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[2025] Project Ocean: New Forbidden Valley Flat Ride

If it is to be a new gen top spin, it’ll be interesting to see the how popular it is. Both standard top spins at Parque de Atracciones and Parque Warner have been walk on the past couple of days.
 
I wonder if FV has fixed the power issues that used to plague Ripsaw in the way it demanded sudden and frequent surges of power quite different to some other flat rides with different motor and gearbox setups. The way a top spin works in general means this would be quite difficult to alleviate.

I seem to remember quite well Alton Towers only ever running Ripsaw on the more power intense settings when The Skyride was closed, so usually end of season after dark. Because the FV Skyride station is the main drive and power station for the whole system, it is reasonable to assume they pulled power from the same part of the parks grid.

Maybe someone who worked on the original could elaborate more on this, but I do not think they ever ran the the ride on the most intense allowed settings when The Skyride was in operation.

The ride was still perfectly serviceable on the lower and more tame settings, just not as good.
 
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You'd hope that with NST that it would have been addressed in 2012, by then Ripsaw was mostly dead (although I've had an 8-4 in day time whilst Skyride was running)
 
Poisson said:
You'd hope that with NST that it would have been addressed in 2012, by then Ripsaw was mostly dead (although I've had an 8-4 in day time whilst Skyride was running)
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You would hope so, although, perhaps the precise reason why they went with an ABC drop tower in that area was precisely because they could probably get away with installing one of those and not needing to address the power issues. They sip juice compared to how a top spin surges it.
 
There's a switch room behind Nemesis Sub-Terra, I don't know what the contents of this room is but it could function as a substation for that ride.

If so the concrete slabs this new ride rests on are of similar size, and could also house a local substation. A quick glance at the plans show doors to unmarked rooms in the concrete, possibly for this use?
There's also an existing building behind Ripsaw"s old site that I don't know much about. The plans have a path leading to it and its listed as a service building.
 
DistortAMG said:
I wonder if FV has fixed the power issues that used to plague Ripsaw in the way it demanded sudden and frequent surges of power quite different to some other flat rides with different motor and gearbox setups. The way a top spin works in general means this would be quite difficult to alleviate.

I seem to remember quite well Alton Towers only ever running Ripsaw on the more power intense settings when The Skyride was closed, so usually end of season after dark. Because the FV Skyride station is the main drive and power station for the whole system, it is reasonable to assume they pulled power from the same part of the parks grid.

Maybe someone who worked on the original could elaborate more on this, but I do not think they ever ran the the ride on the most intense allowed settings when The Skyride was in operation.

The ride was still perfectly serviceable on the lower and more tame settings, just not as good.
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The story of power issues in Forbidden Valley is an urban myth. I've been on Ripsaw on the most intense settings before during the day with Skyride running.

It's likely the main reasons for running tamer settings during the day is that they are shorter, so better for running off a large queue. By the evenings in Scarefest it was usually quieter so longer more intense settings could be used as there was less of a queue, not because Skyride was closed :tearsofjoy:
 
I'd like to think nowadays if there were power delivery issues that the DNO couldn't solve they'd have a powerpack or similar installed to help out with peak demand. Battery storage isn't new-new anymore
 
Josh said:
The story of power issues in Forbidden Valley is an urban myth. I've been on Ripsaw on the most intense settings before during the day with Skyride running.

It's likely the main reasons for running tamer settings during the day is that they are shorter, so better for running off a large queue. By the evenings in Scarefest it was usually quieter so longer more intense settings could be used as there was less of a queue, not because Skyride was closed :tearsofjoy:
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I never recalled them not running certain ride sequences when Skyride was running but my dusty brain vaguely recalls ripsaw being punchier if Skyride was closed.

But maybe it’s poor recollection.
 
Josh said:
The story of power issues in Forbidden Valley is an urban myth. I've been on Ripsaw on the most intense settings before during the day with Skyride running.

It's likely the main reasons for running tamer settings during the day is that they are shorter, so better for running off a large queue. By the evenings in Scarefest it was usually quieter so longer more intense settings could be used as there was less of a queue, not because Skyride was closed :tearsofjoy:
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I am not so sure. I can recall FV loosing power multiple times in the late 90's, with Ripsaw being touted as the culprit.
 
Dave said:
I never recalled them not running certain ride sequences when Skyride was running but my dusty brain vaguely recalls ripsaw being punchier if Skyride was closed.

But maybe it’s poor recollection.
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I mean, it could be more punchier if less rides are running at the same time, as yes more power can be diverted to Ripsaw alone. I was more meaning it was a myth that they ran it on less power hungry settings to avoid power cuts in the area.

If they did have a mystery series of power cuts in Forbidden Valley in the late 90's I guess it's easy to blame the new ride that wasn't there before even if it was completely unrelated.
 
Josh said:
I mean, it could be more punchier if less rides are running at the same time, as yes more power can be diverted to Ripsaw alone. I was more meaning it was a myth that they ran it on less power hungry settings to avoid power cuts in the area.

If they did have a mystery series of power cuts in Forbidden Valley in the late 90's I guess it's easy to blame the new ride that wasn't there before even if it was completely unrelated.
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Yeah as I say I may just have a faulty memory but it seemed punchy when Skyride was down.

Have fond memories of a those special times when you got two sequences in one ride. Always a good time.
 
dave___ said:
I'd like to think nowadays if there were power delivery issues that the DNO couldn't solve they'd have a powerpack or similar installed to help out with peak demand. Battery storage isn't new-new anymore
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It won't be a DNO issue. The DNO (NGED I think) will provide a HV supply, either 33kV or 11kV potentially with redundancy and then expect the park to move power around site on a private network.

Motor starts are tricky, not so much for how much power gets transferred but it causes voltage drop that can trip industrial controllers. I doubt you could use a battery to solve it, maybe a inverter connected supercap? Normally if advising someone id just suggest soft start motors but that might not be an option with a top spin.

Ultimately the solution is to strengthen the local network. A new distribution transformer isn't that expensive in the context of a new flat, potentially a bit of cable work to get it connected would be a little more. I'd expect it to be sorted in for new flat.
 
During the late 90s/00s I remember power cuts being a regular thing at Towers. In my family we would often make jokes of the likelihood of being stuck on the Skyride. Ripsaw may or may not have been a factor, or Towers simply did an upgrade in the 00s or beyond to sort the power out.
 
James said:
During the late 90s/00s I remember power cuts being a regular thing at Towers. In my family we would often make jokes of the likelihood of being stuck on the Skyride. Ripsaw may or may not have been a factor, or Towers simply did an upgrade in the 00s or beyond to sort the power out.
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Power cuts and Towers have always been a thing. They had a run of them in I think 2018 or 2019.

I would assume the main supply into the park is a bit iffy for a start due to the location. And then maybe issues with the internal balancing of the supply across the park. But that’s just a guess.
 
James said:
During the late 90s/00s I remember power cuts being a regular thing at Towers. In my family we would often make jokes of the likelihood of being stuck on the Skyride. Ripsaw may or may not have been a factor, or Towers simply did an upgrade in the 00s or beyond to sort the power out.
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Power cuts were common in 2010 & 2013 too. I think they just don't have a good supply to the park :tearsofjoy:
 
Josh said:
I mean, it could be more punchier if less rides are running at the same time, as yes more power can be diverted to Ripsaw alone. I was more meaning it was a myth that they ran it on less power hungry settings to avoid power cuts in the area.

If they did have a mystery series of power cuts in Forbidden Valley in the late 90's I guess it's easy to blame the new ride that wasn't there before even if it was completely unrelated.
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Yeah all very plausible I guess. It was a long time ago to be fair. Maybe my mind is playing tricks. There is a hell of alot of alcohol that has passed through my body since the late 90's...
 
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