Coaster Kingdom
http://www.ukrollercoasters.co.uk
Stunt Fall (Movie World Madrid)
In
simple terms, Movie World elaborately captures the glitz and glamour of
Hollywood – Stunt Fall does not.
You
would never give a staring role in a West End musical to a pantomime horse. Our
costumed stallion offers his own brand of entertainment, but should be the star
of a pantomime, not of a West End Musical.
Movie
World is the West End musical. Stunt Fall is the pantomime horse.
The
entrance to Stunt Fall can be found down a dead-end side street of the Hollywood
Boulevard and through a small door in the wall. Standing upon a sea of gravel,
Stunt Fall is a 195ft clash of colours. The queue is to the left of the ride and
zig-zags mindlessly up to the covered station.
The
trains look like they’ve been designed by a work experience student, and show
no regard what-so-ever for common sense. As soon as the gates open (two per
car), people generally sit in the centre seats which are forward from the side
seats. This basically shuts off the far side of the train leaving nearly a
quarter of riders unable to get to their seats. People in the middle of the
train unbuckle their seatbelts, move to the side, let these people take their
seat before repeating the rigmarole of sitting down again.
The
restraints are a palaver. There is a lap belt to put on first, then the main
over-head restraint before securing the usual safety belt between the legs. Most
people seem to pull down the over-head restraint first, meaning they have to
struggle putting on the lap belt underneath.
Admittedly,
staff try and make the best of a bad situation and explain the seating and
seat-belts to waiting riders, but loading is still a mess.
Once
seated you’ll note Vekoma has made at least some headway in restraint design.
Whilst they lack the vice-like mannerisms of the SLC over-heads, an annoying bar
beneath your chin seems to offer little purpose other than being an obstacle for
shorter riders.
I’m
surprised with the limited legroom available, riders don’t develop deep-vein
thrombosis during the short time they’re on the train. Also, due entirely to
the poor design of the trains, a metal sheet has been put on the back of cars to
stop riders getting legs caught when the train twists around the boomerang.
As
a shrill airhorn sounds, a frantic announcement in Spanish warns you to keep
your legs off the metal sheet on the car in front, something that’s inherently
difficult to do as you’re holding your legs up and not letting them fall where
gravity intends.
The
sensation of the train curling up into a vertical climb is quite remarkable as
the ground gets smaller and smaller. With every foot you climb, your heart beats
faster and faster. It is way beyond the point you think you should stop when on
a sharp clunk, the train drops, accelerating quickly and dropping vertically
into the station.
Passing
through the station is like plunging through a tunnel, before you climb into the
boomerang, starting off like a vertical loop. As the train goes upside-down it
feels as if you are almost... going... to... stop... before you are pushed
upside-down again and drop out regaining most of the lost speed.
A
medium-sized vertical loop takes you over the station before you curve up into a
vertical climb, the train scooping you up into a skyward climb. A small jolt is
felt as the train engages on the cable lift and another as you drop down
backwards.
The
backwards drop offers a refreshingly different sensation, before the vertical
loop which passes by without any sensation what-so-ever and then the boomerang
which has a similar effect to a mid-course brake-run before dropping through the
station and into the first climb again.
Once
the train runs out of speed, you are lowered back into the station where you
exit on the opposite side to which you boarded.
Stunt
Fall almost exhibits symptoms of teenage angst, simply going through the
motions, just without any form of enthusiasm. To its credit, all the elements
are really well placed and the ride has a good unrelenting rhythm to it, but
none of the elements really stand out and feel rather carefree.
It
never seems to use any of the speed garnered from the vertical drop and upon
entering the boomerang seems to be like bungee jumping with a parachute. The
boomerang just feels like a slightly-too-large vertical loop with a little bit
of track in between. Where the swoop in and out of the two halves on most cobra
rolls/boomerangs makes up a third of the inversion, on Stunt Fall it just seems
to be means of getting you from one half of the inversion to the other.
The
vertical loop is good, but somewhere in between the high-G loops of Schwarzkopf
and the sweeping 150ft (and beyond) loops of B&M. It’s a nice peppy moment
in the ride though, and leads well into the second climb.
Whilst
the majority of the ride is intensely non-descript, the only part that isn’t
(the first vertical climb) makes up for it by being utterly incredible.
When
the klaxon sounds, from the moment the train smoothly accelerates backwards and
tips you onto your front, you realise the first 30-seconds are going to be
completely unlike anything else you’ve ever experienced.
This
sensation is genuinely scary, and offers a level of intimidation that
effortlessly makes a mockery of Oblivion at the very least.
Climbing
as you do on Stunt Fall is clearly sadistic in the same way that Alex De Large
was forced to watch scenes of torture in A Clockwork Orange. You simply cannot
look anywhere but down. Curiosity is never satisfied by having no opportunity to
look up, and with no pause before you drop, the moment you drop is not only
breathtaking, but surprising too.
Climbing
backwards is hardly tiresome, but doesn’t come close to offering the thrill of
the first lift. It is a novel concept heading skywards on your back so it
captures your attention and once again the drop with no warning is like falling
backwards off a skyscraper.
Like
all shuttle loop coasters, the backwards stretch is more intense than forwards
but only marginally. Blackpool’s Revolution offers a far better mixture of
high and negative G-forces, pushing both ends of the scale. Stunt Fall never
feels like it is taking you for a ride, it never feels unexpected. It is all too
monotonous.
I’m
going to complain a bit more about the trains. The actual ride experience is
completely destroyed by the poor design of the trains. Outside riders are
orphaned and completely alone which I think is one of the worst feelings to have
on a coaster.
Meanwhile,
in the middle of the train you can see nothing. There is the crescent of seats
bending back towards you meaning not only is it difficult to see forwards
through the forest of seatbacks, but also to the sides where the seats are
cantilevered back towards you.
Stunt
Fall is like riding a bike around Silverstone. The first few seconds are
genuinely hair-raising, but although the chicanes and hairpin bends look
menacing, by peddle-power they are limp and forceless. Riding around Silverstone
is certainly a nice experience from the saddle of a Raleigh racing bike, but you
couldn’t help but think the sweeping S-turns and sharp corners would be far
more effective from the seat of a 140mph F1 car.
Stunt
Fall is a distinctly average treat iced thinly with fleeting moments of daunting
intimidation. Frankly, the vertical climbs are superb but only envelope what is
only a mediocre inverter at best.
Parks like Alton Towers can get away with cheap filler rides, but like a stunt man performing in an animated film, Stunt Fall is completely out of place.
3/5 Marcus Sheen