eyeamthu1

Pretty sure this is Zierer

Don't really agree with this though either. There is the unique element, which I agree is cool. 'Really good mine train' - wouldn't agree with that; the coaster segment is horrendously short, totally unthemed and very very tame - it's less exciting than Alton's existing Runaway Mine Train for sure. 'Extensive theming' - as I said already, as far as I can see, the only extensive theming is in the main station building, including the crypt which houses the secret element. The station is really nice and atmospheric, but you're only in there for a very brief time. The crypt has a bit of decent theming, but again, you're in there for all of 5 seconds. There is virtually no theming in the queue-line, no theming on the coaster section, no theming in the backwards tunnel, and, aside from 2 pillars, no theming in the final switch-over and run back to the station. As for the supposed 'strong storyline', I have no idea what this storyline is. It's not advertised in the queue-line, for sure. I mean, I get the idea that the Dark Forest is taking over the area - including Rita - but how that actually fits into Th13teen and all the wraiths and whatnot, I have no idea. So I stand by my opinion that Th13teen doesn't really work as a thrill ride and certainly doesn't work as a highly-themed 'experience' attraction, in the vein of something like Hex. Aside from the marketing which suggests otherwise, I suppose it will work as a decent family ride, but I don't think it's an EXCELLENT family ride. It's an ok family ride, with a very loose partial theme and a unique element. Basically, it's similar in style to the Black Hole, only with this extra element.

There's too much positivity here for Th13teen. I class myself as a pretty big Alton Towers fan, and was left quite disappointed by Th13teen. There's a few problems with it, the first of which is the marketing, which I suppose is largely irrelevant in the long term. The marketing makes out like it's gonna be the next Nemesis - it is NOT. So thrill-seekers will leave disappointed. However, I feel that the same marketing will alienate families and kids for whom the ride is appropriate, and actually dissuade them from riding. The first half of Th13teen is really REALLY tame, and anyone who says otherwise is kidding themselves, I swear. It is a kiddie coaster. Alton's Runaway Mine Train is more intense. The drop has a trim brake which means that the rest of the course is fairly slow. The second half of the ride, featuring the infamous world's first / secret element is decent. It's fun and unique, and is entertaining. Not intense, but entertaining. It's perfect for everyone. Note that the first half of the ride is NOT perfect for everyone - it's boring for the majority of riders. The second half of the ride is not good enough to 'make up for' the first half. All the talk of theming and special effects is, in my view, looking at it with rose-tinted specs on. Th13teen has virtually no theming in the queue-line at all. The station building is really good and atmospheric, but you'll experience it for less than 5mins - the throughput of the ride was great when I went. There is no storyline to the ride, which is really disappointing. There is no theming onboard the ride, until you enter the 'crypt'. Here, we were promised an ultimate merger of theme park technology, but there's some standard audio, lighting changes and some minimal props. No revolutionary effects here. And with no storyline context, it all seems a bit random. What are the wraiths? The final tunnel is completely unthemed. To me, Th13teen is a mish-mash of ideas - it tries to be a bit of everything and ultimately doesn't do any one thing particularly well, leading to an unsatisfactory ride experience. It claims it's well-themed... it's somewhat themed, with no storyline. It claims it's thrilling - it's not. It claims it's revolutionary - it's not. I suppose it works well as a family ride, but I fear the marketing will put off that audience. I fail to see how this all cost £15m unless the secret element cost that much (which I sincerely hope it didn't) or simply if some of the effects are not working yet. In some sense, Th13teen is a replacement for the Black Hole - it's a semi-themed ride suitable for all... but Alton haven't really got that message across, and much like the ride, are unsuccessfully trying to please all.

Thanks you lot thusfar! Glad it was somewhat 'fun'!

Hi-- My University Engineering project this year covers roller coaster design. I am investigating, amongst other things, what it is that makes roller coasters so exciting. Along with additional work, the project aims to create the 'perfect' next generation roller coaster design! So this is where you come in - I need public opinion on what you think makes a coaster exciting. Please please please spare a few minutes to fill out a quick questionnaire - it'll help me greatly. Many thanks! TAKE SURVEY HERE: http://tinyurl.com/CoasterSurvey

Quick question -- can you use NoLimits to log g-forces over an entire ride? I know that the Stats bar at the top displays the CURRENT positive, lateral and linear Gs, but that's just instantaneous -- is their a way to log the G-forces over an entire circuit to produce a graph showing the general g-force 'trace' of the ride?

This is spot on. I first rode it around 1998, and it was literally one of my favourite rides ever; certainly a Top 10 - just so, so much fun. Nowadays, it's a good coaster - sort of 7 or 8/10. Nothing amazing, but certainly a solid, good ride. A couple of seasons ago, it went through a bad spell - really overly rough - but since the retrack, it's improved a bit. But still not a patch on those early seasons. Nonetheless, I got 8 laps on it earlier on this week, and really enjoyed it... and last season I had one of my best rides on it, in the driving rain - was insane.

Kinda hard to comment on this, seeing as with one day you'll be rushing as it is... it depends what you want from the day. To me, Disney is much more than just the rides. But if you're doing a crash course in getting all the big rides done and assuming your family is old/tall enough to ride all the 'big' rides, then here's my advice: If you're only there for one day, I'd skip Crush's Coaster... it always seems to get a big queue as it has low capacity. I'd just cut your losses and avoid doing it - it's not that great anyway. Your time is much better spent on other rides. Make use of Fastpass. Tower Of Terror is a must - probs worth FastPassing this. Rock 'n' Roller Coaster is another essential, and the queue usually is ok on this - decent capacity. I'd skip some of the Studios shows - such as the Backlot Tour. Might eat up too much time. I'd advise to spend most of your time in the Disneyland Park and pop into the Studios for ToT and RnRC. In the main park - Space Mountain is pretty unique - really good ride IMO - so hit that. Big Thunder Mountain is also a must-do. Then I'd spend the rest of your time there hitting up the 'classics', and do some proper Disney - go see a parade! (But I guess if you're just hitting the rides, then that's a good time to go do them.)

Sorry I can't help here - I'm just looking into this time of year as well and wanted to ask the same questions really: I've heard all this stuff how September is the hurricane season - but is it actually all that bad -- does it really affect the theme parks much at all? Cos otherwise it's one of the cheapest and quietest times of year to go. Also - any word on if Harry Potter will be open by September 2010?

Hi... I'm planning on visiting Europa Park and possibly some other German parks in the Summer, but need to do the whole thing on public transport. Obviously hiring a car would be easier, but I'm only 21 and this makes things awkward and expensive. I've figured that I can fly into Baden-Baden airport (with Ryanair) and get a shuttle bus to Europa Park and back. I imagine a lot of people from the UK do similar... But I'd quite like to add on an extension to the trip to visit Holiday Park (for Expedition GeForce) too - has anyone else attempted to do this on public transport? I'd need to get there from the airport or Europa Park itself. Bear in mind that I'm trying to keep costs to a minimum, and would ideally be able to do the whole 'side trip' to Holiday Park in a day... Thanks, -Alex

^ Very true. Currently, we're going to use an estimate of 200kg per car = 2400kg per empty train. This is on the basis that a PTC 6-person car (like used on Rebel Yell) weighs around 550kg... so we're guessing that if split up into 3 'single-row' cars, they'd be around 200kg each (adding on a bit extra). No email back from GCII yet!

Hiya - just a very quick question - I'm doing a project on roller coaster design at university, and we're designing a GCII coaster... But we need one vital stat - the weight (mass) of a typical Millennium Flyer train (12 cars). Does anyone have a rough estimate as to what that figure may be, as I can't find the info anywhere online. I've tried emailing GCII, but just wondered if anyone knew, or could at least come up with a pretty good guess as to what it is! Thanks, Alex

Awesome trip report - it's nice to finally get a 'genuine' report and pics from someone who's actually visited the park as a paying customer, rather than someone who's been following construction. (Although thanks for all the really great construction updates too!) The park looks stunning - will have to check it out one day. You make a good point about the Tower of Power slide having a narrow tube - what if someone didn't adopt the correct riding position and sat-up? I never really considered that safety aspect before, but now that you mention it, it does seem a little over-looked...

Hiya everyone - I'm doing an Engineering degree in the UK at the moment, and my design project for this year just so happens to be 'Design a Roller Coaster'. (Pretty lucky considering I'm a coaster enthusiast too!) The project guidelines are pretty general - we've essentially been given a blank canvas - a flat, fairly large green field on which to build the coaster. There are no limitations to do with money, height etc etc. Our task is to build the best possible world class coaster on that site. My job is to work out what makes a roller coaster world class and why - and which types are the best. Now, I have my own opinions on this, but I'd quite like the viewpoints of everyone else as some form of qualitative data for my report. I first looked at which roller coasters are ranked the highest in the world, according to the Mitch Hawker poll and the Golden Ticket poll. Considering both, I found the following: ==== WOODEN COASTERS ==== It seems the best wooden coaster manufacturers are: Gravity Group (best example: The Voyage) Intamin (best example: El Toro) GCII (best example: Thunderhead) * * What in your opinion makes these rides great, and why? Height? Speed? Forces? etc etc * * ==== STEEL COASTERS ==== It seems the best steel coaster manufacturers are: B&M Intamin * * Why do coasters from these companies tend to be the best? * * It seems the best 'models/types' of steel coaster are: Mega/Hyper/Giga (ie. 200+ft tall) Inverted coasters Accelerator coasters Dive Machines Multi-element coasters (e.g. Maverick, Farenheit) * * Again, why are these TYPES of coasters so good? * * In particular, the most popular combinations of manufacturer and model are: Intamin Mega B&M Mega B&M Inverted Combining all of this info together, I have picked out four rides which many consider to be cream of the crop: - Superman Ride of Steel (SFNE) - Intamin Mega - ranked 1st in both polls - Nitro (SFGAdv) - B&M Mega - ranked an average of 6th in both polls - Nemesis (Alton Towers) - B&M Inverted - ranked an average of 9th in both polls) - Maverick (Cedar Point) - Intamin Multi-Element - ranked an average of 11th in both polls * * What makes these rides in particular so good? * * ==== FURTHER QUESTIONS ==== * * Steel vs. Wood - which type is best, and why? Why build one over the other? * * * * What other factors - other than the ride make, type and layout - make a coaster world-class? - Theming? Location? etc etc. * * Basically, I'm just after opinions on what makes a roller coaster good and why! I've essentially got a blank canvas (RCT style!) and would like opinions on what is the best possible coaster I could build on that space. Wood or steel? Which manufacturer? Which type of coaster? And very importantly - WHY are these the best selections? How can I make this coaster world-class? Please answer as many or as few of the questions as possible! Thanks sooo much! -Alex

So, say I was to go in September... it should be quiet. Are there any other disadvantages to going then? I've already mentioned that it's hurricane season - is this just not a problem worth considering? Could the weather potentially affect the trip?