Certainly the most missed ride to have left Alton Towers... I blumin' loved it! :o(

Absolutely gutted they got rid of Thunder Looper. I got to ride it the first season it was installed, and must have gone on it about 8-9 times before moving onto another ride. The feeling of acceleration was phenomenal, Alton Towers really should consider getting another one.

I'll say one thing: "Heads back hold tight!" The best ride ever at Towers.

I loved this ride, and was gutted when it went. I first went on this sort of coaster in 1986 at Knott's Berry Farm in the USA - Alton please bring it back! Dig a hole and lower it from the tree line!

I've recently read that the Thunder Looper is listed as "Defunct" and "Demolished" from its final home of Hopi Hari park. Thunder Looper R.I.P.

How I loved Thunder Looper when it was at AT, I remember taking the front seat and putting my hands in the air for the launch. The force was so strong my arms could not keep straight, but the feeling was amazing. 'Turbine' at Walibi Belgium is TL's sister and the only remaining Launched Shuttle Loop Coaster in Europe. It is fully enclosed so you get to hit the loop and feel the G's in the dark. I miss TL so much and wish the coaster was sold to a park in England. One day I may ride TL again in South America, but as long as Turbine keeps running I'll visit the park in Belgium to get my 'King of Speed' fix. Long live Thunder Looper and Turbine.

I was 13 when I went on this coaster with my dad and my brother. We had never been on a ride that went upside-down before. It's such a long time ago, but I'll never forget the experience. Very fast, very high... very dodgy lap bar! I rode it many times, every year we visited Alton Towers. For me it was the biggest thrill at the park, even when Nemesis came along. I was gutted to find it had been removed and replaced by a pirate ship. What a cop out! It's nice to see that it is still being enjoyed at Hopi Hari and that it wasn't destroyed.

I never got to go on this ride, and I always wanted to. It was removed when I was 10 and I only visited once before then, when I was 8, and was an inch (!) too short to ride. My brother and sister went on it and still say it is one of the best rides Alton Towers ever had.

The Thunder Looper, when it was in the park, was an amazing ride. However, with advanced technology to build rides such as Air, Rita and Nemesis, I believe the Thunder Looper would have the same ride experience as the Corkscrew has today if it were still in the park; making its riders think afterwards, "when are getting rid of this? I want something more!"

You know what? Seeing these pictures and reading these reviews is making me genuinely upset, the Thunder Looper is truly one of Alton Towers' long-lost gems and I miss it terribly. People are making all this fuss about Rita's 0-60mph time of 2.5 seconds, but the Thunder Looper was doing the same thing 15 years ago, and another 12 years before that in the US. And after the launch you got to experience that massive loop with only a lap-bar holding you in, that colossal tower at the end that always felt as though you'd fly off the top, the weighlessness, the view, and then got to do it all again in reverse. Is it my imagination, or was it even faster in the rain, climbing higher up the towers at each end? And who remembers riding at the end of the day when the operators would climb aboard too, but not before dragging the train back an extra 20ft - BY HAND - to prolong the launch and reach a higher speed? Ah happy happy memories. Rita? She's for wimps. Thunder Looper was the KING of Speed.

I rode this ride 2 times. I remember I sat in the middle because I thought it was too high at the ends when it went up the towers (not scared now though lol). I don’t remember the weight that was used to launch it but I do remember it turning my stomach when it pulled away and the silly little stomach bar that held you in. I’m sure it was just the gravity that kept you there. I’d love to ride it again, It’s missed.

An amazing ride, and for me, it was one of Alton's signature rides, such as the Corkscrew. It was an amazing sight, I used to sit on the rocks in FV and just watch the launch, and admire the huge tower at the end which held the weight. I remember the noise it would make as the weight dropped. The ride was intense, waiting for the launch, no lights or sound effects like Rita, just heads back, and WHAM... next thing you know you are in the loop - and it was a huge loop at that. The climb to the top of the tower was quite frightening, you would question if you were going to reach the top buffers - you came pretty close. Weightless then takes over as you flew backwards down, and back into the huge loop before climbing another tower half way and returning to the station with a sudden stop. Whereas Oblivion is a 1 trick wonder, Thunderlooper was a 3 trick wonder - the launch, the loop, the vertical towers. Amazing ride.

Of all the machines to bless Alton Towers, good old Thunderlooper was one of the very best and I miss her dearly. Upon entering Thunder Valley nothing else was present except the awesome structure of the ride. I remember very clearly taking my seat for the first time in opening season, watching that huge weight being winched to the top of the tower whilst securing the quite frankly flimsy lap bar in place. The whole thing had a sort of unholy 'agricultural' feel to it (those who have ever owned or ridden a Harley will know what I mean) which made the ride feel even more intense. The launch was amazing, far longer in duration than Rita's. Before you had chance to recover from the launch you were catapulted into the loop and your head forced towards your lap. Suddenly you were out of the loop and slowing to a feeling of total weightlessness before taking the loop again in reverse, this time much slower. An awesome experience and one of the best coasters Alton ever had, second only to Nemesis in my opinion. Nothing else comes close.

Surely this was Altons' greatest white knuckle ride ever. When it was introduced, it was a great ride!!!