Thunder Looper

[Lon]

About the comment on its speed : 0-62 in 2.5 seconds is the same as Rita and it also faster than a Ferrari, the Enzo does in 2.8

Remember that in a Ferrari you are enclosed behind glass. Whereas on Rita etc you have the full effect of the wind on your body! Stick you hand out the window of a fast car to see what I mean.

[Beaver Dude]

They seemed to have great trouble with the compressed air for the train take off.

No they didn't as to launch it dropped a giant weight which weighed 42 tonnes.

I've been on a ride like it called Monte Zoomers Revenge at Knotts Farm, which I thought was a suprisingly good ride. I've heard it's not as good a TL so TL must have been great. Although it would've looked kinda ugly poking up above the trees. It would've also needed a heavy retheme to fit in with FV. Shame they couldn't have replaced it with a better ride than Ripsaw.

[UltimateDingbat]

I am just old enough to remember the thunder looper. I can VAGUELY (And i mean vaguely) remember visiting the park before my sister was born in 1995, (am but a 16 year old) and i can remember my dad going on the ride VAGUELY again. I dunno if i ever got to ride it myself, i dont think i did, am almsot certain i didnt burt i can remember the exctement of going up to alton towers, and seeing it just over the tree tops and going MUM WE'RE HERE.

[Skumfidus]

I remember having a picnic from the boot of the car before we went in the park, and suddenly there was the almighty whoosh and a thunk, i turned and there was this car full of screaming people being flung inot the air and then down again, i was terrified. I had to be dragged into the park (i was very young and it was my birthday!), but since then i have visited twice/three times a month and i love it so much! i wish i could have rode it, but it still has a place in my heart as the first magic of alton towers i felt.

[CGM]

I've heard it's not as good a TL

That's strange, I heard that the flywheel shuttles are much preferred among enthusiasts than the weight drop models. Unrelated but did you know that the Schwarzkopf Shuttle Loop was orignally designed to use LIMs?

[suzip]

I actually dreamt bout the thunder looper last night, it was quite scary because everytime i ride it i expected it to go too far up the hill and fall over the edge and this time it did! (in my dream!)

Think that feeling added to the fun factor of the ride!

[Peterwittland]

If looper had stayed at Alton towers, would Rita have even been thought up? Two launch coasters that go the same speed would be a waste of good cash.

[John]

[quote=""Peterwittland""]If looper had stayed at Alton towers, would Rita have even been thought up? Two launch coasters that go the same speed would be a waste of good cash.[/quote]
That says a lot about advances in technology, the launch speed of a new multimillion pound coaster with complicated hydraulics can be matched by dropping a big weight down a tall tower.

I miss thunderlooper dispite never having been on it, my first sight of it of the day always got me excited about being at alton towers, and it certainly looked impressive. By the time I was tall enough to ride it had gone (not that I'd have been brave enough at the time anyway!).

[Parkey]

I remember being at Alton Towers the day the Thunder Looper was opened. We were there by chance at stopped off on the Skyride to see Frank Bruno and numerous camera crews around the ride. I must have been about 9 or 10, so didn't even consider going on it - but did get a signed picture of Thunder Looper from Frank Bruno. I went on it the next year and thought it was wonderful. I really miss it...

[Mi-Nigle]

[quote=""Jay12""]making cows produce too much milk in a near by field[/quote]

Eh?

[MostMagicalCat]

i never heard that one, i thought it was about horny cows, mating at the wrong time of the year......... dont know about the milk thing....
thunderlooper- a ode

was years ago i came to see
a big black ride up in the valleee(he he)
a great big hunk of metal true
which left the park and we all feel blue

it fired you up into a big loop
where you threw up your chicken soup
then up into the sky, high you go
then free falling back was the way to go

backwards down through the loop
and you catch up with your chicken soup
rolling though the station fast
then back up into the air last

then back down the ride is at a end
you'll never ride it again my friend
its loud and tall, get the council honking
because of all the cows in the fields left bonking

[Sarah_RKO]

Never got to ride it being too young but I remember watching my dad go on it back when i was about 4 or 5. Shame it's not there, would have loved to ride it.

[kumbastealth]

My all time favourite ride at Alton Towers

Great to go through a loop with just a lapbar and just an amazing stomach lifting experience going backwards throught the loop in the back seat

Sadly missed

[seanyboyuk]

me too i visited the park when i was little
and remembered this ride but i was too scared to go on!

[Khanage]

Rita reaches 100 kph - Thunder looper nigh on 85 kph so Rita is faster.

I never went on the Thunder Looper unfortunately as the first time I went to AT was in 1997. It does look like a cool ride though. A very cool ride.

[fantoman]

I've wondered a few times whether thunder looper would have lasted longer or indeed still be with us today had they enclosed the coaster in the same way as Psyke underground/Turbine at Walibi Belgium!

I know the main reason for removal was because of A, noise and B, they couldn't have any structur that COULD BE SEEN above treeline, meaning if they had enclosed the ride it would have taken away the noise factor - and they could have painted the tube structure in camouflage colours to blend in to appease the visibility issue! 

Also the Turbine theme would have fitted in well with the whole forbidden valley theme. And Psyke underground is still such as good coaster at almost 40 years old! it shows thunder looper would have still been popular - in fact I think the ride being enclosed ADDS to the ride and it's disorientation! 

I know thunder looper only had a temporary permit - but I wonder if they had pushed and submitted plans to enclose it whether things would be different!

Anyway - thoughts?

[Mickeyray]

Having been lucky to be young enough to ride Thunder Looper and Rita, I would say 100% I would of loved Thunder Looper to have been kept, or even brought back. My son doesn't like Rita - says it's too uncomfortable..he loves Stealth at Thorpe Park and that's very very uncomfortable!! but he doesn't like Rita, but I'm sure he would of loved Thunder Looper.

[Mango18]

This is a question for anyone who remembers pre 1994 season...

Was there much of a buzz around the then Thunder valley in 93 with the construction of Nemesis? Were there any promotional signs etc?

[ROYJESS]

I've been visiting the resort since 1987. I remember the Thunder Looper. I remember the area when it became a construction site for Nemesis. At the time I had no idea what was being build. The first that I saw of it was a TV advertisement and riding it in person shortly after it opened. I don't record having social media and forums back then, and if we did, it wasn't until around the year 2000 when I myself actually learnt how to use a personal computer and the internet.

1994 was the year of the rollercoaster and the UK gained Nemesis, The big one, Shockwave. All of which beating records and standards previously held in America.

[Chris]

Here's some Nemesis media coverage from way back when..

Such a different world back then with very few people actually using the internet, let alone social media and forums.



Thunder Looper was without a doubt the king of the valley back then. I'm sure it would still be a fan favourite today if its planning permission was still in place.