Morgan

BPB have confirmed that their new attraction for 2015 is called "Red Arrows Sky Force", and it'll be a Gerstlauer Sky Fly. Promo art from their home page below... Red Arrows Sky Force Art

^The cranes are definitely there for the Avatar construction, Epcot isn't near Animal Kingdom in that respect, and also the cranes are on the opposite side of the park to Epcot's location.

This is worrying for the park, to me there doesn't seem to be any real alternatives to the traffic issues. The park isn't that far from the M4, but it has Windsor right in the middle of the two, so I can't see how they could possibly do anymore than they have done already. Hopefully the appeal will yield better results, regardless of what attraction they are wanting to build, if the planners turn around and say you're not getting anything else, then it's a very bad situation for the park. It's a similar situation to Alton Towers, they have put traffic management plans in place for when it is busy at the park, but I guess Towers is a bigger part of the local economy, so to hold them back unreasonably like this would be a bad idea.

I imagine it's due to the possibility of retractable brakes failing to work correctly, which would lead to certain death. The static magnetic brakes are failsafe in theory, as they should never stop working unless something happens to the Earth's magnetic polarity, or so I believe anyway.

^^I can't speak for the Florida park but the Miniland at LEGOLAND Windsor has definitely seen better days. Last time I went there hardly any of the vehicles were moving at all, and a lot of the models looked like they could do with some restoration, so I'd imagine that it may be the case that some are looking past their best.

I think the only Single Rider queue which isn't next to the regular or fastrack queues is Nemesis, which is located next to the ride exit instead. I was there on Saturday and oddly even though the park didn't seem that quiet, the queues were really good. After the initial surge on Smiler, the longest queues we saw all day were 30 mins at most. We had minimal waits most of the day and even got on Smiler in 20 mins in the afternoon which is near enough unheard of.

All rides and attractions at any park are always 'subject to availability', so if a ride doesn't open on time it doesn't mean that everyone can suddenly start suing the park for false advertising. The worst that can happen is people complain because they have booked tickets for the original scheduled date, in this case it's down to the park on how they would handle it, but they would be under no legal obligation to do anything. An example of this was The Smiler at Alton Towers, that was originally due to open in March, but didn't open until the end of May, so the resort offered to rearrange pre-booked stays at the hotels for a later date when the ride opened, they didn't have to do that, but it was a good will gesture.

Saw has definitely gotten very rough in my opinion, so much so that I don't really care if I ride it again or not, the slow moving queue doesn't help matters also. I personally don't mind G-Force, it's in no way an amazing coaster, but I like the restraints and the inverting lift hill, it provides some great hang time, the capacity is a serious issue though, as it only has one train and is a very short ride, so it's not worth the long queues it gets.

I've ridden SpongeBob's Splash Bash at BPB, and admittedly it was a quiet day and fairly early on, so the ride wasn't full, but we didn't get that wet on it. It uses the same water cannons as found on Mack splash battles, so they can spray a decent amount of water, but you don't have the stationary cannons around the edge of the ride (well I can't remember there being any at BPB), so everybody that is firing is constantly moving, so I doubt you are in for a complete soaking like the splash battles tend to offer.

Mine would be... 1990 Universal Studios Florida - Soft Opening (No rides were operational, only shows). Star Tours (DHS) 1991 Muppet*Vision 3D (DHS) Fright Nights/HHN (USF) 1999 Rock 'n' Roller Coaster - Soft Opening (DHS) Majority of the opening line up (IoA) Test Track (Epcot) Winnie the Pooh (MK) Kali River Rapids (AK) 2003 Nemesis Inferno (Thorpe Park) 2004 Revenge of the Mummy (USF) 2008 Toy Story Mania (DHS) 2009 SAW - The Ride (Thorpe Park) 2011 Storm Surge (Thorpe Park) 2012 The Swarm (Thorpe Park) Alton Towers my home park would include: New Beast, Runaway Train, Haunted House, Nemesis, Energizer, Ripsaw, Oblivion, Hex, Submission, Spinball Whizzer, Rita, Battle Galleons, Heave Ho, Thirteen, Sub-Terra, The Smiler.

I went with HRR, I think I was lucky when I rode it in 2010 and had smooth rides throughout, and loved the combination of music and coaster, a really fun coaster. Manta & Mummy are a very close behind though, and one of the dragons could've been up there but as they no longer dual I've disregarded them, as that was by far the biggest part of the coasters for me.

I've only been on The Swarm, but I really like it. I don't find it forceless, and while it's definitely not the most intense experience out there, it's a unique one. Elements like the dive loop drop and the near misses (although I think these are fairly ineffective on The Swarm), make it something different, and I can't say I've ever experienced the restraint tightening that seems to have been an issue on some of the other coasters. I'd be interested to see where they can take the model, the layout of the Heide Park coaster definitely looks promising, so I guess we'll have to wait and see how that turns out.

My Coaster repertoire isn't that extensive (Current Count 125), but I can safely say of all the coasters I've ridden these are my favourites... Steel - Nemesis Wood - Megafobia Special Mention - The Ultimate If the first half of this ride was as insane as the latter half I think this could be a real contender for my top spot, it's a ridiculously brutal ride but incredibly fun.

I was at Thorpe on Saturday, it was fairly busy but a decent day none the less. There was a couple of things that could've been better though. Firstly none of the effects on The Swarm were working (Fire engine fire & water and the wing dip splash), which is disappointing for a coaster that is only just over a year old. The servers in KFC are awful, fair enough it was busy but they were ridiculously abrupt and rude to everybody, it really surprised me as there has been a definite push for staff to be much more friendly to customers in the past few years, I guess it must be down to them being KFC staff and not Merlin employees. On a plus note I witnessed my first case of queue-jumping actually being dealt with at a park. Our last ride of the day was Nemesis Inferno, and we had the regular case of a couple of women push past people in the queue to join there friends. Once in the station, the staff made an announcement that they were aware of some queue-jumpers and that they should exit the queue as they would not be riding. As we were waiting in the bay to get on the train it turned out that these women were also waiting to get on the train a few rows back, and the staff held up dispatching the train until they left through the exit. It was really good to see this for once, and what made it funnier was the fact that it was only a ten minute queue anyway, so they queue-jumped for nothing and by the time they left the station it was past closing time so they couldn't re-join the queue properly. So big thumbs up to the Thorpe staff for that.

Here's mine... 4 Man Bob - Alton Towers Alton Mouse - Alton Towers Beastie - Alton Towers Black Hole - Alton Towers Corkscrew - Alton Towers Mini Apple - Alton Towers New Beast/Alton Beast - Alton Towers Thunder Looper - Alton Towers Buffalo Stampede - American Adventure Missile - American Adventure Runaway Train - American Adventure Twin Looper/Iron Wolf - American Adventure Catepillar Capers - Camelot Dragon Flyer - Camelot Junior Dragon Coaster - Camelot Knightmare - Camelot Whirlwind - Camelot Space Invader 2 - Blackpool Pleasure Beach Dragon Coaster - Flambards Bullet - Flamingo Land Corkscrew - Flamingo Land Crazy Loop - Flamingo Land Wild Mouse - Flamingo Land Skytrak - Granada Studios Tour Jungle Coaster - LEGOLAND Windsor Soopa Loopa - Lightwater Valley Viper - Lightwater Valley Crazy Loop - Pleasure Island (Same as Flamingo Land) Four Man Bob - Pleasure Island (Same as Alton Towers) Python - Busch Gardens Tampa Dragon Wagon - Old Town I think that's about it.

Personally I think The Smiler is a triumph for Towers, it is easily the best coaster they've added since Nemesis, and if Nemesis wasn't running insanely well at the moment it really could be a contender for the top spot. The two coaster stuck together comment is a valid one, and the only way around this for Towers would've been to use a launch, but I think that may not have necessarily been a good thing. Yes the brakes and the vertical lift to act as an abrupt pause in proceedings, but I think if there was no pause to take breath the remaining seven inversions would lose some of their impact as the relentless onslaught of loops would merge into one. There is also effects to distract riders while they pause before the lifts, the laughing sound effects and lights at the base of the first lift and the TVs at the base of the vertical lift, but these are missed if you are on the front row. The one downfall that The Smiler has for me is that the Marmaliser is near enough ineffective. Don't get me wrong it is a seriously impressive structure, and standing underneath it is a real sight to behold, but as a plus to the actual ride experience there is very little added. The Tickler & Hypnotiser legs are completely non-effective as you don't notice them at all, The Flasher I only noticed because I looked for it, and it doesn't Flash more just turns on briefly as the train approaches. The Giggler does pump out a mist, but generally this only drifts slightly into the path of the trains and The Innoculator, sprays out a good concentrated mist but it only works if you are on the front row, which I have to say works really well, as you are distracted by the spray and then instantly dive down into the pit and hit the Cobra Roll, but unless you are in the front this is completely lost, they could really do with strengthening the spray and prolonging it so it hits the full train.

I presume it must be an issue with the trim brakes on the first bunny hop, as it was absolutely flying round on Sunday. That was apparently the reason why it stalled in the same place the week before last.

For me it's Gwazi, that's about one of the only coasters I've ever ridden and thought that I'd be happy never to ride it again. Having said this technically the most painful coaster I've been on is The Ultimate at Lightwater Valley, but that is painful in a way that makes it so much fun, completely brutal but amazing, so in a way I can't class it as painful.

No it's one track with two lift hills, but it's thought that the trains will duel with each other on the two halves of the track.

We had a great day at Chessington yesterday, despite it being stupidly busy. Wild Asia is amazing the theming is very good, on a par with Dark Forest I'd say, Kobra was a real surprise, it looked like it would be a fun ride, but it was deceptively quick and luckily we got quite a long cycle, as after we got off, the ride length was cut down to about half as the queue got bigger, which didn't drop below 75 mins all day. The rest of the area, looks great the theming is top notch, and wouldn't look out of place in a park like Animal Kingdom, which says a lot for the amount of effort that has gone into it. The new Lorikeet Lagoon is a nice addition, it looks great, but the birds obviously weren't used to people yet, as they weren't really coming to drink the nectar. If the recent additions at the parks like Dark Forest and Wild Asia are the shape of things to come, we are in for some good times. A big thumbs up from me.

With all the recent TV coverage, I had prepared myself for a fun and exciting ride, but the reality blew me away. Starting at the queue (which is always a good place to start), the theming placed around the queue is simple but is quite effective in producing a good atmosphere, especially when combined with the music that plays throughout the area, which features a very spooky version of Teddy Bears Picnic and In the Hall of the Mountain King. The theming around the queue is mainly broken trees scattered about, but also includes an old Alton Towers van which has tree roots wrapped all around it, and also an arm reaching out of a grave, which again has roots wrapping around it. The station building looks amazing, the first area up the stairs is very creepy, with the scrawled writing on the wall and girl's voice filling the area, I imagine it will look even better when the tesla coil is operational. The station again looks amazing, with lots of stonework, arches and overgrown vines. It's also worth mentioning at this point that, the throughput is phenomenal, they were running three trains and there was no waiting about at all, the queue moves constantly, and on our second ride when we queued from fairly close to the entrance, it didn't take much more than 30 mins to get through, and it's a very long queue. The ride itself ticks so many boxes it's unreal. The trains are comfy, and the lap bars do not restrict you in the slightest. The speed at which you exit the station into the pre lift drop is very surprising, thecoaster section is silky smooth and can pack in a tonne of air time, especially at the rear of the train down the first drop, I don't think I touched my seat from the top to bottom of the drop. The indoor section is obviously the main feature of the ride, and it's pulled off superbly. The effects that are present, including the lighting, sound and air blasts, really make it an exciting experiance. One of the most astounding features of the ride for me, is how quick you are launched backwards after the drop, there is literally no waiting for tracks to align, the split second the drop stops, you are heading backwards at surprising speed. The backwards wobbly helix, is an exciting and fun way to end the ride, before you are literally launched back into the station. While as a coaster it doesn't match up to the likes of Nemesis (but it's not supposed to) the whole ride experiance is fantastic, and for me isn't beaten by any other ride. When Alton Towers proclaimed that Thirteen was going to be the "Ultimate Rollercoaster", I was slightly dubious, but classifying it as a rollercoaster is selling it short, in my opinion, as it is so much more. I think the title of "Ultimate Ride ", would be more fitting. I know this post will have me labelled as a fanboi, pouncing upon the newest ride, but Thirteen is the first ride that I can remember, that's made me want to run straight back round and ride again, the experience for me is second to none.

Definitely go for it, on the two times we went through there were no real scares, the actors in there were great as the victims, but as for "jumpy" moments there weren't any.

Kids can surprise you, my 4 year old neice would love it if she was tall enough to go on, she did Tower of Terror a couple of times when we were at WDW in Feb, and loved all the coasters she went on, so I'm sure Thirteen wouldn't be a problem for her. She's more of an adrenaline junkie than her big brother and sister.

If anybody's interested, there are a load of pictures from the Annual Passholder Dayplus our first impressions of SAW Alive at Thorpe Nerd Live.

Hi everyone! My names David Morgan, I actually registered a bit under 4 years ago, but never really posted anything, so I decided to make the effort and join the discussions. I'm obviously interested in theme parks and live about an hour away from Alton Towers. I try and visit as many different parks as I can, generally in the UK, but have not long got back from a few weeks in Florida. My favourite coaster is Nemesis (I know it's a common choice, but I think it's great) but I'm really looking forward to riding TH13TEEN on Saturday, that's looking like it could be something special. My favourite ride overall though is The Haunted Mansion at Magic Kingdom, hence the avatar and signature. I'm part of the team on http://www.towersnerd.com, so I spend a lot of time on there, as well as working on our theme park iPhone App, "Thrill Seeker". We're just launching the latest version which should hit the App Store very soon, at present it covers the main UK parks and the parks in Florida, but we plan to keep adding parks to it in the future. Check it out in the App Store if you're interested. So that is me, hopefully I'll be on here more often now, so I look forward to all the discussions.