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Did Th13teen disappoint you?
- Thread starter Dhev123
- Start date
sillyrooster
TS Member
Give it a medieval theme with a dragon in the crypt (which is now a castle). Better fit for the target audience. Was very disappointed with it when it opened. Now it's a skip on a busy day.
Secret Weapon
TS Member
Funnily enough, if AT had gone down the 'medieval' route (which I like the sound of!) then the ride would presumably not have been called ‘Thirteen’, which perhaps means that The Smiler would have featured 13 inversions instead of 14?
John Wardley said in his first book that The Smiler had 14 inversions rather than 13 in order to prevent confusion with Thirteen - although he also said in a YouTube interview that he thought that '13' was an unlucky number of inversions anyway (so perhaps The Smiler always would have featured 14 inversions), which makes me wonder why he used 'Thirteen' as the name of a ride in the first place!
Jb85
TS Member
He wouldn’t have named the ride….
And it’s ironic that a ride that, with your theory would have been unlucky had been, well, rather unlucky
Secret Weapon
TS Member
For reference: John Wardley says at the 19:45 mark in the following video that The Smiler didn't have 13 inversions due to back luck and also the fact that another ride already had the name 'Thirteen':-
youtu.be/SxGTdRBh5CU?t=1185
I don't have a copy of his first book to hand and so I can't remember exactly what he said about either ride in there...
youtu.be/SxGTdRBh5CU?t=1185
I don't have a copy of his first book to hand and so I can't remember exactly what he said about either ride in there...
AltonLover123
TS Member
I’ve always wondered why dark forest/thirteen wasn’t an extension on the experiments the earl did with the branch from Hex….
It’s close proximity to Hex and seemed like such an easy continuation of the story. Even the station building looks like it belongs to the towers.
It’s close proximity to Hex and seemed like such an easy continuation of the story. Even the station building looks like it belongs to the towers.
Secret Weapon
TS Member
I'm not totally sure what the story of Thirteen is, but I'd kind of assumed that it was vaguely linked to the story of Hex in that it implied that the nearby forest was haunted in some way?
I'm not sure how Gloomy Wood / The Curse at Alton Manor fits into all of this, though, as it's on the other side of the park!
Likewise: I might be wrong here, but I remember thinking that The Wicker Man had a somewhat similar story to Thirteen in that it implied that there was a malovent ancient force in the woods (although it wasn't a supernatural 'curse' as such).
I also found it funny that the voiceover on The Wicker Man seemed to have a Scottish accent, even though AT is around 200 miles away (maybe a Stoke accent wouldn't have seemed as threatening!).
I'm not sure how Gloomy Wood / The Curse at Alton Manor fits into all of this, though, as it's on the other side of the park!
Likewise: I might be wrong here, but I remember thinking that The Wicker Man had a somewhat similar story to Thirteen in that it implied that there was a malovent ancient force in the woods (although it wasn't a supernatural 'curse' as such).
I also found it funny that the voiceover on The Wicker Man seemed to have a Scottish accent, even though AT is around 200 miles away (maybe a Stoke accent wouldn't have seemed as threatening!).
QTXAdsy
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Black Hole
Regarding Thirteen's theme, from watching TPWW it seems that one of the original concepts for the ride's theme was that Ug Land would have survived in which the ride would have been a prehistoric quarry theme which honestly sounds interesting and would have required very little work needed for Ug Land except the elephant in the room being Rita.
And funny you mention the Scottish narrator for Wicker Man as there is a great many tale of Witch burnings that happened which even my own mother did think that maybe the ride's supposed to be set in 16th century Scotland even though the ride is nowhere near that and is in a pirate themed area...actually Towers never seem to have a uniformed themed to an area up until new look Forbidden Valley (not including Galactica) but that's another story.
GooseOnTheLoose
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Ug Bugs
The film, The Wicker Man, is set on a fictional remote Scottish island called Summerisle (which in turn is probably based on The Summer Isles). Although the ride has no official connection to the film of the same name, the concept of the wicker man has been around in British folklore for around a millennia. As the film and the ride are both based on the same folklore tales, IP protection isn't as strong. I would suggest that because the film brought the folklore tale to a modern audience, the ride uses a Scottish narrator as a nod to that.
The Wickerman Festival also ran in Scotland, from 2001–2015, where they would burn a man made out of wicker.
Wickerman Festival - Wikipedia
More info on the folklore tale can be found here:
Wicker man - Wikipedia
...and I started building a living one at my mates garden in Preston.
Gave up at the waist, but you can actually walk between the legs.
And quickly back on topic, this was another ride with pretty dodgy operations early on, if I recall.
There might even be a small laminated "million apologies" sign from back in the day in my outside bog shrine.
Gave up at the waist, but you can actually walk between the legs.
And quickly back on topic, this was another ride with pretty dodgy operations early on, if I recall.
There might even be a small laminated "million apologies" sign from back in the day in my outside bog shrine.
The commentary around the muddled up presentation of the ride is completely valid.
I think what doesn't get mentioned enough about Thirteen is the total waste it was - yes in terms of capex but more in terms of its occupation of a very valuable prime site for such a ride. Its footprint is huge - OK, some of that is meandering around woods but even if you just look at Corkscrew's footprint there's a pretty huge chunk of developable space now taken up.
This isn't to say another family coaster isn't/wasn't needed - it was, but there are way more imaginative places such a ride could potentially go, be a pleasant family experience and leave the plot free for something which needs the height and clearance.
I hope it goes along with Rita at some point to allow that whole portion of the park to be re-done, because it's been a mess ever since Ug Land was carved up.
I think what doesn't get mentioned enough about Thirteen is the total waste it was - yes in terms of capex but more in terms of its occupation of a very valuable prime site for such a ride. Its footprint is huge - OK, some of that is meandering around woods but even if you just look at Corkscrew's footprint there's a pretty huge chunk of developable space now taken up.
This isn't to say another family coaster isn't/wasn't needed - it was, but there are way more imaginative places such a ride could potentially go, be a pleasant family experience and leave the plot free for something which needs the height and clearance.
I hope it goes along with Rita at some point to allow that whole portion of the park to be re-done, because it's been a mess ever since Ug Land was carved up.
Secret Weapon
TS Member
I might be wrong, but I'd always assumed that Corkscrew (the first rollercoaster at AT) was placed where it was because it's the furthest point from the entrance (in terms of how far back it is - not necessarily overall diagonal distance), and thus was perhaps less likely to receive objections over noise and height etc from local residents?
If that's true, then perhaps you are right that the space should have been reserved for a different, more ambitious ride.
Maybe it would have been better if The Smiler and Thirteen had swapped locations? It would have meant that Thirteen used up less space and would be closer to Spinball Whizzer and CBeebies Land, whilst The Smiler would have had more room to work with, and would symbolically have been a 'new start' for AT (sitting on the site of the former pioneering ride).
It also means that The Smiler would have been seen as the replacement for Corkscrew and Thirteen would have been viewed as the replacement for The Black Hole, which are fairer comparisons, in my opinion (and less likely to disappoint overall) - especially given that Corkscrew and The Smiler were both notable for having multiple inversions, and Thirteen and The Black Hole were known for having indoor dark elements with no inversions.
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Slugjc
TS Member
Am I right in thinking that, the reason thirteen and Rita are built in that section. Is because they impact less on an area of high conservation. I could be very wrong, but didn't they need to do some archaeological survey on the land before building thirteen? Which wasn't required at the time of building the corkscrew.
After a perilous night out in Handley in the early 90's, where we had to get a police escort out of the town for our own safety, I do find the Stoke accent to be pretty threatening!
MaxPower
TS Member
It was built near an iron age hill fort which delayed the planning initially, and then had to avoid lopping any trees down or damaging any roots.
As for Th13teen...
Me and the missus had a bit of a gap from going to AT, from the very early 00's to around the early 10's - because we were busy welcoming our daughters into our world
When we started back going, our entire approach to the visit changed, focusing more on the kids' rides. But our eldest was always tall for her age and by the time we started back going, was able to go on those 'interim' rides - including Th13teen.
I'll be honest and say I'd not seen any of the hype, just the ad a few times (but did know there was some sort of drop). And, at my age, had learned to be a bit cynical about claims made by advertisers. So I had little expectation.
As such, that first time I rode it, I thought it was great!
My daughter was terrified - but in the best way; the way kids are supposed to be.
I quickly told her not to give the secret away to her mum so we could 'get' her with it another time. the first time our youngest was tall enough to ride it was one of our first Scarefests. We rode it late afternoon on a gloomy Sunday and me and our eldest got the reaction from the other two we were hoping for.
A couple years on, we took two friends of theirs, one of whom had never been to AT before. Again, the reaction.
It's a staple on our Scarefest visit, when we will always look to ride it at least once in the dark, where it's even better.
Reading the comments in this thread, I was surprised to see an overwhelming sense that Th13rteen has always been a disappointment. But I guess the fact is that most people on this forum are theme park 'geeks' (I mean that in a positive way!) and so will seek out news on new rides, building their own expectations.
And I can see that, if you believed the hype and expected much more, it could be underwhelming.
But I first rode it with an open mind, not having any expectation it would be amazing, so really enjoyed it.
Saying all that, I agree with comments about the disjointed theming around the entire park, and that AT could have done a lot better in harmonising.
Me and the missus had a bit of a gap from going to AT, from the very early 00's to around the early 10's - because we were busy welcoming our daughters into our world
When we started back going, our entire approach to the visit changed, focusing more on the kids' rides. But our eldest was always tall for her age and by the time we started back going, was able to go on those 'interim' rides - including Th13teen.
I'll be honest and say I'd not seen any of the hype, just the ad a few times (but did know there was some sort of drop). And, at my age, had learned to be a bit cynical about claims made by advertisers. So I had little expectation.
As such, that first time I rode it, I thought it was great!
My daughter was terrified - but in the best way; the way kids are supposed to be.
I quickly told her not to give the secret away to her mum so we could 'get' her with it another time. the first time our youngest was tall enough to ride it was one of our first Scarefests. We rode it late afternoon on a gloomy Sunday and me and our eldest got the reaction from the other two we were hoping for.
A couple years on, we took two friends of theirs, one of whom had never been to AT before. Again, the reaction.
It's a staple on our Scarefest visit, when we will always look to ride it at least once in the dark, where it's even better.
Reading the comments in this thread, I was surprised to see an overwhelming sense that Th13rteen has always been a disappointment. But I guess the fact is that most people on this forum are theme park 'geeks' (I mean that in a positive way!) and so will seek out news on new rides, building their own expectations.
And I can see that, if you believed the hype and expected much more, it could be underwhelming.
But I first rode it with an open mind, not having any expectation it would be amazing, so really enjoyed it.
Saying all that, I agree with comments about the disjointed theming around the entire park, and that AT could have done a lot better in harmonising.
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Jb85
TS Member
Common theme here
The original park was designed area by area by someone who got it - naming JW
Then the park needed to expand - rides for shoehorned in.
Now we are left with this mish mash
I do wonder why Lord Wardley didn’t do more to insist thirteen has a decent surrounding area. Very unlike him and shows his diminishing influence around that time.
It’s very clear to me a major reset is needed. I like the new FV - but it’s not a patch on the original.
I fear the glory days are gone never to return.
The original park was designed area by area by someone who got it - naming JW
Then the park needed to expand - rides for shoehorned in.
Now we are left with this mish mash
I do wonder why Lord Wardley didn’t do more to insist thirteen has a decent surrounding area. Very unlike him and shows his diminishing influence around that time.
It’s very clear to me a major reset is needed. I like the new FV - but it’s not a patch on the original.
I fear the glory days are gone never to return.