Defo air, ok ride, restraints dig into chest, large queues during scarefest, not as smooth as a B&M should be (went on saturday) also breaks down all the time! It would be a great addition to chessington or thorpe. Also painful break run.

I based my response on the idea that they won't remove any of the SWs until one of them starts causing problems, hence my controversial choice of the two newest coasters. However, say if space becomes their main priority, or if they're most bothered about the marketability of certain worlds firsts it may be a completely different coaster that goes like Air or Nemesis.

I think we can all agree that it's going to be considerably many years before any of these rides leave so the game is predicting which motive will become the most important at this unknown point in future time. Merlin are very gimmicky but then again past experience with rides like Black Hole and the Corkscrew (and the Blade) suggest that maybe they'll string it out until one of them is falling apart. Hard to predict!

I don't think it'll be Air that goes first. Air offers a unique experience (much like TTh said) with only one competitor (in the UK), being 'Hero' at Flamingo Land (which looks a lot less fun than Air). Whilst a lot of people on this forum don't seem to enjoy Air to it's full extent: I do, all my friends do, and it's a real crowd pleaser being a ride that everyone (if you're tall enough ) can enjoy. Air wasn't supposed to be scary. It was supposed to be exhilarating.

I really don't know which ride'll go first. They all offer a unique (and different) experience, you just can't compare them to each other.

Hero is rough it hurts your back head and shoulders and you feel like your going to fall out


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Although I agree with the points about ride experience and such, it's about which is the least necessary and least costly to remove and replace. Air fits that criteria perfectly and therefore points to it, although not soon, being the first to be removed. The riders that it pulls even now have declined massively from what I can see in the last 3-4 years as well.

Change my mind and I don't think air will go first i think nemises could as from the itv video b4 the start of the 2015 season a staff member said that it's getting older and has to have a lot of work into it and safety check cause of its age and that's why I think it could go or that they decide to re track some of the track that needs to be done.

The staff member may not have been telling the complete truth as Nemesis (as far as I can see) is easier to maintain than most of the coasters at Towers (13 has a lot that can go wrong, as shown by the bad start it has had to the season, the Smiler is actually a nightmare and didn't have all trains operational for the start of the season, etc). Nick Varney has even said that he cannot see Nemesis being removed for quite a while The ITV report isn't anything to go by, Towers will have seen it as free marketing for the park

Also this tweet today states that they invested a lot into Nemesis over this closed winter period to sustain it's operation going ahead. https://twitter.com/altontowers/status/ ... 6055428096

The last thing towers will want to do is remove Nemesis, its legendary status still attracts visitors even at 21 years old if im completely honest i cant see any of them being removed in the near future (next 5 years) but possibly long term i can see oblivion being removed due to the fact that its now very out of date for that design. (floorless cars could save it however)

gddevey1012 wrote:

The last thing towers will want to do is remove Nemesis, its legendary status still attracts visitors even at 21 years old if im completely honest i cant see any of them being removed in the near future (next 5 years) but possibly long term i can see oblivion being removed due to the fact that its now very out of date for that design. (floorless cars could save it however)

Another floorless oblivion post...

Oblivion doesn't need changing and won't be leaving any time soon in my opinion. I mean your heading face down into a hole, floor/floorless really doesn't make a difference. Plus if your short its floorless for you so, swings and roundabouts i guess. I think Air will go first, as i've mentioned previously.

I believe Oblivion will slowly die out over the next decade. Good as it is, compared to other vertical drop coasters it is not much.

Air is an expensive, advanced piece of kit and is one of Alton towers most prized assets. On the flip side the technology is too advanced for it's time - resulting in frequent breakdowns and constant sensor calibration issues.

Before the recent smiler incident I'd have said thirteen as it's not really a secret weapon but as of recent days it'll have to be smiler as its really not up to the job.

Hows 13 not really a SW?? It was SW6 as well as having a worlds first. Id say it qualifies. The only difference is the 1.2m height restriction instead of 1.4m.

I did think air, but with the increasing amount of beyond vertical drop coasters, I now think Oblivion. Oblivion is great however I think the GP will get bored - unless the breath some new life into it such as brave it backwards. Plus the hole could be easily used by another coaster - one that inst so wide and can be longer and more compact.

I think that Air might go first but saying that, I'm also thinking Nemesis due to her age, YES she is always an incredible ride but she is old for a coaster, BUT saying that, the big dipper in blackpool is by far older and shes still going at it so I don't think in comparison nemesis has anything on that haha!

Haha wasnt the Dipper made in 1923 originally? I think it was then redone, but dont quote me on that

I went for Air because they seem to be looking to make the FV and XS the areas for the major rollercoasters, and I dont really view Air as being up to the level of Nemesis and Blivvy. I cant see it lasting all that long in that area if I am honest

Nemesis won't go anytime soon, B&Ms are built to last. Wardley said that a young kids grandchildren will be able to ride it (within that last few years) so yeah

Air, with any luck, will go first

TH14TEEN wrote:

Air, with any luck, will go first

No chance, it regularly has queues, it is about to have renovation around it with the new restaurant and new stuff. It's one of the most popular rides on park. I'd say Rita will go first, granted it has queues but that's mainly down to throughput, not popularity.