Got up at 6.30 saturday Morning to go to Alton and be there nice and early for the "good rides"
anyway got there in good time and went straight for "Air"
as it's the new ride at the mo.

All I can say is either I have nerves of steel ;) or the ride is absolute sh1te. I spent most of the ride wondering when it was going to get going, then it finished! :rolleyes:

By the time we got to Nemesis there was the usual huuuuuge queue :(

I still think Nemesis has it, as the the best ride there?
2nd I would go for Oblivion I think. (too short :D)

What a corker of a day, made the wet rides most entertaining :D
6 in one log and it nearly sunk :)

Andy >>> air, don't bother :(

You're absolutely correct, 'Air' is complete gash! It's more of a sightseeing ride than a rollercoaster:rolleyes:

Even Nemesis felt dated on my last visit, it was good 10years ago.

Not to worry, i'm off to Orlando in September for some proper rides:D:):D

Paul

I live 25 mins from Alton Towers and work even closer! I am a manager for a builders merchant and supply alot of materials to subcontractors working on the new hotel which opened last week and I have to say that from talking to the staff at the park and the offices within that the staff geberally realise that Alton Towers has had it's day as no.1 attraction in the UK. Something very different and very drastic needs to be done to recapture that spot at top of attractions.

I have access to quite a number of free or cheap tickets but have had no inclination to visit the park as it has become a boring place to go to. Nemesis and Oblivion were both pioneering rides in their day but how many people actually remember much publicity regarding "AIR"?

I think that it's about time they realised that 1 new ride doesn't make a themepark. Europe and the US are way ahead of the Uk when it comes to white-knuckle rides, after all lets face it, what sort of feelings and expectations does "AIR" conjuer up, not many.

Just my opinion of course, but I do think I'm farely well informed.

BTW, it's now also £3 just to park your car there, what does that tell you?

Skoosh.

I stopped going to AT when my motion sickness got so bad I passed out on the Nemesis and spent the day puking up with dizziness afterwards.
I have no idea what caused it to start, I used to be a rollercoaster queen and was known to blag the attendants into letting me stay on for continuous goes. :D

Oblivion is awesome :) went on it 1st time and wasnt allowed to hold on :)

Skoosh, i live ever nearer to you, i live about 6 miles away from Alton Towers. Haven't been to AT for about 3 years. They are restricted to what rides they can build due to the park been in green belt area.

Been to orlando 3 times in 4 years. Go on "Kracken" at Sea World and also the "Hulk" at Islands of Adventure. The Hulk fires you from 0-60 in 2 secs up a tube and it hurts you, its that quick ! :D

Have to agree with Super-Si, Oblivion does it for me. Go in Spetember/October once the kids are back at School and all the School trips are over, we went 2 years ago on a wet Spetember day and went on everything, in fact we were peed off that we had to walk back round the Nemesis queue path 8 times even though nobody was there.

Car park was empty so awas a good opportunity for some donuts, hand brakes as well.

Why oh why they havent opened a Disney Style Park in the uk? Well Im guessing A) The weather and B) the lack of space. Ive been to Florida 3 times and still went to the main parks each time (although not as many as the 1st time). They do it so much better -even the parks without the main rides (like Universal Studios i.e. not Islands of Adventure) who do all the stunt shows - Terminator 3D is mint.

Alton Towers just doesnt appeal any more :(

Simon.

Alton Towers never felt the same to me after I went to Cedar Point (Ohio), with 14 roller coasters including three of the top 5 rated ones in the world at the time. And that was before they put the 400ft tall 0-120mph in 4 seconds thing there ;) For roller coasters, you just can't beat the place.

What was it like cheddar point?

Dont know america too well , where is Ohio

Si

I absolutely crapped myself on Oblivion.I don't like heights and being suspended over the edge wasn't my idea of fun.Only went on it so my girlfriend wasn't alone.Never used to be bothered by rides but as I've got older I'm more reluctant to go on.I liked air-seemed like you were flying.

I thought Busch Gardens was pretty good, they have a ride like Nemesis but goes twice as high and is 3 times longer, I remember as it was climbing the first bit, after about 30 secondsI turned to my mate and said "how much fookin' higher does this thing go?" followed shortly by the fastest upside-down view of Tampa Bay imaginable :D

Alton TOwers can only do so much as they cannot build over the tree line so as not to spoil the view, hence why Nemesis and Oblivion make extensive use of underground tunnels.

http://www.cedarpoint.com/ Face it, England is sh1t.

Totally agree. Went a few weeks back on the Friday before the bank holiday.

Queued for 45 mins for Air and it was really sh1te. You keep wondering when it's gonna get going. My advice? If the queue is longer than 10 mins don't bother!!

Nemesis still does it. It's well worth the extra 15 min queue to sit in the front row.

Oblivion is brill but too short.

Car Parking? Well there was 7 of us so we paid the extra £3 (total £6) for the VIP parking. The advantage? You don't have to queue for 30 mins to get on the damn monorail when it closes!!

The Samuri Mondial topscan is moving from Chessington to Thorpe Park next year :)

The Montu in Busch gardens is only actually about 20ft higher than Nemesis.

NotoriousREV,

do you mean the ride "kumba" ? I went to america many years ago so my memory is hazy at best, if I recall correctly it takes what seems to be a lifetime at the start just going up and up and up and up.... and that oh so familiar clicking noise of the rollercoaster going up makes it worse :D

Im going to Alton Towers this friday for my missus birthday, I know its not as good as it used to be, but still looking forward to it :D

If anyone wants to sort me some cheap tickets email me, or say hi at my forum www.bgbi.co.uk ;) :)

Aaaaaah, Busch Gardens, superb place. :D

I was a coaster junky at that place. :D

The UK Theme PArks just didn't kick it for me after. :(

Alton Towers will be getting better......

2004 - Replacing the log flume with a water-coaster ride, first in the uk i think.

2005 - Worlds highest drop wooden coaster, gonna go right down and back up the valley between air and Ug-Land. Subject to planning permission and stupid feckin tree hugging types :rolleyes:

Dont forget - Nemesis was the second inverted coaster in the world, and still one of the best. Thats according to the guys who make that type of inverted coaster - B+M.

Air was the worlds first flying-inverted coaster,and still the only in europe. It isnt meant to be chuck you around, spin you about but is meant to be totally smooth and give the experience of gliding/flying.

Oblivion was the first vertical drop coaster and there is still only one other.

Its the theming at Alton that makes the rides so good. They have to use tunnels and go below ground because they cant build above tree height. In the US the coasters are just plonked in the open, not so enclosed or intense feeling imho.

That final corner on the Oblivion is a killer ;)

I'll be going up this week as I've got some time off. I know it's quite basic compared to many N.American sites (Paramount Canada's Wonderland in Toronto has about 12 coasters and it's fabulous). As has already been said though, the theming is fantastic.

then again, what choice do I really have without getting on a plane :(

To see what coasters and good and where they're at, have a peek at this site...
www.coasterforce.com

Cheers
Joolz

How about Samurai at Chessington? It's a Mondial Top Scan and can produce some serious g-forces especially if you sit in the outside seat :)

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/ridegui...rs/Samurai.jpg

Made me feel icky for 2 days!

[Edited by Kevin Greeley - 6/8/2003 11:18:15 PM]