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simon8899

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Everything posted by simon8899

  1. First has about 1-1 1/2 hourly service to Alton from Stoke with changeover in Hanley. I still think to prefer the Stroke hotel as you've easy access to the train station for Drayton Manor and Manchester (in case it rains). I think ERT isn't that needed in September...
  2. +1 for cobra-rolls - with the exception of the Vienna Prater Boomerang - no OTSRs just lapbars... Edit: Also excluding the cobraroll of Intamin inverted Tornado at Särkeniemmi.
  3. Agree that this will feel like a loop. A little more stretched out but somewhat similar to Olympia Looping's first loop. Can't wait to go in September and ride this thing...
  4. Here in Germany many poeple still believe that Schwarzkopf loopers were made in the US. This went back to the 70s when the first Looping Star hit the carnivals it had an english name with trains painted in american colors. Some newspapers reported the coasters sported "the latest technology from the USA".
  5. The last piece of track looks like it's going to be big fun...
  6. The Smiler construction pics make me smile...
  7. ^great Info, AstroDan I have to see what will happen to the Stoke bus connection as the hotel there would be ideal for going to Drayton and maybe Manchester (on a rainy day). If that connection will be cancelled the B&B will be a nice option to the onsite hotel. Hint to the Winecote station is tops! Edit: I just checked transportdirect.info for buses on the 23rd of March - park opens on 15th - and there is a bus scheduled to leave Stoke at 7:40am - arrival 8:40am - operated by Alton Transport. So I guess they've stripped down the connection but still have at least one. There are also buses operated by First running roughly hourly with one changeover in Hanley.
  8. Looking good as prices are a little lower and as in September crowds are hopefully low one will not need early entry + maybe some basic shopping can be done in the town + trainstation near for visiting Drayton Manor. Thanks for the tip and will compare when booking the hotel...
  9. I'm so going to Liseberg again next year. With Helix, Lisebergbanen and Kanonen they will have three top steel coasters!
  10. I plan to go from Monday to Thursday or maybe to Friday if including Drayton Manor. There's 1 flight from Hamburg to Birmingham each weekday. Going to the UK at 7am - so I might have some time in Birmingham at the first day. The return flight is going 1pm so may have to leave early on the last day. Birmingham also has the nice touch of having a long-range train station right at the airport.
  11. Thanks for all the useful information! Upon your information I've found the following: Flight Hamburg-London (LH/BA) - € 50 one-way Flight Hamburg-Birmingham (LH) - € 65 one-way - fun fact: no service by BA offered, not even with London changeover... Train London-Euston to Stoke - GBP 25 - about 2:00hr Train Birmingham to Stoke - GBP 16 - about 1:15hr There is bus service on the Alton Towers website - but they'll likely update it as soon as the park opens. As transport looks like being on the affordable end on your advice I likely het into the onsite hotel - next to that the resort hotels at Europa Park and WDW were very good... Drayton Manor is only 17 miles away and should at worst even be possible with a taxi - have to think about this. Likely going in the last week of September...
  12. For the new coaster The Smiler I plan my first visit to Alton Towers this late summer / early autumn. I want to go by public transport as I'd try to avoid the left-side street traffic. I'd be happy if any locals or frequent visitors could answer my following questions: Which is the nearest international airport - and how to get from there to the park? Which is the nearest train station with service from London - and how to get from there to the park? How's the Alton Towers Hotel? Are there budget hotel alternatives in walking distance or with shuttle service or with easy public bus access to the park? Any other nearby parks worth visiting?
  13. I had to spend one evening at the Biergarten and the food buffet was very good. Only the meatloaf - Leberkäse - was way too small and not spiced enough. But hey - I mostly went there as it's the only place were one can get a wheat beer - Weizenbier...
  14. Great TR - like to do Madrid (Parque Warner, Parque de Attraciones) > Port Aventura > Barcelona myself. Planing to connect between cities with their high speed trains...
  15. Part 8 - Universal Studios IOA was on both days I visited better filled than the Studios. The nice part of it were that both coasters were walk-ons. Rip Ride Rockit was a fun coaster - it could be even better if it had some inversions. The Mummy was a fun darkride-coaster with the emphasis on darkride - as this ride uses a coaster system it could also be realized with a Test Track like ride system. Welcome to the Studios Getting to IOA soon Fun non-inverting loop with a little airtime Waited nearly 15 minutes for this shot Good darkride-coaster Liked the Simpsons simulator ride Empty queue Harry Potter in the making Teens were asking what this car is about - one gets old... Two more spins on Rockit before switching back to IOA
  16. Great construction pics - thanks! And love that a classic Schwarzkopf Calypso gets some love instead of being scapped!
  17. 1 - Cheetah Hunt 2 - Rip Ride Rockit 3 - Manta 4 - Rockin Roller Coaster 5 - Scorpion
  18. Not being a staff member but can put in my own observation about closed ride & Fastpass at WDW: It's amazing how fast a line formed in front of broken down Space Mountain at the Fastpass line. The ops at the Fastpass entry really needs a megaphone to make himself heard - now he had to explain to every (!) person that the ride was broken. And of course some guests argued with red head waving their Fastpasses - it's always hard for me not to laugh out loud at such a display...
  19. I have an extra account and hope to someday get a flight on Virgin's suborbital flights as soon as they - or another company - have their craft ready. And I hope the ticket price will at least come down to around 50k$...
  20. Part 7: Sea World Orlando Sea Word offers a lot of animal shows, 2 good coasters and a very wet watercoaster. If you are just here for the rides you might miss some flats to spice up the mix. So I mostly spend my day in the coaster section. I'm not quite a fan of dolphin and whale shows - well, look who visits Sea World LOL - but liked the Sea Lion habitat and Shark aquarium. The crowds were very low the day I visited and got around 20 rides on both coasters. I liked Manta most as the pretzel loop puts in quite some Gs in the compression. Welcome to Sea World Must-Do shot of Manta - good coaster, walk-on all day. The pretzel loop pulls some Gs - seldom found on B&Ms. Journey To Atlantis has a fun darkride section and is very wet - it gets much wetter after the pictured major splashdown... Kraken - the second fun coaster here Yes, it was a slow day... Even the sea lions spend the day tanning. The parrots have a cleaning day... A final ride on Manta
  21. 1. X2 2. Goliath The others I can't really place in any specific order. Revolution is today one of the worst Schwarzkopf's but that not the fault of the original constructor. Who supports a petition to crucify the guy who developed the OTSRs for it?
  22. As a kid I witnessed an Ariane 4 launch at the French Courou ESA complex while on a cruise with my parents. The noise - and I had protective headgear on - and the shockwave were amazing. If in Florida I always try to catch a visit to KSC - even on a higher priority than visiting a theme park.
  23. I totally agree that the area is top - if I visit again I'd try to get a room in one of the resorts. I always took the boat as having a sitting job I normally develop blisters on top of blisters on my feet an am happy for every meter I don't have to walk...
  24. The riders in the picture montage wear lifejackets - looking good....
  25. When I was there a few weeks ago at Test Track it mostly failed to upload your car design from the card at the boarding station. Did it work when you were there?
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