Han30

Couldn't find an AT merch thread so I'll pop this here - I didn't see these last year although I only visited once so I have no idea if they are a new for 2017 thang - anyway you can get epic photo prints of 3 of the coasters (couldn't see any others) - much like the ones at TP for Saw: The Ride and DBGT although I "think" the AT ones may be marginally bigger - anyhoo - they have Rita, Nemesis and The Smiler - prints are £15, so £12 with MAP discount and they look like this....(excuse my terrible photo taking) - anyone know a decent place to buy frames?

No amount of money would tempt me to climb up Stealth - for one I'm lazy and secondly I don't have a death wish

Yup can you imagine the headlines if one of the idiots had fallen and seriously hurt themselves or worse - what possess someone to scale a fence to enter an empty theme park and then climb 200 odd feet up a rollercoaster?! The park would have got the blame for it in the media and no doubt The Smiler incident would be dragged up again - some people are a special kind of stupid

I have rarely seen it with a queue and Saturday was only about 15 mins - longest I queued was about 20 mins but that was on a busy day

yeah I forgot about that - bit like Oblivion with queue munching - I went single rider on Saturday and walked past a load of people in the queue who subsequently got on before me

Chessie have got quite a few but I have no idea if they are the same as last year although Vampire on is definitely glow in the dark as I have one I've never really been hugely in to pin badges but recently decided to start a little collection - think I have about 10 at the moment. I'm not a fan of the really big ones so won't get all of them (plus I'm not made of money ) - and as much as I adore Saw: The Ride, the Billy pin badge freaks me out more than it should. I'm also not just doing coaster/park ones but charity ones and random ones (got a starfish one the other week - not sure why). I have a Bubbleworks one somewhere but I can't find it arghhh typical! And also a crash pad pin badge @Mermite - I love your collection! You have some really nice ones @wegloo - That 1990 Vampire badge is amazing! I am so disorganised and need to put mine on a lanyard or bag but here's a pic of 3 pins which I think are new this year?

Ok it's not a ride or coaster but I took this pic at Alton Towers - this wee chap was strutting about like a diva and I wanted to take it home with me

Oh bloody hell thats awful for you - loss of a pet is very sad - they are part of the family. I'm a huge animal lover and was devastated when my cat died 3 years ago - it will get easier to deal with in time As for your BF - what a scum bag - I'm a firm believer in Karma - what goes around comes around - there's no excuse for cheating whatsoever and I have very strong opinions on it from past experiences. You deserve much better!

Visiting Towers yesterday made me remember how freaking amazing Nemesis is - for me it is just breath taking. I know there are some people who prefer Inferno and I was warming towards Inferno lately as I've ridden it more than I usually do (and in total have ridden inferno 200+ times and Nemesis maybe 12) but nope - Nemesis all the way. I just don't understand why it doesn't get decent sized queues - I'm not complaining because it means re-rides but it's a stunning coaster and one that I never miss when I go to Towers - and that roar is just I'm guessing it isn't as popular as some of the other coasters due to its age(?) My top 3 fave rides at Towers are the B&Ms - my only criticism would be that Oblivion is short but given that it was the first dive coaster (unless I'm mistaken) I think that can be forgiven

Hex is as brilliant as ever and you can really see they have worked hard on it whilst it was closed. The music remains the same and it's still pretty much the same ride but the small details are noticeable - the bit before you go into the vault is so much better in terms of theming and effects - and I love the smells that they have throughout the experience - very authentic and really enhances the experience. Yesterday was the first time I had ever really queued for Hex - ok it wasn't a huge queue - maybe 20 minutes but it seems to be attracting guests which it absolutely should because it is a brilliant ride. Some of the TLC mentioned you can't physically see but it is good that they have put in lots of work and it is back open (I really missed it last year). It might just be me but when the ride actually started it was so subtle that I thought I was fainting before I realised what was happening! At the end of the ride pretty much everyone was smiling and a few people started clapping which I think says a lot. My only gripe would be that there is no Hex merchandise which is something I think could potentially be very popular - even if it was just a simple pin badge or keyring

There is only one that really strikes me on the Smiler and that I can really remember as its (obviously) mainly inversion after inversion - definitely worth riding - hope you enjoy!

Lol! - well log flume - logs - made of wood - easy mistake to make?

Insomnia is extremely frustrating - I've had it for a long time to the point where I can now only sleep when I take my night time meds (not sleeping tabs oddly enough) Lack of sleep isn't good (duh) and can often be a sign of depression, although there are many reason why people struggle with sleep and depression isn't always the reason - it could be that you find it hard to switch off etc. If you can, avoid caffeine during afternoon and evening times (if you even drink coffee) and try to get into some sort of routine where you go to bed at the same time each night If it gets really bad your GP may be able to prescribe a short dose of sleeping tablets which help however it's not a full time solution Hope it improves for you because I know first hand how frustrating it is when you can't sleep

I got one of these in 2013 (if you mean the silver ones) - I'll have a rummage about for it but - I "think" they might still sell them - not 100% certain if I saw them this year or last though

Totally agree although I do miss the original zodiac that actually had theming! Yup Towers definitely need more flatties - I miss Ripsaw and Submission

So....crappy, sorry - Creepy Caves are no more

£50 says it doesn't

I think I read that it's meant to be opening "late May" which....could be June Can you pop me down as a maybe for this meet cheers!

The dirt probably IS the theming Still can't fathom the colour of those fences - just doesn't fit in the area at all

Is this DBGT one new? Got it the other day but don't recall seeing them last year?

Are the Nemesis Inferno pin badges new this season? I've never seen them before but admittedly I'm not the most observant of people . Also noticed that they have 2 different Colossus ones which is a bit odd

Yup queue jumpers - especially the idiots that will climb over fences and no doubt if they fell and hurt themselves would probably try and get some form of compo out of the park I had another one pop into my head - people who damage theming in queue lines really grind my gears - ok so you might be a bit bored but that's no excuse to start defacing things - most recently I saw a girl with big long skanky nails peeling away at the poster things in DBGT queue - I was tempted to say something but those nails were a freaking weapon

How long??!!!! Blimey - not good - hope the rest of your day goes better

Oh I completely agree with you - it was fairly busy on Saturday and Stealth and DBGT were down for large portions of the day with relatively hefty queues on other rides (even Rumba was on a 35 min queue) and I felt frustrated - however I have a MAP so can visit again. Some people will have paid good money and travelled far to experience a shoddy line up yesterday (and today) and it isn't good enough - also the queues for guest services were massive which probably left people feeling more frustrated standing in the heat for god knows how long to try and speak to someone about it. While its good that they stopped selling fast tracks for the coasters and gave people free return tickets, it shouldn't have to get to that stage - one or two rides out of action you can forgive but when the majority of the rides are shut that's just nowhere near good enough