Alton Towers Mini Meetup 9th August 2015

[mkingy]

Park: Alton Towers
Date: 9th August 2015
Attendees:

Mkingy
Gouldy
Linny
Holly
Bob_3 (momentarily)

Gallery: Not worth it I didn't take a great deal of photos

Trimming

Me and Holly arrived at the park at around 0915 and hopped onto the monorail to meet Dan and Linny who were waiting at the main entrance. We were slightly delayed as the monorail stacked at the park entrance terminal... perhaps we should have walked! Nonetheless we continued on into the park and wandered up towards Dark Forest.

Thirteen was our first ride of the day, and due to he lack of a queue we were fortunate enough to get on the second train! We were seated pretty much in the middle of the ride, however there was a delay to dispatch due to the ride requiring 18 persons (of a maximum of 20) in order to dispatch. We later found out that interestingly - Thirteen won't complete the circuit with the trims turned on with less than 18 riders. Ride was a fairly nice warm up - the trims really do ruin the ride in my opinion but the secret section (no spoiler) was fun and it's always entertaining as a coaster enthusiast riding through the "kick out" section right at the end of the ride which is shaped horribly (check it out on youtube!)

Launching

As Rita was running we headed over to this next, literally walked through the queue and straight onto the train that was awaiting us! We sat towards the front on this ride. Solid launch, some reasonable airtime (had a nice gap between my legs and the restraint) although I always find the layout leaves a lot to be desired. The final airtime hill is meh and the ride is a little rough - although perhaps better than when we visited earlier in the season from memory.

We hopped on the skyride (which had a day-topping queue of roughly 5 minutes) and headed on over to Forbidden Valley to jump onto Nemesis (Dan overhead the staff member at the gate asking "where is the helix... - this is roughly his view) Near the back (2nd row from back I think). Still a great ride - intense, great layout and pretty smooth for its 21 years. There was one noticeable bump at the base of the loop, and the lift motor was making a horrendous sound when it took the weight of the train on it! Dan mentioned it sounded like the engine may have air inside of it - hopefully whatever the problem it either lasts to the end of the season or isn't a big problem to fix! Dan complained that the burger place was closed - the severe pitfalls of going on an especially quiet day.

Inverting

Following Nemesis we wandered over to Air - to suffer an excruciating wait of 1 train to ride this on the 2nd row. It seemed to be running fairly well with a little bit of stacking - enjoyable ride although I'm always blinded by the 'lie' sections and therefore spend half the ride with my eyes shut. We returned later to find the ride stuck at the base of the lift hill so I'm glad we got a ride in early on! I'm interested to see what they do with the new themeing elements here - although not rumored to be major the ride could definitely benefit with some additions!

As we exited Air Bob_3 spotted us and we had a walk and a chat on our way over to Duel to blast some zombies. Duel for those unaware used to be a traditional haunted house but in order to refresh the experience Alton Towers added lazer blasters and LED lights throughout the ride and you rack up points by shooting said LED lights. Dan won, be he clearly had the blaster with the best range so he was practically cheating.

Flying

We left Bob_3 at Duel and continued on to the Runaway Mine Train. After watching 5 people walk of shame another 5 minute queue (5 Minutes is honestly an excessive wait for any ride in my opinion so I don't blame them. We're just a hardy bunch) we rode this pretty near the back. Dan managed to refrain from slapping any supports - which is probably a good thing as no doubt it would've made the Daily Mail headlines in the morning if he did. I enjoy the runaway mine train - just annoyed that they got rid of half of the headchoppers as you pass the ride entrance!

A short wander into Mutiny Bay and we were unable to resist the teacups because they're as close as you get to a Huss Breakdance in these parts of the UK. Not much to say really. We span, we almost fell out, we felt ill, we regretted going on the ride.

Spinning

Back round to the beginning of the park we looked to get a quick ride on Octonoughts before we rounded off the major rollercoasters for the morning. However there was an incredible 40 minute queue time. This queue was almost longer than the queue for every other rollercoaster put together at this point! Instead we hit up Spinball Whizzer Sonic Spinball - making use of a couple of priority passes we had spare to skip the 20 minute queue. Another fun ride, needs a themeing update to match it into the Sonic brand but some great spins (aided by a car full of adults!).

Finally we hit up Oblivion having looked at the SBNO Smiler for a short while (pretty eerie seeing it stood there). Again a short wait for the next train put us on the front. Unfortunately the tunnel dry ice was non operational however the new paint job looks really fantastic. By today's standards the layout is lacking - however the this was the first that came so we'll give 'Blivi a bit of slack. Queueline is cool - snaking around the station building!

That took us into lunch at around 12:30 - all the major rides complete (bar Octonoughts) which was accompanied by a gentleman shrieking and running around because a wasp was nearby and he "hates those ******* things".

After lunch will took a ride on the most themed ride in Alton Towers - Hex. Personally I enjoy the story and ride experience of Hex. It's a pretty immersive ride - although there was a double first for me. First time someone has cheered and clapped DURING the ride of Hex. First time someone has cheered and clapped after the ride of Hex (Thanks to Dan encouraging them). I have a feeling this is more common in America - I'm not sure how much I tolerate it here. Too cheerful.

Spinning Again

We headed back over to Nemesis to grab a front row ride. Again really intense (the initial element sequence is truely phenomenal in the front seat) and a great ride. There's a reason I've queueed an overly long time for this ride in the past. And that reason is every inch of the ride.

As Air was broken down we hit up Blade (Just in case it disappears over the offseason). Was a really short sequence which sucked, but at least nobody threw up.

Swinging

Following Blade, we went and tried some of the new Nitrogenie Ice Cream in gloomy wood (next to Duel). It's basically Ice Cream made with Nitrogen in several different flavours. It was nice enough although felt a little overpriced (what doesn't at a theme park?) Not sure I'd buy again. The guy made a real mess of Holly's lemon meringue flavour and almost set his colleague on fire with the blowtorch. So entertaining but I think we'd have preferred a properly made ice cream to be honest.

"Do you get wet on the River Rapids?" asked Holly and/or Linsey (I don't remember)
"No, slightly splashed perhaps" replied Dan and/or Matt, wrongly. (I deny responsibility)

Splashing

We probably encountered the biggest wave I've seen on the river rapids, almost soaking Dan (think ALS Ice bucket Challenge) and with the addition of hidden little objectionable people on the water pistols we ended up getting much wetter than we anticipated. Fortunately it was fairly warm so we dried off soon enough.

The final ride of the day belonged to Octonoughts, which was operated by a fellow coaster enthusiast and Wolves fan (hi if you're reading) who noted that not only were we adults riding a childs coaster - I was also sporting my Coastercrazy T-Shirt (Reppin' the merch). It's quite amazing how far kiddie rides have come along from the days of the caterpiller ride to something with magnetic brakes and smooth trackwork!

Having ridden everything (and no real drive to ride it all again) we headed back home shortly after 15:15 happy and having experienced the least busy day at Alton Towers of our lives.

[Coasterkidmwm]

Looks like you guys had a ton of fun. Smiler do any test runs or anything?

[mkingy]

No, there was an very bored looking attendant at the entrance (which is stripped of any branding) telling people it wasn't open. As far as I'm aware (as of an article in the Daily Mail on 9th) the HSE haven't finished their investigation so I doubt we'll see any activity until the off season.

[gouldy]

This trip report made for an hilarious reliving of the meet. Especially that tidal wave on the rapids... Seriously, when does that EVER happen?

Also, I sooooo did not have a blaster with longer range, that is a lie! It's all down to skill

Looking forward to Drayton. It's been a long time since I've been!

Woooo! What a great trip report, Matt! Was fun to relive the day! Really good, yet slightly shorter and wetter than anticipated (thanks to that tidal wave!) day! Was lovely to meet Holly too! x