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rctneil

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Everything posted by rctneil

  1. rctneil
    ^^^ & ^^^^^ Everyones opinions differ, I prefer Nemesis over Smiler at this moment in time. Smiler was good but personally for me, Nemesis still has it. I rode Nemesis straight after Smiler and it was just running as such intensity and it blew me away even though I have ridden it so many times before. The best parts of Nemesis are the first tight helix and the final hidden corkscrew. The heartline roll over the station is the weakest point of the ride to me and yes it can be a bit rattly over there. Overall though, the fact that it is 19 years old and is still running amazingly well has to say something. I do like Air and it is fun but I don't normally make sure I ride it on every visit. The small bunny hop and final turn at the end are the best points to me. Spinball, I honestly could care less about. Chessington won on this one. Dragons Fury is epic. Really nice ride.
  2. rctneil
    Here's a few photos of the Smiler from today:
  3. rctneil
    Just ridden Smiler. Surprisingly smooth apart from a sudden jolt coming out of the cobra roll. It squeaks a lot and has a unique roar sound and most of the time it duals quite nicely. When it was testing it crawled through the second half of the batwing and the following corkscrew but once with people it navigates fine. Will try to post my photos later
  4. rctneil
    Great photos and report David. I'm still having nightmares about that Energy Storm ride at HVB. It spent a good 90% of it's ride cycle time upsidedown without returning to the right way up for relief. I have to say that the one thing it has going for it is the epic theming it had for a flat ride. Very well concealed and nicely done.
  5. rctneil
    Yep. All of x sector is totally closed off. Looking like a more serious issue. I'm currently in a mega long queue for Rita. Never queued this long for it! Alton have also confirmed it will not be open tommorrow either
  6. rctneil
    Preparing for a few days theme parking including at Alton Towers on thursday so i'll return with a ton of Smiler photos for you. Really can't wait. Should be good fun. I'm not exactly hopeful for a duel on the Smiler. I'm guessing it was the intention with the two trains but I think, knowing Alton, they'll just dispatch as soon as they can and obviously when the blocks will allow them and I guess it would give a somewhat duelling effect at times if the timing is right.
  7. rctneil
    Is this the same layout as Whirlwind at Camelot? I sincerely hope this one will ride better than Whirlwind if it is but it must do as Undertow is brand new.
  8. rctneil
    Thanks David! It wasn't the fact I was scared of those flats, but more the fact that I am not normally a flat ride person. I like to stick to my good of trusted (oh this is china we are talking about, somewhat trusted anyway) coasters. I am not a fan of getting dizzy at all but some of those flat rides out there looked so unique that I just had to put up with them and ride them. That pink and yellow contraption at Happy Valley Beijing that rotated you slowly upside sown and kept you there with all the blood rushing to your head was very uncomfortable and made me very dizzy and I remember the laughing that ensued from you when we came off! The other memorable ones were that horrible excuse for a frisbee at Victory Kingdom. I have no idea what they did to it but boy did that make me feel horrible! Frisbee's are normally fine just like the large one at HV Beijing which I really enjoyed! I also love Maelstrom at Drayton back home. That other unique ride at Victory Kingdom looked dreadful but didn't turn out to be that bad whereas their Waikiki Wave was awful. I think I went to rest at the aptly named "Stomach King" restaurant after! In regards to the haunted walkthroughs that China seems to have a thousand of, overly not keen on them as I do seem to jump at the smallest of scares, (especially those pesky air cannons!). The first few at the HV parks were ok. I think the worst was the pirate ship one at Chaunlord Manor and a little one at the Xiaofantain place. So must apologise to everyone who endured a trip through any of those with me, especially Chuck. But yes, I do fully agree that some people who don;t visit amusement parks alot, it is a big thing to ride some of these rides.
  9. rctneil
    Great update David. I appreciate that really awful photo of me in the haunted walkthrough. It really was pitch black and you couldn't see a thing in there! Your flash definitely blinded us all. The SLC at Shijingshan wasn't good at all but the loopscrew was the best one I rode on that trip. I think they got progressively worse from this one onwards! Space Trip really surprised me, I really enjoyed that ride. I also found it funny that the speaker on the lamppost near to Space Trip was emitting a very loud excerpt of "White Noise - Great Hits" it seemed. I think Robb has a short video of that and TPR's new found ability to turn it off! Going back to Feng Shen Coaster, yeh, not much to say but it was terrifying. I remember sitting in the train and attempting to get my OTSR to lock and then the op came over and gestured that this one was broken and to just loop the seatbelt through the restraint and that will do. Anyway, looking forward to Sun Park.
  10. rctneil
    People on other forums really are clutching at straws in relation to this so called "secret element". In still thinking there is nothing extra to this ride apart from what we know and a few remaining theming features. As the straws people are clutching onto are demolished by videos being released people go for more and more rediculous ideas and end up forgetting or ignoring the feasibility or practicality of them, which is what seems to happen here Surely one of the longest coasters to be built in the UK for a long time with a record breaking number of inversions and a cool and unique theme would be enough for people but obviously not! I also think that people are taking all the marketing with worlds first and world beating too seriously as in expecting them to be entirely different things. Come on people! Be grateful for what we have gained! Anyway, looking forward to riding a week on Thursday. Overall I'm not expecting it to jump to the top of my favourite coaster list but it should be fun and that's the whole point of it!
  11. rctneil
    I don't think Gatekeeper will get best new Steel Coaster. With iRat and this alone it has some stiff competition. Seriously? I think Cedar Point could build a kiddie coaster and it would win best new coaster. The GTA's love CP. Even though i agree Smiler, iRat, Outlaw Run should be top contenders. About the shaking, i have only been on one euro fighter and it was smooth as hell. So i cant tell what the average euro shakiness is. Try riding Saw nothing smooth about that lol rough as hell now I have to agree, Saw was horrible last time I rode it
  12. rctneil
    Can't wait for you to come and mount the TPR GoPro's on this next time you visit. The footage will come out superb. If your footage of those horrible rough knock off SLC's can come out silky smooth then there'll be no worries for Smiler!
  13. rctneil
    Great to see an update Mike, and it was awesome to meet you in China!
  14. rctneil
    The fins on both of the lifts are an alternative to the standard anti rollbacks that other coasters have. The Smiler is built in an area of the park in which is has had past issues with excessive noise. Hence the reason for the "Don't Look Down" sound effect removal and the covering of Oblivion's anti rollback ratchets with a slight rubber cover to reduce noise. I'm sure at the design stage of the ride, Alton will have notified Guerstlauer of this and they will have come up with the solution of using a magnetic anti rollback system which in turn keeps any noise to a minimum. Simple as that.
  15. rctneil
    I'll be there on the 23rd taking plenty of photos! Here are a couple from Monday that I took:
  16. rctneil
    Infusion - Blackpool Pleasure Beach
  17. rctneil
    So far this year: Alton Towers - February Half Term event Drayton Manor - Photography day - No rides, park was closed Blackpool Pleasure Beach - Opening Day Alton Towers - Day after opening Alton Towers - Standard day Thorpe Park - Standard day but to ride Swarm Backwards and X Blackpool Pleasure Beach - Standard day but to try Wallace and Gromit's Thrill-o-matic List will increase when the Japan trip arrives.
  18. rctneil
    I really really hope this gets funded! Come on people, pledge and support them to make this game as good as it can be!
  19. rctneil
    I really liked Chimelong. It had a nice selection of coasters and I found 10 Inversion Coaster to be quite smooth overall compared to Colossus apart from a clink as the train exited the loop Wasn't keen on Half Pipe though. I came off feeling rather ill after that. Maybe the difference of this one being outdoors made it rougher than the MoA one.
  20. rctneil
    I absolutely love all the theme and marketing that is occurring now. It's brilliantly done and you have to applaud Alton. It's 1000 times better than the overal theme and marketing of 13. I'm really glad they decided to go for a theme that is entirely different from what they have done in the past It's different and unique, just as it should be. I really hope the ride actually rides well as my last few rides on Saw were not terribly great. I may be at Alton on Monday so will practice my photography skills and will post some pics when I get back
  21. rctneil
    A few months ago I replaced my compact camera which unfortunately got damaged so decided to get a DSLR. Been practicing with it a lot and trying to learn all it's functions and pretty much get to know it inside out. I have taken it along to several parks over the past few months and have gained various results. Nothing amazing but I guess it's all part of the learning process. The difficulties I have encountered so far are backlist subjects, especially coasters against a bright sky (train and riders are all in shadow). Need more practice here. Each time I encounter this situation I try different techniques but this one is proving a bit hard for me to master currently and also shots in dark areas but I know that is an entirely different ballgame! I will have to post some of my better results sometime on here.
  22. rctneil
    I'm going to guess that the "Disorientator" could be either of the following: - The track itself with the trains. (Inversions causing the level of disorientation!) OR - The middle part of the Marmaliser with the screens on. (If each leg is a part then why can't the middle bit be too?) I still stand by my thought of there being so secret element. I could be wrong but we'll all soon see so feel free to flame me then!
  23. rctneil
    That last photo really shows how crazy this ride is. It takes up a relatively small area of space and just crams it full of track. Going to be pretty intense and boy will I be there for opening. I also cannot wait, (once i've ridden it) to station myself at different points around the ride and shoot a ton of photos. Going to be excellent for grabbing facial expression photos!
  24. rctneil
    People on other sites are getting so overworked by what this so called secret element is going to be. Isn't a record breaking 14 inversion coaster enough!? This ride looks insane enough as it is. If a secret element is to be added it should, in my opinion, be considered a bonus and not a guarantee.
  25. rctneil
    Didn't expect to see a POV so soon. Really does look like another very solid attraction for HKDL. Props to them for varying the themes on the past few rides. Some of those effects were terrific.
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