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Ethan said:
For example lots of people call Detonator a coaster, which isn't a problem but it does slightly annoy the nerd in me :p Of course I might be wrong and there'll be a coaster for 2016!
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Hey, with the problems we've had on here defining what actually constitutes a coaster, they may even be right! :p


As for ride length, discussed above... well, I'm not too experienced with the actual numbers, but we can deduce a few things from the common speculation that it'll be launched. Namely that it is likely to launch at a certain speed (because a launch to, say, 50 km/h isn't terribly exciting), and that if the manufacturers want to do something with that speed, and not just take a turn and slam it into the brakes, the coaster will have to have a certain length.

We can pretend to be scientific here, and assume a launch speed, then check out similar coasters of the same top speed, and then measure their length according to RCDB. It's a very crude method, but it seems like the industry is surprisingly consistent with it comes to speed/length relations of woodies.

For instance, assume a launch speed of 80 km/h (133 620 furlongs per fortnight). According to RCDB, most newer woodies of that speed have a lenght of 800-1000 metres (2667-3333 metric feet), with a surprisingly small deviation. If the speed drops to 70 km/h (83881 horselengths/microcentury), the lenght range seems to be 650 - 850 meters (0.46 - 0.61 sheppeys). Unless Alton's woodie is an oddball in that department, we can assume it to be similarly long. Or, well, a couple dozen meters could be subtracted, since trigonometry dictates that a lift and a drop required to attain that speed includes more track than a straight, flat launch.

So yeah, try speculating a launch speed, and you can get a very rough estimate on the length too. At least for a traditional woodie layout. It may be that a launch layout is a little different.
 
Swat said:
I can't remember the details as to why the 'Valley' coaster was canned years back, but I think it was over the noise? Couldn't Alton possibly look at implementing a similar design but with RMC to eliminate the roar of a wooden coaster? Saying that location wise wasn't this more towards Duel?

To me I see the possibility of an RMC being added to Thorpe before Alton at it would suit in the area near the log flume, plus there's less risk of another European park getting one before them so Thorpe can claim 'Europe's' first.

Back on topic, The space where Blade occupies would be in an awkward position for the bulk of a coaster surely? Maybe more of a turn around in that area with the majority of the ride being behind the shops towards the gardens?
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I think the main reason was that around 150 trees would have to be felled in protected woodland. After the original cross-valley coaster being rejected in 2003, they were supposed to re-submit an updated plan, but Rita was constructed instead.....

Also, isn't Thorpe's 2016 budget something ridiculous like £30m? Surely with a budget that big, 2 new rides could be installed in 2016? But, then again, I'm not entirely sure how much your average dark ride coasts.
 
Alex23 said:
Transformers cost roughly £70 million to build so I doubt we'll see anything close to that!
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Transformers wasn't constructed out of 15th hand rusty old shipping containers though ;)

It will be interesting to see what these plans are (if any).

Thunderlooper (which sat where Blade sits) was removed because it was too loud and too high. The 2003 coaster was pulled because of the tree issue.

I'm trying to work out how they can get a coaster out into the Gloomy wood area (over the paths, arcade and the Skyride station is kind of in the way a little too) without getting too high. There's also a lake and some listed buildings around there too.

Don't get me wrong, that doesn't mean I think it's impossible/unlikely, just that it's going to be another tight and cleverly planned out piece of work by Alton.

I would have though (purely personal here, no evidence or anything, just chewing the cud) that heading out towards Air and then diving right off the top of the valley and back around Air (using some car park) would be a more sensible route, with less hassle.

There is a fair amount of space right from Gloomy Wood towards The Flume though and in that area. It could be Blade is simply a red herring..?
 
Guys! Guys! My cousins best friends flat mates girlfriend actually knows someone who temporarily sold ponchos at Alton Towers from July 2003-August 2003.

Through this insider connection, I naturally gained access to all of the parks future plans. For reasons of staff confidentiality, I can't name the 2003 poncho sales temp that sent me this, but here is an actual picture of SW8.

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...But seriously.

If Alton are indeed getting a launched RMC in Forbidden Valley, I have a few concerns.

1. How it's going to change the look of Forbidden Valley.

Wooden coasters aren't particularly easy to theme. With Air already sticking out like a sore thumb, Forbidden Valley desperately needs something that will blend cohesively with the area. It should look imposing, mysterious, and alien-esque. I just can't visualize the 'natural' wooden coaster look sitting well among the twisted metal dystopia that is Nemesis and Ripsaw.

Even if they paint the whole thing red and black (one can hope...) the dense support structure of an RMC might be too busy to compliment Forbidden Valley.

2. Launched. Sounds like another gimmick with loads more potential downtime to me. With the rave reviews that RMC's get, I just don't see the need to add a launch into the mix. Plus - what will it mean for the seats / trains? Surely they will have to have bulky neck supports, eliminating the lovely open feeling of a wooden coaster.
 
^ You wouldn't need neck rests for a launch!

It doesn't have to be a super powerful launch like Stealth. Fire Chaser Express has soft launches and that only has low backrests! Same with other coasters :)
 
Does it matter? TST asked Towers on Twitter and Towers responded, it's not worth having a tizz over! :p

I think it's par for the course now to expect some form of U-turn on any piece of cost-cutting news. They want/need to close Blade for something, maybe SW8, and thought they could get away with closing it all season. People wondered why it was closed and, probably after shaving a few pence off the operating budgets of everything else, now they've decided to open it for the start of the season.
 
^ Urgh, environmental screening processes are such a burden. "Sorry, evidence of rare bat poo has been found here. You can't build anything blah blah. That'll be £20k, please."

Although most screening processes take place in the early stages of a development project, they can occur after planning permission has been granted, and in rare cases after something has been built (to determine if environmental concerns have been met).

Let's hope this is for SW8 and not a retro SP for the enchanted village or something.
 
Some relatively interesting news over on Towers Street's facebook page, it looks like there has been some heavy tree felling around the back of the Dark Forest. Now I know how unlikely this is, but could we be seeing a resurgence of the cross valley woodie for our next SW? Just saying, that really would be a coaster the UK could be proud of.
 
Tree fungus and lots of it.
I'm a gardener, and chatted with one of the landscape chappies at the Towers at the end of last year,
there are several virulent spore based diseases running pretty wild in the woodlands throughout the country unfortunately,
needle drop disorders that spread on the wind quickly.
But we can live in hope!
 
Ah dear, pretty convenient how the tree clearing in the Dark Forest is on the patch needed for the cross valley coaster. So who's going to own up to infecting these trees with fungus in hope of getting the cross valley coaster? :lol:
 
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