Amazing new Alton towers pics. Stengal dive?

If you're midly interested in this coaster, go to the second website link and go to their main Rita page and download the NL recreation. It's got me shaking my head as to why we haven't seen this concept for a rocket show up in the states. I think a southern park, like a Carowinds or a SFoG would be a perfect fit for a ride like this. NASCAR theme, balls-to-the-wall launch, all about low turns, quick air pops and bring you right back hugging the terrain, with choppers all over the place.

I think Rita looks simply wicked - if it was in the states, I'd put good money on it as the surprise hit of the year. As it stands, I just found out my yearly raise is going to be a lot more than I thought, so perhaps I'll be riding this thing sooner than I thought!

I had no idea alton towers was even getting a new ride. Looks like a lot of fun. I like to see new Intamin designs built even though i won't get to ride it in the near future, if ever. I still think if intamin built an out and back hypercoaster with a launch instead of a hill it would knock all of our socks off. Imagine a launch into a 200 ft+ airtime hill only to enter another. I drool everytime. No tophats is what I'm getting at. *** Edited 2/15/2005 5:53:59 PM UTC by bowtobusch***

Brett, are you talking about the link on Alton Towers' official site? I see a place where I can register for more Rita information but nothing about a NL recreation of the ride. I'm more than mildly interested and would love to take a ride!

No, the Alton main page doesn't seem to have a thing. Here's a direct link to their download pages.

Ride RITA!

Just as a warning, if you have a comp that's a little low on RAM, the NL will nearly stop at the top of the first hill due to a NL recreation of Corkscrew being inserted into the RITA file as a 3D object. If you turn off objects and turn down the details a lot, it'll run a little smoother, but either way, that first hill/airpop aside, it's simply amazing ... can almost feel the wind in your hair and your arms instictively being pulled back down for fear of hitting supports ;)

Thanks. No wonder I wasn coming up empty-handed.

What a great little ride! It reminds me of something that Schwarzkopf would have come up with, like a Jet Star for the new millennium. Damn... and I'm stuck with Kingda Ka... I would much rather this.

I'm a little dissapointed to see that this ride has OTSRs. I guess after all of the Intamin incidents, Alton Towers isn't going to take any chances.

On a somewhat humorous note, the trains look very similar to that of Xcelerator. ;)

http://www.towersalmanac.com/features/rita/constructionsite/february2005.html

That is pretty disappointing. OTSRs on Rita seem just as appropriate as OTSRs on the Zyklon in Wildwood. Oh, wait...

Am I the only one who could really care less about this ride? To me, it looks like a great ending to a hyper coaster, but that's it ... But of course, the other rockets are all great beginnings to coasters but lack good endings. If they would just combine the Thorpe Park rocket with RITA - that would be an awesome ride! Not sure about those OTSRs though, I sure hope it isn't going to be the new trend for non-inverting Intamin rides :(. I just can't see how this will be a "surprise hit", especially with the restraints...

Anyone know how big the trains are going to be for this ride?

I thought parks LEARNED form the FoF experience that the GP *does* recognize the difference between OTSRs and lap bars...;)

They may not know what they're CALLED, but a couple good shots to the head definitely meant WAY lower ridership on those rides. Switching to lapbars made ALL the difference in wait times, so I guess I can go out on the limb and say that lap bars MADE the rides more popular...

Do we really need to flash the RideMan signal so Dave can explain AGAIN how the seats, cars, and lap bars INTERACT to make a ride as safe as any OTSR could? Maybe so...;)

Ouch....I was all about this coaster until the OTSR's were mentioned. Oh well, should still be a fun ride, just not all that it could have been. *sigh*

I agree that my fascination with this coaster has dwindled a lot since learning of the restraints.

The layout looks cool- yeah, it would make a great ending to a hyper coaster but I think it could stand on its own too. I don't think it would make a great "headline" attraction for any park but as something to compliment an already-good coaster collection (like Alton has), I don't think there is a better alternative than this one.

But those OTSRs... ouch.

I just don't understand the reasoning for the restraints. There is absolutely *no* extreme trackage on this coaster anywhere!

Does this mean the next time they build a hyper (God willing...) that it too will have OTSR's?

I guess I'm in the minority though...I *really* think this ride looks pathetic (harsh word, I know, but I can't think of another one) especially assuming they paid what I think they paid for it. It's like the ending of a hypercoaster. At least the "top hat" rockets have a really thrilling element to them (being up high, amazing airtime up high, lots o' speed, lap bars, etc)...

Joe "my bitter post of the day!" C. :)

Ok, but what on your list (other than the two obvious) does this one lack? It's still going to be fast, it's going to maintain that speed, and you don't think there's going to be airtime on those three crossovers? Maybe for you there's no thrilling element, but I'll take 50mph through a heavily banked ground hugging turn over 400' in the air any day.

I'm not really phased by the OTSRs myself - I found Storm Runners to be incredibly roomy, barely felt like I had more than a lapbar going for me, and it surely didn't cut down on any airtime or any laterals or the sensation of speed.

--Brett "don't quite know why I'm already defending this ride so vehemently ... " S.

Could it be because it's LAUNCHED???

I rode StormRunner and I believe that the restraints did ruin the ride for me. Not only did I feel them but they felt "sharp" on the edges. Pretty weird.

My main concern with the OTSRs is that they could ruin the airtime that this coaster seems like it will have. And for those that claim this looks like the ending to a hyper coaster- it's not meant to be a hyper coaster. I seriously doubt that this installation is meant to be anything more than something to keep crowds steady as another Secret Weapon-caliber coaster is completed. This installation seems to be along the lines of a Vekoma Booster Bike, not an Intamin hyper.

A Vekoma Booster Bike with that layout would have rocketed... It just seems like a waste of an Intamin Rocket to me. I'm pretty sure nobody thinks it was meant to be a hyper coaster, they just mean it has a great ending of a hyper coaster, which makes it just half of a coaster in my book. I think another dissapointing factor is that Alton Towers was becoming known for doing really cool and creative things with their coaster additions, and to me, this is just boring, and I would think it is a waste of money for the ride it will most likely produce.

OTSR's...bummer, huge bummer.

Few conclusions i have made. Agree with most comments made,

Firstly- definately would have prefered lap bars. What is the point of having airtime hills (or attempted ones) if you are not going to be able to enjoy them. Silly really, and definately a problem for Intamin to try and address.

Second. I agree that this is a fill in coaster (and that is not to say it looks anything but well planned out and a good additon to the park), i think it was in response to the severe mauling Alton towers got in the media for it's huge Q's and lack of attractions. That bodes well for the future new rides though, and i will say rides cos Thorpe park has been getting multiple additions and big coasters every year for the last 4 years (except last year with Samurai), so i expect some multiple flats one year soon.

Third- Who ever said that a combination of Thorpes Stealth coming next year ( a mini Kingda Ka) to begin and then Rita to finish would be just perfect. A launched hyper. Its what i think we all want. A launched ride with substance and length and elements. Lets hope Blackpool get the hint.

All in all i am looking forward to ride Rita, it will re-invigorate a dead part of the park (ugland), and i am sure that it will be a huge hit with the general public. Lets not forget that the vast majority of Brits have not ridden a launched coaster since Thunder looper left Alton all those years ago. They will go nuts over Rita.

Its a good addition to an ever impressive collection of coasters.

Bring on the Wood. *** Edited 2/17/2005 10:06:46 AM UTC by gyjdnb***

While everyone is complaining about OTSR's, may I remind you all of S:ROS and the passenger's death (let's not get too into that)...I believe Intamin will put OTSR's on all of these coasters, even if it cuts away on airtime or freedom, just so they can not have a repeat of what happened before. It's a preventative measure. Then again, this is just my opinion...

I'm sure it has something to do with that, I just think that OTSRs are the quick and lazy fix to the problem. With all their engineering know-how, they must be able to come up with a better solution.