Last year, Alton Towers launched a new event, Oktoberfest. Unfortunately we didn’t manage to get to it, but heard great things afterwards so this year, we made sure to go and visit and see what the event was all about.
We made a small break of it by stopping in the Splash Landings hotel for a couple of nights, having a day in the water park, and of course, visiting the theme park too.
Day 1 – Arrival
We travelled down with the aim of getting there for around 3pm when our room would be ready at the Splash Landings Hotel, so we could check in and head into the park for the last hour or so for 1 ride, take some photos and have a peek at what Oktoberfest has in store for us!
We saw that Th13teen had a 10 minute queue so thought it rude not to have a ride, but it turned out to be a walk on! Afterwards, we bought a photopass, giving us 4 printed photos for £20. Not quite the bargain that the old annual digipass used to offer, but not a bad deal, especially when compared to Paultons 5 for £40.
Next we meandered around the back of the park, taking photos and and taking in the afternoon atmosphere before we headed up to Towers Street where most of the festivities were.
Similar to how Scarefest was laid out, we found many different food offerings and stalls, selling a range of beers and Bavarian themed foods such as pretzels and bratwurst. We had a beer and wandered around checking out all the stalls ready for the following day. I can definitely recommend Spaten lager!
Once we’d had our fill of the evening’s entertainment, we headed back to the hotel for something to eat.
One thing to note, is that we decided to go during the week for this visit with the hopes that it would be quieter and it certainly was! Even though it was a mid week visit, there was still plenty of entertainment running, and it even ran on until 6pm, an hour after ride closed
Day 2 – Oktoberfest
Day 2 dawned to a beautiful looking day, clear and bright, perfect conditions for a day in the park. As we were hotel guests, we were able to use the hotel entrance by Galactica, so we headed off and once we’d been bag checked, queued for our first ride of the day on Galactica.
We ended up having the privilege of being first on the ride so opted for a back row. As we intended to reride Galactica, it meant we could compare the back row to whatever row we managed to get on our second ride.
I’ll write another blog post going into more detail about Galactica, my thoughts and observations of the ride, but for now, both of us enjoy Galactica, it’s a gentle giant and a polarising change when compared with Nemesis, our second ride of the day.
We ended up getting mid trains seats in Nemesis and it ran really well, not too much head banging and roughness today!
Fast passes
Following on from our forays in the Forbidden Valley, we went off to Towers Street to pick up our fast passes. Now I know fast pass tickets can cause a lot of controversy but I don’t mind them at all. They are expensive for what they are, and it does upset some folk that others pay to be ahead of them, but I don’t mind others doing it, or paying to do it myself. It allows me to have more packed into my day at the cost of money, as opposed to it costing me time in queues. As it turns out, the barcodes I printed were all we needed so this was a little bit if a wasted trip!
X-Sector
Once we’d gotten back on track, we headed off towards X-Sector. Our first attraction was The Smiler, and for the first time ever, Tracy rode along with me. It really wasn’t her cup of tea, too many inversions for her liking but I thoroughly loved it. It rode well, there was only a small amount of roughness that I could feel, though Tracy did mention she suffered a lot of head banging so I don’t know if being taller helps here!
After being ‘corrected’, Tracy needed some time to cool off so we stopped for a break just outside X-Sector and found there were loads of hungry ducks! Both if us managed to hand feed a couple, which was a first for me!
Wickerman & Katanga Canyon
After that, we went off for a ride on Wickerman, the parks newest rollercoaster. We’ve had a fair few rides before and have both commented how Megaphobia is a better woodie, but today, Wickerman was riding like a treat. Smashing through the turns, bouncing all over the place and feeling properly unhinged as a woodie should. Hopefully with more and more time passing, it’ll cut its own grooves and really come into its own!
Sharkbait Reef next. We’ve had plenty of walk throughs of the attraction in the past, but it’s always nice to head in and see if anything has changed, as we found that Chessington’s Sealife had been updated when we went during Wilderfest.
Not too much had changed from our last visit, but it was still nice to have a relaxed walk through and see the animals.
Next we decided it was best to do the Runaway Mine Train in Katanga Canyon while we were up this end of the park.
Runaway Mine Train is a fine example of a family rollercoaster! The ride operators always seem in excellent spirits and regularly engage with riders and tease sending them off on 2 or 3 cycles. We thought we were only getting two as the train had almost completely stopped before they sent us off on another run.
Between the ride operators, the ride itself and how it interacts with the rapids ride, as well as its theming, it’s always worth a visit to Katanga Canyon for a go!
Before heading onto Forbidden Valley, we stopped off for a ride on Duel: The Haunted House Strikes Back! It’s fair to say that we both really enjoy this ride, but it always breaks down into which is better, Duel, or Tomb Blaster! For me it’s Tomb Blaster, but Tracy backs Duel!
Either way, Duel is a great interactive dark ride, where riders score points by shooting at targets scattered around a haunted house. For me, it’s a thoroughly enjoyable ride, but could do to see a few more modern animatronics and maybe a system where shooting targets activates things.
Definitely worth the visit to have a go on Duel!
Back to Forbidden Valley & Beyond…
We then headed back to Forbidden Valley to reride Nemesis and Galactica. I managed to get the fabled back row, right hand seat on Nemesis and it really does feel like another beast riding from the back as it does the front.
Galactica felt very similar to our earlier ride and previous rides to this, though we have both remarked that mid train or front was generally better than a rearward seat.
Next we headed off to The World of David Walliams and a ride on Gangsta Granny: The Ride. It was just as I remembered from earlier in the year, but for me it didn’t feel as good as before, maybe the first ride spoiled me?
It didn’t help that people weren’t following the rules and the ride operators kept jumping in and telling people off over the speakers, which killed the experience a little!
Dark Forest
Dark forest next and a ride on Th13teen first. Middle of the train seat, not much to remark really. Not a bad ride here but not the best, as the best rides on Th13teen are when it’s dark!
Rita next and the ride operators was a lovely chatty lady and you could tell she was a keen thrillseeker too. Though she said she’d never had anyone ask her for a backrow which I thought was strange as many rollercoasters are better on the back row!
As for the ride, it was just as good as its always been! I’ll have to write a post about my opinions on Rita entirely, but for now I really enjoy it! Our ride was great, a little bumpy in places but still as enjoyable as ever.
Our final ride of the day was on Spinball Whizzer, the parks Maurer Spinner. For long enough I’ve rated Spinball as the best of the UKs Maurer spinning rides, but as of late, Dragons Fury seems to be giving much better rides. I don’t know what’s changed between the two, but Spinball always seems to be the same no matter who you’re on with, or where you sit.
It’s still definitely worth the ride and enjoyable for the most part with the only real nasty bits being the final brake run which can be quite abrupt. Other than that, it’s a decent ride, and the area always seems full of energy with it handling multiple cars on the track, and the audio being bouncy and fun. Love Spinballs musical score too, full of retro delights!
Finally we headed back around to the bottom of Towers Street to have some Oktoberfest food and drink and take in the entertainment. While we were on the green, I spotted none other than Shawn from Theme Park Worldwide! We stood and talked for about 15 minutes and what a lovely guy he is. Hope to catch him around again soon!
Unfortunately Charlotte was working which was a shame as we couldn’t meet both, but it was incredible to see someone in the flesh who I regularly watch on YouTube! A real theme park celebrity so far as I’m concerned, and it was the cherry on top of the cake for this visit to Towers! Thanks Shawn!
To conclude our day at Alton Towers Oktoberfest, we had a brilliant time. Even though we went midweek, there was still plenty of entertainment to enjoy, the ride queues were shorter than I’ve ever known them to be, and the park was running extremely well!
I can highly recommend Oktoberfest for anyone who likes good food, a tasty beer and lots and lots of over the top Bravarian goodness!
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