IceDragon

Looked like you had fun! Do they actually allow you to take your camera on the Rapids and Log Flume? Shame about Stealth and Pirates not working... What was Pirates actually like with one projector? Sounds like an experience in itself lol They better be getting that launched B&M Flyer or I'll make you eat spongy bees through a bamboo shoot!

Not a tunnel vision fan? I love it!

No thanks, I had a bath this morning. If y = and x = , what would sponge equal?

I thought imageshack resized it for forums?

Great concept, crap execution.

I don't have one either, but it's when the console overheats or something... Putting towels around it will only fry the circuitry even faster... They got a new one to replace the old one.

Drayton Manor

I saw about 15 or something over the space of about an hour... Still not as good as what the media claimed it would be

Adventure Island Best - Rage Worst - Fireball Thorpe Park Best - Stealth Worst - X:\WTF

I hate to say this, but it wasn't too bad. I guess I was leaning into the curves instead of thrown in, but it really isn't too bad! I hate to say it, but my ride on Nemesis was rougher than Rita...

Nemesis is relentless... Never slows down until the very end! Same with it's sister at Thorpe, The last turns are packed with G's, they really make my feet tingle! Oblivion was a bit of a let down I guess, but I still catch some airtime on the very right hand side on the overbank... Air is just lame after the full inline twist

Hex at Alton Towers, Detonator at Thorpe Park and Experience (I forget the makers name)... All had me stunned!

Not too bad really, all were about half the time the display boards were advertising except air which had a few troubles here and there, nothing major though. And Swoosh: I think I know which is Air and which is Nemesis... and what cover up? meh, stupid troll

I just saw the Kentucky Rumbler picture of Tex and we look exactly alike except for eye colour... Thats pretty scary

I thought it was RITA actually... And I do know it's Air... Sheesh... Read the disclaimer at the bottom of the site... Heh, it is! What makes it better is that we live a long way from it, so there's no chance we can truly kill the magic!

I won't bore you with the whole holiday (WHAT???? THERE'S A LIFE OUTSIDE THEME PARKS???), that'll come a bit later After waking up at 5:45 in the morning (I didn't think I'd be able to do that!) and getting everything ready (lunches for 11 people, showered, waking people, etc) we set off at 8:45... I could've had an hour lay in... I guess here I should tell you about the group. There's myself, Alex (Thorpe park maniac), Annalie (my sister), dad, mum, Kim (auntie), Mel (uncle), Leo (cousin), Holly (cousin), Mark (uncle) and our Gran. Being coaster enthusiasts, we had planned the day on the way. dad and mum, both disliking theme parks didn't plan to do much. The rest didn't know what to expect as they rarely go to theme parks. They all did some feats though. Our journey starts at our holiday home. We start getting all coaster geeky and everything as usual, when me and Thorpe park maniac heard our little sister say she's going on Corkscrew and Spinball Whizzer! As much as I wanted her to get her first inverting credit, why Corkscrew! Wasn't good new for any of us. I was particularly proud when she said Spinball Whizzer because she missed out on it last year... We arrive at the Towers and find the Monoral queue had already peaked about 20 mins! We waited, growing more excited as we got nearer the platform. The monorail came in, we departed and the queue had already wrapped itself right around the building! We couldn't get a photo, but holy cow! We enter the park and see they did the 'star in your own movie' thing. I wanted to do it but I had very little money and the ticket seller was a right *insert swear word*. We headed straight for Spinball and My sister was bricking it all the way to the station. The same with Holly. Holly and Mel went first with 2 strangers while me, Alex, Annalie and Mark went in another car. My sister was particularly worried about the horseshoe, but she loved it! We went on The Beastie (well, they did. My legs are too long) and they have TRIMS!!!!! I was surprised at that! Next was the Berry Bish-Bash playhouse thing. I didn't do that either. They managed to waste 30 mins in there... The Log Flume came next, and it was amazing!!! The massive duck that runs at you in the dark made us all jump! We had a whale of a time and my camera was soaked by the splashes and the shower thing right at the end (we all forgot about it). It survived thank God. Next was a ride we all went on, The Congo River Rapids. Gran, not used to theme parks or anything like this, was persuaded onto it. I really liked it as there were points I thought were really good, like the wave machine and waterfalls. Next was the Runaway Mine Train. Once again, we got Gran on it, forgetting how intense it actually is. She really didn't like it, but Her on-ride photo says otherwise... We headed for the Forbidden Valley so Alex and I could get on Nemesis and Air again. Kim, Gran and Leo decided to do the Golf Thing by Splash Landings, so we lost them. We missed out on the queue for Nemesis, so we didn't actually know the track layout. The theming was lacking in parts I thought, but the ride comes very close to the queue. We got a spectacular view from the front row, although the ride is getting slightly rougher... I came off with a light headache that wouldn't improve. The awesome thing about the Ops when we rode was, they actually held my camera at the booth while we were riding! They wouldn't let me take a picture of them pounding it though (sorry Ryan!). Air is much better in the second row. I felt I was actually flying. The front row sucks. I don't actually like this ride much, but Holly needed to do it. Once again, she was really worried about it, especially when it stopped. Someone tried filming the ride using their mobile, so the Ops stopped the ride and confiscated the phone! We got on, flew and it ripped out hair from my head and neck when we flipped, increasing the headache, but it was much better than last year. We took the Skyride over to Ugland to do Rita and Corkscrew, Annalie's and Holly's first inverting credit! But first, we had to do The Ugswingers. Quick maths lesson Corkscrew = pain. headache = pain. Corkscrew + headache = excruciating pain. lesson over. I had to do it so Annalie could get upside down on a coaster... she said it was painful but she really liked the corkscrews... Vertical loops: here we come! Rita broke down as we were just about to queue for about 30 mins, The launch over-heated according to Ride-Ops, so we headed for Hex. Hex is insane. It's not a white knuckle ride of sorts, but after doing it 7 times in a row last year, we had to do it again. The 8 of us (Kim, Leo and Gran hadn't finished golf yet) decided to do it. Mark (working in the theatre side of life) was completely stunned and amazed by it, which is an amazing thing! We all think the branch in the centre of the ride should 'levitate' near the end some time to finish the ride off. I still can't get my head over it! It is one of the best rides there. When we got out, the golfers had returned and found us, so we got all of them on it. they were stunned, but the one that was really nice was Gran. Have you ever noticed how kids are really really excited by Disneyland and the whole experience? You know the look of wonder they get in their eyes and the questions they ask and how happy they are? Gran was like that. She wasn't sure if she had gone upside down or not, so she asked us. When she did, she sounded as if she had returned to her childhood, asking the question as if she had been on Space Mountain. It was really nice and she loved it! Rita had re-opened by the time we had wandered over to it, so Mark, Alex, me and mum went on it. My mum couldn't take her glasses on (we found this out last year), so I had to tell her which way to lean as we approached each corner. We got second row and we saw the people in front using my guides to which made me laugh. The airtime hill before the brakes was still giving a good whack of airtime! While we had done Rita, Annalie, Mel, Leo and Holly decided to go on Corkscrew. Leo hates roller coasters, but he really liked this, so hopefully he'll start doing more... Unfortunately, the day had to come to an end, so we headed back to the carpark. dad, mum, Alex, Annalie, Gran, Leo and Holly on the Skyride, Mark, Mel, Kim and I through the gardens which look even prettier at 6pm! Queue times Spinball Whizzer - 25mins Beastie - 5mins Berry Bish-Bash - 0mins The Flume - 30mins The Congo River Rapids - 15mins Runaway Mine Train - 10mins Nemesis - 20mins Air - 40mins Skyride - 10mins Corkscrew - 10mins Hex - 0mins Rita - 40 mins All the rides we wanted to do were done except Oblivion, Submission, Enterprise and Duel. A shame, but The only ride we hadn't done was Submission, but that's no major loss We had a spectacular time, the Ops were really good with loading and unloading and the queue times were the best I have ever seen at a major theme park! Congrats to the Ops there! Without further ado, here are the photos! I'll leave you with Indiana Jones... FrogTums? This is where the magic ends folks... Spinball Whizzer... ... Through the trees!!! and you thought you'd get away without that line being used I wonder what part of the park we're in In England, we like driving jeeps into lakes and abandoning them Overhead Mine Train on the go iiiiiiit's SharkTums! Lions go RAWR! The Gardens Rather artistic in my opinion These looked out of place, but they're so pretty I wonder where this goes... onto the Gardens GO GO GO! The Gardens. More of that later... not exactly luxurious... The trains slowed down like hell on the lift hill... Oh Derek... exclusive shot!!! Mighty fast inversion! Silhouette of the mighty loop For those with a foot fetish... It looks too pinky... What's this I see? Oh yeah! It actually reads 'sex in the form of a rollercoaster' It was this dark before the camp duck sprinted at us The rather small and pathetic first hill... Just before the splash Good ol' real duckie Good ol' rubber duckie TRIMS ON A KIDDIE COASTER??? Jeff won't be too pleased... Very artistic... Provided a LOT of airtime for me and Annalie Spinball - our first credit! Right out of RCT... Air... Why not call it Fire, Earth or Water? It'd make much more sense... I SEE NEMESIS!!! (Yes, I do know it's actually Rita...) Alton Towers ahoy!

Seems to be the latest craze doesn't it? everything posted here sums up my feelings

Haunted House?

Heh, much better than my loop cherry... A Vekoma :\ Just ride it, don't think about it... You'll love it!

You could make your rides outta metal from the scrap heap... Anyone remember those photos?

That must be the main cause this happened. I'm glad everyone came out more of less safely. Many years ago, my friend and I rode Tornado (a Vekoma corkscrew so similar to Python) in Walibi Belgium with our harnesses not clicked. I must have been about 15 years old or something and although we yelled and opened our harness on the lifthill, the ride was not stopped so we closed the harness again and held on tight and rode Tornado. Due to the whatever forces, we took the corkscrews without any problem and arrived safely back in the station. Luckily this did not happen on a coaster with air- or hangtime. I had something like that on Corkscrew at Alton Towers... The bars were too tight and the Op wouldn't give me any slack, so we get to the top of the lifthill and the bars clicked open to a one notch ride. If anybody went on it last year, it was cram packed with airtime and hangtime... I ended up wedging myself into the seat throughout the ride... The hangtime through the corkscrews were really scary... Not a fun ride. I nearly got kicked outta the park because the Ops weren't paying attention... If the people behind me and next to me didn't agree and complain, I would've been kicked out...

Heh, ever since visiting what is now known as The Haunted Mansion, I've always had a fear of being thrown into darkness without warning... The elevator part shook me up lots... Looks like an awesome fair! I just wish England would get more... I missed a super-ghetto one because I din't know it was on, but it had some truly fudged up rides... *sigh*

Don't they look cute in their hoodies? I think this is one I will have to see... Anyone remember the series? good times...

Where's my launched B&M Flyer???

Pictures might be handy... but to be honest, water rides shouldn't be floorless unless they're facing inwards... At least then they wouldn't capsize... Another one I thought about was a Ring of Fire type ride where not only the train spins, the entire track-thing it's on rotates over too! Still, no new types of rollercoaster though...