I must admit I find Rita the roughest of Alton's coasters. It seems to shake from side to side a bit

I am not the biggest fan of Rita, have found I quite rough and shakey, especially in recent years. It also hits my head against the restraints every corner, so I usually end up with a headache after.

If SW9 doesn’t turn out to be a replacement for Rita, I think it would benefit from getting those newer OTSRs seen on Intamin rides like I305 and Maverick. 

Wagstaff04 wrote:

If SW9 doesn’t turn out to be a replacement for Rita, I think it would benefit from getting those newer OTSRs seen on Intamin rides like I305 and Maverick. 

Doesn’t either TFD or KK (I can never remember which is which ) only have lap bar restraints? 
Mack / Taron style lap bar restraints would breath a whole new life into Rita.

nicky.borrill wrote:

Wagstaff04 wrote:

If SW9 doesn’t turn out to be a replacement for Rita, I think it would benefit from getting those newer OTSRs seen on Intamin rides like I305 and Maverick. 

Doesn’t either TFD or KK (I can never remember which is which ) only have lap bar restraints? 
Mack / Taron style lap bar restraints would breath a whole new life into Rita.

Whilst I'm not sure where SW9 could go, I don't think Rita will be updated or changed until it is removed. It just seems like a ride that honestly is just there to soak up the crowds and merlin won't invest any money into it as it doesn't "need" it. I'm not sure if a new ride would be place there. It would be great but given the restrictions with constructions, unless you built downwards, I couldn't see anything being built there.

Rita is an weak coaster though in its present form though compared to other intamins. Personally out of every coaster (other than spinball) it could be open for replacement.

Rita was mine and my daughters first rollercoaster, actually she had done the Ultimate before, but it was my first ride ever, I wasn't as nervous in the queue line as i thought I would be, what a great ride it was, still only been on it that once, but will defo queue up for it again.

I'm really struggling with Rita these days! I don't know if that's just a side effect of getting old though

I find the ride to be increasingly quite jolty and uncomfortable with each passing season, although I know not everyone agrees with this, I think it partly depends on the conditions when you ride.

I still really enjoy the build up before launch though, both as a rider and while I'm watching others faces when I'm in the queue.
I still think it has a well deserved place in the main line up of the park, and think it will be with us for many years yet.

Rita is actually top 10 coaster for me, always enjoy the front row especially, if you ever get to the park for opening time i recommend going to rita first, itd usually when its quietest (thats if we dont have to deal with staggered openings of course!)

Rattles: The Ride!

Mornings certainly are good for it, if it's open. Although the queue seemed shorter this year then previous anyway. On a summer holiday Friday afternoon for example, the main queue for Rita was not much longer than the Fastrack queue for Th13teen.

I have a kind of love/hate relationship with Rita. It was the first ever coaster I did at Alton Towers when I first visited in 2005, and when the coaster was shiny and new! I really enjoyed it then, however as time has gone on that enjoyment has decreased more and more.

It just seems to have got rougher and more jolty over the years and has got to the point now where I'll ride it a couple of times at the start of the season but then not go out of my way to ride it again that year. If the group I'm with want to go on it I'll quite happily still do it, but I find that I'm passing it by more often now because of how rough it is. I also think that perhaps as I've been fortunate enough to experience a wider rang of coasters, Rita has now unfortunately has fallen significantly down my list, although it certainly isn't the worst launch coaster I've ever experienced (Furious Baco, I'm looking at you!)

I do think that, as Michelle said, it does still have its place in the Towers' coaster line up, and that it will be with us for a while yet.

Rita’s actually one of my favourite steel coasters in the UK, and my favourite steel coaster at towers. I hated the ride until I had a front row night ride in 2017 and it became my favourite UK coaster, I don’t find it to be rough and I really enjoy the layout, and there’s actually some airtime at places. Rita’s my 3rd favourite in the UK, Wicker Man is in first and Icon in second but rita isn’t far behind Icon at all, and on some days I even prefer it to Icon

I find one train rougher than the other. It's almost unbearable in one, but much better in the other - i can't remember which colour is the smooth one though

I find the blue train smoother than the purple train.

Nickolai wrote:

I find the blue train smoother than the purple train.

There certainly is a noticeable difference between the two trains! That being said, my colour blindness doesn’t help me differentiate between the two

Out of all the coasters at the park, Rita is one that I will happily miss out on. After the launch, it’s very underwhelming, and regardless of which train you’re on, it’s far from smooth.

Similar to Dan, I often don't mind missing out on this ride due to it being unwhelming compared to the other rides/ having a big queue. It's an OK experience if it's your first time but it can be a rough ride if you time it wrong.

It just doesn't have that same impact on me anymore when there are rides like Icon and Stealth, it's just a bit bland.

I like Rita and all her flaws. It certainly isn't the best coaster on park, of the most thrilling, or the smoothest, but I just find it fun. I always try to ride it whenever I visit the park as I enjoy it.

I always ride Rita just for the launch, the rest of the ride is just a waste of space and time 

I like Rita, always enjoy it... But when I really think about it, I can’t think of a single Hydraulic or LSM launched coaster I’ve ridden that Rita is better than...

I even prefer Stealth