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2019: General Discussion

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Tbf Nemesis still looks incredible even today.

Last week though when the queue was long, I was explaining to Miss RicketyCricket how much better it was with the Ribena waterfalls. It's only a bit of dye, but it was iconic and added so much more to the ride experience.

At least the original music is still going strong... IMAscore can stay well away.

altontowers146.jpg
 
I was on Nemesis a few weeks after opening and the buzz was incredible. Living all the way down in Essex they managed to market it so incredibly well that it was absolutely essential for 16 year old me to make the journey, not visiting was simply not an option. The big difference compared to now was the marketing and buzz was absolutely justified and delivered in reality, the huge shame since is the value of this has been eroded over time with growing disparity between what is marketed and the finished article, with the net result being the marketing no longer works as well as potential visitors, quite rightly, don't believe the hype. People don't like being made fools of repeatedly.
 
Nemesis did set a mould that Towers quickly broke with SW coasters... the ride itself was ready & working reliably for opening day. Sure, they had nowhere near enough queueline ready, but the ride was good to go.


Oblivion - ride basically not ready, constant breakdowns as trying to run with 7 trains from day 1. Queueline ready but "flowerbeds" littered with construction workers materials / rubbish.

Air - ride basically not ready, constant breakdowns for much of the first season.

Rita - Towers finally started to learn & were not hell-bent on having it open for the first day of season. That said, it opened with one train only for the first few weeks, so ride not ready, again.

Thirteen - I don't actually recall any major issues with this ride, so some credit where it's due.

The Smiler - the less said the better! Opening delayed, bits falling off the ride & I don't need to go on.

Wicker Man - the ride itself and the queueline / themeing were all spot on. Dreadful weather messed up operations on opening week. The ride did have reliability issues in it's first season.

Whilst Wicker Man had to be cut a little slack due to the weather issues, Towers record on having major new rides fully ready, open on time & running reliably isn't exactly brilliant.
With 13 it closed the first Thursday of the season and reopened the 2nd Saturday (so 1 full day closed which was my 2nd trip of the season). It also took them a long time to get something working right as it was down to loading half the trains for a time.
 
Going back to the indoor Smiler queue, I did the ride yesterday and they were making you queue in all the indoor section. So guess now hot weather has gone they will just keep it as before.
 
On park today, not too busy and having a good time.

Sad to see "Blade"s ship sitting with the surplus ride boats from the rapids (you can
seei it if you walk instead of using the monorail by peering through the gates)

New signs have gone up to explain it's absence."The Phalanx are currently re-sharpening The Blade"
 
If they are replacing it with another flat ride i’d be glad to see it go personally. No doubt they will shove a bouncy castle or a game stall there though. Be nice to be proved wrong.
 
Ah well, with loads more space in FV due to the removal of Ripsaw and Blade there will obviously be a new and improved cross valley woodie with extended ride area around FV. Excellent.


You say this in gesture but wasn’t this where the rumoured RMC was going to go pre wickernan ? Maybe this is the start of SW9?
 
I really don't think blade fit in the area - and I think that is shown by the minimal queues even in busy times. If they relocated it to the lake near battle gallions I think it would be really popular.

Towers is screaming out for Flats, but I do think they need to fit with the area.
 
@ScottishChris I'm not sure the location was everything to do with it, there's a case that it might have been more popular alongside other 1.2 rides, but I think the pirate ship concept has lost some of its charm.

Black Bucaneer and Blade Frankenstein, perhaps?
 
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