Alton Towers Trip Reports

[James6]

I must say, I've ridden both and preferred Thirteen...Whilst the theming on EE is obviously superior, I actually enjoyed Thirteen far more and found it more "fun" and unique

[ste193]

I don't know why your all picking on thorpe park from what I've heard and seen from my friends 13 is a crock of *****, apart from some of the theming.

[MikeyT]

Nobody is 'picking' on Thorpe, people are expressing their opinions of Th13teen. Comparisons with Saw are being made because it was the first coaster under Merlin, with Th13teen being the second.

[Mark9]

I don't know why your all picking on thorpe park from what I've heard and seen from my friends 13 is a crock of *****, apart from some of the theming.

Oh get a life mate, no ones "picking" on Thorpe at all, comparisons between Saw and Th13teen giving to that their Merlins only rollercoasters built at old Tussauds parks and both rides are incredibly similar in that both have pointless outdoor sections but excellent indoor bits.I like both rides, I just find it interesting how different both opening days were.

[Marc]

I don't know why your all picking on thorpe park from what I've heard and seen from my friends 13 is a crock of *****, apart from some of the theming.

No ones picking on them, just comparing the 2 rides.If anything id say Intamin are the winners, 13 / Alton =p

[Deleted Users]

I must say, I've ridden both and preferred Thirteen...Whilst the theming on EE is obviously superior, I actually enjoyed Thirteen far more and found it more "fun" and unique

Yeah my dad told me to read an arcticle about it in the paper and it spoilt one of the unique elements >.> Needless to say that rage ensued.

[JoshC.]

Oh and for final score?Ride Open on time Th13teen - Yes, Saw - No YesRide Lasting all day Th13teen - Yes, Saw - NoRide queuetime? Th13teen - 75 mins, Saw- 90 mins (with no ride at the end)Ride throughput Th13teen - 1200 Saw- 800/900Ride open for preview events Th13teen - No, Saw- NoTh13teen - 4 Saw - 0

Technically, Saw was open on time. It opened on March 14th, just like Th13teen opened on March 20th. It just closed very quickly...

[Mark9]

Technically, Saw was open on time. It opened on March 14th, just like Th13teen opened on March 20th. It just closed very quickly...

Saw opening at 10:30... was not on time.

[JoshC.]

Saw opening at 10:30... was not on time.

Bah, fanboy nit-picking!

[Mark9]

You can call it that but all I know is I was in Th13teen's queueline at 9:55 whereas I was still waiting on the Colossus bridge for Saw at 10:30. The proof is in the eating and Th13teen beat Saw's opening day hands down.

[JoshC.]

Can't argue with that to be honest. Th13teen's went off without a hitch. SAW, anything that could go wrong, did.

[tidear]

Which date would be best to go? Thurs 8th or Friday 9th April?

[themeparkmad]

Which date would be best to go? Thurs 8th or Friday 9th April?

I would say Thursday incase people want to go for a long weekend.Please be aware though that none of us can predict the future.E.g - Someone might just go for Nemesis but if it is unavailable, they might not go. Other things effect how busy it is like weather, opening times etc.

[tidear]

cheers man ; )

[Mark9]

So went again, this time a hotel visit and had a great time (even though the reliability was pretty awful to be honest)Day UNO!Arrived at around.. erm well 9:20 and decided to use the Woodland Walk to get to the park. Bad idea, apparently despite the fact most of the ERT rides are near the hotel, you have to catch the Monorail all the way to the entrance just to come all the way back. Stupid planning frankly, makes the woodland walk completely pointless. So decided to catch the monorail, however that had a 30 minute queue so instead took a walk to the entrance instead. At entrance, LED boards showed us that Charlie & the chocolate Factory and the Rapids was closed. Not a good start, but we pressed on over towards Forbidden Valley for the obligatory ride on Nemesis. Noticed Air hadn't opened on time so ignored that and headed back through Katanga for rides on Duel and RMT. No choo choo lady unfortunately. She'd become Heave-Ho lady for the day. Turns out Th13teen was having a load of issues as we didn't manage to get a ride on it. Everytime we headed over it was either being evacuated or had closed for some kind of technical fault. Instead went on Rita which is run so much better then Stealth. I get so fed up with the Thorpe equivalent, for instance I have never seen Stealth on two trains, I have never seen it open all day, everytime I go near it it's seems to be closed. Rita in comparison is so much better and for a longer ride time and more variety of experiences (Including the newly acclaimed hand wave at Th13teen moment which I have decided is as good as the Congo/RMT interaction). Rita does have its issues, but for me it's the better ride.Queue times were kind of weird really, Spinball's queue was at 60 minutes, whilst Nemesis and Rita were at 10 minutes max all day (well everytime we saw them). During the heavy rian we took a ride on Squirrel Nutty and Riverbank Eye-spy before getting some buffet pizza, a final front row ride on Nemesis and back to the hotel to rest with M&S food and beer.Took the obligatory visit to the Bars, first off to ATH, where despite Chris being 23 and one of his friends being 30, they were asking everyone for ID. Apart from me, apparently I look about 40 as I had no issues buying alcoholic beverages. The entertainment wasn't bad actually, some nice eye candy on show there. Only complaint is that it doesn't last very long and is slightly camp..So headed over to Splash Landings which is slightly more relaxed. The cocktails at Alton are certainly worth it, especially with annual pass discount. We had about 4 cocktails and was a bit drunk. I was worse for ware in the morning, in fact we only woke up because kids were running down the hall past our room.Day twoSo feeling slightly ill, we decided to take it slightly easier. Went to the Monorail at about 10. Bloody hell, I don't know what the hell was going on here but for some reason every 10 minutes they would just stack up all the trains outside the car park station. Took us half an hour to even get to the park entrance. People in our carriage were very impressed by the Corkscrews at the entrance, I fully stand by my first impression of them. They are excellent. For people that say Merlin only care about making money, the corkscrews didn't just fall through a bucket of purple paint before landing in perfect position at the parks entrance. Headed over to Rapids which because Th13teen was having MAJOR opening issues, had opened before 11. Same with the Flume. Got very wet, it was all lovely. Rode RMT, Duel and Nemesis before heading to Th13teen which had opened at about 12. We queued about an hour and 15 minutes for a front row seat whcih I thought for a new ride, in the easter holidays was perfectly acceptable. The staff didn't seem very happy or enthusiastic. When we asked if we could go front row the attendent just said "If you really must". Another staff member, when I told him there was a single seat on the front row, just shrugged it off and told me not to worry. Talk about making his job harder, the single rider queue line must have been an hour long as it was. As for the ride, my impression of it has grown. The front row is easily the best row as you get nice little pops of air time in the crypt section and backwards parts. It actually took me by surprise. When the stupid hype for this ride wears off, it will be seen as the solid and fun ride that is, not the ultimate terror coaster.With Charlie still closed we decided to go on Oblivion next. 5 minute queue?! Coudln't believe our luck. Well until someone decided to run into a ride area delaying the ride by about 10 minutes. Next, Spinball. WTH! 10 minute queue?! In some respects Th13teen opening late was a blessing as all the other rides seemed empty in comparison. Took a final spin on Nemesis, the only way to end (and begin ironically) a trip. To go out on a limb, the best ride this country will ever see. I don't think anything can ever take it over.Ride CountNemesis X5 (2 front row)Oblivion X2Air X1Rita X1Th13teen X1Sonic Spinball X1Blade X1Duel X3RMT X2Congo X1Mauraders Mayhem X1Heave-Ho X1Hex X1Enterprise X1Squirrel Nutty X1River Bank Eye-spy X1BreakdownsCharlie - CLOSED- both days, Congo opened late on Day one, Th13teen late on Day two. Ripsaw twice, Submission, Rita, Th13teen, Flume, Air had breakdowns.Congratulations if you got to the bottom here, I just had a lot of musing during my trip.

[James6]

Awesome TR, excited for my trip next week What is this Rita interaction thing ? Also, sadly I think your right about Nemesis being the best thing we'll ever see. Still love Thirteen though

[Mark9]

1) You know on RMT when you go through the tunnel and everyone ends up waving at the Rapids boats? Same thing on Rita or Th13teen. If on the lift hill to Th13teen and Rita's nearby, give everyone a little wave. :P2) Some new Th13teen theming for y'all3) I don't think Nemesis being the best thing we will ever see is a bad thing. We should just be happy that we have it and that in this country we have such a wide range of rides and attractions! Considering the size of the UK we have two launchers, a flyer, a dive machine, three euro-fighters, two B&M inverters, two maurer spinners, a ton of flat rides that are very unique such as Slammer and some amazing woodies such as Grand National and Megafobia. This country is certainly not short changed when it comes to variety of ride experiences.

[James6]

Ah I guess :PThat new theming is pretty good , hopefully more little bits like that are going to be added.

[tidear]

I'm going this friday and was juts wondering if ya'll had any toptips?I'm heading for rita first cos it has crap throughput and then going for 13

[Fred]

I'm going this friday and was juts wondering if ya'll had any toptips?

Don't go for rita first then thirteen.Everyone and their dogs go there first, whereas rest of the park is pretty dead (particularly valley area). Whereas around 3, thirteen is quieter and rita can be as short as 10mins.

[tidear]

Don't go for rita first then thirteen.Everyone and their dogs go there first, whereas rest of the park is pretty dead (particularly valley area). Whereas around 3, thirteen is quieter and rita can be as short as 10mins.

Really??? On a friday? I always find that Rita has an enormous queue all the time.Also, when in the day do you think 13 will be least busy?

[Mark9]

10 o clock before its open (if it even opens on time) and after 6 when the park is closed. It's the new rides, its autmotically going to be busier then most other rides in the park. You'll be very lucky to go in the easter week and not have to queue at least 40 minutes for it. The only advantage going to Rita first and then over to Th13teen is that Th13teen's queue moves much faster due to it's higher throughput.

[tidear]

Has anyone been to AT recently because I would like to plan the day out efficiently asthere is a 3 hour drive. I'm going on friday and would like a few suggestions please. I've been told that the dark forest is dead (get it) busy first thing and that places like x sector and the valley are pretty much empty so when shouls I head for rita and 13?

[Mark9]

I went over Easter Weekend and yeah thats a pretty accurate count on things. Both days I went at around 11 am Air and Nemesis were still dead and according to signage boards so was Oblivion. It's a huge gamble if you want to bother with Sonic Spinball to be honest, on both days it was a 45 minute queue for the majority of the day. Th13teen, even if the queue is outside the entrance and queueing towards where Ug Swinger used to be will still be a maximum 90 minute queue. Rita is dodgy, on one day it was 15 minutes and the next it was 60 minutes.

[Rocket]

I plan to take a 2hr 30 minute train journey to Alton towers soon,these tips are great,I should be at the park at 9:40,I may go oblivion a few times then get to dark forest before the park opens to the rest of the public,is that a good idea?