Photos from today. Too tired for any silly commentaries, just pics.

From the toilets

From rehidrator

Looking at those photos, I see that the concrete base has those holes in them. One thing I realised, is that Maurer Sohne use those holes with their rides in a small indoor space. But Gerstlauer, they place screws in the ground for small indoor sections, such as with Saw-The ride. Maybe it is another hint that it will be a Maurer Sohne.

The top picture shows the indoor spinning coaster at rainbow magicland. It shows those holes in the base and the use of no screws.

Oh god that thing, so awful </3

Wodan also uses them, and Silver Star has a cupboard system too.

Whatever, you cannot dispute that they are a viable solution.

I can because it has no impact on throughput, riders still have to put their bags over. The automated systems at europa are no different throughput wise to ones see on nemesis etc except they are automated!

I think merlin have got it right on all major attractions installed from Rita onwards...get riders to get rid of their bags before entering the air gates so it has no impact on dispatch times.

Weird how Europa then still manage to dispatch their rides without stacking with their bag holders on their rides...

Station holders only affect throughputs when people are useless at life... Such as taking off shoes and must ensuring their bags are neatly placed...

So it's the public in the uk that cause baggage problems?

Why don't they stack? No physical bar checks, so the ride hosts don't have to stand by a seat and wait for the person to place their bag in and then physically check before moving on.

At europa it's just a visual look at lights for the most part and off you go.

I stick by what I say, in my opinion merlin have got it right with pre batching/air gates luggage holds, they're more secure and allows a quicker throughput, even if we do blame people who are "useless at life" as the reason for station holders not working.These luggage holds negate that, thus making it the sensible option

The rides at Europa mentioned above are rides where a physical bar check is done. On Blue Fire the bar is pushed down hard as it inverts and there are no OTSRs, and Wodan I don't know why it is done but it just is! So really the staff just work hard and the bag cupboards are more spread out. You could argue an issue with Colossus' bag box is that a person in row 5 or whatever walks through and places their bag in the first cupboard opposite them, but people in row 1 have to walk down the platform and push through a scrum of people in order to get their bag in a holder - delaying the dispatch.

To explain why Blue Fire's bag holders are so good I'll just make it clear that when it is running 4 trains, everyone collects their bags from the opposite side of the bag cupboard like Rita. However the cupboards are big so there isn't crowding, and there are many separate compartments that open up for riders on the ride to put their bags in. There's just so much space in the holders and no pushing through loads of people to get your bag. Bag rooms are fine however they require a few extra staff members which seems wasteful in my opinion. I would rather have a better bagging system and those staff on platforms checking bars etc to get the ride dispatched faster.

I've made a quick video of the advertising for SW7 around the park... This includes the projected image onto the towers which swirls at night! (Looks great when your at the park!)

^That face and especially the eyes sure look great a night. Thanks for the video. Also, there are rumours spreading that some track is due to arrive possibly today or tomorrow due to alton towers being prepared for its arrival. Very exciting.

Over-view of the site

Credits to TTF SW7 mini-site

The rides at Europa mentioned above are rides where a physical bar check is done. On Blue Fire the bar is pushed down hard as it inverts and there are no OTSRs, and Wodan I don't know why it is done but it just is! So really the staff just work hard and the bag cupboards are more spread out. You could argue an issue with Colossus' bag box is that a person in row 5 or whatever walks through and places their bag in the first cupboard opposite them, but people in row 1 have to walk down the platform and push through a scrum of people in order to get their bag in a holder - delaying the dispatch.

To explain why Blue Fire's bag holders are so good I'll just make it clear that when it is running 4 trains, everyone collects their bags from the opposite side of the bag cupboard like Rita. However the cupboards are big so there isn't crowding, and there are many separate compartments that open up for riders on the ride to put their bags in. There's just so much space in the holders and no pushing through loads of people to get your bag. Bag rooms are fine however they require a few extra staff members which seems wasteful in my opinion. I would rather have a better bagging system and those staff on platforms checking bars etc to get the ride dispatched faster.

So it doesn't actually matter if the holders are automated or not, just that they need to be spread out more

However the automated feature of blue fire means your bag is less likely to be stolen. To be honest it just saves on staffing costs.

Whatever, I'm not expecting Thorpe to change! This was just an alternative.

As someone else mentioned, Europe parks prove there is no need for most baggage restrictions in the first place and we should just take stuff on with us. SW7 may be an exception though, if the slow stationary turning thing is 'the' element that would clearly chuck all lose stuff everywhere.

It baffles me sometimes, Merlins thinking. They are so maddeningly tight and money grabbing with some things and then run expensive bag holds where there wouldn't be too much of an outcry if they moved to paid lockers instead. So very odd, giving up a potential revenue stream and incurring a cost at the same time, over the year they really ain't cheap to operate.

I'm still not grasping the scale of that site and where exactly the station building is sitting. Luckily I'll be able to take a look for myself they day after tomorrow. Exciting stuff.

Was on park today (Benjibobs talked me into it), So some construction pics

From the toilets at lunch time

into hole - lunch time

5pm from the gate

5pm oblivion queue

by 5pm the 2nd level with all the rebar in my into the hole pic had been filled with concrete. It was spitting with rain at this point and my camera decided to focus on the rain so these shots not included as they are just uber-blurred.

Great photo's as always.

Also, if there is still any speculation about the manufacturer of SW7, it has now been confirmed by Gerstlauer themselves, that SW7 is being manufactured by Gerstlauer.

Listen closely from around 2:00 onwards from this video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxFSgFOMp9M&feature=g-all-u

Just to end the speculation (if there was any).

The first few sections of SW7 track have arrived this morning, heres the Towers Street article: http://www.towersstr...icle=1350905403 Let the enthusiast meltdown begin!

Sorry if it's been mentioned already, but the face on the website now flashes with statistics.

Highlights are four rows of 4 steats per car, and a 30 metre drop!

http://www.altontowers.com/2013/

edit - had already been mentioned! I have been following the thread for a while and must have missed it, oh well!

here is the track

Merlin, for 2014 can we get a coaster that isn't black. Thanks xoxox

Haha Was thinking exactly the same. They sure do love the black and grey track dont they. Saw, Thirteen, Krake, Raptor, Swarm and SW7 (unless I have missed any)

Imo black's the best color for it considering it's in X-sector and all

First thing I thought was Saw.. but I guess the black would fit quite well, especially with part of it being dark/inside.

Imo black's the best color for it considering it's in X-sector and all

I think grey personally.

4 rows of 4 new type of trains then

.....or two old style trains stuck together.

The lap bar question is what it's all about. C'mon the lap bars.