Alton Towers Discussion Thread

[Dobba]

I'm kind of hoping more and more that there's no 'washing machine' element and the ride ends up having nothing really special just to piss off all the British Fanboys!

How would the ride not having the washing machine element that nobody wants anyway piss the "fanboys" off?

[SharkTums]

^Whatever the 'element' is, the fanboys believe they've been promised some amazing super record breaking thing. From everything we've seen, it's not going to be much and they'll all be disappointed and bitchy like they were with 13 and pretty much every roller coaster that England gets. Look, you're already being bitchy! The UK Coaster Enthusiasts seem like they're now at the same level as the terrible US counterparts or worse. It's sad, I expect more from the Europeans!

[RCT3Bross]

Yeah I must admit it will be funny as hell if they announce it as: "World First single track dueling coaster!" But I hope they soon announce what the world first part will be because this thing is starting to mess forums up.

[AstroDan]

You know, if you all read some of the Alton Towers fansites, you'd find that 99% of UK enthusiasts (fanboys? hardly - Th13teen was generally ridiculed on opening by the UK enthusiasts and Alton Towers are well aware they pitched the ride at completely the wrong level) do not want a washing machine element, nor expect one.

 

Most reasoned UK enthusiasts just want a solid, decent, inversion filled rollercoaster - which is long and well themed. It's that which the park has lacked for so many years.

 

If the ride turns out exactly like is on the planning concepts, with one inversion inside - even if there is NOTHING remotely 'world first' about any of it - frankly, most people I know at least - will be perfectly happy, because that is what the park needs.

 

Some people need to get over Th13teen. UK fansites are REALLY excited about this ride and have been since it was revealed a year ago!

[robbalvey]

Th13teen was generally ridiculed on opening by the UK enthusiasts. Some people need to get over Th13teen.

Um, you weren't the one who had to ban a bunch of obnoxious British fanboys because of all the trolling they did on our forums after Thirteen opened, we rode, and said it was lame and gimmicky.

 

As far as trolling goes, we've had some of the worst offenders come from the UK fanboys.

 

So you can sit on your high horse and tell us that we are wrong or whatever, that the Brits haven't become as bad as the US fanboys, but we see it first hand.

 

Take those blinders off and maybe you'll see it too.

 

--Robb

[Wes]

At this point, what else could it be besides the washing machine gimmick?

[Swimace]

Most reasoned UK enthusiasts just want a solid, decent, inversion filled rollercoaster - which is long and well themed. It's that which the park has lacked for so many years.

 

Ummm.... Alton Towers already has like the best looping coaster on the planet.

[MayTheGForceBeWithYou]

You know, if you all read some of the Alton Towers fansites, you'd find that 99% of UK enthusiasts (fanboys? hardly - Th13teen was generally ridiculed on opening by the UK enthusiasts and Alton Towers are well aware they pitched the ride at completely the wrong level) do not want a washing machine element, nor expect one.

 

Most reasoned UK enthusiasts just want a solid, decent, inversion filled rollercoaster - which is long and well themed. It's that which the park has lacked for so many years.

 

If the ride turns out exactly like is on the planning concepts, with one inversion inside - even if there is NOTHING remotely 'world first' about any of it - frankly, most people I know at least - will be perfectly happy, because that is what the park needs.

 

Some people need to get over Th13teen. UK fansites are REALLY excited about this ride and have been since it was revealed a year ago!

You mean something like this?

[larrygator]

^If they want another one, who could blame them?

[gforce1994]

Th13teen was generally ridiculed on opening by the UK enthusiasts. Some people need to get over Th13teen.

Um, you weren't the one who had to ban a bunch of obnoxious British fanboys because of all the trolling they did on our forums after Thirteen opened, we rode, and said it was lame and gimmicky.

 

As far as trolling goes, we've had some of the worst offenders come from the UK fanboys.

 

So you can sit on your high horse and tell us that we are wrong or whatever, that the Brits haven't become as bad as the US fanboys, but we see it first hand.

 

Take those blinders off and maybe you'll see it too.

 

--Robb

Amen!

[Anything]

The late opening is going to damage them quite badly, I think. How are they going to be able to market the first couple of months of the season now?

[StealthFan]

^They already are advertising I with a "generic" resort advert that tells you about hotel/park ticket offers. They are also doing free ticket promotions in newspapers very soon. Just because the Smiler will not be ready doesn't mean they won't be able to advertise the park at all. Think off all the times Thorpe Park have had a quiet year and just used the adverts from the previous year again.

 

-Craig

[thedazza]

^They already are advertising I with a "generic" resort advert that tells you about hotel/park ticket offers. They are also doing free ticket promotions in newspapers very soon. Just because the Smiler will not be ready doesn't mean they won't be able to advertise the park at all. Think off all the times Thorpe Park have had a quiet year and just used the adverts from the previous year again.

 

-Craig

 

Here is the ad they are using at the moment, it features a little bit about The Smiler. sorry about the quality, it is using a camera filming the TV, not by me by the way. I'm looking for a higher quality version if only just to update my avatar but in the meantime here you go.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4_A414DC64

[RCT3Bross]

Went back to Towertimes and have come back with a Update on the smiler:

8 February:

Still corrected.

Also a look at Oblivions repaint.

Staffordshire knot close up.

A lot of concrete. Starts looking good.

X-Sector 2013 in the making.

A lot of ground work on the Smiler.

Oblivion repaint.

Footers on top of the hill.

Construction storage.

X-Sector.

Even the station gets some love.

12 February special piece:

Covered piece of track. Brake or Secret Weapon?

Weird angle.

That's a some side wing.

Note each picture has been given public on Towertimes Special Smiler page.

So what do you think about the covert piece of track? Do you think its part of the Secret Weapon or can you link it to a piece of Gerstlauer.

Also on Towerstimes main page the park map has been updated now with the Smiler on his place. But it was a small image so I won't share it.

[vacoaster09]

It looks like a motion simulator platform base with coaster track on it. The springs look like they assist with lateral movement. Also looks like there are some mechanisms to control vertical movement. Question is, is it to aid with movement in those directions, or is it to prevent movement, or dampen any sudden movement.

[A.J.]

Stop putting watermarks in the direct center of photos, please.

[SharkTums]

^We should totally bring from the dead the awesome watermarking photos thread!!!

 

Seriously though, I thought we would have seen a bit more progress at this point. To the 'not a crazy huge dork coaster enthusiast' I see nothing different in these pictures than the ones several weeks ago.

[JayTricky]

 

Seriously though, I thought we would have seen a bit more progress at this point. To the 'not a crazy huge dork coaster enthusiast' I see nothing different in these pictures than the ones several weeks ago.

 

^^ and I thought it was just me.

 

They're definitely not rushing it, that's for sure.

[Wes]

^We should totally bring from the dead the awesome watermarking photos thread!!!

 

Seriously though, I thought we would have seen a bit more progress at this point. To the 'not a crazy huge dork coaster enthusiast' I see nothing different in these pictures than the ones several weeks ago.

 

Maybe they're spending too much time putting yellow boxes over images of the washing machine element.

[theflamingbrick]

 

Seriously though, I thought we would have seen a bit more progress at this point. To the 'not a crazy huge dork coaster enthusiast' I see nothing different in these pictures than the ones several weeks ago.

 

^^ and I thought it was just me.

 

They're definitely not rushing it, that's for sure.

 

It does seem that way, however we have had some very bad weather over the past couple of weeks that I'm sure would have badly affected the construction site. Not to mention high winds (high enough to halt crane lifting) hence the lack of vertical construction. Hopefully the weather will get better soon and we can see more progress.

[Ultimate]

Anyone heard anything about the Smiler app?

[jammy2by4]

Anyone heard anything about the Smiler app?

 

Still nothing that has been said on the Alton Towers website other than it being released sometime this month.

 

Along with that, TowerTimes have uploaded their images for yesterday's update:

That's a lot of footers

We have some shape to the yellow box now...

Concrete pouring continues...

Oblivion's getting there, Submission's back and Enterprise is soon to make a return

STAIRS!! And other stuff!

Still a bit of track left.

A bit of covered track from the previous update.

 

On top of that, TowersStreet has uploaded some photos to their Facebook page during the February Half-Term opening, with a bit of some vertical construction on The Smiler.

Oooh!

Big crane.

Erection is taking place at the top area

Edited February 16, 2013 by jammy2by4

[RCT3Bross]

Finally more action on site. They're taking to damn long for the vertical construction to begin with.

Just a quick question here: How long will queue be in mid July? I'm going then and so wondered about it.

Besides I think you made some mistakes with the text on the pictures as they point out to other pictures.

[JAMMYD778]

^ It depends really.

 

Firstly, if you are going during the week (Monday - Friday), be wary that a lot of schools have trips to Alton during July and queues can reach 2 hours at some points. If you are visiting at the weekend (Sat-Sun), queues will probably range from 30mins - 90mins. Can't be certain though!

[jammy2by4]

Ah thank you, that was probably my error . All fixed now.

 

Mid-July is when the English schools finish for the Summer, roughly. You're looking at queue times anywhere between 30 minutes to two hours depending on the factors of that day, including if school groups are attending for their last week of school.

 

I went at the end of June last year and waited for an hour for Air and an hour and a half for Nemesis: Sub Terra. Hint: don't wear shorts on that. All the rides, the two days I went on, were running smoothly. And there were about five school groups that day.