2012 International Additions

[mattcrombie]

Awesome. I will get to ride it sometime next year. These coasters look good

[Oldschool]

Apparently with HK Disneyland there's been rumours of the Imagineers testing a steep backwards drop that will be part of the Grizzly Mountain rollercoaster's finale. The ride will have a longer and scarier backwards section than Expedition Everest.

[Wazza1]

I think the B&M Invert going in at Parc Asterix trumps everything http://www.potionmag...?image_id=10022 http://www.potionmag...?image_id=10011 http://www.potionmag...?image_id=10024 http://www.potionmag...p?image_id=9990

Drove past this park yesterday and the B&M appears to have been finished being built. (But not open to the public yet) I did a little digging around the internet it looks like someone has uploaded a video of it on some test run from the weekend just past. It looks pretty awesome. Will be going on it the moment it opens.

[Gazza]

^Awesome. How far from Parc Asterix are you? In other news, the first inversion/drop on the Swarm is done: http://a4.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/313649_132088653561211_115673268536083_97946_352882605_n.jpg

[Keegs]

They've done a little more than that. And also Dollywood's new ride:

[Wazza1]

^Awesome. How far from Parc Asterix are you?

About 45 mns, it's on the other side of town near the airport. It's going to be a crazy coaster. Look at these pics here http://sanglierrotix.babaorum.info/t3-Inverted-B-M-et-nouvelle-zone-pour-2012.htm?start=250

[themeparkgc]

Wild Eagle now has its track complete and Dollywood have released a POV and flyover of the ride:

[themeparkgc]

The Swarm's track is fully complete with pull-through tests beginning last week. I love the look of the keyholes (i.e. head, foot and arm choppers). I wonder if Thorpe Park is planning on theming them in a similar style to what Six Flags is going to do with X-Flight at Great America? http://www.facebook....8536083?sk=wall

[Gazza]

They will indeed, at one point the train will dive under the wing of a crashed passenger aircraft, and the inline twist will go through a ruined church tower. They will indeed, at one point the train will dive under the wing of a crashed passenger aircraft, and the inline twist will go through a ruined church tower.

[themeparkgc]

The rollercoaster that costs an arm and a leg: Thorpe Park's new £20m ride The Swarm has urgent redesign after dummies return from test run with limbs snapped off Its stated intent is to take thrill-seekers 'through the sky on its mission of complete annihilation'. But theme park bosses might have hoped that a test run would not prove it quite so literally - after dummies sent on £20million ride The Swarm came back with limbs missing. Officials at Thorpe Park in Surrey needed to take 'drastic measures' after a number of the dummies were left 'visibly damaged' after being exposed to some of the 'extreme "near miss" spots'. They said the dummies had experienced a 'terrifyingly close call' on a test run on the ride, which opens in less than two months. The missing limbs could, of course, be the latest sophisticated stunt by a PR team which has devised a string of headline-grabbing 'events'. These include a contest where the public was asked to donate urine to create a 'signature stench' for its horror maze SAW Alive and a ban on rollercoaster riders putting their hands in the air due to body odour. The park even sought the help of a paranormal expert after a late-night Ouija board seance at the park was blamed for a series of spooky incidents. Six members of staff were suspended over the incident. Thorpe Park, however, claims the dummies lost their limbs in the pursuit of pushing The Swarm to the 'absolute limit' because customers wanted the most extreme experience possible. Mike Vallis, divisional director at the theme park said he was now 100 per cent satisfied the ride met safety standards. On the ride's website it boasts: 'The Swarm takes you on a death defying flight through apocalyptic devastation. Picking you up and ripping through the sky on a mission of total annihilation, you’ll feel totally vulnerable as you hurtle through near misses and twisted inversions.' It adds: 'Experience the unique head first, inverted drop from 127ft as you are flung into this merciless flight for your life.' The Swarm is on its own island and takes thrill-seekers past a life-size church, and wreckages of a plane and helicopter, at speeds of up to 100kph. But the dummies were apparently damaged when the ride took them too close to the church, which measures 23m x 17m x 9m. An emergency response team was called in to work on the ride ahead of the opening in March. Thorpe Park insisted despite the 'costly operation', which only took a week to carry out, officials are now satisfied that the ride fully complies with health and safety requirements. Experts adapting the new ride have remodelled the church to avoid any nasty accidents when the ride officially opens on March 15. Mr Vallis said: 'We have been planning for The Swarm for almost two years now, and we've pushed the boundaries to the absolute limit because "extreme" is what our thrill-seeking customers demand,' he said. 'The ride-testing phase is absolutely crucial in ensuring extreme fun doesn't compromise safety, and we work with the very best teams in the world to ensure we reach the gold standard in safety. 'So if that means re-modelling a church it's taken us a year to build, then so be it. 'To lift the lid on what goes on behind-the-scenes of building a monster roller-coaster such as The Swarm is quite unprecedented. 'We want people to understand the level of planning, precision and care that goes into creating their ultimate thrill-seeking experience.'

http://www.dailymail...o=feeds-newsxml

[POP]

Wild Eagle looks far superior to The Swarm imo. Dollywood looks like it's becoming a must visit park

[alex_1]

That article is just a marketing stunt by Thorpe Park. I think the best looking of the Wingriders is X-Flight at SFGAm, I like its layout the best. Wild Eagle's is a bit meh IMO. I like the Swarm's layout, but its a bit short.

[mba2012]

Those B&M's look awesome! I think I have convinced my mum to take my family to Europe next year so hopefully I can go to some theme parks and go on some B&M's. I'm probably going to be able to go to Thorpe Park and go on The Swarm. And it probably is just a publicity stunt. No B&M would have some kind of design problem like that. Especially if it's fine every other time it runs tests Well hopefully I can go on it next year!

[alex_1]

I think I have convinced my mum to take my family to Europe next year so hopefully I can go to some theme parks and go on some B&M's. I'm probably going to be able to go to Thorpe Park and go on The Swarm.

If you can, try to make it up to Alton Towers. They have Nemesis, one of the best inverted coasters ever built (yes it's a B&M) among other fantastic rides. Edited January 27, 2012 by alex_1

[Gazza]

If you can, try to make it up to Alton Towers. They have Nemesis Inferno, one of the best inverted coasters ever built (yes it's a B&M) among other fantastic rides.

Nemesis Inferno is at Thorpe Park.

[alex_1]

Nemesis Inferno is at Thorpe Park.

Crap, I meant Nemesis. Post has been edited lol Edited January 27, 2012 by alex_1

[Spencer]

Crap, I meant Nemesis. Post has been edited lol

Yeah, needed to know that.

[Gazza]

Isn't it obvious those broken test dummies are CGI anyway...You can tell they are that crisp white computer rendering style. Still, it's cool they are using the near misses as a selling point. In the advertising for Raptor they used bits of footage and sound effects to emphasise that: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YffoXEO9yMw

I think the best looking of the Wingriders is X-Flight at SFGAm, I like its layout the best. Wild Eagle's is a bit meh IMO. I like the Swarm's layout, but its a bit short.

Probably my thoughts too on each of them, but I do have a soft spot for the theming on the Swarm ...Wild eagles layout is good, but it really should have an inline twist because that is sort of the signature elment of a wingrider...Its a bit like building a flying coaster but not having the pretzel loop. Train design on Wild Eagle looks a bit odd too, its kind of like an avian version of the human centipede. Edited January 27, 2012 by Gazza

[CruiseSF]

Another way you can tell its fake is that only the front dummies have arms and legs. Plus they would of already done the tests will steel bars (forgot its name) to represent the possible reach of the riders, before they start these tests anyway.

[alex_1]

Wild eagles layout is good, but it really should have an inline twist because that is sort of the signature elment of a wingrider...Its a bit like building a flying coaster but not having the pretzel loop.

That was also my thought exactly, Wingriders look so fantastic going through an inline twist. Wild Eagl's vertical loop may give an amazing soaring sensation that would fit with the theme, but I think wingrider layouts are meant to be a bit more "twisty".

Train design on Wild Eagle looks a bit odd too, its kind of like an avian version of the human centipede.

That will give me nightmares tonight.

[downunder]

The more I see of Skyrush at Hershey the more impressed I am, this could be the surpise biggest hit of the new additions.

[themeparkgc]

Leviathan has been testing for a week now. Here is a video of it in action. It looks incredibly smooth.

Edit: they also released a POV:

Edited March 22, 2012 by themeparkgc

[alex_1]

The banked turns look so awkward to me. Sort of "wobbly". Nonetheless it'll be a fantastic ride. Not sure if its been mentioned, but has anyone checked out Shambhala at Portaventura, Spain? It looks incredible, probably the best B&M Hypercoaster ever built! Also, Wodan at Europa Park looks amazing, its a massive GCI woodie.

Edited March 22, 2012 by alex_1

[mba2012]

The lift hill is HUGE!!! But anyway it looks awesome! And the coaster looks so small compared to the track and it's supports.

Edited March 22, 2012 by mba2012

[Original]

Well I'm really looking forward to seeing how 'Verbolten' turns out at Busch Gardens Europe.