Alton Towers Trip Reports

[James6]

Just got back from a day at Alton Towers. Got there at 10 and left at 3. Headed straight for Nemesis and rode at the back, reinstalled itself as my number one Then on to Air and had the usual ride, Fun but not at all thrilling. Then on to Rita for the first que of the day of 30 minutes, don't usually go on Rita and hadn't been on for a couple of years, It's good and has some pretty awesome airtime , but compared to Stealth, has a weak launch and doesn't have much substance. Also you get a hell of a lot of painful neck bashing and by the end the bar is so tight down the circulation to my legs was almost cut off Time for the Runaway Train which was fun but it's just so slow after that incident Awesome , fun crew btw Next was Duel and was fantastic today, Everywhere I looked there was an effect going off and was just brilliant. Also got a Personal best of 50,000 :)Then we did The Flume which was fun but I think it's time something better was put in it's place , I wish a Log flume like Ripsaw falls at IOA was built.During the time we had lunch, and done Duel, RMT etc , the park had got heaving , with Air on 80, Rita on 65, Oblivion on 75!! and wait for it, Nemesis had the biggest que with 90! Then after some calming walking I decided to quickly get a ride on Oblivion , it took 5 minutes with Single Rider.Was near abouts the end now and jumped in a lengthy single rider que which took only 25 minutes and headed home. Pros : On a day full of school trips, getting the big four done plus others Saw Rita's smoke and it looks brilliant , if only Stealth's was more reliable Getting on my favourite coaster :DCons: The Que boards at Alton Towers are updated so infrequently!, SO many times a que would say ages less than it actually was, And with it being Alton Towers, and there being a good 25-30 minute walk involved, it can get annoying.Also , I personally think Battle Galleons is a poor ride, but I didn't realise it is QUITE so unpopular, the whole day it's que ranged from 0-5 minutes, Even with The Flume having an hour que and rapids with 35 minute que.

[Rocket]

What are altons queues like at the moment?

[James6]

From what I've heard, so don't take these as truth. Air and Spinball being the only ones getting over an hour with Nemesis, Oblivion and Rita ranging from 40-60 mins.Rapids and The Flume about 40 mins.I must say I'm very excited about my trip to Alton Towers next week as I haven't been for a few months. Most looking forward to Nemesis and Oblivion, Air is good but Rita is distinctly meeiocre in my eyes.

[Paul]

The only option I have of going to Alton Towers really is going with my family. I would go with my friends on the train, but the cheapest off-peak fare is £36 return. After paying for admission/food/drink etc as well, I'd be looking at over £50 each for a day out. I haven't been since 2004, so am looking forward to another visit whenever that may be.

[James6]

To be honest since 2004 you haven't been missing out on much, next year I can not wait for SW6 and I think it really is going to be unbelieveable but an investment like it has been needed for a while and since 2004 really IMO there's not been anything to go back for. Spinball and more-so Rita were in my eyes shocking additions with no real effort with theming or even layout/ the ride experiance itself.I do like Spinball but I just don't think it suits Alton Towers in the way that Dragon's Fury suits Chessington2010 will be an excellant year for the park though and even at the moment I still feel it offers the complete day out of the Merlin Parks.How I rate the Merlin parks before next week with a trips to Chessington, Thorpe and Alton Towers.1. Chessington2.Alton Towers3. Thorpe Park

[rossafc]

I also cant wait for SW6, I havnt been since 2007.

[Rocket]

I also cant wait for SW6, I havnt been since 2007.

ive never been to alton,chessington once since 2001 yet thorpe park loads

[James6]

Went to Alton Towers today and was there from about 9:30 till 2:30 so not a long stay but it's just re-inforced in my mind that Chessington is the far superior park to both Thorpe and now Alton.Arrived later than hoped but once arrived it didn't seem like we missed much, ERT isn't ERT anymore, it used to be a great reward for Annual Pass holders and Hotel guests, but now it's so over-subscribed to be ERT. I remember the good old days where Nemesis and Air were open for 30 minutes before the rest of the park opened and you could get a good few rides in and it was worthwhile getting there early for the ERT.Ok , on to the day.Diving into the park, first sight was that now even Private parking has gone up! 2 years ago it was £7, last year ago it was £10, it is now £15!!! Absolutely unbelieveable and I'm still in shock from it.Moving on , we got in the park and hoped to get a few rides in while it was quiet, wrong... the pathways were crowded even at 9:30 but we managed to get on Rita after queing for 20 minutes and it is still utterly forgetable. The launch pales in comparison to Stealth, it's just forceless.Carrying on , decided that we wouldn't even bother to try to get on Oblivion during NERTAATPWON ( Not ERT Actually As If The Park Was Open Normally.)Headed on down to Katanga Canyon and took a run on the Runawau Mine Train, it's still great, but it used to be fantastic, after the incident it's just been toned down too much.Next was Nemesis, My Number one before the trip today, and it still is. It was running unbelieveably today, seriously get to Alton Towers now, not for any other reasons as there aren't any, purely for Nemesis. First ride was at the back and dear god it's un-describable. My #1 by a long,long way.Chose to do Air now as I've heard that it was struggling with the ques. It was. It took them till the que was almost to the smoking hut ( old fastrack machines) to open the second station and even then it was agonisingly slow, luckily I had got in at just the right time and didn't que that long , but for a B&M, man that queue moves slowly. The ride itself was as it's always been, fun but wouldn't want to do it twice.Headed now for Nemesis again , as it was the main point of me coming today, used SRQ as the main que was now 45 minutes and they hadn't open the extension parts of the que yet either, about 30 people I would guess in the que and it took 5 minutes, tops. About 5 people on EVERY train. Was on row 6 this time and it was just as good, enjoy Nemesis Inferno, you won't after you've been on this. It compeltely eclipses it in every way.Decided to ride Ripsaw and this ride has been badly maintained. Like really badly. The setting was terrible and Rameses Revenge was being run on much better settings. Nevertheless, we saw 2 cycles and both times they wern't getting people wet, great as we didn't want to get soaked, hey presto, I was on the first cycle where they got people wet. Yipee! :PBack to Nemesis and this time was a Walk-On via Single Rider Que, this time row 5 and just as sensational/ world-class as before.After thoroughly enjoying Black Buccenaeur at Chessington I thought the Blade deserved a shot. It really is just swinging, nothing more, no airtime at either end , even in the very back. And a very short setting.One more go on Nemesis and it's mind-boggling just how good this ride is.It was now about 12 and so then headed back into Muting Bay and enjoyed Sharkbait Reef, somehow and your going to start thinking I'm just out to sing Chessington's praises but I prefer there Sealife, it may be in a temporary building but I think it's longer has much more fish.Queued a while for Oblivion via SRQ , about 20 minutes although was surprised today as apart from Air, Oblivion was the busiest, including Spinball Whizzer!Rode Spinball Whizzer then whilst using Single Rider and whilst being good it's not a patch on Dragon's Fury ( In my top 5 now ) and also it's trimmed way too much.Someone I was with had a headache and none of us had done Squirrel Nutty before so we enjoyed the thrills of that.Overall Alton Towers is great and much better than Thorpe but not a patch on Chessington. I found myself struggling to think of things to do at 2, Wheras at Chessington I've been for whole days and I always leave wanting more.The worst thing I think at Alton Towers is... Maintenance... Everywhere looks run down/tired. Oblivion buildings are a boring old looking colour with gouges out of the walls, they also have grass growing on top of them, the track itself is a tired looking grey, spinball's track is now pink. It just doesn't look like it could be Britain's best park, everything is so untidy, there's cables lieing all over the place and uncut grass etc.So now after my week of the Merlin Parks, my rating of them stands as.1. Chessington2. Alton Towers3. Thorpe ParkWill add pictures in good time

[TimR]

I can't wait to go next year and try out SW6 all of your trip reports are fantastic.

[Jake C]

I was going to go this summer, my mum said we should wait for sw6 so thats what were doing.

[TimR]

I was going to go this summer, my mum said we should wait for sw6 so thats what were doing.

Same with me, also I'm going to get a Merlin Pass next year to avoid paying for tickets and I will be visiting Chessington again for the first time in 5 years next year to see what all the fuss is about .

[Mark9]

The DoubleThorpe Park - 8th September and Alton Towers - 9th SeptemberClosed Rides (or ones I never saw open)Chief Rangers CarouselColossusMr Monkeys Banana RideRipsawRide CountAir X2Nemesis X2Nemesis Inferno X2Runaway Mine Train X4Flying Fish X1Saw: The Ride X1Oblivion X1Duel X2Blade X1Stealth X1Congo River Rapids X2Log Flume Unplugged X2Heave-Ho X2Spinball Whizzer X1The Bear Hunt X1Rita: Queen of Speed X1Charlie and the Chocolate Factory X1Twirling Toadstool X1Loggers Leap X1Maurauders Mayhem X1Beastie X1Squirrel Nutty Ride X1Samurai X1Points of NoteThorpe Park's downtime was.. well bad. Colossus didn't open during my entire time there, Samurai opened at about 2, we saw Detonator also go down. Banana Ride and Carousel were down all day.Alton Towers downtime wasn't as bad, but at one point both Ripsaw (Which was down all day.. something to do with the motor) and Air (which had been evacuated) were both down making Forbidden Valley very quiet.Thorpe Park was a lot busier then Alton, however what was weird was the queues. Whilst Stealth had a 10 minute queue, Detonators queue was 20 minutes. Saw's was 30 minutes, whilst Rush's queue was 15. In comparison, whilst Nemesis's queue was only 5 minutes, Oblivion had a 30 minute. The rapids was walk on and yet we had to wait 15 minutes to get on the Flume. Bizarre..Both parks seemed geared towards the future. Thorpe is very Fright Nighty now with the Asylum sign already up whilst giant holes have appeared all over the old Corkscrew site. Favourite ride of the trips was definitely the Runaway Mine Train. Choo Choo lady!

[Sheepie]

Had a good couple of days up at Alton.Some effects seem a bit temperamental- First day all of Nemesis' waterfalls were working bar one, second day none were working along with no music.No TV's were turned on in the Oblivion Queueline on the first day, yet all were working the second.Duel is a bit shocking really. Duel Live is a far, far superior attraction.Other than that everything else was brilliant, seriously, very good.Here's a few pictures.

[rossafc]

Some nice pictures :PI love the one of Oblivion!

[James6]

Great pictures and great trip report.I agree with pretty much everything you've said about Alton really, Duel: Live is fantastic and Duel, like you say is pretty dire.Oblivion's hole looks nice and full of mist which is good :PThanks for uploading

[Theme Park bloke]

I've been to Alton Towers in the last few days and I can safely say it was the best ever trip, beating my first ever visit back in 2005.All of the rides were on top form, except for the Sky Ride, which as we know is closed because of July's fire. Hex had a few technical hitches yesterday morning but got going just after midday. Nemesis was having problems this morning, it was showing no involvement with the ERT this morning, and half an hour later, a view from the Monorail showed a train stopped on the lift hill. I'm just glad I didn't go in this morning, I only went to Towers Trading for the gifts!What is left of the Monorail station near Charlie is a rusty metal frame after the fire, and I have to say it's spooky. It's amazing it took out so much, yet fortunate no lives were claimed. It was a real shame the Towers were closed as well in preperation for next month's Scarefest.Looking at the 2010 coaster development in Ug Land, well nothing much except groundwork is happening at the moment. Ug Land was obviously different last year with Corkscrew's last year, it's different this year now the site is being transformed, and it'll be different again next year when I go on the new coaster! Moving on to the new Cloud Cuckoo Land, and I did slate this area a little back around February/March/April. I'm now licking my wounds, because it's such a wonderful area! It's colourful, lively, the Ug Swinger which is now Twirling Toadstools looks much better in it's new home and theme, and the gentle music in the area is brilliant. Another tune to get hold of - any links for a download of that please, anyone? It has certainly brightened up the area and is better than Cred Street.Enterprise is looking old, rusting, and loud. Perhaps it needs a major overhaul? And please, give it a decent paint job instead of boring black.I can see a little why the Nemesis roar annoyed people earlier this year. Although it's now died down (and it's volume, to me, is no different than last year's), it certainly is sounding old. Yet it still looks fab and performs great.Has Air been sped up? It feels faster.Nemesis' decent off the lift hill feels faster than I recall in previous years - am I correct in thinking this too has been sped up?I was a little unsure of Mutiny Bay last year. I am now decided on the verdict I prefer it to Merrie England. The Sharkbait Reef Sea Life centre is fantastic, I was impressed by that.Out of the 2 full days I spent in the park, we did not queue more than half an hour for any ride. Infact, 20 minutes was probably the maximum!Also: I have taken some photos of the chained oak tree in the last few days, these will be posted in the Chained Oak Tree topic sometime this weekend.To finalise this report, I have returned from Alton Towers with the view that it's the cleanest, well kept, most politely-mannered park out of Alton, Chessie and Thorpe. Top marks to them, and keep up the good work.

[James6]

Great report, thanks very much, to be honest I agree with pretty much everything.Air does feel like it's running faster/better than in previous years. ;)Also, Nemesis isn't part of ERT anymore so that is probably why it wasn't open for then :POne thing I think Alton Towers needs to do is invest in some much much better flats. A 30 year old Huss Enterprise, A 30 year old Huss pirate ship, A 20 year old Mack teacups, A 9 year old Chance inverter thing ( Which by the way is the sorriest excuse for a piece of metal ever made) and a 15 year old Huss top spin. Not great for " One of the worlds best resorts."

[Theme Park bloke]

Also, Nemesis isn't part of ERT anymore so that is probably why it wasn't open for then

Thanks James. I think Nemesis is part of ERT as I was on it before 10:00am on Monday. It was just this morning it was playing up.

[James6]

Ah right ok It isn't one that is usually listed as open for ERT, but it is often opened if for example another ride supposed to be open for ERT isn't or they do simply just open it

[Theme Park bloke]

There's a board in Towers Street (next to the LED queue time & info board) detailing what's open for ERT - a sort of standard setup you could say. I can't remember if Nemesis was listed, I think maybe it was.Also, Google were on site yesterday - as I was walking out of Katanga Canyon towards Mutiny Bay, a white tricycle splattered with Google Maps info, and with a camera on the top of it, passed by me, coming towards me. A whirring generator noise was heard from the back of it. This guy was probably filming for Google Street View - I may be famous! ;)I have checked the maps and street view to see if it's on the site yet, but it's not. I will keep a close eye out for it.

[Mark9]

Nemesis isn't open for ERT, it's just Alton tend to just open rides when they are ready rather then wait for official opening time.As for its roar and it getting old, all B&M inverters make that noise, and to give Nemmy a bit off love.. it is 15 years old now, in coaster terms it's becoming ancient.

[Whiteknuckle]

I'm heading up there sunday, so hopefully all rides should be fully functional, apart from the Skyride.

[Theme Park bloke]

As for its roar and it getting old, all B&M inverters make that noise, and to give Nemmy a bit off love.. it is 15 years old now, in coaster terms it's becoming ancient.

It sounds rather like a sore roar. A sort of real painful eechy roar. A kind of sawmill roar.

[Whiteknuckle]

Had an awesome day up at the Towers last sunday, celebrating 2 of my mates birthdays, which fall on the same day.The park was'nt overly busy at any point of the day really.Me and Mum got there just after 9am and caught our friends up in UG Land. They had just come off Rita as we were getting on. That coaster is awesome as a wake up call. From there we headed to Cloud Cuckoo land and were the first riders of the day on the Twirling Toadstools, or whatever it is called now.CATCF was up next, and once again, the elevator bit at the end screwed my brain up Next was Hex, a ride we never fail to miss on a visit to the Towers, and after watching the Red Arrows flying near the park, looking Forbidden Valley way we headed to X sector. Oblivion was about a 5 minute queue, but also did Enterprise for a changeThe day just plodded on really, just making our way round the park, and the farm Ride count.Rita 1Chairoplanes 1Charlie choccie 1Hex 1Oblivion 1Enterprise 1Log Flume 1Rapids 1Pizza hut takeover, 11 of us.Mine Train 1Duel 1Nemesis 1Air 1Blade 1 (yawn)Gunpowder barrels (teacups) 1Farmyard take over including Squirrel Nutty (Don't ask )End of the day.Queuetimes were exceedingly short, with the longest queue being Spinball Whizzer, which, when we were there was almost out the gate.Longest we queued was possibly the Mine train, approx 30 minutes.All in all, a fantastic day, and looking foward to going with the club in 2 weeks. Night time riding on Nemesis, woohoooo.

[Lordcutter6]

I went today for the first time - was fantastic! We had stayed at a lodge overnight near bye and got to the park about 9:45 and walked over to Forbidden Valley first as the Sky rail was down. From 10:15 - 11:00 we had gotten on Air at the front Once and Nemesis at the front twice (I was so shocked how much faster Nemesis at Alton is than Thorpe's). We then continued around the areas to X-Sector. Ride count was -Air -1 (front)Nemesis - 2 (front both times)Rita- 1 (front)Charlie and the Chocolate factory - 1Hex - 1 (cleverly done!)Oblivion - 2 on front rowSubmission - 2Spinball Whizzer - 1We were lucky with Oblivion, went along just as it opened from test rides and got on straight away. So from 10- 2:45 was happy with the ride count. Had long journey back so just left at 3. Apart from traffic on motorway , was a fantastic day! 10/10