Alton Towers Trip Reports

[Fred]

Slow way of going by train.. St Pancras to Derby is a hell of a lot quicker reading by your journey times.. got to alton in about 3hrs. Got to love the buses there though, and I do prefer pendilinos to meridians but whatever!Nice trip.. the rocking horse wasn't working last week either. Mental about the queues though, maximum we queued when we went during easter holidays was like 20mins! Mental s**t

[James]

It might be quicker in theory to get to Stoke from St Pancras, but seeing as there is a train direct to Stoke on Trent, non stop from Watford Junction, 10 mins away from me, its much more convenient. Hex is so freaking good.

[Will]

Alton Towers, my trip out: 10 years of waiting GONEThe trip there & Splash LandingsI woke up at 7am and went to have breakfast then left out house at 8:30am and we got there for 11:30-ish; took 3 hours roughly. We immediately went to Cariba Creek, long queues for Master blaster but overall, it lived up to expectations. We went out to Flash floods, OMG it was freezing outside but the water was nice and warm.We went to our rooms and unpacked, then had a shower. The shower was nice, and then we got changed and went down to the 2nd floor. We looked at menu for buffet (Splash Landings) and A' la Carte for AT hotel. Buffet £16 excluding drinks, we got refill and shared that between us 3 as the latter, looked too expensive. The buffet was Ok, wasn't fantastic to say the least but the chocolate fountain was the perfect way to end an evening that went swimmingly (No pun intended). My two friends shared a bed and I went onto the bottom bunk, OMG it was so uncomfortable, it kept creaking all night and I got no sleep at all.-----------------------On the day:We woke up at 6:30 am and left for there at 7:40. The breakfast buffet made me gag, I felt so sick and the food wasn't all that nice. But to be fair, some parts were ok; I had sausages (bad), beans & Hash (GOOD), cereal (Milk ok). They have great fruit juices which help to ease the flow of food.We found out that Duel, Spinball & Mutiny Bay were open so we dashed for Monorail and got there for 9:10 and sprinted to Mutiny Bay. The cannons shoot don't shoot that far but the key, is to duck, then shoot when they are at the nearest, which seems so obvious. Afterwards, went to Spinball and was laughing the whole way as we didn't know what to expect. We went to Duel, which was good, I had the lowest points of 28800-ish because I was too busy admiring the creepy creatures but still managed to come last just a few points below my sister and her friend.We went to Nemesis and there was no queue, we went to the front seats easily and the ride loaded quite quickly. Now.... the ride was so intense, it defo lived up to the "Then" slogan of World's Most Intense ride experience. I really loved the themeing of the pink blood water which is drinkable according to an OP as all they add is food colouring, but doesn't taste nice. It felt so thrilling yet not forceful in a bad way and came off, going wow for ages.AIR, was the first time I'd ever been on a flying coaster and was over-thinking, erm........ what's it going to be like and it took 10 minutes to get on. The part where you turn onto you back for the first time (after the big drop) is so thrilling, and you're moving so unbelievably fast, you would have never guessed. Blade was quite fun to be honest and we all had our hands up screaming for more.Ripsaw was something I was scared on, as I had never been upside-down on a flat ride apart from Enterprise & Zodiac and I didn't know what to expect. And after shooting a load of F's, I actually enjoyed it. RMT (twice) and Congo Rapids were really fun to do, just sit-back and enjoy. The part of RMT, where you go into the tunnel was the best part, girls were waving and everyone were just having a good time, which made me happy.We made our way to X-Sector, where I did Oblivion > that ride for what it is, still scares people. I wasn't scared but was a little on edge when we went over and were held there for a while, because I thought it broke. I didn't go on Submission but went on Enterprise, it is nice as a little add-on and also, did make me walk all over the place. We also waited about 30 mins for oblivion which was ok, but my feet were beginning to hurt.I felt a little bit weird on Hex and I was watching really carefully, I swear to God that we went over at one time but I didn't feel it as my bag (drawstring) didn't fall out, so was defo something to do with the ride. Wow, that dumbfounded me! We made our way to Corkscrew which was having some weird problems. I stopped working whilst it was running; as it was coming around the final bend, it stopped working.The ride ops did their best to push what must have weighed a ton or 10. They managed to get a pole and push it along, which by miracle got it working. We got thrown about so much, one friend banged her head so much which points to a ride op saying that it’s getting removed. As the (they said) Corkscrew are doing me' head in with 'is breaking downs an' all. Rita still didn't open, I was told, that there was a massive technical fault. We went to Charlie as Rita was closed all-day and we waited what must have been, ages. Our feet was beginning to hurt a lot, but mine even more because I have flat feet (have insole), so we went to have lunch at Burger King (so eurgh) and what P...... me off the most, is that the vouches didn't work. There was two which were buy one get one free, I'd save £5-ish if it did work.--------------The MiracleRita was closed down for most of the day and we all were pretty pee'd that I didn't open and by this time, it were 4:15. When we left Burger King .............eventually, I said that we should just double-check and my sister was saying no, it’s not going to be working. I said I heard some woooooooshing noises, me and my sister's friend decided I should double check one last time and I did.I came, I saw and I was screaming my head off and sprinted so fast to my sis & friend and myself, nearly tripped over half a dozen times. Rita was doing test runs and my sister said so..... and I said that means it's working "Duh". Her friend started making spastic noises and she was so embarrassed. We went to the entrance and there were 10 people waiting outside, then it test ran some more times and more and more people came. Suddenly, out of nowhere, two ride-ops, majestically climbed aboard onto the beast that is Rita: Queen of Speed and they shot off flinging their arms everywhere. Then again, out of no-where a swarm of people (Like out of Lord of the rings: Return of the King, where the ghosts swarm like the plague) sprinted like mad to queue up. The queue winded around to under the track itself, we all was queuing outside the ride.We got to front seats and I was a bit hyper at that point and it went down from 3, 2, 1, go, go, go and I swear to God, that launch felt faster than Stealth. I was enjoying it so much, I had my hands up the whole time and couldn't get them down because they were so cold. We went to the loos and dashed to Haunted Hollow, which is supposed to be a shortcut, which isn't.My sister went to Mutiny Bay by herself (she wanted to get wet even though, she was ill) and we dashed to AIR, where single-riders (hoping it was open) was closed and we had to queue for 15 minutes. Before we decided to go our separate ways for the last half an hour, we decided we'd go to Air/Mutiny Bay then go to Nemesis as it wouldn't be fair if sis didn't join us for one last ride.We got off AIR and it was 5pm and I felt so guilty coz my sister didn’t get that ride. She said she'd been waiting for ages (20 mins) and we went to see if Nemesis was closed or not. We got in, just as the ride-op was about to close the front gate and we dashed to the top. We made it!!! The last Nemesis ride of the day and then it closed; I got a nice keychain to celebrate my 10 years of waiting had been freed. We queue for ages on the monorail to leave and made it out in one piece. Alton Towers by definition is the perfect example of a theme park that perfectly combines thrills with family fun.

[D4n]

Sunday 18th May 2008REVIEWI arrived at the park at 9.15 approx (Therefore getting 45 minutes of ERT) during the E.R.T period I headed straight for the Monorail, getting on park immediately with the annual pass. I headed straight for Spinball Whozzer which had a queue of about 15 minutes. After getting of Spinball there was about 10 minutes of Early Ride Time left so I headed to Mutiny Bay, it was great to see that they've put a lot of effort into the theming, it was great fun hitting the targets because when you do a pirate skull fires water at the people on the other side of your boat. It was also great soaking some people walking through the (stupidly long) queue line.By the time I got off Battle G the park had opened to everyone so the chance of getting on Air, Nemmie and Rita with no queue was about zero (especially considering that the park was already packed!) But I didn't ming queuing a little while for Rita so we headed over to UG Land anyway, however as we entered UG Land a staff member walked up to me saying "We're afraid Rita will be opening a little late today". A decided they were taking the mick as thye Skyride had been testing until the moment it was supposed to open, then it was closed and Rita had been testing for ages then stopped for about half-an-hour and decided to test again, it didn't open till around 1ish.Anyway thank god I didn't queue for Rita and headed over to Charlie (turned out to be a good decisions as queues were around 30 minutes for the rest of the day whilst I was walk-On). Charlie is a much better ride than I remember real fun and I forgot how brilliant the elevator tbit is smile.gif ). After that my dad and I headed back over to UG Land to see if Rita was open yet (This was about 10.30, we didn't know it wouldn't re-open till 1) whilst my Mum and Sister headed to Cred Street to go on Driving School and Gallopers Carousel. After I found out Rita wasw closed, it was Corkie, one of 2 rides on it that day!After going on Corkie (Which had a queue of 15 minutes) I went with my dad to meet them at Cred Street, Driving School hadn't opened until around the time we got onto Corkscrew (10.45) so they were still queuing for Gallopers, well a carousel's better than nothing so I went for a little ride on that!We then went to look at the queue time board near HexWelcome to Alton Towers Resort, Alton Towers offers a smoking free park experience so please only smoke in designated smoking areas thank you. Rides will close at 5.30PM today (Which means a 30 minute extension as outside the park it said 9AM-5PM) queue times to followAir 40 Minutes angry.gifOblivion 70 Minutes (WHAT!? angry.gif)Nemesis 0 Minutes cool.gifSo it was over too Nemmie and I'll tell you now that wasn't a 0 minute queue. The extension was open and the queue time was around 45 minutes. Queued up and as always enjoyed Nemmie although I wouildn't queue in the extension again! Next it was Ripsaw and the first time I've ever actually used the proper queue for it as usually they open a gate because it's so quiet! After about 10 minutes of wait I got on Ripsaw with my dad. Love the red water, great touch, I got absolutely soaked, wetter than I did on The Flume or The Rapids!Next was lunch at around 12, didn't want to wait for ther busy lunch times. I was rather dissapointed with the options. Anyway next was The Flume and a 30 minute queue, good to see they've got the duck back working though smile.gif . Then Heave Ho and Marauders Mayhem, Mayhem was brilliant and well themed but Heave Ho looked like one of Thorpe's flats! Followed by The Rapids (10 minute line) good to see both waterfalls running for once! Then RMT which had it's extension full and about a 30 minute wait. (Which I used to take some photos!Next was a walk through Haunted Hollow to Duel which had a 10 minute queue going just outside the entrance. I took in everybodys Duel tips but still came out with a terrible 4500 (But still a personal best). Shame to see hardly anythings working and so many periods where it's just black with lights.Next was back over to Forbidden Valley and Blade once with no queue then Air which had a 40 minute queue which mneant my dad didn't want to go on (He'll only queue that long for Nemmie) so I used the single rider line, the queue was just as long and it broke down just when I reached the front, making it an hour wait.We were rushing now, an hour to go and we needed to get on Hex, Beastie, Oblivion (X2), Submission, Enterprise, UG Swinger and Corkie again. First we headed to UG Land and rode UG Swinger walk-on and Corkie again, 5 mins (Corkie was my sisters first upsidedown ride- barring Enterprise). Then onto X-Sector for Submission and Enterprise (both Walk-On). This left 45 Minutes to do the rest, The Beastie had now been ruled out as it was too far away.Next I went on Blivvy twice, I didn't look down, I looked straight at Enterprise it was so much better than normal (Thanks whoever it was who gave that advice in another topic). This left 10 minutes ruling out Hex. Rita had a 20 minutes queue and the rides closed! Leaving time for a chilled coke at Rita's Chicken + Ribs.Ride CountCorkscrew X2 (15 Mins, 5 Mins)Oblivion X2 (10 Mins, Walk-On)Spinball Whizzer X1 (ERT 15 Mins)Battle Galleons X1 (ERT Walk-On)Heave Ho X1 (Walk-On)Marauders Mayhem X1 (Walk-On)Air X1 (SR 40 Mins)Nemesis X1 (45 Mins)Ripsaw X1 (Walk-On)Blade X1 (Walk-On)Duel X1 (10 Mins)Charlie X1 (Walk-On)Submission X1 (Walk-On)Enterprise X1 (Walk-On)Rita X1 (20 Mins)UG Swinger X1 (Walk-On)RMT X1 (30 Mins)The Flume X1 (30 Mins)Rapids X1 (20 Mins)Gallopers Carousel X1 (Walk-On)Good PointsAvoiding stupid queues on Oblivion, Rita, Charlie and SpinballBattle Galleons and Marauders Mayhem are great and look greatOblivion's mist.Ripsaw got me soaked/red waterIt was better than forecastedBad PointsNot getyting on Hex or The BeastieStupid Single Rider Line On AirRita and Driving School Opened LateSkyride didn't open at all but was testing until 10AMLoads of people with FastrackPoor score on DuelStatsBusiness- BusyRides Closed (All Day)- SkyrideWorst Queue- Oblivion 70 MinsSomething I've Realised On This Trip To AltonI surrender to the people who told me Oblivion does get long queues (But I've still never queued oiver 10 mins for it) Hope My Trip Report Hasn't Bored You

[Mark9]

Bloody hell was it hot yesterday. Went to Alton and with the temperature hitting the 30's it certainly was a challenge yesterday. We rode lots apart from Rita because it kept breaking down a lot. Which is similar to my last Thorpe Park trip where Stealth was up and down like a fricking yo-yo. Aren't these Intamin launch coasters crap to be honest. They may be thrilling but they are so poor in reliability. Anywho park was quite busy (not 23,000 like my last Alton trip but enough), with 70 min queues at Air, 40 at Nemesis and... 5 minute waits on RMT and Battle Galleons.The Gardens at Alton are goregeous. I've never really taken the time to appreciate them but they really are stunningly beautiful and easy to get lost in. Whether Alton is the best British park is one of those arguements that could go on forever. In my opinion it is. It has the best rides in the country (Nemesis, Oblivion, RMT and Duel), beautiful surroundings (Katanga Canyon, the Gardens), the best themed rides (Hex, Nemesis, RMT), and the best variety of any park ranging from the intense, the fun and the pathetic (Charlie and the chocolate factory).Oh.. and a big shout out to Marauders Mayhem. I was shocked at how intense it is. Storm in a Teacup is loved but its pure crap compared to its Northern counterpart.... (Continuing the trend then )

[Marc]

Are there any more of the new monorail trains around yet?

[Mark9]

Ah yes.. yeah the cow one is now running round and round as is a kind of random one. it looks like Charlie and the chocolate factory but it isn't and plays Tiny Truckers sound effects for some reason.

[Jamie_Hk]

Hey :)I'm going Alton on wednesday so I'm guessing it's gonna be rather busy I just wondered if any of you had any tips of what to ride when and the right times to go to the coasters etc.I'm sure I'll be able to work it out for myself but any tips would be much appreciated

[D4n]

Jamie-HK my advice would be to arrive at 9.30- When you're let in do Nemesis, Air, Rita and The Flume in that order- Oblivion and Spinball are best left as the last 2 rides of your day!.......................................................................................................................................................................................................Trip ReportVisited Alton Towers on Sunday. Tried to get there for E.R.T but my alarm didn't go off. We joined the back of a 30 minute queue to get to the carpark at about 10AM. When I arrived at the park there was a 40 minute queue for the Momorail- I walked.Once on park for the last time before I get a shiny 2008 annual pass rather than the 2007 one I headed to the Valley via the Skyride (which was walk-On). Nemesis was first up- entertaining as ever- queued 25 minutes for it. When I got off Nemmie it was 11AM- next up was Air. Air had a 30 minute queue plus an extra 15 minutes for the front row- an offer I took up (Nemesis had been an extra 60 minutes for the front!) Loved Air as usual. Left Ripsaw and Blade which had long queues with the intant of returning to the Valley later!Took the Skyride again to UG Land- Didn't go on anything due to long queues (Rita- 60 Minutes, Corkscrew- 30 Minutes, UG Swinger- 10 Minutes.) I met up with the rest of my sister and mum in Cred Street where they'd queued 45 minutes for CATCF. We then headed to Battle Galleons which had a 10 minute line- I got DRENCHED!Then we had lunch in The Tavern- good food. Had a quick look at the queue time boardNemesis- 40 MinutesOblivion- 50 MinutesAir- 45 MinutesRita- 50 MinutesThe Flume- 60 MinutesBattle Galleons- 35 MinutesNext was the Rapids- 20 Minute wait- got very wet! RMT was skipped as it's queue was 30 minutes long. Next was Gloomy Wood- Duel was walk-on even though the extension was open- they've fixed most effects smile.gif . Back to Forbidden Valley- Blade was walk-on so I went on that and I also queued 20 minutes for Ripsaw!Back to UG Land via the Skyride and went on UG Swinger (Walk-On) and Corkscrew (5 Minute Queue) before riding Rita (35 Minutes). Then X-Sector- Oblivion's mist was on full blast but left it until later as it's queue was 45 minutes. Went on Suibmission and Enterprise which each had 15 minute queues.Next was The Flume- 45 Minutes before finishing the day with 20 minute queues for Oblivion and Spinball.Overall a great day- I expected it to be busier during the summer holidays!Ride CountThe Flume X1 (45 Mins)Air X1 (Front Row, 45 Mins)Rita- QOS X1 (35 Mins)Oblivion X1 (20 Mins)Nemesis X1 (25 Mins)Ripsaw X1 (20 Mins)Congo River Rapids X1 (20 Mins)Blade X1 (Walk-On)Corkscrew X1 (5 Mins)UG Swinger X1 (5 Mins)Spinball Whizzer X1 (Single Rider, 20 Mins)Submission X1 (10 Mins)Enterprise X1 (20 Mins)Battle Galleons X1 (10 Mins)Duel X1 (5 Mins)Good PointsGot on the big 8 with no problems (Air, Nemesis, Oblivion, Rita, Corkscrew, Spinball, The Flume, CRR)Front Row Of Air was Brilliant!Generally beating the days longest queuesGreat FoodGot on almost everything I wanted without Fastrack (It can be done!)Bad PointsDidn't get on Hex, Runaway Mine Train, Heave Ho, Marauders Mayhem or The MonorailMissed Early Ride Time due to stupid alarm clock (With ERT I would have got on RMT, Heave Ho and Marauders Mayhem!)Loads Of Fastrack people skipping queues Flume and Rapids closed till 11AMThanks For Reading My Report- Sorry no photos as I forgot to take my camera

[James]

You should of gone the day after like me and Mike.Air was the only queue to hit more than 30 minutes and that was 40. Everything else was pretty much 25 minutes max, with Hex and Oblivion being walk on.

[Sheepie]

Alton was great! The park has improved even within a short space of a few months, with new Congo themeing and the new logo has pretty much appeared everywhere which now reinforces the brand perfectly and just makes it feel a bit more complete.It's really is feeling magical again and I hope they continue in the way they're going. Seriously well done Alton management and Merlin in general. :)A few quick points:I didn't really enjoy Air at the front, much better at the back;Nemesis was epically amazing as usual, loved it at both back and front;Hex made me want to inpregnate myself;Rita actually owns Stealth;I really liked CATCF LOL at the holding break on Oblivion not working most of the time and the mist was epic! :)I do love Duel, but I really miss the Haunted House =[Fury is FTW (better than Spinball =P)A few photos =D

[Jamie_Hk]

Thanks for those pictures :)I didn't actually go today...but I'm going tomorrow instead.I'll try and get some pictures too and I'll post a report on friday at some point.I'm sooooooo excited though; :DDD

[D4n]

You should of gone the day after like me and Mike.Air was the only queue to hit more than 30 minutes and that was 40. Everything else was pretty much 25 minutes max, with Hex and Oblivion being walk on.

My dad was working the Monday- Hex was walk-on for me but it's a half an hour long ride!Was Oblivion walk-on all day?

[Fred]

RMT was skipped as it's queue was 30 minutes long.... Duel was walk-on even though the extension was open...

What the hell, RMT and duel had their extentions open?! Not even on extremely busy days have I seen that tbh. (both coming out of entrance, so RMT looks like 30mins.. but its only 5mins).As for CATCF.. I go on it every time I go, at least once. Fallen in love with the ride, its got the amusement of X really.

[D4n]

What the hell, RMT and duel had their extentions open?! Not even on extremely busy days have I seen that tbh. (both coming out of entrance, so RMT looks like 30mins.. but its only 5mins).As for CATCF.. I go on it every time I go, at least once. Fallen in love with the ride, its got the amusement of X really.

RMT has been out the entrance with extension on my last 2 visits! Duel had a long queue between 2PM and 3PM (about 25 Minutes)

[Jamie_Hk]

I went yesterday, queuing wasn't too bad tbh. The only ride I had to queue for some time was Spinball and that was about 40 mins.Anyway, I managed to go on the following;Air x 2Nemesis x 2Rita x 4Spinball x 1Oblivion x 1The Flume x 1Rapids x 1Ripsaw x 2Heave Ho x 1 (LOL).Marauders Mayhem x 1CATCF x 1Skyride (not really a ride but there wasn't many queues for it)....and that was pretty much it.The first time I rode Air, the ride broke down just as we were pulling back into the station and we were stuck in the 'facing down' position for almost half an hour.Eventually, the ride staff noticed the pain a lot of us were in and manually evacuated us from the ride; the good thing about this break down was the priority passes we were given. Then again, me, my dad and my brother all got a pass but each one is for 2 people, if you're on your own on a ride, they still take it. A bit sneaky but hey, still managed to cut the queue for Nemesis the first time round and Ripsaw :)Apart from that, I had a really good day. I'd not been to Alton for 6 years so it was good to go back there and to see all the changes from the last time I went. It was also good to not have to queue for ages and ages, it was generally a fairly quiet day. I also wore my YourDay wristband and bought the DVD. £14.99 wasn't that bad actually and I got 2 £10 off vouchers with it so it was worth it. Haven't watched it yet but it looks like a good piece of technology :)Ooh, and another highlight of the day was seeing George Sampson, winner of Britain's Got Talent; well, it was more of a highlight for my sister but anyway, :)I'll put pictures up when I can find my camera cable.

[Jamie_Hk]

Just thought I'd mention that I'm going to the Towers again on thursday and this time, I'll try and take some pictures that'll be half decent

[Chris]

Is Alton Towers usually busy in September ?

[D4n]

Is Alton Towers usually busy in September ?

About as busy as Thorpe quiet but there are still a few queues at weekends! (Air- 20, Rita- 15, Charlie, Oblivion, Nemesis- 10 e.t.c)

[D4n]

I went to Alton on Thursday- I'll just put queue times as my trip raports are c***Spinball- 60Oblivion- 40Air- 30Rita- 30Squirrel Nutty- 30Hex- 25Nemesis- 25Corkscrew- 25Charlie- 20Other ride were under 10 minutes all dayTwas good!

[Theme Park bloke]

This is a classic shot - what I love about is that it looks like Nemesis (in parts) is built in someone's back garden!

[Jamie_Hk]

Haha, it does actually. It's very well set out :(I'm going tomorrow, woo.

[Tom]

Alton yesterday = win (yourday = fail)Nemesis x 10 (front once)Air x 1 (front)Oblivion x 2Enterprise x 2Rita x 2 (front first time - first ride of the day)RMT x 1 (queued once went round 3 times ya know what I mean...)Duel x 3 (once blasters didn't work)Congo River x 1Flume x 1Heave Ho x 1Marauders Mayhem x 3Submission x 1Hex x 1CHARLIE LOL x 1Corky x 1Ug Swinger x 1Blade x 1Spinball x 1 (normal queue 45 mins, single rider 2 mins OWNAGE)Youday = failBECAUSE... I went on all teh rides for yourday. and it picked me up on 3. I FAIL AGAIN.Thought I'd buy this legendary Corkscrew photo as it was the last time ever.

[Fred]

Did you read the wonderful new notices around the rides stating to wave your YourDay wristband in the station so the black things pick them up. Otherwise it wont record you

[Tom]

yes, and I did wave said wristband.