Fantastic days out (Alton Towers (Staffordshire))

Member Name: kayteis

Product:	Alton Towers (Staffordshire)
Date:	17/09/07 (136 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Lots of great rides and good value for money if you pre book

Disadvantages: Queues can get big and Rita breaks down a lot

I am a regular visitor to Alton Towers and I absolutley love it!! Iv been 4 times so far this year and never get board. They have so many great rides. When you arrive in the park I reccommend you bypass spinball because in the morning the queue is very long for this as it is the 1st stop for most people so when your due to leave make sure you have enough time for this one as its great fun. Head straight for oblivion. This is a fantastic rollercoaster with a vertical drop into a black hole. Its pretty intense and fantastic fun. Also pose for the camera! There is one just as you go down the drop and also a second one just as you come round the bend, make sure your not pulling a funny face from the g force!!! Whilst in this zone get on the other rides but personally I don't recommend submission because it hangs you upside down for too long in one go and I don't like this feeling but go check it out because it always has a short queue!!
Next head over to the log flume. Again brilliant ride and (unlike valhalla in Blackpool where you get soaked!) you get wet enough to be fun but not so wet that you'll never dry out. Kinda fun to be floating around in a bath tub, my fav drop on this one has to be the one in the dark!! Watch out for the showers at the end! Next head round to the rapids, while your wet you may as well get really wet!! This is good but i suggest your rock the boat a bit if you want to get wet as its pretty gentle. Great for people who aren't keen on more intense rides.
Next head onto the run away mine train, great little roller coaster and you get two trips round it, make sure you wave to the controller on your way round for your second trip!
Next I suggest you head round to nemisis. This is (I think!) the roller coaster with the most loops and corkscrews in the shortest length or track. Its a fantastic ride but not for the faint hearted. Its one of the oldest rollercoasters at Alton Towers but after all the time its been there its still a crowd puller and my personal favourite. Next head onto air which clamps your whole body in and when it starts you end up lying face down and it feels like your flying. This is not a fast coaster but its an amazing feeling. While in this zone jump onto ripsaw. Again a fabulous ride which spins you round through jets of water and then right at the end of the ride slowly dangles you into the jets where there is no escape from the water, make sure you keep your mouth closed because from personal experience I know the water does not taste nice!!!
Finally head over the Rita and the corkscrew. I suggest you keep an eye on the queue boards through the day because Rita has a nasty habbit of breaking down. This is the ride which shoots you fomr 0 - 100kph in just a few seconds. Great fun, really takes your breath away and the photographs are always great for a laugh. The corkscrew also runs through here, not one of my favs because I find it a bit rough and tend to feel a bit battered and bruised when I get off.
Theres also duel which is lots of fun, it was the old ghost train but now you get given a lazer gun and have to shoot targets to get a high score as you go round. Brilliant apart from the fact that I suck and always come last!
There is another ghost train called hex but I really wouldn't waste your time with it. It is about a cursed oak tree (which you can visit in the area, watch out for a sign saying the chained oak on your left about 5 mins from alton towers just outside alton village) where by if a branch falls from it then a member of the Earl of Altons family will die because he was mean to a lady in the woods. Once you have been told about the story you go into another room that sort of spins and then thats it. A bit like the haunting at Drayton Manor... neither fun nor scary.
I also suggest never paying full price to go to alton towers. Always check the website because they have pre book offers all time or check the press and look out for tussauds group vouchers.
Finally, during the peak times the queues can get very big so either go out of peak times if you can or buy a queue jump pass. They are worth it because otherwise you might not make if onto all of the rides.

Summary: Fab day out for everybody!!