Th13teen - Ride discussion

[Blaze]

There are some new trees in places along the queue. I noticed at various points there were very young trees which were supported by wooden beams in the way young plants normally are. If they grow quickly, then the queue will improve quicker than expected.

[Nightfall]

Just to add to this queue debate the bit that pictures just can't show is the music. I’ve been listening to a little recording off it and it's a strange mixture of music and ambient tunes. There’s an underlying beat to it but it also feels rather random.
Just listening to it reminds me of the smell from inside the crypt so it does make the queue a lot more atmospheric.

On the subject of the break down the fact that the decision to close tomorrow was made at short notice makes me suspect it’s not to fix the problem but because of an unusual break down (likely a teething problem opposed to the more general break downs).
However Morwennas press statement makes it sound more like there actually altering something with the drop section. Unfortunately it’s the market department’s job to give a reason for the closure and not the onsite mechanics. So it’s probably about as reliable as the other stuff they come out with.

[Leighton123]

Guys, you're complaining about the queue themeing, but what theming would a forest have apart from an abandoned van, leaves and severed branches? It'd be nice if they had more trees, but they take TIME to grow. Give it 2/3/4 years, and it'll be a hell of a lot better!

[James6]

Sorry, being a bit thick, where is this press release from Morwenna ?

Ha, sorry and thanks :P

[Nightfall]

mats put the link near the top of the previous page.
It got a bit lost in the theme debate.
Here it is

[Cheese]

With the ride closure being at such short notice, I'm inclined to agree that it's a big and unusual breakdown that needs sorting out sharpish. It could be an attempt to iron out the ride's issues though, as the notice says "Minor technical issues" or similar. This is a theme park where "routine maintenance" seemingly involves large scale excavation .

I love the ride itself. I'm even heading towards being able to overlook the rubbish marketing now. I agree with Bill that the theming is completely inadequate, but what's there is pretty decent. I utterly despise the queue however. You might think differently, but personally I find that other than the Daihatsu Hijet, hand in open grave, mannequins and numbered slabs there's not much to see. The soundtrack, with all its ambient noises, starts off atmospheric but quickly grows annoying; proper music, of Nemesis and Hex quality, wouldn't go amiss. The path taken is about five times or more longer than it looks from its entrance, and half that time you're heading back away from the ride. All those twists mean that the muppets who smoke in the queue are constantly going back past you, and who decided the mid-queue shop was a good idea?

[PeteB]

[quote=""Leighton123""]Guys, you're complaining about the queue themeing, but what theming would a forest have apart from an abandoned van, leaves and severed branches? It'd be nice if they had more trees, but they take TIME to grow. Give it 2/3/4 years, and it'll be a hell of a lot better![/quote]

Lots of abandoned broken buildings/ruins. Lots of rusty old machineary (fits with the restoration theme). Maybe a wooden shed/hut. Really all you need to do is look at films which feature creepy forests and take inspiration from that. I'm sure a good Production Designer (read set designer/scenic artist) would come up with many more and better ideas. Most of these things can be obtained for free or very cheap. Hell, give me some woodland and access to a scrap/reclaimed yard and I'll build you a better Dark Forest than alton towers did.

And what about this "ancient buriel ground" the ride was apparently built on as part of the back story (which now of course, they claim there is no back story ). I think the asda halloween gravestones at the switch track dont quite cut it, do you?

[jmdarsenal]

I thought the music in the queue was very good. Very ambient sound, sort of spooky. But also with the underlying tune of if you go down to the woods today. So I think the music was very good.

Where the closure is concerned, we've gotta remember they've closed their biggest and newest ride during half term, so therefore it must be either an important repair or important addition to the ride.

[jordanc14]

Ok here is my view: the queue theming i would dub personally as good, not satisfactory, not excellent, just good. Some of you may be disappointed with the queue theming but obviously that's your view. Just like Chris said it is the best themed ride in the park, without starting a debate about Oblivion. Looking at nemesis ok best ride in the park for me and alot of people, but the only theming is on the exterior of the station, and the station itself i suppose is meant to look quite battered, as nemesis (just as Thirteen) looks better with age. Another example, Air ok we have the music which is quite cool and as weird as it sounds... airy, lol but it suits the ride well, then we have the plants that somehow add to the atmosphere. So IMO i can't see how you can compare any theming in the park to Th13teen. RANT OVER!

[danny13]

I am going tomorrow and it doesn't look good. 2 out of the 4 times I have been this year it has been closed all day and the other 2 closed for half a day!

[Elliot]

Well, the last two days on the website they put that it would be unavailable for the next day, but that message is not up, so for you it should atleast open, where as I spent two days on park and both days it was down.
But I got told by an extreamly friendly member of staff near Th13teen today that it was to do with the kicker-wheels, and that explained why on Wednesday morning one of the cars was stopped at the bottom of the hill empty. But strangely it had the restraints open.
But this morning when we were at Air one of the staff members, I think her name was Emma, we asked if she knew anything about the problems of T1h3teen, she said she didn't but then she called a staff member near Th13teen and was told they were replacing a part and were waiting for it to arrive.
So I thought at that time it was kickers or maybe a trim, but all of today there was engineers going in and out of a passage where the bottom of the crypt would be.

But that's all I know on the problem but it should be open tomorrow. Hope I've helped

[DanielWatson]

Hey does anyone know how often the tesla coil goes off please?

[Elliot]

From what I've heard its about every 90 secs when the girl counts to 13 and apparently when she reaches 13 it goes off

[AltonThorpe]

Is it a loud tesla coil, or can you not hear it due to the glass?

[[Archive]]

Well it is not in a vacuum so of course you would here it. There is not any glass between it and the queue either, just a metal fence I think. There was a video online showing the effect, but it has since been removed by the user, sorry.

[iloveshauni]

There's no glass between the cage but there is a plastic or perspex shield between the metal cages 8)

[Kaz]

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Not only does it show you the potential of telsa, when it starts playing Ghostbusters theme tune it's epic. Enjoy.

[Spike]

[quote=""Kaz""]Check out this video - [url=http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=210_1275608337" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;]http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=210_1275608337[/url]

Not only does it show you the potential of telsa, when it starts playing Ghostbusters theme tune it's epic. Enjoy.[/quote]


One of the coolest things I've seen cheers :mrgreen:

[SIMR]

The tesla is amazing. It's extremely loud and it's very frightening, especially if you stand right next to it when it goes off. Me and my friend had only just got into the indoor section of the queue when it went off and we nearly crapped our pants. We went on it again later on and we literally ran through to avoid having to hear it again Yes, we're wusses.

[Lotte]

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