Alton Towers | Nemesis Reborn | B&M Retrack | 2024

[Nicky Borrill]

Another great day today, everything walk on, 7 rides on Nemesis, a few other coasters and other rides, and all done at a relaxed pace with plenty of chill stops... If we'd wanted to 'goon' properly, we could easily have gotten into double figures on Nemesis, as well as ride everything else once. Gotta love these 4pm closes... 4pm close basically means, 'walk on.'

You guessed it in just over 48hrs after opening the Nemesis animatronic teeth aren't working, oops

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1769676283556794622

The claws were working today (Monday). They do not repeat the exact sequence each ride and were not moving each time on Saturday either, it's random.

The single ride queue space is taken up with large rib bone theming which looks awesome but prevents lengthy side queue.

Yep, this... The sequence is not the same every time, there seem to be multiple sequences, and some include the claws some don't, all with slightly different sound. They're triggered by the trains themselves, and they're brilliant. They were working just fine today as we stood and watched them (with and without movement, just like Saturday.)

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1769770995932631092

Closing for a retrack due to people moaning about a slight rattle

Waterfalls... (If I keep willing it into existence...)

I didn't realize that the new queue extends all the way around the first drop and turnaround before the loop. How do people feel about that?

When watching some POVs (ride looks like it's running brilliantly btw), it was a little jarring to see some gravel in a cleared-out area by the first drop. I kinda liked how that area was secluded from pedestrians. It had some sort of mystery as to how the train managed to reach those speeds.

I am happy to report that there are shortcuts that can be opened. Nemesis was walk on today, and they opened two shortcuts. Although the walk is still MUCH longer than before, and possibly as difficult as Zadra due to the elevation changes.

I like the gravel, it was a mess up there before. Though I can see why some might prefer the 'natural' woodland floor with it's overgrown bushes, shrubs and weeds etc.

 

[Nitefly]

For anyone that’s familiar, was the rattle similar to the one found on Banshee? Because that was quite distracting…

Always found the OG really smooth (on the front as per my earlier comments).

Even having done SteVe, Gwazi, The Rod, i305 in previous months I came off those closing day rides thinking…. wow, she’s still got it!

 

[Nicky Borrill]

For anyone that’s familiar, was the rattle similar to the one found on Banshee? Because that was quite distracting…

Always found the OG really smooth (on the front as per my earlier comments).

Even having done SteVe, Gwazi, The Rod, i305 in previous months I came off those closing day rides thinking…. wow, she’s still got it!

No idea about Banshee, but it seems like a train thing, rather than a track thing, so maybe it can be remedied. I didn't notice it really until I got a back row ride, and even then I noticed the sound of it, more than the feeling, if that makes any sense at all? Seemed to me like it was something loose above, such as the fairing.

No idea yet if it's just one train or both, I don't think anybody does, but the fact some have said it's glass smooth and others have noticed the rattle suggests it may just be one train. Time will tell.

Put it this way, regardless of rattle, I still thought it was best on the back, which probably says enough.

 

[Nicky Borrill]

Looks like the announcement might be the £120 Nemesis experience.

The event was posted to the official website then removed.

£120 is a lot, and I've met John a few times, for free, but I'd probably do it to be honest... The Gold Fastrack makes up much of the cost.

 

[spicy]

https://x.com/nemesisfanboy/status/1769805984216580201?s=46

Even the actors were teasing the waterfalls returning

 

[Nicky Borrill]

https://x.com/nemesisfanboy/status/1769805984216580201?s=46

Even the actors were teasing the waterfalls returning

We saw the reporters saying similar things over the weekend... Probably just trolling us.

Still willing it into existence though!!!

@Hixee I didn't manage to get a picture of the one that had new parts fitted, as the ride was walk on with shortcuts open. But it was basically one of these, except you could see it had shiny brand new fittings, such as brand new jubilee clips and a length of new pipe. (There's no mistaking a brand new shiny jubilee clip with ones that have been sat on the ground for 20+ years, before anybody else suggests that maybe they've always been there.) These appear to be at the top of every waterfall, some have new parts, some have had very little work, maybe just cleaned a little like this one.

(BTW Some of these have a length of soft flexible piping, connected after the valve, as the final outlet at the top of the waterfalls, again making me think that they're definitely something to do with the waterfalls.)



This is definitely not drainage is is? You wouldn't use a valve like that for drainage would you? Or am I wrong.

It's also worth noting that the big black pipes up the side of the pit, used for pumping the water back up, have been renewed / renovated or replaced... Why not just remove them if you've no intention of using them?

To me, my very uneducated thoughts are that it looks like they had every intention of getting the waterfalls working, did some work on them, but for some reason it either wasn't done on time, or just wasn't possible in the end. :/ If I am right, hopefully they just ran out of time.

 

[Hixee]

That is almost certainly a pressurised water main - that is, not a gravity based drainage system. Those are PN16 or PN25 fittings, very typical for +DN80 flanged pipework - highly unlikely to be a gravity system based on how (relatively) small this system is. Isolating valves like that are also quite uncommon on drainage as they're prone to fouling and frankly quite overkill for the pressure/flow you're trying to hold back.

The flexible pipework could be one of two things - either a short flexible coupling to accommodate ground settling (unlikely to be pump vibration related), or the longer pipework is usually just soft laid continuous plastic pipework (very typical in buried pipework applications - less joints is the goal) - but hard to tell without getting in the mud myself.

So yeah, I would say if you reckon that's new kit at the top of each waterfall, there's a good chance they've been trying to get the waterfalls working and may just not be there yet (or may have given up!). I have only dabbled in this sort of 'water feature' design in passing, and it's quite tricky in practice, so may be that it's not been figured out just yet. We can hope!

 

[JSMarsden]

Doesn't look great for today...it's been shut since 10:00 with people saying the trains weren't even on the track at park opening.

Hopefully nothing too serious as I booked for tomorrow! Somebody on a MAP page mentioned B&M attending to check out the rattle, but likely just hearsay

 

[Peet]

Looks like the announcement might be the £120 Nemesis experience.

The event was posted to the official website then removed.

£120 is a lot, and I've met John a few times, for free, but I'd probably do it to be honest... The Gold Fastrack makes up much of the cost.

View attachment 30386

Couldn't they have thrown in a lift hill climb? It doesn't sound great to me but fair play to them for doing something special for the hardcore fans.

 

[Jamesss]

Here's something amusing:

Take a look at the maintenance shed where it reads 'CONTAINMENT UNIT,' and notice how they've filled in the middle of the 'O' in containment.

This is because, when viewed from the path, the track of the brake-run slightly overlaps the tops of the words.

Originally, it appeared to spell out:

C*NTAINMENT UNIT

 

[spicy]

^ In the similar vein they may have to change the vertical wording on these signs

 

[Marsden10002]

Visited on Saturday and managed 2nd row and 3rd row.

Shame they removed the front row rider queue but a definite rattle could be heard and felt towards the later parts of the ride.

The theme etc is world class tbh. Looks really good

 

[Nicky Borrill]

So... As feared / expected... The announcement was the VIP event. https://www.altontowers.com/tickets-passes/extras/vip-experiences/

 

[spicy]

So... As feared / expected... The announcement was the VIP event. https://www.altontowers.com/tickets-passes/extras/vip-experiences/

If anyone from CF attends the Q&A please ask if the waterfalls are returning

 

[Nicky Borrill]

If anyone from CF attends the Q&A please ask if the waterfalls are returning

I’m still hoping they’re back by then

 

[witchfinder]

Had my first visit for the season yesterday and managed to get 3 rides. As already mentioned, Nemmy didn't open until around 1pm and the park was a lot busier than you'd expect for a Tuesday early season, so the queue began at 45 mins before dropping down to 20ish on average from 2pm onwards. The ride did go down again briefly towards the end of the day but reopened just before 4pm so fair play to the park for bothering to get it running again.

I thought the theming of the entire area was absolutely fantastic and the new look of the creature and track is superb. I also like the new queue line as it gives you photo vantage points that you've never had before. The ride itself felt just like the original, with the same intensity and almost as good a roar. In terms of smoothness, I never thought the old version was rough, even at the end, so it wasn't noticeably different for me.

I did experience the rattle on all three rides, which were on rows 1, 2 and 3 respectively. No idea if it was the same train each time of course. Hopefully they can fix it as that's not what you expect for a brand new B&M. It is only a distraction though and doesn't make the ride rough in any way. Overall very happy with version 2 and I'll be back on Saturday to get a night ride.

On a side note, ride availability at the park yesterday was poor. There was no point during the whole day where all the major coasters were open at the same time, which made what should have been a quiet day seem a lot more hectic as people gravitated towards the ones that were. Hopefully just early season niggles but it sure was annoying! At least the sun was out all day though

 

[Tonkso]

On a side note, ride availability at the park yesterday was poor. There was no point during the whole day where all the major coasters were open at the same time, which made what should have been a quiet day seem a lot more hectic as people gravitated towards the ones that were. Hopefully just early season niggles but it sure was annoying! At least the sun was out all day though

This was exactly my problem with the park on Sunday, there were points where 3 or 4 of the major rides were down at once, which is simply insane. We never got RITA, Runaway Train or Spinball in, or in fact anything other than a coaster. I also never got into the Forbidden Valley shop either, which frustrated me as I did go to Towers Trading only to find absolutely NO Nemesis merch, the park left money on the table from that decision as I was intending on buying pins, T-shirts and maybe more. If they can keep the ride availability consistent, there's no reason why you shouldn't be able to do more on a day like that.

 

[Nicky Borrill]

So a handy tip for any future rides. To tell what train you’re on look up as boarding, and on the end of each row / chassis of the train are the row numbers. But they’re written as 2.1 or 2.7 or 1.6 with the first number being the train. (Or maybe it’s the other way around, can’t remember, but it’s obvious at the time.)

I haven’t noticed myself boarding any train other than 2 so far (I haven’t checked every time though.)

 

[spicy]

This is the first time i’ve ever heard of a coaster supposedly only being rough on one train?

Can’t seem to recall that happening before?

On the bright side at least it’s a train issue rather than a track issue, so they should be able to rectify it.

 

[Coasterfreck]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1770452799119061503

So apparently Nemesis has only been on one train today, and they’ve only been using rows 1 to 4 on it, I dread to think just how slow that queue line would be moving today.