Matt N
CF Legend
With regards to the bolded; you’ve hit the nail on the head. That’s exactly why I made this thread; I was questioning how numerous parks abroad have been able to top Nemesis, but the UK has seemingly been unable to, even when trying to parallel parks abroad in terms of hardware choices.
I have come up with a theory, however; it’s worth noting that Nemesis is one of few rides built in the UK in modern(ish) times that didn’t really have a USP in mind during its development. Yes, you could very much consider the inverted seating position a USP, but I get the impression that was secondary to the actual ride experience itself during the design phase.
However, a lot of installations built afterwards, particularly in the Tussauds/Merlin parks, were, rightly or wrongly, built with the USP being the primary focus and the ride experience being designed around that USP, as opposed to the other way round like it was with Nemesis. I know from listening to Q&As with John Wardley and other people involved with Merlin is that the essential prerequisites for Nick Varney and the Merlin board to even consider funding a ride development are that the ride has to have a “compelling proposition” (aka a USP) that can be concisely summed up in a single sentence, and a “killer image”; a single image that makes people go “Wow, I want to ride that!”. I don’t know about you, but that to me certainly sounds like the USP is the main focus within the design stage of these attractions.
While I do very much like many of the rides that were designed using this approach, and they are still liked by enthusiasts, they often ended up being bettered in the eyes of many enthusiasts by improved equivalents abroad, that were able to shun the R&D costs of inventing and implementing these “world’s first” elements that many UK parks (presumably) encountered, and were able to concoct more “complete” ride experiences that could carry themselves past their USP because of it. Of course, somebody has to be first to do everything, and I’ll admit that the ambition and creativity of Tussauds/Merlin in concocting these elements is incredibly admirable. I’ll also digress that this is an incredibly successful approach in marketing terms, and as I said above, many of these gimmicks do still “work” for people, so I’m not saying it’s a bad approach by any means; I think if rides are viewed in isolation, it’s definitely an effective approach that works well in many cases, personally.
However, it does mean that the rides’ overall appeal, particularly among enthusiasts, is somewhat temporary and superficial to a certain degree, only really lasting a couple of years or so until the concept is perfected elsewhere. Even if viewed within a park context alone, the novelty can wear off a bit once you’ve had a few rides.
Even viewing Alton Towers alone; while Nemesis is still the favourite B&M inverted coaster in the world for a considerable number of enthusiasts, and right up there as one of the favourites for the majority, I’d argue that Air, Rita, Thirteen and to a lesser extent Oblivion are all rides that were arguably “bettered” by more rounded equivalents abroad that didn’t have to solely focus on the USP. For instance:
- Air - Opened in 2002 as “the world’s first new-generation flying coaster”. Even in its opening year, the Superman rides at various Six Flags parks had arguably already “bettered” it in scale and intensity terms, and just a few years later in 2006, Tatsu opened at Six Flags Magic Mountain, as arguably the ultimate “betterer” (is that a word?) of Air; an absolute behemoth of a ride, packing a wide variety of elements and huge g-forces, and was generally a more “complete” ride experience. Various other large-scale B&M flyers have opened since, and while the ride type in general is somewhat polarising, these larger-scale rides have considerably higher ratings, on average, among fans of flying coasters than Air.
- Rita - Opened in 2005 as “Europe’s first hydraulic launch coaster”. If viewed exclusively through the context of hydraulic launch coasters, the ride was arguably hampered from day one, due to not having the height and space available to them to be able to build an immensely fast launch and huge top hat like most of the other Intamin Accelerators had, or even some big, quirky inversions like Storm Runner and Speed Monster had. If viewed through the context of low-to-the-ground launch coasters; Maverick at Cedar Point, arguably the ultimate low-to-the-ground launch coaster, opened just 2 years later in 2007 as almost a “Rita on steroids”, if you like, with the same twisty, aggressive layout style, but also a longer circuit, a wider range of elements, and once again, a seemingly more “complete” ride experience. Maverick is still one of the most revered coasters on Earth 14 years on from its opening, while Rita has mostly faded into obscurity outside of UK circles, and is viewed with antipathy by many, or even plain hatred by some.
- Thirteen - Opened in 2010 as “the world’s first free fall drop track roller coaster”. Even though the ride that “bettered” it was from a different manufacturer, being built by Zierer as opposed to Intamin, many would argue that Thirteen was “bettered” just 2 years after its opening in 2012, when Verbolten opened at Busch Gardens Williamsburg. That ride still had the signature drop track, but it had a lot more, as well, with a huge enclosed section, two launches, an expansive ride circuit, and is generally viewed by many as a more “complete” coaster. Not to mention the likes of Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure at Islands of Adventure, which Intamin themselves concocted in 2019; that contains many, many other bells and whistles as well as the drop track, and is generally viewed by many as a more “complete” coaster. Verbolten and Hagrid’s are still getting rave reviews all-round, whereas Thirteen doesn’t seem quite as popular.
- Oblivion - Opened in 1998 as “the world’s first vertical drop roller coaster”. I’ll admit that this one is possibly a weaker argument than the others, as there are still a fair number who rank this as their favourite Dive Coaster, and think that the additional bells and whistles of the newer ones are to their detriment, but for those who don’t, this ride was arguably “bettered” by SheiKra at Busch Gardens Tampa in 2005, which was a fair bit larger, and also had a more extensive ride circuit with more elements to go alongside the signature vertical drop. Not to mention that this was expanded upon by the various other large-scale Dive Coasters that have been built in recent years, and even by the Mini Dive Coasters, that are smaller than Oblivion in drop terms. As I say, though, Oblivion still has a considerable number of fans, so this is a weaker argument than the other 3.
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