Oktoberfest

Alton Towers Oktoberfest 2022!

13th Sep 2022 Loops&Lapbars

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 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!

Blog, Reviews

Alton Towers – Oktoberfest 2021

21st Sep 202129th Aug 2022 Loops&Lapbars

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.

Some of Oktoberfest as seen from the top of the Towers.

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.

Horseshoe crabs – One of many species to discover!

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!