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First SW to be Removed?

Altonadvocate1 said:
If there were any justice in the world, Nemmie would be immortal and it is amazing that so many of us think the first and oldest SW would be the last to leave, but the realist in my says this probably won't be the case.

Totally agree with Benjsh - when the time comes, just retracing it with the same layout.

Hopefully with the pit dug and the plans still on the B and M's database, it would cost a fraction of an original design as it is the only way that Merlin would do it.

That said, would an identical track replacement of Nemmie be Nemmie?
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How much it'd cost would depend on why it needs replacing - track worn out or foundations knackered? Not sure myself.
 
Katy said:
How much it'd cost would depend on why it needs replacing - track worn out or foundations knackered? Not sure myself.
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If Nemesis is anything like Hulk was at Universal, it will be a mix of track wear & tear and foundations nearing the end of their working life that will see it meet it's maker. Bare in mind Nemesis has had small sections of running rail replaced on the helix in the past & some of the cross-ties on the track joints (again mainly on the helix) have been cut slightly short on one side of the join to reduce stress on the track. A few of the footer foundations on Nemesis have also had quite a bit of work done over the years too.

Given how highly Nemesis rates in coaster polls - even at 24yrs old - Alton Towers would be daft not to rebuild like-for-like when the time comes. Sure, getting some of the foundations out & rebuilt will be fun / expensive, but it's all do-able... as long as Merlin are willing to pay - and they'd be daft not to.

Biggest, tallest, fastest etc is not always best - as Nemesis proves. Look at Mako at SeaWorld too - not the tallest B&M hyper coaster, but it delivers a 100% fun ride experience.
 
I actually think Smiler could be the first to go. I know it's second newest, but it seems to be ageing far quicker than the others. When you consider Oblivion is four times older, it's pretty much in better condition. And that jolt on the 12th inversion is unbearable already, and I can't imagine them reprofiling the track, as A) what an expense and B) the press would interpret that in all manner of bad ways
 
Maybe a silly suggestion but could they make room by moving one of their rides to another Merlin site? I could see something like Rita or Thirteen fitting in at chessington.
 
Smilertron said:
Maybe a silly suggestion but could they make room by moving one of their rides to another Merlin site? I could see something like Rita or Thirteen fitting in at chessington.
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I really doubt that would work Rita maybe but not Thirteen with the tunnel
 
Smilertron said:
Maybe a silly suggestion but could they make room by moving one of their rides to another Merlin site? I could see something like Rita or Thirteen fitting in at chessington.
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You’d never get either of those, or anything like them built at Chessington. From what I gather, vampire only just made the cut & dragon's fury is in the only location which isn’t so close to residents to cause complaints. They’d be lucky to get a Rollerskater model.

I don’t see any of towers rides being relocated to be honest, most are too reliant on landscaping, and those that aren’t ie. Rita, are plagued with maintenance issues and are outdated models.
 
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Thing is if they could have built the rides at Chessington they would have done - that was the plan back in the day
 
Kraken27 said:
Given how highly Nemesis rates in coaster polls - even at 24yrs old - Alton Towers would be daft not to rebuild like-for-like when the time comes. Sure, getting some of the foundations out & rebuilt will be fun / expensive, but it's all do-able... as long as Merlin are willing to pay - and they'd be daft not to.
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Thought of the day - if Nemesis was dismantled and replaced like-for-like, would people still consider it the same ride? Would there be people saying they preferred the "original" Nemesis? :laughing:
 
The "Trigger's Broom Paradox", just like the Hulk at IoA. I would say it's a whole new coaster. I plan to count Eurosat mk 2 as a new cred when I get on it. ;)
 
Nemesis is just superb, my no.1 coaster. I’d really have to think hard about visiting an Alton Towers without Nemesis, just wouldn’t be the same. Oblivion and GalacticAir are also two of Tower’s finest rides. The B&M cornerstones of the park.

With Rita, I’d love to see it with a shiny paint job and rock music theme again if the area ever changed.
I wouldn’t be fussed really if Th13teen was removed. I’m not sure about the Smiler. Sure it looks bad in it’s grime pit and also it’s infamous history doesn’t do it any favours. I could see it going but at the same time, I’d kind of miss it.
 
I wouldn't like the be the person, from Merlin, to announce which ride was going to disappear over the closed season. Whichever ride they remove, it's going to be met with resistance. They might just have to do a BPB and come back when the parks opens all...
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So continuing from the discussion on the locked thread. I don't think any coaster is going just yet. Alton Towers has a formidable rollercoaster line up which I suppose is the park's main selling point.
 
From a construction point of view nemesis and oblivion are to imbedded into their surroundings

It will probably be easier just to replace parts as opposed to remove them. On that basis, I think air will go first

also, capacity wise, air is a drain and also drains on manual resources
 
Up until now at least, Merlin haven't been particularly trigger happy when it comes to killing off coasters, for reasons of popularity or whatever else - they have some pretty old rides in their portfolio.

There has to be a pretty compelling reason to remove a headline coaster, because 20 years of serious TLC can still be a more attractive proposition than spending a fairly significant sum ripping it down, to build something new.

Coasters are very modular by design - you typically have the luxury of most of them being Trigger's Broom. Having to replace all the track or redo the groundworks in their entirety is unusual.

I think it's far more likely that we'll see a gimmick added to them if popularity alone becomes a problem. I still want to be able ride Oblivion backwards.

Aren't Corkscrew and Beastie Merlin's only coaster removals across RTP? They kept half of the former, sent the trains to Germany and sold the latter?

Things that you'd have thought would have been ripped out, Runaway Train, Sequoia and arguably Collosos have all lived another day.
 
Rick said:
I think it's far more likely that we'll see a gimmick added to them if popularity alone becomes a problem. I still want to be able ride Oblivion backwards.
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Good point. Something like floorless trains for Oblivion would be relatively cheap and provide a new marketing opportunity.
 
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