Alton Towers - Thirteen

Originally posted by Jonny Richey

Why are you guys disappointed by this? It actually looks really good.

You guys are worse than the people who expected the Dark Knight to be like the Rockin' Roller Coaster.

We saw the plans really early, then construction, and now you're dissapointed by the video? really?

Yes. Mate the anticipation when Alton Towers or even the whole of the UK gets a new coaster is huge. It's such a rarity! There was alot of hype about this coaster, and yeah some aspects look okay, and video's dont do half the justice, but it just looks painfully sluggish and badly paced. Im sure riding with full themeing etc in the back row wouldn't be so bad. Who knows.

And yes a megalite would be awesome. But a fast paced woodie, a custom GCI with flier train's ploughing through the terrain back there would be spectacular. Maybe the noise would be an issue, but a darkish paint job would disguise it. Thirteen is 60ft tall, you could get enough pace into a GCI to navigate some awesome banked turns and double downs into tunnels etc to make an amazing coaster! And this country needs a woodie for sure!

im going to say only this phrase

"i will reserve full judgement untill sunday"

simple as, the video isnt even half a portrail of thee full coaster. not only that the dark forest is a 2 year project so not 100% finnished till 2011 as i will reserve a full experience of the compleate area till then and a review and experiece on th13teen will sunday

It looks like it could be the best coaster at Alton Towers, but that's because I'm a fan of woodies and woodie-styled rides. Also because I'm not a big fan of B&M inverts.

[gouldy]

^ you're joking, right?

First of all, I fail to see how this is even slighty "woodie-styled", could you elaborate a bit?

Secondly, despite the small and general family feel of most of Alton Towers rides, they all look better than this one in many ways. For example, I'm certain that after riding this my opinion will be that I would prefer to ride Spinball any day, let alone any one of the other rides... dare I say it... even... Air... gross.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0UZ5xOh9nv4

So you're telling me that doesn't look good, and it doesn't resemble a woodie at all.

Yeah that looks good.
Thirteen doesn't though, and that my friend, isn't Thirteen.
One or two transitions on that coaster look slightly similar to those found on certain woodies, but you cant really compare them.
Will only see when i ride it, but it 'looks' pretty poop.

^It is very close to Thirteen. At least wait until you see a full pov to say it doesn't look good.

They should have made it 30ft higher, dropped further, and reverse launched faster. That would of been a superb ride.

[gouldy]

Only the restriction placed on them by the local council means that they couldn't do any of that

[Turbo]

^sucks. but I would be pumped to get a roller coaster at my theme park... ANY roller coaster.

[Mikey]

If I was AT I would call Premier rides to build me a nice low to the ground LIM Launch Coaster with some nice sweeping high G drops in the valleys, a hidden ball section with a cobra roll and a zero G roll, and then a section that ends backwards threw a corkscrew into the final brakes.

Originally posted by gouldy

^ you're joking, right?

First of all, I fail to see how this is even slighty "woodie-styled", could you elaborate a bit?

Secondly, despite the small and general family feel of most of Alton Towers rides, they all look better than this one in many ways. For example, I'm certain that after riding this my opinion will be that I would prefer to ride Spinball any day, let alone any one of the other rides... dare I say it... even... Air... gross.

So you would rather have shitty shitty bang bang...

I honestly dont know what everyones complaining about. I think it looks like a fun ride. And all the people that were at boot camp are raving about it saying its one of the best rides at the park. I think people should really hold their judgement till they ride it, it might look tamer than nemmy etc, but that doesnt make it a bad ride.

Check out this video, not sure whether its been posted:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=niBAg2zGcQg

The drop section looks pretty good in my opinion. John Wardley wouldnt even say to boot campers what the actual effects are inside the drop section, so we wont know that until it actually opens to the public. But i imagine with the effects on and in the dark, that dropping track, despite being a small drop, will be quite unnerving for the unsuspecting rider.

Its obviously not going to be the most intense ride in the park, but try and see it for what it is, corky's replacement, which was a roller coaster for the younger guests, almost a build up ride to nemesis/oblivion etc. And for that, i definately think it looks like it will deliver.

This looks awesome! Seriously, why is everyone complaining?

[gouldy]

It's funny to hear Corkscrew being described as "a roller coaster for the younger guests, almost a build up ride to nemesis/oblivion". The reason it's funny is because it's true. But to think of it that way is odd when you consider it was once the biggest most intense ride in Europe.

As for the "complaining" thing, basically the reason is... I don't feel as if I will be happy until Alton Towers has wood, which we all know looks like it could very well never happen thanks to the council.

But also, as a coaster enthusiast, I like to think I am able to appreciate a ride as a whole package in terms of it's engineering, it's layout, elements, aesthetics, themeing etc... but what I'm struggling to get past here is the actual "roller coaster" parts of this ride. The first two thirds of the ride seem hideously unimaginative to me, almost as if it's just a way of getting to the Drop Track section and that is the only reason the whole ride is there. Don't even get me started on the backwards helix. I appreciate the restrictions Alton Towers faces in terms of how few trees they are able to remove, but to me, the layout of this ride is just really half assed.

That's just me though and I am waiting until tomorrow when I ride it to make a final judgement, but I can only make a judgement on what I see at the moment. I wasn't particularly excited about the way it looked wheb we saw the first schematics or the construction photos and I still feel the same about it now I've seen video footage of the ride.

Edit:

Also http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=niBAg2zGcQg

1:25 - 1:35.

Two epic fails. "Every ride you've ever dreamt of rolled up into one"? WTF!? How little imagination do you think people have!?
Kept the secret for two years? What? Not from me you didbn't and it's not as if I'm even closely affiliated with Alton Towers. Anyone could have looked at the planning permission application and come to the correct conclusion!

You can follow TowersNerd on their day today! =)

http://live.towersnerd.com/

[gouldy]

Anyone seen the post watershed version of the tv ad? It makes just a little bit more sense than the one we have been seeing

the adverts are class, carnt wait for tomorrow now

A couple of airtime hotspots actually. So it looks anyway.

I know what you mean about the helix Dan. Although i've heard its an "undulating" helix, where it gets tighter and then loosens out again as it goes all the way round so it feels like its rocking from side to side. I've heard some nice things about the ride so im still excited to go on it. I agree it does have a lack of imagination, and is a bit of a one trick pony. But you could say that for Oblivion and Air to be honest.

Also a report of Bootcamp:
http://www.ukrides.info/bootcamp.htm

EDIT: Just checked the towersnerd link and thought id just say how impressed i am with how the Dark Forest looks. I thought it was going to look totally unfinished but apparently not. And how good does Rita's station look. [:D] So much better than it did before.

[gouldy]

Originally posted by jpecool

I agree it does have a lack of imagination, and is a bit of a one trick pony. But you could say that for Oblivion and Air to be honest.

I HAVE always said that

The theming is pretty damn sweet though, on Th13teen. That is one thing I am definitely looking forward to about this whole thing.

yeah, i keep seeing the pictures and stuff and just think wow, this is the kind of theming we want, the kinda things you get at disney, the attention to all the little details and stuff.

[gouldy]

yeah, she'd get it.

Originally posted by Adrenaguy

yeah, i keep seeing the pictures and stuff and just think wow, this is the kind of theming we want, the kinda things you get at disney, the attention to all the little details and stuff.

Really? If Disney made this they would make it way better I think. They would make the surprise drop faster, better, and theme the entire ride instead of just the station with some trees. I mean, compare this to something like Big Thunder Mountain.