Shockwave

First rollercoaster I went on was the now defunct Space Race at Adventure Island, Southend. I was only 9!

If I remember rightly, the rides at Gardaland that have the turnstyle countdown queues are: Space Vertigo Fuga d'Atlantide Blue Tornado Magic Mountain Flying Island 4-D Adventure The queues for Fuga, Blue Tornado, Magic Mountain, Flying Island and the Rapids all move pretty quickly. Space Vertigo's doesn't - if it reaches out beyond the zig-zag of hedges which is near the front of the queue, avoid it till it goes down. But at night, this shouldn't be an issue. Colorado Boat's queue can get huge, but it looks a lot worse than what it is. Ed & I only ended up queuing 1/2 hour for the ride despite the line being nearly full. Also, the front of the park has a beautiful carousel with two levels - worth a Kodak moment or two!

Midland Mainline operate an all-inclusive service to Alton Towers from London St. Pancras. Check their website for more details.

I got out to the opening day of Blackpool Pleasure Beach for the Coaster Force Live Thrills & Chills trip - it was very packed and very cold! It even snowed for about 30 mins while we were queuing for the Pepsi Max Big One. Despite the deteriorating weather, the £10 wristband offer got loads of people out. Rollercoaster, Spin Doctor, Space Inavder and Revolution were all closed for the day. We gor our value for money, even if this was only 10 rides or so. Highlights of the day were riding the Nash which was long overdue, and the race on it at the end of the day. Filling the trains on the Big Dipper and the Big One was amazing as well!

An interlock mechanism could mean anything that locks together. I rekcon they'll be identical to those on Perilous Plunge. They've not failed since they were installed.

Time to join the list I think! Please could you put my title as: "The Ultimate Doom". Reasons available upon request. Don't worry, it's nothing bad! 8)

I've got trips to most of the UK parks planned throughout the summer, big and small. Abroad, I'm currently looking at: End of May/Start of June - North France (DLP, Parc Asterix, Jardin d'Acclimation, Parc St. Paul) July - Week in Italy visiting friends (plus Gardaland & Mirabilandia)

It's peace of mind for the park and for Intamin. They'll have both come to the same decision, bearing in mind what's happened with Intamin's restraints last year. I'd prefer the T-Bars over the OTSRs anyday, but with the fatal accidents on Superman: Ride Of Steel and Hydro, the shoulder restraints were the only choice to keep everyone happy, except a lot of the coaster community. But they don't put millions into a single park each year - the other 99% of park-goers do. I hope that Barnstorm at Drayton Manor will prove everyone wrong and show that you can go upside down on a new ride without OTSRs in 2005. I really hope Alton Towers have a good coaster on their hands, but if this ride doesn't have much airtime, it's gonna be a waste of space.

I'd have to say Detonator at Thorpe Park. It's by far the most forceful one I've been on, even more so than Apocalypse at Drayton Manor which is nearly twice as tall.

Barnstorm looks insane. And it probably will be. I'll be trying to get there just after opening day to ride it a few times without the crowds.

My last coaster was almost month ago. Shakira's little brother AKA Oblivion, at Alton Towers. http://www.rcdb.com/ig777.htm?picture=9 Next one will be at Blackpool this Sarueday.

It was Werner Stengel who was responsible for the Dive Machine, after John Wardley's idea for a flying roller coaster was put on hold - in effect, Oblivion was the stopgap for Air and the Superman: Ultimate Flight rides. I think the notion that Dive Machines weren't capable of much apart from dropping like a stone is the stuff of net rumors.