Shockwave Posted May 11, 2006 Posted May 11, 2006 I had a couple of days off work this week, so I decided to get a couple of credits that have so far escaped my grasp. First stop was Thorpe Park and a few rides on Stealth on a quiet day. The park was dead from opening to closing, and we got several rides on almost everything. I wasn't expecting much from the ride, because it is literally a 15 second blast. But that said, it is a lot of fun. We nearly experienced a roll back or two as the train struggled to clear the top on a few occasiona. Front row was the best ride, with good ejector airtime over the hills. Stealth isn't a bad ride for Thorpe Park. I think it does a fairly good job of fulfilling its raison d'etre as the park's signature ride. But some areas around the ride look unfinished, the queue line is poorly placed, and the theming whilst very nice to look at doesn't really click in with the rest of Amity Cove. And I can't say that I didn't enjoy the ride experience, because I did. But I can't help feeling like this coaster could have been so much more than what it is. The rest of the park was very quiet, with one train operation on the other two big coasters. Nemesis Inferno was running very fast in the damp, Colossus was a little uncomfortable, but not the jawbreaking death machine that some people see it as. It's got that "Intamin Rattle" that a few of their coasters suffer from, but is nowhere near as excruciating as rides like Coaster Express, El Condor, Odyssey, Tornado (M&Ds) or Goudurix. Detonator was great fun as always, Slammer was still awesome, Rush was still good fun, and Samurai was still rubbish compared to every other TopScan I've been on. So here's my day at Thorpe to start with. And here's one last shot of Stealth. Ian & Nathan take a front row ride. Nemesis Inferno is supposed to be themed around a volcano. But this bit looks more like a Florida swamp! A moody looking vertical loop for Derek. Nemesis Inferno and dark angry clouds equals very fast rides! For the foliage fanboys and fangirls out there. I finally saw Pirates 4-D today! Shame I fell alseep halfway through. It's X:No Way Out! Hey, what's the pyramid on the right of shot? It was running pretty fast thanks to the moist conditions. Colossus could do a with a lick of paint. Rush doing what it does best. This is the cream and blue section of the update. This ride is called Samur-yawn. Water? Amount? Acceptable? E-mail your thoughts to Dan! Probably not a "Dan-friendly" ride. The airtime hill ducks right under the original Amity ride, Tidal Wave. The theming is very nice, but Rita has a slightly better soundtrack. There we go. Well done Stealth! Almost, almost, almost... Going up. The launch was a lot like Rita's, just a little faster. Alright! It stopped raining and "Stelf" opened! Music was never in short supply. I get some well earned rest after my drive. But I'm still confident it'll brighten up later. The entrance at 9am. Not looking good! Did I mention it was very wet that day?
Jon Sabo Posted May 11, 2006 Posted May 11, 2006 Nice photo's. I would have to comment on the paint job thing, but were those the supports (11th photo) for Stealth? Omg-I thought little kids painted those supports..lol
Homer Posted May 11, 2006 Posted May 11, 2006 Sounds like you and Ian had a great time at CoasterForce's love affair, Thorpe Park! Isle of Wight? Umm... sorry to sound stupid, but whats Isle of Wight?
DerekRx Posted May 11, 2006 Posted May 11, 2006 Awww, thanks for the vertical loopiness for me! That'll hold me over until next month! Glad you got to experience Stealf.
Nrthwnd Posted May 11, 2006 Posted May 11, 2006 Oooooooooo. FOLIAGE SHOTs eh, it's the right colour... With this post I want to lay claim to all future photos showing lovely landscaping and....stuff. I mean, Derek's got his Vertical Loops Shots, hmmm? I mean, HMMM??? (with growing desperation and anxiety flushes...) Please direct all your lovely (and lush, tee hee) forests and (uh) swamp 'shots' my way. Thankew verhy muuuch. Great PTR Tom. Ooo! Ooo! 30+ days to go till Stealth! I am Procurer of Foliage Shots! (sigh...)
martinb Posted May 11, 2006 Posted May 11, 2006 I am just the unluckiest person when it comes to Stealth, I've NEVER experienced any sort of airtime on it, not even on the airtime hill, I've sat at the front on all my rides and every ride I've had its crawled over the top hat and yet loads of people tell me when they go on it, it flys over the top hat with ejector airtime, I think some people must be lieing though, I've been to TP 5 times this year and its I've never even seen it "fly" over the tophat. But anyway, nice pics Tom -Martyn
CoasterCrazy Posted May 11, 2006 Posted May 11, 2006 Thanks for posting the great pictures! I can't wait until June!
Geoff Posted May 11, 2006 Posted May 11, 2006 Nice photo's. I would have to comment on the paint job thing, but were those the supports (11th photo) for Stealth? Omg-I thought little kids painted those supports..lol They're supposed to look like that! It's called the weathered effect
Shockwave Posted May 11, 2006 Author Posted May 11, 2006 I am just the unluckiest person when it comes to Stealth, I've NEVER experienced any sort of airtime on it, not even on the airtime hill, I've sat at the front on all my rides and every ride I've had its crawled over the top hat and yet loads of people tell me when they go on it, it flys over the top hat with ejector airtime, I think some people must be lieing though, I've been to TP 5 times this year and its I've never even seen it "fly" over the tophat. But anyway, nice pics Tom -Martyn The launch was pretty varied. Some occassions it was going over the top hat at a reasonable speed, sometimes it was creeping over the top. The airtime doesn't last very long, but it a pretty good sensation. You can feel it as the train begins to crest the hill, but it doesn't last all the way over the top hat, the train isn't going fast enough for that.
Shockwave Posted May 13, 2006 Author Posted May 13, 2006 OK, here's day two and the Isle of Wight. The island is located just off the South coast of Britain, and is only accesible by ferry. There is only one credit on the Isle, located at Blackgang Chine on the southern tip. My car also started leaking fuel on the island, but it wasn't serious enough to stop me getting to the park and picking up another new credit. Here's the journey across: Ahh crap, it's only a crane. Never mind, bring on Blackgang Chine! And there's the Isle. And look! There's a giant Mickey Mouse symbol to greet us! And it's another one of those crazy top secret missile things. When the outside got boring, we went inside and played the fruit machines. Argh!! There's a hole in the side!! Abadon ship!! Mmm, I can smell the lushious fumes already! Any guesses what that is? We get a nice shot of the ferry which would take us back later that day. So while the people on board the QE2 get ready for a cruise... It's certainly nicer than having a bridge named after yourself. Oooh, it's the QE2! Five minutes into the crossing, Ian spots a large boat on the left. The ferry was packed out today.
socalMAN123 Posted May 13, 2006 Posted May 13, 2006 Great pics so far Tom! Looks like you guys are having a lot of fun! ---Brent
Shockwave Posted May 13, 2006 Author Posted May 13, 2006 We arrived at Blackgang Chine just before 1PM, and we got quite a shock.... "Don't worry! There will be some real rides coming up soon! But for now, sit back and enjoy your meal!" Some Coasterforce members have taken up residence here as well. Err, Bill?!?!? Aargh! Scary skeleton ghost donkey!!! Ooh, I wonder who's behind the wall? What are the KKK doing here? Insert "My precious" caption here. "The non-Germans are coming!" It's like the Haunted Mansion with no ghost train and a low budget! Anything with the world 'rump' in must be cool. So, where to next? America's space shuttle crisis has been solved! Wicker Man. Shame we couldn't set him alight without getting arrested. Gaaarggh, I'm a jolly green dragon! Gimme some sweetcorn! Ian spent a day on magic mushrooms and all he got was one lousy credit. Maybe the head needs to be rubbed to make it smile again. Sorry Robb, no liquorice allsorts being made here. And what's an Extrusion plant? Sounds painful! For Derek and Wally! It's a waste bin with a face! Robb would like this seat because the arrow is shaped like a pretzel. This might have been the most attractive dummy all day. And yet more mannequins! Is anybody who works in this park acutally real? First stop, the Crooked House. Wow, they really want to go that way first! LOL - I wonder how many people acutally put money in the funnel? Anyway, here's the park entrance. Hey, at least the park is an equal opportunities employer! Wait, they were kidding. The woman at the pay booth isn't real! WTF??? 20p to park? You've got be kidding me!
WildMouse Posted May 13, 2006 Posted May 13, 2006 I last went to Blackgang Chine in about 1994. Those photo's brought the memories I have of this magical place flooding back. Especially the creepy but fun goblin heavy Rumpus Mansion. I remember the talking goblin at the entrance welcoming guests into the mansion and sending them to their doom, the maid scene with the mischievous little goblins causing havoc, and at the end was a scene where a beautiful woman transforms into the hideous river monster Jenny Greenteeth. The transformation was done using holographic effects. I remember the majority of scenes being button activated. Other highlights that I remember were the maze, dinosaurland with its huge climbable models, the then new 'Triassic Club' which had some fantasic animatronics of 'dining' dinosaurs, Fantasyland with the crooked house, which I remember being fairly creepy (the photo's back that theory up ). there was also a fantastic exibition on the costal erosion which had been and still is effecting the park. Blackgang Chine is a good example of a park that doesnt need to rely on rides to keep people entertained. It's all about the 'experiences' that the place has to offer. Thanks for posting those photos. Almost makes me want to make a return visit at some stage.
Tömmioh Posted May 13, 2006 Posted May 13, 2006 Great PTR so far!! It's nice to see photos from 'unknown small parks'. It looks like you have fun, bring on more photos!
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