Attraction Source Forum

Did you manage to get your parents on any of the rides there now?

unfortunetly no. my dads dinner date with young rita left him feeling a little ill lol. but if he went on rita i guess he would of gone on th ethunder looper had it still been there.

he had a nasty experiance on the pirate ship when it was back in fantacy land during the 80s, so he was keeping away from blade.

looking at those pics of the looper is strang. thunder vally almost looks like a carpark with the ride in the midel, hard to imagion that it would later become the forbidden vally we know and love.

assume the position wrote:
i thought blade now sits in the same pit at the thunder looper once did??

i went with my parents on tueday, it was the first time they had been since the looper was removed, they were shocked at how different the place looked. i thought it was quite funny. it was like being back in 1997 again!


Thats what i thought, i was sure it was where blade now is! Maybe it was just coz i was younger and everything seemed bigger! Did you manage to get your parents on any of the rides there now?

indeed it did used to sit in the pit that is now home to the blade

A small part of the trench Thunder Looper sat in can still be seen. Blade now sits within the trench where Thunder Looper's small incline was (the end of the ride closest to the Skyride). From memory, the rest of the trench was filled in and the path that now goes past Nemesis was laid on top.

[quote=""assume the position""]
looking at those pics of the looper is strang. thunder vally almost looks like a carpark with the ride in the midel, hard to imagion that it would later become the forbidden vally we know and love.[/quote]

That because it was a car park with a ride stuck in the middle!!

That because it was a car park with a ride stuck in the middle!!

i know i was being ironic

[quote=""Squiggles""][quote=""assume the position""]
looking at those pics of the looper is strang. thunder vally almost looks like a carpark with the ride in the midel, hard to imagion that it would later become the forbidden vally we know and love.[/quote]

That because it was a car park with a ride stuck in the middle!! [/quote]



hmmm, not really, i actually thought that the thunder looper and the beast were anything but a car park.

Thunder Valley was more like an empty field with a ride plonked into the middle, rather than a car park (except then it wouldn't be empty, duh!). It also created massive Skyride queues early on, before the path was built...

barryzola, did you ever get a chance to put any of your old photos online?

Those fields were the car parks... it wasn't until Tussauds took over that there were any tarmac car parks.

And why has this ancient topic been ressurected?

Really?

I might be wrong and hold my hands up if I am, but I can remember the car parks being grass, with people naturally parking first at the monorail entrance, as now, getting further and further towards the gardens as they filled up. The actual area where Thunder Looper sat was a small grassy area with a few trees and shrubs in it, but I don't ever remember cars parking in it - they parked at the end of it (where Beast/Air came to sit).

Here's a diagram (on a much newer aerial shot) of what I remember.
[Link removed]

And here's a diagram of what you seem to be suggesting.
[Link removed]

And what's so wrong with barryzola commenting on an old thread?

I would have loved to expeirience the Thunder Looper. However, I was way too young.

marky, im going to scan those pics this week coming after the weekend then ill message you. i work nights on the weekend so i cant do them til monday/tuesday. ive also got my vid of my visit from couple of weeks ago that you can have a look at sometime.

The loop taken backwards was absolutely outstanding. And what made it even better was the lap bar

[quote=""SparkleAndShine""]I would have loved to expeirience the Thunder Looper. However, I was way too young.

Laurz[/quote]You would have loved it. In my eyes and I'm sure quite a few others, it's the sadest lose Alton Towers have ever had. I may even have to travel to Hopi Hari in Brazil to ride it again one day. It won't be quite the same though if I did. I miss Thunder Looper.

I only ever had one go on the thunderlooper, i was probably about 12 at the time and it was the first coaster i ever went on. The launch was extremely quick but obviously not as smooth as rita's launch. The lap bar surprised me as i expected a full over head restraint.
The loop was fantastic going forwards but even better going backwards, go to blackpool and do the irn bru revolution and you will see what i mean. Going up the other side backwards gave a tremendous view before going back down into the brake run and stopping rather rapidly.
Thunder looper was a fantastic ride, its a shame it had to be removed due to its height and that it was too noisy.

For me the Thunder Looper was the most thrilling ride I'd ever seen.
The anticipation whilst in the queue line made the adrenaline rush through your veins, then you got into your seat and the lap bars seemed so inadequate for what you were about to experience. Then the launch just happened and blasted you into the loop and straight up the climb, if you were in the front seats, you would think that the train was going to go straight over the edge, you were convinced each time it wasn't going to stop. Then it stopped and dropped backwards into the loop again and back up the other side before coming nicely back into the station.
When you got off you would run around and get straight back into the queue line again. There was nothing to match it.
I get very emotional when I see the space which once housed my favourite ride.

i get emotional too. i went on the blade last time i was alton towers just to walk the same queueline and entrance, and you can still see the pit where one end of the looper used to sit..............

A great ride and sadly missed.

What I can't get my head around is how the noise made the nearby cows calve at the wrong time of year. I mean picture this. Bertie the Bull is happily munching away on the grass when all of a sudden WHOOOSH - the TL fires up. So our friend Bertie, being of a very timid nature naturally thinks, "what the f@#k was that? I'm going to have to charge over into that other field now, over that great big hedge and give that lovely Frisian with the big udders who's been eying me up a right good seeing to. That will make me feel better."

Seems to me like it was a case of any excuse to get at AT.

[quote=""The Candyman""]So our friend Bertie, being of a very timid nature naturally thinks, "what the f@#k was that? I'm going to have to charge over into that other field now, over that great big hedge and give that lovely Frisian with the big udders who's been eying me up a right good seeing to.[/quote]

Oh come off it!

EVERYONE knows that Bertie simply wasn't interested in Frisian - she was a right minger!.
It was Hildegarda that really tickled the old boy's fancy.

So, I think we can all blame her for the years of non-launched looping forwards and backwards lack of fun that we have had to endure...

EVERYONE knows that Bertie simply wasn't interested in Frisian - she was a right minger!.

It was Hildegarda that really tickled the old boy's fancy

I can't believe you actually did a search on Google Images for a minging cow and a horny cow!

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