Thirteen To Scare The Pants Off Of Unsuspecting Brits in 2010
UPDATE – 3/17 New videos reveal Thirteen’s theme, one-of-a-kind element, and some POV video footage. British news shows GMTV and ITV were on location to film the first footage of Thirteen, Alton Towers highly anticipated new roller coaster. Read the full post and watch the videos, but only if you don’t mind seeing the trick Thirteen has up its sleeve. Watch the Thirteen – Alton Towers Videos.
Alton Towers has announced the name of their 2010 roller coaster previously referred to as SW6 or Secret Weapon 6. The Intamin-designed ride will be called Thirteen and it will have a dark, horror-like theme. Details are still a bit scarce, but the ride will open in March 2010, so we’ll know a lot more soon.
For now, we know that theming will be a large part of the ride. So much so that Alton Towers is dubbing 
Thirteen the World’s first Psychoaster. Towers Almanac, an Alton Towers fan site, has a quote from ride consultant John Wardley that sheds a little bit more light on the psychoaster distinction: “Thirteen will be the first ride to play on emotional fear and something coaster fans will not be prepared for.”
Here are some details from the official web site.
Thirteen will be based on the discovery of an unearthed ancient burial site in an area of unexplored woodland known as the Dark Forest.
Built on the site of the old Corkscrew rollercoaster, visitors will be invited to take a petrifying ride on Thirteen, venturing into the seemingly living and breathing Dark Forest. There they will face an unknown horror that has been unleashed from the ancient crypt.
The ride has been developed with the world’s leading coaster and thrill consultants who have collaborated to combine the ultimate elements of physical and psychological fear – to create what experts are dubbing a ‘psychoaster’.
– Alton Towers Thirteen Web Site
Alton Towers is already home to the world’s first dive coaster (Oblivion), B&M’s first flying coaster (Air) and a critically acclaimed inverted coaster (Nemesis). It’s cool that Alton Towers could add another stand-out roller coaster to their lineup. And, I’m glad to see that they’re continuing to do something original.
Thirteen’s Waiver & Age Limitations
UPDATE – 12/12: This is unprecedented. According to a Sun article, Thirteen will be so scary that the park is going to have riders sign a waiver and be within a specified age limit. Here’s more from the article:
The £15million ride will be restricted to 16 to 55-year-olds only and visitors limited to one ride per day “due to concerns about emotional maturity and physical health”, resort bosses said.
Adrenaline junkies will also be required to sign a waiver which assures the resort of their physical and mental health “to avoid any resulting lawsuits”.
Read the full article.
The extra safety measures could have one of two purposes. It could be just a lot of hype to make the public believe that Thirteen’s the scariest ride known to man. Or it could be an honest effort to absolve the park from any lawsuits resulting from emotional distress cases. Either way, we won’t know until those first few ride reviews are posted in March.
UPDATE – 4/2010 Now that Thirteen has been open for a while, feel free to rate it using my Rating System and leave a short review or comment below.
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What’s Your Take?
What do you think about the name and theme for Alton Towers’ new psychoaster Thirteen? How about the waiver and age limits? Do you think they’re needed or just for hype? Leave a comment below.
Coaster Critic 
85 responses to “Thirteen Announced as Alton Towers’ 2010 Psychoaster”
Interesting, very interesting. I'll see you England next March!
I just finished reading a book that takes place at alton towers, the watchers by ellen croswell. although it`s an older book and takes place more in the gardens and around a ride called the black hole, which i suspect used to be where oblivion is. it has a bit of an odd concept but it`s a great book that any book/theme park lover should read.
For sure just for hype. It's like when you have to sign a waiver when you buy the hottest hot sauce. This is going to cause high expectations for this ride though & I hope they can deliver.
i think it will deliver, just cause it is Alton Towers
AAH! NOTHER NEW ICON! I AM SO MAD!
yeah, i liked your old one better.
You get a new avatar every time you use a new email address to comment. Stay on topic please 🙂
CFC, are you actualy going to england in March?
i just noticed the update, what is it with the waivers and age restrictions, is that even legal?
Yes, it is. The park owns the ride, so thay can restrict it and basiclly do anything they want with it.
Heck yes, I'm going to England! I'm going to go on vacation near Alton Towers next year, in March. You can be sure I'm going to be there.
I'm a major coaster lover… this new idea is interesting… i do so hope its like they predict, because some of these things can be pretty lame… I think the parts you have to sign will be there, just so that the element of reality of the situation is planted in your mind, however i cannot see the age restriction, atleast the minimum age… I hope this isn't hype with no show… see you all at alton towers March 2010!!!
The age limit thing almost certainly has to be hype, no theme park would spend millions on a ride and then stop certain people riding, there was talk about Saw at Thorpe park having an age restriction and as far as Im aware it doesnt carry one. So for its sounding good and I just hope it turns out better than Saw at Thorpe Park. Alton Towers needs a new big ride as they havent added any in a while.
Quil, the black hole was just across from Oblivion in the X-Sector but closed in 2005, it was a suprisingly decent ride which people missed out on because of the bigger rides.
i just thought that beacause oblivion dropped into that tunnle, thanks for the clear-up jjhobo, you seem, to know alot about alton towers.
I like the name and the logo; the rest is just hype which I find unfortunate because the ride should speak for itself.
The track and support design on this coaster looks similar, if not identical to that on the old Jumbo Jets/Speed Racers. The profile of the drops and the high banked curves low to the ground are also reminiscent of those designs. It looks fun.
I think it will really be more of a family ride, but perhaps with gory haunted house theming inside? Saw: The Ride has obviously been an inspiration for this ride.
i hate gory.
hmmm i think it will be new and different, and i think that it will provide experience which Alton Towers are hoping for… Think about it, they have been correct about their other rides: air, being flying, oblivion: first vertical drop, nemeis: first inverted etc… I feel they'll be true to their words and thirteen will contain unseen experiences… however, the age restriction is hype… you will have to sign a form, just to implant fear into the mind (psychological)… it's set in a crypt… i think there will be a LOT of illusions and I cannot wait!!!
[…] require riders to sign a waiver, be between the ages of 16 and 55, and limit rides to once per day. The Coaster Critic’s Blog has more. Also, visit the official Alton Towers Thirteen web site. Post Published: 14 December […]
To be honest i couldn't care it opens on my birthday so no matter what, if i have to sign anything or not im getting my arse there and on that ride!
Come on People! I am a big Intamin fan (but B&M has Intamin totally beat) The Saw Roller coastert has no waiver or age limit, and that coaster has blood, torture, and a lot oof violence in the line alone! So I am pissed!
Alton Towers has to be the best theme park in the UK… Don't think i belive anything about the age limit.. The height one – i think will be the same as oblivion… March can't come quick enough
Nemesis wasn`t the first Invert, thjat wasa Batmab:the ride.
I`ve never seen saw but a couple of my friends have. Most of them said it was stupid, 1 of them said it was scary, and the rest said they`d rather not talk about it. If they seriously have that stuff in the queue, i may not ride it just for that reason. (that is, if i ever find myself in the UK)
i am so pissed about the age limit. just because i am 11 doesn't mean i'm not emotionally mature so it better just be made up and i have been on saw
Im pretty disappointed in whats been revealed about the ride over the past few weeks, it is a family coaster and the world first element is a free fall drop, obviously I will have to ride it first but its definatly not what I was expecting for a major new attraction at Alton Towers. The ride experience will have to be top notch in terms of themeing and things going on, this ride already to me has huge let down all over it.
family coaster? Thirteen?
Obviously the themeing wont be family friendly but the coaster model itself is an intamin family coaster according to various sources on the internet, I read it in the European coaster club magazine and its apprently been confirmed.
I was expecting something more in line with Nemesis etc but it appears this ride will be more in line with something like the Mummy rides at Universal studios, which wont be a bad thing but I just cant help being abit let down by it.
I live about 40mins from Alton Towers and go several time every year.
The whole age limit and waver thing is TOTAL HYPE!! But we love it and it just makes me want to go even more!!
I really think ‘Thirteen’ will put Alton Towers back on the map and will make me remember why I love it there so much.
Bring on March…………………..
Oh and September when I’m in the US seeing some of the best theme parks IN THE WORLD! Whoo!!
Yeh I think its is going to be Mummy esk, too. I think the Mummy is amazing, so I will be please if its even half as good!!!!!
Nemesis was the first inverted rollercoaster….
Nemesis was opened in March 1994 &
Batman:The Ride was opened April 1994
So it shows how much you know I take it your American!!
I don't believe I'm actually doing this: Here's Nemesis' RCDB page stating that it did open in March of 1994. And here's Batman: The Ride at Six Flags Great America's RCDB page showing that it opened in May of 1992. It's okay. I wouldn't suppose that they teach a lot of American history over in the UK, do they? 🙂
hey man, dont be racist
i mean lian not cc
let me guess, cedar point is on your list.
I worked at Alton Towers last year and everything was kept top secret. However I do know thats its going to be a worlds first in something that will happen on the coaster. I have heard rumours however I doubt they're true so I won't waste my time mentioning them. Its also got a lengthy track and is a big coaster, if I find out anymore I'll let you know.
wow… i think if you have an age limit, like cheetah chase at BGT, you should either:
if a kid wants to go on, have the parents sign something
or, make it 13 at the most (no pun intended)
!3, too high. what about ten whitrh a parents approval. (singed approval(waver))
Yes, 13 IS to high. I don't even think there should be a age limit. To me, as long as someone reaches the hight limit, they can ride. My little brother won't be able to ride with that age limit. I hope they take the age limit away altogether.
Worlds first *7 hour Queue*. please dont bin this observation again, im being serious (in an English sort of way).. Have myself been Alton Towers maybe 15 times and the queues:admission ratio gets so bad you sometimes are paying £10 a ride on the biggest coasters (and standing in Queues all day to pay that too). They will be hard pushed to beat Oblivion and Nemesis anyway so i wouldnt get my hopes up on this. just another gimmick. Thorpe park has a better Nemesis and Stealth (I know you boys have Dragster and stealth is only half the height but im comparing similar rides here). blackpool doesnt have the problems with queue times that towers does and has some serious rides. Towers needs a decent capacity Ridefilm ride in my opinion, and a double circuit on oblivion. There wont be an age limit for thirteen, its towers bull. Trust me. also i would like to see jonny towers evict someone out of the queue for trying to ride it twice in a day… Not going to happen 😉
actualy i think he was refering to the fact that i knew it was batman was the first.(wait.. was it)
I didn't 'bin' your comment. I just hadn't gotten around to approving it yet. Thanks for the points from across the pond. I never knew that Alton had such bad wait times. Are there off days that you can suggest where the lines are shorter?
i dont eiher, i said that cause they are saying that is so scary you have to be 16 to ride it… i like the waiver thing tho
My guess – only on closed days. 😦
Any weekdays where England play in the soccer world cup are usually quieter (If we make it to the finals that is. LOL). Weekdays during school term times, but beware of half term and bank holidays. I now avoid any weekend or school holiday when visiting towers. It is a very popular destination over here and this new ride will only cement that fact. I am looking forward to riding it sometime in the next few months :). Though im looking forward to revisiting thorpe park more, even though its an extra 90 minutes each way in the car.
What about cold sundays?
Take a warm coat for standing in the queues.
Pretty much the same goes for thorpe park though (for SAW at least) … So not singling out towers. But for the best experience (rain or shine) go when the schools are open and you would queue maybe 40 minutes max for the top rides.
For a lot more details about 'Thirteen' check out http://sw6.towerstimes.co.uk/ a fair few photo's and the coaster plans (assume they're legit)
There is also a lot of speculation about this ride, including a freefall section of the ride as part of the first switchback (i.e. Tower of Terror type drop in the dark before being shot out backwards)
Either way, looks as sounds like a great ride and looking forward to the opening.
Well, I think that this is going to be kind of cheesie. It's probally going to be something like (Mr. Six's)Pandemonium with that robotic arm thing that will hardly move. If I am right, it just proves the fact that 13 is too high of an age restriction. No offense to anybody, but Pandemonium is more of a kiddie coaster.
I definitley wouldn`t consider pandemonium cheesie (they got rid of the mr.six crap) or a kiddie ride. mind you, kids who are afraid to go farther than kiddie rides may venture tords it, but it`s still thrilling, fun, and wild for all ages.
When I said Pandemonium is a more of a kiddie ride, I meant in my opinion. What I was trying to say was that it's okay, but (still in my opinion) it's kind of boring. If you like it, I'm not saying that you shouldn't, it's a good ride, but it was kind of boring for me, given the fact that I have ridden rides like it many times.
I also stated in my comment above that the arm thing will hardly move, but looking at the pictures of the trains in Aberis's link, they just look like uncomfortable little trains, again, if my predictions are correct, proving the fact that the age limit is too high.
I guess, in a sentance, that I predict Thi3teen will just be a bad ride that has been overly hyped and probally overrated.
I think Alton Towers may be against that Idea, just the reason to make it small, but realy fun. like thunderhead for example. except probably stickiing closer to the ground.
cant wait to goo on 13 im goeen on the 7th 😀
Can't wait to go on 13, going on the 23rd of April, can anyone answer this: Is there definitely an age restriction 'cause I'm only 13 and I'm desperate to go on it?
If anyone can answer I'd be grateful thanks 🙂
Yes, if you go on weekdays its not as busy.
I went on a weekday and went on nemesis about 10times.
Weekend- twice.
LOL YOU BUNCH OF WERIDOSSS (:
Agreed, Quil, that was a little uncalled for. All of you. Zoghty, by calling us weirdos, and JaMeS and Quil by saying shutup. Remember, you need to be careful or CC will kick you off the site.
I tried out the new ride '13' at Alton Towers yesterday. I'm afraid to say I felt it was a dissapointment. I guess with all the hype about this new ride, that didn't help much either. The ride costing £15 million? certainly doesn't justify the expense in my view. Like many other rides with the exception of Nemesis, Thirteen is over too quickly and pretty short on thrills, there isn't even any atmosphere put into the ride – what a pity. I understand Alton Towers is governed by restrictions on height for their rides due to complaints by local residents but while that restriction are in place, I think most of the Park's forthcoming rides will dissapoint. It's sister theme park 'Thorpe Park' is probably the better option for real thrill rides in the UK in the future.
There were no age restrictions that I was aware of yesterday – you'll be fine.
sorry, that dude was just being realy anoying and i hate it when someone talks the way JaMeS did.
Yeah, I know, Quil. Still, don't get too worked up over it. You know, Zoghty is probably never coming back. He probably just goes to random chat sites, disses everyone, then leaves, never to return there. I've "met" a few of them in my time.
i just no that kid from school, and nobody likes him…
Really? Well, that figures. Often times, outcasts can be jerks on the Internet.
Am i a jerk?
i wouldn`t say you have to be very care ful not to get kivked off the site, just don`t be a jerk.
PS-he got the smile wrong your supposed to do this 🙂 .
Standing in the queue right now for 13… An hour and 15 so far, and still a huge queue ahead!!! Let you know how it goes!! If I ever get to the front of the queue!!!
X
Did you survive Thirteen, Julie? What'd you think?
Queued for about an hour for 13 and was really looking forward to a good scare and a good rollercoaster but I'm afraid I got neither. The start of the ride is a mediocre rollercoaster with an average decent. This part is over within a very short space of time then u enter a dark tunnel only to drop (not very far) on another track and go backwards in the dark for a short time then it's all over. Very over-hyped. I was majorly disappointed. 😦
is there an age restriction on the ride, i heard there was a 16 year old age limit
Queued for 2 hrs yesterday, got off the ride an hour and a half after park closing time due to technical faults and ride only at half capacity, not enough time to give up and queue for Rita again. Spent entire time discussing with those around us whether the people coming off the ride actually looked scared, as the 'dark forest' build up is a let down in itself. Turns out they were only pale white because it's very cold in the dark forest section. Extremely brief ride, the crypt section is a bit of a laugh but not worth waiting more than 20 minutes for, which even at peak times is as long as you'd wait for Nemesis which is a million times better than Thirteen. Noticed on the way out there was still 40-60 minutes worth of people waiting to go on. Age restrictions and waivers etc are all marketing ploys to hype the ride up.
LOL went on this ride today!
and as someone who is scared of rollercoasters this ride was a joke.. it lasted about a minute and wasnt even scary at all :/.. dont know what the hype is about it was rubbish not worth the queue at all..
bring back the corkscrew. Its such a shame alton towers has wasted 15 million on a second rate kiddie roller coaster.
well well.
Actually managed to get on this ride last week. Queued for 90 minutes (stationary queue for 30 minutes due to 'safety testing'). What can i say…… Crap for a modern 'white knuckle' ride but i dont think towers were looking for another nemesis or oblivion. I did enjoy the ride, especially the reverse bit after the drop. Its just a shame the drop isnt something like 50 feet rather than about five.
Marks out of ten, well i put 7 for 'good'. But have to say it only really deserves a queue of twenty minutes maximum.
They should have left the corkscrew in place as well, not that i ever bothered with its neck jarring rubbish in the last 15 years but it did hoover up plenty of people from the other queues around the park.
You don't know for sure that it won't. it may have just been a busy day.
It wasnt quiet thats for sure. Lots of student types and possibly rollover from the previous days football skivers. But virtually zero under 16s.
Its gonna be heaving at towers over the summer holidays if this weather continues.
I went to alton towers for my dads birthday at the end of june, mainly because we didn't want to get stuck at home doing nothing and wanted to check out the new 'thirteen' ride there.
so my mum got us tickets via tesco vouchers (which saved us paying any money)
All I can say is that we wasted 2 hours of waiting for the new thirteen ride to only be disappointed! it was terrible for my age range and higher. it wasn't exciting enough. maybe for small 8 year olds, yes. but it sucked!
compared to other coasters in the country such as stealth and saw, it was a disappointment to say the least!
if we had to pay the usual entry price of about £40pp for the four of us, it would've been a big waste and I feel sorry for those who did and were disappointed.
Nemesis was the best ride of the day and the only ride worth going for.
Also we discussed the rating we would give it on the ride home. the four of us decided a generous 2 out of 10 for 'thirteen'.
You must appreciate that rides can be built for say 10 year olds ?. For which i think thirteen would be a good scary type ride. The queues dont justify the ride granted, but the corkscrew was the same. I class thirteen in the same catergory as 'air', good for being what it is. But only if the queue is ten or twenty minutes would i go back on. The best three seconds of any ride in the country is on oblivion, its a shame they didnt look at this fact when designing thirteen, because if there was a 50 or 60 foot drop in that crypt we would be hearing very different reviews. Shame really but look at the positives, your ride on Nemisis definately happened sooner due to the queues on thirteen.
If Nemesis was the only ride going for then i suggest you only go Thorpe park in the future. Their Nemesis is better, they have saw (which is bearable for the queue times), collossus and not forgetting stealth, which i managed to get on five times in the space of an hour.
Queued for 3 hours to see what all the hype about 13 was, it kept breaking down. What a load of crap that was, the queues wont be as long when word gets about. They would probably be better demolishing it and bring the Swan Boats back.
Went July 20th with mates. Disappointing day all round. I didnt even get to 13. Queue times were 90 mins +. We queued 120m for oblivion. So glad I didn't stand in line for 13 considering the disappointing reviews. Nothing was queues under 60 m except duel (which o love) and blade…lol. big waste of money!
Towers really is a big waste of money. They dont have the ride capacity for the amount of people they let in.
we visited Alton Towers 27/7/2010……we did the big rides and thought we would try the new ULTIMATE 13……..PILE OF PANTS….. to much HYpe for NOTHING…………..! Dissapointing
the literally scared the HELL out of me in addition to that im only nine so i was TERRIFIED 8 out of 10 for me it is just too extreme and the drop stationery drop was too short still terrific coaster
First time I went on it I went on the single riders and literally just walked right onto it, and I got to sit next to my mate. However the second time we queued for an hour only for it to break down. Ride was okay. Not worth 15 million. They should have spent it on a newer higher Oblivion or something, but that tree line rule really sucks.
nice review mate thanks thirteen is great I agree, I have wanted to go to this theme park for such a long time, I don’t even mind if I dont go on thirteen though from your review it sounds great. wanted to help the site found some nice value
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The first bit was alright but the drop was soooooo scary