TH13TEEN - Was It Worth It?

[James]

Th13teen has a soft spot in my heart. It's a fun ride with an unique element. I don't see anything wrong with the ride myself. My only real niggle is the lack of theming and maintenance of theming since it opened. As a ride though it is very good indeed.

The only thing which let Th13teen down was the marketing. If they marketed it as a family thrill ride I'm sure the general opinion would be far more positive.

The cost of the ride is debatable. There's no denying the drop element is a work of genius. For the system to work so quickly and efficiently all year round is quite an achievement. Although without knowing a breakdown of the project cost we can't really say much about it.

 

[AstroDan]

The layout, even for a family coaster, is poor. The use of outdoor space is also poor. Corkscrew packed in a lot of track, Th13teen fails to do this.

The indoor section/drop and reverse seems to work well, and the system itself is very quick and impressive - but when you compare the layout and duration of other family coasters around the world, for the money, the external layout of Th13teen is really very poor indeed.

The quality of retheme to Ug Land was diabolical. It is already showing signs of serious deterioration. They failed to use the arrival of Th13teen to re-profile the whole area. We still have a hideous Rita queue line which totally blocks off the well themed Th13teen ride building. The entrance to Th13teen is underneath another rollercoaster. The whole area is just poorly thought out.

As a ride I don't object to it, I relatively enjoy it - but really - we have come to expect so much more from Alton Towers over the years.

 

[DaveW]

Its a good ride, but for the money, you could have had a much better ride. I can see the ride having big problems when it gets older and I can see its popularity dropping quicker than the drop element. As much as I do love the crypt drop, the rest of the ride is really poor and you cannot have a ride that only has one good part. The entire coaster needed to wow and it really doesn't. Thats why I don't think it was worth it.

One word. Oblivion, Alton towers biggest one trick pony

I've never been able to understand the severe dislike of this ride, from day one when the ride was announced it was a family coaster with a 1.2m hit restriction yet everyone seemed to think it was going to set the world on fire.

As rides go its ok, by no means the biggest or the best, but it was a prototype, they are often somewhat underwhelming, some people say the same of Air, but still it gets huge queues, Only time will tell if Th13teen will grow to the legendary status that nemesis and Oblivion have, however I feel she is destined to be a generations "first BIG ride" and will probably be remembered fondly by many of the young guests of today for this, in much the same way Corkie and Black Hole are for some of the older members on here.

It may not be destined for the record books, but it has certainly bridged the gay between family and thrill which at the end of the day is what Towers paid for, so I think yes it WAS worth it

 

[Scott]

The layout, even for a family coaster, is poor. The use of outdoor space is also poor. Corkscrew packed in a lot of track, Th13teen fails to do this.

I think it's unfair to criticise the use of the space too much. I agree the layout could have been more inspiring, and could do with some near misses and better interaction with the woods - but the woods are the problem. They made a very tricky area to design a ride in - and I think we got just about the best they could do in that small space. Corkie was a standard layout, and yes it packed a lot in a small space but it also looked crowded and cramped.

 

[Rob]

I agree with mrbrightside that criticising the use of space is a little unfair. The station and drop section had to go where it is, and they that took up a lot of the former Corkscrew site. Then with them going into the woods with the main section of the coaster they were very very limited with that they could do in regards to layout. John Wardley showed a few of the proposed layout designs at the Thirteen evening and they were all very similar really. If there was more space to be utilised then yes the layout could have been better, but as this wasn't the case it's not so bad. I just wish it didn't have to be trimmed as I feel it would be a fair bit better without any trims.

 

[AstroDan]

But the layout is terrible?

They could have had more helixes, ducking and diving in the outdoor space around where the Corskcrew turnarounds were?

It's such a short and bland layout! Sure, they can't do much 'in the woods' - but outside that area it's a GDA!

 

[Tom]

RE: original post: You answer the question with the statement regarding the queues. Nearly three seasons on it is still working flat out. It was a great investment.

 

[Rob]

I suppose when you look at it like that then yes, they could have had more outdoor track on the Corkscrew site. I can't help but feel they were mainly focusing on the drop and the coaster section was a slight afterthought anyway, as long as there was some track then it was ok. My main issue with the outdoor section is that it is far too short, it's probably take the same amount of time as a lap on the Beastie!

 

[AstroDan]

RE: original post: You answer the question with the statement regarding the queues. Nearly three seasons on it is still working flat out. It was a great investment.

I don't dispute the fact it worked well at getting the guests in.

I simply believe the (outdoor) ride could have been significantly better than it is. It doesn't help that Intamin are incompetent at half their rides...!

 

[Scott]

Were the outside section able to run without trims I think that, despite it being criminally short, it would be so much better and much more well received. There surely must be a suitable alternative to trimming?

 

[rightbackgranty]

I've always enjoyed the ride, though its inappropriate marketing has led to some of the general public to be less than enthusiastic about it. An extended outdoor section would have really made the ride for me, as I do think you can get the feeling of "oh, that was it?" before the drop.

I think citing the ride's budget is a poor argument, especially as it was believed to have included area retheme, marketing and possible ride retainer/R&D - who knows what proportion of the ride system was the £15 million.

Was it worth it? In my opinion, completely. A lot more thought went into it than Spinball and Rita combined, a move in the right direction, which hopefully is something we are seeing with SW7

 

[delta79]

I think as a intermediate step from family to thrill rides, it does it job well. theming of the outdoor section could be much more and bring more to the ride.
When i go with non coaster mates, they love it. and when we where able to convert my mates son from being happy just riding RMT and not wanting to do air or Nemesis to doing Nemesis twice, with th13teen you know it does the job it was designed for.

 

[CoasterCrazyChris]

The layout, even for a family coaster, is poor. The use of outdoor space is also poor. Corkscrew packed in a lot of track, Th13teen fails to do this.

The indoor section/drop and reverse seems to work well, and the system itself is very quick and impressive - but when you compare the layout and duration of other family coasters around the world, for the money, the external layout of Th13teen is really very poor indeed.

The quality of retheme to Ug Land was diabolical. It is already showing signs of serious deterioration. They failed to use the arrival of Th13teen to re-profile the whole area. We still have a hideous Rita queue line which totally blocks off the well themed Th13teen ride building. The entrance to Th13teen is underneath another rollercoaster. The whole area is just poorly thought out.

As a ride I don't object to it, I relatively enjoy it - but really - we have come to expect so much more from Alton Towers over the years.

That really is the best summary of the ride I have read in months. I totally agree, particularly with the points about the area as a whole.

 

[Moley]

As a ride I don't object to it, I relatively enjoy it - but really - we have come to expect so much more from Alton Towers over the years.

Really? Someone should tell the rest of the forum.

Most posts in this area of this and the previous forum have involved negative comments about Alton/Merlin or shipping containers for the last 3 years.

 

[Sam]

It's better and more interesting than Corkscrew. Therefore yes, yes it was worth it.

Was it worth it compared to what was there before? Of course. It's unquestionably a much better ride. Was it worth it in terms of the amount of money they paid for it? Absolutely not.

It's hard to get exact figures for Th13teen. But it seems likely that it cost significantly more than rides like Blue Fire (also a family-thrill coaster) and Black Mamba. You probably could have got at least three Wodans for the same price. Even if the ride is good when you look at it on face value, when you compare that to how much it cost, it was very poor value for money.

 

[Alastair]

It's better and more interesting than Corkscrew. Therefore yes, yes it was worth it.

Was it worth it compared to what was there before? Of course. It's unquestionably a much better ride. Was it worth it in terms of the amount of money they paid for it? Absolutely not.

It's hard to get exact figures for Th13teen. But it seems likely that it cost significantly more than rides like Blue Fire (also a family-thrill coaster) and Black Mamba. You probably could have got at least three Wodans for the same price. Even if the ride is good when you look at it on face value, when you compare that to how much it cost, it was very poor value for money.

Blue Fire is family thrill? 4 inversions to me says otherwise. Either that or they have some extremely adventurous families in Germany

 

[Fredward]

Well I would of guessed a lot of that 15 was wasted spent on marketing that didn't fitted with the theme of the ride.


EDIT: and yes, EP want Blue Fire to be family thrill, hence why there are kids in the advert.

 

[Sam]

Blue Fire is family thrill? 4 inversions to me says otherwise. Either that or they have some extremely adventurous families in Germany

Blue Fire is like, the dictionary definition of family-thrill. Because of the lower height restriction (1.3m), lack of serious intensity and un-threatening theme, you see kids and families on it all the time. I was sat next to a single rider a few months ago who can't have been much older than 10!

Everyone who rides Blue Fire loves it, I've never heard of anyone not enjoying it. In comparison, the majority of enthusiasts, bar the odd exception here and there, find it very disappointing. As do a lot of the public. If not a majority, then certainly in much higher numbers than should be hoped for given the money they spent on it.

 

[Alastair]

Blue Fire is family thrill? 4 inversions to me says otherwise. Either that or they have some extremely adventurous families in Germany

Blue Fire is like, the dictionary definition of family-thrill. Because of the lower height restriction (1.3m), lack of serious intensity and un-threatening theme, you see kids and families on it all the time. I was sat next to a single rider a few months ago who can't have been much older than 10!

Everyone who rides Blue Fire loves it, I've never heard of anyone not enjoying it. In comparison, the majority of enthusiasts, bar the odd exception here and there, find it very disappointing. As do a lot of the public. If not a majority, then certainly in much higher numbers than should be hoped for given the money they spent on it.

A family thrill IMO should not have inversions. I fully understand that younger kids would love it, but every older family member I've ever been with to theme parks is put off coasters with inversions. In my mind, a family thrill is something like a mine train, Big Thunder Mountain at MK for example. The fact that, bar the Rock 'n Rollercoaster, no coasters at Disney World have inversions illustrates my point.

 

[BigDave]

Blue Fire has 4 inversions, but as seen on their recent mega coasters, they don't have to have as many or even any inversion. Straying away from that, you could have almost any ride for that price. Even if £3million was spent on marketing, that still leaves £12million which you could get a fairly decent B&M for!

Thirteen is a family ride and I see that. The ride however dominates that area and is made out even now to be the main ride in that area and therefore more interesting and thrilling. The thing is, the drop element can offer that thrill, but it is totally ruined by a poor track layout. The fact the ride relies so heavily on trims proves that the track is too short given the size of the first drop. The lift is around 100ft tall and with that you could have had a much longer twisting layout. As Dan said, you could have a lot of helixes and twists all over the place. The area along the lift hill is just gravel and dirt. It could have easily housed more track!

As for Thirteen replacing Corkscrew. I wish we could have had both. Corkscrew even though it was rough has hell (thanks to mainly a poor choice in replacement trains), the ride packed a punch and really did earn its place on the park right up to it leaving. I cannot see Thirteen thrilling its riders for 30years!