lived closer, then I would be there every weekend supporting them. But I don't live close and don't have a money tree in the back garden, so I'll stick to the other three ****holes that don't cost me a small fortune to visit until Alton fix their stuff.
October 3, 20159 yr comment_219497 You're missing the point, if Alton was the only park, or I lived closer, then I would be there every weekend supporting them. But I don't live close and don't have a money tree in the back garden, so I'll stick to the other three ****holes that don't cost me a small fortune to visit until Alton fix their stuff. I do get your point.
October 3, 20159 yr comment_219506 So long as th13teen is still open I'd travel to towers if I had the opportunity to.
October 3, 20159 yr comment_219539 You weren't planning on going anyway so the point becomes irrelevant.I was considering the possibility of visiting on Scarefest to be honest, but not planning as such. However I can't justify the travel with a bad ride offering so won't visit, as I think may be the case with a significant percentage of the public this year.
October 3, 20159 yr comment_219543 I was considering the possibility of visiting on Scarefest to be honest, but not planning as such. However I can't justify the travel with a bad ride offering so won't visit, as I think may be the case with a significant percentage of the public this year. Let's face it - the majority of the general public who won't be going to Towers (and in particular, Scarefest) this year have been put off by Smiler, either because its crash has scared them away, or the fact that they want to be there when it's open so they can ride it. The closure of an old log flume and a dark ride that doesn't attract long queues isn't going to change that. Given the look of this year's scare attractions as well, if that's someone's main reason for travelling to Scarefest, I don't think that the closure of one filler ride will make much difference to most.
June 13, 20178 yr comment_250257 What was the actual reason behind the closure of The Flume? Was it solely due to SW8, or was SW8 planned because the Flume needed to close? Personally I'm not happy about the decision at all. Alton Towers doesn't need another coaster, and needs more water rides. With the recent departures of Charlie and The Flume, the park now has just one water ride, which really isn't that impressive for a park of AT's size. Yes the flume was looking quite sad, but an upgrade could have made it into a really great log flume attraction.
June 13, 20178 yr comment_250258 Probably the only space they could quickly get application for/through given that the plans greatly changed post Smiler crash...
June 13, 20178 yr comment_250260 The Flume site had been on the hit list for some time I think and it timed with the ride's evac procedures needing a sort out. It got old, but Benin is right it SW8 wasn't always supposed to be there I'm pretty sure. I mean you can already tell that from its layout that probably took a day to design.
June 13, 20178 yr comment_250262 Does anyone know what the original SW8 plans were and where it was located?
June 13, 20178 yr comment_250267 2 hours ago, LostCityBoy said: Does anyone know what the original SW8 plans were and where it was located? Weren't they originally for the valley between Forbidden Valley and Dark Forest? Or was that SW7?
June 13, 20178 yr comment_250274 Valley has been mooted a few times, most famously for the SW6 woodie (which is over a decade ago now!)... SW8 was rumoured to be a launched RMC going on the Air car park, though it's probably had several guises...
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