With the money grabbing but fun Warwick Castle behind us, we drove to Alton Towers, the next morning. We had stayed in a Premier Inn at Solihull, so the drive wasn't too far.We arrived around half ten to a fairly quiet car park...We were greeted with a very long queue for the monorail, which didn't really make sense as the car park seemed a bit quiet. It turned out the Monorail had broken down.After a 10-15 minute walk, we arrived at the fantastic entrance.Once inside, Ben started planning I love this tree. The Towers. A magnificent building.Our party split up to ride different things. As I was on my own at this point, I managed two goes in a row on Thirteen via the single rider queue. I was on within 5 minutes This was my first encounter on Thirteen and I loved it. The theming of the station and trains is excellent and the ride itself is really fun. The surprise at the end was brilliant After my Thirteen experience I had a go on Hex. I hate waiting through the pre ride film but I just love the ride itself. 'Stunning' doesn't do it justice.I didn't ride R.I.T.A. as I find it quite overated but I practiced my ride photography on it, instead.Flying Toadstools.I joined up with Debbie, Lydia and Ben at the Go Go Go Show, which was truly awful. Still, Ben liked it and got some autogrpahs afterwards.A BMX event was going on.We all regrouped and had a proper cooked dinner at Woodcutters restaurant. I had a cheeky Peroni with mine and the food was delicious. However, I was a few seconds late asking for my Pass Holder discount and was refused it :cursing: Fortunately, cutomer services sorted it out at the end of the day :thumbup1: After lunch, I took Ben on the Runaway Mine Train. It was faster than I remembered it and we really enjoyed it.We rode Duel and I got the highest score!I like this section of Towers.Battle Galleons.Ben hitches a lift The gardens are magnificent.Cable Cars in the distance.Near Kantanga Canyon, I spotted this pretty water fall.We all rode Log Flume and Kantanga Canyon. We had such a blast on these two rides We split up again for the final part of the day and I rode Oblivion and Nemesis with Kane, Lydia and Georgia. Both were pretty much walk on and it was just bliss, riding Nemesis again. It's one of my favourite coasters in the world.Monorail back to the car.Well, we had a cracking day at Alton Towers. It was our first visit in a few years and it was great to see the changes made since our last visit. We felt really lucky with the short queues. Oblivion was walk on all day and almost all the major rides were 15-20 minute waits. The staff were helpful and friendly and customer services did a great job on refunding our owed savings on our lovely dinner. Towers surpassed themselves on our visit and I'd love to return soon.Hope you enjoy the report. Next part is from Wicksteed Park in Kettering....Chris.

Awesome TR, but most excited to see your report from Wicksteed park! Love that place and haven't been in years!Nautic Jets ftw.

Awesome TR, but most excited to see your report from Wicksteed park! Love that place and haven't been in years!Nautic Jets ftw.

Thanks, James! I'd be interested in what you make of the Wicksteed Park report, when I post it!Chris.