Yeah, that was probably the best part. I read that if a person of the maximum height allowed outstretched their arms, they would come within less than a foot of the towers. Pretty crazy.Quote:
Originally Posted by HilbillyHomeboy
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Yeah, that was probably the best part. I read that if a person of the maximum height allowed outstretched their arms, they would come within less than a foot of the towers. Pretty crazy.Quote:
Originally Posted by HilbillyHomeboy
well i'm scheduled to ride on this bad-boy next week. yikes:
http://69.195.124.67/~inparkma/wp-co...1-1024x682.jpg
What? Where? Looks intense, to say the least. :)
Jeremy
the smiler, alton towers. 14 inversions. beat out the previous record by several inversions.
should be about 15 coasters this week...if all goes well. *crosses fingers*. i will notch my 100--which, while it doesn't make me a world-class enthusiast--puts me well ahead of the average theme-park attendee.
now replaced by "verbolten" as of 2012. i just checked.Quote:
Originally Posted by HilbillyHomeboy
i think i need to hit a trifecta of parks in germany next year. that, plus my uk trip will knock-off most of the top-ranked european coasters.
ok. Made a few additions to my list:
89. Sonic Spinball – Alton Towers, UK
90. The Smiler - Alton Towers, UK
91. Oblivion - Alton Towers, UK
92. Thirteen - Alton Towers, UK
93. Air - Alton Towers, UK
94. Rita - Alton Towers, UK
95. Nemesis - Alton Towers, UK
96. X – Thorpe Park, UK
97. Nemesis Inferno - Thorpe Park, UK
98. Saw the Ride - Thorpe Park, UK
99. Flying Fish - Thorpe Park, UK
100. Colossus - Thorpe Park, UK
101. The Swarm - Thorpe Park, UK
hit the 100 mark. :D Here's my thoughts on this week's 2-park trip:
1. Busch Gardens, Williamsburg has less coasters. Cedar Point has more coasters. BOTH have shorter wait times than either Alton Towers or Thorpe Park. We waited TWO AND A HALF HOURS just for Saw the Ride. I would not have gotten to ride all of those coasters if we had not used fast-pass tickets to bypass some of the cues. The waits were obscenely long. There was zero justification for this, as far as I'm concerned. We didn't even wait 2.5 hours on Millenium Force--the year it opened.--and it's still top 2 steel coasters in the world (as opposed to Saw, which isn't even in the top 50). It's worth noting that we were able to ride all 4 (at that time) coasters at Busch Gardens, Williamsburg--TWICE--without any fast-passes. I can only think of three explanations for this. A. The demand in the UK is sky-high & that's just how it is. B. The parks in the UK are horribly laid-out & the rides are not managed well. C. The park owners are so greedy that they over-book the park & the guests have to endure it. In any event, you have been warned. Would NOT recommend visiting either park without also recommending fast-track tickets for at least half the coasters.
2. Alton Towers is a MASSIVE park. It's shaped like a pair of antlers, with main pathways up both sides, but NOTHING in the middle. It's a pain in the royal-ass (literally) to get from one side of the park to the other, so my advice is to stick to one side and finish it before moving to the other. Sure, you can wander the valley in the middle but it is a HIKE...and a 15 minute trek either way. The park would be VASTLY improved by the addition of a bridge in the back, joining the two branches. Also, it is a rather unique park in that it is buried amidst small villages in the English countryside. It has some form of restriction on noise & ride height--so you cannot even see glimpses of the park until you are virtually inside the main gate. Parking & traffic are royal pains. As with any European park, you pay when you leave the lot; so save the headache & pick up a parking pass in advance (or when you arrive), so that you don't have to suffer on the way out after a long, grueling day of cue lines.
3. Thorpe Park is a much smaller park, but still a fair size. Traffic and accessibility is much better. I found it considerably easier to navigate. Both parks are owned my Merlin Entertainments, and neither is a "top 5" park for anything that Golden Ticket Awards tracks--which should really say something about the entire experience. It was, however, worth the visit..if only to ride The Swarm & Colossus. There's a reason Cedar Point is "Best Park", Holiday World is "Cleanest Park" and Busch Gardens Williamsburg is "Best Landscaped/Themed Park". Alton could give Busch Gardens a run for the money...but it's like the park owners don't care. Sad.
Continued below.
Ride reviews:
-X is an old Vekoma indoor coaster. I only rode it to check off another number on my list. Fairly short cue (especially compared to everything else). Not really worth much.
-Flying Fish isn't technically a coaster, since it's driven along the track, but it mimics the effect nicely. Decent kiddie coaster.
-Stealth we passed on because of time constraints. It's only about half the height of Top Thrill Dragster / Kingda Ka & virtually the same layout. I wasn't too heartbroken about it. I needed more fast-passes to make it & it broke down when we were in line. We bailed on the cue, but serendipity was on our side, because as we were off to try and find fast passes, we ran into a couple who GAVE us free passes for...
-The Swarm. One of the newest types of coasters, The Swarm is a winged coaster (like Gatekeeper & Wild Eagle at Dollywood). A very smooth & exhilarating ride & well themed with the "post apocalypse" motif. The last two cars are now (as of 2013) facing backwards, which I believe is a first among winged coasters. Had I had more time & opportunity, I would have loved to have ridden the outside of the very last car. Visually, not only is there not a floor, but also the illusion that there's no track. The first drop is a roll-over inversion, which I've never experience before; very, very cool. It also includes cameras on the train itself, so you can see video of yourself on the ride (for purchase, of course). Nearly worth the price of park entry alone.
-Nemesis Inferno is a standard-fare B&M invert. I would rate it above Alpengeist, but that's all. It's cousin is more highly regarded by almost every review site. Still, not a bad ride & even a vanilla B&M invert is worlds better than a Vekoma invert.
-Colossus was the world record holder on inversions for 10 years (10 total) and it's still a masterpiece today. the 4-in-a-row heartline rolls are probably why. It's just a fantastic coaster.
-Saw the Ride. Well it was interesting & the theming wasn't too bad. The wait was abhorrent. The fact that trains only carry 8 people, and that there are periods of time where there are NO CARS ON THE TRACK...is a very bad thing. It wasn't until I got to the station when I realized that there were actually more than 2 cars total on the ride (I think there were 5 or 6). The problem is they are too spaced out & the trains too short. It's not really much different from any other Gerstlauer Eurofighter coaster in that regard. Had the cars been double-capacity (like those on The Smiler) it might have drastically improved the horribad wait time. The experience on the ride was actually rather well choreographed, and I'm sure fans of the Saw movies will love it (I refuse to watch them). Not a bad coaster, just completely horrible everything else. 2.5 hour wait on a coaster with an advertised wait-time of 50 minutes when we arrived. Get. The. Fuck. Out.
Moving on to Alton Towers:
-Oblivion is a waste of time/space/etc. The world's first dive-coaster it might be, but it's pathetically short & has ZERO track elements other than the subterranean drop. I was sorely disappointed. Griffon and Shei-kra put it to shame so badly that it's absurd. Still, it's smooth--it's just not worth an hour wait or more (We fast-passed it).
-The Smiler is mind-boggling to follow. There's so many pieces of track going every which way that it's very difficult to keep "track" of it all, even when you're watching a car whizzing along it. It drops you into a heartline roll before you leave the station. I wasn't able to keep count of the inversions because they are flying by so fast and furious. It's literally the coaster equivalent of one of these:
http://www.part-time-scientists.com/...sdc-day3-2.jpg
I enjoyed it. You do get a "breather" during the ride when you get to the 2nd lift hill (a vertical one). The Smiler is pretty much two Eurofighter coasters smushed together, but I think the result works fairly well. I don't know how highly it will be rated amongst critics/pundits...but where else can you ride a coaster with FOURTEEN inversions? And yes, I smiled. :)
-Rita is a vanilla LIM coaster. There's nothing spectacular about it, but it is enjoyable. If launched coasters are your thing, Volcano: The Blast Coaster at Kings Dominion or Top Thrill Dragster at Cedar Point are going to be much higher on your list.
-Nemesis is a fan-favorite & very well themed as it "hugs" the landscape very cleverly. While it didn't seem to stand out particularly (in my mind) it's probably among the better B&M inverts. I didn't find enough to warrant a hands-down victory over its cousin at Thorpe Park, but still very worth a ride. I think Montu at Busch Gardens Tampa probably still takes the cake on the best B&M invert (Raptor at Cedar Point is close 2nd).
-Air is a B&M flying coaster. Boy those Swiss certainly make better coasters than the Dutch. I'd rate it above Superman: Ultimate Flight at Six Flags over Georgia, but it still doesn't compare to Manta at Sea World Orlando. It's very worth riding. I enjoyed it more than Nemesis.
-Sonic Spinball is a spinning coaster, similar to Primeval Whirl at Animal Kingdom. Deceptively intense for a coaster of its stature.
-Thirteen wasn't the last coaster we rode at Alton Towers, but it was one of the best. Another long cue-line, but I found the ride to be an intense surprise--as I had not researched it before going. It claims the world's first--and so far only--coaster with a vertical free-fall mid-ride. Intamin built (another Swiss company, see I told you the Swiss were awesome at coasters), it's a very smooth ride & the forward & backward elements were a surprising and welcome change. Along with The Smiler and Air, I would rate it as one of the top reasons to visit the park.
Thanks for reading!
very nice! I think I may swing by Six Flags MM in Valencia, CA this weekend if I get a chance..
#102-106 Walibi World, Belgie. I can't really recommend it. Most of the coasters are Vekoma, which is NOT a brand I'm fond of, as they ride a bit rougher than any of their B&M, Intamin or even Gerstlauer.
-Psyche Underground: Standard Schwarzkopf loop coaster--just indoors. Nothing spectacular, but still fun.
-Calamity Mine: fairly run-of-the-mill mine-cart ride. Reminded me of Adventure Express at Kings Island, though it's a Vekoma ride, not Arrow.
-Cobra: Vekoma boomerang. Think Invertigo at Kings Island, but without being inverted. Most uncomfortable ride I've had since I rode Ninja at Six Flags over Georgia--which, incidentally, is also a Vekoma.
Werewolf: Not bad. Nothing truly impressive for a wooden coaster (I've been on Beast, Son of Beast, Troy, Raven, etc) but I've ridden worse (Grizzly at Kings Dominion). Cars had ample padding so you didn't feel too beaten up if you were bouncing around in the car a bit.
Vampire: Probably the best in the park. Vekoma invert. It did ride better than T2 at Kentucky Kingdom (which is also a Vekoma invert), but still far inferior to B&M (Raptor, Montu, etc).
It's understandable that they sourced their rides from the benelux area...but I still say that the Swiss are WAY, WAY better at making coasters than the Dutch. Probably because the Dutch are drunk more. :p