Such a long title for a blog, and a long day too! This was our first ever theme park enthusiast event and was hosted at Alton Towers and put together by the fine fellows at Your Experience Guide(YEG) (Formally Pleasure Beach Experience).
The day started off early at 8am where we all congregated around the turnstiles of Alton Towers, we were checked in and greeted by the YEG team and given our event lanyards and passes. Once we’d gotten sorted, we just stood around and took in what was going on before eventually noticing Loops and Donuts, someone who I’ve been messaging back and forth with on Facebook and was excited to finally meet! We accompanied each other throughout the day and we had a right laugh, so thanks very much for that folks!
Once Alton Towers were ready for us, we went though bag checks and followed the YEG team to Wicker Man for the first of our two sessions of Exclusive Ride Times (ERT) for the day. Exclusive ride times are blocks of time set out, usually outside park hours, to allow complete takeover of a ride or attraction. In our case we were given ERT on Wicker Man from 9:00-10:00 and Oblivion from 18:30-19:30. In this hour, you just keep riding and riding as much (or as little) as you like and it was fantastic! Not only did we get to essentially pick whatever row we wanted, but also the trains were filled with likeminded individuals who were waving at everyone and just generally creating a real buzz of an atmosphere. Such a great time, and this was only the first part of the day!
Once our ERT had ended, we moved onto the shop to see what new merchandise was available this year. I was a bit disappointed to find very few things in 2XL sizes. Because of this, I ended up with a couple of pairs of socks and about 10 pin badges. These were priced at £8 a piece which I think is incredibly expensive, but I had set aside money for T-shirts and hoodies that I couldn’t buy so badges will do nicely.
Next we made the long trek over for our first ride on The Curse at Alton Manor, the reimagining of Dual in Haunted Hollow. I will be doing a blog going into detail of what I liked and disliked, and my overall impression of the ride but for now I’ll say that it was a great ride with some really unexpected sequences! Look out of the new blog here when I write it!
Galactica was our next stop and the ride was suffering a little from a breakdown which meant we ended up queuing for a bit longer but once they cleared the issue, we had a good ride on the old flyer. There does seem to be a little bit of attention being given to Galactica, as it has had some new decals placed about and tidied up a bit. It still could do with a good paint or cleaning, and the tunnel is still very bare, but a good ride nonetheless.
Now we’d finished up with Galactica, we headed over to the Skyride to find that it was closed, and had been all day, so we made the long walk through the gardens towards Dark Forest to see what was happening with Rita and Th13teen. After seeing the queues and noticing the time we decided to have dinner at Burger Kitchen, ride Flavios Fabulous Fandango and head over to Katanga Canyon for the second part of the event, an unofficial takeover of Congo River Rapids at 3pm.
Though not the same as our ERT earlier, this takeover saw the whole group join the queue for Congo River Rapids with the general public and have a right laugh doing so! The boats were being filled, ours had the full 7 in and we barrelled down the course, getting wet and having a few good bumps along the way. This is definitely the best way to ride the rapids!
Next stop was another unofficial takeover, this time on Curse at Alton Manor. This gave us ample time to not only compare it to our earlier ride, but also see things we missed the first time.
The next part of our event was at 18:30, so that left us with about 3 hours to fill, so we headed back up to Runaway Mine Train for a ride on the classic coaster. The area and theming has seen a good tidying up and the entrance looks brand new again thanks to a lick of paint and some sprucing up! It still rides the same as it always has, and it was a squeeze to get into the cars, but we managed and a fun time was had by all.
Our next stop was back over in Dark Forest for a ride on Th13een and Rita. Th13teens queue line has seen a lot of the trees and bushes cleared away, opening it up a bit and you can even see the coaster as it does the outdoor section in the forest. I quite like that you can see this, but it is also a shame that it doesn’t look so overgrown and supernatural now. A back row ride for us which was great fun!
Our next stop was Rita but this ended up being our last stop for the day as when we entered the queue, an announcement was made that Rita was experiencing technical issues but we stayed in queue as there was still another 35 minutes of park time left. By the time it came to 5:45 however, the staff informed us that the engineering team still hadn’t arrived and by the time the arrived, fixed and sent test cars out, it would be after 6pm, so we headed into X-Sector for the Smiler Shop (as the Smiler was also having issues).
The Smiler shop was the same story as earlier unfortunately. Lots of great merchandise to buy, but nothing at all in 2XL here. Now I’m not sure if I should be asking whether they have things in my size, or whether they just don’t get as many lines in 2XL as they used to, but I hope we see more larger sized apparel!
With the Smiler shop being our last stop, the final part of our day was an ERT on Oblivion. It was scheduled to run from 18:30 until 19:30, however there were technical issues that meant the ride wasn’t ready in time. However we weren’t left to be bored as the ride operators, specifically Kian (I think that was his name) had us playing a game where you have to try to catch the finger of the person next to you while the person on the other side does the same to you. Great fun and loads of people interacting keeping the atmosphere positive whilst things were fixed in the background.
Shuttles did eventually start raining down the Oblivion track, so they allowed us on at around 18:50 and our hour started from then which was great to hear! I don’t remember exactly how many rides I got on Oblivion, somewhere around 8, but each one was fantastic and really showed me how much fun Dive coasters are. I usually overlook Oblivion as a one and done sort of affair, but I had a lot of fun doing back to back rides on it, made all the more fun by Tracy, Loops and Donuts and the rest of the crowd!
At this point I would like to mention the staff at Alton Towers as every single person we spoke to seemed interested in our day and our wellbeing. We were constantly checked if we were having a good time, and it never felt forced either. The staff always felt as though the actually had an active interest in your day and conducted themselves professionally and were very welcoming!
Finally I do want to thank all the folks at Your Experience Guide for making the day run as smoothly as it did and put on an excellent event! From greeting us at the start of the day, to keeping us informed throughout and even just shaking my hand and thanking us for coming at the end of the day, it all added onto a very memorable visit to Alton Towers! The same can be said for Loops and Donuts too. As I mentioned earlier, we spent the whole day together and we thoroughly enjoyed their company (and I think they did ours too!) Thanks again for a great day, and hopefully see you on our travels in future!
Photo taken by Paul Young and used with permission (Featured image too)
Alton Towers is set well into the Staffordshire countryside amongst the ruins of the famous Alton Towers stately home. In this guide, I aim to give my own tips and suggestions of how to get the most out of a day at Alton Towers, from arriving at the park, to food options and advice!
Arriving
There are two main ways to get to the park, by car and public transport. No matter how you arrive at the park, I would definitely suggest getting there between 9:00 and 9:30. This gives you time to do toilet breaks before you enter the park, go through security checks before the main gates and get into the park.
Arriving by Car
The monorail (red) runs between the entrance plaza and main car park
The park is accessed via road through the village of Alton or Farley and has a lot of twisting country roads, some of these can be quite tight so take your time. You’ll have 2 car park options, the first of which is right by the front gates called express parking, but costs a bit more than standard. The second is using the general car park which is cheaper, but does require a 15 minute walk up to the front gates, or waiting for the parks Monorail, which starts running at 9am. (Though it can sometimes start running late so the walk can be quicker)
Car parking charges are as follows:
Standard car parking is £7 (free if you hold a gold (previously premium) or platinum Merlin Annual Pass)
Express Car Parking is £19 (but is reduced to £12 for passholders)
Blue Badge Disabled parking is also charged at £7 but is located next to the express car park (included with Gold or Platinum passes too)
Main Car ParkExpress and disabled car parking
Public Transport
The bus stop is highlighted here in white
The other way to access the park is by public transport. This is unfortunately something I have never done as we live too far away for it to be a viable way to get there. There is a bus stop on site right by the main entrance and has buses that go between Stoke on Trent, Nottingham, and Derby.
Taken from the Alton Towers website, you’ll want the X41 if travelling from between Stafford – Uttoexeter – Alton Towers, 32X which is between Hanley – Cheadle and Alton Towers, or the X52 which runs from Nottingham, Derby and the Alton Towers Resort.
The closest train station is Uttoexeter, but there is also Derby and Stoke on Trent which are well connected too. Do take into account that you’ll need about 30 minutes if coming from Uttoexeter by bus, 1 hour if coming from Derby, and about 25 minutes from Stoke on Trent (though this would be by taxi).
Park Entrance, Turnstiles and Towers Street
Google maps view of Towers Street
The park entrance is home to the famous Corkscrew rollercoasters’ Corkscrews as a static welcoming display, as well as the monorail station, toilets in the corner and security.
It is advised to arrive with as little as needed, but I generally turn up with a bag full of cameras, food and supplies, and I get through security quite quickly. Once you’ve gotten through security, you’ll be getting to the turnstiles, here you’ll scan your pass or tickets and be into the a park!
The first area you’ll encounter is Towers Street and has a few food and beverage outlets towards the bottom. You’ll also find toilets, lockersguest services at the very top by the entrance to the right. Next down is the resort box office. Here you’ll be able to buy photo passes, ride fast passes and various upgrades to your visit. The box office tends to get very busy at the end of the day as people try to sort out photo passes and digital photos, where guest services gets very busy at the start of the day with ride access passes and queries.
Towers Street during the annual Scarefest event
Ride access passes are another element of Alton Towers, and the wider Merlin group, that I have no information about as I’ve never used them. Thought gist seems to be that they are designed for guests who need extra assistance or can’t queue for extended periods of time . This isn’t the same as fast passes though, so do take this into account. You’ll be given more information when you apply for it than I ever could so click here to find out more about it!
The final stop on Towers Street is Towers Trading, the resorts shop. Here you’ll find all sorts of merchandise, ranging from gloves and socks, to T-shirts, ride resins, pin badges, prints and more! I do advise visiting the shop early as they do allow you to leave your purchases behind to be picked up later on which will save a lot of time as the stop gets busy as the park closes. You’ll need to leave a few details and keep your receipt too!
Towers Trading, the parks shop
Planning your day
There are a fair few themed areas with attraction in each.
Towers Street with shops and guest services
Forbidden Valley where Nemesis (closed for 2023), The Blade, Funk n’ Fly and Galactica reside.
Dark Forest with Rita and Th13teen.
X Sector is home to The Smiler and Oblivion, Twistotron and Spinjam
CBeebies land has all the childrens rides.
Gloomy wood is a walk through area that connects The Curse at Alton Manor(the parks dark ride) to Mutiny Bay.
Mutiny Bay is home to Wicker Man, Heave Ho and Marauders Mayhem
Katanga Canyon, home to Runaway Mine Train and Congo River Rapids.
The World of David Walliams is where you’ll find Gangsta Granny The Ride, Raj’s Bouncy Bottom Burp and Flavio’s Fabulous Fandango.
Assuming you’ve arrived early and gotten through the gates by around 9:30 or so, head straight to either Wicker Man or the Dark Forest. When we go, I usually get to Wicker Man first as the queue starts to form before the rides open at 10am (something in the enthusiast community known as a rope drop). Beating the rope drop means you’ll start waiting for a ride before the ride opens, lessening your time used during park opening hours, if that makes sense?
Wicker Man – The parks most recent coaster
The reason I suggest Wicker Man and Dark Forest is because Wicker Man gets busy and stays busy all day, so less time lost waiting for it, is more time trying other attractions. Dark Forest on the other hand is a good walk away from the entrance so not many people head there, meaning you’ll be able to ride Th13teen and Rita without waiting much at all.
If you started at Wicker Man, your next best stop would be Katanga Canyon, then The Curse at Alton Manor, then onto Forbidden Valley. If you started in the Dark Forest, then you’d be better going to The World of David Walliams, then using the Sky Ride to get over to Forbidden Valley.
The Sky Ride usually opens around 11am and will take you from Towers Street to Forbidden Valley, and then to Dark Forest, and back again.
The Skyride.
The rides that tend to have lower queues throughout the day are:
Hex (more on this later)
Heave Ho (a rocking tug boat ride in Mutiny Bay)
Marauders Mayhem (themed tea cups in Mutiny Bay)
Battle Galleons (a splash battle ride which can get busy if the weather is warm and dry)
Flavio’s Fabulous Fandango (a twister ride in The World of David Walliams)
The Royal Carousel (a carousel set in The World of David Walliams)
Raj’s Bouncy Bottom Burp (A junior frog hopper ride also in The World of David Walliams)
Most of CBeeBies land is busy until around dinnertime when it starts to quiet down, so if you’re heading there, I’d wait until later on in the day. Notable rides here are Octonauts, Postman Pats Parcel Post, Get Set Go Treetop Adventure and In the Night Garden Magical Boat Ride (all of which can be enjoyed by anyone, not just the kids!)
All the main roller coasters will be busy during the day, though The Smiler and Wicker Man usually have the longer lines. Galactica is hit and miss as to whether that gets too busy, though it will be alone in Forbidden Valley for the 2023 season so it might see more riders, therefore longer queues! Oblivion can also get busy, but usually runs many trains and therefore gets through guests quite quickly too.
Rita and Th13teen (if not done early) can get busy, usually around the 45 minute mark and Th13teen also won’t run in any rain at all, so it might be worth riding it early if you know rain is on the way. Finally there’s Runaway Mine Train, which has quite a high capacity, but can sometimes get very lengthy queues, especially if its running more than 2 laps of the track.
One of the biggest suggestions I have for visiting Alton Towers is making sure you’re not losing time by walking long distances back and forth between areas. The app will certainly help you here as it allows you to see what rides have what queues in real time so you can head to or avoid certain areas.
The app showing live queue times (all closed as the park isn’t open currently!)
The Sky Ride is also a great transport option, so if you do start in Dark Forest, you can use it to get all the way back to Wicker Man and the Mutiny Bay area, or stop off at Forbidden Valley. The choice is yours as each day is different so its impossible to say for certain what an optimal route through the park will be every time you go.
One final thing to note is that queue lines close at the parks advertised closing time, but the rides don’t. So if you wanted to have a go on The Smiler buy have been waiting all day for a smaller queue, it might be worth waiting until last thing, joining the queue and guaranteeing a ride. For the last ride of the day, I do suggest Wicker Man or The Smiler due to their lengthy queues throughout the day and neither one should be missed if time allows!
On a side note, if you are reading this and just starting out as an avid thrill seeker, it’s worth mentioning that rides run differently depending on the time of day you ride them. They need to warm up, and a properly warmed up roller coaster will run slightly faster than one that’s taking its first circuit for the day. Wicker Man, The Smiler, Nemesis (when it reopens) and Rita are all worth a few different rides to see how they compare!
It might also be worth leaving Forbidden Valley until the end of the day as there’s a gate by Galactica’s portal that opens up straight to the car park saving you a long walk or waiting for the monorail.
Food Options
Alton Towers has plenty of different food options, ranging from takeaway hotdogs and snacks, to steaks, gourmet burgers and chicken.
We usually alternate between Burger Kitchen, which is at the back of the park by The World of David Walliams, Pizza and Pasta Buffet in Katanga Canyon and Just Chicken in X Sector. Though if you want to get as much done as possible, I would suggesting bringing your own food options and eating whilst in a queue to minimise downtime.
Last year we visited the park with a friend who has a vegan centric diet and we found that offerings were a bit thin on the ground, so it might be worth bringing your own if you have specific dietary needs. Each venue we looked at seemed to have 1 or 2 vegan/vegetarian options which might not suit everyone.
There is also Woodcutters Bar and Grill, which is aimed at healthier eating, and offers things like steaks, hunters chicken, halloumi, a good offering of non gluten meals as well as drinks too.
As I mentioned previously, it is worth bringing along your own food along if you want to get the most out of the day as you can easily lose an hour queing to buy food, then waiting for it to be made and of course eating it. If you do end up eating in the park, eat early or late as the restaurants get busy around the hours of 12 til around 2/3pm, at least from what we’ve seen!
Another thing to consider is if you are going to spend some time eating, it might be worth looking at the Rollercoaster Restaurant in Forbidden Valley (right next to Galactica). At the time I’m writing this, you can’t book for any time before 16:00 but if you’ve ridden all you want to and have worked up an appetite, then Rollercoaster Restaurant is a good stop.
It is the UKs only restaurant of its type and food is sent from the kitchens down tracks to each table. You order using a tablet and each table has a Lazy Susan to allow you to grab your food without getting up. It can be a little pricy, but it is a proper restaurant and worth trying at least once!
A quick overview of the bigger rides
If you’re just starting out as a thrillseeker, or you’re unsure of your ride tolerances, then the best starting ride would be Runaway Mine Train. It has a little force, but for the most part is quite gentle, and has great interaction between guests and the ride operators!
The next coaster up would probably be Th13teen. Though it does have a surprise element, it is best left as a secret and tried for the first time without knowing what’s coming. The ride itself is on the gentler side, but does have a few thrills too! It can’t run in the rain or even light mist as the lift hill uses drive tyres that don’t work as well when its wet.
Next on the thrill scale would be Spinball Whizzer. This is a spinning coaster so depending on your tolerance to spinning, it might be something to avoid at first. It doesn’t always spin very fast, sometimes barely spinning at all but it is a fun little ride and worth a visit! If you want to try it and have as little spinning as possible, try to ride it as a group of 4 where everyone weights about the same. The car will be evenly balanced and shouldn’t spin massively. On the other hand, if you want more spinning, try to put heaving guests on one side of the car and lighter on the other!
Wicker Man would be the next ride along as it is quite a loud and untamed wooden coaster. The theming and ride construction all add to the attraction, and the ride features a preshow to set up the story of the Beornen. If you feel like you want to start off in the middle ground, then Wicker Man is a great start as it offers good thrills and speed, lots of noise, no inversions and overall a good introduction to bigger rides.
Next up is Galactica. This is a very gentle giant and though it looks like a big and scary beast, it is quite the tame ride compared with the ones that follow! You’ll ride this one in a flying position, which sees you sitting down like a normal rollercoaster, but the seats will fold 90 degrees upwards so you’ll be looking at the ground to begin with. It is a unique feeling, especially in the UK but it will have you on your back for parts of the ride, so bare that in mind!
The next two I’d say are on equal footing depending on what you’re into/scared of. These are Rita and Oblivion. Rita is a launched coaster and manages to get from 0-62 in 2.5 seconds which is very thrilling. It’ll then navigate a series of turns before getting back to the station. It only last 55 seconds!
Rita in The Dark Forest.
Oblivion on the other hand is all about fear of heights. Though not actually the tallest rollercoaster at Alton Towers, it does still have the a formidable 180ft drop into the ground. The ride will hold you at the top giving you a chance to look straight down into the abyss before letting you free fall. Much like Rita, once you’ve done the scary bit, the ride is pretty much done so it’s a good taste of what bigger drops will feel like. If you want to avoid seeing the drop, but still want to try out the ride, ask for a back row ride as you can’t really see anything as the train doesn’t move far enough over the drop to the holding brakes.
Finally, the last two are parks signature attractions, Nemesis and The Smiler. Much like Rita and Oblivion, these two are closely matched based on what you might be into.
The Smiler is the parks world record holding inversion machine. It’ll see you turned upside down 14 times and it’s a very thrilling ride. As mentioned earlier, this one always gets longer queues so it’s worth visiting when you have a bit of time spare or as your last ride of the day. The ride did suffer a nasty accident in 2015, as it was all over the news, but since that day, it hasn’t had a single issue at all and is perfectly safe, so don’t let that put you off this record breaker!
The Smiler.
Finally there’s Nemesis. Currently this ride is closed for a major refurbishment so you’ll be unable to ride this I’m the 2023 season, but it’s worth knowing a bit about it before you go! The ride is an inverted coaster, so the track will be above you, unlike the other coasters at Alton Towers (except Galactica). The reason this one ties with The Smiler as top of the thrill chain is because of the forces the ride puts on you. It takes a lot of the elements with great speed and is also one of the very few rollercoasters from the UK to have acclaim abroad! We can’t wait until 2024 for it to reopen, and hopefully you’ll be able to join us there too!
I think I should mention some of the non rollercoaster attractions the park has too, with Hex being one of the most notable. Another ride that’s best tried without knowing what’s coming, this is a story based attraction with a ride section at the end, don’t spoil it for yourself, have a go yourself and enjoy, it’s really good fun!
The Curse At Alton Manor is new for 2023 and is a complete refresh for Duel, the parks interactive dark ride. The ride features a few jumps and scare and is quite family friendly, but may not be entirely suitable for smaller children or guests who fear the dark or don’t like jump scares. It must be tried at least once, as with Hex.
Heave Ho and Marauders Mayhem are both family rides in the Mutiny Bay section and are great for all ages as they are quite gentle and welcoming. Marauders Mayhem, being a themed tea cup ride, does allow you to manually spin your car so it can be quite forceful if you spin it a lot!
Battle Galleons! You’ll probably get wet though!
The park has 2 water rides, Battle Galleons and Congo River Rapids. Battle Galleons will get you fairly wet, where Congo River Rapids won’t so much. Though each ride does have dryers located next to their exits and have additional costs to use them. Though my advice here is to bring additional clothing if you do get soaked, and store it in a locker (or the car if you wanted to save money over saving time!)
Finally there the Retro Squad. These are a set of rides that Alton Towers brought in to help ride capacity. Currently there’s Funk n’Fly, a Super Trooper ride in Forbidden Valley, Spinjam is an Extreme model and Twistotron, a Trabant Style ride that both sit in X Sector. As for riding them, they are all run a lot slower than how they would be a funfairs so it might be better for some, and not for others!
Final few thoughts and tips
Fastrack tickets
This is a bit of a touchy subject with some folk, but I really don’t mind fast track tickets myself. The idea is that if you spend a bit extra, you can drastically shorten down the queue of a ride or multiple rides depending on the ticket you get. Each roller coaster has its own single use fast track ticket and costs £8 -£10 each.
They do also offer packages for the following:
Bronze* is £30 and gets 4 fast tracks on Hex, The Curse at Alton Manor, Spinball Whizzer or Runaway Mine train
Silver* is £50 and gets you 5 fast tracks on Wicker Man, Oblivion, Galactica, Rita, Th13teen or The Smiler
Gold* is £70 and gets you 12 fast tracks on Wicker Man, The Smiler, Galactica, Oblivion, Rita, TH13TEEN, Marauders Mayhem, Battle Galleons, Congo River Rapids, Runaway Mine Train and Spinball Whizzer, Gangsta Granny, Hex and The Curse at Alton Manor.
Platinum* is £110 and gets you on all the same rides as gold but as many times as you like during the day.
*Nemesis has since been removed from all packages and Gangsta Granny and The Curse at Alton Manor have been added.
Refillable drinks
The park offers a refillable drinks cup that costs £15 initially but drops to £8.50 if you bring back your cup and recharge it. There is also a hot drinks version too.
There is also a multi buy option that makes it cheaper the more cups you buy, which I can imagine is better for families. If you buy 2 or more, it’ll cost £14 per cup and 3+ will be £13. Not huge savings, but when a 500ml bottle of coke can cost around £2.80, these can be great value!
You can refill your drinks at any 1 of 16 machines throughout the park, these are located at the following:
Towers Street
Mutiny Bay – By the Welcome Inn opposite Wickerman
Katanga Canyon – By Congo River Rapids
The X sector – Behind Just Chicken
The Dark Forest – Next to Rita’s Photography unit
Forbidden Valley – By the Galactica Lift
Earlier I mentioned lockers and these are located at the very start of the park by the entrance and another set is located by Galactica in Forbidden Valley, some in X Sector and a final set are in Dark Forest. These are priced at
£5 for a small one per day
£10 for a large one per day
There’s also a first aid station located behind Towers Street before the skyride entrance, though this isn’t a facility I’ve ever had to use thankfully!
With that I think this mammoth guide has come to an end. I think I’ve covered everything you could possibly need to enjoy a decent day at Alton Towers! Don’t go with expectations of getting on every ride the first time around, this only happens of you’re very lucky and the park is quiet, but if you set realistic goals to ride the most important rides to you, anything over and above that is a bonus!
For context, the very first time we went to Alton Towers, we went in blind and managed Wicker Man, Nemesis, Galactica, Rita, Th13teen, Oblivion, The Smiler, Runaway Mine Train and Hex if I recall correctly. I did have a £25 fast pass which at the time got me on Nemesis, Galactica, The Smiler and Oblivion as Tracy wasn’t quite up to the big stuff just yet!
Cheat sheet for getting the most of your day
Arrive at the park gates for around 9:30
Head straight to Wicker Man or Dark Forest
Plan next stop based on queue times of next area
Wicker Man and The Smiler will be busy all day
Th13teen can’t run during the rain
Cbeebies land is quieter after 1pm
Bring your own food and eat in queues
Head to The Smiler just before queue lines close (unless it is quieter during the day)
Use the Skyride optimally, if you’re heading to Dark Forest, do The World of David Walliams next
It might be worth doing Forbidden Valley last as the park opens the Galactica gate for exiting to the car park (also the possibility of eating at the Rollercoaster Restaurant)
And there we have it. This has taken quite a while to write and I hope at least 1 person finds it useful! Feel free to reach out and contact me if you have any questions or suggestions around this guide!
Our final visit for the 2022 season was, of course, to the Alton Towers Fireworks Spectacular!
I was very excited for this display as I’d read that it was a celebration of the big 7 coasters and though they did a similar thing last year, I really enjoyed it!
The show starts off, a little prematurely I might add, with a drone display. The lights go out all across the park and just before 7pm when the fireworks where due to start, the drones began and I wasn’t ready for them!
Misty night for the Firworks!
The drone preshow was good, though leaned into the demonstration of what drones can do, rather than a display that matched up with the theme of the fireworks. for example they drew out a version of the Towers, and a rollercoaster and moving train and such, but not specific ride logos or links to anything else from the park.
They also showed a 3D cube and spiral which was great to see, it really was, but it felt like they were showing off the drones as apposed to using them to further the fireworks story.
As for the fireworks, they were much longer than Legoland’s, clocking in at around 30 minutes. They were well choreographed and timed to the music great, as Legoland’s were.
As I mentioned earlier they were a celebration of the big 7 coasters, Nemesis, Th13teen, Rita, Galactica, Oblivion, Wicker Man and The Smiler.
Each segment had its own theme to it, such as Nemesis being a bit harder and more serious, where The Smilers was upbeat and a little silly.
The star of the show was actually Oblivion as it played music that fit on with Oblivions theme and the show was just spectacular to see, especially the laser and lights.
I feel that Nemesis was done alright but could have been so much better. They also did Nemesis first and I feel it should have gone last, you know saving the best until last and all that.
I didn’t really like Rita’s section as it felt a bit out of place. I know Rita I’d supposed to be a drag racer and even had an opening featuring drag queens but I didn’t really enjoy the music featured here.
Rita should be classic 80s rock, big and bombastic, but they went with Abba and Kylie Minogue. They were remixed versions too. Shame really but it can’t all be perfect!
It was also nice to see Galactica get a mention and a decent segment too. Very predictable space themed tracks though, which leads me onto the the lack of each attractions own themes or voice lines. Rita has the ‘You must escape’ and Oblivion has ‘Don’t look down’, Galactica and The Smiler both have excellent scores and none of these were utilised which in my own opinion, was a missed opportunity.
The show finished with a quite emotional part paying homage to the Towers themselves and the music and fireworks used were very well done. The climax was of course set to In the Hall of the Mountain King as usual and I felt the final barrage of fireworks was a bit of let down. I love it when the sky is filled with lights and colour, and the finale here didn’t really do that unfortunately!
Though I’ve been critical and I might sound a little negative, it was still arguably the second best display I’ve ever seen. 2021s display was so good that I think it’ll take some topping!
Once the fireworks had finished we headed off towards Nemesis as this would be our final ride of the beast until 2024.
I feel like we missed out massively as we went on Saturday the 5th but Sunday the 6th had so much more going on around Forbidden Valley. I wish I could have been there to see that but what will be will be!
Our final ride on Nemesis was great, the queue wasn’t anything like as long as the 75 minutes advertised and the only negative was that the camera didn’t flash for our ride so we missed out on our final on ride photo. There was a lot of mist around the park after the fireworks so I assume that was causing the sensors to go amiss! The mist also caused my DSLR to fog up and meant that most of the photos I took ended up looking terrible so apologies for the image quality!
I’ve written a dedicated blog for the sending off of Nemesis 1.0 and I’m also working on a video for it too, I’ll link it here when it’s done, but you can watch the fireworks here!
We had another great day at Alton Towers and though our season is now over, I’ve got loads of stuff still to talk about to keep me busy until March next year!
Our next visit was to Alton Towers, stopping on site in one of their Star Gazing Pods for 2 days and nights. We wanted two days to make sure we get the most out of Scarefest as well as ride the great selection of rides!
I’ll do a separate little review of the Star Gazing Pods and facilities, so let jump into day 1 of Scarefest!
Day 1 – The Rides
We decided that one day would be ride focused, while the other we’d do more of the Scarefest side of things.
So our first stop was Galactica, purely because we were allowed to use the hotel entrance which takes us straight to Galactica and Nemesis.
Galactica had a late opening, which seems to be a common thing as we’ve had to wait a bit longer every time we’ve made Galactica our first ride of the day!
There wasn’t much to say about our ride here, the queue wasn’t quite as long as it usually is as it skipped out all the top section and the area did have the great soundtrack playing which was something at least! I hope they give this ride some attention during the closed season as it’ll be all alone next year when Nemesis closes.
Speaking of Nemesis, we headed there for our first of a few rides on this Towers staple. I believe both Rita and Nemesis are the only two rides we have ridden at every visit to Alton Towers so far!
Anyway, Nemesis was running very well and you wouldn’t think it was going for a retrack next year with how smoothly it was running over our two day visit. Even our night ride was excellent with no head banging at all!
Once we’d done in Forbidden Valley we headed up towards Gloomy Wood to see what was happening with Dual.
We were both well aware that Dual was closed but had seen photos that the area had had a little work done in line with the attractions closure. They have put boards up around the area that have been vandalised by the supposed possessed spirits of the haunted house. This has been done very tastefully and is a great way to theme an attraction that isn’t currently operating.
It is such a missed opportunity for them to have not run the ride through Scarefest and feature it in a scare attraction of sorts. One where the attraction features actors throughout the ride that makes it feel like the haunted house really has been possessed by someone new and it makes it much more dangerous and scary because of this!
Even just keeping Dual open as we remember it would have been better than closing the attraction in my eyes, but for all I know, there could have been something desperately wrong with the ride systems that made it unsafe for visitors. Until next year Dual!
After we’d finished up in Gloomy Wood, we moved onto Katanga Canyon for a ride on Runaway Mine Train and Congo River Rapids.
Runaway Mine train is another favourite of ours at the park, though it can sometimes be uncomfortable when both of us are crammed into one of the cars! The ride operator is always interacting with the trains as they fly through the station, and it seems to have an unofficial system in place that the more noise you make as you enter the station, the more chance you have of going around again, which is fun!
Congo River Rapids isn’t something we both go mad for but is still a fun time nonetheless! It could do with having the waterfalls working during hotter weather though as it does feel lacking when compared with American rapids rides!
Once we’d done with Katanga Canyon we headed around to Wicker Man for our first ride of the visit. Though the queue is always long on Wicker Man, it doesn’t always feel long. This is thanks, in part, to the ride being so photogenic and there is always something going on in the ride area. There’s a lot of energy around Wicker Man, thanks to the decent throughput of trains and Big Bob doing his thing too.
Photo from our night ride later on!
Once we’d had a look around the Wicker Man shop, we headed over to X-Sector for rides on Oblivion and The Smiler. The queue for Smiler was about 45 minutes, but interestingly, so was Oblivions’. Much like Nemesis, Oblivion rarely gets long queues whenever I’ve been but recently there does seem to be batching issues with Oblivion. For one thing the station only uses one loading platform out of the possible two, and the seats on the left side of the train are still not being filled. The camera that photos the whole train before its descent is working again though!
Next stop was Hex, a ride I’d been looking forward to getting back on for ages. This is one of my favourite flat rides here in the UK, and it has had a few issues all season. It wasn’t running the best, especially when compared with Haunted House Monster Party from the day before, but still a great time!
World of David Walliams next and Gangsta Granny. A short queue here and the area is back up and running as it was before the passing of Queen Elizabeth II. I’m glad they haven’t made any changes to the ride or surrounding areas as I don’t feel anything here is offensive or upsetting.
As the park slowly started to get dark, we headed to Spinball Whizzer and then into CBeebies land for rides on Postman Pat’s Parcel Post and Octonauts. All of these are good fun rides, the latter two purely for the photos you can take!
By the time we’d finished on Octonauts, the park was definitely dark so we headed back to Wicker Man for a night ride. We did one last year after the fireworks but unfortunately the camera didn’t take our photo so we missed out on that, thankfully it got us this time around!
Our final two rides were a great backrow ride on Rita and a mid-train on Th13teen. I was looking forward to Th13teen so much after last years ride, but it was somewhat ruined this year by the addition of lighting out in the forest.
Last year, as the train went over the initial lift hill, it was pitch black, then you were blinded by the camera flash and it made the ride a worth while dark ride, but with the additional lighting provided, it took away that element and somewhat dampened the experience.
Day 2 – Scarefest
Day two started with quite bad weather which worked out in our favour as we could do all the Scarefest things and stay dry with our umbrellas and not worry about getting stuck in queues.
The first thing we saw was an impromptu performance from the Alton Ancestors, a group of dancers dresses to look like ghosts of the residents of Alton Towers, very vintage in design and completely monochrome in colour. These were very good, and throughout the day, you’d catch them performing in different areas of the park, no matter how wet it got, true dedication to the job!
Our next Scarefest activity was trying out The Invitation. Similar in concept to Thorpe Parks Terminal but executed a bit better.
The concept here is that you’ve been invited to visit a burial chamber and unbeknownst to you, it’ll be your final resting place. The chamber has incarcerated vampires living in the vault that are separated from the world of the living by a cage and they come out to visit you during your stay.
The audio lets you know that you’re not alone here and has the voices of the other guests played out to make it seem like you’re still a group. The vampire then talks to different members of the group, tasting their blood, insulting bad blood and trying to persuade you to open the cage.
As the story progresses tensions rise as the vampire gets more and more persuasive until someone does eventually let them out! The scene comes to an end when he comes close to you and supposedly bites you, causing so much blood to spurt out that you and others around you get sprayed, and you do actually get sprayed with water by the operators, which was a nice touch.
The audio quality is excellent and the voice actor for the vampire did a phenomenal job with his part!
There are a couple of issues though. Firstly it ends so abruptly, the vampires depart in bat form very quickly and there’s no really jump scare at the end. I was bracing myself for the lights to flick on and there to actually be someone in the room with you, but it never came to be.
Secondly, and this might not affect everyone, but I was in the second pod from the end by the exit door, I knew this as I’d seen where I was sat in relation to Tracy who was first in. Now when the vampire escapes the cage, he walks around and you can pin point exactly where he is in relation to you and multiple times did he seem to be talking to someone I knew didn’t exist.
He’d be facing directly opposite you, then to the left, then to the right, and then further right again. If I’m the second in line, that means he’s visited the person directly across from me, the one to the left and one to the right of them, so there isn’t anyone else left to visit to the right of the person across from me, yet he did.
a quick mock up of the vampire scene that breaks immersion. The cage is in the centre and the numbers represent which guest the vampire sees.
It might only be a daft thing but it broke the immersion for me in quite a big way and it’s a shame as the sound effects and voice acting were top notch, just let down by my positioning in the room I guess!
I don’t know how they could fix that apart from making it so certain seats hear slightly different audio to others that lines up with the room layout.
This was much better than terminal though as the physical effects were much better and the audio of better quality. Both are a great start to the idea of having an actor less Scare maze which I like the idea of as I’m still not quite sure how to react when I’m in a Scare maze!
There’s still a lot of room for improvement for these audio based experiences, but for a first time outing, I enjoyed them and I hope they elaborate next year.
Once we’d finished on the Invitation, we moved onto a scare maze I was really looking forward to, Darkest Depths.
When we came on 2020, it was billed as a Scare maze for kids, so we skipped it, but if nothing has changed since the 2020 version, then I wish we’d done it sooner!
This is a very detailed and well crafted story about a band of pirates that set off to find treasure but were attacked on their way by a monstrous kraken that pulled the ship down to the darkest depths of the sea.
Apart from the initial bar scene, the experience plays out in the same fashion as the kraken attack scene from Pirates of the Caribbean Dead Man’s Chest where the Black Pearl is taken to Davy Jones Locker.
That’s all I’ll say if you haven’t experienced it, I don’t want to ruin too much as I thought it was well worth experiencing it before knowing what was going on beforehand.
Once we’d finished in Darkest Depths, we headed back to the lawns to sit and watch the entertainment on the stage. We watched The Ancestors again (which was pretty much the same show as they perform out and about in the park), Sin Bin ImmortHELL, Phil’s Halloween Dance Party and A Vintage Halloween.
The stage shows were good, though a lot were repeated from what we saw of the 2020 version, but they were still entertaining nonetheless. Sin Bin didn’t always hit the mark as some of the performers weren’t the best at singing, but it was made up for by others in the group.
A Vintage Halloween and Phil’s Halloween Dance Party were very similar, but I didn’t mind it so much as the music was decent enough, but there was a lack of atmosphere as there was only a handful of people around us watching. That’s unfortunately the price you pay by going midweek to one of these events, you’ll get smaller queues for the rides, but also less people to enjoy the event with too.
Scarefest was good, but not great this time around. The event was advertised as the 15th anniversary of Scarefest and besides the logo and pin badges showing this, there wasn’t anything that would suggest otherwise!
When Thorpe Parks Fright Nights turned 20, they introduced Legacy, a way to show the rich history of the different events that have been run throughout the years and the whole event seemed so lively and like a celebration of 20 years. There was a lack of this at Scarefest for me.
I didn’t really see many roaming actors, and the line-up of scare mazes was nearly the same as 2020 and 2021 which is a missed opportunity as I’d have loved to see The Sanctuary come back, or even Nemesis Sub Terra! Both of these are something I’ve missed out on and would love to experience them during a 1 off celebration of the events history!
Overall we enjoyed Scarefest, but it wasn’t as good as it should have been in my opinion! The Invitation was good and Darkest Depths was great, but much like the stage shows, it was a lot of things we’ve already seen or had access to. Hopefully next year will see the audio based scare experiences improved and possibly a brand new maze and the return of scare zones?
Our final stop is Fantasy Island for their Fear Island event!
Last year we visited Alton Towers for their Oktoberfest event and thoroughly enjoyed it (you can read about it here), so it was a certainty that we’d visit this year!
I’ll go into the actual event elements as I run through how our day went, but first we visited Oblivion!
Oblivion
We usually head into the park and queue for Wicker Man first as we get there early enough to be nearer the front, however we ended up losing a bit of time on the monorail so instead went to Oblivion for our first ride of the day.
There wasn’t much to say here as the ride was running decently well, shuttles were being dispatched regularly. The only thing to note was that each shuttle had its right hand most seats blocked off. I’m not sure why the outer seats were unavailable but I’ve read that it’s been that way for a while. Possibly a safety issue?
We watched the Smiler go round a bit, checked out the Just Chicken restaurant incase it sold chicken nuggets but since it was closed, we couldn’t see the full menu!
We also found out that the Coca Cola Freestyle system the park has been operating since 2020 were out of use in their entirety. We were told by two separate employees that there were no refillable drink options at all which was a little disappointing but not the end of the world!
We did find out later in the day though a sign in Forbidden Valley that said we could purchase and reuse the blue Merlin ones, but I doubt this would have worked either. A little confusion here and it could have been a little better advertised, whether it be on the website or at the park entrance, just so we knew in advance!
Rita
Next was Rita as the queue was short. Same ride as it’s always been! I enjoy it, but I understand some people’s issues with the ride and its elements. We would have ridden Th13teen at this point too but it was closed, likely due to their being a light morning dew, but there could have been other issues too!
We didn’t really bother with Roller Disco. The music it plays is excellent but the attraction is quite lacking, just a one and done for me!
Nemesis
Our next stop was the Skyride as it takes you from Dark Forest to Forbidden Valley and our next stop, Nemesis!
I am quite proud of this one!
I wanted to get a couple of rides in on this classic staple as it’ll be unavailable next year due to the retrack work taking place. The ride was just as thrilling as ever and wasn’t too shaky either! I’ve ridden Nemesis Inferno a lot since I last went on the original so it was much easier to compare and contrast the two again. Nemesis is still top!
Wicker Man
Another Skyride trip back to Towers Street now, something I don’t believe I’ve ever actually done and then onto Wicker Man.
I’ve got plans to go into great detail about my feelings towards Wicker Man, as well as the other UK wooden roller coasters so I’ll be brief here. The more I ride Wicker Man, the more I enjoy it! I’ve even decided that I think Megafobia, though a good ride, isn’t actually as good as Wicker Man is. More on that coming soon though!
We did have a bit longer than usual to wait as there was a very minor breakdown whilst queueing but it only added about 15 minutes or so on. Someone apparently dropped something onto the track, not sure if that’s true or not but it was quite quick to resume the ritual!
Oktoberfest part 1
Once we’d had our ride on Wicker Man, we headed down to the lawns for some dinner and to sample the Oktoberfest delights. We ended up having chicken and chips from a vendor and a pint of Spaten beer. The chicken and chips were alright, nothing spectacular but filled a hole. As for Spaten beer? I really enjoy it!
I’m far from a beer connoisseur but needless to say, I don’t often enjoy lager, but Spaten is quite tasty and isn’t as gassy as others are! I enjoyed it last year and once again this year too.
While we ate our dinner, there was one of the 8 different shows on, which happened to be The Oktoberfest Sing – Along show followed by the LUNAFALL Party Band. The Sing Along was excellent, enjoyable to watch and felt really in keeping with Oktoberfest! LUNAFALL weren’t really my thing personally. They didn’t really fit and weren’t quite as exciting as some of the other acts that we saw. They weren’t bad at all, just not as good as others!
As for the lawns, they were covered in long tables so there was plenty of space for everyone to sit, as well as various different food and drink stalls, selling a lot of Oktoberfest staples such as German sausages, pretzels, marshmallows for toasting, the afformentioned chicken and chips and of course, beer!
Later on we’ll revisit the lawns after the rides closed at 7pm, but for now, we finished our food and headed into Katanga Canyon
Katanga Canyon
After dinner we had a wander into Katanga Canyon and went for a ride on Congo River Rapids. We’d usually get on the Runaway Mine Train, but queues were 45 minutes for a lot of the day and we felt there were better uses of our time here.
As for Congo River Rapids, it’s certainly better than Rumba Rapids at Thorpe Park, and arguably on par with Adventure Cove River Rapids at Drayton Manor. Though Drayton’s attraction is much better themed, Alton’s feels a little bit more, well, rapid. The UK really needs a decent rapids ride, one that can get you wet in summer and is enjoyable but drier in the winter.
Duel and Nemesis again
Since we didn’t have a go on the Runaway Mine Train, we headed off back towards Nemesis via Duel. We knew in advance that Duel was closed as it’s due to undertake extensive work to change the attraction and improve it, but we wanted to see the site just the same.
It’s nice to see that they haven’t just closed the ride and left it at that. Instead they’ve put up some posters about the ride area saying the property has been repossessed. This is quite clever as it’s both repossession, as in taken back by the bank, or repossessed as in new ghosts and ghouls have moved in…Could that allude to a Ghostbusters theme in future? I personally hope not, but we’ll have to see what the future holds!
After visiting Duel, we carried on to Forbidden Valley for another ride on Nemesis as mentioned earlier! Another great ride here, operations were even better as we hardly waited this time around.
Galactica
Next up was a lucky ride on Galactica. We’d arrived by the entrance to see what the queue time would be and found it was closed, with a queue of around 40 odd people, so we waited and said that if after 15 minutes we hadn’t heard anything then we’d move on.
We were literally in queue for all of 2 minutes when the gates were reopened and we headed down the queue line for a ride on this B&M Flying coaster.
The ride itself was the standard Galactica, no real sense of urgency as the train navigated the run, though I did get quite a bit of force from the ‘on your back’ section which wasn’t the most pleasant, but I put that down to having ridden Nemesis literally right before.
Th13teen & David Walliams World
After Galactica, we got on the Skyride and went over to see what Th13eens queue was doing and found a 15 minute queue so headed in.
Like Wicker Man, I’m finding the more I ride Th13teen, the more I like it. It’s not the most thrilling, and it was very over hyped before its release, but I think its marketing misdeeds have long been forgotten, leaving a great family ride.
We then headed into The World of David Walliams to see what was going on here. We’d expected a few changes here with the passing of her majesty Queen Elizabeth II. Though not much had changed, the area did seem a little eerie. There were no guards entertaining folk and Raj was absent from the shop too. There was a barrier around the photo opportunity where you could pretend to be the Queen, but other than that the area was untouched.
Gangsta Granny was running the same as before with no scenes altered or omitted, and though I count myself as joining in on the mourning of The Queens passing, I feel that not changing the attraction is the right thing to do. Just my personal opinion and not meant to offend of course!
Spinball Whizzer
After we’d finished on Gangsta Granny, time was starting to run short with rides closing at 7pm. We had the choice of another ride on Rita, or go for a spin on Spinball Whizzer, and opted for the latter.
The queue was showing as 45 minutes, but felt more like 30. The queue lines are now completely void of the pinball games and the area is starting to feel a little forgotten in the grand scheme of things, however the score still plays at least!
Our ride was one of the better ones in memory, giving a good amount of spin without going too far and making either of us dizzy! Plenty of force in the helixes and a genuinely good laugh here! A great way to finish our rides for the day.
Oktoberfest part 2
Once rides had closed, we headed back down to the lawns to watch some more of the Oktoberfest entertainment. By the time we got sat down, The Lebhaft Tanzen (translates to lively dancing) show was already in full swing. Featuring a stage full of dancers dressed in Bavarian costumes dancing along to plenty of Oktoberfest themed music, the show was another great one!
The real stars of the show though were definitely The Oompah Party Band who played Oompah versions of club classic tracks, such as Alice Deejay, Vengaboys and some of Rihanna’s tracks too.
The crowd were having a great time, the band were really hyping everyone up, and if health and safety had allowed it, I’m sure the tables would have been full of revellers too!
One of the really great things about this event, and something from last years too, is that despite the alcohol theme to Oktoberfest, there wasn’t any nastiness or folk going a little too far with things. I’m sure security would have stepped in should it have occurred, and I did see a small group approached by security but I didn’t see anything come of it so I gather it was a little telling off!
It would be nice to see the event have an ‘after hours’ part that is purely for adults where it gets a little bit more lively but the lack of this doesn’t take away from the event. It is marketed as a family friendly festival anyway so I wouldn’t like to see any changes that might effect this!
Summary
We’ve so far done Festival of Thrills, and Thorpe Parks’ Mardi Gras and Carnival events, and though all have been good, Oktoberfest was a step above the others!
I think I’d like to see how Thorpe Park do their event next year to see if Alton Towers simply do it better, or whether Thorpe Parks one differs in any way.
The whole day was great from start to finish, the rides were running well and the festivities seemed to get better as the day went on! I hope that we get a similar sort of atmosphere at Scarefest, which is our next visit to Alton Towers, before the highly anticipated Fireworks event! Looking forward to more excellent events at Towers this year!
New for 2022 is Festival of Thrills, where Alton Towers pays homage to their big 7 roller coasters by inviting acts to perform on stages around the resort.
Stages were setup in X-Sector, Dark Forest, Mutiny Bay and Forbidden Valley, and hosted a varied range of talent, from 80s rock, to acoustic folk music.
The big 7 all got an act dedicated to them, with Wickerman getting 2 different acts to itself. Oblivion, Smiler, Nemesis, Rita, Th13teen and even Galactica got their own act with a style that fit the ride theme. For example, Rita got 80s rock anthems played by GLOW, Wickerman got Folk music played by Mia and The Moon as well as The Rituals and Nemesis was represented by LUNAFALL who played punk rock tracks.
We didn’t manage to hear the acts in Forbidden Valley unfortunately as we were in the wrong place at the wrong time for that, but we did hear The Rituals, a bit of Mia and the Moon, GLOW, Gothic Strings (who represented Th13teen), Hyperhaus (The Smiler) and DJ Sidor (Oblivion).
Out of all the acts, GLOW were my favourite. They were really into it, they played some great tracks and kept referencing Rita between tracks too. Next would have to be Hyperhaus as they were putting on a stellar performance too, and my third would go to Gothic Strings. I love Symphonic tracks, especially when it’s modernised and given flair.
I didn’t really think much to either of Wickerman’s acts. They could play their instruments well, but The Rituals didn’t sound very folk at all, and Mia and the Moon didn’t fit the theme too well either, at least in my opinion!
Wickerman did have one of the better non musical performances with a lad doing tricks with fire though. He was entertaining and knew what he was doing and a pleasure to watch too!
I didn’t see any other stage get this kind of treatment, though each stage also had actors backing up the bands by getting the crowds involved. Rita gets a special mention here as their Roller Derby was fun to watch, as well as the Smilers insane party goers.
Outside the Festival we had a ride on most of the big 7, but missed out on The Smiler and Oblivion due to high winds on the day. To keep it brief, Wickerman was riding very well this time around. It’s starting to feel more and more like a proper wooden coaster should, untamed and savage.
Nemesis gave a great ride too and so did Galactica which was back up to both stations being used once again. The Galactica area still looks very forgotten but the ride does seem to be getting back to full operational level again though!
Both Rita and Th13teen gave pleasant rides, though Rita was suffering a lot of mechanical failures, and we ended up waiting about 30 minutes on the platform for our ride. No such issues with Th13teen, the trim brakes on the first drop seemed a bit more enthusiastic than previous rides though!
We also had our first ride on Spinjam, the parks newest addition to the Retro squad, and so far, the most intense. The ride is a Tivoli Extreme model, and it certainly lives up to its namesake!
Alton Towers do seem to keep these Retro Squad rides running a little slower than they would otherwise be running on the fair circuit, but it suits me down to a T! They give you enough of a taste of how intense they can be without going to far and making you feel ill, at least, thats my take!
Overall, Festival of Thrills was an excellent new addition to the parks calendar and I do hope it returns next year with more acts and maybe later opening hours?!
Here’s a big park to tackle with this blog series. Alton Towers.
For me, the park doesn’t really do many things wrong, it has some of the UKs premier attractions such as Nemesis and The Smiler. It’s also been a testing ground for many worlds first attractions such as Air, Oblivion and Th13teen and I’ve personally had some of the best days out here.
That being said, there is still room for improvement. As the park has added new attractions and rethemed areas, it’s caused a few issues here and there with existing rides.
– THE MAJOR CHANGES –
Rita and the Dark Forest
The first big change that really needs addressing is Th13teen and Rita. Poor old Rita gets a lot of flak for its ride duration and theme. When it first opened in 2005 in the Ug Land part of the park, it didn’t really fit, and with the opening of Th13teen and Ug Land becoming Dark Forest, its theme was altered to fit the area.
I actually like the idea that Rita was once a drag racing machine that is now abandoned and used to escape the forest, but I know that not everyone agrees.
To remedy this I’d either take Rita out entirely and sell it onto another park or move it somewhere else in the park so another more fitting ride can occupy its space. As for what I’d put there, I’m not 100% sure!
One idea I’d like to see is an Rocky Mountain Construction (RMC) Raptor coaster, similar in concept to Rita but executed in a much better manor. The ride would be racing away from the creeping vines and roots as Rita once did, but since Raptors are capable of tighter turns, this would lead to a much better experience. The ride would be custom built and heavily themed to really bring the Dark Forest to life!
Failing the RMC, then maybe a really good quality interactive dark ride. Something like Gangsta Granny but with interactive shooting elements and more special effects.
Dark Forest could also do with a permanent supporting ride in place of the current Retro Squad offering. Something like a Chance Rides UniCoaster or even a new type of log flume/water ride to absorb guests.
Galactica
The second issue with Alton Towers is Galactica. Similarly to the issue Rita faces, Galactica doesn’t really fit its area. When it was unveiled in 2002 as Air, the world’s first ‘true’ flying coaster, it didn’t fit with Nemesis in the Forbidden Valley section of the park.
While Ripsaw and The Blade, were both themed to look intimidating and threatening and Nemesis themed to a dangerous monster, Air was themed to be more tranquil and quiet and almost an escape from the terror surrounding you. In 2016 it was updated and transformed into Galactica, with a space flight theme. This still didn’t work and personally, I think this is the biggest mistheming issue that Alton Towers has, more so than Rita.
At least with Rita, the ride is trying to fit in with it being used as an escape vehicle! Air/Galactica hasn’t ever fit in properly with Nemesis or its supporting rides.
So what would I do? I’d certainly not scrap Galactica as I think it would do great in another park, such as Drayton Manor, Flamingoland or Oakwood. In its place I’d put another beast of a ride. Maybe a floorless rollercoaster, another flying coaster, or even a B&M Wing coaster. Name it Vindicator or something similar and have it up to the rider to decide if its themed to attack the Nemesis monster, or to aid it in its destruction!
– THE MINOR CHANGES –
Mutiny Bay and Wickerman
So we’ve tackled Rita and Galactica, next is Mutiny Bay. This area is perfectly fine for the most part but it could be improved so much to fit Wickerman in. All they’d need to do is loosen the pirate theming a little, add a lot more wood and a few fire torches and make it more of a cultist village. Wickerman would fit right in then!
Katanga Canyon
Katanga Canyon is also fine, though I’d give Runaway Mine Train a little attention. I’d turn the tunnel into a properly themed mine, and spruce up Congo River Rapids so the water elements work and maybe add new interactions along the way!
Duel and Gloomy Wood
Working our way around to Duel and Gloomy Wood. I don’t know if Duel could be moved to Dark Forest and rethemed to the dark ride I previously mentioned, or kept here and given a full refurbishment.
Assuming the latter, I’d look at slowing the cars down during most of the ride, overhauling most of the scenes so there is more to look at and shoot. Next I’d give it small coaster elements like a section where the guns aren’t used and the car travels much faster around twists and turns and down hills and such. Really amp up the haunted house strikes back as I do like the idea that the house is actively out to get you and you’re fighting your way through. Air blasts and water jets would be excellent additions in my opinion!
X-Sector
X-Sector is almost perfect. Assuming Enterprise is running and The Smiler and Oblivion are doing their thing then little needs changing here. However, Enterprise is regularly down and suffering quite badly with its age now, so maybe it’s time it was replaced with a newer permanent ride.
For its replacement, I’d go with a Zamperla Gryphon. It has a similar style to Enterprise but offers something different at the same time. Still giving single rider experiences and looking great to boot, but also having good throughput and theming flexibility.
I feel that when Mixtape was in the area that it fit right in (aside its colour scheme). So I’d love to see a permanent version of one of these installed where it initially stood (and Spinjam now occupies). Either that, or one of Zamperla’s Blendez models. These look just right in my mind for X-Sector, and probably aren’t as intense as they look too!
The rest
CBeebees land, Gloomy Wood, Towers Street, World of David Walliams, The Towers and gardens are all absolutely fine as they are. I wouldn’t change anything here. I’d change out Spinball Whizzer for a Mack Spinner, in the same vein as Storm Chaser at Paultons Park, but a little bit more intense.
The Hotels and waterpark are also great, little changes if any needed here too. Extraordinary Golf could use a freshen up, though I’ve heard that they’re in the process of doing so for its 15th anniversary this year.
Finally there’s the car park, monorail and entrance. I think the monorail windows need clearing so you can see the park properly as you travel from the car park to the main entrance.
A new purpose built entrance should be made at the Galactica gate for car park users and hotel guests, with a speedy lane used for hotel guests to keep that special element included in overnight stays.
There was a lot to write about here. Alton Towers is a fantastic park as it currently stands and I’m more than happy to visit with its current ride line up and themes, but I’d love to see it taken to the next level. These are all purely hypothetical ideas that I’ve had, and the probably isn’t anyway an RMC Raptor could be used to replace Rita, or Duel having a huge overhaul, but it’s fun to discuss nonetheless!
Leave any comments down below, start a discussion, lets see what else Alton Towers could do!
Alton Towers’ first day of the season. March 19th 2022. The first time since I started this blog that I’ve had the pleasure of visiting a theme park with more than just Tracy! For this very special visit, I was joined by longtime friends Tami, of The Tami Journal and Pedro, who I went to school with.
Upon arrival we were all surprised by how many people had arrived for gate opening. We got there for about 9:20am, but I’d heard others have been waiting since 8:30!
Despite the volume of people at the turnstiles, we were in in no time at all, bags checked and tickets scanned.
Normally we would head straight to Wickerman but when we got there we were told that the ride was running behind and wouldn’t be open for 10am. So instead we headed off to Dark Forest for rides on Th13teen and Rita.
Th13teen
As the morning was bright and dry, we went to Th13teen first. This meant we dodged a long queue later and also guaranteed us a ride should the weather have turned (as Th13teen no longer runs when it’s wet at all).
The first thing to note is the new (to me at least) bag holding area. This is now done before you enter the station and make getting on and off the trains so much easier as people aren’t crossing each other to get their bags.
It was also great to hear genuine surprise from Pedro as I’d kept him in the dark about the surprise element on purpose. One of the best rides I’ve had on Th13teen and a great opener for our season at Towers.
Rita
Next was Rita as the queue was yet to really form. Another shock for Pedro who wasn’t quite ready for the launch and jarring first turn. Tami’s first ride without greying out too apparently!
The ride ran really well despite it being so early in the day and was giving great airtime moments at its higher peaks and into the brake run. I really like Rita!
Gangsta granny: The Ride
Next we headed into the World of David Walliams for a ride on Gangsta Granny, which hasn’t changed since last year, though I did notice yet another fart joke which is always appreciated! We all enjoyed the ride, and had a great laugh in the queue with the photography, theming elements and the actors who were keeping the crowds entertained.
Oblivion
Next we headed to one of the parks biggest attractions, Oblivion. Operations were good, trains being dispatched with little delay and virtually no stacking on the brake runs outside. Coupled with the limited exposure to the rides soundtrack, we had a decent ride here.
The Smiler
You could call that a smile Tracy!
Once we’d braved Oblivion, we headed to a very anticipated ride, The Smiler. Pedro had shown a keen interest in riding, Tami was game and even Tracy joined us for another ride, despite proclaiming ‘never again’ after the last ride!
The queue was quite lengthy as always but we were kept moving and we ended up waiting for about an hour and a half for a go on this Infinity Coaster.
I personally felt this was one of the weaker rides I’ve had here, as there were a few more noticable rougher patches than I remember, but it didn’t take away from Tami and Pedros experience of the ride. I believe Pedro went as far as to say it’s his favourite ride at the park!
Dinner
Once we’d completed the correctional process, we headed off to Burger Kitchen for something to eat. I’ve yet to have a bad meal there, prices were decent, especially when compared with Burger King, though there isn’t quite as much choice as their could be. Vegetarian and vegan options did seem a bit limited as we had special dietary requirements this time around, but we managed just fine.
Galactica
Tami does her best Dave Grohl impression and Tracy finds the camera!
Our next stop was Galactica. We were going to use the Skyride to get over to Forbidden Valley but the queue was huge so we walked it (you can see a timelapse here!)
The queue for Galactica was advertised at 70 minutes, which is the longest I’ve ever seen it and despite this, we ended up waiting over and hour and half for the UK’s first Flying Coaster. Operations were incredibly slow, running two trains on 1 side of the dual loading station, and some of the cars weren’t fully operational so couldn’t take guests at all.
This is so sad to see. The ride is good and we all thoroughly enjoyed it when we did eventually get on, but the lack of attention the ride has had in the off season is almost criminal, at least in my opinion!
There were no speakers playing that great Imascore soundtrack in the queue, all the theming elements show a lack of maintenance and the station only runs 1 side now.
I do worry that Galactica won’t be able to support Forbidden Valley when Nemesis goes down next season for its full retrack. Hopefully they’ll at least try and patch up some of the issues, or close the whole area down and give Galactica a little attention, or put it out to pastures. Such a shame as we all said the ride is so gentle and smooth, yet thrilling enough so it isn’t boring.
Duel
After Galactica, I did suggest Nemesis, but the queue was closed, so we instead went for a ride on Duel. Which also had a queue. Only 10 minutes, but a queue nonetheless! Only the second time I’ve ever queued to ride Duel.
Congratulations to Pedro too who, on his first ride, beat my score fair and square, so well done Pedro! Tami gave up halfway around and just took in the theming, which I should do one day as I’m fairly certain I’ve missed loads of little details! Tracy did great too, setting one of her best score here too!
We all enjoyed Duel, and this year is its 30th year of operation, so I’d love to see them celebrate it a little when Scarefest comes around later this year!
Postman Pat’s Parcel Post
To round out the day, we headed into Cbeebies Land for a couple of rides, the first being Postman Pat’s Parcel Post. This is a nice sit down, that takes you through a series of static scenes from the childrens TV show Postman Pat, with mild interaction elements from the ride vehicle. It features a camera too which I’ll talk about later on!
Octonauts
Our final ride of the day was on Octonauts, the parks smallest rollercoaster. This ride features a camera and a large whale that sprays water in the air, and on both times around, managed to spray us on the trains! The photos say it all here!
Ride Photos
As mentioned earlier about on ride photos, this was the first time that I’ve used Alton Towers brand new photo system, iMagic.
The first thing I should say is the system is currently flawed. You need a QR code to start your iMagic day which isn’t a big issue, but mobile signal around the park was dire, at least for me (on O2). So you get off a ride, head to the photo booth to see your photo and input the code into the iMagic webpage and it should find your photos. More often than not I’d get an error saying it couldn’t find a photo with that code however.
We tried it on Tami’s phone and got a bit more success, but by the time we’d come to Galactica, we’d given up trying and had been writing the codes down through the day and went to guest services.
I can’t fault guest services at all, they added all our photos through the day to our pass, and we then bought it for £20, we got all our digital photos from the whole day.
I look forward to seeing iMagic developed as its a very good idea, and I love the idea of digipasses myself (I held a merlin annual digipass before they discontinued it and I loved that.) Hopefully they’ll have it working much better in time for Festival of Thrills at the end of April!
To summarize then, we all had a great day at Alton Towers for their opening day. We got on plenty of rides despite the park being sold out, got plenty of photos with iMagic, found that Tami and Pedro are both somewhat thrillseekers and had a great time together. Having others there also meant Tracy didn’t go insane when I kept waffling theme park trivia….!
It would have been nice to get on Nemesis, Hex and Wickerman, but Wickerman had 2 hour queues all day due to technical difficulties which would have taken up too much of the day, and Hex was closed. Loved every minute of the day though and I can’t wait to be back for Festival of Thrills!
Our final visit for the 2021 season was Alton Towers for their Firework Spectacular event. Our intention was to ride as many rides as we could before the fireworks closed most of them at 5pm, then head to the lawns for a good spot.
Our day started like most at Towers, getting onto Wicker man first before the queues became too long, then onto Battle Galleons as there wasn’t a queue and next to Rita. We were intending to ride Th13teen, but due to the new rules, it can’t run in the rain. There was a bit of mist about, which I assume was why it was closed earlier on in the day but we never actually got any rain all day. It did open later but we were always miles away from it!
Next we went on Roller Disco, one of the Retro Squad rides that were brought in to relieve queues on other rides. Roller Disco is probably the weaker of the Retro Squad as it didn’t have much force or spinning to it. I’m not normally a fan of Waltzers due to the stop/start nature of the spinning but even I would have liked a little more!
Next was Gangsta Granny: The Ride, which was fine once again, and even with this being our third ride, I still noticed new fart jokes in there!
After checking our photos for Gangsta Granny, we headed to The Burger Kitchen for some dinner, which was nice. Chips could have done with cooking a bit longer, but it was nice enough. I think they could have done with opening up the whole restaurant for seating though as it was very cramped!
Our next visit was X-Sector for rides on Mixtape and Oblivion. The Smiler was still down so I couldn’t get a final ride of the season today, and through out our visit neither of us saw any action at all from the ride. Hopefully it’ll be back next year!
Mixtape is arguably the best Retro Squad ride, at least for Tracy and myself as it is a really fun, decently forceful ride! Even though the soundtrack to all three is the same, I think it fits Mixtape the best.
We then headed to Spinball Whizzer, Runaway Mine Train, Duel and finally Funk n’ Fly. Funk n’ Fly is only the second Super Trooper that I’ve ridden and this one’s sequence was the best. When it initially tilted, it felt just like Clarence Pier’s one, but when it went the other way, it did so with enough speed to properly shake the gondolas which was a thill and certainly woke us up!
With our last ride done before the fireworks, we headed to Towers Street. Festivities started at 5pm warming everyone up until the show at 7pm. All in, the were about 16,000 people in attendance for the fireworks, and looking around, you’d think there were a lot more!
As for the show, it went through the history of the park, starting in the 1850s when Alton Towers was finished, then onto 1980 when the park first opened as a theme park. Many of the rides get their own segments such as Nemesis, Oblivion and The Smiler, others were absent, most notably Galactica which didn’t get a mention at all. Maybe it really is curtains for Galactica?
The display featured dot matrix screens, fire and smoke, excellent audio, as well as many lasers that filled the sky above us, and of course many fireworks too!
The whole show lasted around 26 minutes and was a fantastic way to celebrate the 40th anniversary and round off the 2021 season. Last year was Alton Towers’ 40th anniversary but due to the ongoing Covid-19 Pandemic, the fireworks were called off. I am so glad they managed to get them in this year, and even though we grumbled at having to pay £20 on top of our annual passes, we thought it was well worth it in the end!
Those involved should be very pleased with themselves for bringing together all those elements and making it work so incredibly well! Even Tracy said that it gave Disney’s fireworks a run for their money! Let’s hope we can see more of this going forward!
After the show, we caught up with Theme Park Worldwide again, and this time managed a photo and met Charlotte too! They’re both lovely, and hope to see more of them on our travels!
Thanks to Tracy for taking this photo of Theme Park Worldwide and myself!
To round off our day, and the season, we had a ride on Galactica, the last of the big coasters we’ve yet to have a night ride on. It rode as well as it ever has and even though I think it’s day are numbered, I look forward to more rides in the 2022 season and beyond!
One of the things I rarely ever hear anyone talk about are attraction soundtracks. The music that plays in the queue line, station building or themed area. Something that adds ambiance to an area, or builds up excitement for the ride you face!
I don’t know why this is as there are some excellent scores to some great rides here in the UK, and saying that, there are some excellent rides that are missing musical accompaniment!
The good!
When I think of musical scores, the first one that usually comes to mind is The Big One’s theme from Pleasure Beach or Helix at Liseberg. Both of these are euphoric dancey tracks, and even though I haven’t ridden Helix, I can imagine it fits really well. I could easily see Helix’s theme used with Icon at Blackpool Pleasure Beach.
Icon, with Big Dipper and Big One behind
Another score I really like is Galactica’s. It fits the ride perfectly, has a sense of wonder about it and adds to the space exploration theme Galactica has. I love this one!
Galactica. A lovely soundtrack to a lovely ride!
Nemesis also has a great theme, chilling and foreboding, it helps to add to the terror of the area and the ride itself.
Another thing I do like it how Imascore, who did the music for Galactica, Spinball Whizzer, The Smiler and Wickerman at Alton Towers included parts from In the Hall of the Mountain King, Alton’s unofficial theme. A very nice little attention to detail by some very talented musicians!
The same can be said for Thorpe Parks theme, it incorporates segments of the big 5 roller coasters, and the themed areas appear to have excerpts from the main theme too. I also like Derren Brown’s Ghost Trains score.
Tornado Springs at Paultons Park also has a great score, feeling very in keeping with the 1950s American theme they have there. Same for Storm Chaser, thats theme is great too, mixing 50s guitars and rock with the sounds of a raging storm.
Tornado springs at Paultons Park
Chessington World of Adventures has some good themes, its overall park theme is fun and inspires adventure, Croc Drop’s theme is also good, but Vampire’s theme is excellent and fits the ride and station building fantastically.
The not so good!
Personally I like, but don’t love Icon’s score. It has some excellent parts, but a lot of it I find to be quite lacking. I just doesn’t have the epicness in my opinion!
Rita is another rides whos score is just ok. I didn’t get to experience Thunder Rock radio when Rita was still part of Ug Land, but I could see that fitting really well. The score it has now, does still fit the Dark Forest and Rita’s final chance of escape theme, but it could be so much more. The fault lies in the fact that Rita doesn’t properly fit Dark Forest and didn’t fit Ug Land when it was there either.
The bad!
For me, the worst score that a ride has is Oblivion. The repetitive techno track doesn’t really fit the theme of Oblivion being a next level of fear that you have to overcome, riders disappearing into nothingness and not returning, but with a techno backing track? I really don’t like this one, but I do wonder what could be used instead?
Riders braving the drop (and score) on Oblivion
Aside Oblivion, I haven’t heard a score/theme that I really don’t like, but I’m sure there will be others out there that are good, not so bad and terrible!
I haven’t been to Europe or the USA to sample their delights, but I have heard a few scores like Taron’s and Helix as mentioned earlier, and I can’t wait to get abroad and see what hidden gems there are!
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