Associated parks:
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april 4th - premier screaming.
the premier screaming is a special annual pass (season pass) holders event where pass holders get to go into the park the evening before the park actually opens to the public. much appreciated!
the park was open from 4pm - 9pm. i got to the park at about 4:05 due to a traffic jam on the way but missing 5 minutes doesnt really matter much. Thorpe Park got new turnstyles this year and they are so unreliable, but i wont go into that.
soon got on colossus. due to technical problems with a train, they were only running the ride with 1 train. this wasnt too bad today due to not many people being in the park so the Q was only about half an hour. the ride is still as good as i remember it from last season. there are a few vibration points (heading into the cobra roll and the first corkscrew) but other than that its almost B&M smooth. a very nice ride.
went on a few of the parks flat rides next. these included vortex (a KMG afterburner) and detonator (fabbri megadrop). these were also running just as well as last season and are still definite rides to go on. also went on loggers leap (mack log flume) which has a nice double drop giving some great airtime.
darkness fell about 8pm and i got a dark ride on colossus. seemed a bit faster at night and was lit up very well in a lovely shade of green. then went on detonator in the dark, it seemed to brake SO late and the view from the top was very nice.
with the time now at 8:45, i finally head for inferno in an attempt to get on one of the last rides on the day so it would be running very fast and would be dark.
as i approched the entrance i head an announcment saying to shut the front gate. i got there just as the staff stopped letting people in. after about a minute of complaining at him that the sign said that the ride wasnt going to shut until 9 and other stuff, another announcement was made saying that the ride has broken down. no wonder the gate was shut! i gave up and walked away from the ride and saw the train stuck about quarter of the way up the lift hill. not good!
so i decided to get one last dark ride on detonator. the staff on this ride were great. i did a one click with my restraint and the ride op decided to staple me! i soon groaned and he then unlocked my restraint and then shut it giving me about a foot of room between my restraint and any part of my body. much airtime!! kudos to the staff.
april 5th - opening day.
annual pass holders get into thorpe park half an hour early. this is something new for this year and this was the first day they had ever done this, it was total chaos! i wont bore you with details but many day ticket holders got into the park and they were letting about 500 people through one, very unreliable turnstyle, not good!
i finally got into the park and headed for my first ever ride on nemesis inferno. walking through the ride area is amazing in itself. you can get so close to the ride! the loop has a very nice water feature under it and every time a train approaches it water blasts about 30 foot into the air making a very nice collision effect for front seat riders. the ride interlocking corkscrews also take place right above a path. very nice!
approaching the station, you climb up onto the volcano which contains the ride station. many peaks have smoke coming out of them giving some lovely themeing effects. the station itself is nice, but they could have done better, the air gates are just a bit boring. my first ride would be in the front row.
sitting down in the train you soon realise that they are as comfortable as any other modern B&M out there. loading is also very swift for a new ride and the staff are already finely tuned. the floor soon drops and the train is dispatched.
instead of hitting the lift hill straight away, the train does a curling drop out of the station, straight into the volcano. this tunnel is very nice with so much smoke that you cant see your hand infront of your face and some glowing red lights making a very nicely themed tunnel which goes on for quite a while. a small hill in the track and a left corner takes you onto the lift hill with great speed which hardly reduces at all going up the hill. this is a new chain lift that has been developed by B&M espically for this ride and its very effective.
at the top of the 90 odd foot lift, a 180 degree curving drop greets you. not as intense at a B:TR first drop, but still nice. if you are in the front seat, water will erupt up infront of you as you get taken round the first loop with startling speed. so many G forces!! the loop is soon over and you head over a path and into the zero g roll which is also taken at a very fast speed.
after the zero g roll, a ground hugging corner soon follows which delivers some of the best forces on any inverted coaster around. this corner leads into a corkscrew which is taken well with no headbanging. another G force packed corner next which leads into the next corkscrew interlocking the first. this corkscrew is also taken very fast with many Gs. an uneventful helix follows with a dive under the brake run before entering the final upward helix into the brakes. for being the last corner on the ride circuit, this corner really packs a punch and has so many G forces that it feels like your feet are literally about to be pulled off. then into the brakes.
the ride experience is very good. not quite as smooth as i expected, but the ride has to wear in yet. but it is a very nice ride with some great themeing and excellent visuals. i would recommend the back row over the front if you prefer intensity, but if you want the best view then the front is the only place to be but you wont get as many Gs.
didnt really do much else on opening day mainly due to it being so busy. 140 min Qs for inferno and 3 hours for colossus due to the one train operation. i did get to ride on quantum (fabbri magic carpet) which opened half way through the day for its first rides ever. such a nice magic carpet with some great airtime, a nice park addition.
finally went home about 5pm, an hour before closing due to being so knackered (only got 3 hours sleep the night before due to my gf). had a very nice couple of days at the park and am sure to be going back more this season, but its gonna be busy!
highly recommended to any of you americans who find themselves in or around london in the near future.
if you want to see pics of the rides i have talked about then you can find some at http://www.thorpeparkguide.com or http://www.southparks.net
hope you enjoyed my first TR of the year!
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Nemesis Inferno - The Pressure is Building!
Rare RollerCoaster Resources - http://clik.to/rrcr
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www.ukrides.info
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UK, home to the King of Inverts, Nemesis, and the soon Heir, Inferno
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