Latest news with #rollercoaster
Daily Mail
13 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
I moved 170 miles with my partner and child just to live next to Alton Towers - I go every day for less than £1
A rollercoaster enthusiast has revealed how he packed up his life and moved 170 miles away in order to live next to Alton Towers. Sam, who is known as @coastertog online and has a partner and young daughter, says he visits the theme park in Staffordshire 'basically every day'. He now only lives a 15-minute drive away from the attraction after making the move from Essex, but admits there's 'not much else to do' nearby - though they do have a Home Bargains. Speaking on his TikTok account, where he has more than 176,000 followers, the thrill seeker confessed: 'I moved 170 miles from Essex just to live nearby to this park. I know it sounds a bit mental but this place makes me happy.' Though tickets to the resort can cost up to £68 for an adult day ticket, Sam insists that it's 'actually pretty cheap' to visit every day, explaining that he has the 'platinum Merlin pass'. This allows him access the park 'whenever I want' and means that, if he visits the park every day, it works out at less than £1 and includes free parking (usually £12). However, he says he's ridden the rides 'so much' that he no longer finds them scary as 'I know exactly what to expect'. When asked if he ever gets 'bored' going on the same rides over and over again, he admitted: 'Truthfully, some of the rides aren't as exciting to me as they used to be.' These days, he generally visits the park as it's become a 'local hangout' for his friends. 'A lot of the time I don't even bother riding anything!' he explained. In addition to making money from sharing rollercoaster videos on TikTok, Sam also has a 'normal job' as a photographer and videographer. This means he is his own boss, and can pop down to the Towers whenever he likes. People were left divided in the comments as, while some said it was their 'dream' to live so close, others didn't get the appeal. When one person commented: 'This is proper sad', Sam replied: 'Can you please tell me how it's any different from you going and watching your team lose from row z mate.' Another asked: 'Have you ever kissed a girl?' Sam had the perfect comeback and responded: 'Married with a kid, geeza.' One sceptical commenter said: 'Do you not think it takes some of the 'magic' away from it? I think I'd get sick of it quickly if I was there so often, but that's just me.' However, another said: 'Honestly this is my dream. Never feel happier than in Alton Towers.' One more said: 'As long as you're happy, fella.' Sam said: 'I am, been through some rough times and doing this has made me happy every single day!' Sam, who fell in love with the park after visiting as a child, says his favourite rollercoaster is the wooden Wicker Man. In May, he shared with excitement that his daughter was finally old enough to go on one of the theme park's rides - the Octonauts Adventure. He wrote on Instagram at the time: 'I can't believe this day has finally come, my daughter has hit 90cm and rode her first ever rollercoaster at Alton Towers! 'I've been waiting for this moment ever since she was born and I'm so immensely proud that she did it! People were left divided in the comments as, while some said it was their 'dream' to live so nearby, others didn't get the appeal He first fell in love with the park when he was a child and now earns money from filming videos of roller coasters 'Alton Towers is such a special place for us and I can't wait for her to hit all the milestones.' In another video, he shared his best tips for beating the queues at the theme park, which notoriously gets very busy, especially at weekends and during the school holidays. In order to 'smash out a bunch of major rides in the first hour', he recommends arriving at the entrance at 9am. After scanning tickets and going through the turnstile, it's then best to head to the 'Forbidden Valley' section of the park. Nemesis opens at 10am, so Coastertog says there will be some waiting around at this point - but this will save 'hours of queuing' later on in the day. Next up was new ride Toxicator, which also had a 'very short' five-minute queue, followed by Galactica, meaning that by 10.45am, he had already ticked off three rides. Underground ride Nemesis Subterra then only had a five-minute queue, meaning he'd completed all rides in Forbidden Valley. Nipping back to Galactica, he spotted that the ride now had an astonishing waiting time of 100 minutes - proving the huge difference that thoughtful planning can make to queuing times. 'Definitely just get out of bed earlier!' he advised. The theme park, based in Alton, Staffordshire, sees more than two million visitors each year and is home to famous rides including The Smiler, Oblivion and Nemesis. Earlier this year, the theme park unveiled its latest ride, the Toxicator, which is the first of its kind in the UK. On the bright green ride, riders are flipped upside down next to water jets, making it perfect for thrill seekers. The theme park notoriously made headlines in 2015 when a Smiler carriage crashed into an empty test train on the track in front of them.
New York Times
18 hours ago
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Riding Your Way Through Epic Universe
'I hope you have an epic experience,' my Lyft driver said with a bit of an ironically cheerful tone as he dropped me off at Universal's Epic Universe in Orlando, Fla. No worries. I was already primed to do just that. I had been reading about the park for the last couple of years, looking over designs, watching construction videos, imagining the worlds and anticipating the works. Now, I was on a mission. I booked two days at the park in June, only two weeks after its official May 22 opening, to experience each of its 11 rides and see if they lived up to what my imagination was conjuring. Here, the eight that I found worthy of attention, based on the ride experience, consistency of theming and just sheer fun. Surprise Favorite How to Train Your Dragon — Isle of Berk As a roller coaster nerd, I went in expecting that I would be most wowed by the park's aggressive signature coaster, Stardust Racers. But I was even more taken by a family coaster in the How to Train Your Dragon — Isle of Berk section. Hiccup's Wing Gliders is a pleasure from beginning to end. I love a well-thought-out themed coaster and this one has fun little tidbits all along the journey. I had a smile on my face the whole time. The concept is that the character Hiccup, from the 'How to Train Your Dragon' movies, has built a flying machine that helps Vikings (like you) soar. You encounter him and the dragon Toothless in animatronic form early on, then Toothless presses a button with his paw (adorable) and launches you into the main part of the ride. There are some delightful weightless moments, and the track weaves its way across green landscapes, directly over water (with impressive splash effects), into a tunnel and through mist. It even has a moment involving some hatching dragon eggs in which the ride goes briefly in reverse before launching you again. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
The Independent
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Independent
Sneak peek at new rollercoaster coming to Blackpool Pleasure Beach
Blackpool Pleasure Beach has released CGI footage of its new rollercoaster, Aviktas, which is set to be the tallest of its kind in the UK. The £8.72 million pendulum ride, scheduled to open in 2026, will stand at 138ft high. Aviktas will seat 40 riders and is designed to sway 120 degrees from side to side, simulating the motion of flying. Upon its launch, the gyro swing will surpass Drayton Manor 's 74ft Maelstrom as the highest in the UK. Watch the video in full above.
The Independent
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Independent
First-look at UK's ‘tallest of its kind' rollercoaster ride set to transform Blackpool Pleasure Beach
Blackpool Pleasure Beach has released footage of an upcoming rollercoaster ride which it has said will be the 'tallest of its kind' in the UK. The amusement park shared a CGI first look on Friday (25 July), which shows the £8.72m pendulum ride called Aviktas swinging across the resort's famous coastline. Set to open in 2026, the 138ft gyro swing will seat 40 riders and sway 120 degrees from side to side to simulate the motion of flying. Following its opening, it will surpass current champion, a 74-ft high gyro swing called Maelstrom at Drayton Manor.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Siren's Curse at Cedar Point got stuck again! What an expert says about the frequent stops
Maybe five times is the charm? For the fifth time since it opened in June, the Siren's Curse roller coaster left riders stranded at Cedar Point. The popular roller coaster stopped atop of its 160-foot-tall lift hill on July 26 forcing riders to have to walk down evacuation stairs. The series of unexpected "delays," in the words of park spokesman Tony Clark, have been the result of the coaster's safety system halting the ride either before or in the midst of its signature tilt feature where riders are dangled over the Midway before the train attaches to the coaster track below. No one has been injured in any of the five instances where the coaster has stopped unexpectedly. In two instances, the coaster stopped mid tilt. If the coaster's safety system can be reset, the ride continues along some 2,966 feet of twisting track at a top speed of 58 mph. When the system cannot be reset, Clark said, guests are then escorted down the evacuation stairs by park personnel. In each instance, the coaster has been able to reopen. "Over the last few weeks, the coaster has experienced minor technical delays − similar to a check engine light − that paused its operation," Clark said. "Its safety system performed as designed, keeping all guests safe. Following a complete systems check, guests either continued their ride then exited in the station, or were safely escorted off the ride if additional review was needed. "Guest satisfaction is extremely important to us, and we will continue to work closely with the ride's manufacturer to deliver an experience without interruption." Is the Siren's Curse safe to ride? Cedar Point says the Siren's Curse is equipped with a series of safeguards to ensure the coaster is operating as expected. These "delays" are a result of the safeguards kicking in. The Coaster101 site points out that the Siren's Curse makes an average of 240 runs a day, or 7,200 in a 30-day period. And when you factor in the number of instances the coaster has experienced a delay, it accounts for just one tenth of one percent. Coaster enthusiast Nick Weisenberger, a mechanical engineer who has authored a couple books on the science of coasters and works with Coaster101, said the ride's safety systems are performing as they should. "It's important to understand that thrill rides are over-engineered for fail-safe performance," he said. "There are hundreds of sensors and they all have to agree otherwise the ride stops out of an abundance for caution." While this type of coaster is new to the U.S., he points out these Vekoma designed rides have been around in other countries for quite some time. And there have been other instances of a tilt coaster leaving passengers dangling including a highly publicized one in Tawain in 2019. Anytime a new coaster is built, Weisenberger said, there's a bit of a "learning curve" for the maintenance and operations department at any particular park and such delays should be expected. "Escape from Gringotts at Universal Studios Florida, opened in 2014, has three motion base track segments including a tilt track," he said. "It also experienced frequent shutdowns and evacuations during its first few months before its reliability was smoothed out." Weisenberger said he has been on the Siren's Curse several times and loved it and would not hesitate to ride it again. "Being positioned right on the Midway is a double-edged sword – it's been great for all the viral videos of the ride working normally, but if it gets stuck at a dramatic angle for even a few minutes then it goes viral for the wrong reasons," he said. This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Siren's Curse at Cedar Point leaves coaster riders stranded again Solve the daily Crossword
