4D Coasters

I've recently been looking at 4D Coasters.
What's everyones opinion on them.
Would one work at Alton Towers.
If so where would be a good place for it to go. I know alot are quite compact.

The new 4D Free Spin rides are great and I think they are getting better in terms of ride experience and reliability. Capacity is much better than you would imagine too. They're quite compact in terms of their base, but they're quite tall (and the current design means they are consistently tall, as it were). It feels more like a Thorpe ride, than an Alton ride - if that makes any sense.

I'm not sure we'll see another Mark 1 4D ride (or maybe one in China?). They are so expensive, a maintenance nightmare and the ride experience can be quite patchy.

Forgot all about the Zacspins, must have erased those experiences from my mind

If you're talking about the Intamin ZacSpins, I'd rather bang my head on the wall for 3 weeks straight then ever ride one of them again.

If you're talking about the S&S 4D coasters (like Batman at Fiesta Texas), I would like to try one of them but I don't think Alton would go down the route of getting one. It just doesn't seem like they would get an off the shelf coaster like that.

We will definitely not have one if Alton is still owned by Merlin!!!

WallisDan said:

We will definitely not have one if Alton is still owned by Merlin!!!

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It's not anything to do with Merlin. It's to do with the fact that Towers are a premier park and avoid going for off the shelf coasters. It's been happening ever since Tussauds originally took over the park in 1990

Agreed on the ZacSpin. As Ted may probably remember, after I got off Gröna Lund's ZacSpin last year, my reaction was akin to Amanda Thompson's thoughts on Cheetah Hunt.

About 5 years ago (crucially, before I'd ridden one), I used to think an Intamin "4D" would be a good replacement for Revolution at BPB. I actually quite like Grona Lund's, but on balance I'd rather keep Rev.

They're not a good fit for Towers though (from any manufacturer), as they wouldn't get planning permission for one tall enough to be any good.

Is a B&M 4D a possibility or is it just an enthusiast fantasy? It's been brought up ever since Raptor was built, but I'm not sure that B&M are even considering one. It would probably have to be launched for it to be any good at Towers though.

TedTheHuman said:

It's not anything to do with Merlin. It's to do with the fact that Towers are a premier park and avoid going for off the shelf coasters. It's been happening ever since Tussauds originally took over the park in 1990

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I know I am in the minority on this point, but cloned rides really don't bother me. Blue Fire being one of many doesn't make it any less of a good ride, nor does G5 make Oblivion any less fun.

Alton Towers owes its very existence to Corkscrew. I'd take one of the S&S Free Spins over a dull original creation.

Rick said:

I know I am in the minority on this point, but cloned rides really don't bother me. Blue Fire being one of many doesn't make it any less of a good ride, nor does G5 make Oblivion any less fun.

Alton Towers owes its very existence to Corkscrew. I'd take one of the S&S Free Spins over a dull original creation.

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Disclaimer: I do not mind cloned rides myself, either and I'm just merely stating it's not something Towers have done for a long time. Saying that, Oblivion came before G5 and most of the early coasters, while clones, came at a time the park was a lot smaller than it is now.

I honestly wouldn't complain a lot if Towers got an S&S freespin, I just believe they won't get one unless it's a modified layout.

I can see a big b&m being built behind Galactica soon - and I would imagine it will be a new spin on the wing coaster

Jb85 said:

I can see a big b&m being built behind Galactica soon - and I would imagine it will be a new spin on the wing coaster

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I agree and have been saying this for years. I always thought it'd happen this year, but these things are slow and I'm sure it will someday. Makes perfect sense also as you don't need huge amounts of height for a thrill with 4D coasters, plus the obvious connection between B&M and Alton Towers which I'm sure is ongoing (hoping Air's recent butchering hasn't scuppered those relations).

If anything, Galactica/Air's recent issues may have got them talking again

Besides, it's not like Merlin don't love a good B&M coaster, they've installed Raptor, Oblivion: the Black Hole, Krake, Flug der Daemonen ane The Swarm in the last few years alone.

There have been rumours about a B&M 4D coaster since the beginning of time (well, since X was built anyway). I've never seen any compelling evidence to suggest there's one in the works. I think it's just wishful thinking on the part of enthusiasts.

Personally, I'm not too bothered about the idea of more 4D coaster models. From the late 80s through into the early 2000s, a lot of coaster innovation seemed to concern "what kind of crazy seating arrangement can we put on a track?" While this produced some successes such as the inverted coaster, it also produced a lot of gimmicks that either add very little or in some cases detract from the ride.

For me, the Arrow style 4D coaster is the most extreme example of train-based gimmickry. It's a fun concept and it has great novelty appeal but in some ways it's just introducing technology for technology's sake. I wouldn't want too many to be built in place of potentially better conventional coasters.

I prefer the direction that the coaster industry is currently going: ie. Focusing on building coasters with really good, high quality layouts, devising outlandish elements and pushing track technology.

Is it feasible that B&M ( or someone else) could use a Wing coaster style train and track and develop 4D tech?

The old Arrow ride is amazing but is a right ugly thing and the tracks style limits what you can do layout wise

I envisage The Swarm with rotating seats but is that even possible without a second rail?

I think Merlin is definitely interested in installing a 4D coaster because of the fact it would be such a clear Uks first and you could easily tie it into an IP or a theme.
I think an S&S freespin would work well at Thorp although the capacity would be an issue.
Some kind of 4D coaster would work well at Alton although I don't know who would make it I'm guessing for it to work it would have to be a new product by a different manufacturer for it to fit into the size of the sites.