Dobba

Looks like this really will go back to the original Nemesis story... Drawings taken from the Nemesis comic. The Nemesis comic was available to buy as promotional merchandise at Alton Towers back when the ride was launched. http://towersnerd.com/history/nemesiscomic/ A military vehicle has been placed next to the construction site... ...that looks remarkably similar to this from the comic released at the time of Nemesis' launch. The tent's banner also has a little nod to the past... ...with the logo of The Phalanx.

Taken from the Scarefest map that appeared on the website this morning...

And we have a interior plan that is rather intriguing...

The event that was planned to happen before the ride opened took place last night. As well as revealing some big and exciting AT news (2011 being another family based year though no details announced, initial SW7, which is definitely not a woodie, planning beginning in 3 weeks with aims of a 2014 opening and a possible Black Hole replacement coming in 2012) the park revealed a little about the creation, planning and problems TH13TEEN has been having: The planning of Th13teen was extremely complex as the ride and it's foundations needed to carefully negotiate trees and their roots around the ride's footprint. The ride's drop was fully built and tested under complete secrecy in Budapest. A video was also shown showing senior team members from Alton Towers testing the drop before it was dismantled and shipped to the UK. The ride was always intended to be a family ride, with no aim to create a ride solely for the thrill market. The ride's recent issues with lifthill stoppages was confirmed to be due to the varying weights of the trains, resulting in the trim brakes being installed. Th13teen's current capacity is hitting 1440 people per hour. And finally, putting to bed recent rumours since the ride opened, the park has confirmed that no further effects are to be added to the vault (Thanks to TowersTimes for the list)

Unique way of closing the queue due to breakdowns: (Thanks to xameliax from TTF for the photo)

Merlin have gone out all guns blazing with this retheme, I think they are a flat ride away from getting the area bang on.

It's Opening Day and the 2 versions of the full ride advert have been added to the Facebook page: Pre-watershed: http://www.facebook.com/#!/video/video.php?v=1155739873711&ref=mf Post-watershed: Live Coverage Today: http://live.towersnerd.com/

Resort staff that I know are giving it positive reviews after the staff preview.

Central News coverage http://www.itv.com/central-west/new-rollercoaster12493/

Another few minutes of coverage on the local news programme a few minutes ago, I'm sure there will be screencaptures in due course but the station themeing looks pretty good. The drop was done with the full lights on though as the bootcamp riders have said they experienced.

You could always not go?

There is, the effects were turned off for the ride that included the GMTV presenter, the bootcamp people apparently had a few rides of it and have been raving about the "dark ride section" amongst all the negativity (all by people yet to ride I might add) on the Facebook page.

Getting some moronic comments on the Resort's Facebook status about the GMTV coverage. Still, shorter queues for the old fashioned among us who like to judge rides by riding rather than watching someone else's reactions to it for a few minutes.

The Worlds First feature will supposedly be revealed tomorrow morning. GMTV are apparently on site this evening and will be reporting live from the resort alongside the TH13TEEN bootcamp participants sometime between 6 and 7am tomorrow. Photo from inside station: http://tweetphoto.com/14616139

Few updates today Third TH13TEEN blip released: The third and apparently final blip advert before the main ad for TH13TEEN has started running today and also been uploaded to the resort's Facebook page. The end of the advert states the ride will open March 20th, so AT must be pretty sure it'll be good to go by the weekend. Link: Corkscrew construction nearing completion: More photos can be found here: http://forum.towerstimes.co.uk/viewtopic.php?p=509252#p509252

New Wallpapers added to altontowers.com Available from: http://www.altontowers.com/thirteen/wallpaper3/ Available from: http://www.altontowers.com/thirteen/wallpaper4/

Photo of Corkscrew entrance plaza construction has been added to the resort's Facebook page:

Blipvert has been uploaded to Alton Towers' Facebook page: In the Hall of the Mountain King = WIN!

"Blipverts" will be shown to promote Th13teen at the following times: Glee (E4) Monday 8th March 9:10pm Hollyoaks (Channel 4) Monday 8th March 6:45pm Coronation Street (ITV) Friday 12th March 8:58pm Soccer AM (Sky Sports 1) Saturday 13th March 10:35am Ant and Dec's Push The Button (ITV) Saturday 13th March 8.15pm

With the amount of testing that was seen during half term I personally don't believe it's simply track problems. People who were booked for the weekend have been offered a full refund along with a fastpass to ride the ride on a day of their choice. In addition, a complimentary evening will be organised during 2010 with John Wardley. A behind the scenes tour of the new ride will be included, along with a presentation, buffet meal and exclusive merchandise.

The TH13TEEN preview weekend has been cancelled, the "secret weapon" is having some big problems apparently.

2010 Resort Map released: 2010 Park Map has appeared today, both in The Sun (as part of their free tickets campaign that is currently taking place) and on the official site. 2010 Park Map Much higher quality (and a pretty large file!) http://www.altontowers.com/uploadedFiles/Plan_your_Visit/ATR_Map_2010.pdf Dark Forest section of the new map

More photos of the new Corkscrew paintjob.

I believe that side of the station (which isn't completely covered yet by the looks of it) is going to be covered in scaffolding and canvases as if the building is being renovated like the Towers themselves. That will cover both the tin shed of the building and the evac stairs and doorway you can see. EDIT: http://2010.towersnerd.com/plans/1_big.jpg (link to original plans)