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Will the UK ever produce another world class coaster?


mccoaster

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Okay, this is my view on the situation, I dont get what people mean by Nemesis is a world class ride Its fun and everything but I just didnt see what was so special about it. Of course the theming is great and stuff, but well Saw is amazingly themed and that isnt a world class ride. And I'm going to admit on this one, It felt it was more intense on Nemesis Inferno than Nemesis. Please dont start having a go at me, just my opinion. ;)

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  • 2 weeks later...

I query this whole world class rollercoaster debate to be honest. Quality of a ride, as has already been discussed is completely subjective. However, a truely world class ride is one that is recognised the world over almost in spite of the ride itself.And I would argue the UK has only ever had four of these kinds of rides.Nemesis is pretty self explanatory. But despite my absolute hate for it's shocking tedium and general crapness, the Big One at Blackpool is a world class ride. It bought the height record to the UK for such a short time but its impact is felt 10/15/20 years later. The other two coasters are Air and Oblivion. The Dive Machine and the Flyer are taking off now and taking their designs to new limits.... but it was Oblivion and Air that started it all.The Thorpe one, if it is what it is rumoured to be, will be a world class ride almost by default.

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Of course the theming is great and stuff, but well Saw is amazingly themed and that isnt a world class ride.

Not really. In my opinion, Nemesis does not have world class theming, and neither does Saw.What makes Nemesis so highly regarded is the fact that it has an intense, clever layout. The train does not start with a big drop from which the whole ride gains its speed, instead it gains its speed continuously throughout the whole ride, and keeps on accelerating until the stall turn near the end.It was also brand new technology at the time of planning and construction. The project had only started after a year or so since the first ever B&M invert had opened, so it was a machine totally alien to most theme parks in the world. For it to arrive in the UK before the rest of Europe was something special. The UK had only really been used to much less mean-looking and mean-riding coasters before that.Also, Nemesis was installed in a giant pit. The ground was level before the construction of Nemesis, so it had to be blasted out using dynamite. The huge crater in the ground then became the home of the rollercoaster, meaning the ride goes quite sharply towards the ground at points. There are many, many near-misses with rock faces, as well as the Nemesis eye when the train flies over the station. What's more, the ride is extremely fun and thrilling.Compare that to Saw's coaster section, which just performs a few flips and turns in one little area with no terrain interaction at all and very little thrill, and you can see which is the better coaster. Of course, everybody has their own opinions, but Nemesis is... well, obviously the better of the two. Posted Image
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I don't think Saw is that bad personally (theming wise, it's by far the best at thorpe), the only problem is that horrible bump at the bottom of the drop which puts me off re-riding it because it actually does hurt me. But if we're talking world class, I think that only Colossus can be included.

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^ Personally, I don't find the layout of Saw bad at all. I haven't really experienced the jolt and it's a fun ride - the indoor drop is great and the airtime hill onwards is pretty powerful. Theming is alright, but feels very lacking. I wouldn't say it's the best in the park - Tidal Wave - but it's got some rather good aspects. No where near what I'd call world class.Nemesis is world class. Being dug in the ground, the clever layout, the imposing monster and the way it's aged is just brilliant. The ride just flows so well. The thing is, I see a difference between 'world class' coasters and 'world setting' coasters. By world setting, I mean rides like Colossus, Air, Oblivion - being the first of their kind and setting a trend or a feat or something. But I couldn't class them as 'world class' (Air, possibly, but I'm not too sure to be honest). As for world class coasters, I'd say they'd need to be coaster masterpieces as well as commonly known. However, I don't think they can be very quick layouts (such as Intamin Accelerators like Stealth, Kingda Ka, etc.) That's why I'd put Nemesis there. Though having not rode it, Troy would have to go there as well. The Incredible Hulk is another one I would class as world class. Not sure of others though..

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But if we're talking world class, I think that only Colossus can be included.

Erm. Okay...Are we playing that with the assumption that by breaking a world record makes your ride world class?Josh kinda hit the nail on the head with the difference between setting and class. Two completely different things really and sometimes hard to separate depending on what people are looking for.It also will no doubt be affected by what rides people have been on. A serious question to all who believe rides like Saw and Colossus can be deemed as 'World Class', how many coasters have you experienced? Experiencing lots of different rides certainly will make a massive difference as often those with more rides under their belt have a lot more wealth of knowledge to pick apart rides and compare. If someone hasn't set foot outside the UK (or home area), then of course such rides would be considered such as that's the limit of their experience.In my top 10, I have 2 UK coasters and that's it. Personal experiences of rides come into play just as much as opinion of rides.
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  • 7 months later...

I don't think I can call Vampire a World Class attraction, sadly. For me, the whole package has to be of a superior standard. That includes the theme and any special effects, the attraction itself, the story, the throughput and the emotions it causes with its audience.The staff try their hardest with operations of Vampire but the hardware itself just doesn't make this job easy. It's frustrating how the ride is set up and run. Whilst it has a very nicely decorated station, the rest of the ride leaves a lot to be desired for. The exterior of the station is literally a tin shed and unashamedly so. I'd agree that the exterior layout does not need much scenery other than the trees and landscape and I think the coaster itself is brilliant for its target audience. The queue is nicely paced however the props that are placed around it have seen better days.The jury is out to see if we can pull off a world class attraction. Perhaps the UK shall surprise us and it'll pop up outside of our theme parks.

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 16/03/2011 at 7:26 PM, 'mccoaster said:

when it open I would agree it was world class but where it falls down compared to Nemesis is that Nemesis is still recognised on the world stage were as the big one is not.

In a way it comes down to opinion, for example there are a lot of rides that I prefer to Nemesis like The Big One and Valhalla and I would judge these to be world class, whereas other's wouldn't. :ninja:

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Surely the measure of being world class is that people from all around the world will travel to the place to ride it? When it opened the Big One was the tallest and fastest coaster in the world so naturally it's draw really was world wide. Unfortunately it isn't very good so it has lost that world wide appeal as its records have gone.Nemesis still attracts people from everywhere because of it's reputation as one of the best. I can't see the UK getting a truly world class attraction any time soon. We simply will not get the investment / planning for tallest or fastest and with Merlins dominance they might give us some good solid rides, but the very best of anything else in the world of their type? Nah.

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I don't deny The Swarm looks mighty fine. But is it going to be significantly better than the other B+M wingriders going up now and in the very near future all over the world? I really am not so sure.Therefore not necessarily world class, who is going to want to travel half way around the world to ride something they have an equal or better version of nearer them?It could go the Nemesis way and turn out to be practically perfect in every way, especially if the theming is epic and well maintained, and gather enough of a reputation to be truly world class. I would love to be proven wrong, but I have very severe doubts about that.

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I don't deny The Swarm looks mighty fine. But is it going to be significantly better than the other B+M wingriders going up now and in the very near future all over the world? I really am not so sure.Therefore not necessarily world class, who is going to want to travel half way around the world to ride something they have an equal or better version of nearer them?It could go the Nemesis way and turn out to be practically perfect in every way, especially if the theming is epic and well maintained, and gather enough of a reputation to be truly world class. I would love to be proven wrong, but I have very severe doubts about that.

Going back to this post from November because as more and more of Swarm has been shown, it's quite clear that it has the potential of being (if not world class) then one of the best themed rollercoasters in the UK.I find the analogy quite interesting. On paper, Nemesis is about as average as they come. Not very high, only four inversions, not much of a first drop. Nowadays it has been eclipsed by more intelligent versions such as the Dueling Dragons, higher and faster versions such as Katun, was basically ripped off in Black Mamba and even spawned its own sequel with Nemesis Inferno.If Nemesis hadn't been the first of its kind in Europe and indeed one of the first B&M Inverters in existence would it have the same reputation that it currently holds? I've seen many a people say Oblivion is better then rides such as Griffin and Sheikra despite Oblivion being shorter in length and height.With Swarm, it won't have the benefit of being the first in Europe and Raptor has set an incredibly high bench mark for Swarm to beat. I think Thorpe can pull it off. Whether it will be as good or better then X-Flight and Wild Eagle is up for debate.
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We just need a few longer coasters in Britain... Everything built here seems to be really short these days compared to many rides internationally.The Swarm, at 34 seconds, is going to be one of the shortest multi looping B&M coasters ever built. That's not to say it doesn't look lovely, of course.I think SW7 is going to world class too.

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GAH SIX FLAGS. :(

In my eyes 'carpark' is a recognised theme, and one that does not swallow up the precious budget. ;)I think Nemesis ST is as likely to be a world class attraction as The swarm or SW7. There will be other wing riders, there will be other Eurofighters, but ST looks to be an experience attraction, and if that experience is unique and well executed it could be something people from far and wide will be willing to travel to to try even though it is just four extremis drop towers.
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for me, 2012 looks like it could spawn some world class rides. the swarm has the potential to do so, nemesis sub terra is a bit of an oddball, but still has a chance.honestly, it wouldn't surprise me if the next world class attraction doesn't actually happen in a merlin park. I want the little man to win once in a while.

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