The Abandoned History of Slammer - The Last Sky Swatter | Expedition Thorpe Park
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 3 окт 2024
- Thorpe Park has been home to many different flat rides over the years. One unique attraction known as the Slammer was one of only two ever built in the world. After years of technical issues the ride was eventually closed and sits abandoned.
expthemepark
www.patreon.com/expeditionthemepark
expeditionthemepark
Credits -
Super Enthused - • Thorpe Park MY FIRST T...
ExtremelyMario - • Video
UK Theme Parks - • Eclipse at Thorpe Park...
ishigee - • Samurai (Thorpe Park)
RESSandS - • S&S Power Sky Swatter
Coaster Junkie - • S&S "Fungee" Tower Rid...
RESSandS - • S&S Power Tower Rides
Summer Sweetman - • Detonator at Worlds of...
larryb9969 - • " BIGSHOT " POV day an...
Adam Stroman - • Doctor Doom Universal ...
KDGoldenYears - • Hypersonic XLC on "Ext...
chrismulvihill - • S&S Worldwide Thrill R...
Thorpe Park Central - • Rush 2005 Thorpe Park ...
JohnYChen - • Swat at Astroworld at ...
Soltau Cruise - • Slammer at Thorpe Park...
Theme Park Vault - • Video
cryptiksouls - • Thorpe Park - Slammer ...
Coaster CLips - • Slammer Offride HD Tho...
Thrillridesuk - • Slammer update June 20...
Theme Park James - • Slammer breakdown at T...
Theme Park Videos by acquaz10 - • Six Flags New England ...
Glen - • LOGGERS LEAP LAST WALK...
Thrillridesuk - • Old Town - Thorpe Park...
What is your number one flat ride?
Time Machine, Adventure Island. The sustained G forces are incredible!
Definetly Supreeme Scream at Knotts
Without a doubt, Maelstrom/Axis/any frisbee ride.
Dice shaker
I quite liked Nemesis: Sub-terra
The Slammer sounds like a nickname for a ride at Action Park.
could be!
omg yes lol i have actually been to action park
@@lmaoitsharrison recently, or when it was BAD?
@@lmaoitsharrison stop the cap bro
LMAO😂😂
Space shot, sky swing, screaming squirrel, screaming swing, sky swat.
Really took the S & S branding seriously.
Ha yes!
They also did a Snow Shot
Hard Sell heck I didn’t notice till you mentioned it! Awesome!
swing shot
You can read the first four items in that list to the tune of We Didn't Start The Fire.
* Sees “The Slammer” in description *
Not sure if talking about a flat ride or prison...
ha
@@ExpeditionThemePark ho
I wondered why the theme has been stuck in my head for the last day!
I don't remember the restraints being uncomfortable but I've never been on any other ride that pushed so much blood to my head than Slammer did
Submission ha
Expedition Theme Park yes I agree
I rode both and they hurt very much
Ended up getting bruises on my shoulders after going on this and was like no never again
Roly! i love your vids
Lol same the worst
Wow really ouch
OMG ROLY HI
They should put memory foam on those rides xD
Seeing footage from a park that is completely closed down or a ride that no longer exists gives me the chills.
Right!
It's worse when it's a ride you used to work on, and then you smile when you realise that even though you gave it nothing but your best, the ride still gave you the finger on a daily basis....
Abandoned theme parks are one of ly favourite youtube video binges
both of those are in this video
When you ride these rides, your body LITERALLY feels and reacts as though it's about to die, even though you feel you are having fun.....that swatter one? Oh hell no
Where did you hear that?
That's how I feel on all extreme rides. Even though I mentally understand I am ok and the physics will keep me alive my body thinks death is near lol
@@KirstenMarie_MS3 it's common sense
@@carolync5900 right, your body thinks you just drove your car off a cliff. But the logical brain is saying, you'll be safe. Lol
Wow. Would you make the Abandoned History of Schlitterbahn Kansas City?
yes
Prentis Roberson It’s abandoned?? 😵 I wrote a HUUUGE comment on the fatal ride on Verrückt that got over 3,000 Likes on The Atlantic RUclips channel.
Syclone0044 yeah they’re talking about making it a swimming pool complex/baseball fields. Don’t know that they even fully reopened after that tragic day.
Patrick O’Meara They did and didn’t. The area of Verrukt was closed off after the accident but the rest of the park was open for a while until the lack of ticket sales buried them for good.
It's a shame. Went there every year with family.
"Sky Swat 1 looks too intense for me!"
"I want to get off Sky Swat 1!!!"
“I haven’t finished my tentacle yet!”
"Just looking at sky swat 1 makes me feel sick"
Is someone watching me? 🙂
“Sky Swat 1 is a really good value!”
Seeing Loggers Leap abandoned still hurts me, I grew up with that ride. A huge part of Thorpe Park's legacy
Worse thing they did letting it rot
Did they ever come up with a logical explanation for closing it? It was a cracking ride and is really sorely missed, the double down finale was always so much fun
@@LeoElso I belive something to do with the lift being unstable? That's what I had heard. Got pics of me on it as a kid.
Loggers leap was such a good ride, glad i got to go on it and get a pic
Yeah, but when that new coaster gets built I think I can accept it being gone 😅
Just want to add I used to go on this ride all the time with my cousin and we were young enough to pop the ride harnesses off our shoulders and push it around us and stand up when it was flat and then pop ourselves back in when it started moving.
Very stupid and rather dangerous looking back. Great times
What if an S&S sky Swatter was placed next to F.L.Y 🤔 would it be called F.L.Y swatter
YES!
Lol
Just the best comment 😂💧💦🌊
And then everyone would perish :)
“Your fray with slammer has now come to an end” - Best words ever. Never have I felt so unsafe and uncomfortable on a ride.. Great video, Thanks!
I was never able to ride either version of this ride. I never even got to see them operate. Thanks for another informative video!
Look! Another verified account making a pointless comment so we will look at his profile!!!!!
@@seanthebandgeek5040 Ha ha. Either that or I actually love Sam's work and have a long history of allowing Sam to use my footage in his videos. Thanks for playing.
Remember going on this back in sep 2016 with my then boyfriend and niece. Didn’t know what it did and was wanting to be the caring and protective auntie for my niece and she loved it while I was praying to the gods to end the ride! What a crazy experience!
I remember seeing this at six flags and thought it was a really terrible idea for a ride.. Riding it was just as I had expected. Going forward is great but the upsidedown pulling force is the worst type of forces you can get on any ride.
I'm in the group that loved slammer! I was gutted when both this and loggers leap closed (and the original x no way out for that matter) its weird as i get older to see rides closing that i have great memories of. I always enjoyed slammer, never found it to be too intense or uncomfortable, just a really fun experience, i'd usually spend the whole ride duration laughing 😂
I remembered a few different times going and it being closed and was quite sad, then found out it had been officially shutdown after the fact. At the time i had no idea it was a unique concept that isnt featured at any other park... real shame to know that theres no way to experience it again now.
Loving your channel, another great video 👍
I still remember when I was having second thoughts on getting on Sky Swat . I'm glad I rode it now with my dad because now it is a unique memory . I loved it.
I rode the swing at Cedar Point. Omg it must be the best and the most scary flat ride I,ve experienced. I also love launching towers😍 and the noise of S&S rides is just music to my ears.
One of the best rides Thorpe Park had. I was actually at the front of the queue of the video at 10:52 where it went up to the top as usual, started spinning and then dropped slightly. Took quite a while to start to get everyone off but didn't see it all happen as they evacuated that section of the park.
I was informed by an "insider" that the real reason they decided to close it was due to a conversation between the guys at Thorpe and S&S which went like this:
Thorpe: what can we actually do if this gets stuck upside down?
S&S: haha just hope it doesn't... 👀
It was around the same era that Merlin went H&S crazy (6ft fences everywhere) after the Smiler accident, and they obviously couldn't afford anymore bad press through Slammer, so it had to go.
It's happened, an external power grid failure coincided with one of Slammers regular hissy fits and the ride coasted to a stop in an almost completely vertical position. Took 2 of us about 45 mins physically pulling the drive motors to get the ride right side up before we could lower it back down....... I suppose it's what happens when you get a BOGOF offer on a bloody prototype.
@@leeowen4989 Cool. Did you not have more staff to pull the motor? Seems strange to do it with such a few amount of people if it takes that long. After the accident I understand them not wanting it to be stuck in a fully inverted position if it takes that long to right.
@@disownedpear There is only enough room on each platform for 2 people, and even if there was room for more, you still wouldn't be able to turn the motor any faster.
@@leeowen4989 Fabulous design haha. Thx for the info.
@@leeowen4989 Ah a theme park engineer! I almost quit my job to join you. I bet you've some interesting stories
Ah I did love the ride! Left hand side first was good - on a good day you can see so much so far, used to love watching people on the other side watching you
I rember going on the Slammer, it was an absolutely insane experience, never knew it closed and went extinct, guess I have a unique memory :)
I've never been much of a fan of flat rides - I love the journey and "round and round" isn't much of a story! I think they made a big mistake when they decided to make Thorpe Park all thrills and Chessington all kiddy rides, cut off all the families and groups of mixed levels of thrill-seeking. Am I showing my age by fondly remembering the train that took you across to the farm? Thrill rides all morning, lunch then an hour seeing cute animals, then back to the rides once you're less likely to feel sick!
I agree i also think it was a mistake. I love the train and heading to the farm
Chessington has restrictions imposed on them by Surrey County Council. as to how high they can have constructions This is one of the reasons they have difficulty having high white knuckle rides.
Slammer is easily the best flat ride I’ve ever been on. I remember the first time I went on it, I was so shocked by how intense it was. Such a gem in the park with hardly any queues!
Wow, that ending gave me chills!!! That was an amazing episode, I wish I could’ve ridden it. Thank you for that episode!
Thank you so much for watching
I rode Catapult as a kid many times in SF NE and yeah, the shoulder restraints even hurt me then. It still stands as the most intense flat ride I've ever been on and I think Slammer is a better name for the model because it really does feel like you're about to be slammed into the ground.
I missed it when it stopped working at Six Flags and was eventually removed. Love anything intense, no matter how much it hurts.
This is the only ride I refused to go on because it hurt so bad
An incredible, intimidating and mechanical marvel that I rode once as it was always closed on future visits.
I love rollercoasters, but I have never felt like I trusted one of these tall arm based rides. Just tracks for me please.
This was 100% the scariest ride there, it was never open until like 2014 ish when it opened half days. The restraints not having the full over the shoulder restraints made it terrifying like you’d actually fall out, you’d have to push your feet and tense your body up as you went over. My favourite was going over the top first. I luckily rode it almost every time I went, sometimes twice due to low queue times. I’d love to go on it again
I loved riding catapult in its short run at Six Flags New England. Weird ride for sure but always enjoyed it. Restraints were weird for sure and the shoulder restraints would often click a few notches down during the ride which didn't feel great..... but I always still loved it lol
I never went on slammer, but I'll always love it for one time. I was at Thorpe park with a group of friends, we stopped for lunch and there was one friend (who lived 5 minutes from Thorpe park and had a season ticket) refused to stop and break into his ride time. When we met up with him after lunch, we found out that he'd left us, got straight on slammer and it broke down with him on it. He'd only just got off again.
Hahaha
Seeing your videos on my feed cures my depression for a while
Aw i am glad i could help a little!
I miss this ride so much, I see it at thorpe park all the time.
Would love if you could do an episode on chessington world of adventures terror tomb, that was one of the best dark rides ever made.
One of the most intense flat rides I’ve ever been on. Don’t remember the restraints being bad, but I did only get to go on it once
It was!
You had to go on it once to understand “ok maybe i dont pull this thing down all the way so im crushing my spine” 🤣
Well, if they haven't scrapped it, and said "who said it was getting scrapped", I hope they and S&S are working a solution for this due to popularity
Slammer was such a great ride. One of the best flat rides ever in the UK. I never found it uncomfortable but it was a problem child. I hope S&S try it again one day but more reliable.
Totally agree!
Your intro music is so nostalgic . Love it
do da da da
I went on this ride for my 16th birthday and the ride operator sang happy birthday to me over the tannoy whilst I was on the ride and got guests to join in. Definitely one of my favourite theme park memories and it was so sad when I went back years later and saw Slammer was no long in operation
Now that I'm finally into thrill rides, I'm sad to have missed Slammer. It looks like the best flat ride at Thorpe Park.
it was a fun one!
This is a interesting flat ride. If I have to pick, my favorite flat ride would have to be la revolucion at knotts. That's what helped me get over my fear of pendulum rides
A good choice
This seriously was an amazing experience and I feel kinda lucky for being able to have many great rides on The Slammer. I'll always remember my first ride being in the pouring rain and I still came off with a huge smile on my face. Also, yes. I love Marmite too ;)
I only rode this on an uncharacteristically nice day. I dread to think how it felt to ride it in the rain.
Great video! It relieves old forgotten rides like this one!
Glad you enjoyed it!
I got to ride the Slammer about twice a few months before it closed.
Footage of the ride in operation really does not give off the impression that the ride is enjoyable.
Wrong this thing was the single most enjoyable flat ride experience I've ever had the joy to ride.
And I am so saddened that The Slammer is abandoned. I hope at some point in the future it will reopen. Being the last of its kind...
Unlikely sadly.
I had the chance to ride the version in Six Flags New England a few times. It does get a bit intense at the bottom, but was surprisingly less intense than it looks.
Matt Proper-Lee the one over there is a bit smaller I think so it’s less intense
even though it is sad that it lays there abandoned, it looks awesome. However a nice Huss topspin would do well there 👀
7:37 "That's what pumps our blujihmehmrd"
Pumps up our adrenaline, but yeah that took me 3 tries to understand
I went Thorpe park many times and once a few years ago, I managed to go there while Slammer was operating and there was a queue, me and my mate even got to the part of the queue where they told us which side to sit but then he backed out when he saw how it turns, god I wish I had ridden it alone at least once. But I chose to go with him. Now I've been a few times but its always remained shut.
That ending sentence is so true, its just that merlin arnt willing to invest so sadly rides are just sat their not giving a good impression. Hopefully things will change soon and merlin can stop neglecting Thorpe. :)
I hope so
Merlin are treating Thorpe like it’s an abandoned seaside pier.
I really want them to get a giga
@@fazbeartowers43a.k.awicker20 they won't, they have a height limit of around 225ft around saw and loggers i think, but over by the swarm is closer to Heathrow, so the limit is 205ft
@@asterisks3062 oh that sucks well they could get a hyper
I was working as Security at Thorpe Park during the time it was stuck for 3 hours, it was horrible, kids stuck up there in 34c getting sunburn and dehydration… we had engineers climbing up to give them suncream and water! Luckily no hospital trips but definitely a horrible experience for the people stuck!
As a thorpe park local it's such a shame that I missed riding this one
me too
I rode the one at Astroworld a couple of times. It was uncomfortable when you were going upside down with the shoulder restraints. The workers always made sure to push it down on to your shoulders when they were checking it. That, and Looping Starship, had the most uncomfortable restraints at Astroworld.
it could be
If about 854K people slammed the sub-button after watching, ETP would reach a million in no time. He deserves it for everything he does!
aw that would be nice ha! But i am grateful for those who watch and enjoy :)
When you said ETP I for some reason though it said EDP like EDP445
I’m glad I got to experience the slammer in Thorpe park years ago like 2011 it was a amazing ride I would never think it would have issues crazy
I was on the first ever ride with people onboard when I worked at Thorpe. Craig David was also on the ride totally randomly!
he is everywhere!@
Brilliant ride this was, I consider myself lucky to have ridden it 🔥
I enjoyed it!
But have you ever experienced it breaking down on you?
I have!
Cr Cool King 36 Same although only a few times it broke down a lot. I found it to be fun but slightly uncomfortable as I was small and always got stapled in. I loved Diablo Falls, this replaced was either next to Taz’s Texas Tornado which I never got the chance to ride it was always broken I remember we saw it open once ran too it stood in line and it broke again.
I was never interested in it. I'm not really a "flat rides" kind of person. It'll be weird once it's removed, whenever that will be, but if it was such a pain to run, it's better off being replaced. I agree that section of the park is kinda dead and boring. I didn't know that 2016 was the last time is operated full time [sort of], I was working at the park then so this is news to me. I guess if I was a ride ops or on another team, I would have heard about it sooner - I was on the hospitality team.
This was hands down my favourite flat ride at the park. No other would give you that extreme feeling of impending doom. Brilliant stuff
Love your detailed videos. Thank you so much. I am a huge amusement park fan so this is my guilty pleasure 👍
Thank you so much for watching
I rode it but I don’t even remember if I liked it or not 😭 I think it hurt my shoulders but was a fun ride!
Had one of these at the six flags in Massachusetts, didn't last more then 1 season I think, but it was pretty fun when I rode it
Oh I can also confirm that it did indeed definitely had a crack on its main boom. Massive yikes!
Thorpe park seriously need to bring in a new coaster. They haven’t had one since 2012! Alton Towers has had 2 since then! The site of the loggers leap would be perfect for one.
Aww i really like this flat ride. How can this ride have so many issues it's not that complicated lol
air!
Thank you for another fantastic video. Please can you do an abandoned featuring the Vekoma Canyon Trip? That would be sweet 👍🏼
Great idea! yes
Expedition Theme Park The only two I know of is Canyon Trip at AA and The Gauntlet at Busch Gardens. A unique ride that deserves its own expedition. I think an interview with Vekoma is on the cards 😊
Use to love this ride. I always look at it when I'm on the park and think I wish I could ride it again.
A shame really
@@ExpeditionThemePark yeah I agree. Especially as its the only one left. Would be nice to do something with it if they could.
Rode the one at Six Flags New England. It was intense, but those restraints, especially the lap bar, would non-stop tighten on you the entire ride. Couldn't wait to get off, although the gforces were great.
Sad ill never be able to experience this 😢 I love unique flat rides.
This ride was absolute carnage!! Most intense flat I've EVER ridden. Don't make em like this anymore!! Felt like a vice was being squeezed round your head!! But loved it!!
12:13 Signage was removed and it came back? That’s rare.
I was at Six Flags New England when this ride opened there. I was absolutely too scared to ever go on it though. My friend went on it and completely regretted it. He usually likes thrills, but that was too much.
it was scary!@
Hands down, as intense as this ride was, it also was absolutely hilarious. I was sad when Thorpe Park moved it to the Halloween-only area.
Yeah
Man, a ride like this just looks like a fortune to keep running.
I was so upset when they took thistype of ride out at Six Flags new england, I think it was called the *Catapult*. I honestly had so much fun on that ride. Nothing will ever give that same sensation, ever.
The whole mechanical failure heart reminds me of The Huss topple Tower.I wonder why they were never able to figure out exactly what was giving them so many issues and change the defective parts for something that worked much better
Great video, I too have been going to Thorpe literally all my life. I have pictures of me in a buggy, I am now just turning 34 lol. So have also seen thorpe, chessington and windsor safari *cough* I mean legoland go through their many stages. But I have to say slammer was one of my all time favourite flat rides. An experience and feeling I have only come across while flying aerobatics. I have many happy memories from thorpe, x no way out opening was a massive deal and one of the best new ride experiences I've ever had. Queueing for Colossus, Nemesis and Saw when they first opened. When fright nights first started and when they were at their best, Asylum still remains the best horror maze ever. Derren brown when it first opened was an amazing experience, that you have to throw yourself into to get the best out of it, and the tech is fantastic. But, and its a big BUT. I hate seeing the park the way it is now. It truly saddens me that I don't feel safe there with my children. The amount of chavs causing problems I have seen, the constant smell of weed, the dirt and horrifically rude staff has killed the park for me and my family. I hope this issue gets sorted, but while they aren't appealing to families I doubt it. I hope to see some new investment taking place soon, I think an RMC is way off, but perhaps a decent GCI would be nice following around where loggers is. Who knows, there's soo much the park has got right but there's soo much it gets wrong too. I do hope the park has a bright future.
that is me as a kid in the video!@
@@ExpeditionThemePark nice, I did wonder :-)
I was so lucky when I rode this that the ride attendant told me to leave a gap between my shoulders and the shoulder restraints. Still one of the most intense flat rides I’ve ever ridden.
yeah it makes a huge difference
Congrats on 150k subs! 🥳
I rode it in 2009. Going forwards was fantastic, going backwards was uncomfortable - it gave me headaches! :-)
I remember me and my mate pushing our shoulder restraints down as far as we possibly could and I can confirm that it was agonizing but as 13 year olds it was brilliant seeing your best mate in such discomfort when you also were 😂 was 100% my favourite ride at Thorpe park, and one that you really did have to put any loose objects in the wooden boxes on the platform or you were definitely losing them 😂 Will always remember it being closed though, maybe open on 3 visits- but the queues were short and you could easily get on it 5 times in one day! And then one day it was shut and never reopened, was sad because it really was a totally unique experience. Is eerie seeing it just sitting there abandoned now... I wonder how much 'fuck you' money it would take to get a private ride??
I rode this many times. Amazing creation
was unique for sure
Watching this makes me feel lucky to have experienced this cool ride. I only went on once or twice and it was plagued with issues. Trying to get on was the problem lol. Great video, would love them to hurry up and get Old town regenerated as it's really looking derelict these days.
it needs it
I don’t know why but I like your intro song 👍
All of my favourite attractions are gone now i used to love the slammer when i was a kid and always used to act cool and slip my shoulders out of the restraints half way around the ride and lean forward
I totally forgot about this ride. I rode this in Thorpe Park in 2006. I remember not enjoying the experience because of how disorienting it was (and not in a good way like Eejaniaka). I remember feeling like my head was going to explode. Thanks for the video and the trip down memory lane :)
yeah head explode is how i felt ha
Glad I was able to go on this before it closed for good, same with the Top Spin at AT
I just discovered your channel! EXCELLENT VIDEO! New subscriber here.
Thanks and welcome
Rode it at Astroworld about a year before the park closed. One of the strangest rides I've ever been on.
I saw the ride in RCT3, wasn't sure if it was even real
it was!
All rides in rct3 are real i believe
@@crazyyoutubeuser2444 Not quite the spilt coaster (dueling half wing) and the rotating tower coaster (rotating double vertical lift/transfer track thingy) were never built irl
I’m loving your Thorpe park videos because can you do one on the tidal wave please ? 😁
I will yes!
@@ExpeditionThemePark Thankyou I love Thorpe park I still can’t believe the slammer closed down love that ride
I've never felt more unsafe on a ride in my life
Update: Sooooooo
Slammer is set to be finally removed from Thorpe at the end of 2024 along with black mirror labyrinth which sits right infront of it
As for old town we all know that it was demolished and replaced with hyperia
i only got to ride the slammer once but i remember liking it. i dont know where it places in terms of flat rides in the uk - its between this and rush. A mystery that will never be solved which im a bit gutted about. I would love to get back on a fly swat but... i cant
this guy had such a good opportunity to sell theme park merch for the price equivalent to the year the park came to be like 1906 = £19.06
Slammer was always Thorpe’s scariest experience!!
I agree
!
I found it quite relaxing actually
Can you do one on Detonator.
I don’t know about anyone else, but for me it’s the most intense drop tower I’ve ever been on, and I’ve been on most.
I assume it got something to do with it pushing you down rather than free falling.
i will in the future!
Interesting that you have a soft spot for Thorpe park but haven’t done Stealth yet. Arguably the best rollercoaster in the UK!
Slammer was fun. Not as good as Rush, but still a worthy flat ride.
Both great!
I used to ride SWAT at AstroWorld and this just makes me think about what a unique ride collection we lost in that park.
so sad the park closed
I would have loved to have gotten a ride on that
I loved this ride and indeed people found it intimidating, I had friends who would go on every ride in the park apart from Slammer. During uptime, you would get on crazy fast and just last weekend I saw it exactly as described, sadly rotting away.
However, the floodlights of the ride were oddly in operation all day, but I can only speculate and I would say the most likely reason for this will be to use them as ambient lighting for the fright night season.
Yeah likely
I used to love this ride when it was at Six Flags New England. My favorite flat ride though is the top scan I rode at Oktoberfest in Germany. The carnies there showed me what those rides could do at their full potential.