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Nemesis: Sub-Terra

It is interesting I've noticed that while most UK based enthusiasts seem to have, at best, mixed views on the ride, I have noticed that whenever American enthusiasts come over to ride Sub Terra from what I've seen, they've all for the most part showered it with praise far more than what we all did though I do have to wonder if that is likely because it shares many similar traits to that of Alien Encounter at WDW and that those Americans are still very nostalgic over that attraction to this day and that Sub Terra for all its faults seems to act as an antidote for that?

Then again, love or hate the ride, you have to admit that Sub Terra is certainly a unique attraction that honestly I can't think where else you can find something like it in the world.
 
GaryH said:
It’s popular yes but I kinda agree with Rob on this one having rode it for the first time in years on the weekend. The new lap bar modifications have killed the ride, it’s extremely uncomfortable and very time consuming loading people. The exit scene with its one actor banging on the walls is dull and I don’t feel compelled to queue 45 mins again for it.
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The thing is that I agree with this and id imagine Merlin do as well.

Not every ride in the park needs to be amazing where people continually want to re-ride. They have those rides with Nemesis, Oblivion, Wickerman and hopefully Horizon. I went on Talocan at Phantasialand recently, personally I loved it but my wife didn't, and that’s one of the most esteemed flat rides in the world.

The ride provides variation for people away from the main coasters at a time where that is desperately lacking, as long as people are queuing for it and the reviews are on the whole decent, it’s serving a purpose and it will continue to serve it until they feel that they can improve on it.

I keep reading people questioning its future by referring to the ride being less than perfect as if Duel wasn’t in operation for almost 20 years. If being less than perfect was the criteria for something getting replaced or binned off then half the park would be in that position.
 
The lap bar fault isn't some crap themeing or poor queueline design. It is a major issue with the ride, causes poor throughputs and a poor ride experience.

I don't think it can be compared to say Duel
 
Poisson said:
The lap bar fault isn't some crap themeing or poor queueline design. It is a major issue with the ride, causes poor throughputs and a poor ride experience.

I don't think it can be compared to say Duel
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I get this, yet they still brought the ride back when they could easily not have done.

If it’a a big deal the cost sensitive solution is likely to resolve the issue when they can, rather than to get rid of a ride which has cost upwards of 5 million pounds to open originally and then re-open.
 
I'm not sure if the restraint issue is a deal breaker. It was put in to resolve a safety issue, and although it is a cumbersome fix it still fixed the issue.
Lowering the throughput isn't necessary an issue either. In the parks current state (lack of support rides) the park needs a ride that can take an hours worth of people out of the other queues. So long as it isn't being received poorly (I suspect it's mostly us enthusiasts that are very vocal about the above two issues) then there's good reason for it to stay.
 
I've rode Sub-Terra several times over the last 2 months, and all restraints shut straight away. The ride may have had some issues, but staff seem to have them figured out now, and the attraction runs well. From a capacity viewpoint, I don't see the issue with it.
 
The difference between my rides in May and my rides now are night and day, the Sub Terra team have the restraint faff down to a fine art at this point. It’s still faff, but it isn’t as major an issue it was on reopening
 
Having gone on Sub Terra for the first time yesterday I thought the lap bar routine was part of the act (obviously not) but in my opinion its a good all round experience, it is more than just a ride and honestly I thought the elevator out was more unsettling than the actual ride! had two rides on it and I think its good, perfectly suited to this time of year too.
 
MaxPower said:
They only brought it back because they were desperate and had no better options.

I doubt there was anyone at the park who desperately wanted to see the return of such a problematic, folly of an attraction.
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I’m not suggesting that there was but I strongly suspect that there were several people in the board room who wanted some sort of return on a 4.5 million pound investment that had run for 3 years up until that point.

The point that I’m making is that they haven’t just woken up one day and thought ‘Chuck a bit of decking down in the queue line and see if NST still works,’ it will have been a collective, voted on decision, probably via a board resolution. The other option will have been to cut their losses and sell it off for parts, for whatever reason they chose the former option and now that they have done I would imagine that the plan is to keep it in place for the forseeable.

As I keep saying, people don’t have to be chomping at the bit to ride it for people at Merlin / Alton to see it as being of value. I suspect it will potentially stop being of value when/ if the park drastically improves its non-coaster options which, to be fair, Curse a good first step towards doing.
 
First time ever going on it for me today and given that I knew an awful lot of what was going to happen having watched videos and read articles by the dozen about it assuming it was gone for good, I thought it was fantastic. The exit lift is definitely a vastly better effect than the entrance one, which I didn't fall for even slightly but maybe it is better in the centre of the room rather than up against a wall like I was.

The drop feels so much further than it actually is, the whole show scene was really smooth and I came out of it with a huge smile on my face.

Was anticipating issues with the restraint but other than being a bit of a faff initially, for the exit it was like any other in the park. It went up and I was out of my seat within a few seconds. I have much more of an issue with Rita's for example but even that doesn't take anything away from the ride.

I just wish it had better merch, especially a decent mug!
 
Dobba said:
First time ever going on it for me today and given that I knew an awful lot of what was going to happen having watched videos and read articles by the dozen about it assuming it was gone for good, I thought it was fantastic. The exit lift is definitely a vastly better effect than the entrance one, which I didn't fall for even slightly but maybe it is better in the centre of the room rather than up against a wall like I was.

The drop feels so much further than it actually is, the whole show scene was really smooth and I came out of it with a huge smile on my face.

Was anticipating issues with the restraint but other than being a bit of a faff initially, for the exit it was like any other in the park. It went up and I was out of my seat within a few seconds. I have much more of an issue with Rita's for example but even that doesn't take anything away from the ride.

I just wish it had better merch, especially a decent mug!
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With the new shop opening next season, maybe it will have more and better merch?
 
Finally rode Sub Terra for the first time at the weekend. The lifts are cool and quite fun, especially the exit ones. Once in the chamber my group's restraint was locked straight away but another tower took a few minutes, including a reshuffle. Knew the drop was coming and it was surprisingly forceful. Felt the back prodders at first but leaning forward helps to avoid them.

The scare maze section at the end was surprisingly short and wasn't that good, as I'd heard from others on here. Hopefully they'll address that in the future. The experience as a whole was good though, and I would definitely do it again.
 
Someone was told to "wait outside" after the restraints allegedly "crushed" their legs on my only ride on this last week. Wonder how long it is before they have to start separating into different weight groups with these restraints.
 
I don't remember too much about this ride, as I only did it twice in its original as-opened form with it being closed on all my other visits after that. I don't remember what the original ending was like at all but remember the bulk of the ride experience.

So a couple of days ago I rode it for the first time in something like 10-11 years maybe? It's a very welcome addition back into the park. It ticks almost all the boxes, filling the glaring lineup gaps that have made the park feel so barren since 2016. It's a supporting attraction, unique, is in-doors and breaths some life back into the area it's in. I had never liked all this Phalanx military garbage ruining Forbidden Valley, but since Nemesis itself and the wider area seem to now be copying it, it's better to have it open than being greeted with a closed attraction as soon as you enter the valley.

The pre show is pretty dull but fine I guess. The down elevator is quite clearly LED light strips moving upwards, I remember this not looking like this before. The restraints are tight and the process is quite clearly silly that so much effort needs to be put in. First time I was fine, second time I could feel blood circulation being cut off to my legs as I was in a row with just my kids but your day there for such a brief amount of time anyway it didn't matter that much. Ride sequence was enjoyable, I liked it originally as well, I think it's quite well done. The drop is very slow and lackluster though. I thought the exit elevator was very well done actually. I liked what they were going for in the corridor, and I have no memory at all of what this it was like in 2012 (anyone care to jog my memory?) but it didn't notice any fences being bashed, just walking through past some screens, smoke and red flashing lights to give a decontamination effect. I only realised there was an actor in there on the second go when a gas mask poked through behind some black chiller curtains but that was it.

Overall it's fun, in-doors, isn't a coaster or a fairground flat and does an important job. Having it open made it feel a little bit more like the Alton Towers of old again. Like Gangsta Granny, it's not an E ticket show stopper, but a very welcome and much needed readdition filling the holes in the ride line up and mostly of a decent enough quality to perform in that role. Like the Dungeon ABC towers, I have no idea why it has a 1.4 height restriction though?
 
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