Can we return to B&M for the next secret weapon please. It seems the non-B&M SW's flop in one way or another. Rita is disliked and is costly to maintain, Stealth is OK, Thirteen is solid but a little mediocre for a SW, and Smiler is not up to the job. The B&M secret weapons have all been solid investments. Nemesis is on it's 21st problem free year.

Maybe a family ride is needed anyway. Correct me if I'm wrong but there has been no real family investment since 13. Nothing that is suitable for younger children but is still enjoyable for adults and thrill seekers. Maybe it's about time Alton got another family investment. Coaster wise there is only RMT and 13.

stealthsmiler wrote:

Maybe a family ride is needed anyway. Correct me if I'm wrong but there has been no real family investment since 13. Nothing that is suitable for younger children but is still enjoyable for adults and thrill seekers. Maybe it's about time Alton got another family investment. Coaster wise there is only RMT and 13.

They added cbeebies land last year and a new kiddie coaster this year, they do not need to invest in a new family coaster!

SW8 needs to be a B&M or GCI Coaster!

browr020 wrote:

stealthsmiler wrote:

Maybe a family ride is needed anyway. Correct me if I'm wrong but there has been no real family investment since 13. Nothing that is suitable for younger children but is still enjoyable for adults and thrill seekers. Maybe it's about time Alton got another family investment. Coaster wise there is only RMT and 13.

They added cbeebies land last year and a new kiddie coaster this year, they do not need to invest in a new family coaster!

SW8 needs to be a B&M or GCI Coaster!

I wouldnt call Cbeebies Land a family investment, more a young childrens investment. By family investment I mean something like 13 which most of a family can ride together and all enjoy. Most visitors over the age of 5 arent really going to enjoy Cbeebies Land, however most visitors over 1.2m will enjoy 13. Alton Towers needs another coaster like that. They have five thrill coasters, three family coasters and one childrens coaster. For now I think SW8 should focus on the family market and then invest some thrilling flat rides into the park to strengthen the appeal to thrill seekers.

EDIT: I forgot Spinball last time. Three family coasters, however Spinball is likely to go soon.

Quite a few wooden coasters seem to have lower height restrictions, so do the coasters with lap bars, sonic, thirteen etc. So if it is a woodie with an 1.2 or 1.3 metre height restriction it could be classed as family thrill. Look at blackpool, apart from the go karts and something else, all their rides have an 132cm height restriction or under.

Maverick for a long while has a heigh restriction of around 1.3m and I would not class that as a family ride.
Its only merlin that are obsessed with their anti lapbar culture. All of the RMC's have lapbars and they are most certainly not family rides either. Originally Gerstauler wanted to give the smiler lapbars hence why all the models of it have lapbars, its also why the other infinity coasters have lap bars. Merlin deliberately go out of their way to add over the shoulder restraints.

Tbh as much as I'd love the smiler with lap bars, having otsr is probably a good thing right now. I'm sure the mirror would have been able to make an article on the lap bars

I also believe that SW8 needs to be a 1'2m ride, Towers are severely lacking in that department. 70% of the attractions cater to under 6's or those over 1'4m-I for one remember being not quite tall enough for the biggest coasters but wanting something more exciting than than the tractor ride. Sonic Spinball, for the flack it gets, caters to this audience perfectly, as does TH13TEEN. Hopefully SW8 also fits this bill-with a woodie or a hybrid, its definitely a possibility.

The thing is, a family ride is more like Nickelodeon streak/thirteen kids want to go on thrill rides now, so if it was an RMC with the normal height restrictions, it would be classed as a family thril ride in my opinion as it would be a thrill ride, but due to low height restrictions most of the families could ride! I saw kids that were around 8 on the big one, as long as they are over the height restrictions, a lot will want to ride. The younger you start riding coasters, the more you ride. Mumbo Jumbo was my thrill coaster in 2009 when I was 8. The queues were horrendous but the ride was brilliant.

Really hope it is a thrill ride. When I found out Thorpe decided to push back/ scrap their thrill rollercoaster so Alton should compensate as they are the only park in the UK that can get and expensive thrill rollercoaster such as a RMC other than Thorpe.

But the thing is not all kids do like thrill rides, or even some adults. Another coaster like 13 (not the drop) would satisfy everyone - as long as they dont market it as every thrill ride in one! I think a good direction would be for ATR to have a coaster with a thrill element such as a barrel roll, but out of sight. Many young kids are put of by intimidating coasters and I think half of their fear and dislike is due to their preconceived ideas. If the coaster and thrill elements are out of sight from paths and queues, they will experience it without deciding if they like it or not before they have even ridden it.

If it is an RMC (and I really hope it is) then I think that they are going to have to be pretty careful about when they submit the plans. With The Smiler accident still fresh in everyone's memories the press are already having a field day so announcing that they plan to install a coaster built by the same company that built The New Texas Giant knowing that someone died after being thrown from it will no doubt get them going again. We know it was because she was too big and shouldn't have been allowed to ride it, but the GP will just see the headlines and just believe what they read in the paper, baring in mind the same papers that seem to be convincing people that the smiler train had been stopped at the top of an inversion before being released and allowed to continue.

Tbh, I'd think an rmc woody opposite nemesis where ripsaw is, and would result in the blade being ended aswell. Along with this I can see a flat being added in x sector. I'd reckon that the height limit will be 1.2, and will be launched.

Just my (current) ideas

I agree, sum1mad. Only thing that I'd be unsure on is the launch. Shot rod is getting that next year at Dollywood, so it wouldn't be a world first gimmick at towers.

Alton definitely need a 'Large' thrill, to retract the thrill seekers, especially after the incident... Also, I like the idea of another family investment!

As many people have said.... Alton Towers, please, please, please, please (x1,000,000) could we have a woodie!! (or B&M!!)

Most of the thrill/inverting steel coasters at merlin parks have 1.4M height restrictions and are purely thrill.

Wooden coasters can now invert and families ride them as they tend to have lower height restrictions, Twisted Colossus you have to be 1.2M to ride

Okay, as for a B&M coaster, lets first consider that there are already 2 b&ms in the area, and it wouldn't stick out as much, which is more of a bad thing as it will want to pull in the crowds. Secondly, it only really leaves a standard B&M or a floorless, however both of these are very similar to nemesis, however, they may be different type of rides, but still. My guess here is a woody, almost certainly an RMC

On the topic of lap bars, do you think perhaps it has something to do with the UKs attitude towards disability? OTSR are far more accesible, and when you consider the small sacrifice in comfort means that those with more severe physical disabilities can enjoy the ride, it seems a fair trade off to me. It's just a theory, but it may explain Merlin's reluctance towards lap bars.