Stealth Review | Thorpe Park's Intamin Hydraulic Launch Coaster

Sending riders soaring over a 200+ foot tall top hat in just a couple seconds, Stealth is one of the MUST DO attractions at Thorpe Park, and the U.K. in general. The ride may be short, but when you reach speeds of 80 mph, its a ride experience you'll want to do over and over again!
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[@Stubwood_on_YT]

Flipping insane launch on this thing

[@DavidPlant1985]

Its now the worlds quickest accelerating rollercoaster now that Do-Dodonpa has closed

[@InsaneCoaster]

With hydraulic launch coasters being a dying breed, I think it's important we value rides like Stealth and enjoy them while they exist. I can say as someone who's worked on Stealth maintenance-wise, the launch system is absolutely stunning when you work on it in person. I doubt anything will be designed like it again now we're in a new era with the preferred choice of modern, more powerful LSMs.

[@joecandish3923]

I have done a few intamin accelerators now and all of them are great Storm Runner, Kingda Ka, Rita, Desert Race, Stealth and even Formula Rossa all are great powerhouses but Stealth still has the snappiest launch despite it being one of the smaller accelerators.

[@CoasterPigeon]

to be honest i think that stealth is the underdog of intamin coasters, it has one of the best launches in the world but its not very well known but for uk enthusiats like myself it is a 10/10 ride!

[@Aerolandaircraft]

It's always amazing when you get to ride a hydraulic launch, they're so rare nowadays but so precious. I've only ridden one hydraulic launch coaster, Superman Escape, and the first time I rode it I felt like my soul had left my body...

[@timothywait9457]

correct

[@bigwokdave]

Luckily in the uk we have 3 hydraulic launch coasters

[@deadaccount2048]

@@bigwokdaveI think its only 2!

[@iliketrains3546]

@@deadaccount2048 I think velocity at Flamingoland is hydraulic but I could be wrong

[@deadaccount2048]

@@iliketrains3546 I thought it was air compressed but I could be wrong too!

[@meatspoon2610]

You didn't mention WWTP Radio, the soundtrack for this area more than makes up for the lack of physical theming. Americana music and some hilarious skits, ride wouldn't be the same without it.

[@CoasterStudios]

I do appreciate that! Some funny commentary on there.

[@Maxysrollercosters]

I agree best radio channel of all time

[@danielward4868]

Because this is my nearest launch coaster, every other launch I have done doesn't phase me. This has consistently been my number 2 ride in the park every year with my numher 1 currently being nemesis Inferno

[@timothywait9457]

danielward saw is the best ride there

[@Stubwood_on_YT]

@@timothywait9457 I didn't see that one coming

[@iliketrains3546]

@@timothywait9457saw is a rough ride

[@iliketrains3546]

@@timothywait9457 in your opinion it is but in his it is not

[@Oliver_T_03]

As far as I'm aware, the blind launch has been discontinued as of late June due to complaints from guests who want and expect a countdown every time they ride Stealth. So to whoever this finds, don't ask the hosts for a blind launch as the operator isn't allowed to perform them anymore

[@oscarsmusiclab7201]

They did it to me on September the second...

[@Rabbitzz]

I can vouch unfortunately they stopped these they also stopped blind drops on detonator which is a real shame sometimes the staff would really mess with you on there but it was brilliant times. Last time I rode detonator the ride op was talking to us through the speakers up top he left us there for minutes he kept saying 'I could drop you right now... But I don't wanna'

[@meatspoon2610]

I got a blind launch last week, though that was probably because the Oktoberfest overlay wasn't working. Blind launches at night are common during frightnights too

[@harrietgrabham8990]

it has been taken away yeah

[@majorwillm]

Only can get it on nights where everyone is asking for it when it's dead and just enthusiasts there

[@acidalex420]

They advertise it as a 2.3 second launch but it’s actually 1.8 👁👄👁 probably one of the most intense launch’s on earth

[@deadaccount2048]

It’s the 3rd most intense launch ever built in the world, fastest hydraulic launch ever built, and the fastest launch in Europe. And as of 2023, it’s the #1 fastest acceleration still operating IN THE WORLD. And chances are, unless Dododonpa reopens or another air launch coaster is built it will remain the fastest launch on earth for a while!

[@Georgeoglander]

Now the most intense as of today, as do-Dodonpa closed for good.

[@dingo137]

I like this one more than Red Force, despite the lower height and top speed. It's got a punchier launch and is smoother. The restraints don't bother me either, as theres not much in the way of lateral forces to bash you into them.

[@ThePAD98]

I was quite disappointed in Red Force, I think partially because I’d been on Stealth 15-20 times before I rode it. When I found out it actually had a faster launch (in terms of acceleration) than Red Force it all made sense!

[@deadaccount2048]

Well Red Force is a LSM launch which are never nearly as intense as hydraulic or air compressed launches, and they don’t have the power or sudden takeoff like hydraulic ones do. Have you tried Furious Baco when u were there? That is also a hydraulic launch (and it’s probably more scary bc you launch on a wing coaster)

[@ThePAD98]

@@deadaccount2048 Yeah I liked the Furious Baco launch too and was quite surprised by it. Thanks for the info - makes even more sense now! :)

[@technoandrew]

I wasn’t expecting a Stealth review here, but I’ll take it! The front row ride is one of the best coaster experiences of the park, if not the UK in my opinion (which I know doesn’t mean a whole lot).

[@Fluster]

I used my Unlimited Fastrack to go on this 3 times on a busy summer day. I absolutely love it. The feeling of the launch is unlike no other, it feels like your body isn't in sync with your organs because of the acceleration. It was glass smooth, and I rode it in the backrow, second back row, and first row.

[@aarontaylor7750]

I have ridden Stealth more than any other coaster in the world. I love to go to Thorpe on a dead day and just marathon it. I have ridden it on multiple occasions over 50x in a day. I have also ridden Kingda Ka and Red Force , Stealth beats both of those rides hands down for me.

[@timothywait9457]

how strange to prefer Stelth to Kingda Ka

[@aarontaylor7750]

@@timothywait9457 Kingda Ka is very shaky and doesn't have 1 continuous launch (I think its actually broken into 4 parts that boost the initial launch) Stealth however is dead smooth and acceleration is faster.

[@SamuelH105]

​@timothywait9457 I've been on both too and Stealth is a much better ride

[@timothywait9457]

samuelH Kingda Ka is beater its not even an opinion its a fact if you think stelth is beater your a flat earther

[@aarontaylor7750]

@@timothywait9457 LOL , it's fine we all like what we like.

[@calamitycoasters2591]

will you return to the UK in 2024?

[@Britishairwaysfan]

Mannnn with their budget they will ride everything by 2059 now yes they will MACK rides hyper cough cough 😷

[@andrewthelegend42]

Best coaster in the country (except for wickerman back row at night, but then all other times its just good but back row wickerman at night or at the end of the day is insane and i've just realised i've written quite unnecessarily long for something that was supposed to be a short sentence)

[@sampike5423]

My most ridden coaster 😍 it's short but very very sweet. Also love the area and queueline audio, wwtp radio!

[@bubbles2428]

It’s not 0-80mph in 1.9 seconds. It’s in 1.8 making it the fastest accelerating coaster in the world

[@DJWezzyK]

When one of the planes flies so close over to Stealth from Heathrow airport next door, and you launch of the tophat it gives that sensation that you will hit the plane. (I have had a ride like that on Stealth in the 3 hours of two days we went the ride was operational. (Yes, Stealth is down a lot!)

[@rhysbenneyworth347]

I have never been propelled 0-80mph in less than 2 seconds and for that alone this is my top UK coaster, regardless of its ride time. I have ridden this over 50 times and I still cannot properly prepare myself for the punch this coaster packs. The off ride footage simply doesn’t do this coaster justice.

[@pjw1993]

I have really mixed feelings about Stealth... on the one hand it's a one trick pony with little theming, from an era where Intamin Hydraulic launches were a dime a dozen. On the other though, they're becoming more and more rare now, and that launch really is something special. I find it probably the most re-ridable coaster at Thorpe. Bit of a guilty pleasure, in other words!

[@vladimirmosimann3807]

I agree with your review ! Lap bars are better for a more confortable and exciting experience but this is not the worst on Stealth so that's okay. And the launch is so powerful ! One of the most in the world if I'm not wrong (except compressed air and maybe one or two hydraulic launch) if you compare the speed/time it is more intense than Kingda ka, 206km/h in 3.6s but Stealth 128km/h in 1.9s, quite twice less in time but the speed is clearly not twice less ! Definitely an experience, I've only ridden launchs like Blue Fire before so I was not prepared for that force.

[@AdrenalineRush236]

Thorpe is my local park and I have a soft spot for stealth. Maybe it’s not as good as other hydraulic launch coasters out there but the acceleration gets me every time. Unfortunately, within the last month they have stopped letting you have blind launches because of health and safety apparently.

[@tylerschultz758]

Going to London next week and gonna ride this! My first international park! 😊

[@CoasterCore297]

The fade to the white colour is done because of the park's close proximity to Heathrow. Planes frequently fly over the park so the white colour is so pilots can see it. Exodus will also have this effect. Regardless, the effect is really cool.

[@meatspoon2610]

its not for pilots, if it was they would put flashing lights on top. It's for the opposite reason, its supposed to blend in with the sky, making it less intrusive for people outside the park.

[@MightyDekuTree]

This isn’t true - it was to limit the visual impact in the surrounding area as was said in the video. Before this, rides at Thorpe Park had only ever been around 100ft at the most so to get it through the planning process, they made the track white.

[@CoasterCore297]

@@MightyDekuTree ah fairs. Guess I learn something new all the time

[@jamiehasted1265]

​@@Abcdefgx-u9gColour* it is called English, so maybe listen to the people from where the language came from. 😉

[@ABZTRXT]

Happy to have this only 30 minute drive from me❤😱👍👍👍

[@matheuscastello6554]

5 min review, not any longer than it needs to be, just like stealth apparently!

[@coasterjim]

2:15 The reason the train moves forwards and then back slightly before the launch is that when it moves forwards, it is letting the train’s launch dog drop into the catch car, and when it moves back is when the drive tyres drop down and let the train rest on the catch car, so the tyres don’t get damaged when the train launches. It’s nothing to do with how the guests feel or anything like that.

[@bdschannel4733]

Yup, it's a nice ride. I like riding it over and over again. And it usually has a shorter line than Nemesis Inferno, for example. Or at least it had back in May when I last went there. But then again, the park was relatively empty on that day.

[@maxhagenauer24]

There was a clone of Stealth at Space World in Japan in 2017, I wonder what that was like compared to this.

[@Mononoke18]

So glad to have Xcelerator at my home park! Also I have a cool idea! If you guys haven’t done this before I think it would be cool for some sort of Tik tok live Q&A but you guys could pick people to go on camera and maybe ask one question or something! Wouldn’t that be fun? Have a nice day!

[@cemerson]

Now the fastest accelerating coaster in the world

[@samraymond4464]

Sadly since you came they've removed the blind launches as they were happening far too frequently and people started complaining

[@Mononoke18]

Primordial at Lagoon just opened 💀

[@maxhagenauer24]

0 - 81 mph in 1.8 seconds is about 2.05 linier Gs, that's insane.

[@Itsseblol]

the 0-82 mph launch in 1.8 seconds is ridiculous!

[@wf6190]

Hydraulic launch ftw. Stealth’s ferocious launch is so much better than any other LSMs

[@panzerofthelake7661]

Stealth has and always will have my favourite launch on any coaster, even over og dragster and formula rossa

[@swoosh94]

Thorpe is my home park, and I love stealth. Best LROTN I think too. Last time ended up on 2nd to last train and then when they had a couple of spaces on the last train, a friend and I both bolted to take the last 2 seats on it and they gave us a blind launch too - was a great end to the day!

[@FinesseBTW]

I was at thorpe park a few weeks ago and I asked for a blind launch on 2 separate occasions to 2 different ride operators. Both times I asked, they informed me that they aren't allowed to do blind launches anymore.

[@lucasthom3249]

Why don't they do it anymore that's abit stupid

[@rabooey]

The pre-launch "nudging" seems like a fantastic feature. Is that programmed or does the Operator have control of it? If it's programmed I wonder if it nudges for an exact/set amount of time, or if uses a variable range of nudging, before launching. If it's programmed for an exact/set amount of time, then wouldn't it be cool if they gave the Operator control of the nudge duration? I think so. Kind of like those slingshot Operators who surprise-launch the riders. 😄

[@InsaneCoaster]

It's preprogrammed, the sequence will start as soon as the operator dispatches the ride.

[@CazCoasters]

What I love about stealth is during fright nights it has its own special launch announcement which is also blind.

[@tayo0404]

Because the ride is quick the queue lines go very quickly. I love the launch, going up the top hat and the airtime hill at the end.

[@jamiehasted1265]

Top three favourite coaster in the UK, that launch makes me want to ride it over and over. Also since Dodonpa has closed, quickest coaster in the world :)

[@fredMplanenut]

Each to their own, and some people don't understand why others ride coasters. Due to not having a twist on the verticals one get's a better "float" than any other similar ride. The radius of the horizontal to vertical conversion is also tighter than others creating more G force. Don't forget the half second view of London, or the traffic stuck on the M25 motorway.

[@BlacKnignt]

Why is it called stealth again? A drag car is literally the least stealthy thing to ever exist and considering there is only 1 established quarter mile in the UK, it doesn't really fit at all. It could use a retheme and maybe someone like s&s come in and fit a newer and more reliable launch mechanism (that isn't lsm, we've already got dragster 2 and red force, we brits need something original)

[@zacg_]

If Xcelerator and Kingda Ka had a baby.

[@flaw3dgenius222]

Shame they dont make them like this anymore...we are going backwards not forwards.

[@zerogjensen]

anyone else notice the amount of times that taylors sister on the front row posing with a straight face😂😂

[@stevemurton5017]

Stealth’s launch is insane. Every-time I ride it. It shocks me

[@zeadux2095]

Went on it like 15 times in an hour once with unlimited fast track 🤣 Insanely fun

[@Altontowersthorpepark]

Now it launches like 3 seconds after it says go go go

[@ProfessionalArabplayer]

Hello, I love professionalism because I am a professional

[@randomdefender1532]

Miss the days of the intense hydraulic launch despite the maintainence. I'm baffled that in 2023 engineers still haven't figured out: -How to make the hydraulic launch as reliable as LSMs -How to make LSMs as intense and powerful as the hydraulic launch. Which i think is the most possible senario -Make a new launch system with the intensity of the hydraulic but as reliable as LSMs Seriously why couldn't they just do something like that to Top Thrill Dragster so it retains its original intensity?

[@FaSGamez]

Still one of my fav coasters of all time

[@airtimeaddict]

i am going this weekend, with some family, and i will be sure to see thir reaction for that lainch in the front

[@MarkMcCann1888]

Fastest launch in the world now

[@harryfoster9713]

I think blind launches were new this year? I’d never had one and have gone to Thorpe at least once a year since stealth was built. To be honest it didn’t really add much but was a novelty after riding for almost 20 years

[@joeyrobb1831]

I have ridden stealth and It is my number two rollercoaster in the world just behind swarm at the same park But just ahead of Galactica at Alton towers.

[@MadiUk77]

Stealth is often not running ....

[@mushieslushie]

It does seem short, but compared to xcelerator, xcelerator is pretty much over after the tophat too, so they just cut out the unnecessary parts.

[@natiezclement4400]

3:15 "and you rotate to your right". Yes Taylor, indeed hahaha :^)

[@iliketrains3546]

I remember riding it 5 times in a row in the summer. My current no2 in the UK behind Smiler

[@trackfactz]

Yesssss

[@reteledman]

The launch is so money

[@MegaThelegoshow]

This ride definitely packs a punch on its launch

[@User-oj1xu]

I have been waiting for this vid for years 💪🏻💪🏻💪🏻

[@Trootsbloxplayzthemetalfan]

Im a brave kid!

[@Cccoast]

Omg that queue 😮

[@CoasterPrototypes]

love the videos keep it up

[@Haazza]

Why does everyone say these types of rides are so rare nowadays just because top thrill dragster is losing its hydraulic launch

[@CoasterStudios]

they were rare even before then

[@randomdefender1532]

Kingda Ka and Storm Runner are the only ones left in the US

[@Haazza]

@@CoasterStudiosthey were but I don’t get why some people act like they used to be everywhere and now they’re nowhere😂

[@Haazza]

@@randomdefender1532xcellerater has been testing and I imagine will open soon. Dragster is the only one that’s lost it’s launch

[@extro-order]

Just to know you cannot request a blind launch anymore as it is ‘Illegal’

[@timothywait9457]

extro-order yes you can if you ask they sometimes do

[@I_am_Addicted_2_RollerCoasters]

I H8 Stealthe. it is a bad ride

[@metallica708]

Tentatively planning to go here once Project Exodus opens but will certainly hit this one up as well.