Koolkid

Out of interest, how many times did you manage to ride Th13teen? As it's certainly a ride that gets better the more times you ride it, whilst I agree it's certainly not a great Thrill ride, it is certainly an amazing family coaster.

That press release was actually released a while ago, and no, they don't give you a spare pair of pants

I was there that night and it was also announced that SW7 so the 2014 coaster will be a solely Thrill coaster. It was a phenomenal evening ^ And the valley has 200ft+ height difference Here is a TR with a lot of Photo's from the event Ride Guide Apologies if linking to another site is not allowed, if so remove immediately, just thought that there are a lot of pictures on that link.

Ah my mistake Thanks for the correction, I assumed because it was the only mechanism like that I had seen or heard of. Glad to see this has created a bit of awareness for this park that noone had any idea about

^ Indeed. I can't imagine the confusion if they were self operated! I'd definitely recommend a return visit, the park is looking great and the log flume really is a gem, a surprisingly high quality addition to the park, and it looks really popular so hopefully it'll do well for the park. Here is the park map to give those who haven't visited a bit more of an idea of layout/attractions at the park.

^ Ha, on the Nautic Jets, if you don't hold on, I can guarantee you will be flying up into that bar. Great fun ^^ By saying they were on steroids I mean, they are bloomin' nippy for something that even kids under 1m can ride. Add to that the cars have zero suspension and the track has a serious amount of bumps it makes for a pretty crazy ride! And actually that's something else about this park, a lot of the rides don't have lower end height restrictions so there is a huge amount that kids can go on. The Union Jack Pirate Ship is actually really cool, as you could see there are 2 sides, one which is obviously the British called Queen Anne, and the other is themed to Pirates, so it's supposed to be kind of like a battle. Yesterday was actually the first time, or at least one of the first times I've ridden the British side as it always seems to be the pirate one that is running, which on this trip, sadly looked in quite bad shape. For those who would like to know, or care This Pirate Ship, manufactured by a little company called Kallenkoop and built in 1982, has a really strange and unusual configuration. Rather than the usual one tyre that drives the boat, here we have 2 sets of 2 wheels either end, each one travelling in the opposite direction, they then oscillate according to the position of the boat to either speed it up or slow it down. It's interesting to watch as such a different mechanism to used on the usual, more commonly found Pirate Ships. However it does result in a strange ride experience where it takes about a minute to get to full height, a minute of fulling height swinging and then 2/3 minutes to slow down. The seating is also really strange with lots of back to back rows, so you can actually be at the high end whilst facing outwards. Also of note, Adult wristbands are cheaper than kids wristbands!

Today was that "unique" park for all of you. And it was...Wicksteed Park! It is a small old fashioned and unique park in Kettering that operates the old school Tickets and Wristbands system. This place certainly isn't a traditional theme park and is really, very relaxing and a great day out. Even if just to collect the credits. There's a lot for kids and a lot of fun rides for adults too, as well as at least 2 credits Surprisingly where you get your tickets! We are walking in to the "Fairground" area of the park, with rides like Dodgems, a Rocking Tug and lots of fun little rides for the kids. This year a 45 minute long Circus is included as part of the line up! The biggest credit, The Roller Coaster. Yes that is it's name, original huh? The 2nd "definite" credit, The LadyBird Coaster. Also original, complete with angry flower. The new-ish Log Flume for the park, Rocky River Falls, it is a fantastic attraction with great theming and effects for a park like Wicksteed! The Roller Coaster again An overview of The "Arena" which contains awesome rides such as the Go Karts on Steroids, and the old school paratrooper! An overview of the Ladybird Coaster And the paratrooper with a 5 minute long cycle! The Famous Wicksteed Railway! The view across the lake from the Train. Bumper Boats! The Nautic Jets and Kid's Rowing boats. The Nautic Jets are simply amazing And are they credits? What do you think? They have a lift, they roll, they coast, they go uphill... Poor picture but a bit more of NJ's "chutes" Mr Wicksteed's Veteran Cars, replaced the classic Mini Cars that opened in 1955 that I grew up with as a child which closed in 2004. A bit of history about them Park Index love Nautic Jets from a bit of a distance. And of course the 84 year old Skip attached to a rope: The Ride! It's literally too awesome Some railway history One of the best Pirate Ships in the UK Complete with... BOOBS! On ride shot. And to finish, the structure at sunset

^^^ Ha I agree, the original pictures I prefer, however I thought these ones in particular had been given a new perspective and I just thought they looked quite unique. Thanks for the feedback ^^ I'm glad you like it, that is also one of my favourite's too. Also guys, thought I'd let you know that you'll be getting a unique Photo TR update this weekend from a small little park not even in the park index, that's all I'm saying and hopefully it'll be a nice surprise for ya'll

Recently I've had a sort of inspiration for theme park photography and so have fiddled with a few of my pictures from a couple of my past trips, here are a few of them and hopefully you like them. Either way comments will help me to improve the future and would be appreciated. Here we go...

If it's your first time and you really want to experience Alton Towers, I'd definitely say you need 2 days, if not more. Also, if you don't want to get the fastrack's (which personally I don't think you need and are really very expensive, but my opinion) there are certainly ways to do the rides to ensure lowest queue times possible and so you get on everything, even at the busiest of times. Have a great trip

The only one that was closed was Thirteen. Whilst it isn't the most reliable ride right now I'd definitely expect it to be open at least at some point during your stay. Also, the Vampire breakdown was extremely rare, and rides at Chessington just don't breakdown so everything will almost 100% be working for your trip although you could possibly be unlucky, but I doubt that. Reliability in the UK is generally fantastic apart from at Thorpe where be careful not to sneeze... Have a great trip and I'm glad you liked my pictures Thanks very much

If you like Meerkat's Chessington certainly is for you, there's a few different enclosures of them. And they also have regular meet and greet sessions where you can stroke and cuddle them To be honest, I've visited a lot of parks in quite a few different countries and if you like seriously great parks then you'll love both Chessington and Alton. Thorpe really has nothing going for it apart from a few decent rides, well that's my opinion anyway. ^^ I've thought about Adventure Island a few times in the past, but at the moment with Alton and Chessington giving such phenomenal days out, I can't go anywhere else, I am certainly getting good use out of my Merlin Annual Pass this year.

This past weekend I was at Chessington and had an absolutely fantastic time, I stayed at the excellent, safari themed Holiday Inn Chessington which granted me evening access to the new Wanyama Village and Reserve and Early morning access to the new Wild Asia. Awesome! It didn't start off to well when a journey that usually takes 1 hour 20 minutes took 3 hours 30 minutes! I hate the M25... This cost us a good few hours in the park but over the 2 days I still managed a pretty good ride count. Saturday 5th June , took 3 1/2 hours to get there, stupid M25! Anyway was there from 3.30 till 6.30 7x Dragons Fury 5 x Rattlesnake 2x Vampire Sunday 6th June, was there from 9.30 till 1 6x Dragons Fury 5x Rattlesnake 1x Runaway Train 1x Tomb Blaster 2x Vampire 1x Ramases Revenge 2x Kobra 1x Monkey Swinger 1x Bubblework's I also found out this trip how much quieter Sundays are than Saturdays and also how much even rain forecasted puts off Chessington-goers. Anyway a few pictures The wildest adventure available in Britain starts here! Ramases Revenge, the ol' girl still gives a good ride and now, due to it appealing to the minority of visitors to the park, you get 2 goes of different cycles, which is good of them Dragons Fury, awesome as always, it is running brilliantly. The very quick lift. R.I.P. Dennis and Beanoland Twisty , It's a shame the ride was broken down at this point. Some Ride Board index love Vampire's station lighting has been adjusted and look fantastic Rattlesnake, the awesome Wild Mouse Fury again Staff on Fury really were kicking ass all weekend! You know you love Fury at sunset pics Anyway, here is the new African Experience, Wanyama Village and Reserve. With Oryx and Zebra and mongoose and meerkat and ostriches on the way, it really is great This meerkat was rejected by it's mum so had to be hand-reared, is incredibly friendly and cuddly though Village entrance It's not finished quite yet, But there is an awesome viewing tunnel where you can literally peep up in the middle of the meerkat's enclosure The safari themed hotel Hello Mr Zebra Can you run as fast as a Zebra/Cheetah/Ostrich? Awww, cute skunk But I swear he was about to gas me... So I retreated verrrry quickly! Wild Asia during ERT Bubbleworks less awesome poster than when Professor Burp was in charge Get back to bubble making! That's better Some of the remains of Chessington's ol' railway. 2 more enduring the awesomely violent Rattlesnake Runaway Train! And finally... yes at Chessington only the staff have access to your private parts, not even you have access to your private parts...

Dragon's Fury at Chessington about 2 hours ago

You should be fine , it was closed Wednesday 2nd and part of Thursday 3rd. You should definitely be fine but check the Alton site the night before you go.

Few more pictures from my trip to Alton and then I'll have another update from Chessington Sunday evening Alton really is doing well this year, a great atmosphere on park and it's generally looking fresh with all staff as well also being great and friendly. A 30th Celebration themed Towers Street

^ Ha, that could turn out to be a pretty cool element you know

If you can get to the park I'd certainly reccomend it, it's definitely the best park in the UK with the best range of rides. Also, I didn't get pictures of them, but the racing granny's were out yesterday!

Sure Definitely do Air and then Nemesis first, or if you want to do Spinball, that very quickly first. Then whatever other rides you wish to do. And then Thirteen's queue begins to plummet at about 3/4 and Oblivion is usually 10mins or less in the last hour of opening. Hope that helps, any other tips feel free to ask.

It really is a great park, but there are a lot more *support* attractions which I haven't actually pictured, there really is a lot to do. The only park I could really think to compare it to in the states would be Busch Gardens Williamsburg, is that a fair comparison would you say?

Alton Towers 2/6/10 Hello There, today I visited the magical ( oh no wait, it's 2010 not 2007 so 'fantabulous') I had an absolutely fantastic day out despite it being busy, it was also really hot today. So we arrived around lunchtime and headed straight for Oblivion today, my last trip I suffered from a power cut and so only managed to do Thirteen, which by the way was unavailable today and will be tomorrow, apparently Intamin are on site. Using Chessington's new brand, Adventurer James, Over and Out!! So we arrived, as you usually do when you go somewhere, and as you can see it is Alton Towers' 30th Birthday! Spinball Whizz... woops I mean Sonic Spinball The legendary Oblivion! Hopefully this area will get some attention this closed season, it's not looking at it's best and without another ride such as the Black Hole, the area doesn't feel complete. Still a great ride though. Ooooh, a shuttle in Re-hab, wouldn't like to ride this one at the moment, that would bring a whole new meaning to the term "floater" Absolutely gutted Thirteen was closed today, but its better for it's problems to be sorted now, rather than in it continually break down. Here's a picture of it's station, which is great by the way! Was like the ol' days without Thirteen, even if it was only like a few months ago. Rita, this ride has had a new piece of audio for the launch this year. It now fits into the area better than previously when it was UG Land, but it's location is still terrible. Nevertheless I got a couple of good rides on her today and a surprising amount of airtime too The new look of the control cabin, a million times better than before. Rita's cross section of hills! Who'd have thought, Towers at Alton Towers? What will they think of next... A look back towards Towers Street One of Nemesis' bit of heavy machinery, pouring with smoke, just the way we like it. I like how it doesn't just rely on inversions, a lot of intense twists and turns as well, such as the one pictured. Air next, didn't get many pictures of her today which is a shame as she was running great with a few strange pops of air throughout the course. Great ride. I still love that unique feeling of being tilted into position, it always feels like you go to far to me! Ha Back to Spinball! The Runaway Mine Train! I love this ride, such great fun but also with a couple of surprisingly forceful sections to it. I love the interaction between the Runaway Train and the Rapids on these though, it's fantastic. "Mummy" :'( The Skyride with it's nice shiny gondola's The gardens at Alton are also lovely to have a nice quick look around, and are often actually the quickest way to get somewhere. Oblivion in the sun, it really was boiling today and glad I had my refill bottle Hex! Didn't manage this today which was a shame. And to finish off, the famous Corkscrews Hope you enjoyed it

Apart from RoTM as seen above, 2 of my favourites from little ol' England are; (Sorry for the poor pictures, will get some better ones on my next trips) Vampire Thirteen Also noteworthy mentions are Nemesis and Dragon Falls stations.

Does anyone think that track could possibly be for the rumoured B&M prototype arriving at Gardaland in 2011?

A couple of my favourites

^ Hmm see I thought one of the reasons why your a coaster enthusiast is to understand why/how parks do things so saying "just sit back and enjoy the ride" is such a pointless comment. Also, you don't need engineering degrees to understand when a coaster has obvious flaws in terms of design. And to be honest Robb I fail to see what was so extremely hilarious with what he said, if you look at videos of the speed at which that heartline roll on Maverick was taken, it's obvious it would cause problems.