Personally, I like CBeebies land even though it's a kids area and I think it looks bright and appealing.

Anyway, back on topic to Thirteen, I quite like the theming on the ride but it's a shame the rest of Dark Forest doesn't quite match it

Luce wrote:

Personally, I like CBeebies land even though it's a kids area and I think it looks bright and appealing.

Anyway, back on topic to Thirteen, I quite like the theming on the ride but it's a shame the rest of Dark Forest doesn't quite match it

The topic should be changed to the best thing in the past decade.
I do like 13 but think for the whole ride itself theming etc is poor. It's got the poorest queue,outdoor features and has brought a poorly themed area as a whole.

I disagree with it being the best thing in the past decade but it is good. Firstly its queue is horrendous until you get to the baggage drop. It could have been made sooo much better with more theming and roofed parts, and walking under tree roots etc. Also the layout before the drop could have been both better and longer.

However the ride as a whole is fun, the drops good and it is a good step up between RMT and Air. The theme its self is also a good theme, that unfortunately hasn't been well executed after the ride itself. I really hope AT give the Dark Forest a relaunch with some new flats, lots of new theming and preferably a new coaster in place of Rita, or even better a Rita extension.

I think extending Rita so it inverts is a good idea. It would be very popular with thrill seakers, as AT only has 2 inverting coasters

It's three actually because Airs barrel roll is classed as an inversion

Fair enough. Although most general visitors to the park might not agree

For me Th13teen ticks all the boxes, I prefer it to Rita. The theming is great, the ride is cool, if you are riding it for the first time, it is a shock, but after riding it multiple times it is such a good ride. The problem with rides is that they are targeted towards a small audience, at least Th13teen is for guests 1.2 upwards which for a lot of children is the difference between missing out on the big rides and having a boring day.

The focus for the Towers at the moment is on their younger guests so I think they are not focusing on the thrill factory, saying that we have had the Smiler and Sub Terra. You can't get it all I guess.

No matter what you think of a ride, Th13teen is here to stay, it is like the Vampire at Chessington, it will be there for years to come and it will thrill guests young and old. It is a very well designed ride.

When I hear people say "It's rubbish" for example I just ignore their opinion as the ride is suitable to such a large number of people and it is very well designed just like Hex which is another ride which people dismiss just because it doesn't have 14 loops and run at 100 miles per hour.

The only thing Alton are missing out on is the lack of flay rides, they do need to invest in these, which for Merlin should be a no brainer as they are cheaper and easier to install!

As above really!
When I first rode Th13teen I didn't like it, but as the years have passed I am starting to appreciate the ride!
Even if you hate Th13teen, you've got to give them some credit for the sequencing! And the fact that, within the first hour of operation, the ride exceeded the theoretical throughput!
Over the past decade, we have had to suffer through DIC handling the park. From 2003-2007 the park suffered a grand depression. So, Th13teen is, in my opinion, the best thing that has happened in the past decade. Th13teen freed the park from it's past and leads us to a great future.

Th13teen kicked Towers back onto the map. Inclusively, between 2002 (Air) and 2010 (Th13teen), Thorpe got Colossus, Inferno, Stealth and SAW coaster-wise. Towers got Spinball and Rita. Now, with the addition of the Smiler, I think that Alton are getting back into the swing of things, especially with the bigger coasters! (They still need flats!!!)

Let's start a new topic....
Why Th13teen is the worst thing in the past decade!

13 is far from the worst thing in the last decade...

TTheory wrote:

Even if you hate Th13teen, you've got to give them some credit for the sequencing!

Do you mean this? https://youtu.be/WaAoH09KAfk?t=3m30s

May I just say Th13teen has a huge input of 1400 riders per hour when it's running fully. This may not be clear by the long queues that often form but the design and efficiency of the ride has been very clearly thought about.

While I don't regard it as the best, I was pleasantly surprised by the backwards tunnel, and just how good that was.

In business terms it is 2nd best to cbeebies land, but on a day at the park for the visitor, it is nowhere near the best thing in the past decade, it breaks down more than any other ride on park (even the smiler!) it's had constant problems all season this year and it was costly to build with a gimmick. The ride is brilliant but the marketing hasn't done it good, people thought it was going to beat rides like nemesis and then it did not exceed many people's expectations, it picks up a large queue but while it may have a good full capacity it isn't always run on maximum capacity, it is popular but not many re ride it.

It's a one trick pony in a way, the best thing about it is people who haven't ridden before last time I was on it the girl sat behind us was scared of coasters, so the man working on it asked her if she liked coasters, she said she thought this looked tame and wouldn't scare her, he replied 'your in for a treat' I couldn't stop laughing the whole way round then it stopped in the crypt and she asked why I was laughing so much, I shrugged. You can guess what happened next as it came outsider said that's why!

While not the best coaster on park, it is one of the funniest and funnest along with the Rapids and the mine train

Right let's get things straight, I used to hate TH13TEEN, due to me hating drops , the dark and the electric in there , now I love it and its my third favourite ride in the park, only the trim breaks let the ride down!

Its a good ride, one of my favourites but to determine whether its succesful you have to look at the figures - I have no idea what they are but it always seems to have some queue.

Like you say its the "innovation" that makes it for me, the inventive steps and the fact you have themeing, smoke and lights. Its also pretty cool the way it rushes back into the station.

I prefer 13 to its obvious rival, Sonic Spinball (Both family, an introduction to rollercoasters for kids). It is well themed, a good ride and is an overall decent experience.