Mer Posted May 11, 2012 Report Share Posted May 11, 2012 (edited) So, I have been up to see Ben for the past four days and during that time we went to Fantasy Island, Skegness and Alton Towers. I thought rather than doing just a Towers trip report, I may as well mention FI and Skeggy, plus the Capriolo we went on at a fair on the way back, it totally deserves a mention! Fantasy Island...hmm well it was fun, that's all there is to say really! The rides aren't bad, the place is a bit random though; they have a market there which makes it feel pretty tacky and you get some strange, shouty people! And it's quite strange seeing a main road basically going through the place! My favourite ride there was probably The Beast, best topscan I've ridden. Fast, decent long cycle, lots of proper flips/upside down-ness and generally far more forceful than Samurai at Thorpe. Makes me feel less gutted about not getting to ride it when it was at Chessie! Millenium Coaster really is the smoothest Vekoma, smoother than XNWO! I don't know how it's so smooth but it is! The only thing is, it would probably have been better at the back but the staff has some bizarre policy where they have to load from the front. If they'd given a decent reason, such as it being to do with the weight or something then fine, but all they could mumble was "S'company policy". Rer! Jubilee Odyssey...oh my poor head! We were front row (great view!) but it was so violent, dread to think what back row would be like! The lift hill is pretty cool as there is no platform below you, the drop and first loop are good but after that, it gets violent! If I put my head back it got bashed into the restraints, if I put my head forward, my ears got bashed! So I can't really comment much on the ride experience because that's all I could remember/think about! The Crazy Mouse there was good, much faster than the one at Brighton! I wonder if the speed of Brighton's is affected by the sea air, I mean it's right over the sea whereas Fantasy Island is near the sea but next to it/over it like Brighton Pier. Plus, Super Booster had issues with rusting and getting stuck because of the sea air. Plus Brighton's Crazy Mouse just looks so much rustier and older! Inside the pyramid, we did The Magical Sea Aquarium (for the lolz) and Dragon Mountain (a water raft ride, in Depth Charge style boats, but longer and more fun). Magical Sea Aquarium was just weird, not too sure what was going on but that actually made it quite amusing. It's a water ride, similar to Bubbleworks although the boats are much smaller, almost had water come in! You go through various scenes of fish and fish and more fishy underwater things, was quite trippy...and the final scene had no water, so the fish just lay there looking dead. So yeah, had a good laugh on that! The music that plays throughout most of it was stuck in my head for hours though! Dragon Mountain - supposedly a fast raft ride which gets you wet. Again the staff didn't really communicate well; when I was sat in my boat waiting to go, they let some air out of it. I asked why and he mumbled something about it going slower, then sent me on my way. At first it was kinda fast and quite fun but then it slowed down and when I got to the end the staff member (who looked lie Barry Chuckle) said "Oh never mind, at least you didn't get wet!" So I have no idea what happened there or why they wanted me to go slow, I said nothing about going slow or not wanting to get wet! Only a water raft ride but would've been nice to experience it properly or be told what was actually going on! Ben on the other hand had a normal boat that wasn't randomly deflated and flew down the ride...but got soaked and took hours to dry off properly! Guess I can't complain then really! We also did this monorail thingy about the secrets of Fantasy Island, again was really random and trippy like the Sea Aquarium ride! Amazing Confusion (the only Mondial Ultra Max in the UK) closed when we joined the queue so we left and headed for Skeggy. Skeggy again was a laugh, wondered over to the Pleasure Beach and went on the Extreme and the Waltzer. The Extreme was great, I've seen videos and know what it does and that it's a fast, intense ride, but it feels more so when you actually ride it! Makes me want to get on a KMG Super Spin/Experience even more now! Argh! Waltzer was great too, they come out and spin you so it's pretty intense, forces your head right against the seat. I was surprised at how old it looks though, like the platform is wooden, I wondered at first if it was going to be any good, but it was! It was raining and we'd done everything so we headed back and on the way drove through a town called Boston where they had a big fair going on. It was closed on the way there but open on the way back, despite the weather, and one of the rides they had there was 2Xtreme aka a Mondial Capriolo. For those that don't know, it is probably one of the most, if not, the most intense fairground/flat ride. In terms of what it does, it's similar to a Booster, except only one end has a gondola, with 8 people, 4 on each row back to back. It also starts off by swinging back and forth, rather than spinning straight away like Booster. Plus it is far more intense. It was £4 each which isn't bad at all considering what ride it is and how it's the only one in the country. The ride experience: as I said, you start off by swinging, which is good fun. You soon reach the top where you are upside down, about 150ft in the air, hanging for a second or two before going back the other way. When it reaches enough speed, the operator releases the car brake and you continue in the same direction, with the car spinning freely. This is where the intensity comes in. The speed at which you flip is insane, I couldn't let go because of the high G forces! I can't explain enough how intense it is! I had heard from members on here and seen off ride and on ride videos but nothing can prepare you for it or do it any justice. The only thing is, we only did about 4 complete rotations before the ride slowed down, and I would've loved to go through the station upside down (like the people after us did grr!). But I'm well happy I got to go on it, even if I did get a wet bum from the seats and Ben did, after just drying off after the water raft at Fantasy Island, it was totally worth it! Thank you Ben for walking in the rain with me and getting a wet bum again after just drying off, so I could get on it! Pic of the ride: Off ride video: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10151661023310391 On Wednesday we went to Alton Towers. As we hoped/expected, the park was absolutely dead! Straight onto the Monorail, always a good start to the day! Shame the music has changed though, it takes some of the magic away. Got straight onto Nemesis, back right, ooft! Straight onto Air then headed over to the Dark Forest as Sub Terra had a queue and we thought we'd see if it would die down later on. Got straight onto Rita and for the first time ever I think, it wasn't actually too bad! That corner after the launch was and always will be (I mean really, who puts a corner after a 60mph launch?!) but other than that it wasn't too rough and had a good amount of airtime! Th13teen was fairly enjoyable too, probably because it's the first time *I think* I've gone on it without having to queue, because all the other times I've been have been during busy periods. The first part was dull as ever but the indoor drop and the second part seemed more fun than usual, maybe because we were sat at the front? Not that that would affect the drop but the part afterwards? Meh, who knows, we all know the best part is that launch into the station! After that we headed over to Oblivion which had a 10 minute queue, good ride as always and lots of mist the tunnel! Glad it was open too, after the incident the day before with the n00b climbing into the tunnel. Also spotted the sheep from the top of the drop! Spinball had a 20-25 minute queue but was a good laugh! Next up was RMT, again walk on and a good laugh. Repeating myself a bit here but there's not much else to say! Staff were interacting great which was awesome. Next up...straight onto Duel! Wooo! Didn't jump as much at the "scary men", was quite disappointed lol. Still a great ride though and I noticed some theming more than previously, which must be down to the improvements they have made this year like the lighting changes. I really wish they would sort the guns out though, they hurt your hands/wrists so much! I only got 21300 Still one of my favourite rides there, even the smell as you enter the building is exciting/creepy! Wish we'd gone on again! D'oh! After Duel it was time for Sub Terra. Queued about 30 mins for it, got inside, where you wait to go on the first lifts, and it had a breakdown. Stood there for about 10-15 mins with the Phalanx Control thing playing continuously on the TV screens...then it re-opened! The first lift...not much to say really. The ride itself - well, I enjoyed it for what it is! I went on expecting nothing amazing so I'm not disappointed I liked all aspects of the theming, the drop was good, didn't feel a huge lack of force compared to Extremis which is what some people say. Although on Extremis you know when you are going to drop even the first time you go on, whereas Sub Terra, you don't, so maybe that's why it felt the same, because it was more of a shock. Infact, it felt like it went on a bit longer! I don't actually remember much about the part you dropped into, apart from the poking etc. The strobes when you come off and the effects in the second lift were great. So yeah, I came off without any complaints, whereas some people *cough*Ben*cough* keep comparing it to Alien Encounter and moaning! Just don't go on expecting anything amazing or terrifying and you won't feel disappointed! Also, loved the staff, it's great how they have the uniform and have to get into and stay in their roles. While we were queueing there was one going through the queue staring at people and making humorous comments, which was a good addition. Went to eat at Pizza Pasta which was yummy as always then headed over to Cloud Cuckoo Land to do Charlie...lol, it was something to do as it was so quiet, something to do whle our food went down and Ben hadn't been on before. I've only been on once before and didn't remember much apart from being rather bored. It actually had a queue, although only 15 minutes. The video that plays in the queue before you board the boat ride is annoying as it keeps repeating, the boat ride is so "Meh", the lift part is the only good thing about the ride! Afterwards was Hex, again walk on. Had these two girls waiting with us and they tried to open the doors into the first scene even though we explained the staff open them for you. Then in the second scene (don't know what it's called, the one with the curtain before the actual ride), one of them goes to the other "Ooh they've changed it! You used to sit on seats and go on't ride! Why have they changed it?!" Had to contain myself from laughing! Wondered back over to Oblivion for a second ride, again it had a 10 minute queue. Had a much better ride this time, although it was later on in the day and I had my restraint looser, love the airtime on the drop, the way it gets your stomach, and how you see the misty tunnel coming towards you! Went back to Forbidden Valley for more Nemmie times, again back right, and this time it was far more intense, thanks to the rain and being later on in the day <3 Took some pics then went on again, second from the back, again awesome. Took some more pics there and back in X Sector then headed towards the exit. When we were nearing Towers Trading, we heard this music start blasting out...it was Sir Edward England in his Shipmobile! Yay! Hadn't seen him all day so I'm glad we did! Very amusing, got some video footage. It's the little things like that which really add to the day! Loving the merch they have, got myself a black Nemesis hoodie and some other little bits and Ben bought me a Nemesis bear Got straight on the monorail and out the park, perfect! Video of Sir Edward England and his Shipmobile here: Took a few pics at Alton, here: https://www.facebook...=3&l=c395e321ba And a picture of me with Nemesis in the background, taken by the Benjy: Thanks for reading! Edited May 11, 2012 by Mer9 Tom, Luke_A, pluk and 6 others 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cornflakes Posted May 12, 2012 Report Share Posted May 12, 2012 Great trip report Mer! Glad to here you had a good time Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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