Thrills and spills at England best theme park. (Alton Towers (Staffordshire))

Member Name: Larachristina

Product:	Alton Towers (Staffordshire)
Date:	11/06/09 (57 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Fun for all the family, loads to do.

Disadvantages: can be a little pricey.

Nothing fills me with more joy than a theme park, and if you are going to visit a theme park in the UK, I can recommend Alton Towers above all of the rest.
Alton Towers is the second most visited theme park in the UK (behind Blackpool pleasure beach). Its based in Staffordshire, and is built around a former stately home.

History.
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The estate has been around, in one guise or another, since before 1000 bc. It began as an iron fort, then a fortress, then a castle, which was demolished during the civil war.
Alton Towers was then resurrected as a hunting lodge until it was developed into a stately home, complete with beautiful gardens in the beginning of the 1800's.
In 1980, Alton Towers was opened to the public as a theme park, and purchased by the Tussauds group.

The Park.
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There are a few different ways to find yourself at the entrance to the Alton Towers theme park.
If you drive there, and park your car in one of the many car parks (normal parking is now £5.00 for the day, whilst closer parking is £10.00), you will probably find yourself a little way away from the park (unless you pay the extra for the closer parking. I assume this gets you closer to the entrance). If parking like me, and only coughing up a fiver, then you have to get the monorail from the car park, to the park entrance. The monorails come every five minutes or so, and only take a couple of minutes to get you to the entrance.
When visiting last week, there were large queues for the monorail, but they moved along quickly, and didn't cause too much hassle.
If you are dropped off by a coach, you are within a hop skip and a jump from the park entrance, and wont need to do the monorail journey.
Once at the park entrance, you purchase or pick up your ticket, and then pop it through one of the little turnstiles, and then you are in.Again, queues for the park tickets are usually quite big early in the morning, so it helps to book online.

Once in the park, you are immediately faced with *Tower Street*, which is kind of like Disney's main street USA, but smaller, and without a lovely castle at the end.
Along this street there are shops, and restaurants, toilets and cash machines. There is also a station to pick up photos that you have purchased from the rides, but more on that later.
Directly passed Tower street, there is the first Sky ride.The sky ride does what it says. Its like a little pod, that you sit in, that can take you to different destinations in the park, travelling above the park on high wires.

To take you on my Alton Towers journey,where I will be mostly discussing my favorite rides, rather than every single one, which would take forever, we will go left after Tower Street, to Mutiny Bay. Mutiny Bay (formerly Merrie England) has had a refurb since last time I went to Alton Towers. The serene swan boats drifting around the lake has been replaced by little pirate ships that squirt water at each other. To the left, you find sea life center *Sharkbait Reef* which has replaced the old 3d cinema. This area is aimed mostly at the kiddies, and beware, if you have small children. There is a large area that features games, where you can win large fluffy brightly coloured stuffed animal prizes. The games are very high priced, and the probability of winning anything is slim to none. The game vendors are also highly persuasive, and its very easy to lose a fair bit of loose change, all in the fruitless aim of winning a large purple octopus (trust me, I tried).
Mutiny Bay hosts a lot of places to eat, including a Burger King. There are live shows on in Mutiny Bay throughout the day, which can be quite amusing, but again are more focused towards children.

Next on the trip is Katanga Canyon, where the first ride to experience is the *Flume*. Like a regular log flume, except the logs are replaced by bathtubs. Queues can be long later on the day, but I have found this ride is generally quiet first thing in the morning.
You can fit five people in a bathtub, but it will be a squeeze. Several words of warning. There is no where to place your handbags/cameras/belongings on this ride. Unlike a lot of rides, there is no safe place for belongings at the beginning. You have to take them onto the ride with you, and there is a very large probability that you, and your belongings will get wet.
If you do have a camera, or anything else that wont function particularly well when soggy, buy one of the £2.00 plastic macs available in the machines along the way in the queue, and wrap your valuables in them, before popping them on your lap.
Secondly, prepare to get drenched, especially if sitting on the front seat of the flume.

Next up is Congo River rapids, which is surprisingly gentle, and a lot dryer than you would imagine. A large circular boat navigates you and your friends along a choppy river, which always threatens to soak you, but never quite manages the job.

Next on the adventure, we walk to Gloomy Wood, a dark and ominous place that houses *Duel*, what used to be, and still is in many respects, the haunted house. The queue for this ride always seems to be small to me, and I have never waited for longer than five minutes. you enter the haunted house, and are greeted by gloomy hallways, featuring a dollhouse with a ghostly girl inside, an ominous rocking horse, and a very disorientating slanted floor. After walking a small distance, you are greeted by a small ghost train. Each carriage sits five people, and each person has their own laser fun. As the train weaves its way through the haunted house, you aim your gun at little laser points, and shoot as many monsters as possible, trying to get a high score. Whilst a little unconventional for a haunted house, the shooting bit does add a certain charm. i am personally terrified of haunted houses, so being given a gun to try and mow the monsters down with, gives me a little added security.

After *Gloomy Wood*, you walk along into the next section of the theme park, *Forbidden Valley*. This section hosts the bigger rides, such as *The Nemesis*, *Air*, and *Ripsaw*. Queues for Nemesis and air are always very long. If you are willing to ride alone, there is the option to go in a separate singles queue, but if you don't fancy being separate from your friends, then you could often be waiting around forty five minutes.
There are drinks and snack machines dotted along the queues, but there isn't much in the way of entertainment (unless you count the far off screaming from the people lucky enough to already be on the rides). You can always purchase fasttrack tickets, but Ill tell you about those later.
The Nemesis and Air are however well worth waiting for, but not for the faint hearted. Nemisis is a very fast roller coaster, where your seat is suspended underneath the track, and your legs dangle in the air as you are hurtled along, at very fast speeds, with a couple of upside down turns.
Air is even more exciting, as you are suspended under the track again, but this time you are horizontal. Very fun for pretending to be superman, flying through the sky, but a little disconcerting.

After going on Air, I suggest taking the Sky ride to *UG Land*, during which you get a great view of the beautiful gardens, which are worth a look. Ug land is oriented more toward children, but does host new(ish) ride *Rita Queen of Speed*. Rita is a bog standard roller coaster, but travels so fast you almost lose your breath. Worth a ride, but its over so quick it makes the queue a little pointless.
As with every other section of the park, there are lots of place to eat in this section. I recommend *Ritas Chicken and Ribs*, which is like an informal sit down restaurant, that serves snacks, main meals, and also alcohol. As with every other place in the park, it is a little pricey, but not desperately so. For a bacon cheese burger, fries, and a large coke, I paid just under £10.00. The food is good, and arrives very quickly.

After eating, the next ride to visit is *Hex*. Its kind of like a haunted house, with an interesting twist on the inside. Not the most exciting rides, but it is interesting, and slightly boggles the brain.

Next stop is *The X Sector*, which hosts the ride Oblivion.
This ride is definitely worth experiencing, and the queues, whilst long, were not dreadfully so. There are also a few tv screens on the way, and drinks and snack machines to keep you occupied.
You get into a carriage, that has two rows, and are strapped in tightly. The carriage makes the steep climb to the summit of the ride, after which you are very slowly lowered over the bend, until you face a vertical drop. You are suspended there for a couple of (what felt like years) seconds, until the carriage races down the vertical drop, into a seemingly endless black hole, only to race up out of the other side.
Not a long ride, but definitely worth it for the five seconds of gut wrenching terror.

Nearly completing the circle back to Tower street, you encounter *Adventure land* which is firmly aimed at the kiddies, with *rides* (more like amusements) such as the *Squirrel Nutty ride*.


Important bits and bobs.
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Fastracks get you onto the rides without the queues. They cost a little extra, but can sometimes be worth it.The Fastrack Scream (giving fastrack entrance onto Air, Nemesis and Oblivion) costs £8.00. fastrack Rita, for Rita Queen of Speed, costs £4.00.. Fastrack Ultimate costs £35.00, and lets you cut the queue for every single top ride, once. Fastrack Platinum costs £75.00, and lets you cut the queue for all the top rides, as many times as you like throughout the day. These can all be booked on the website (the link is at the bottom of the review).

Photos can be purchased on all of the top rides, and can be bought in the form of photos, t shirts, sweatshirts, key rings. Photos cost around £7.00, but I believe you can get discounts when purchasing more than one photo, from different rides.
You don't have to pick up your photo immediately, you can take a ticket, and pick it up from a place in Tower street on your way out, avoiding carrying it all day.

Cash points are available throughout the park, including a free one at the entrance. Don't pull your cash out outside of the entrance, as the machine charges, and you will kick yourself when you see the nice free one, just inside the gates.

Car park tokens are available at the main entrance, and in the entrance and exit of the monorail. You need to get a token to get out of the car park, so don't forget.

There are 6 baby areas inside the park,and seven baby changing facilities, and you can rent pushchairs from the main entrance.
There are designated smoking areas in the park, but most people seem to light up wherever they fancy, even in the queues, where it is strictly forbidden.

Prices.
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Ticket prices are definitely cheaper online, where you will pay £29.00 per person, and £22.00 per child (children under 4 are free). If you buy tickets from the entrance on the day, expect to pay £36 per adult, and £27 per child. There are discounts for families, and the disabled and carers.
Two day tickets, and annual passes are also available on the website.like being tossed up and down. Alton Towers in itself (especially the gardens) is really beautiful, and its really a treat for the whole family.

In conclusion.
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Alton Towers has something for all the family. There are plenty of white knuckle rides for the thrill seekers, and plenty of more sedate amusements for people who don

How to Get there.
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If driving, and you have a sat nav, pop this post code in ST10 4DB.
For coach or train travellers, check the directions on the website.

Website info.
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For more information than I could ever possible give you, please visit here.
http://www.altontowers.com/

Summary: A fantastic day out for everyone.