Tag: Rapids Ride

A lot of bling about Shambhala

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Port Aventura

After the Spanish resort Port Aventura, consisting of four hotels, the water park Port Aventura Caribe Aquatic Park and the theme park Port Aventura Park, was bought by the Italian Investindustrial from the Bank la Caixa, a lot has happened on the outskirts of the tourist city of Salou. Long overdue investments in the area of amusement park maintenance, as well as the expansion of the water park, bear witness to this, as do new investments in the coming years.

Compared to the last visit the amusement park Port Aventura Park was in a much better condition, which was mainly due to the only slightly scribbled trains and queues, as well as a much higher level of cleanliness in the park. But the view of the queue was clouded, after all the express entrance was used most of the time.

Although the purchase of the Express Premium wristbands was not profitable at all on the first day, after all there was a waiting time of 0 minutes at most of the attractions, it proved to be a necessary investment on the second day to avoid waiting for an average of 90 minutes. The advantage, with a few exceptions, to always pass the queue without waiting and to get your turn right away was actually worth the money, even though the 15 minutes waiting time at Dragon Khan seemed like half an eternity.

It would be wrong to say that the system is fair for everyone, but at least it is affordable for everyone. The situation is different for the food, which is simply not affordable. By not selling single tickets, you save yourself too much of a crowd at the express queues, and in addition, as a normal day passenger, if not too many people pay the extra cost of a one-way trip in the first row, you have an increased chance of a seat in that very row.

Stampida

If you stay at the Hotel Gold River, you can enter the spacious western area through its own entrance and enjoy the slightly different view of the dueling wooden coaster Stampida. Although the two tracks usually run parallel to each other, the middle part, introduced by a tunnel each, is completely different. In this part the two tracks meet each other, which is a great effect, which is sometimes enhanced by the small wooden coaster Tomahawk. The racing effect is quite distinct, which is mainly due to the well calculated track. However, the two trains should have about the same weight.

As the tracks of the ride are almost continuously bent in the wrong direction, the ride is quite special and mostly of the rougher kind, which is what a wooden roller coaster should be. The used trains are not disturbing at all, even if the bar sometimes closes quite tight.

Silver River Flume

Passing a merry-go-round, a bumper car and a beautifully designed break dance, we immediately arrive at the entrance of the Silver River Flume log flume, one of the best and strangest rides of its kind. Since you can wait here for half an eternity in a full queue, despite the very large capacity, it was always a pleasure for us to take a seat in one of the boats through the Express Pass entrance and without any waiting.

After leaving the station, the first lift hill is reached within a few metres. The following shot brings you up to the plateau on which a large part of the track leads and where the El Diablo mine train shows up from time to time. After the front side of the boat has been well moistened, a short time later a second lift takes you up to the top of the trees. Through the second slope, which now prefers to soak the rear part of the boat, you get back down to the plateau only to cover some more metres. Here you are float around for a longer time and even start to wonder how long the track actually is. Then you climb another lift and after a short turn you can start the impressive, but not wet, final. Back at ground level the track leads to the exit where you get out more or less drenched.

Furios Baco

Over a bridge with artificially attached rivet heads and along the Grand Canyon Rapids ride, which is unfortunately hardly worth mentioning although it is rather stylish, the path takes us towards the entrance area of the Port Aventura Park, where, apart from some transport rides, the catapult launch coaster Furios Baco is located. The prototype of the Wing Rider Coaster, which is definitely worth seeing, is a real wonder bag in terms of theming, but also in terms of ride characteristics. Notoriously and quite rightly the ride is considered to be a shaking machine of the more extreme kind, which at the time of our visit also cost Martin his mobile phone.

However, Furios Baco is quite rideable, as long as it is in the first row on the left inner seat, where the vibrations of the train vanish into thin air in an interesting way and the best launched coaster from Intamin shows up. It looks different on almost every other seat, where the pleasure is on a rather medium level or is only felt by people with a sadomasochistic disposition. But what is always in common is that the straight sections of the track are absolutely brilliant and the direct gradient after the launch creates a lot of airtime. No matter how much you are shaken in the curves, the Inlinetwist always provides a short moment of joy, even if another curve is passed immediately afterwards. After all, the train then goes into the final brakes and the rapid ride comes to an end.

Furios Baco is without equal a very brute roller coaster, but a very interesting and fun at the same time. The launch and inversion are rarely found in this form and should be tested during one or more rides. The storyline at the attraction is original and just as bizarre as the range of the too experienced ride characteristics. The rear part of the train on the right hand side is indeed the worst possible seat, which makes the ride oscillate strangely between “absolutely brilliant” and “absolute nuts”.

Sea Odyssea

The Sea Odyssea simulator shows similar behaviour, whereby a strong distinction must be made between the theme and the film currently running. The hardware in Port Aventura Park, as well as the general design of the ride, is on the highest possible level, but the software, i.e. the film, is no good here. Why of all places in an amusement park with a multitude of roller coasters a 4D film with a roller coaster is shown, although a water roller coaster is still missing, remains a big mystery, just as why the film, whose preshow is still shown before loading, was stopped a few years ago.

Tutuki Splash

In addition to the Kon-Tiki Wave ship’s swing, as can be found in Flamingoland, and a small children’s train, the Spillwater Tutuki Splash also shares the area known as Polynesia.

If this ride is not running at its best capacity, there is a real chance of getting wet, and this in a rather nasty way. If, however, the best possible capacity should be run, due to the high rush, then on the one hand you get a cold while waiting for the return to the station and, apart from a few drops, you hardly get wet due to the two slopes, but with a little luck the water cannons are occupied in this case.

After you have been assigned to a row in the double loading station and have boarded your boat, your journey starts quickly. After a few meters of distance you find yourself inside a volcano, whose ceiling is covered with chewing gum. After passing a second, interestingly less glued tunnel, the first shot follows. Unfortunately you hardly get wet, but this can change very quickly when you climb the first lift hill. If at the same moment, when the boat reached the beginning of the lift, a boat shows up on the slope of the second descent, you can assume that you will be showered properly from the side in the next moment. But the level of wetness is less than when the same thing happens at the spillwater La furia de Triton in Terra Mitica, Spain, where you actually get soaked down to your pants. Either you continue to climb the lift hill dry or now refreshed and moistened. Afterwards you will race towards the double drop in a turn. The double drop, however, is not quite as smooth and basically only ensures that no big waves are formed during the subsequent splashdown which could cool down the spectators on the bridge from the exit of the ride. During this drop you get at least a little wet, so that the trip can be worthwhile even without the wave from the falling boat. The subsequent shower from the cannons will then make for smiling faces on both sides.

Dragon Khan

Since last year, you can reach the two big coasters of the Port Aventura Park much faster than before through the children’s area Sesamo Aventura. At the same time the way allows completely new perspectives on the roller coaster Dragon Khan, which is now incredibly photogenic and brings movement into the picture due to the short handling time.

Although Dragon Khan was long considered to be the worst steel roller coaster for me, a lot has happened to the ride since my visit. Not only does it shine in a beautiful new colour scheme, but the ride has also not been affected by the neighbouring construction site. Without sand on the tracks, the ride still runs very brute, but this is due to the continuously high forces, which are generated by the clearly too high speed. Dragon Khan just races down the track and is not really regulated, which doesn’t really help when the block brake is released, but makes for an interesting driving experience.

After the train has climbed up the lift, after a short bend, the way goes downhill. Meanwhile the train experiences positive forces for the first time, which it doesn’t really want to give up until the block brake. Shortly before the valley you get a little bit wiped from the right and left side, which affects the ride a little bit, but supports the overall picture of the ride. Full speed ahead you go up the loop, the top of which is not at all reminiscent of a hangtime. Shortly afterwards you pass a diveloop, whereupon the hardest element of the ride awaits you with the Zero-G Roll, whose name should have a much higher number. It is easy to get in contact with the restraint during this inversion. By means of a Cobra Roll you make a turn above the final brake only to take the drive up into the block brake with full speed, which of course does not brake you, but releases you rapidly into the next curve. The following loop is much more powerful than its big counterpart within the track. Through a turn you screw yourself to a higher level and then you are turned upside down by two interlocking corkscrews. Shortly afterwards you reach the final brake and can finally take a deep breath.

Dragon Khan is one of the few rides that really demands a lot from its passengers without harming them, as long as you’re not that crazy and try to ride it permanently. Although the inversions elsewhere are even more powerful, it is the length of the track that makes the ride very stressful.

Shambhala

In the background, and unfortunately not so photogenic, the latest roller coaster Shambhala towers up. The Hyper Coaster from Bollinger & Mabillard is only the second ride of its kind in Europe, but it mercilessly lets the first, and previously highest roller coaster in Europe, sink into oblivion. Silver Star had never been a real danger to other comparable roller coasters, but Shambhala is.

The experience does not have to start positively in order to end positively. Therefore, it is advisable not to be served by certain persons when the train is being handled and to close the hanger properly from the beginning. After a short bend, the train climbs up quickly, with a much better view on the right side of the train, unless you want to look down on ugly hotel complexes and a construction site. Shortly afterwards the train descends rapidly down the 78m slope, where you have lost most of your contact with your seat, and then descend into a tunnel underneath a magnificent head chopper. This is followed by a high but hardly eventful hill, on whose descent, however, airtime appears again. The turning point is the highlight of the ride, even if the banking could be more pronounced at the top. The supports offer great head chopper effects, but these are more pronounced in the right part of the train. Back in the valley you pass a much too low speed bump and are lifted out of your seat with unusual force. Another, quite high, hill follows, whereupon you pass the most impressive element for the passers-by, the splashdown. After this, basically unspectacular straight, where you get a few drops of water in the back of the train, another hill follows over the lifthill of the neighbouring roller coaster Dragon Khan to enter a block brake. This block brake is passed again without any braking before you feel negative G-forces for the last time after a downhill turn. During the subsequent braking the rear part of the train gets its money’s worth, on the other hand it takes place quite smoothly.

Shambhala is one of the few roller coasters that actually gets better on every ride, yet Shambhala is not the best roller coaster in Europe, nor the best ride of its kind. I personally like rides like the Big One at Pleasure Beach and the GeForce Expedition at Holiday Parks more, because they not only have an insane first drop in common, but also a fun ride from the beginning. But what is interesting about the big roller coaster from Port Aventura is that it entertains you very well on every seat. Where the forces at the back are a bit rounder, the ride at the front more or less voluntarily takes your shirt off.

El Diablo

Coming from Dragon Khan, you can walk directly into the arms of El Diablo, the mine train of the park. This roller coaster from Arrow Dynamics is the last ride of its kind and one of the strangest. The track basically consists of only three lift hills, where you spend most of the ride time, and a bit of distance between them. However, these parts are quite fast, except for the second major part, which is only used to pass the maintenance buildings of the ride. The resulting views of Port Aventura Park, the two big coasters from the Chinese themed area, and the log flume further enhance the family-friendly roller coaster.

Hurakan Condor

The second supposed highlight in this area is the Giant Drop Hurakan Condor, a freefall tower with a sloped roof and several different “fall pleasures”. Whatever could go wrong with such a ride has been realised in perfection, because the tower does not only look wrong from far away, but also from close up when you see how exactly the gondolas fall. It’s strange that such a simple principle is ruined by lateral displacements, these produce a clearly noticeable bump or a little wobble in the lower part of the tower, depending on which track you have caught. Interestingly, the fall experience is accompanied by very long waiting times, which also apply to Express Pass holders, so that it was quite easy to do without several rides. The manufacturer Intamin has proven many times that size is not everything and with Hurakan Condor has created its worst tower.

El Secreto de los Mayas

Very close by is the glass labyrinth El Secreto de los Mayas, the novelty of the current season, which, like the Templo del Fuego, was not visited. While the first ride kept us from going on due to long queues, the brilliant fire show was already closed for the season.

Yucatan and Serpiente Emplumada

Not far from there, the Musik Express Yucatan is making its rounds, which made for a good squeezing session at unfortunately only medium speed, of course to the delight of the other onlookers. The Schwarzkopf Sombrero Serpiente Emplumada, whose ride is not only ideal for a dry spin, is a completely different pleasure. This ride, which can best be described as a mixture of a polyp and take off, is always worth a ride, if you are not unlucky and have queued up at the beginning of the boarding.

VolPaiute

However, the loading procedure is still halfway reasonable, a feature that Flipper VolPaiute cannot offer. Although there are two people working here, it is hardly possible to board the gondola on your own, because here the loading of each individual gondola is called to the gondola after some waiting time so that it can be dispatched. The whole spectacle lasts for several minutes, a period of time when one could have ridden at least three times the Flipper of Heide Park. Of course, there might have been a risk in closing the HUSS bars on their own, but then it could have been solved like the HUSS Magic at Walibi Holland. The ride itself is boring and as soon as you think the ride is going to accelerate, it ends.

Tomahawk

Opposite the still best animatronics of all times is the entrance to the wooden roller coaster Tomahawk. This children’s roller coaster is used by the small PTC trains, which unfortunately leads to a low capacity, as only one adult fits in one row of seats. The ride is quite wild and has some daring curves, but it runs on the best level, making the ride an ideal entry-level roller coaster.

Conclusion Port Aventura

Port Aventura is, to my own surprise, a much better park than I remember. Although the attractions themselves may not always be 100% convincing, the overall offer is coherent. Totally adapted to the Spanish preferences the park presents a large number of shows that you can watch as you like and without regretting it afterwards. Nevertheless Port Aventura is not the park you should visit every year, because there is still a lot of room for improvement and the offer is not yet mature enough, although this year increased amounts of money were invested in the resort.

 

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Port Aventura

Nemesis Inferno in the rain

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Preface

If you can’t think of anything better on a Sunday than to drive to Thorpe Park and skilfully ignore any weather forecast and let yourself be dazzled by the sunshine on Saturday, it can happen that the English weather shows its supposedly typical side and thus makes for a very wet visit. What do you do for a ride on Nemesis Inferno…

The Island like no other

When you enter Thorpe Park, you still have that unique feeling of being immersed in a completely different world – something that amusement parks usually don’t manage to do. However, since this year, the view from the bridge is a bit clouded, because while the left side shows an idyllic panorama, the view on the right side is no longer dominated by Tidal Wave and Stealth, but disturbed by the rather unfavorable angle on The Swarm.

Storm Surge

Although it had been raining all the time, the novelty from last year was particularly popular. The queue of the Storm Surge round boat slide was well filled until the afternoon, which is certainly not only due to the low capacity of the installation. The ride in the smaller version of the Spinning Rapids Ride by WhiteWaterWest is gentle and, due to the tight curve radii and the resulting frequency of the brake mats, hardly gives you a noticeable spin – as you can experience for example in the Rio Dorado of Hansa Park. As with other installations of this type, the ride only gets you wet with a lot of luck, if only there weren’t the water jets and water cannons at the end of the ride. While the former helped the guests to cool down in the Cypress Gardens amusement park in Florida, this is of course not enough in the comparatively cold Surrey. Therefore some water cannons were provided for the park guests, which have a rather high range. If one should not be shot straight frontally with these, the degree of wetness is quite pleasant. The circumstance that the never visited toddler area of Thorpe Park was torn down was welcome.

Tidal Wave

Probably the most popular attraction of the day is located only a few meters away from Storm Surge’s entrance, a prankster who thinks of the indoor roller coaster X:\ No Way Out. Of course it’s the great Shoot the Chutes ride Tidal Wave by O.D. Hopkins, which now even soaks its already superficially soaked passengers’ underwear. The results showed after the ride in the full body dryers confirm this thesis clearly.

X:\ No Way Out

The Vekoma Enigma roller coaster X:\ No Way Out had a breakdown in the early morning, but since the guests of Thorpe Park were left waiting in the rain in front of the ride, instead of waiting in the anyway way too long covered queue, more and more people joined the line, which is a rather rare sight on a roller coaster like X:\ No Way Out. The world’s longest and probably only backwards running dark roller coaster is an often underestimated roller coaster, which may be due to the family-friendly ride of the ride. Unfortunately, since the installation of a light effect above one of the block areas it is much too bright to use the darkness of the hall as an advantage. Now, the ride still goes haphazardly through the hall, but instead you can see the track next to you and which one you have already completed. The computer virus theme is still very odd, but it’s what makes this roller coaster so special; however, it would be immensely helpful to introduce a soundtrack within the whole layout.

Nemesis Inferno

Not far from the brilliantly staged fishing village of Amity Cove, things are a little more tropical, or rather more fiery. Inside a volcano is the station to Nemesis Inferno, the younger brother of the roller coaster Nemesis from the sister park Alton Towers. Luckily, both coasters are completely different and share the same type of ride, apart from the preference for more special layouts. After the first drop on Nemesis Inferno, you complete a swinging S-curve combination through a tunnel, usually in combination with a fog effect, before hooking into the lift. This is followed by the steep curve drop with looping and zero-g roll following, which are very intensively ridden. A curve follows before you see yourself upside down again in a corkscrew. Untypical for this type of track, another curve is followed by the second part of the Interlocking Corkscrew, which pulls you along nicely at the back of the train. Further curves and a helix follow until you are standing happily in the brakes of Nemesis Inferno.

It is the one big difference that makes Nemesis Inferno better than the first Inverted Coaster on European soil. Here you don’t get the feeling that the track could have been even longer, here you don’t do two slower turns that both end in an inversion and here you don’t advertise to be the most intense coaster in the world, which wasn’t the case at the opening. Nemesis is a good ride with a huge fan community, a unique layout that makes good use of the limitations of the environment, only the experience in all its attributed intensity is not as satisfying as it is on Nemesis Inferno.

Detonator

Thematically to the Inverted Coaster Nemesis Inferno belongs in close proximity the Fabbri Mega Drop Detonator, which does not have the traditional arrangement of the seats, but has designed them in a circular pattern. The ride in a Fabbri tower is outstanding, because a spring is tensioned when the car is lifted, whereupon noticeably higher negative G-forces are generated when releasing the Detonator. Strangely enough the deceleration was unexpectedly smooth.

Slammer and Samurai

Another interesting ride in the area around the Inverted Coaster Nemesis Inferno is the S&S Power Sky Swat Slammer. As luck would have it, the ride is currently closed and will probably not open again until Halloween. Since this was also announced on the website, the loss of a ride is not as shocking as it was in May 2010; if you have already enjoyed a Sky Swat ride once, you would like to repeat it. A few metres further on, one could see the Mondial Top Scan Samurai partly dismantled lying around in the way, practically set in a way that it was also not possible to make a trip in the railway of Thorpe Park. According to speculations, the ride is supposed to be renovated and repainted.

Saw – The Ride

Saw – The Ride has turned to the good again after its disastrous second year, at least as far as the speed of the ride and the condition of the stirrups are concerned. The cars, completely intact, are once again racing down the track, so that the inequalities during the ride are hardly noticeable. The biggest crime at the roller coaster still remains, the fast-pass queue still exists and generally makes the waiting time in the stand-by line feel a lot slower. It’s more convenient if a queue is moving and doesn’t stand still for minutes just because the other side is currently being let into the building. In this respect and for the sake of the ambience, which was destroyed by the division in front of and on the stairs, one wishes the old system back.

Colossus

The 10 inversions roller coaster Colossus, which besides its name also shares the soundtrack with Colossos from Heide-Park, is a prime example for the design of a roller coaster, because the way the paths run here, especially the queue, is simply breathtakingly beautiful; as long as you can see over the blue painted tunnels.  The ride in the ride built by Intamin is also very borderline in the first three inversions, everything that follows from the two wonderful corkscrews, over the four consecutive heartlinerolls to the final, but directionally reversed roll, is just lovely or, as with the last roll, just outstanding. What Intamin has created with this inversion is simply perfect.

Flying Fish

On the way to the novelty of the year you will pass a powered coaster by the manufacturer Mack Rides called Flying Fish. Previously located in a cul-de-sac, visitors willing to ride now frequently pass by, but this does not mean that the queue gets packed – the train only runs more often. Due to the wide wagons, Flying Fish offers an unusual and strange riding experience on a powered coaster of this kind. Although one also has the feeling in the normal trains to hit the supports as soon as one raises the arms, it seems to be more distinctive in this train.

The Swarm

Strangely enough, the close calls at the Bollinger and Mabillard roller coaster next door don’t create this feeling and in general it is hard to say if and where it triggers feelings at all. The left side of the train experiences a very weak ride at The Swarm, while the passengers on the right side experience a very solid roller coaster ride. Above all, it is a much more impressive experience to ride over the top than underneath to experience the first inversion and simultaneous first drop. The following inversions are all more intense on the right side and even the Inclined Loop is much more fun due to the inner radius.

Hardly any other roller coaster made the classification as difficult as The Swarm. While the left side is even weaker, the right side with the ride experience is very nice, but nothing more. It complements the portfolio of Thorpe Park and makes sure that a few more people come to this part of the park, also the park doesn’t seem so small anymore due to the expansion.

Rumba Rapids

Due to the rather bad weather, most of the rides were left behind, also the Intamin Accelerator roller coaster Stealth was closed. But since the ride programs at all flat rides are hardly worth mentioning, which by the way also applies to the oversized compressed air swing Rush from S&S Power, this is not necessarily a tragedy. Apart from Storm Surge and the Rumba Rapids, a rafting ride with a level of wetness where you get off drier than you got on at the end of the ride, no water ride was visited. Regarding the Rumba Rapids, it should be mentioned that the installation not only has potential, but also convinces with the existing soundtrack. Although this facility is as wet as most other European rafting rides, it is nicely laid out.

Conclusion Thorpe Park

Thorpe Park is quite a nice amusement park. The park’s clientele is generally young, so there are some families to be found around here, but without small children – they are better off within 15 miles of the amusement parks Chessington World of Adventures and Legoland Windsor anyway. Its reputation as a thrill capital naturally attracts a group of visitors that don’t like to be seen in a park, but in general all visitors were able to behave themselves. The oh-so “grubby” park map with its hidden details is not as disgusting as many people think – it rather reminds of some of the details you can find in the Miniatur Wunderland. Of course, one can argue about the style and maybe a serious appearance would be better, but that’s just the way it is in Great Britain.

 

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Thorpe Park

A weekend in England’s best theme park

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Alton Towers

Situated in the middle of a quite hilly and at the same time beautiful region, out in the middle of nowhere, you will find the most significant theme park in England: Alton Towers. Around the ruins of the old castle and its gardens, an amusement park has been developed over the last three decades, which you simply have to see.

In contrast to comparable amusement parks like the Efteling or the Europa-Park, Alton Towers unfortunately does not show its splendour at the entrance, which simply does not want to fit into the overall concept due to its simple design. Even the upgrading of the forecourt by the corkscrews of the former Vekoma roller coaster Corkscrew doesn’t manage to increase the visitors’ anticipation.

Tour of the park

By entering the park, one is relatively soon confronted with the question in which direction one should go. This is further intensified by the early entry, since there are only a handful of attractions that are ready to ride at this time of day.

Following the way to the left, it is possible to get to the Forbidden Valley and/or to visit the Cloud Cuckoo Land in a very fast way, provided that the SkyRide – thus the gondola lift in Alton Towers – is running. If one has the pleasure to stand in front of a closed station, it is recommendable to follow the way further to the area Mutiny Bay.

Battle Galleons

The Battle Galleons can also be found in a slightly modified form at the German amusement park Heide-Park in Soltau. Even the music is the same. The level of wetness is quite high even though the weather was rather cold.

Sharkbait Reef

The other rides in this area are very family-friendly. In addition to a Zierer Kontiki, you can also ride a teacup train with cups in the form of powder kegs. But also the pirate show and the Sea Life Centre Sharkbait Reef can be found here. Luckily the aquarium is not as small as the versions from the Legoland theme parks or some German centres. The choice and number of species can be compared to the version from Chessington World of Adventures, but luckily it doesn’t share the tent look with it.

The Flume

Alton Towers has managed to create one of the most original themes for a water attraction with The Flume. It is all about bathing, which is very much in keeping with the wetness of the ride. Squeaking ducks and a more than brilliant soundtrack complete the installation, which unfortunately is in need of a lot of renovation. The ride itself starts relatively unspectacular, considering the fact that after the first drop down you curve around in a forest for a few meters. After climbing up the second lift hill you find yourself in the middle of a house, where the second shot is taken in complete darkness. After having met the huge duckling, one leaves the house wonderfully soaked. A further lift hill brings you to the height of the final shot, which fills the bathtub again with the intended amount of water. If one is still dehydrated, the showers at the end of the ride will help.

Congo River Rapids

In contrast to The Flume, the Congo River Rapids are much drier. Unlike Drayton Manor’s Splash Canyon, there is not even the slightest chance of getting wet. The layout was also designed more for capacity, after all there is no possibility to overtake the boats. Creatively the rafting offers a nice station, but unfortunately that’ s it. However, the interaction with the small roller coaster Runaway Mine Train is absolutely worth mentioning.

Runaway Mine Train

The Powered Coaster Runaway Mine Train is a very special ride from Mack. After the first helix the train gains not only height but also speed and after a few hills it goes down a steep curve. Two helices follow and the tunnel where you interact with the rapid ride before you speed through the station after a small curve and start the second round. The atmosphere created by the staff and the mutual cheering between the passengers of the passing rafts and the train passengers is just wonderful.

Duel

Just as atmospheric, but a lot darker is the ghost train Duel. An interactive dark ride in which zombies have taken over the house of a scientist who has experimented a little too much with death. The ride itself is based on the Haunted House dark ride, which has been spiced up with some changes.  Especially worth mentioning is the ride system that helps you to make your way through the quite large show building, because it is especially the single cars that create an eerily beautiful and most of all creepy atmosphere. The effects that are triggered during the ride are ingenious and even manage to scare you out of your wits, which is even intensified by the focus on the targets. Duel offers a ghost train experience of the special kind, which doesn’t take itself too serious and can convince without looking cheesy. The accompanying music underlines this aspect excellently. The only weak point of the layout are the guns themselves, which are not easy to hold in the long run and distract from the great atmosphere with their noises, but otherwise this ride is definitely one of the best of its kind.

Nemesis

Passing last year’s novelty Nemesis Sub-Terra, an indoor freefall from ABC-Rides, which was only running sporadically or not at all due to work during the visiting days, we now head to the roller coaster which every student from Lower Saxony and Schleswig-Holstein knows from their English textbook since many years, namely the B&M Inverted Coaster Nemesis.

The journey begins with a comparably rather small lifthill, from which one is released in a lively manner. Quite untypically, a corkscrew inversion follows, which you would expect towards the end of the ride. The exit from this element leads into a helix, which can be described as bloody intense, as it pumps the blood into your feet like no other coaster. Thereupon you are turned upside down for the second time in a zero-g roll, only to make a rather boring turn towards the looping afterwards. This loop is luckily done the way a loop should be done and ends in the last inversion after another turn. Shortly after that the brake run is reached. Overall, Nemesis is a good and above all smooth ride, which is very entertaining.

Air

Only a few meters away from Nemesis, Alton Towers can call a prototype its own, which is quite airy. It should be noted that Air is not the first Flying Coaster out there but the manufacturer’s first installation.

As soon as you have left the fluffy waiting time, in a rather bare and boring waiting area behind you, you are introduced to your row of seats and the airy experience can begin. After one is dazzled by a light on the floor in front of the lift, it already goes upwards, but with a little stop in the lift, so that one can still wave to some people who have placed themselves curiously under it. The first descent brings you a little closer to the ground before you are turned on your back and stay that way for quite a long passage. The feeling is very surreal and therefore simply ingenious, especially if you think you are quite close to the trees during your first ride. One turn further on you do a complete roll before you get quite close to the stones in the last curves and turns. Overall, Air is a wonderfully intensive ride with little floating airtime moments, great close calls and a fantastic setting. If you have the pleasure to fly in the first row you will surely appreciate the ride, but also the other rows will offer the same airy riding pleasure, even if the visibility is a bit limited.

Blade and Ripsaw

The Blade and Ripsaw attractions complete the Forbidden Valley named area. Where the Blade swing ship, apart from its appearance and location in the valley of the former Thunder Looper roller coaster, a Schwarzkopf shuttle loop, offers few special features, Ripsaw can use its full potential. The Top Spin by HUSS is probably one of the best known representatives of its kind, but this is not due to its ride programs. Ripsaw usually makes you wet and this even outshines the Rameses Revenge from Chessington World of Adventures. Unfortunately, on the day of our visit there was hardly any playing with the water fountains, so that we went out of the ride wet, but not soaking wet.

The Gardens

If one has the pleasure to do without the cable car, one can now either walk around the gardens or through them in order to get to the other side of the park. From many sources one hears that a crossing of the gardens is time consuming and that one can get easily lost if one does not follow the signpostings anymore. That these sources are wrong can be clearly seen, as long as one has done the rather short distance by cable car. The gardens themselves are arranged in a valley and can be crossed in a short time, as long as one does not shy away from the descent and ascent. Even if one has a closer look to the gardens, one does not need much time to see everything, getting lost is quite impossible.

Hex the Legend of the Towers

Another interesting attraction is located in one of the side wings of the Towers, the old castle ruins of the Alton Towers theme park. With Hex the Legend of the Towers Vekoma has delivered a masterpiece of a witches’ swing which fascinates visitors with its storyline. The story isn’t far-fetched, after all it’s basically just a spiced-up version of a local legend. The curse that led to Chained Oak is in the center of the story, only the end, where the Earl of Shrewsbury experimented on the first fallen branch of the oak tree in a well hidden laboratory, is new. The musical background, which is the leitmotif of the attraction, is simply brilliant, as is the atmosphere created by the high-quality pre-shows.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

After leaving Hex you will find yourself in the courtyard of the old building. A few meters further on you can visit Cloud Cuckoo Land, probably the weakest area in Alton Towers. Here you will find the park’s 4D cinema, the wave swinger Twirling Toadstool and the dark ride Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, as well as some attractions for younger children.

The dark ride brings the modern fairy tale of Roald Dahl closer to the visitors and is divided into two ride sections. On the first section, you accompany Charlie and the children on their boat trip through the chocolate factory, which gradually falls victim to their spoiled behaviour. When only Charlie is left, the journey continues in an elevator, which is one of the best simulations you can experience despite the animated characters and landscape. The experience itself corresponds to the original and is quite convincing.

Ice Age 4D

This year, the 4D cinema will be showing the film Ice Age 4D, where you can watch a bad recording of the probably best Ice Age (Ice Age 3 – Dawn of the Dinosaurs) film to date. The story has been shortened to the basics – where a few effects could be added – which unfortunately fell victim to the cheap jokes that make up this movie. The recording itself is therefore a bad joke. For Alton Towers itself, the movie might be an enrichment, but one could have done without it.

Th13teen

Located in the Dark Forest, Th13teen is the newest roller coaster of the park. Marketed as the ultimate, yet most terrifying roller coaster, the ride, built by Intamin, is an ideal family roller coaster, which manages to scare even the youngest passengers.

The ride itself starts relatively fast before it goes up the lift. The following descent manages to build up a good amount of speed, but the integrated trim brake is a little bit annoying, as the deceleration is noticeable and the turns are only passed somewhat faster instead of having a very pronounced airtime. As soon as you have conquered the second lift you enter the crypt only to crash through the floor. This is the first time that a freefall element has been installed in a roller coaster, which is quite convincing despite the low height. After the fall the ride continues backwards in form of an oversized, but at the same time simply ingenious Bayernkurve back out of the crypt. In the end, friction wheels accelerate you towards the station in a suprisingly fast fashion.

Rita Queen of Speed

The neighboring roller coaster Rita Queen of Speed was renamed Rita as a result of the reorganization of the area and now features a distinctly gloomy look. An aura like the one of Stephen King’s Christine now surrounds the trains of the ride, which now serve as escape cars. But what you are fleeing from is completely irrelevant, but de facto you should flee.

The layout itself serves as a model for the catapult launch coaster Desert Race from Heide-Park Soltau, but differs in some details. The launch track is not only longer, but also leads into the first turn a bit more leisurely. The following hills offer wonderful airtime before the brakes are reached. Compared to the sister coaster Rita seems a bit more leisurely, but due to the paths underneath the layout it is at least more convincing in terms of design. As the queues at the ride fill up very fast, it is recommended to ride the ride as early as possible or to get a fast pass instead.

Oblivion

On the other side of the towers is the X-Sector, a themed area around the Oblivion roller coaster. The world’s first Dive Coaster offers a very special kind of free fall experience, after all, the hole is waiting for you. The rest of the track is relatively irrelevant, even though the turnaround with a 90° bank is a nice one to ride. Oblivion is basically all about the fall, and despite the comparatively short stop, it is extremely convincing and also quite refreshing. Unfortunately, the appearance of the ride is massively clouded by the exit, as you first have to make your way through an arcade.

Enterprise and Submission

The other attractions in this area are a HUSS Enterprise and a Chance Double Inverter. The Enterprise has been placed really ingeniously and can actually have a 90° inclination, which is not noticeable from a technical point of view, but visually unusual. The inverter named Submission is a very special ride for Europe, after all, there is only a second other installation in Walibi Rhône-Alpes in France. Technically, the ride is quite curious, but it is a nice ride. The further inside you sit, the more distinctive is the feeling of the ride with its strange ride cycle.

Riverbank Eye Spy

Close to the entrance are the three themed areas Adventure Land, Storybook Land and Old MacDonald’s Farmyard. These three areas can be described as the better children’s areas in Alton Towers, after all you can find some interesting and beautifully designed attractions. Besides a merry-go-round and a tractor ride, you can also try out Mack’s canal ride Riverbank Eye Spy at Old MacDonald’s Farm. This ride offers an unusual feature and can therefore be seen as an interactive dark ride, although unfortunately not every button actually works. The Squirrel Nutty Ride in Storybookland is a beautiful high-level ride with a rather strange layout in places. As with Air, you should pay attention on your head when entering the ride.

Sonic Spinball

The last roller coaster in Alton Towers is dedicated to the Knight of the Wind. Originally opened as Spinball Whizzer, the ride is now entirely devoted to Sega’s video game hero Sonic the Hedgehog, which is very popular in England. Also thematically the choice is quite reasonable and understandable, after all many Sonic titles have a connection to the pinball theme. Unfortunately, the design of Sonic Spinball is kept very minimalistic and the music can only be heard in the entrance area of the ride. It’s a pity, after all, the titles of Crush40 and Co. are simply brilliant.

The ride on the huge pinball machine keeps its promise and offers a ride that can only be trumped by Dragon’s Fury of Chessington World of Adventures. The part in front of the lifthill is to be seen as relatively bizarre, as it brings the cars into an unconservative starting position in front of the lift. The rest of the ride is fast and sometimes quite abrupt, which is especially good for the part after the big Immelman Turn. Surprisingly, the clearance of the ride is very fast, which invites one to several rides in a row.

Pictures Alton Towers

Conclusion Alton Towers

Alton Towers is one of the best European amusement parks and can convince by its beautiful location. The distances you cover during your day in Alton Towers are not as long as a visit to the Efteling theme park in the Netherlands, but this might be an advantage. Next year, SW7 will fortunately upgrade the X-Sector and another visit to the park is a must do.

 

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