Alton Towers Trip Reports

[tidear]

I'm not bothered about spinball tbh but 13 and rita are a MUST and I was wondering which the best time to head for them is.thanks for all the advice

[tidear]

rita??? a must???

yeah1 - because its been rithemed2 - I always avoid it due to 2 hour queue3 - I'm used to riding stealth as TP is local, ive kinda forgotten what rita tastes like

[tidear]

ok... ill let you pass on that for now

lol, why? are you a rita hater?

[Fred]

You must.. escape. GO. GO.Rita was maximum half hour today, and today was the busiest day the parks had this year. I love how much it differs on a daily basis!

[Deleted Users]

Has anyone been to Alton Towers during the school trip period and how is it compared to Thorpe Park? My friend and I are considering going straight after our GCSES but it is quite a long journey.Peter I am sorry I think I sent you a PM that was supposed to go to Peaj :/

[tidear]

You must.. escape. GO. GO.Rita was maximum half hour today, and today was the busiest day the parks had this year. I love how much it differs on a daily basis!

thats good news, and I take it thats the new launch voice lol?

[James6]

Yeah

[James6]

Despite Thirteen being unavailable, an absolutely phenomenal day.3x Nemesis2x Rita3x Oblivion2x Air1x Duel1x Charlie1x Spinball1x Skyride1x Monorail1x Runaway TrainSorry, bit tired for a big ol' report.

[Mark9]

Alton Towers - 18th July 2010.A visit to the Assylum.People are always very quick to say Thorpe has a chav problem. I'll happilly say it doesn't, it's Alton that has a real bad problem with its clientele. Case in mind. Earlier this year I complained about getting on the AT bus and 13 years old drinkign Fosters at 9:00 in the morning. Well this time walking through Th13teens queueline is a bit like walking through a graffitied alleyway. Every few feet, another message saying Holly and her Hen party had come to Alton on the 15/05/2010. Now, people were very quick to say INFERNO'S EXIT HAS GRAFFITI on it a few years back (it was quickly removed within 12 hours). Alton, clearly don't give a damn and have left it for several months.Secondly, when I went to Europa Park I commented on the amount of costumed characters that quite literally are everywhere. At Alton, despite having a themed ride to a blue, speedy little hedgehog he was nowhere to be seen. Neither was the Mutiny Bay sharks or Pirates. We did see the Alton Bear briefly before he was whisked off as quickly as can be. Is it to much for a family theme park to have a bit of entertainment going on around the place?Finally, what is going on with the effects at Alton at the moment? Something was very wrong with the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory's projector.It seemed to be split in half, one was wide screen and the other full and there was a horrible blending between the two creating ghosting. The waterfall wasn't working and the audio seemed to be out of sequence. Nemesis's blood fountains were just... white fountains. Duel was okay though As for the ride sides of things. Th13teen continues to be just about the most average rollercoaster ever created. It's so innoffensive I don't want to compliment or criticise it. We had taken a newbie to Alton and her favourite ride without a doubt was Oblivion. In her words "it's the scariest thing I have ever done."Reliability seemed ok although, does anyone know whats up with Submission. I've seen it down quite often on my trips. Air also opened late.

[AstroDan]

Sounds like a naff day by Altons standards. They have cut their entertainments a lot since May, and now it's very limited. I think they blew a lot at the start of the season and are now having to save for Halloween. Merlin, not quite the saviours we'd all hoped for if they can't afford Wraiths anymore, for example...!As for graffiti - they aren't removing at the moment due to all the schools visiting to my knowledge - it's worse in Th13teen's queue than at any time I recall at AT ever. However, such is the number of antisocial visitors at the moment, they're leaving it till that's out of the way.

[Mer]

Oh dear, and there I was feeling sorry for myself that I've not been to Alton this year!

[Fred]

As for graffiti - they aren't removing at the moment due to all the schools visiting to my knowledge - it's worse in Th13teen's queue than at any time I recall at AT ever. However, such is the number of antisocial visitors at the moment, they're leaving it till that's out of the way.

I dunno, there's still stuff there which I saw in very early may. It's a shame as it compares the park to something like drayton manor, and something that can very easily be rectified!What I don't understand is why you see a hell of a lot of graffiti in thirteens queue, but practically nothing anywhere else?!

[AstroDan]

I dunno, there's still stuff there which I saw in very early may. It's a shame as it compares the park to something like drayton manor, and something that can very easily be rectified!What I don't understand is why you see a hell of a lot of graffiti in thirteens queue, but practically nothing anywhere else?!

The ride has been horrendous for breakdowns - although this is better now. As a result, people have been standing around for ages.I waited 45 minutes almost to the entrance on Saturday just, such was the throughput. If it's running well, the graffiti problem will be reduced as people aren't waiting around. Also, they should paint the fences black (like Air's queue) as this reduces graffiti.I know that they generally are meant to do clean ups like that on a daily basis.

[ThrillSeekerMatt]

Alton Towers, Monday August 23rd.So I set off on my 3 and a half hour journey to the Towers after rounding up my mates. The journey up north was very rainy, and this set the theme for most of the day.We arrived at the monorail in plenty of time and were at the park gates around 5 mins before ERT started, so we were ready and rearing to go! First stop was Oblivion, then over to Nemesis via Hex. Air was next on the list, but the rest of the day’s order is a bit of a blur to be honest!This was my first visit to the Towers for 2 years so it was my first ride on Th13teen. It is most certainly not the thrill ride advertised and I left feeling extremely disappointed, even after reading all the reviews. But anyway, the less said about that ride the better in my opinion. After the obligatory ride on Rita we got away from the ridiculously busy Dark Forest and explored the rest of the park.Queue times were generally good throughout the day; the longest queue was for Spinball at about an hour because it was running at reduced capacity due to the weather. Th13teen had a 50 minute queue when I was there but that was fairly early on, Rita was at about 40, Nemesis was around 30 mins all day and Air was slightly more. Oblivion barely had a 10 minute queue all day!The park is looking very good at the moment, I didn’t see one breakdown, there is next to no graffiti or litter, the staff were all very friendly and helpful, and they were working extremely hard to keep the queues relatively short.The weather really started to close in at around 5ish and a few rumbles of thunder saw the park start to empty. Many rides were near enough walk on later in the day so we managed to rack up a king size ride count!Ride Count (as far as I remember...)Oblivion – 4Nemesis – 3 (1 front)Air – 2Duel - 2 Th13teen , Rita (front), Sonic Spinball, Skyride, Ripsaw, Blade, Flume, Congo River Rapids, Submission, Hex- 1Total ride count 21! That’s amazing for the middle of August! Although it was raining, and we did buy a 'scream' fastrack so got a ride on Nemesis, Air & Oblivion without queueing.

[MikeyT]

So now that I've had time to recover from an awesome few days at the resort; I'd thought I'd do the obligatory trip report :lol:The plan was to get to the resort in the early evening of the 23rd, so the kids could enjoy the water park, and I could enjoy the bar . After hitting dreadful driving conditions and traffic, we got there a little later than expected, but still had enough time to mooch about for the evening.As we entered our family room that slept up to 6 people, there was a moment of hysterics as everyone was just so excited to be there. I looked out the window, with the echoes of Nemesis in the background roaring over to the hotels, and the faint humming of the resort theme at the monorail station; watching various themed trains entering the station- I'm at Alton Towers.Mum and I just relaxed and enjoyed the quiet whilst my step- dad took my brother and sister to the water park. I notice little carvings engraved into the rock face: sea horses and fish, and other little easter eggs that I'd not noticed before, it's that sort of detail that I find really amusing and make me love the creative team all over again.Each time I visit, I forget just how beautiful the place is. It really is a magical experience for me, which is something that gets stronger each time I visit. I feel like I've escaped in every sense of the word, physically because the theme park is in the middle of nowhere, set in stunning countryside and also emotionally as I let themed environments become absorbed and lived.Queue times across the resort were bearable. Rarely did we have to queue more than 30 minutes for any ride. Both days were taken at a relaxed pace, just enjoying the park and what it had to offer. I didn't take too many photos, mainly because I just wanted to enjoy the experience rather than live it behind a camera lens.I keep forgetting just how awesome the three B&Ms are at the park, even to this day, with more technologically advanced rides with more to boast about, the ride quality on these are a huge credit to the UK. Oblivion does need some serious TLC though, however the ride itself still blows me away.I got so much joy at seeing my family have a great time, all the laughter and amazement. It just elevated the whole trip for me. Duel was also a favourite, going on that twice in a row. Not only has it received a huge amount of attention recently, it was so much fun watching the family compete against each other. Love the Skeleton Corridor now, the scenes are permanently on now rather than a quick flash.Same with Hex, it's now much improved upon my visit back in May, there are a few minor things that need to be seen to, but for a first time/ casual rider the ride was still mind blowing for them and they didn't know any different. I was surprised to find even my sister said it was "awesome" and she doesn't particularly like special effects shows all too much.I had a bit of an emotional moment on the second day, waiting on the viewing platform just outside the turnstiles, looking out over Towers Street. Hundreds of guests waiting for the park to open, music blasting out, the buzz of people getting excited about their day ahead- it made me think: Alton Towers is truly something special and unique to the UK. It's that atmosphere and stunning natural beauty that help to make it one of the most popular theme parks in Europe.

[treeis]

Double rainbow Oh my god!Everything you had just written I completely agree with. It is a fantastic place and your trip souded like alot of fun!

[thorpeparkjack]

[James6]

Incredible TR Mikey and once again agree on your opinions there :lol:Glad your family enjoyed it too

[Rich]

Very short report from me.It was ok, got to Air at 10 which wouldnt dispatch us, seats kept getting stuck! then onto Nemesis, Th13teen, Rita etc. Th13teen broke down whilst in the queue. Saw a few other rides like Rita and Spinball break down too! The park was dead as it was chucking it down, left around 3.45ish because we had done everything we wanted to more than once! I honestly believe there is more stuff to do at Thorpe and that Thorpe are doing a lot better with uptime on rides this year compared to Alton! Going back to Alton for Scarefest

[AstroDan]

Very short report from me.It was ok, got to Air at 10 which wouldnt dispatch us, seats kept getting stuck! then onto Nemesis, Th13teen, Rita etc. Th13teen broke down whilst in the queue. Saw a few other rides like Rita and Spinball break down too! The park was dead as it was chucking it down, left around 3.45ish because we had done everything we wanted to more than once! I honestly believe there is more stuff to do at Thorpe and that Thorpe are doing a lot better with uptime on rides this year compared to Alton! Going back to Alton for Scarefest

How has Thorpe got more to do when there's less rides than Alton, and it's a lot smaller?The only rides that, to my knowledge, have had complete days of downtime at AT this year are Hex, Th13teen and Ripsaw. Although for Alton this season has not been as good as the last - I think they've been a bit focussed on their new ride, sadly. But still, there hasn't been a day when I haven't been able to do the rides I have wanted.If you choose to go when the park is utterley "dead" then no matter where in the world you go, aside from the biggest US parks who have 15+ coasters, you'll be done by early afternoon unless you want to see shows. Using that theory, on a dead day at Thorpe - if you hit all the thrill rides with the log flume and rapids, you could easily be done by midday.

[rickydoodle]

How has Thorpe got more to do when there's less rides than Alton, and it's a lot smaller?

,Alton has more attractions overall but if you enjoy thrills and a certain genre of attraction, it's fair to say that there is more to entertain you at Thorpe.

[tomathy]

Ok, I went on saturday and sunday, the first two days of the scarefest and I had a brilliant time, the best out of any UK theme park.The first day was more centered around getting the bigger rides done and staying later, so we left the house at 5 and arrived at the park at 8:30. We were parked on the nearest carpark to the monorail which was nice as we didnt have to walk too far. Got to the entrance at about 9 and redeemed our 2 day tickets at the kiosk and bought some scream fastracks, to use in the dark. First stop was Nemesis, which was a front row walk on, then air which was almost walk on and we got second row seats. Then headed to thirteen after taking a "shortcut" through the gardens and wood. Queued about 70 mins for thirteen but was well worth it then went and did Charlie and the choclate factory which was alot better than I expected. My sisters spent some time in Cloud Cuckoo land while me and my stepdad went to hex which was amazing and only had a 10 minute queue. Afterwards we went to Sonic Spinball, sisters and stepday went in the normal queue whilst I went in the single rider, so I got 2 rides in the time it took them to get one, which annoyed my sisters, followed by a 15 minute queue for oblivion which wasnt too bad atall! We ventured over to the dark forest to eat our packed lunch/tea under the rita launch track in the seating area and then queued 60 mins for rita just before it got dark. Once it was dark we went straight over to Forbidden valley and used out fastpass for nemesis in the dark which was brilliant with all the red lighting and the smoke under the final corkscrew followed by riding air which we used our fastpasses for aswell. Both I thought were really good in the dark. on the way back to oblivion we did Duel Live/Skelvins thingmebob which was a bit scarier than we thought it would be but was incredibly fun. Once we got to oblivion we walked straight down the fastpass queueline and into the station without our fastpasses being checked, so we did it twice, both times they wernt checked but we left it there as we needed time to do Thirteen in the dark.The whole thirteen after dark thing was a bit of a letdown really, I was expecting loads of actors in the queue and around the area trying to scare me, but actually we didnt see a single one in the entire hour of queueing. The lighting was very good though but the actors, or lack of actors really let it down. Was definitely a better ride in the dark as the forest was almost pitch black and the camera flash left me dazed for a few seconds.Day 2Same start to the day as day 1 but then dd ripsaw and the blade before leaving for Charlie and the chocolate factory. After that my stepday stepdad said that he would like to do Terror of the Towers, it was his birthday and I didnt really want to queue 45 mins for it but was well worth it in the end. Was my first scare maze and I dont want to give anything away to anyone else so I wont say much about it, but it is well worth doing if you get the chance. Changed my view on scaremazes and I really want to do more in the future! Went to oblivion next and did all of the rides in the X sector followed by my mum saying that we should all do thirteen again, so we did! Then headed to katanga canyon and used our fastpasses for the flume on the way, then used them on the mine train, and the rapids ride which we did twice as we queued the first time and then went throught the exit the second. Then had a great meal at the explorers pizza and pasta buffet which I recommend for anyone that goes to the park, great value for money, I think I had about 4 drinks, 13 pieces of pizza and loads of other little bits for about £8.99 which I couldn't argue at! We then went back towards the dark forest for a few last rides, firstly hex, which was walk on, then charlie and the chocolate factory, which was walk on, and then rita, which had a 10 minute queue.Bad pointsI didnt really like the use of the portable floodlights, would have much rather seen themed lighting like nemesis's and thirteens rather than big, bulky, noisy generators with blinding lights on them that lowered the quality of the theming.Overall a fantastic weekend, and I also really recommend the your day wristband thing, it was a laugh to see all the footage and in the end we bought a DVD of our day as a souvenir. The writsband irritated my wrist as I had a long sleeve coat on but I put it in my pocket and it still worked absolutely fine. Great weekend and a great set of staff as well, they were really helpful towards us. 9/10 overall!

[AstroDan]

The whole "Th13teen After Dark" thing is a bit hit and miss, sadly. The actors are not there solidly from 5-9pm, but there in bursts. There is some specially recorded queueline audio to make guests aware what they are doing. When they do appear it's really very mysterious - lots of lights and smoke, with bizzare rituals being peformed down near the abandoned van.

[noob230]

The whole "Th13teen After Dark" thing is a bit hit and miss, sadly.

Like "SAW THE RIDE comes Alive" ?

[AstroDan]

Like "SAW THE RIDE comes Alive" ?

No - because Th13teen does have actors there throughout the evening. When the actors arrive there is special audio that booms in the queueline. They perform strange rituals in special smoke and light filled clearnings near the ruined vehicle. There are also several other smoke machines in the queue area and the woods are lit up green and blue.Saw the Ride "comes alive" was nothing more than some actors on stilts. The Th13teen one is much more thought out, but sadly you are still liable to queue when the actors are on break.