Stormforce 10

Harry

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Opened on the 29th April 1999. Manufactured by BEAR GmbH, Stormforce 10 is the UK's first reverse chute flume ride with 3 drops.
During 2017 the ride was closed as it undergone a refurbishment along side with Pandemonium.

The ride has a total of 10 boats but uses only 6-8 boats during an operation day. During the final drop the boat can reach up to speeds of 40mph before landing in a splashdown section. As well as the first reverse chute to use turntables, the ride uses a unique ramp system to lift the boat so that it can be pushed down the first drop.
 
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Here's an interesting fact.

This dryer is from Alton Towers. It was used by the Flume.
DSC_0825.JPG
 
Stormforce 10 is one of the best themed rides in the park, especially the queueline. Dan regularly expresses his love towards Stormforce and it is his favourite ride in the park. Honestly I would have to back him up, the theming is great and it's great on a summers day.
Aren't you quite the comedian! Without a doubt, I'd say Stormforce 10 has one of the most impressively themed queuelines of any attraction in the UK, it's very immersive whilst being accurate and fitting to the story of the ride too! The theming dotted about the bottom of the ride is also welcomed, it helps add to the experience and turns the ride into something more than it is. The reverse element is also good and gives it a "niche" tagline.

I'm not a fan of the ride, however, but that's nothing personal to Stormforce - I'm just not a fan of rides that soak you, but I'm sure if I was, then Stormforce would be best in the UK!
 
are the boats manufactured by Severn Lamb? they have the company's badges on them
also, is BEAR still in business? I have never heard of them before, they don't have a wiki page and I don't know of any other rides made by them
 
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are the boats manufactured by Severn Lamb? they have the company's badges on them
also, is BEAR still in business? I have never heard of them before, they don't have a wiki page and I don't know of any other rides made by them
Severn Lamb did the refurbishment on the boats. BEAR GmbH ceased as a company but merged with RES and ABC Rides Switzerland, and some of the BEAR staff also worked for Swiss Wheels.
 
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Last summer was a joke not sure how far the queue was inside the main entrance but staff in the shop was warning guests joining the queue that it was roughly a 2 hour queue. 20 years ago I joined the queue near the entrance to Splash Canyon and I don’t think we queued much past the hour. There was long waits between boats been launched out of the station and I don’t think they had more than 6 boats on the track. The only ride that closed the queue line 90 mins before park close.
 
Last summer was a joke not sure how far the queue was inside the main entrance but staff in the shop was warning guests joining the queue that it was roughly a 2 hour queue. 20 years ago I joined the queue near the entrance to Splash Canyon and I don’t think we queued much past the hour. There was long waits between boats been launched out of the station and I don’t think they had more than 6 boats on the track. The only ride that closed the queue line 90 mins before park close.

I think people forget ride procedures do change over time and require the ride to operator differently to how it originally intended for, as we are in this ever changing Society we live in.

If anything I’d say the ride has improved so much since it’s originally opened
 
Indeed, the ride procedure was far less restrictive when it first opened. Stormforce 10 never used to have a proper height restriction: it was just everyone under 1m had to be with an adult. This was changed to 1m regardless in 2003 and then 1.2m a couple of years later after a DMP H&S led re inspection (instigated by a separate incident I think) .
I have had no issue going on the ride over the last year whatsoever, but I can't speak on anyone else's behalf.
What does need to happen is a station repaint, alongside repainting all of the supports and troughs. I understand there was a repaint in 2005, but I don't believe there has been one since (I may be wrong).
 
Does the old radios still work as you go up the lighthouse? Does the fisherman and the bloke who pulls the lever to lift the boat up still work? I not been on it since 2012.
 
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Does the old radios still work as you go up the lighthouse? Does the fisherman and the bloke who pulls the lever to lift the boat up still work? I not been on it since 2012.
The old radios do still work yes, I heard them last year. The fisherman animatronic still works as well yes, it's still pretty new as they replaced the Henry Freeman one after the RNLI sponsership ended, so the new one has only been around for 3 years. Don't know about the lever though, I imagine it only works when the launchpad/ramp is used.
 
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