AJ

I'm going to try and get back to Alton Towers this year, but I'm still not sure if I can be bothered to go on the Whizzer. Now I'm a person who believes you must try something first before you can slam it down, but when I'm at Alton there are so much other great rides in the park like Nemesis and Hex just to name a few and I don't know if I can be bothered to queue up for Spinball when Dragon;s Fury is basically on my doorstep. And just from looking at the track of Spinball it just doesn't seem as fun as Fury - I could be wrong but I'd rather try other things at Alton when I hardly ever get to go there.

When I rode Rita last year I wasn't expecting that much, but it proved better than my expectations (but then again I do like a launch) even though it's not the best ride in the world, I just somehow seemed to like going round those corners at that kind of speed. It's a weird one there's nothing exceptional about it but I loved the experience and I was just somehow impressed by it.

Do you go on ride to be bored or to get excited, Personally I love the indoor station that builds up the excitement and I think that's a good thing ,Vampire is a classic ride in my opinion, and whenever you go to Chessington and don't get to ride the vampire you have missed out. Last time I went there that was when the vampire had it's recent breakdown and me and the people I was with was gutted we could not get on it.Even though I like the vampire as it is, being a fun ride and just pure enjoyment (something I think Chessington has over Thorpe, a fun day out rather than just rides) I still kinda miss the old vampire bat cars....

I can't go to Thorpe without riding Rocky, otherwise I don't feel like the day has been complete. It's a nice little ride that breaks up the day and I absolutely enjoy every minute of it, once or twice I have danced in the queue line with various peeps to 5,6,7,8 and sung along to Dolly Parton but enough of my silly little antics and back to how great the wonderful ride of Rocky Express is. I remember as a little kid riding rocky when it was situated in Octopus Gardens, many people seem to forget that it hasn't spent all it's life at Thorpe in Canada Creek. Where it used to be situated you could get a good backdrop of Depth Charge in the background when it used to be one of the main rides in the park.Rocky is a Hoot - Woot, Rocky is a hoot - Woot

I certainly agree about the guns, that can be really annoying, but according it's one of the main rides at Chessington AND ZOO, The amount of times I've visited, I've never really seen it that long. Recently for me it's been a walk on - Of course I'm not there all the time so I can't judge completely, but from my experiences.I think in regards to Duel, as it was my first time last year on it - even though I really enjoyed it I haven't got round to appreciating it yet.

NOOOOoooooooooooooooooooo!!! I'm gutted for ya Chels, I know how much you wanted to pass it

Woot some success at last, only thing is it's voluntary. It appears I'm going to be an assistant scout leader but at the meeting today it sounds like they want me to take charge of a group at some point , don't even know how I'd do yet!!At least though I get experience and it shows I haven't been sitting on my backside all the time.

And that is a very genuine point, we may complain about the Alton Towers Residents and the restrictions it means the theme park has got to abide by, but really it has actually helped certain rides. Nemesis would surely not of been as close to the land if it could just build up as the restrictions would of meant they had to put a lot more thought into what they were doing, to make this ride still great with a height limit and give the inverters a good name. I suppose in a way it also helped Oblivion out as well.I rode Nemesis for the first time last year and even though it wasn't as good as the hype people were giving it, I still have to say it is the best Rollercoaster in the UK from what I have been on. The theme, the close proximity to the ground, which in turn makes the speed seem even faster. Plus one thing that impressed me of the ride was that the speed stayed quite constant rather than slowing down then picking up speed again that you traditionally get with a lot of coasters. Can't wait to go on it again, now I know what to expect I'll most probably enjoy it even more.

I get extremely competitive on this ride - people who have been on with me would know. I know the ride is meant to be for fun but sometimes I get carried away and take it too seriously.....heheI've been meaning to one day just go around the ride and not shoot and just actually enjoy the ride with it's theming as it is really good but as soon as I see that gun I can't resist.Personally I prefer Tomb Blaster to Duel as the ride just seems to be more 'grand' but I have to agree that Duel is more of a shooting ride with your little Ghost Zappers

It would be good just to get a job again, all of these jobs laying people off, it's just hard to get back on the career ladder at the moment. Even temp agencies don't want me , and jobs that I'm currently in the process of going through are taking weeks in between just to get to the next stage - geez.Typical responses 'You're underqualified', 'you have no experience.' At these interviews etc they keep saying retail isn't classed as experience as the employer will see the shop name on your CV and just skip it. Job hunting is just one big vicious circle.

Rumba Rapids for me is quite enjoyable. Yes it may not be in it's best of days but it's a good little ride for when you want a break from the bigger stuff and I've found that the ride isn't as tame as it once was (not as rough as thunder river) because you can get quite a 'spinny' boat and the waves tend to get in your boat more often.It is annoying though that some of the original features, don't seem to work anymore (e.g. the shower and the waterfall going into the tunnel) as these types of rides are more enjoyable when dodging the inevitable, but even if none of the sprays are on though it's still quite good for what it does and you should remember it was built before they started developing more 'intense' rapids and at the time was probably the star attraction in the park.