So...Tuesday 16th meant one thing for me - Alton Towers! It had been over 5 years since my last visit, and I had been waiting since the moment I left to go back. Strangely, I did not get at all excited about the trip. I knew it was coming, I was looking forward to it, but I didn't have 'that feeling' prior to the trip. It was just another day as far as I could tell...So, we hit the road at 5 in the morning and made good time getting there, arriving just before 8, an hour before ERT. We had a stretch and wander round and made our way to the Monorail gates. It was then, watching the TVs showing the rides, that I got excited and it has sunk it that I 'was really here'. The Monorail opened a little later than was expected, apparently, but it didn't matter, we were first ones on it. The weather at 8am. It was meant to be cloudy and rainy, and that's how it seemed to be going.Strawberry Monorail!We queued up at the Advanced Ticket Collection to collect my cousin's and uncle's tickets. However, much to our annoyance, it didn't open till ten to nine, meaning that queues were already building at the turnstiles, despite us being there way before most of the people there. Granted, it makes very little impact to the day, but it's just annoying knowing, if they opened the Advanced Tickets point earlier, we could have been in there that little bit earlier. This also brings me to another issue I have, with ALL Merlin parks, the AP entrances. Call me stupid, but wouldn't it make sense to have an AP queue, a queue full of some of Merlin's most loyal customers, move quickly, or at least quicker than the ordinary queues? It happens at Thorpe, it happens at Chessie and it happens at Alton. I was a tad annoyed that my uncle and cousin got in the park a good minute before us, despite them have a longer queue to get in, because of the slow procedures of getting AP holders into the park. Fortunately, this was probably the only problem I encountered from the Towers in my visit.Corkscrew <3Standard fanboy shot.A very nice image for the entrance to the park I think.Now that's outta the way, I can get onto the actual park. It's going to be slightly mundane in the sense of it's going to be me going through what I did in what order, but it will be much more deeper and interesting than that (I hope!) - it just helps me remember all of the day's doings. :lol:With the original plan to do Oblivion, Hex and possibly Rita for the ERT, which would then set us up for Th13teen once it opened, we were going to stick to that. However, on a last minute spur, we opted to do Nemesis. I dunno why in the end, but there we go. A tad unsure on the best way to get there, a staff member told us to go down Haunted Hallow and then through Gloomy Wood. Not necessarily the quickest route I think, but certainly an entertaining one!Haunted Hallow is just that nice light heartedness that I love about a theme park. It's interactive, engaging and humorous - yet it's got that underlying tone of it being something a bit more serious and sinister. I don't know when it opened, but I don't remember going through in 2006, but it is certainly a nice little touch there! These two little characters were a specific highlight.After what felt like a lifetime of walking (I've gotten in a bad habit from Thorpe it would seem, of being able to walk half metre from one ride to the next...) I started hearing that roar, that music - it could only be my favourite ride in the country, Nemesis. The theming on this thing is superb!Wait, what!? A cat in the Forbidden Valley. Ah well, added some more humour to the day I guess! tehe Have to agree with that sign.I have some serious love for this.Vertical Loops on B&M Inverters are quite photogenic.First ORP of the day, and I look ugly...A long walk around the queue and we were greeted by a nearly empty station and a train just leaving - just the way we like it! We headed straight for the back row and after a small hold up, we were winding up the lift hill. It was a bit rougher than I remembered, though I sort of expected that, but the ride was simply incredible! It just flows so well and everything fits perfectly together. Riding it again made me realise just why this was my number 1 ride. Needless to say, I bought an ORP (which was an increasing trend during the day, with 2 photopasses bought, due to the rarity of my visits) which isn't the greatest expression of me as I caught my ear somewhat painfully before the photo was taken..ah well!After a very looong walk, we reached the secret government facility known as X Sector. This was perhaps the most disappointing area for me on my last visit, due to be underwhelmed by a back row Oblivion and missing out on the anticipated Submission to a huge queue. Of course, only Oblivion was on the ERT, so Submission had to be saved for later. Much like Nemesis, the queue was a walk on - just a shame it was a blooming long walk! I remember from my last visit the queue line videos being a real highlight of the entire trip, so it was a slight shame missing out on them, but you can't win them all I guess. Greeted by a car moving out the station, we headed straight to the front row we disappointingly missed out on last time. As I said, I was underwhelmed slightly by Oblivion previously, but I was surprised just how much the front row experience adds to it all - it certainly moved up in my ranks after that front row ride. However, it's just too short and too much of a one trick pony. That, and when you are waiting to get back in the station you here 'There is no happy ended, etc etc' you're left thinking 'Err, oops, looks like there is' - it just spoils the whole atmosphere, and the whole story. I like the theme, I like a front row drop, but it's just not doing it for me. Anyway, photos:Approaching the not-so-secret secret government area.The hanging on the drop also seems to be shorter than I remember, strange..Pit of pitness.I'm a bit red in this ORP! :$I love this marketing campaign, simply brilliant. However, the Lord of Darkness can compel me as much as he likes, I'm not going to vote Oblivion!It was nearing 10, which meant it was nearing the time for Th13teen to open. We walked over there with the hope of a relatively short queue, being able to beat guests who were not part of the ERT. By the time we got there, there was a long queue outside the queue and it quickly became apparent the ride was not open. We decided, however, to join the queue (which was just under Rita's launch track) and bide our time. By about quarter past-ish, it was open and we were pouring in the queue, which oddly had no extensions open. From the time it had opened, we queued about half an hour with it on 2 trains, though I was expecting them to have had 3 on when it opened. As for the whole experience of Th13teen... I thought the queue line, though slightly unimaginative like some other queue lines at the park, was nice. I liked the subtle theming around and how it keeps you away from the ride, keeping as much as a mystery as possible. The audio I loved - it built up the atmosphere, and way always interesting to listen to! Then, getting to the station, I love the Tesla coil they've got, along with the girl's scream and the counting to thirteen - it is all just amazing! I've heard some people moan about the roof being little more than just black sheets basically, but I think it adds to the whole idea of the ride, with the restoration works and that. Whilst it's not brilliant, it's certainly better than the fake scaffolding and such which makes it just feel incomplete. One downside I think is the onboard and offboard announcements, by what I assume is meant to be some sort of Wraith. It slightly feels out of place and a bit dull - it just doesn't work, but I guess that could just be me.Now, the actual ride. I'm going to echo what many people have said: the outside is little more than a glorified mine train. Now, I know some say this is a bad thing, but I like mine trains - so a glorified one is all good in my books! I'm not a fan of the trims, like everyone else. It wouldn't be too bad if it wasn't painfully noticeable, but you can feel the train slowing down so much, it's just cringe-worthy! That first drop should be something special, not a missed opportunity. I was, however, a big fan of the zig-zag bit prior to the second lift hill. As for the inside, I knew what was coming, so nothing shocking. It did, though, take me by surprise still, and the actual drop did feel a bit, well, short. I was expecting it to last a little longer or something; personally, I think it is slightly weak, though that could have been because I knew what was coming. The backwards section is fun as well. Oh, and I absolutely love going back into the station. "How should we get them back in the station? Should the train just casually roll in? Naa, let's launch them in!" Being caught between the switchback and the offload station to get the third train on was interesting to watch, but they could have at least let us off first rather than wasting five minutes of our time stuck in the train helpless. Anyway, photos:%20http://a2.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/300915_2354159216459_1324550230_2825249_6890866_n.jpgCan't say I wholly agree, but true to a degree.I really like the signage; it's perfect!'If you go down to the woods today...' don't forget to pick up your van.Saw this in the queue and it made me chuckle. However, I strongly disgaree.The ladder is the type of subtle theming I liked. The scaffolding, not so much.Rita was quite photogenic from the queue line though - keeps you entertained that little bit more I guess!Unlike with the other two, this was my first time on the ride, yet the ORP was the best looking shot of me so far. How interesting..*Okay, I've been at this for nearly an hour now and I'm starting to get a little tired. I'll return to think soon, hopefully tomorrow where you can have the joy of my venture down to Cloud Cuckoo Land, my eerie first experience in Hex and so much more! Hope you enjoyed this first part *
