JoshC.

Last episode of Torchwood tonight! I dunno what it's been about this series, I thought it was a bit too slow at the beginning, which is making the ending feel a bit more rushed than I was expecting, but I've loved it, much like all the previous series.Can't wait to see how it ends; just hope it's not some cheap, cheesey ending that feels like lazy writing...

I agree with the hit and miss thing, nature of a scare attraction really.Whilst my first visit in Se7en was in 2009, I did hear really bad things from friends and family in prior years. Last year, Se7en was on top form and my favourite maze.

When I did Hellgate last year, it was genuinely the poorest experience I have ever had in a scare attraction (granted, haven't been on many, but that doesn't lessen that statement's worth really).There was a lack of actors, lack of consistency and just general lack of scares. I remember doing it in 05 as well, with a similar poor feeling coming out. So, think it's best that Hellgate kicked the bucket before it became a joke.

^I've *heard* rumours that supports and possibly track should start going up over the weekend.

That is far from thick; probably the opposite.The SS boats are basically oversized dingies, so how they can have a drainage 'system' if you will confuses me.

Glad to see the back end of Hellgate to be honest..Was a poor maze whenever I went in it; only good things were the music and the usage of the 'spinning tunnel'..

When I'm in one of the tents, it's never made a difference to me. As soon as I've stepped in them, I've never felt like I'm in a tent. However, on the outside, it doesn't build up any sort of tension, because it's just this big, white blob that's just sat there. Does spoil the atmosphere quite a bit..

^You say we'll be guinea pigs if we go, but we won't? The actors will have had test runs to some degree (I guess that is what happens anyway..), there's been John Lewis events where they go in early (don't know whether they still happen now), etc. etc.Sure, you don't expect them to be on the top of their game, but you wouldn't say 'Oh, it's the first night of this show, it's fine that the acting was bad' if you went to a theatre, would you? Granted, the conditions and that are slightly different, but you do have to expect some level of quality?

^I don't know about the idea of filming outside regular park operations, though that seems right anyway, I believe there's an awful lot of H&S paperwok that needs filling out before on board filiming can take place, especially from an outside party.

Yesterday's episode was a bit stupid really in my eyes, especially the way it started. 'Oh, I've been told to press the button, but there's two. Should I do the logical thing and ask which one or just be silly and press whichever one I want to?'

But, they didn't advertise The Swarm in it...at all? All there was was a VERY slight glimpse of LC12 posters, as shown in the screen grab, which are near-on impossible to see during real time, and the island of dirt, which means absolutely nothing in a way of advertising.

First I've heard about them being removed.Though I agree they're very precise, but I guess it could just be how they are starting it?

The trench could be for a pond, couldn't it?I believe they're making some sort of pond / whatever you want to call it in that general area; if I'm looking where everyone else is that is..

The MTDP states Island A is one potential location for a 2015 coaster, the other being Island E (where the tank advertising currently is). Therefore, it could actually be 2018 (or whenever the second coaster after this will happen) that that island link could be used..Though, I'd say it more likely for Island A for 2015, due to the simple reason that it would flow better.But yeah, will be interesting to see how the island copes with the situation of being a dead end for a couple of years.

Woo for reaching 100 rep. (Waits for some comment relating to e-penises and how rep isn't important and that I should get over myself...)

The visit was rather expensive with all the buying I did, yeah.. ORPs weren't too bad though, as we got 2 photopasses. I bought one, my mum bought me one as the usual 'holiday treat' then my uncle and cousin got a £2 for £12. Yeah, it's a lot when you think about it, but as said, it was my actual summer holiday in a way, so it probably worked out cheaper (and more fun) than going away elsewhere on holiday.

^It's not criticism for the sake of criticism on my behalf. I'm not saying the sign is a bad thing; it's certainly a good thing for the sake of the public, as it further aids as to what on earth is going on with the tank. Personally, it could just be made a little more believable by having the sign a bit further away. After all, it would be no good saying 'Entertainment actors are operating in this area' near the Stealth area of Les Coogan, would it?

Like the sign, but sorta detracts attention from the tank and the atmosphere around that.. Shame in some ways the sign couldn't have been positioned elsewhere so that it's close enough to the tank for it to tie in, bit far enough for it to not detract from the tank.

Butttt... Hersheypark announced their's first, right?

Technically, it's not America's only wing rider. What with Intamin's redesigned one at Hersheypark (and the possibility of a B&M one at Dollywood)...

I'm gonna bend the rules slightly, as the last photo I was tagged in was one from my AT trip and I don't wanna show myself in an ORP again. Tagged in it 3 weeks ago; photo taken over a year ago... Yeah..

So much for Swarm's 'unique, head first' drop then, ey?

I dunno what it was, but I just found the boat ride more interesting, even though most do seem to think the opposite. The elevator was just such a bore and really didn't capture my attention or imagination at all. At least with the boat ride I found myself somewhat interested in what was happening, and had the highlight of that waterfall in it. Terrible ride, but the boat ride was the more interesting part for me. Definitely feel it should be next to bite the dust...

That King Nemesis sign nay as well have been made from the get-go.. :DAgree with the tightness between Air and Oblivion and Rita being last; Th13teen needs to be a couple of places higher though. XD

(Split into 2 posts due to number of images per post restrictions)With Rita out of the way and a quick toilet break achieved, we noticed Th13teen trains carrying passengers.. Th13teen had reopened! As this must have been fairly recent, we decided to venture to the woods for a second time. Though it did end up being a longer queue than we expected (probably the longest queue of the day at just under 40 minutes), we didn't really care - we all enjoyed the ride. I don't think I really need to go into much detail about it again, but even after knowing what experience awaited me, I still found it enjoyable and a great ride - to me, it is far from a little kiddie ride with a one trick pony ending. It gels together well, but suffers from trims and terrible marketing. In some ways, I think it would have been better to go for a more upbeat theme for it to have been more of a success. Anyways, enough rambling on about Th13teen, here's a few more pictures from the queue line:The hooded figure.The half-swallowed up van.The second Th13teen ORP. I seem happy... :DSo, with Th13teen out of the way for a second time, it was time to bid farewell from the Dark Forest for good this time, and time to go back to secrecy with the X Sector and finally ride Submission. Windows on the way there.Nice weather complimenting a nice scenery.It was raining earlier?So, we finally reached Submission. Unlike last time, when there was a full queue, we were greeted by a near-on empty queue - it pleased me muchly. It was quite amusing watching the cycle prior to ours - when the ride was hung upside, a 5p just dropped to the ground; certainly made everyone around chuckle. Now, I've read a few reviews of people saying that the restraints were more than a little bit uncomfortable, so I was slightly worried, especially as they reminded me very much of a Top Spin's restraints. However, ever being squished in at the edge of the row against the side barrier, I found them quite comfy. Granted, they weren't like air's, nor were they they most comfy thing around, but I couldn't see a reason for complaint. Anyway, as for the actual ride itself, I found it very much like a Swinging Ship, Magic Carpet and Sky Swat all thrown into one. It sounds like a recipe for disaster, but I dunno, it was just great fun. It gets the best bits of them and turns it into something that works really well - it's just a good ride. However, what spoils it is the theme and the theming, or the lack of it. I didn't hear any audio for it, couldn't see any sort of theming and it just felt like and 'here's a ride plonked here, you queue for it, you ride it and you leave it' job, which is not what AT rides are like. Despite the great ride experience, I felt short changed by the lack of everything else, which is not great really..Now, in a sensible move, we wandered over to Sonic Spinball for a spin. Now, after my go on it last time, I rated the ride higher than Dragon's Fury at Chessie, which seems to be against the general opinion. I more put it down to riding Fury more often more recently, but a second go sounded good to see if that was the case.Nice shot of the Towers.Spinning around.Random photo.Just in case I forgot what ride I was queueing up for...You can guess where I was trying to get the car really..And I failed.Last one.I one thing I like about this more than Fury is the queue line. The little games make the queue seem that little bit quicker, and the actual queue layout is not as painful as the cattlepen of Fury. That, and interaction (sorta) with the ride itself. The half-full queue did move quickly really. As for the actual ride, we got a great spin, better than last time, on it due to get the weighting right. However, there's just something about it that didn't really give me the same feeling as last time. I don't know what it is, but I just don't rate it as highly any more. After all is said and done, I think the ride experience is as good as Fury, but I think Spinball's queue line clinches it for me; it still has that slight edge over Fury. Spinball ORP.The SBNO Beastie lies behind the fence of dullness.After some more treking, it was last ride of the day - Runaway Mine Train. After missing out on it last time due to it being closed because of the valleying incident, it was nice to be able to do a complete run-around of all 7 coasters. As I said, I like mine trains and this one did not disappoint! I enjoyed the theme, the theming, the interaction with CRR, the layout - it was just an enjoyable ride. One niggle was the operator, who seemed very half-hearted when giving announcements, even the 'Choo Choo' she gave sounded a bit 'Why am I here?' (I don't think it was 'Choo Choo Lady' though, it's worth saying). Apart from that, a great little mine train.Nice bits of theming work well for me.Speeding past.Despite the lack of enthusiasm on my face, I am enjoying the ride!Couple more photos before I round off:Congo River Rapids. Was disappointed not to get on any water rides during the trip, but the bigger rides took priority. Could have fitted this in at the end, but didn't fancy a 3 and a half hour odd car journey home wet..Another view of the Towers.Nemesis wins it for me!That's my trip really. As you can tell, I thoroughly enjoyed the day and it was certainly worth the wait. The weather was just what we wanted, the staff were more or less all brilliant: chatty, friendly, helpful and added to the day. The rides were brilliant as well - it was just an amazing day. Popped into the shop in Towers Street to pick up the ORPs from the day and did a fair bit of shopping; bought: the Monorail Mug Pack, Nemesis and Th13teen mugs (I'm a mug for Mugs, okay? ), Th13teen hoodie, Th13teen bear, replica Th13teen necklace from the advert, Th13teen paperweight and Alton Towers Monopoly. Okay, I splashed out more than a little bit, but this was basically my holiday for the year. The only real problem I have with AT was the wasps - there were tonnes of the blooming things around, and it did make getting drinks a bit of a nuisance. Apart from that, the place is absolutely perfect. I can't wait for my next visit - whenever that may be!