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Did Th13teen disappoint you?

Were you disappointed?

  • Yes

    Votes: 26 36.1%

  • No

    Votes: 46 63.9%
  • Total voters
    72
Dhev123

Dhev123

TS Member
Back in 2010, or whenever you first rode Th13teen, did you come off satisfied or disappointed?

As the years have gone by, it's become an alton staple and people enjoy it for what it is - but back in 09/10 when the ride's marketing was in full force, did the ride meet expectations, fall short, or surprise you in any way? Given the ride was the first SW since 2002, and the replacement for corkscrew, it had a lot of hype, and people were clearly intrigued by the ride.

For me, I actually went on Th13teen on my first ever visit to towers back in August 2010 - I was a wee 8 year old.

So given my age, height (under 1.4m), and limited coaster experience, Th13teen exceeded my expectations and became my favourite coaster at the time, being a good step up from chessie and legoland before I took on thorpes rides in 2011.

It was actually less thrilling than I expected, which funnily enough I perceived that to be a good thing. All day I didn't even consider going on it because I assumed it had inversions and had a 1.4m requirement. That again, was based off the intense marketing for the ride, where I genuinely thought it was one of the scariest rides ever. It wasn't until my friends mum said it had a 1.2m requirement and I hesitantly agreed to go on it, still thinking it was going to be super intense.

Although, had the ride been built and opened when I was older and more knowledgeable, I think I would have had more realistic expectations for the ride, given the tame outdoor section which I assume was well-known in the planning applications. The marketing would inevitably still be overkill, but I'd be able to adjust my expectations given the rides stats.
 
I never saw the marketing- all I knew is that it had a drop track. I actually liked the other part of the coaster more than the drop track, but I wouldn't say I was dissapointed. It's pretty fun!
 
Flop.
The way it had been hyped as an extreme scare ride was absolute cobblers, and led to a lot of disappointed thoosies at the time.
They should have marketed it as a cool family coaster.

Talk of signing waivers before riding and "recommending" being for over sixteen years to ride...cobblers.

Fun family ride, but not worth the original hype.
 
rob666 said:
Flop.
The way it had been hyped as an extreme scare ride was absolute cobblers, and led to a lot of disappointed thoosies at the time.
They should have marketed it as a cool family coaster.

Talk of signing waivers before riding and "recommending" being for over sixteen years to ride...cobblers.

Fun family ride, but not worth the original hype.
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I can imagine the reception was probably even worse for the GP, given they probably took the marketing at face value and weren't as knowledgeable about the ride hardware

rob666 said:
Flop.
The way it had been hyped as an extreme scare ride was absolute cobblers, and led to a lot of disappointed thoosies at the time.
They should have marketed it as a cool family coaster.

Talk of signing waivers before riding and "recommending" being for over sixteen years to ride...cobblers.

Fun family ride, but not worth the original hype.
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Also their antics of saying that guests have to sign waivers and be 16+ is so counterintuitive.

Sure, it increases intrigue, especially for older guests and teens - but it probably did the complete opposite for the rides actual target audience (that of younger guests), as I imagine they perceived the ride to be too intense for them (me included)
 
I first rode it in 2016, at the age of 8. I didn't know much about it before I went on.

I really liked it, especially the drop track. It was actually my favourite rollercoaster between 2016 and 2018, and I still have a soft spot for it.
 
I first rode Thirteen in August 2010. I had recently turned 7, and it was only my second ever visit to Alton Towers (when I first visited the park in 2009, Thirteen was under construction). That visit was the first where I’d ever measured 1.2m, so it was also my first time on Spinball.

By my (very vague) recollection, I remember finding the outdoor section fun as well as the backwards section. However, I absolutely hated the drop track, as I didn’t like the sudden scary noises. I covered my ears and closed my eyes in the drop track section for years, and it was scary enough that I actually wouldn’t ride Thirteen on my third visit to the park in 2011 (much to the chagrin of my parents after we’d waited ages for it…).

My other overriding memory is being scared of the tesla coil in the queue, and of my older sister almost having kittens after hearing it go off for the first time… my parents told us that the ride “wouldn’t be that scary” and would have “obviously fake spooky decoration like Vampire”, but swiftly had to eat their words after that tesla coil went off, my sister practically wet herself and I didn’t react too much better. We laugh about it now, but it wasn’t overly funny at the time!

Thirteen has definitely grown on me a lot over the years. It was never something I massively rated in my earlier years of riding the thrill coasters at Alton, but with time, I’ve grown to really like it and thoroughly enjoy it! I think the outdoor section is really good fun, and the backwards section and drop track are always a laugh! I have a suspicion that my fear of the drop track effects in my younger years may have played a part in me not massively rating Thirteen before… the ride definitely became more enjoyable once I stopped feeling the need to shut my eyes and cover my ears during the drop track segment (which was a lot later in my life than I care to admit…)!
 
Matt N said:
I first rode Thirteen in August 2010. I had recently turned 7, and it was only my second ever visit to Alton Towers (when I first visited the park in 2009, Thirteen was under construction). That visit was the first where I’d ever measured 1.2m, so it was also my first time on Spinball.

By my (very vague) recollection, I remember finding the outdoor section fun as well as the backwards section. However, I absolutely hated the drop track, as I didn’t like the sudden scary noises. I covered my ears and closed my eyes in the drop track section for years, and it was scary enough that I actually wouldn’t ride Thirteen on my third visit to the park in 2011 (much to the chagrin of my parents after we’d waited ages for it…).

My other overriding memory is being scared of the tesla coil in the queue, and of my older sister almost having kittens after hearing it go off for the first time… my parents told us that the ride “wouldn’t be that scary” and would have “obviously fake spooky decoration like Vampire”, but swiftly had to eat their words after that tesla coil went off, my sister practically wet herself and I didn’t react too much better. We laugh about it now, but it wasn’t overly funny at the time!

Thirteen has definitely grown on me a lot over the years. It was never something I massively rated in my earlier years of riding the thrill coasters at Alton, but with time, I’ve grown to really like it and thoroughly enjoy it! I think the outdoor section is really good fun, and the backwards section and drop track are always a laugh! I have a suspicion that my fear of the drop track effects in my younger years may have played a part in me not massively rating Thirteen before… the ride definitely became more enjoyable once I stopped feeling the need to shut my eyes and cover my ears during the drop track segment (which was a lot later in my life than I care to admit…)!
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Hahahah I never realised how much Th13teen's ride experience is a complete sensory overload! I think the sudden jumpscares, and darkness play a huge role in the ride's intimidation factor, luckily I was never super phased by the tesla coil as I quickly learnt that it would happen after the count to '13'.

Funnily even to this day, my sister is so unphased on amusement rides, but the second she hears the loud bang in the queue for SAW, she squeals and covers her ears until we move up the stairs :joycat:
 
Dhev123 said:
Funnily even to this day, my sister is so unphased on amusement rides, but the second she hears the loud bang in the queue for SAW, she squeals and covers her ears until we move up the stairs :joycat:
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This was persistently making me, my dad and even my somewhat hard-of-hearing grandad jump in the Saw queue at Thorpe the other day, and none of us are particularly sensitive to loud noises (I’ve grown far less sensitive with age)!

My older sister absolutely hates loud noises even now as an adult and went to Thorpe recently, but thankfully, she used Fastrack and didn’t have to experience this effect…
 
Matt N said:
This was persistently making me, my dad and even my somewhat hard-of-hearing grandad jump in the Saw queue at Thorpe the other day, and none of us are particularly sensitive to loud noises (I’ve grown far less sensitive with age)!

My older sister absolutely hates loud noises even now as an adult and went to Thorpe recently, but thankfully, she used Fastrack and didn’t have to experience this effect…
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It's honestly quite bad, coming from someone who isn't phased by loud noises - most people in the queue had their hands over their ears!

The way the queue used to be managed meant that essentially, that section of the queue never used to be the merge point - rather guests from the main queue were sent directly through the corridor and up the stairs without coming to a standstill. So the chance of hearing the bang was significantly lower, and me and my friends used to run up the stairs quickly to avoid it :tearsofjoy:

Th13teen is funny because you don't really have a choice but to hear it, unless the queue is a walk on. Although I'm not sure if I'm just used to it, but the tesla coil isn't as profound as it used to be...? As in it's a lot less powerful and the electric rods have decreased in quantity, meaning it isn't as impactful as before - or maybe I just grew up haha
 
As soon as I saw them installing trims on the first drop I knew this was going to be a bit of a disappointment and a wasted opportunity.

I love the drop track section but the outdoors layout is very poor and way too short.

I know they were restricted with what they could build due to needing to avoid tree roots and the like, but when you market a ride as the 'Ultimate Rollercoaster', it's going miss the mark somewhere with a layout like that.
 
rob666 said:
I'm sure they could have managed a double loop through the forest section instead of a single one, using the same footprint as the first section.
That would have made it a decent family coaster, instead of a very short one.
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I’m sure they could have built more track if needed.
I genuinely believe the outdoor element is an afterthought. The main focus was getting that drop track in so they had the worlds first.

In fairness, I love the ride, and from the drop track onwards it doesn’t disappoint.

It’s the whole package though, and as much as I do love it I still feel it’s an opportunity missed.
 
I wouldn't say disappointed, I'd say that it was overhyped to be terrifying when it was a family coaster especially during the opening year.
 
I first rode Th13teen during opening season (Just before my 19th birthday so maybe would have felt differently if younger!). Unfortunately, I'd spoiled the 'secret element' for myself by following construction; I wish I'd gone in unaware but at the same time, knowing what was coming to the unsuspecting around me & hearing their authentic shock, was very entertaining! I remember being sooo hyped up for this to be something really special. It was good fun but didn't live up to my expectations; biggest issues are: the trims kill it a bit, then with the short layout, the moment you're starting to get some momentum, you stop again and the theming felt a bit... meh?

Admittedly, I was happy that the theming/effects weren't 'as scary' as the marketing suggested (wimp!) although, I had actually anticipated the 'fear' would be in the layout itself - we didn't really get it there either 😂

I agree with the narrative that the marketing did the ride no favours; ultimately, that's probably why I felt a little underwhelmed. All that aside, the drop-track was something a bit new and exciting at the time and it's a fun little coaster for sure.
 
I fell foul of the marketing in a slightly different way. I’d seen all the waffle about wavers and scariest ever and all that, but took it with a massive bucket of salt.

Chimp was tall enough at 5… she was not really mature enough and didn’t like it at all… she was scared in the station but I persuaded her to stay, and then the drop track did her in completely. Luckily she’s made of stern stuff so it didn’t put her off rides completely, but I was more wary about taking her to Thorpe before she was 13 than I would have been before the Th13teen experience.

More evidence that there’s no perfect answer book to being a parent, but a massive learning from experience paper.
 
Went on opening day. Found it fine. Best part is still the launch back into the station. The marketing guff didn't help it at all.

Know some people who loudly decreed it being akin to manure in front of John Wardley who was standing by the exit.

In weird hindsight, Polar X-Plorer at Legoland Billund is the weird opposite of Thirteen. Great coaster bit, crap drop section.
 
MaxPower said:
As soon as I saw them installing trims on the first drop I knew this was going to be a bit of a disappointment and a wasted opportunity.

I love the drop track section but the outdoors layout is very poor and way too short.

I know they were restricted with what they could build due to needing to avoid tree roots and the like, but when you market a ride as the 'Ultimate Rollercoaster', it's going miss the mark somewhere with a layout like that.
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Also the ride didn't even need to as tall as it is because of the trims - they could have saved money making it a few metres shorter
 
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