Alton Towers Trip Reports

[Cringle]

Well we've got one for Thorpe and Chessie so why not Alton? indeed. So here we go, tell us about your trip; rides, food, hotel, event? go nuts.

[Mark9]

I'll tell you how it went on Monday

[Joe]

After a year of waiting, myself Beth and James took a trip to Alton Towers. The car journey took 2 and a half hours? but somehow it seemed to fly by. We arrived at the park at 12:00 and went straight over to Oblivion. It had about a 15 minuet queue, which wasn't bad at all! We had a great ride on it. It was a great ride to start with and get a good adrenaline pump from. We then walked past the Towers and into Hex, which had a queueline just inside the building. That only took 15 minuets aswel, I was suprised how quick the queue was moving. When inside the Volt, that illusion must be the best I have ever seen.Both visits were both pritty bad weather, especially Sunday which was mostly rain. Rita did hurt a bit with all the rain spitting in your face, but was still a good ride. People was going into the toilet just to warm their hands up with the dryer! (including me) I was glad that I managed to have a few decent rides on Nemesis, unlike the last time I went to Alton Towers it made me see Black and white vision from the back row. Tbh I think it makes Nemesis Inferno as fun as the rocky express. Air was great aswel, whilst we was in the station, the train before us moved into position and some girl started screaming and shouting "GET ME OFF" so then the opp emergancy stopped the ride to get her off, which was annoying. I found the staff at Alton was reasonably ok. Most ride attendants were pritty dull, except for the Squirrel Nutty ride attendant who was telling us jokes just before we loaded. They wasn't that funny, but its good to see some effort being done. General staff around the park was happy, when I went to buy a photo of our group around the park, the man behind the counter said to us "oh this is a nice one, you are carrying a Alton Towers map, now whenever you look back at that photo, you will know where its from" Which I thought was nice of him to say. Good points-Not too busy-Liked the fact that we had 30 mins extra in the park due to Annual Passes-Experience was amazing-Food was great-Nemesis Station music and Rita music-Sat to a nice boy on runaway mine train, who seemed to know more about the ride than me :|Bad Points-Weather was horrible-Lost on Duel-Spinball Whizzers queue took ages-Didn't get to ride The Flume AGAIN-Haunted Hollow was pritty patheticRide Count for both daysAir - 3Nemesis - 3Rita - 4Oblivion - 4Hex - 2Enterprise - 1Submission - 1Congo river rapids - 1Runaway mine train - 1Spinball Whizzer - 1Duel - 2 Blade - 1Ripsaw - 1Charlie - 1Beastie - 1Squirrel nutty - 1Corkscrew - 2Tea cups - 1And I think that was all!

And here are the photos from the weekend which stood out for meClickyHad a great weekend

[Dan9]

People was going into the toilet just to warm their hands up with the dryer! (including me)

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

That happened at Thorpe on the 7th. We had to queue up to get to the dryer and spent about 20 minutes under there. There was some Fat guy (no offense, but he was) in from of me who took his shirt of and got pushed back onto me with it off which was quite disturbing (he nearly crushed me ).Anyway, I actually love the video. And 2 and half hours isnt that bad, Especially if it went really fast.

[MikeC]

Sooo tired. Went up today with Marc and IanNem off of SP. Got in for about 5 minutes of ERT, went to Air, frotn row, and came into the breakrun, advanced into station. Bang. Oh. It had broked. Damn. We sat there for about 10 minutes waiting to let us off, and wasn't very comfortable. Felt very sorry for people on lift hill, you heard the ominous 'BANG, OUCH', and the lift hill progressivly stopped again. We left Air, and headed to Nemesis, and it's overrated in my opinion. Greayed out, but no differnet from Inferno. Now this is where I forget the rest of the day, bar the little duck waiting patiently for chips, and as he was a well trained duck, waiting, we gave him some food, and went off. Ripsaw is mental, really good ride, but Oblivion is overrated aswell. Runaway Train is mental aswell, especially coming into the tunnel, very intense. Hex and Duel are amazingly well themed, it's great what they can do with a proper budget. Charlie is a nice ride aswell!Rita is overrated, in fact it's absolute rubbish. CRR is a much better ride than Rumba, longer and wetter. And then you have the Flume. Rubbish really, waste of time.Really liked to laid back attitude at AT, so many staff members, you have two sitting on RT, one operating and one on the PA. Just made the day a bit more special.After park close, we went over to Splash Landings/Cariba Creek/Towers Hotel. Really, really nice, and the waterpark was just amazingly themed. The prices may be a lot, but it's a great place to go. Hoping to go back up with Ian and Marc in October.Ride CountAir x2Nemesis x1Duel x3Hex x1RT x1Flume x1CRR x1Rita x1Oblivion x1Ripsaw x1Charlie x1

[Beth91]

All sounds good if you ask me! We ALMOST broke down on Air but didn't. Hehe you should have come with us!!!!You're so clever for not going on Corkscrew or Submission.

[Alex]

Who's willing to bet Marc's trip report is a carbon copy of that?!

[Mark9]

I tink some people need to relook at the term over-rated. In fact Rita gets very little rating at all compared to its Southern cousin. Still I'm glad you liked Runaway Train, Hex and Duel, those three are awesome rides and don't get enough of a look in. I felt the same about Nemesis when I first rode but its now my favourite ride, maybe you need it to break in for you to. Oblivion doesn't surprise me however it may be because your so used to Stealth's launch that you feel old Oblivion's a little weak.

[MikeC]

No, actually Mark, I meant what I said. Rita is forceful, but the launch is weak, and it's just airtime hills and helixes. I really don't see what is great about Nemesis, it's a good ride, but it isn't all it's cracked up to be. It's better than Inferno, but not much.

[Alex]

Rita is forceful, but the launch is weak, and it's just airtime hills and helixes.

Stealth's launch is comparable, and all it has is a big hill... then a smaller hill. I really don't understand what people see in it. It's just boring. Stealth is overrating personified.

[Marc]

IMO Rita's launch is not a touch on stealths, 0 - 80 in under 2 seconds is of course going to be better then 0 - 60 in 2.4 seconds. I found the launch felt slow, very slow and looked slow. Even if there is just 20mph in it, it makes a hell of a difference.

[Mark9]

I really don't see what is great about Nemesis, it's a good ride, but it isn't all it's cracked up to be. It's better than Inferno, but not much.

Original lay-out, forceful elements, an actual story behind the ride, commitment to getting a ride by making a hole, the SW1 and SW2 back story. Everything about Nemesis oozes class.

IMO Rita's launch is not a touch on stealths, 0 - 80 in under 2 seconds is of course going to be better then 0 - 60 in 2.4 seconds. I found the launch felt slow, very slow and looked slow. Even if there is just 20mph in it, it makes a hell of a difference.

Ah but if you had ridden Rita first you'd see it differently. Although I see your point I think what one of my friends said stands true, "you build up all that speed on Stealth just to slow down again as you go up whilst Rita keeps the speed going"

[MikeC]

No it doesn't Mark. If they didn't have the the tree height restriction, it would have been like Inferno.

[Mark9]

You can't really say that Seb considering theres a good 10 years between the two.

[Cringle]

29/09/07Went to alton towers yesterday for the day. Was friggin awsome. Got up at like 6 and ragged it down to stafforshire. Got there at about 11 which was abit annoying but never mind.I went with two friends, parents and two of my dads friends and it was a really good mix. Rita was cool, missed it last year because of down time, but this year I got to ride the sexy beast. Was surprisingly powerful and it was nice for the ride to last abit longer. The foliage and stuff had developed nicely and although the 50s theme doesnt exacally spell caveman area - its fused quite well I think. Did hex with my friends who were complete n00bs to AT so it was great to build up the excitment for them, not knowing whats comin next - the themeing there is spot on. Also ate in the new Ritas BBQ grillDid a few more rides - then came Nemesis. The sun came out, the queue went quick despite its length. Really absorbing the atmosphere this time and the ride was fantastic! Definatly the best ride in britain. Did a few more of the major coasters and then headed to out travel inn. Despite being busy, and not getting on loads of ride, was a fantastic day out and id like to point out that the marketing team have done a great job this year. I dunno where its been done inhouse or subcontracted out, but its really consistant and well designed and easy to read with good graphics.But yuh - just a really memorable, fantastica trip and good weather which, lets face it, is a bonus.

[Mark9]

Isn't that Rita food bar the best food ever. I would happily spend whatever to eat there.

[iCharlie]

Isn't that Rita food bar the best food ever. I would happily spend whatever to eat there.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

its the same at thorpes Colossus' hotdogs. except alton slap a bigger price on it (;

[Mark9]

Its completly different. It serves a selection of CHICKEN and RIBS with salad at very affordable prices, akin to Nandos. Of course if it was Thorpe they'd offer you a fastrack option to get the food straight away, instead of waiting the 20 minutes for it to be cooked.

[Marc]

I think its probably more like the glass house, they seem to have all the same style menus etc just with different names.

[Cringle]

Na mate, it was propper modern like marc said, just like the glasshouse. Really nicely done up and well worth it. Had some chicken salad thing and was lush - chips wenrt amazing but then I&#39;m not a huge fan of fries anyway. Was pucca.

[Mark9]

How to compared Thorpe and Alton.A guide to which is the better theme park Thorpe's line up = 9 rides (on the 16th February)Stealth [1 train]Colossus [1 trainNemesis Inferno [1 train]VortexZodiacQuantumX:\ No Way Out [2 trains]Banana RideStorm in a TeacupAlton's line up = 12 rides (on the 23rd February)Nemesis [2 trains]Oblivion [5 Shuttles]Air [2 trains]Spinball Whizzer [5 cars]BladeDuelHexFarm land thing [squirrel Nutty, Doodle Doo Derby, River-bank eye Spy, Berry Bish-Bash, The Tractors]Now on paper there's not much between them. Thorpe has its major rides gunning for it whilst Alton has a bit of varitey in its preceedings. Now when it comes to prices Alton is currently £15 whilst Thorpe is enticing its guests with a £22 entry. So again it looks quite level but then if you take it further it really does feel as if Thorpe is sagging desperately.[I'm going to ignore walk on Stealth today because thats irrelevant. It wasn't walk on last Saturday]Alton let guests into its park at 9:45... Thorpe decided to finally open its doors at 10:15. Difference of half an hour. Guests at Alton are treated to EVERY SINGLE RIDE opening on time. Thorpe's clientele were met with a few rides opening late. Thorpe's ride were on half capacity, Alton's rides were prepared and had maximum capacity on Nemesis, over 3/5 capacity on Spinball and Oblivion and Air at 2/3 capacity.I'm happy to accept all the rubbish that it was Thorpe's first day and all that baloney but then think about this. Alton closed a week after Thorpe (It had an adrenaline week) and opened a week earlier then Thorpe due to half term starting earlier up North. So why are Alton's rides working and ready to go whilst Thorpe is yet again caught with its pants down. So to conclude this fascinating analysis of why Alton is the UK's number one theme park:-1) It has reliable working rides2) Alton offers better value for money and a more diverse range of attractions.3) Alton runs things on as near to capacity as it possibly can.4) Nemesis. A reason enough.Thanks for reading

[Fred]

[I'm going to ignore walk on Stealth today because thats irrelevant. It wasn't walk on last Saturday]

Although you can kinda compare it to walk on nemesis, air, duel, oblivion, hex.. well, every ride at alton almost the entire day!

[Tom]

You're so clever for not going on Corkscrew or Submission.

I totaly agree (it hurts soooooooo mush for all of you who don't know)

I really don't see what is great about Nemesis, it's a good ride, but it isn't all it's cracked up to be. It's better than Inferno, but not much.

Again I totaly agreeYou are a bunch of clever peeps

[Marc]

Alton Towers - Friday 4th April!Well I took my first trip to alton towers of the season with mike and ian last friday and all I can say is wow.Whilst I like Thorpe Park and Chessington, Alton towers is a whole league above them both in almost every single way.Ill start with the negatives and get them out the way:Geting into the park and trying to buy an annual pass was a total nightmare, the staff we asked seemed confused that I actually had to buy an annual pass and that I didnt actually have one, once we eventually got that through to them we were sent to a small crowded office with a desk at the end of it with one member of staff on it.. this was going to be a long wait!Being the groups biggest/most popular park you would expect them to atleast be on par with Thorpe's and Chessingtons admissions but this wasnt the case, it took ages because this one poor woman had to deal with god knows how many annual pass's at the same time whilst speaking to customers on the phone, what all that was about I dont know, once she was dealing with us it was all ok, although one small thing was Ian needed a reprint, when he said that she looked like he was talking in some foreign language, then informing him he can only get this done at Thorpe Park.. great thats 200 miles away. Eventually after talking to somone else and taking his details he was issued with a ticket and that was sorted.Once we got in the park we headed straight to air, it had about a 10 min q which was more than reasonable, it was great to hear the origianl air theme back, its nice that they have paid up the royaltys to keep the decent music and learning from mistakes, staff were great, kind but very efficient at there jobs and our train was loaded in no time and had a great ride on air. After that its mostly abit of a mish mash so erm yea ill comment on little bits!Muteny bay is just amazing! This is somthing we very badly lack down here, the theming is absoloutly top notch both around the area and the rides them selves and Battle Galleons has to be one of the best most fun rides ive ever been on! It was brilliant, disppite it being blodey freezing and it even breaking my phone, couldnt resist just going back for more!One thing which isnt so great is the targets around the ride which seem to do nothing, I&#39;m not sure if there targets to just have somthing to aim at (If so dont bother, its much more fun aiming at people!) or if they just are not finished yet, only time will tell!Pictures Removed Due To Sizes exceeding board rulesI hate this ride, I will have a fear of ducks for ever after entering that tunnel!In conclusion Alton Towers is amazing, whilst our parks are good, alton towers really shows how things should be done.If What merlin have done for the towers this year is a sign of whats to come to Thorpe Park and Chessington I very much look forward to it.

[Chris]

I went to Alton Towers yesterday ;)as I was expecting it was great! the rides were amazing, and the longest time we queued for I think was about 30 minutes on Spinball Whizzer.It was also a lot bigger than I thought it would be, but the skyride wasn't on, so we walked ;)RideCount :Air - 3Corkscrew - 1Nemesis - 2 Oblivion - 2Rita - 1Runaway Mine Train - 1Spinball Whizzer - 2Charlie Choc Factory - 1