One of the best theme parks in Britain. (Alton Towers (Staffordshire))

Member Name: Degeneratemoo

Product:	Alton Towers (Staffordshire)
Date:	10/08/09 (145 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Some great rides

Disadvantages: Expensive, some long queues

This is a review for the theme park Alton Towers. This review does not cover the hotel nor the water park as I have not visited either, nor does it cover the kiddie rides as I don't have any kids.

I only ever visit Alton Towers when I have a 2-4-1 voucher, it's pretty expensive without it (I think it was £36 per adult) but each year there are plenty of 2-4-1 vouchers available.

---Parking---

There's a large car park so it pays to be early as you get to park closer to the monorail entrance. It costs £5 to park and you have to buy a token from a vending machine in the monorail station. Take my advice, buy your token on the way IN to the park. You'll be thankful when you see the huge queue of people waiting to get out at the end of the day!! Whilst you can walk to the park entrance, the monorail is the standard way of getting there and you get told some information on the way, there are a couple of different themed monorails so you'll get a different commentary depending on which on you're in and whether you're arriving at the park or leaving.

---The rides!---

===Fast track===

Once you are inside the park you don't have to pay to get on any of the standard rides and there's no wristband/ticket system in place. You can buy fast track tickets that give you a specific time slot to be on a ride and this ticket allows you to skip a large portion of the queue, the fast track tickets are expensive though. They do different packages depending on what rides you're after and I think you can buy individual ones too.

---Thrill rides---

===Air===

This is one of the more recent additions to Alton Towers, it's a roller coaster that simulates flying. You start sitting down in the seat, the seat lowers and your seat turns forward so you're essentially lying on your front. The rails are above the car so you're looking down at the floor all of the time. The best bit (for me) is where the rail turns upside down so you're looking up the sky, it does feel like you're flying. The queue tends to move pretty quickly and they are running a few cars at the same time.

5/5

===The Blade===

Essentially this is a pirate ship, nothing more, nothing less. It's not brilliant but the further you sit towards the back the more fun it is. Since it never seems very popular the queue is not an issue.

2/5

===Enterprise===

This ride consists of a big wheel with small 'pods' on the outside. Each pod takes two people and is on a hinge so whilst the wheel is flat to the floor the pods hang down. As the wheel starts to move, the pods swing out because of gravity and you end up going round and round the wheel either straight out the side, upside down etc. The difference with this ride is that there are no security harnesses etc, there are bars on each side of the pod, but other than that you rely on the forces of gravity to keep you in place. It's quite good fun.

3/5

===Nemesis===

THE Alton Towers ride. This is a sitting down, dangly leg roller coaster and it takes the form of a big alien beasty. As you follow the queue you walk straight through where the track runs so you get a great view of the cars going through the tunnel. There's bright red water falls and a big red pool at the base of the ride that you go straight over. Having your legs dangling does make a difference and it's quite a thrilling ride. One of the best at Alton Towers. As it's popular the queues are bigger, but it's only a short ride and they're pretty good at keeping the queues moving.

5/5

===Oblivion===

My fiancee hates this ride, I mean REALLY hates it. The queues can be pretty horrendous but the last time I was there I happened to notice on the queue time boards that there was only a 5 minute wait!! I was over there quick flash! This is another roller coaster and you sit down in this one. The idea is that the coaster goes up really really high and stops at the top of a vertical drop that goes into a pitch black tunnel. As the rear car seats are higher than the front, both front and back have a 'front seat view'. The ride is over in seconds but that drop, reaching a massive speed is great and well worth doing!

5/5

===Rita - Queen of Speed===

The ride broken down when I was at AT last time, I had waited so long I couldn't drop out now so I waited longer, and longer, and longer but eventually they got it working again. It's another coaster, this one has tradition coaster style cars that you sit in. The idea of the ride is that there's a really fast start and then a normal roller coater. It's more the anticipation than anything else that makes this ride fun, but that initial BLAST of speed is pretty damn fast. The queue is huge and windy.. most annoying.

5/5

===Ripsaw===

This always seems tamer than I remember it. It's two long rows of seat on two arms that twist and turn the seats around whilst water is sprayed up from underneath. At the end the water sprays up and you're lowered down, facing down, into the water. You do get wet, but not soaked. It's ok and queue times are reasonable.

3.5/5

===Submission===

Talk about over playing the advertising. This is a bit like a shuttle bus on a big arm. You sit in it and it spins round and round and round. At times you're held upside down so make sure your loose change is secure! It's not as fun as you'd imagine and nowhere near as exciting as the pictures on the website would have you believe.

2.5/5

---Laughts & Frights---

===Congo River Rapids===

This is the rapids, pure and simple. If you've been on one set of rapids you've been on them all. The queuing for this ride can be massive and it takes ages to get anywere, but there is an ice-cream shop halfway round!
Didn't get very wet last time.. what's the point... Like most others this has a huge spinning landing wheel so the ride is constantly moving when you get in and out of the boats.

2.5/5

===Duel - The haunted house strikes back===

This ride is ace. They took the original haunted house and ride and turned it into a shooting game. You get a laser gun and get to shoot the red targets as you go round the house. The models in the ride are great (including a giant spider) and it's good to get 4 people in each car and compare scores.

5/5

===Hex===

This is a big house that has a large backstory to build up the fear and excitement. As you enter you're told about the history of the house and the hidden evils, you then enter a few rooms where exciting things happen before the mind boggling finale! I don't want to say too much as it would really spoil it.

4/5

===Runaway Mine Train===

Choo chooooo! It's a bit tame but it's good fun and you get to ride the track twice in one go. The tunnel bit is fun as it rides over the rapids and you can wave/shout/swear at the people below.

3/5

===Spinball Whizzer===

A real hidden gem. This is (yet) another roller coaster however this one has cars where two couples are back to back a bit like a pinball. As you go round the track the car spins round and round and no two rides are ever the same, you literally don't know which way you're going to be flung and that makes it great.

5/5

===The Flume===

Queue. Massive. Ride. Disappointing. Don't. Bother. Yes you'll get wet but aside from the last drop this is not worth the long waiting time.

2/5

===Skyride===

These cable cars have just been refitted so they're all brand new this year (2009), this provides an easy way to get from one end of the park to the other quickly.

Nuff said!

5/5

===Marauder's Mayhem===

The tea cups!! Actually it's the gunpowder barrels but it's still the tea cups. Each one has a central wheel that allows you to spin the barrel making for some vomit inducing spinning. I love the tea cups and these are just as good. Well worth going on with a group of mates and see just how fast you can get that barrel spinning. Oh, if you can it at just the right moment you can really get a good spin going!

5/5

===Battle Galleons===

Prepare to get wet!

This is probably the only ride where you're likely to get soaked just waiting in the queue. You get in an on-rails galleon and each person on the ship has a hand powered water cannon. Each water cannon is fired by turning a wheel, the faster you turn it the further the water goes. However, the people on the bank have water cannons too and are alway spraying you, along with the other galleons! This is a ride best enjoyed on a hot day with a group of friends, you'll get far wetter on this ride than you ever will on the rapids or the flume.

5/5

---Magic and Young Fun---

===Charlie and the Chocolate Factory===

This is a boat ride that takes you through the chocolate factor using puppets, models and animatronics. It's pretty good but one for the kid really.

3/5

===Sharkbait reef - Sealife Centre===

This is the new for 2009 Sealife centre at Alton Towers. Annoyingly you have to wait in line to get a silly photo taken and this can take up to 10 minutes depending on the queue, since I had no intention of getting the photo this was an annoyance. Much like every other Sea life centre there's a range of marine animals on display and it's ok but it could have done with a few more information boards on what is kept in the display tanks.

3.5/5

---Attractions---

===The Towers===

These are the 'ruins' of the house in the grounds. You get to wander all the way round and there are boards giving information about what the rooms would have been. It's ok for a bit buy depending on what you want to get in on the day, you might not have time.

3/5

---Food and drink---

There's a wide range of food and drink available and most are priced ok, the pizza place near the rapids is probably the most reasonable. You can buy a drink cup for £5 that allows you to get unlimited refills throughout the day so this represents good value for money.

---Overall---

Alton Towers is a great day out and well worth doing. If you're a bit older and not into the rides so much, there are some very nice gardens in the centre of the park you can visit. You get the option to return the next day for about £9 or you can pay for a second visit on any day for about half price, depending on what you are doing this may or may not be a good option for you.

Highly recommended!

Summary: Plan your day well to make the most of it!