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Beastie removed

Spinball is actually starting to get on a bit now, it will be 10 years old next year.

Personally I havn't noticed, but are there any signs that it is starting to come to the end of its life?
 
Aside from the fact it sounds like a machine gun, bangs on the tight corners, and wobbles like a drunk pensioner? Not really no...

Oh wait, it's always been like that. :p
 
QTXAdsy said:
And there goes the Beastie, ah well, t'was nice knowing it.

I do wonder though with Beastie gone and with Spinball's sponsorship about to expire (assuming that it'll be SBNO or even removed) will we see Adventure land get a re-theme soon?
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Mark Kerrigan confirmed last year that 2014 is a big family year with significant investment and the rumour is a new family area. Odds on bet is a re theme of adventure land/ story book land/ farm.

There is a lot of potential for expansion in that area.
 
I personally hope they don't take all three kids areas at the front of the park for whatever they're planning next year. Sure, combine Storybook Land and Adventure Land to make one new area, but I think they don't need anymore than that otherwise it's all going to be a little too spread out. Plus retheming it all will require a lot of money, so spreading the money out too thinly is a bad idea.

Imo, besides replacing the Dung Heap, the farm is perfect. I also think that Storybook Land's theme is perfect too, so I'd love to see something with a similar theme to Storybook Land used for Adventure Land so that the beautiful theming around Squirrel Nutty doesn't need removing.
 
BigAl said:
I personally hope they don't take all three kids areas at the front of the park for whatever they're planning next year. Sure, combine Storybook Land and Adventure Land to make one new area, but I think they don't need anymore than that otherwise it's all going to be a little too spread out. Plus retheming it all will require a lot of money, so spreading the money out too thinly is a bad idea.

Imo, besides replacing the Dung Heap, the farm is perfect. I also think that Storybook Land's theme is perfect too, so I'd love to see something with a similar theme to Storybook Land used for Adventure Land so that the beautiful theming around Squirrel Nutty doesn't need removing.
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Surely it's better if all the family areas are back together? It means less walking and more ride time.

Just get a decent kids coaster in, a Nutty queuesize is all what is needed. I don't care if it's unique or not, considering Merlin are "second to Disney"; their flagship park not offering a kids coaster for a "family theme park" is embarrassing.

If we are talking about Troublesome Trucks size, surely the tent space might have to be used too?

An IP seems essential nowadays especially for a family area. Spinball has always been knackered but since SW7 doesn't really have anywhere else to move. I wouldn't mind seeing it go, but it also soaks queues in the morning so I'm neutral on the issue. As long as this new area is decently themed and helps stabilise a fresh, family image it'll be fine. If Storybook lands new coaster had fairytales more expanded on, we might just see that Shrek 4D-

And am I the only one who thinks the Dungheap is fine as it is, it might not totally fit the farm, but it being rather cutely secluded is fine as it still gets visitors. After only going there last year. all it needs is a few seating areas as it is rather peaceful there.
 
Stelios said:
BigAl said:
I personally hope they don't take all three kids areas at the front of the park for whatever they're planning next year. Sure, combine Storybook Land and Adventure Land to make one new area, but I think they don't need anymore than that otherwise it's all going to be a little too spread out. Plus retheming it all will require a lot of money, so spreading the money out too thinly is a bad idea.

Imo, besides replacing the Dung Heap, the farm is perfect. I also think that Storybook Land's theme is perfect too, so I'd love to see something with a similar theme to Storybook Land used for Adventure Land so that the beautiful theming around Squirrel Nutty doesn't need removing.
Click to expand...

Surely it's better if all the family areas are back together? It means less walking and more ride time.

Just get a decent kids coaster in, a Nutty queuesize is all what is needed. I don't care if it's unique or not, considering Merlin are "second to Disney"; their flagship park not offering a kids coaster for a "family theme park" is embarrassing.

If we are talking about Troublesome Trucks size, surely the tent space might have to be used too?

An IP seems essential nowadays especially for a family area. Spinball has always been knackered but since SW7 doesn't really have anywhere else to move. I wouldn't mind seeing it go, but it also soaks queues in the morning so I'm neutral on the issue. As long as this new area is decently themed and helps stabilise a fresh, family image it'll be fine. If Storybook lands new coaster had fairytales more expanded on, we might just see that Shrek 4D-

And am I the only one who thinks the Dungheap is fine as it is, it might not totally fit the farm, but it being rather cutely secluded is fine as it still gets visitors. After only going there last year. all it needs is a few seating areas as it is rather peaceful there.
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Less walking? How? They're still all going to be in the same places. :p What I mean is eliminating three different themes for one is a bad idea when the farm theme is fine. By all means replace / retheme Riverbank and Berry Bish Bash with more up-to-date attractions but the rest of the area is great and blends seamlessly into Storybook Land. That's why I think it'd be a shame to replace Storybook Land with something drastically different (besides loosing the fantastic theming).

As for a kids coaster not needing to be unique, I agree, but the theme should be. A small off-the-shelf is fine so long as the extra money goes towards making the theming for it great and so long as it's a decent ride in the first place. Just compare Thorpe's Flying Fish to Chessington's Runaway Train and it goes to show how much theming can do for a ride.

I also agree that the tent area might be good for a kids coaster unless it's too close to the nearby residents in Farley? I would prefer a show here but I don't think there's much chance of Alton Towers repairing the tent for a new Ice Show any time soon. It takes up a lot of space and if they aren't going to run any shows from it then they might as well scrap it and open up more land around there.

As much as an IP can be a great initial draw, if the end product is bad then people are going to loose interest in it very quickly. I don't mind an IP so long as it's tasteful, suitable for the whole family (ie Beatrix Potter's stories ;) ) and theming is carried out properly rather than being cheap and minimal, otherwise it just seems like they've thrown in an IP for the sake of grabbing your attention (Ice Age and Charlie).

An original theme can also work, but something in between can too. Expanding on the Storybook Land theme with more fairy tales that haven't been turned into films might be something worth considering as they're well-known and provide an excellent starting point to build from for other themed aspects of an area, but they won't come across as cheap or tacky (most of the time anyway :p ). Why pay for the rights to Shrek when they can use many of the characters anyway (seen as most are from fairy tales and nursery rhymes, etc... )?

As for the Dung Heap, I think it's a waste of space. The play area is boring and generic with little theming and I hardly ever see anyone in there (my family insist on visiting it all on pretty much every visit to see the chickens :I ). The biggest concern for me is the maze though. It won't be difficult at all to make something which is more inspiring than that and it'd be criminal not to.



Anyway, whatever replaces Beastie needs to be something which isn't too intimidating and has some nice theming with it too. As much as Troublesome Trucks would be good, I can't help but think that they can do much better. Watching it makes me wonder why they slow it down so much rather than allowing it to run a little longer. One coaster that I did like the look of (regardless of condition, quality and theme) is the Dragon's Apprentice at Legoland Windsor. It looks just perfect for the type of visitor that the Beastie catered for.

Dragons Apprentice - Legoland Windsor
Dragon's Apprentice - Legoland Windsor POV

It's cute, well-themed and just the right level of intensity for the youngest visitors. Gerstlauer or Vekoma could easily best that for Alton.
 
The Dragon's Apprentice at Legoland is an excellent starter coaster for kids - let's have something like this please Alton!
 
It'll certainly interesting to see who they'll go for (If anything) to replace the Beastie. I've always thought Troublesome Trucks, as great as it is, is a little bigger than the Beastie, and may put some of the really young visitors it catered for off.

For the space they have, unless the Ice Tent is going I reckon they'll need something small and compact. I wouldn't rule out someone like Zierer, with perhaps a custom Tivoli layout of some description. It doesn't need to be anything mind blowing for such a small attraction, but it'd work well for the limited space and compact footprint they'd require :)
 
The smallest Vekoma Junior coaster (85m) isn't anything particularly special but for such a compact and cheap ride it could easily be given one of the most immersive themes in the park.

There's only two in existence and neither of them are in Europe, so it'd still be unique.

But even if that's too small, there's nothing stopping them from getting a custom layout. Something like a helix from the lift followed by a few small hills and a final turn back into the station to give it some variation might work well.


Here's a video of Vekoma's most basic Junior coaster:

Riding the 'Kiddee Coaster' at Six Flags Fiesta Texas New Year's Eve 12 31 10


And before anyone says it's not very good, it's not supposed to be the best ride on the planet. What it is is a small, smooth and well-built roller coaster for very young children that isn't too high or long or too fast because that's not the point in it. But as I said, there's nothing stopping them doing something custom which does have a bit more to it.
 
The Vekoma or Mack equivalent of Octobruco Tour at Gardaland, please!

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2
 
AstroDan said:
The Vekoma or Mack equivalent of Octobruco Tour at Gardaland, please!

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2
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A MACK Youngstar? :D
 
BigAl said:
The smallest Vekoma Junior coaster (85m) isn't anything particularly special but for such a compact and cheap ride it could easily be given one of the most immersive themes in the park.

There's only two in existence and neither of them are in Europe, so it'd still be unique.

But even if that's too small, there's nothing stopping them from getting a custom layout. Something like a helix from the lift followed by a few small hills and a final turn back into the station to give it some variation might work well.


Here's a video of Vekoma's most basic Junior coaster:

Riding the 'Kiddee Coaster' at Six Flags Fiesta Texas New Year's Eve 12 31 10


And before anyone says it's not very good, it's not supposed to be the best ride on the planet. What it is is a small, smooth and well-built roller coaster for very young children that isn't too high or long or too fast because that's not the point in it. But as I said, there's nothing stopping them doing something custom which does have a bit more to it.
Click to expand...

There's actually an ORP for that...

Words fail me.
 
If an aquarium and a 4D room with a projector cinema at Alton can have photo ops then why can't a kiddie coaster? :p
 
A Young Star could be shorter!

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2
 
Personally I think its been criminal that the park have not got one single juvenile / kiddie coaster for the last few years. A park the size and stature of Alton should have at least two kiddie coasters in my opinion. Yes there are two (arguably 3) family rides, but nothing for really young kids.

Drayton got a great little ride in the form of Troublesome Trucks a few years ago and then followed up with a great family ride in the form of Ben 10. Flamingoland (for all the hate it gets) has a plethora of kiddie coasters to keep the youngsters happy. Even Lightwater Vally does. However the jewel in the crown of UK parks, the best well known in the UK, doesn't have any.

I love Alton Towers, but how poor and embarrassing is that.. :(
 
Shame,
Turns out my sources were wrong.. heard they were going to reverse the back 2 trains...

The Beastie - Fire in its tail
 
From a purely enthusiast perspective, a Youngstar sounds an ideal choice; it'd be masses better than Sonic (which it could potentially replace) and in all seriousness, be not only an excellent family coaster, but one of the better rides in the park.
Alas, I think this might be a little unrealistic - as has been said above, a junior vekoma (perhaps something along the lines of Drayton's Ben10, if we're lucky) or a dreadful, dreadful Tivoli is probably the best we can hope for - along with some much needed TLC to the often overlooked family areas of the park.

http://youtu.be/GcfeEMSQEwo
Although, to return briefly to the realms of fantasy, I seem to remember being very, very impressed by this little Soquet thing in France a few years back.
 
Who knows, maybe part of the deal with Gerst for The Smiler included one of their junior coasters like Troublesome Trucks for 2014/15? Wouldn't be surprised. Also, to the person who said it'd be masses better than Sonic - I hardly think the kind of coaster they would be going for would need to 'replace' it at all? A YoungStar is not at all comparable with Troublesome Trucks or indeed the Vekoma BigAl posted above - if it were anything like Pegasus then it's considerably taller and more intense - not for very young kids.
 
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