ALTON TOWERS

Set in the heart of the Staffordshire country side is one of England's gems of a park. It has thrills for the adrenaline seeker and sedate rides for children and those who don't like big rides. And if you don't like either of these there is always the house and gardens to go round. It themed into several different areas and seems to have a new ride every year and a big new ride every 2-3 years. This park though is not shy about promoting itself and sometime the rides don't live up to the hype, but the coasters are always good and I always find myself going back several times a year.

You enter from the car par via a monorail . This takes you through the park on route to the entrance so you can see some of the rides to tempt you before you enter. When you enter the park on foot you meet the frogs with the Towers over the lake in the background.

From here its a choice of left or right. Left to Katana Canyon and Forbidden Valley or Right to X Sector and UG Land. In Katana Canyon you will find the water rides, a log Flume and River Rapids which interlinks with a powered mine train coaster. Both good rides, but the log flume is a bit on the slow side between drops.

Carry on foot past the runaway mine train through gloomy woods past Dual

(Haunted House  shooting match, good for all the family), to the Forbidden Valley. 

Here are two of the big coasters and several other rides. 

First there is Nemesis.

This suspended coaster is great. You come out of one adrenaline manoeuvre straight into another. There is no time to rest on this ride. Front seats are best, but its about an extra half hour queue, and when I first rode Nemesis it was a 3 hour queue line. This ride had to be buried in order to meet the height restrictions at Alton Towers. Rightly no coaster can be seen out of the park due to not being allowed to build above the tree line. By burying Nemesis there is plenty of opportunity for near miss elements. There are several times on this ride were due to speed judging the distance between you and a great hard lump of slate is almost imposable. That why I think this is one of the best coaster of its kind, despite others being bigger, more inversions and more advanced they are not buried in a solid rock hole 

The other big coaster is Air. Odd name, odd colour, good concept, but not as stunning as I hoped it would be but worth a ride if the queue is not too long (less than an hour). Now the plants are starting to grow the ride experience is improving, but the Towers need to decided if this is a thrill ride or a family ride. I think its a thrilling family ride (how's that for sitting on the fence!). 

The other rides in this area are the Ripsaw 

and The Blade (pirate ship)

From forbidden Valley you can either walk through the gardens or get the cable car over to UG Land. The cable car takes about 5 minutes plus queue time.

Walking takes about half an hour as you go down into the valley and up the other side. But if you have time or want a break from rides its well worth it for the gardens.

Rita; Queen of speed sees the return of a launched coaster to Alton Towers. A racing theme in the middle of UG land is a bit odd but its a good coaster. Front seats do offer the best ride experience, but all seats are good. The launch is great fun and the out of the seat feeling on the first hill is an unexpected surprise. The ride keeps up a good pace for about 70% of the track then slows down as you would expect and for me at this point the ride loses something. I think because it needed to fit in around the Corkscrew the end is a bit of an anticlimax.

The launch winch is an amazing bit of kit. It compresses nitrogen to push hydraulic oil to turn the sixteen motors giving Rita its fast lunch in a short time

The Ug swinger is good fun too

From here its off to x sector. You go past HEX, a haunted swing ride, but very well themed and worth a go. In X sector you will come to Oblivion. The vertical drop coaster. A great 7 second thrill. The first time you ride it is intense. You never loose the holding breath sensation of the drop, but the more you ride its the less fear you have. Try it with hands and feet dangling and eyes closed. It feels different. Or for a wired sensation of falling yet being pushed up sit, in the front seat, put your legs on the bar and push yourself back into the seat as you fall.

There is also the Enterprise and Submission in X Sector.

On you way back to the entrance exit you pass Squirrel Nutty. Its not often you can say you sat in a acorn pushed by a giant squirrel is it? So go on ride this one.

Spinball Whizzer is a great coaster for its size. The cars spin whilst go round the track. The amount of spin is dependant on how the weight is spread out in the car.

And if you have time or you children before you leave or as you enter go to Old McDonalds farm.

The Towers themselves have fallen into disrepair, but are slowly being restored to their former glory. You can walk through parts of the towers and along some of the roof.

I love Alton Towers despite all the hype, but only in the off peak season as the queues are shorter and this park manages to attract a large number of teenagers who like to queue jump and I have yet to see the company enforce its policy on queue jumping. The car parking charge is an insult, its not like there is good reliable public transport to get to the Towers so you have no option but to pay for the honour of parking (Currently £5 or £10 depending on where you park, but season ticket holders get it free but this is not widely advertised). But this said the park is in stunning countryside. It invests in new rides and makes you want to come back time after time. One ride that this park lacks is a wooden coaster. Come on Alton Towers give us what we want because we know when you do it will be worth riding. Just look what Megaphobia and the Stampeda have done for other parks and what the woodies do for Blackpool.

The hotel

Mini Golf

Alton Towers has removed rides over the years for many reasons, sometime due to planning consent. Some of the rides of the past are:

The Corkscrew was sadly removed at the end of 2008. The Corkscrew was the coaster that started it all for the UK leading to the many varied coasters we now have.

The Thunder Looper

The Energizer

Toyland Tours (Now updated to the disappointing Charlie and the Chocolate Factory)

Beast

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