Jb85
TS Member
They could very easily yes, but they won’t
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TBC: SW9 Speculation
They could very easily yes, but they won’t
It's a shame really because everyone is saying on here the same thing about needing flats and non-coaster additions, but the majority of park goers aren't enthusiasts and a fancy TV advert for a new coaster WILL bring in more people. At the end of the day they're a business and a new coaster will bring in more people than adding loads of flats and making the experience better, even if in the long term the latter would improve the view of the park in general...
Doublethink
TS Member
For a medium investment year all we need is an intamin mega gyro in a partial pit it's not hard to do, has great capacity and is a very fun ride. LOKI at lisiberg was an amazing flat with great forces and airtime.
As for SW9 it's almost guaranteed to be a coaster as its so easily marketable and I'm sad to say we will probably see multiple SW rides before we see a thrill based flat ride.
As for SW9 it's almost guaranteed to be a coaster as its so easily marketable and I'm sad to say we will probably see multiple SW rides before we see a thrill based flat ride.
I think you underestimate the difficulty of constructing a (reasonably large) pit...
Matt N
TS Member
Didn't Oblivion's pit end up costing half of the £12m budget? And didn't groundwork make up something like £4m of Nemesis' budget? Intamin Gyroswings are fairly tall rides; I think digging a pit for one would cost almost as much as the ride itself!
Matt N
TS Member
NOTE: Sorry in advance for double posting, but I felt like this covered a different topic to my post above, so I thought it warranted a separate post.
Right, I have a slightly controversial opinion that I'd like to share with you all with regards to SW9; in terms of whether the next major year should be a roller coaster or not, I would personally like to see another roller coaster as the park's next major addition, and I'll explain why.
I personally think that if Merlin was to attempt a dark ride at Alton Towers, it should perhaps be done in a medium year instead of a major year. I could see a nice family dark ride done on a similar sort of budget to Hex or Sub-Terra (I believe both were around £4m?) working well, personally; I could potentially even see one in the HoM building being (one of) next year's attraction(s)! The reason why I wouldn't want to see a dark ride in a major year at Alton Towers is because from what I know about Merlin and the way they operate, I could see a high-budget dark ride at Alton Towers being something along the lines of Derren Brown's Ghost Train at Thorpe Park; a very extreme dark ride utilising many scare actors, live action scenes and experimental technology that's only suitable for a small proportion of visitors (over 1.4m tall and 13 years of age). Now, I'm not saying that a dark ride in this style would be a bad fit for the park at all, but DBGT certainly doesn't seem to have been an all-round smash hit in the way Merlin were perhaps hoping for. As much as I hate to admit it, I'd say reviews are mixed to negative and the ride's reliability is somewhat questionable. I'm sure DBGT is a very good ride when it works, but I'm not sure if a similar attraction with similar inherent issues would really be one that Alton Towers would want to invest a lot of money into. To be fair, Merlin may well use DBGT's problems in creating an improved dark ride for Alton, and I certainly have faith in them to produce a wonderful immersive experience after seeing the likes of Wicker Man, but my point still stands. Also, I personally think a dark ride at Alton needs to appeal to all ages, and something like DBGT or Sub-Terra would only appeal to a very limited audience; one that the park's coasters already cover quite well. Furthermore, I don't think Alton are exactly short of dark rides; they already have 2 (3 if you count the Dungeons!). Some theme parks only have 1 and some don't have any at all. Due to the points I've raised above, I would personally rather see SW9 be a roller coaster than a dark ride.
As for water rides, I will admit that a new one would be nice, but my only reservation is that many new water rides tend to be real soakers, and I'm not really sure if the British weather lends itself to an attraction that gets you ridiculously wet. The water rides that get you incredulously wet that presently exist in this country (e.g. Tidal Wave, Valhalla, Battle Galleons) only really tend to be popular on the very hot days in summer from what I've heard, and a brand new attraction ideally needs to have year-round appeal, especially in a country like Britain. One water ride that I could see working well at Alton Towers is a water coaster; a water coaster would fulfill the traditional requirement for an SW ride to be a coaster, it would have quite a wide appeal due to a low height restriction and it would fill the void of a new major water ride for the park. I even believe that some types of water coaster have sensors that adjust the wetness of the splashes depending on weather conditions, which would be particularly good in the UK. I think that one of these would work very well if paired with decent theming; Intamin even unveiled a concept for a full-circuit launched water coaster at last year's IAAPA event, so that would even fulfill the USP requirement!
P.S. Sorry for the long and potentially overly critical post.
Right, I have a slightly controversial opinion that I'd like to share with you all with regards to SW9; in terms of whether the next major year should be a roller coaster or not, I would personally like to see another roller coaster as the park's next major addition, and I'll explain why.
I personally think that if Merlin was to attempt a dark ride at Alton Towers, it should perhaps be done in a medium year instead of a major year. I could see a nice family dark ride done on a similar sort of budget to Hex or Sub-Terra (I believe both were around £4m?) working well, personally; I could potentially even see one in the HoM building being (one of) next year's attraction(s)! The reason why I wouldn't want to see a dark ride in a major year at Alton Towers is because from what I know about Merlin and the way they operate, I could see a high-budget dark ride at Alton Towers being something along the lines of Derren Brown's Ghost Train at Thorpe Park; a very extreme dark ride utilising many scare actors, live action scenes and experimental technology that's only suitable for a small proportion of visitors (over 1.4m tall and 13 years of age). Now, I'm not saying that a dark ride in this style would be a bad fit for the park at all, but DBGT certainly doesn't seem to have been an all-round smash hit in the way Merlin were perhaps hoping for. As much as I hate to admit it, I'd say reviews are mixed to negative and the ride's reliability is somewhat questionable. I'm sure DBGT is a very good ride when it works, but I'm not sure if a similar attraction with similar inherent issues would really be one that Alton Towers would want to invest a lot of money into. To be fair, Merlin may well use DBGT's problems in creating an improved dark ride for Alton, and I certainly have faith in them to produce a wonderful immersive experience after seeing the likes of Wicker Man, but my point still stands. Also, I personally think a dark ride at Alton needs to appeal to all ages, and something like DBGT or Sub-Terra would only appeal to a very limited audience; one that the park's coasters already cover quite well. Furthermore, I don't think Alton are exactly short of dark rides; they already have 2 (3 if you count the Dungeons!). Some theme parks only have 1 and some don't have any at all. Due to the points I've raised above, I would personally rather see SW9 be a roller coaster than a dark ride.
As for water rides, I will admit that a new one would be nice, but my only reservation is that many new water rides tend to be real soakers, and I'm not really sure if the British weather lends itself to an attraction that gets you ridiculously wet. The water rides that get you incredulously wet that presently exist in this country (e.g. Tidal Wave, Valhalla, Battle Galleons) only really tend to be popular on the very hot days in summer from what I've heard, and a brand new attraction ideally needs to have year-round appeal, especially in a country like Britain. One water ride that I could see working well at Alton Towers is a water coaster; a water coaster would fulfill the traditional requirement for an SW ride to be a coaster, it would have quite a wide appeal due to a low height restriction and it would fill the void of a new major water ride for the park. I even believe that some types of water coaster have sensors that adjust the wetness of the splashes depending on weather conditions, which would be particularly good in the UK. I think that one of these would work very well if paired with decent theming; Intamin even unveiled a concept for a full-circuit launched water coaster at last year's IAAPA event, so that would even fulfill the USP requirement!
P.S. Sorry for the long and potentially overly critical post.
Thameslink Rail
TS Member
I agree with you that we don't really need any more dark rides however an indoor rollercoaster (like X (2013-2017),Thorpe Park) would be nice. A water coaster would also be a good idea because there aren't any in the UK yet, (I suggested that in this forum last Friday).
Since we lost CATCF we do need a replacement dark ride that is included in the entrance fee. I miss the Black Hole, so an indoor rollercoaster in total darkness would be very much welcomed.
Love the idea of a water coaster or as I've said many times before, something to top BPB Valhalla. A good water ride flume is what the park is really missing now. They don't have to get you soak, just a splash or two would be more than enough.
Love the idea of a water coaster or as I've said many times before, something to top BPB Valhalla. A good water ride flume is what the park is really missing now. They don't have to get you soak, just a splash or two would be more than enough.
I imagine a dark ride coaster would be cheaper than a regular outdoor coaster, no? You don't have to theme it as much as you cant actually see the coaster itself...
Doublethink
TS Member
Just as a note on Flying Dutchman the excelent aqua coaster at Eftaling they can vary the splash on the final drop depending on weather to change how wet it gets the riders
Doublethink
TS Member
OK the dark ride bit is good and the splash down is fun
Doublethink
TS Member
I agree. My original point is that aqua coasters can be varied in soaking and a lot of people on here are saying that an aqua coaster isn't suitable for towers because of the poor weather at the start and end of season--something I disagree withAltonadvocate1
TS Member
I think it's time for AT to begin some routine excavation work...
MaxPower
TS Member
They can barely carry out enough routine maintenance let alone routine excavation work....
Jb85
TS Member
The above post by @Matt N does make sense. I can see a coaster being built for all the above reasons
With regards to the dark ride - I think the following four things need to happen and be maintained permanently which would then rule out the need for a new dark ride:
1) dungeons made free attraction
2) sub terra reopened
3) a new file in the 4d attraction where ice age was
4) a decent maintenance budget on duel. It’s a good ride (was better before it became duel)
A water ride just won’t happen - I can’t see it but if it did I would like to see a ride similar to
La Furia de Tritón At Terra Mítica - thats a good strong water ride
With regards to the dark ride - I think the following four things need to happen and be maintained permanently which would then rule out the need for a new dark ride:
1) dungeons made free attraction
2) sub terra reopened
3) a new file in the 4d attraction where ice age was
4) a decent maintenance budget on duel. It’s a good ride (was better before it became duel)
A water ride just won’t happen - I can’t see it but if it did I would like to see a ride similar to
La Furia de Tritón At Terra Mítica - thats a good strong water ride
Altonadvocate1
TS Member
I'll be in a minority here, but flats don't do much for me. At the fun fair, at night, with all the lights on and ear splitting Disco tunes playing, they are a lot of fun... But they are typically a repetitive motion and I don't think most of theme are of AT Calibre.
I would love a new coaster whether indoor or otherwise. For me it would be better than any flat ride. My first choice though would be a massive new log flume. I think a SW budget could create a worlds longest flume ride as was the original it it's early days.
But what I really want to know about is that mysterious worlds first water ride than JW had conceptualised with B and M, just before his retirement.
Just what the hell is it? I need to know.
I would love a new coaster whether indoor or otherwise. For me it would be better than any flat ride. My first choice though would be a massive new log flume. I think a SW budget could create a worlds longest flume ride as was the original it it's early days.
But what I really want to know about is that mysterious worlds first water ride than JW had conceptualised with B and M, just before his retirement.
Just what the hell is it? I need to know.