Alton Towers Discussion Thread

Very dumb question, but is it just me, or does it look like you go out of the element backwards?

Yes, the train indeed leaves backwards, and then is returned to the forwards position via a transfer track at the end of the ride.

Credit where credit's due. If that is indeed the plan then that could be great fun.

The Worlds First feature will supposedly be revealed tomorrow morning.

GMTV are apparently on site this evening and will be reporting live from the resort alongside the TH13TEEN bootcamp participants sometime between 6 and 7am tomorrow.

Photo from inside station: http://tweetphoto.com/14616139

Well just watched it on gmtv and im now very undecided on whether its the best thing ive seen in years or the worst the coaster itself didn't look that great to me and although the drop part of the ride looked cool I cant see the point of having it right at the end just to go back in the station.Think its gonna be one of those to ride rather than watch.

After watching GMTV my feelings are the same as the post above,also i wonder if the dark section has other effects that haven't been shown,or you could'nt see from the footage.

Yes, but that stupid Scooby Doo ride is Jizzman's only claim to fame! He mentions it in every post!!!

To be fair, that stupid Scooby Doo ride is probably the best coaster in Australia. It's really cool IMHO, and as you know I don't tend to be particularly exuberant with my praise...

GM.TV POV Footage

Above is a video of the ride... Spoiler, this is a POV so if you want to ride it for yourself then don't watch.

I say that looks pretty cool.

Chris.

Getting some moronic comments on the Resort's Facebook status about the GMTV coverage. Still, shorter queues for the old fashioned among us who like to judge rides by riding rather than watching someone else's reactions to it for a few minutes.

Yes, but that stupid Scooby Doo ride is Jizzman's only claim to fame! He mentions it in every post!!!

 

To be fair, that stupid Scooby Doo ride is probably the best coaster in Australia. It's really cool IMHO, and as you know I don't tend to be particularly exuberant with my praise...

Agreed, Scooby is not stupid.

From what I have seen so far it looks reasonably decent...I imagine it will look a bit better once all the theming is properly finished.

As for the worlds first...Well, it has 'hairtime' which looks a lot of fun, but I wish they had perhaps used the drop track for a Tower Of Terror style cycle with multiple ups and downs....They went to all that expense for the drop track, for it to only be used once for a matter of seconds.

I think it looks pretty cool. Hard to tell from the footage about speeds etc. but the drop looks as though it will be worth it.

Might need to get there this summer.

Looks like a fun coaster with some good drops and nice airtime but like people have been saying for months EXTREMELY over hyped.

I thought there was going to be more going on inside of the building beside just the track dropping, I also thought it would be more tower of terrorish far as like dark ride/drop combo

None of the internal effects were working for the GMTV filming session, whether this is due to technical issues, or it could actually be to hide the effects for the public up until they experience it for themselves, rumours I have heard are the internal section of the ride will actually be twice the time that you saw on the GMTV video.

Good to see there is a shutter which closes to create total darkness, will be a good experience when all working. The drop actually looks pretty impressive considering the height isn't that tall, also good to see that the entire of the final reverse helix is covered over, really looking forwards to riding this in May.

My earlier post may have seemed negative but i am still looking forward to riding this on saturday,hopefully with the effects and possible different drop program it will be an excellent ride experience.

I'd say from that footage that it looks like a fun, enjoyable 'coaster, and definitely for the middleground - I think it'll be a great family ride.

^Agreed, it looks a bit on the short side to me, but it still seems like a lot of fun.

^there seemed to be a bit of editing in the clip so I'm hoping there may be a bit more to it than was shown.

Either way the focus seems to be on the drop element rather than the rest of the ride. Just another legacy of the blasted height restrictions.

GM.TV POV Footage

Above is a video of the ride... Spoiler, this is a POV so if you want to ride it for yourself then don't watch.

Here is the video on Youtube, if you are not able to view it @ the gm.tv website.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDBf-VTGpRc

I thought there was going to be more going on inside of the building beside just the track dropping

There is, the effects were turned off for the ride that included the GMTV presenter, the bootcamp people apparently had a few rides of it and have been raving about the "dark ride section" amongst all the negativity (all by people yet to ride I might add) on the Facebook page.

I'm definitely looking forward to riding - apart from anything else, I'd much rather ride this than Corkscrew. I'm surprised at how so many people fell for the hype campaign - what I can see on the video is pretty much what I expected all along, having seen the construction photos and all the different hints. Being a fan of coasters with 'character', I think this'll be a good'un.

^Same!

This is a giant improvement over Corkscrew, and while it might not be the 'be all end all' that some people thought it's a solid family fun ride.

So it's Expedition Everest without all the theming. I'm sure it will do AWESOME for families, and people will absolutely love it (it does look like a lot of fun!), but for a hard core roller coaster enthusiast looking for big thrills? I have a feeling they will be disappointed.

I have just got home after winning bootcamp and being one of the first riders on Th13teen, It was amazing, really amazing!

If the effects were turned off then it still might be good, but if they weren't then this is a pathetic ride.

Apparently it's A LOT better than the video makes out

I'm just gonna wait till I ride it