Who needs the Big One (Alton Towers (Staffordshire))

Member Name: LisaW82

Product:	Alton Towers (Staffordshire)
Date:	03/06/09 (53 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: The rides, the scenery and the experience

Disadvantages: Hotel is too deat

Alton Towers is quite simply the number 1 theme park in the UK and is easily my favourite park of its kind. I even went as far as getting a season ticket one year, although ironically that was probably the year I went to the park the least.

I first went to Alton Towers relatively late in my childhood compared to my friends and at this point Oblivion had just been built. Due to this fact, Oblivion was the only ride that I wanted to go on but couldn't due to the 2 queue and I wanted to see so much more as it was my first visit. I did manage to get on Nemesis twice and was hooked instantly. I love going on the front row and queuing that extra 15 minutes or so is well worth it for the extra g-force and vision. Seeing those seemingly missing corners just appear and that loop the loop under the bridge is just something else.

My next visit enabled me to go on Oblivion and ofcourse, when it tells you not to look down, you just have to an I remember thinking "there is no way that hole is big enough down there", but thankfully I was wrong and what a rush.

A couple of years later came Air and whilst the ride is a lot slower, who doesn't want to feel like they can fly for a few minutes. My one gripe is that it got stuck on the initial ascent on my first ever go and this was not a pleasant experience as we just hung there until help arrived. I am not keen on heights at the best of times but love the fast paced rush of these things, so being just stuck there was not great for me.

As well as these flag ship rides there are the older efforts like Corkscrew, Black Hole and many more to go on. You could easily fill a weekend just going on everything once. The queues for these rides tend to be more reasonable, but can still be up to an hour in peak times. Most rides are worth it though.

Now I have a young family, my experience has changed a little and I now enjoy going there to watch my young daughter see the shows and go on the kids rides. The park has suddenly become more beautiful as I have spent more time there rather than just going from one big ride to the next. I look forward to the day I can take my little ones on the bigger rides though as that is the real thrill of the day out at Alton Towers.

I haven't yet stayed at Splash Landings, the new hotel at the park, but have had a look round it and it is mightily impressive, but just far too expensive at the moment. This should be looked at to make it more accessible.

Summary: The top park in the UK