The plan for today was the do the Alton Towers theme park, then crash back at the Alton apartment before heading to Stratford-Upon-Avon for the next day. Stratford is the birthplace of William Shakespeare and has some awesome old buildings and cultural sights.
But when I came in sight of Alton Towers, culture be damned. They offered return park tickets for £10 a person so I booked a second day and decided that Stratford could be another trip.
Alton Towers hold some special memories for me. I went there in 1996 as part of a family trip and got to try out the new and special ride - The Nemesis. It was the most intense rollercoaster I had even been on and I was really looking forward to sharing it with Kristine and the kids.
A lot had changed in the last 21 years, most of the rides I remembered were gone, replaced by newer rides, but the Nemesis was still in operation, so we headed that way first.
I'd been telling Kristine about the rides I remembered, the Beast, The Blackhole and the Corkscrew. In the entrance of the park there was a twisted piece of rollercoaster track:
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| Track |
So I went to check it out, sure enough it was a piece of the Corkscrew ride, and that made me feel a bit old...
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| The corkscrew |
Alton Towers is built around Alton Castle and for a theme-park is amazingly spacious with lots of open garden areas as well as the castle gardens to explore. The weather was beautiful, in fact we all ended up sunburnt.
When we arrived at the carpark we had to option to take the monorail to the park, but the queue was massive, so we walked. It ended up being a pretty long walk, but I like to think we beat the monorail line (but I doubt it).
We picked up our tickets, bought the repeat passes and collected our photopass (digital copies of all ride photos).
Unfortunately, Tomas was not tall enough for the biggest rides - Nemesis, Galactica, Oblivion and the Smiler, he was about 2cm too short. I also found that the good eating in Sweden, coupled with my height and the size of my shoulders meant I couldn't ride the Smiler or the Oblivion. I was a bit disappointed as the harness mainly had trouble closing around my shoulders. People larger (read fatter) than me were able to get in, and people taller than me were fine. I was just too tall and my shoulders stopped the harness from closing - that's the problem with being a 6'5 front row rugby player I guess. So we made some compromises. Kris and I alternated taking Tomas on "The Blade" and taking the others on "The Nemesis". There was also only one ride Tomas was small enough for (the driving school - the other kids were too big), so he got to go on that instead.
We did Alton Towers over two days, but it's easier to blog it in a single batch.
The first day was spent mostly on The Nemesis and The Blade, but we did make it most of the way around the park, leaving only the water rides so we could bring towels the second day. To finish the day off, Cameron rode The Smiler - Alton's most extreme ride - solo and loved it.
The second day we started with The Nemesis and The Blade again, before going on the water rides - River Rapids and Pirate Battle Galleons. We got soaked but dried really fast.
Overall it was great fun and Tomas is looking forward to growing a few cm so he can get on all the rides if we go back.
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| Entering the park |
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| Kris really wanted to win a sloth, but no luck :( |
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| Frog fountain at the entrance |
Mutiny Bay
The first section of Alton Towers was Mutiny Bay, just left of the entrance. It's a pirate themed area with four main rides/features - Sharkbait Reef Aquarium, Battle Galleons, Marauders Mayhem and Heave Ho!
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| Looking down on Mutiny Bay from the sky ride |
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| As we've found many times, no prison can hold Alana |
Battle Galleons
This was a boat ride with water cannons. The idea was to shoot at the other boats and also bystanders who were either at cannons around the sides of the lake, or in the big ship in the middle. As we rounded the first big ship, so older kids yelled out "We won't shoot you if you dont shoot us." So Kris told our kids to hold fire, then as we got into range the kids shouted "Opposite day!" and drenched her. Overall we got soaked but had a lot of fun.
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| Battle Galleons |
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| Targets |
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| Some wet victims |
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| Looking down on the ride |
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| The big ship housing the 'opposite day' kids |
Heavy Ho!
This was a standard rocking pirate ship ride, with spinning as well:
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| Heave Ho! |
We didnt end up riding this one, as we spent a lot of time of the similar Blade ride.
Marauder's Mayhem
This was a spinning teacup style ride. We didn't end up riding this or getting any useable photos of it.
Sharkbait Reef
This was an aquarium in the park that had sharks, fish and a touching area for the kids (for the kids to touch starfish).
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| Sharkbait Reef |
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| Skeleton Bay and a dodgy-looking Alana pirate |
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| Fishies |
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| A game of follow the leader? |
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| Someone who died waiting for Alana to get ready and tie her shoelaces. |
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| In the touching area there was a place where shrimp would come and clean your fingers and under your nails. This one was feeding from Cameron and I half expected the aquarium to be closed the next day as all the shrimp had died a painful death. |
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| "I know, he's grooming me!" |
One of the staff sat and chatted to the kids for ages, while they watched the sharks. She answered all their questions patiently and explained how they feed the sharks and clean the tank. She was really great, the only bad thing was when she asked if we'd been here before and I told her I'd been on the Nemesis when it first opened. "Oh," she said. "I was born on the day it opened." Man, I must be getting old.
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| Lionfish |
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| Us at the reef |
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| And for some reason we needed to do a dabbing shot. But there's boring me refusing to dab. |
Katanga Canyon
This site was mostly under construction for SW8 (Secret Weapon 8) the code name for the new ride being build for 2018. But it did host two rides, the Runaway Mine Train and the Congo River Rapids.
Congo River Rapids
This is a rubber tube ride down a rapids track. I managed to avoid getting wet, but Kris and Tomas got soaked.
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| River Rapids |
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| Looking down on the start, despite the colour that is water - not raw sewerage. |
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| Ready to go! |
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| Passing under the monorail |
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| "This is fun and I haven't even got wet yet!" |
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| Getting a little choppy |
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| Oh crud |
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| But I've already had my shower for 2017! |
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| Cold! |
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| Our photo - Kris got a little wet |
Runaway Mine Train
This was a fairly tame train rollercoaster around the canyon. Choo Choo!
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| Runaway Mine Train |
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| Kris on the Train |
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| Me and the kids |
SW8
This is the constuction site for the new ride. I'm not sure what
it will be, but it looks big.
Gloomy Wood
This was a haunted forest themed area with some themed decorations and a single ride - the Duel.
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| Bernard Grumblebum - he talks to the grave next to him, telling jokes |
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| These gravestones play loud musical instrument sound when you tread on them - gave Tomas a decent shock |
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| Entrance gates |
The Duel
This was a haunted house cart ride, where you needed to shoot targets to score points:
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| The Duel |
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| After seeing how young all the ride attendants were, this is how I felt on the ride |
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| And here's the actual ride pic |
Forbidden Valley
This was my favourite section of the park, home to the Nemesis! Also the Blade and the Galactica Rides.
Galactica
This was a reimaging of the former "Air" ride. The riders are supposed to wear Virtual Reality glasses to see a scene of them launching into
space, but that part wasn't working. It was still an interesting ride. You sit in the seats and then they tip forward so you are facing the ground and the rollercoaster is all done in a prone position:
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| Galactica Portal and the monorail |
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| Galactica |
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| Corkscrew |
The Blade
This was Tomas' favourite ride, it was a swinging pirate ship style ride but it moved pretty fast and went to almost vertical.
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| Tom was in such a hurry to get back on, so he grabbed both backpacks - each weighing about 10kg. "You're too slow dad" |
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| Going up |
The Nemesis
I could
almost dedicate a blog post just to this one. My favourite ride of all time. When it first came out, there was a big story behind it. That a creature had burst forth from the ground and government was fighting it. The ride is based around a giant creature and when I first rode it, all the water was red as if it was blood. A description of the ride from Wikipedia is:
Once the train is locked and checked the floor beneath it is lowered before the train then departs the station making a 45-degree, right-hand turn towards the lift hill. Once at the top of the 13-metre (43 ft) hill, the train makes a small dip and turns around 180 degrees to the left. The train then descends 31.7 metres (104 ft) down the first drop into the first inversion, a right-handed corkscrew. The train then navigates a right-handed, 270-degree downward helix that features 90 degree banking. Then the train rises up into the second inversion, a zero-g roll, where riders experience the feeling of weightlessness. It then makes a 180-degree right-handed stall turn into the third inversion, a vertical loop. After a left stall turn the train enters the second corkscrew. The train then passes through an underground tunnel, and through one more 180-degree turn, before being stopped by the brake run and returning to the station
The only thing that disappointed me was that they no longer sold Nemesis Beanies. I had puchased one when I first went and lost it on the bus in Sweden last winter. I was really hoping to get another but they were no longer available. Damn.
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| Themed Cannon |
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| Government Jeep to fight the Nemesis |
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| The Nemesis (or Nemaniss as Alana calls it) |
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| Decorations |
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| I love the tour company name |
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| Corkscrew |
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| Inverted turn |
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| Spin behind the Nemesis |
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| Corkscrew! |
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| Upside down, Upside down |
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| Nemesis |
We rode it lots of times and got a stack of pics, here's a few of the best:
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| Alana who says she hates rollercoasters - showing no fear |
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| Cam looks a little dead in this one |
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| Kristine even had a few rides |
Rollercoaster Restaurant
The final attraction in Forbidden Valley is the newly opened Rollercoaster Restaurant. The concept is that the food is delivered by a rollercoaster, including a loop. It was a little too expensive for our tastes but I snapped some shots through the window.
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| The Rollercoaster |
Dark Forest
Heading around from the Forbidden Valley we came to the Dark Forest, home to two rides, the TH13TEEN and the Rita. I wasn't able to ride the Rita as the harnesses were pretty small and neither could Tomas, but we could all ride the TH13TEEN.
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| Dark Forest |
Rita
The Rita was a fast, car themed roller coaster, otherwise called Rita: Queen of Speed.
It accelerates to 60mph in 2.5 seconds and is themed on a drag racer escaping the Dark Forest.
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| The Rita |
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| Cam andAlana |
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| Kristine and my favourite photo for the whole trip |
TH13TEEN
This is a mild horror rollercoaster that replaced the Corkscrew. It is based on a haunted forest and has voice overs of a girl counting to 13 before a tesla coil zapped loudly, scaring the people waiting.
The ride travels around a normal rollercoaster style track before stopping in a cave, going dark and then free falling downwards about 30cm. It then finishes the track backwards.
When I went on this one with Tomas, they had to push the lapbar down a little on my side and Tomas said, "That's cause you're fat dad." Thanks Tom. Some lovely young ladies behind laughed and said, "He's just tall". To which Tomas helpfully said, "Nope, he's just fat."
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| Tom and me |
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| Tom and Kris |
The Towers
Next section across was The Towers, it had two rides and also included the castle.
Hex - The Legend of the Towers
The Hex was described as a dark experience ride, based on a local legend. The legend states that The Earl of Shrewsbury came across an old beggar woman on his return to Alton Towers (The castle not the theme park). She begged for a coin and he cruelly dismissed her. She placed the following curse on him and his family:
"For every branch on the Old Oak Tree here that falls, a member of the Earl’s family will die."
The legend says that night a storm caused a branch to fall and a member of the Earl's family died. The Earl ordered the other branches chained to the oak to prevent them falling. A branch did fall in 2007 and the family confirmed that no-one died.
It is believed instead that the Oak was chained to preserve it and stop it collapsing as the old tree was a prized old tree and no links can be found to the a death matching the falling branch.
The Hex ride is based on the idea that the Earl took the fallen branch for experiements. After walking through a couple of dark rooms with movies about the legend, we came to a room where we sat on either side of the branch. In this area both the outer walls and the seats rotate seperatately. First they move in the same direction giving a strange sensation of moving, while nothing seems to have changed. Then they rotate in different directins, feeling as though you are going a full 360 degrees around the room.
It's not a thrill ride, but it does create a disorientation and strange effect.
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| Hex |
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| Hex as part of the towers |
The Castle
Coming out of the Hex you find yourself in the gardens of the Alton Towers Castle.
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| The Castle |
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| Gardens at the exit of the Hex |
Spinball Whizzer
This ride simulates a pinball machine. It was out of commission for a fair chunk of the first day and the second day it also was not working for a while. We eventually got on late on the second day. It was pretty cool - the cab spins and follows a pinball style track - it was more exciting than I expected.
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| Spinball Whizzer |
We stopped for lunch at the side of the lake near the Spinball Whizzer and I made some new friends. They were happy enough to come close to eat the scraps of our cheese and bread, but hissed if we evn looked at them:
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| Geese |
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| Goose Selfie |
Cloud Cuckoo Land
This is an area for younger kids and is themed as a fantasy garden. There are three rides, including the car driving one that only Tom could do.
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| Cloud Cuckoo Land |
Cuckoo Cars Driving School
This ride had a max height of 1.4m so Tomas could just make this one. It was a fairly slow driving ride where the kids had a chance to get a licence.
Frog Hopper
While Tomas rode the car, the other kids went on the Frog Hopper, a kids version of a drop ride that bounced up and down. Their strange poses were because they tried
to do it with no hand. When Tom finished his drive he joined them.
The Gallopers Carousel
This was a pretty standard carousel that Alana and Cam rode while Tom was in the car.
CBeebies Land
This was an area for young kids based on the CBeebies TV show. It has characters from kids shows like Postman Pat, In the Night Garden, Octonauts, Charlie and Lola and Mr Bloom. The rides and attractions are:
- In the Night Garden Magical Boat Ride,
- Postman Pat's Parcel Post,
- Get Set Go Treetop Adventure,
- Nina's Science Lab,
- Numtum's Number Go-Around,
- Charlie and Lola's Moonsquirters and Greedrops,
- Justin's House: Pie-O-Matic Factory,
- Mr Bloom's Allotment,
- Tree Fu Tom Training Camp, and
- Something Special Sensory Garden.
We had a quick walk through, mostly in the sensory garden:
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| CBeebies Land |
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| Tom rocking out a drum solo |
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| Kris learned the sign language for snail |
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| Something Special Sensory Garden |
X-Sector
This section was themed as a government research facility and housed the three biggest rides - the Oblivion, the Enterprise and the Smiler. It's set up as a 'Ministry of Joy'
as a dystopian future.
We mostly stayed out of this area as Tomas wasn't able to ride the rides here, but Cameron did have a shot on the smiler.
Oblivion
This was a rollercoaster that has a vertical drop into the ground.
Enterprise
This is a spinning gondola ride as seen in a few other parks.
The Smiler
This is Alton's current major roller coaster. It hold the world record for the most inversions of any coaster (14). It was built in place of the of Black Hole ride.
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| The Smiler |
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| Cameron on the Smiler |
That finished up our two days at Alton Towers, all that remained was a drive down to Luton. Our next and final day would be the Harry Potter Tour at Warner Bros Studios. We booked an apartment at Luton as it was close to the Studio and we were set to fly from Luton that evening. However a week or so after we booked the flight we got a message saying the flight was changed to 9am (Thanks Ryanair..). Since we'd booked the Tour for 9:30am this wouldn't work. We were given the option to cancel our flight so we did. All other flights from Luton were much more expensive, so we changed the flight to fly out of Stansted airport at 6pm.
Day 1 had very little driving - 5.5miles to the park and back (9km)
Day 2 has a little more, 123mi or 198km.
Total drive so far: 2505km
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