Alton Towers Day Out (Alton Towers (Staffordshire))

Member Name: bunnie1982

Product:	Alton Towers (Staffordshire)
Date:	17/10/08 (45 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Variety of rides for everyone

Disadvantages: Expensive food, pay parking

Alton Towers is located within the grounds of a former stately home in Staffordshire, England. On the same site is two hotels, The Alton Towers Hotel and Splash Landings Hotel.

One of my recommendations before visiting Alton Towers is to get a money off voucher or a two for one voucher as the entry price could prove to be very expensive.

The park is split into many themed areas with the cable cars linking them. The cable cars are currently undergoing a revamp, upon my recent visit one was completely decorated in daisies.

Guests also start their day on the monorail, which transports them from the car park to the park entrance. The monorail has also undergone a refurbishment with trains now decorated in different themes such as a cow or jelly beans.

The areas are split as follows:

Towers Street
This is the entrance pavillion and the first area the guests will encounter. It contains several shops and the new Your Day booth, where you can get a wristband to wear for the day and it records your moments on the rides.

Mutiny Bay
This is a new themed area for 2008 and it includes Battle Galleons, Heave Ho (a pirate boat ride) and Marauders Mayhem (a teacup ride)

Katanga Kanyon
Congo River Rapids, Runaway Train and The Flume: Unplugged

Gloomy Wood
Duel: The Haunted House Strikes Back

Forbidden Valley
AIR, The Blade, Nemesis, Ripsaw

Ug Land
The Corkscrew (which is sadly closing on 9th November) RITA: Queen of Speed, Ug Swinger

Cred Street
Bouncing Bugs, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Frog Hopper, Gallopers Carousel

X Sector
Enterprise, Oblivion, Submission

Adventureland
The Beastie, Spinball Whizzer, Squirrel Nutty

Old MacDonalds Farmyard
Doodle Doo Derby, Old Macdonalds Tractor Ride, Riverbank Eye Spy

The Towers
Hex

I'd recommend experimenting with food around the park, however it does have something to suit every taste. My personal favourite is the stand by Spinball Whizzer that serves very tasty paninis.

Don't forget to save money for the car park, it costs £4 and you will need to buy a token.

I personally enjoy Alton Towers for the thrill aspect, with rides such as Nemesis, Oblivion and RITA. I think that the park is ideal for families with older children as there is more for them to go on, quite a few of the rides have a height restriction of 1.4metres.

On a nice day be prepared to queue!! I visited on 4th October and the queues were not so bad because it was a rainy day. The longest queue was for AIR which was 45 minutes. As a general note some of the bigger rides operate a single rider queue system so as long as you don't mind not riding with your friends/family then this might be of benefit.

One of the things I also like about Alton Towers is that they provide notice boards giving you an estimated queue time of the rides, this is a good idea as it saves a lot of unnecessary walking. Be prepared to walk around Alton Towers, I always suffer with a sore knee at the end of the day due to the amount of walking.

The one ride I personally avoid is Submission, I find it a bit painful on the shoulders, however it might be to others taste so don't be disuaded by my comments.

From the start of the day I headed for Spinball Whizzer, which can accumulate quite a large queue, for me this is quite a fun ride and not as intense as some of the other rides on the park. Next I went into X Sector for a couple of rides on Oblivion, and then a relaxing ride on Enterprise, however as I said above I usually avoid Submission.

From there I then headed off into Ug Land via the towers to ride Hex, mainly to see if all the special effects are working. Then for a few goes on RITA, Ug Swingers, Corkscrew and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. One thing I did note on my recent visit is that the Ug Swingers were not operating to the usual standard, they were quite slow and did not swing out as much.

After these rides I headed off to Forbidden Valley on the cable cars for a few rides on my favourite Nemesis and then AIR, which is good but not as intense. Not fancying on getting wet I avoided Ripsaw and had a couple of goes on Blade instead, before going to Duel and having a few goes.

From Duel I then walked round for a few goes on the rapids and the runaway train and got convinced to go on the log flume. As a side note, don't sit right at the front of a heavy boat, you will get VERY wet. We did a few more rides around the park and then decided to head back to the car and home to dry off.

Overall it is a good day out, but plan your day well to avoid the queues.

Summary: Alton Towers in a Nutshell