Alton Towers | The Smiler | Gerstlauer Infinity

[Ian]

Ok, so it was inevitable but that doesn't stop us from being excited!

According to the Stafford Sentinel...

"TOP-SECRET plans are being drawn up for the most expensive ride yet at Alton Towers.

The new ride is set to open for the 2013 tourist season and will top the £15 million spent building the Th13teen ride which opened last year.

It goes on to say that it will be "the only one of its kind in the world."

Link: http://www.thisisstaffordshire.co.uk/ne ... ticle.html

It's not really news as 2013 will be the right time for AT to get a new coaster, but let the speculation begin!

 

[furie]

Is it a real world's first though, or a pretend one like air and Th13teen (balanced comment to keep the PBB crew happy )?

Yeah, I'd like to be excited, but I can't... I'm sure I will be come the appearance of some mud

 

[Ian]

I think it would be safe to rule out wood. Aside from making steeper drops, increasing speed and whatnot, wood isn't versatile enough to achieve a "world's first."

I really hope it's something for thrill seekers. I look forward to seeing photos of mud, painted crosses on trees and marker balloon's above the trees. They always get enthusiasts creaming.

 

[marc]

^All apart from the lunched one.

I dont know it could be anything at the moment, it could even be a 4D version of the B&M Wingwalker.

So until we know more this will probably be my last post in here

 

[Lofty]

Oh, wow. How accurate is this information though?

Still, their most expensive coaster yet? Hmm. Maybe it will actually be something worth riding - Not Th13teen!

 

[EnigmaHyena]

2013...hmm, that seems like the perfect time for another kiddy coaster with a "You'll never guess what's gonna happen!" element!

More expensive than Th13teen? It'd better be money well spent this time. But eh, news that my favourite park will be getting another coaster is always good news!

 

[Ian]

Oh, wow. How accurate is this information though?

Still, their most expensive coaster yet? Hmm. Maybe it will actually be something worth riding - Not Th13teen!

I know you took time to read the full article, but for those who didn't wink, the quote comes from Ian Crabbe, the park's general manager.

 

[Nic]

World's first backwards, launched Big Apple coaster in the old Black Hole tent?

 

[spicy]

I have lost faith in the 'World's first' title which Alton love to throw around since Th13teen.

I just wonder where the coaster is going, maybe in the car park next to Air?

Also please not the BH tent...

 

[STC]

I wouldn't read anything into the £15 million figure, they could include god-knows-what in that figure, and a lot of us on TTF are pretty sure that the Th13teen price was totally fabricated by roughly double what it actually cost (to hide the fact it's mostly an Intamin kiddy coaster).

I'm still betting on a 4D multi-launch on the Flume site.

It kinda makes sense to me if LC12 does end up being 4D:
2011: B&M experiment with the wingrider for Gardaland.
2012: B&M add the spinning seats for Thorpe.
2013: B&M add the launch for Alton.

 

[Ollie]

^Why would they need two similar coasters at Alton and Thorpe within a year of each other though?

Just because the ride is expensive doesn't mean it's going to be big. Th13teen cost £15 million and look how that turned out.
And I really don't care about world firsts anymore. I just want a good coaster that's fun to ride. Unless the worlds first is actually something good and worth bragging about.

 

[Coastermaniac94]

lc12 will not have spinning seats and merlin are not stupid to make similar attratctions in 2 consecutive years in their parks . The 2013 AT coaster wouldnt really be a worlds first(X2, Furious Baco and intamin zacspins) it would just combine all the elements from coasters which have already been made.

 

[Ben]

It kinda makes sense to me if LC12 does end up being 4D:
2011: B&M experiment with the wingrider for Gardaland.
2012: B&M add the spinning seats for Thorpe.

Um, who has said that Thorpe's coaster is going to be a 4D? No-one? And there's NO indication from the track layout that it will be because there are NO 4D-appropiate elements...

This, however, COULD be a 4D... Lets see eh? It'd be as much of a World's First in that sense as Air.

 

[Coastermaniac94]

^ Air was "The Worlds first proper flying rollerocaster", the vekoma ones werent really flying coasters.....

 

[Homer]

inb4 publicity stunts, sh*tstorm from locals, and the Arrow Pipeline coaster concept gets resurrected.

 

[Ben]

^ Air was "The Worlds first proper flying rollerocaster", the vekoma ones werent really flying coasters.....

They were.

Besides, there had been built another Flying Coaster, loaded in the same position as Air, built up the road a few years earlier...

http://rcdb.com/2380.htm

 

[Coastermaniac94]

^
My Bad.
Why was air then marketed as the worlds first proper flying coaster ?

 

[Ben]

^The same reason Blackpool STILL say PMBO is the tallest in Europe.

 

[furie]

I think it's because you can get away with "Flying Coaster", because the term doesn't actually mean anything. The Granada one the Vekoma ones would have to be called a Flying Coaster by the manufacturer, and the term would have to be defined to describe them.

As far as I'm aware, B&M coined the term flying coaster, so it's "what they say it is*" :lol:









*wrong

 

[Coastermaniac94]

I hope this ride is going to be a white knuckle thrill ride otherwise Im less inclined to make a trip up to the lovely county of Staffordshire.