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Nemesis: Sub-Terra

Given the obvious lack of options at Alton Towers these days but to queue for major coasters, I somewhat hope that N:ST makes a reappearance next season. However, and not to piss on anybody's chips here, but by the time this closed, it was the lowest-rated attraction in Alton Towers history in terms of guest feedback. Beyond the first season, people really grew to dislike it. It was a once-and-done experience. Why would the park bring back a ride with such a short-term shelf life, even if they did excavate a ludicrous amount of earth to do so? To close it again in 2021? I'm not sold.

Then again, given their track record on these decisions, maybe Merlin will do it? Surely Twirling Toadstool is a bigger priority? If they removed The Blade, the situation gets even worse.
 
Sub Terra had a lot of problems, not least amongst them the number of staff required to run an attraction which by the end was no more popular than Ripsaw.

I hardly ever rode it by then as I found it an utterly unpleasant experience from start to finish and not in any way fun, but I still want it to reopen just to give the park a bit more variety.
 
Suppose they scrap the VR from Galactica, take those extra staff and also take the staff member who would've worked on Blade and there you have your Sub-Terra team at no extra cost :)
 
I really don't understand the hate for N:ST. Yes when it first opened, it was awful and way too short. But when it re-opened, I loved it. I thought it was a unique experience that should have been way more popular than it was. But in many ways, it wasn't a fun experience, it was way too oppressive. I get that they were going for a militaristic feel, but it went too far. If it went with a more generic welcoming upbeat feel before the main chamber, it would have worked better.

We all know the park needs something to soak up the queues, but I'm not sure how much Sub Terra will help, seeing as though it was constantly walk on throughout. But it can't make things any worse.
 
I'm sure if they reopened Sub-Terra in 2019 there would be renewed interest in it seeing as it has been closed for over 3 years.

I love this ride to bits, it's something very different to anything else at Alton Towers. I would be over the moon if it were to reopen.
 
I think the good stuff about N:ST (the main ride sequence and the genuine sense of panic, basically) was outweighed by the bad. For starters, the actions and bullying dialogue of the hosts made no sense. We're being invited to visit the recovered egg, so why are we being treated like scum? If it would have ripped off Alien Encounter a little more and had a welcoming but somewhat sinister pre-show, the experience would have made perfect sense, but they didn't build enough shipping containers for that sort of thing.
 
The big problem I had with it was that they totally missed the point RE: how the military interact with the public. Whoever scripted the attraction clearly watched Full Metal Jacket at some point and assumed that that all army types just shout abuse at everyone. Well even in the real USMC during the Vietnam war, the drill sargents never got anywhere near that abusive! (Confirmed by R. Lee Ermey himself, it just made for good comedy in the film).
... But in reality, when dealing with the public in a non-confrontational situation, the military are extra polite.

I don't need some teenager screaming insults at me, thank you. I've had enough of that over the years to last a life time.
 
^It's a theme park, it's not meant to reflect reality 100% of the time.

There are valid arguments to say that the staff in the batching/pre show should tone it down, but I don't think it not reflecting reality is one of them :p
 
I quite liked the idea of N-ST and was sad to see it go / have issues, mainly because I was a huge fan of Alien Encounter.

However I must confess I found the staff shouting insults at riders very strange indeed. Why couldn't they have just filmed a nice pre-show video (like they did with Hex) that set up the story and added tension that way. Would have meant less staff too so bonus for the park.

Overall It was a nice idea executed very poorly.
 
The idea of a dark ride with the Nemesis alien, along the lines of Alien encounter at Disney, is, in my opinion absolutely brilliant. Great to see Alton developing their own IP. This is actually one of the few things I disagree with JW about when he says you need an IP to sell dark rides - there’s lots of examples to the contrary, one being Valhalla.

But this is somewhere in the middle, it’s not a famous IP, but it’s famous at Alton, it obviously blends into the area, and is a great way of extending the Nemesis story without just building another coaster or another unrelated flat ride.

The failure to make the most of that idea has been well documented, but it isn’t necessarily the end of the story. Even if nemesis sub terra never reopens, the building is obviously usable, so hopefully they build something else in there. I even like the Phalanx thing, and to be honest I think people are overly sensitive about being shouted at, I can’t say it’s ever bothered me, then again I was a chef for 8 years. That said, the Disney method of recording videos would definitely be a sensible substitute, just to avoid the reliance on actors. They could record several different videos to keep it varied.

I still hold out hope for an indoor Jurassic Park esque water ride, themed around the nemesis alien. There obviously isn’t the room for that in the sub terra building, but maybe elsewhere? If they did that I could even stomach sub terra being a seasonal scaremaze. I suppose arguably that wouldn’t be family friendly enough for a water ride but it could be absolutely epic
 
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