To the Tower!!
Jul. 2nd, 2018 10:56 pmHaven't been to Alton Towers since a Stag Party many many years ago. It's not changed much, except for all of the rides.
This was day three of a very busy long weekend, where I went to a steampunk market and steam train ride with![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
flickums . The market was smaller than expected, so I zipped down to Bristol to see a friend and wish him happy birthday, where I also caught up with his fiance, andtictactoepony and ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
masterofapath , stayed in a lovely pub in Lower Almondsbury, which did a very nice Eggs Royale, visited the aviation museum, where I saw a Bristol Fighter, and many other aircraft (many made in Bristol); and, of course, Concorde Alpha Foxtrot, having its own dedicated exhibition space.
Monday was a planned day off work to visit Alton Towers, because visiting during a weekend just isn't worth the queues.
So we got there. Felt a bit fleeced that I couldn't buy a day ticket on the gate, only a season pass. Should probably have pre-booked. But oh well. Caught up with friends. They'd just been on "Thirteen" but were happy to go again. They wanted to go on "Rita", but it was closed just before they got there. So we queued up. And Thirteen stopped working. Decided to wait to see if they could fix it. They did. Just as we'd left... Still, at least the queue was short. Not sure I really like roller coasters that go backwards.
By this point, Rita was running. Rita is all about speed! 0-60 in about 2 seconds. Then it just carries on going fast, but really it's all about the initial shock. Next up was Hex. One of the less plummet-y rides, so flickums was fine with it. It's a lot of fun. It's very much a magic trick, as the seats rock and seem to go a scary distance up the walls.
The cable car wasn't working (there's a theme developing here) so we had a stroll down the valley and up again, and ate at the roller-coaster cafe. And yes, food is delivered by roller coaster. Order by tablet, and a few minutes later, a pan in a trolley comes down the tracks. Food was nice too. Expensive but that's expected at a theme park.
So, next ride, was Galactica. Which is essentially rebranded air. There is the option of VR headsets but we didn't want to join that queue. This didn't break down. However one of the riders did... Fortunately they have a protocol in place for sick, although I'm sure that's a less pleasant aspect of the job. Still, after a quick cleanup and a couple of dry runs, we were allowed on.
Next up was Nemesis. Where only two of us were brave enough to ride on it. Me, because I'm too stupid to have much of a sense of fear, and Sarah, because she loves roller coasters. Had a go on Duel, and the Congo Rapids river, because these were both flickums friendly rides and kind of fun, although I'm sure the rapids used to get people a lot wetter. Finished off with Wicker Man, which is new and exciting. And it is a good ride. More of a big dipper, made of wood, and no inverts.
It was a shame we didn't have more time. Would have liked to have gone on more rides, but we had to go home, so we got on the monorail to the carpark... Which promptly broke down.
We had a lot of fun. Really liked Nemesis and Rita. Breakdowns were annoying but I guess this is what happens when the weather gets so hot. Might be able to go again though. The overpriced ticket does allow re-entry.
This was day three of a very busy long weekend, where I went to a steampunk market and steam train ride with
flickums . The market was smaller than expected, so I zipped down to Bristol to see a friend and wish him happy birthday, where I also caught up with his fiance, andtictactoepony and masterofapath , stayed in a lovely pub in Lower Almondsbury, which did a very nice Eggs Royale, visited the aviation museum, where I saw a Bristol Fighter, and many other aircraft (many made in Bristol); and, of course, Concorde Alpha Foxtrot, having its own dedicated exhibition space.Monday was a planned day off work to visit Alton Towers, because visiting during a weekend just isn't worth the queues.
So we got there. Felt a bit fleeced that I couldn't buy a day ticket on the gate, only a season pass. Should probably have pre-booked. But oh well. Caught up with friends. They'd just been on "Thirteen" but were happy to go again. They wanted to go on "Rita", but it was closed just before they got there. So we queued up. And Thirteen stopped working. Decided to wait to see if they could fix it. They did. Just as we'd left... Still, at least the queue was short. Not sure I really like roller coasters that go backwards.
By this point, Rita was running. Rita is all about speed! 0-60 in about 2 seconds. Then it just carries on going fast, but really it's all about the initial shock. Next up was Hex. One of the less plummet-y rides, so flickums was fine with it. It's a lot of fun. It's very much a magic trick, as the seats rock and seem to go a scary distance up the walls.
The cable car wasn't working (there's a theme developing here) so we had a stroll down the valley and up again, and ate at the roller-coaster cafe. And yes, food is delivered by roller coaster. Order by tablet, and a few minutes later, a pan in a trolley comes down the tracks. Food was nice too. Expensive but that's expected at a theme park.
So, next ride, was Galactica. Which is essentially rebranded air. There is the option of VR headsets but we didn't want to join that queue. This didn't break down. However one of the riders did... Fortunately they have a protocol in place for sick, although I'm sure that's a less pleasant aspect of the job. Still, after a quick cleanup and a couple of dry runs, we were allowed on.
Next up was Nemesis. Where only two of us were brave enough to ride on it. Me, because I'm too stupid to have much of a sense of fear, and Sarah, because she loves roller coasters. Had a go on Duel, and the Congo Rapids river, because these were both flickums friendly rides and kind of fun, although I'm sure the rapids used to get people a lot wetter. Finished off with Wicker Man, which is new and exciting. And it is a good ride. More of a big dipper, made of wood, and no inverts.
It was a shame we didn't have more time. Would have liked to have gone on more rides, but we had to go home, so we got on the monorail to the carpark... Which promptly broke down.
We had a lot of fun. Really liked Nemesis and Rita. Breakdowns were annoying but I guess this is what happens when the weather gets so hot. Might be able to go again though. The overpriced ticket does allow re-entry.
