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Day 8 concluded: we wandered around for a couple of hours, ,getting re-rides on things we wanted while we prepped to meet up for Wicker Man ERT at park close at 5. over in the Nemesis section, more anti government "protesters" were out demanding fair treatment for the creature. and I happened to notice this sign over on the rapids. I really do wish the US parks would enforce something like this. . . would make it such a nicer experience than riding with rowdy teenagers. eventually it was time to meet up in front of Wicker Man. .so we headed over that way as you can see, was an absolutely gorgeous day. remember that donut stand in front of Oblivion? someone (I think Colin?) had gone over and gotten donuts including the Oblivion themed one. so Robb took a picture of it with us, as he hadn't brought enough to share! are we ready for Wicker Man ERT? YES! one more time. . are we ready?? YES!!! as mentioned, I absolutely LOVED this coaster. I think it's one of very few that I rode every single train available during ERT. and because it was at end of day, and the park had been running two trains? we were able to do "zen rides". . here's Kristen all alone in front row of Wicker Man and I believe I have Elissa to thank for this pic of me on my zen ride! wheee!!!! ' they even kept on the fire and smoke effects for us the whole time. easily my favorite coaster at Alton Towers (tho Nemesis is a very close 2nd, followed by 13, and Spinball) Stacy's got some "hair time" nothing better than getting eaten by the Wicker Man. SO good! once ERT was over, we headed over to the back of the park for our evening reservation at the Rollercoaster Restaurant. ok.. so if you've never been to one? the concept is pretty neat, but the food tends to be pretty mediocre (and expensive). That was the case here too, but if you've never been to one? I'd say it's worth it just to experience once. and if you go with a group of friends? you can have a fantastic time, even with so-so food. which again was the case here before they dim the lights, you can see the mess of "tracks" overhead - that they use to serve the main meals to each table station. you order at the kiosk once seated. . . "Nemesis Reborn" was a burger option. so yeah, theme park pricing. . . part of our table station. . once the lights went down. the other half of our table: people watching the tracks as food starts coming out. in the center of this pic (by the pole) you can see one of the food deliveries coming we're all happy as we think our food is coming but nope.. went to the next table over. that's ok tho, as the waiter brought over our drinks (not delivered via coaster track) ok. .here comes our food! I mean. .it's a burger and it was an OK burger too. . . tho I didn't care for how the purple lighting made all the food look. LOL still. .it's an experience to try out if you've never done one of these RollerCoaster restaurants. and with that, we headed back to the resort thru the back entrance of the park (the prior day, we had left from front gate and had to walk around the park to get back to resort, but this time we were able to use the resort exit since next to the Rollercoaster Restaurant). we had to pack, as tomorrow was check out day, and we were headed towards what really was my main "bucket list" park: Blackpool Pleasure Beach! (and Steeplechase). but we were gonna hit a surprise park along the way first, so had to get everything ready to go, and get rested for the adventure to continue. (I'll try to get next update up fairly soon. . but got to update the Oktoberfest report before another update here ). hope you've enjoyed seeing the park thru my eyes.

day 8 - 2nd full day at Alton Towers, checking out CeBeebes land, the gardens, the Alton Towers Dungeon, WickerMan ERT and the rollercoaster restaurant for dinner! after a good night's sleep (and a brilliant 1st day at Alton towers), was up and ready to go at park open the 2nd day. but first stop? the coffee shop in the Hotel. Not quite a Starbucks, but really the closest I found on our UK trip! the big chair photo op had no line this morning (and Andrew had joined me in getting coffee - so there was someone with to snap a pic). I DO love me a good throne! Andrew does too meeting up with Stacy in the lobby we headed to the Monorail station. today, we got to ride on Strawberry! wheee we had hit every coaster yesterday, so today I was determined to do all the silly, stupid stuff (ie: the stuff I really love to do), and first on my list was that elevated railway, over in CeBeebees land. told ya yesterday I was gonna ride it damn it Stacy was willing, since I had waiting in line with her at the kiddie coaster yesterday, so we stood in the 20 minute line for our ride (it's a fairly long ride, and only seemed to have 5-6 cars). Spinball Whizzer hadn't been running yet, but if I recall, the park did open at 9, and most of the rides don't start until 10. but we got a view of it from the Treetop adventures queue I mean. . look at this silly thing! of COURSE I wanted to ride it. yay!! as noted it's a fairly long track, and high enough you get a decent view of most of the land - which is actually quite large. over the fence was a Bluey show that was going on, and we figured if we timed it correctly, we could catch the end of it. (by the way, it was here that I learned that Bluey is a girl. . I had no idea!). it's a LIFT HILL !!! (well, I'm gonna count it as one) seriously. . WTF are these things? and they were among the LEAST F-ed up things in this land. I'm shocked British kids don't end up way more damaged if this is what they are watching instead of Bozo, Captain Kangaroo, Romper Room, or Sesame Street. noted! the land really is quite large. . with tons of stores, shows, and indoor attractions my brain wanted badly to ride this. . .but even I realized that this one is for the little kids, and I likely couldn't get my fat ass into the seat. . . LOL Take the tunnel !!! look at all these bunny hops! it IS a coaster ! ah. .there we go. . .as we were getting off the ride, Spinball Whizzer started testing over the fence next door. we made our way over to the theater, and had just missed the Bluey and friends show. . . but they were out doing a meet and greet (and the ducks were out too) I had no idea who any of these were other than Bluey, but oh I learned .. . . and this weird little guy was driving around (and managing not to run over any of the little kiddos) he was interactive with the guests too. I discovered this nightmare of a ride by looking at a park map and saying to Stacy . . "is that a ride????" it looked like it was part of a store, but it was actually next to the store (exit thru the store), and was the theme of the other resort hotel - the Night Garden, magical adventure ride. again, HOW can kids sleep with this nightmare fuel all over the hotel room?? turned out it was a boat ride, which got us both excited. silly, and on a boat? complete win!!! the operator looked quite amused that we were so excited about it. ok. . starting off a little bit dark. . but into the woods we go. aww. .how cute. . a little "train". . . I guess? and Peter Rabbit themed frog hoppers next door (that you shouldnt' be able to see from the boat ride, but ok, it's still rather decent theming) Um. . . whut? trolls? with cream puff hair??? WHUT the AKTUAL F are these???? Gahhhhh!!!! a starfish infected with measles??? a gay sun? sheesh. . ok, back to reality (or at least other kiddie rides we can see from the boat ride) this SEEMED to be an interactive experience where one can go pet puppies and cats. . but we never made it back over here to be certain. oh no. . . back into the dark forest for. . . um. . I dunno what these are? it's got a bike. i think? this TERRIFIED me. .and I wish I could remember her name, as apparently she's one of the best known characters from the kiddie shows in Britain. she's known for hiking up her skirt. no, really and the animatronic does it!! I was laughing so hard, that I almost didn't get a pic, and I still managed to catch part of it, if not the full pantie reveal tiny fairie guardsmen? cue Whodini: the fever dream was over :(. . . . I loved every moment of it. . . Stacy was done with the kiddie section tho bumped into the Alton Towers bear again tho. .so my day was fantastic thus far. hadn't noticed this yesterday, but the splash battle has sharks circling we headed towards Wicker Man and grabbed a ride, and then we popped into one of the Taverns in this section to try out the drinks. we had planned to do the Dungeon with a bunch of TPR folks as a group, so we headed that way after the beers. we had a great time! and thanks so much for the photo pass, and sharing this pic with us! we then headed over to 13 for another ride, and saw a bunch of TPR folks on ride just in front of us. hi Colin, Adam, Ryan, Jonathan, Shane, Chris, Barry & Steve (not looking) we debated what to do next and Stacy and I decided to tour the "ruins" in the center of the park. . so we headed over there (I think Andrew joined us too) not sure if this is part of the queue of "Hex" - which was down for refurb - but it certainly looked like these were emergency exit options. or perhaps ride exit. regardless. . it's very cool that these structures, are just in the center of a theme park. they do such a fantastic job "hiding" the rides. . you'd never know there are rollercoasters all around you of course we decided to take the lakeside walk path to get to Haunted Hollow (had to ride Curse of Alton Manor again!). . and so glad we did the pathway is just littered with all kinds of interactive sculpture and atmosphere that trigger when you get close to them. different scare actors out in front of the attraction today, but they too were having a ball. they all really seem to love their jobs. like the Donut shop in the middle of Oblivion, the Curse of Alton Manor has a sweet shop across from the main entrance. with some really delicious looking special treats Stacy got the black ice cream with eyeballs to be continued. .. .

day 7 (full day at Alton Towers) concluded: continuing our way around this side of the park, the next thing we came to was Smiler yeah. .this 14 (!) inversion coaster looked really intense. I was wary of it, but since we had the fast passes, we figured we'd try to ride everything. it broke down while we were in line tho, so denied (for the moment) it really is sensation overload. . even just in the queue - the blasting giggling over the loudspeakers gets into your head! the employees didn't look thrilled with their outfits, but one of them did confide in me that "at least they are warm" what a gigantic mess of track! with Smiler down, we went over to the world's first dive coaster, Oblivion. I'd heard about this one for ages. . but didn't realize it's really just a drop. there isn't much to this coaster, but being the first of it's kind meant that it was a must ride. and ya know what? it gives a hell of a thrill still. I quite enjoyed it. Smiler was still down, so we headed towards the forbidden forest area - the only part of the park we hadn't explored yet, and home to the last two coasters here. cutting thru the ruins at the center of the park along the way it was a shame that Hex was down - as I love madhouses, and I'd heard this was a good one. but hey, a reason to go back at some point! whoops. . we'd taken a wrong turn and totally missed the forbidden forest area, and ended up in the world of David Walliams. as a fan of Little Britain, I knew who he was, even if I wasn't familiar with his kid's books. But the Gangsta Granny ride sounded great - and it was a fun , stupid, dark ride, that I think I rode a 1/2 doezen times. so well worth the stop over in this section. it even had a photo op! why yes, I'm the Queen this was apparently a building they used for a show that was not running at the moment. but next to it was a sizzler . . and a small carousel. on site in the park, there was also an Alton Towers Dungeon - which one of the workers told us was about to shut down, so we made sure to do it the next day. glad we did too, as they seem to have removed it from the park, so I got to experience my first ever "Dungeon" (in talking to others on the trip, the Dungeon experience is very similar in different locations, but typically do include a ride of some sort - in this case, was a boat ride in the middle of it). we finally found our way over to where we had been headed earlier tho: home to Rita and 13 the last two coasters in the park we hadn't seen yet. I did enjoy Rita for what it is. . . but found it to be really rather short. Just when I thought we were gearing up for another launch, we pulled into the station. it was fun tho, and I believe i did ride it a couple of times. 13 (Thirteen) is 100% a family coaster, but I truly don't understand why some are disappointed in it. for what it does? it does very, very well. and I enjoyed it. but my favorite coaster in the park? Wicker Man. we had ERT on it tomorrow night. . but that didn't stop me from riding it several times during the 1st day. I absolutely loved the layout, the fire/smoke effects, and that double down / double up lift/drop. so, so good. even the station was kewl! and the exit thru the gift shop offered lots of great swag! making a face, but seriously, I loved this! and some Rita pics and the mine train. . . Nick had photo pass, and he must have shared them all with us at this point, since all are together in my pics Oh, I was incorrect. . we hadn't been to all the coasters yet. We had come back to this area earlier, but only rode sub-terra. . we hadn't actually gone into the main area, and ridden Nemesis or Galactica. . so we headed back over that way. Nemesis looks amazing. . and that giant eyeball in the center moves to follow the trains! and it blinks. . . really rather creepy. more characters out, patrolling the area (there were also a group of "freaks" out, protesting to protect the creature from government prodding). it's good! Galactica is a B&M flyer. . and yeah. . it knocked the wind out of me. a bit too intense! I liked it. . but yeah, 1 and done for me. way too intense. it was almost time to head back across the park for Smiler ERT. . . but we swung past Nemesis again for a few more pics (and another ride) to get back over to Smiler, we decided to cut thru the "Gardens" section of the park. it's hard to believe we're still in the middle of a theme park (tho to be fair, I think if the skyride had been operating, instead of in refurb mode - now back open I hear - it wouldn't have seemed so "forrest-ry" back at Smiler, which was now back up and running. Group pic before ERT. I'd be danged if I didn't ride it at least once. . even tho I KNEW I wasn't gonna like it. (and I didnt' care for it. . the 14 inversions were just a bit too much for me. . so I was one and done,and then took pics of others riding it). it's a great looking ride, just too much for me, but i know a lot of folks on this trip LOVED it. and they were yelling out inversion counts as it went. the photo must be early on, as I was still enjoying the ride at this point. not sure about how Colin felt tho. . LOL the track is so long, they can operate multiple trains. . . which with the twisted up track, really gives the impression they might hit each other! I did make it to the end of ERT, even tho only rode that one time, and then we headed back to the hotel to grab some food and crash after a long, exciting, and exhausting, day. I wasn't too hungry tho. . perhaps Galactica and Smiler back to back had my stomach in knots. . . so I stuck with a desert. and no, I didn't share and with that, it was off to shower, and bed. Tomorrow was another full day at the park, and there were a ton of things I wanted to ride, and re-ride.

I got to attend the opening of the DCUniverse area the other weekend at Six Flags Fiesta Texas (it also overlapped with the Mardi Gras celebration, so did some of that too). the area looks great, and with this open now, SFFT has the biggest assortment of DC Universe themed rides in North America (even if we don't count Kid Flash, which has been a paperweight for a long time now, and seeing the announcements that it's getting removed? just confirms whatever lawsuit was going on is now concluded). anyways. . here's some pics. my quick takes on the 3 brand new rides? Cyborg (Nebulaz) - it's great, running both forwards and in reverse, with heavy theming (Kilg%re takes over control of the quantum mechanism and makes the ride go crazy) - forwards is slightly more nauseating than the backwards portion. I actually fit in this Nebulaz, tho I saw many people get walks of shame - so if you don't fit in a seat, ask to try another one, as even tho they claim the seats are all the same? some of them have slightly longer seat belt clamps and I had no issue riding - 1st time I've ever fit on a Nebulaz. Shazam (spinning drop tower) - a very gentle ride, it reminded me a LOT of the SFOT parachute drop. really long cycle, and more of an upscale "bounce tower" than a drop tower. looks amazing at night with the lighting package. Metropolis Transit Authority ("Monorail") - the station is a *stunner*.. . subway tile, and a queue that looks like waiting at a train station. the ride itself is a bit short (shorter than I expected it to be, and it actually looks shorter than the original plans showed (where it went around the Gotham City Crime Wave swings) - it now cuts in front of it. There is no onride audio (a shame, as it would be great if it pointed out things you pass), tho there is audio in the station that teases the train arriving and leaving. it's high enough to get some great views, and with even a slight breeze was very comfortable on a warm day. They do only allow 3 adults and one child maximum in each car - so this could cause quite the line on a busy day, as there are only two trains with 4 cars each. I have to assume that is for safety reasons, as out car - with 3 adults - seemed a bit shaky on some of the turns. it adds to the thrill level of this gentle ride tho, I thought. Batgirl (the kiddie coaster) is running great still and the new colors look really nice on it. same with Green Lantern (zoom jets) - the new color scheme is fantastic. Poison Ivy (up up and Away), really works well with the gondolas redone as giant fruit with vines (and shade) in the queue now. I did not ride Penguin (convoy) even tho it had opened with some statues in place, as they still are not quite done with it, and expect a few more dioramas to be added to the track area. anyhow. . here are some pics even the Batmobile at "Batman" (the 1st S&S Freespin built) has been refurbed the new DC Universe area (where the main concentration of rides are) a look at Green Lantern, the Monorail, Cyborg, Shazam, and Batman Poison Ivy (the revamped up, up, and away) the new entry sign from Spassburg (it lights up, and the other side say DC Universe across the top) the Metropolis Transit Authority (Monorail) queue building up high enough you get a nice view towards the front of the park from the station and a great view of the DCU area LTR: Superman Krypton Coaster, Cyborg, Green Lantern, and the base of Supergirl (Skyscreamer) In this pic you can see most of the land, plus Wonder Woman golden lasso coaster on the upper right looking across at the MTA queue building, and on the right some of Penguin. . they are still going to be putting up some dioramas here to drive thru. looking down into Penguin, you can see some of the statues that have been placed, but as of a week ago, there was still some work to be done on it. it IS up and running tho. pulling into the station, you get a great close up of Shazam, and in the distance the top of Gotham City Crimewave, Joker, and Superman Krypton Coaster they have some DCU characters out. for the month of March, they are starting out with Flash and Harley Quinn I may have gotten "confused" meeting "the Flash" during Mardi Gras. . . I didn't get any beads, but the actors all had a good laugh. yeah. . Boomerang. but it sure is picturesque. that's Dr. Diabolical's Cliffhanger in the right window there. View from the VIP lounge patio. why hello Mr. Jeffery Siebert! got a mini behind the scenes warehouse tour and got to see the maintenance shed where they keep the extra trains for all the coasters. and then found out Harley was out now. . so went back to DCU for a pic. kinda behaved myself this time. also went to see the new for Mardi Gras show, "Voodoo Dolls" it's very, very good. (and indoors with cushioned seats and air conditioning) some of the voodoo queens get special effects for their numbers.. such as bubbles! and to top it off, I got to ride on a parade float for the evening Mardi Gras parade. for once, I got to be a Pirate, instead of being the swiss girl - (for some reason, when I do the parade, they always wanna dress me up as the swiss girl) ready for the parade to start, and to toss out hundreds of beads! the area looks great, the park is fantastic, and the Mardi Gras food is all really good. Highly recommend checking it out while the event is still going on!

Based on what I've seen it looks like they may stick with the Mind Eraser name

Agreed! Also, are they still calling it Mind Eraser or is the park going to rename it?

Hmmmm, interesting on them dimming the lights at the Rollercoaster restaurant, they did not do that at Foodloop in Europa when we were there! I think Joel loved that place as much as any coaster, lol. If/when we make it to Alton Towers, Wicker Man is definitely my most anticipated coaster so happy to hear it was really good.

day 7, full day at Alton Towers: the next morning, got up in time for breakfast (they had to split us up into groups, so several of us met in the lobby to head over to the park together after eating something) view from where I sat at breakfast: and then headed out to the monorail station, that would bring us around to the front of the park. we were on our own for most of the day today, meeting up later for some ERT on Smiler. ready for a full day at this park that had also always been on my bucket list. at the front gates, we're met by a monument to a Vekoma Corkscrew that I guess used to be at the park. I was just glad we had so many other coaster options (some of which I had heard of for decades, and always wanted to ride). park map. . this place is HUGE. the Map really doesn't give the full size of the place. our hotel is way up there on the left, and park entrance is way over there on the lower right. So the Monorail brought us thru the park and to the front gates. from the main entrance, you get an amazing view of the castle ruins (which can be toured as part of the Gardens. . but also is home to Hex (sadly closed for refurb during our visit) CBeebies land is the WTF kids area, that has some "never in America" characters. . . looking back at the Monorail we had just gotten off of. interactive squirting frog fountain in the main entrance area better view of the castle / ruins/ gardens from the end of the main street. nothing quite opens with the park, but it's so large, we headed in anyways to get to near what we wanted to hit up first. there are a lot of coasters here, but most are very spread out. Mutiny Bay area has a bunch of rides, including teacups, splash battle, the rapids ride, an electric mine train, and is also home to the sealife aquarium here at the park. lots of interactive stuff all over the park too. I believe this button on the scull activated the parrot - who interacted with guests. not open yet, but we'd be back! possibly my most looked forwards to ride here (tying with 13), the Wicker Man wooden coaster. people were already lining up to get on it when it opened. and this was *before* all the smoke and fire effects that are in use during the ride were turned on! spoiler. . it's an amazing coaster. I loved it. no water in the rapids (yet), but they would be up shortly. that track next to it on the right is the Mine Train it's a really long train, and they send it around a couple of times - in our case, we got the "Australian" 3-peat. . so got to go around 3 times, because Nick was riding with us. and they really love saying "choo-choo" as the train passes under the station. another coaster I was very much looking forwards to! this section had a recently re-imagined dark ride that is total WTF, and was my favorite flat at the park. so fantastic effects, and a truly whacko storyline. the "Curse of Alton Manor" not sure what's up with the "Giant chairs". . but sure, I'll sit in this one too! it's haunted mansion, crossed with a ghost train, and a bit of Tower of Terror mixed in. LOVED it. and the castmembers were having a ball. it's kinda "hidden" in the middle of the park, in it's own section. so it never really had a line. I think I rode it at least 10 times, and ended up with a couple of T-shirts and magnets from it. if you continue on the pathway towards the back of the park, you come to the section that Nemesis is located. and is heavily themed, as an area that the Nemesis lifeform has invaded and the Government is trying to keep under control tons of actors in character back over here.. . and this is a separate ride off by itself, but also themed to the Nemesis creature in the area. won't spoil it, but it has live acting, and a pretty "jumpscare" ride that you won't see coming. apparently it doesn't operate too often - I can see why, it takes a lot of cast members - so I'm really glad I got to experience it. Pretty scary for a non-halloween themed ride! rapids now full and ready for riders! and the aquarium was open now too. . so time to go take a look! oooo. . .pretty! cast members out in this area too. . . love how well they had this park staffed! I even got to meet the Alton Towers mascot bear. . tho never caught his name some of the folks I was hanging around with today wanted to ride EVERY coaster. . and that included the kiddie one over in CBeebies land). . .so we headed over there next I STILL have no idea what the hell these things are. yellow boogers? ahh.. a daisy I recognize! ok.. I'm absolutely coming back to ride this tomorrow (and I did) here's the kiddie. . I believe it was basically a roller skater? tho the theming was adorable. several TPR folks on this train whoops. .I've been seen! lol. . I already saw you, can't hide from me, Doug! Stacy wanted to ride too. I stood in line, but actually didn't ride (just wasn't feeling it). . . but I'm glad she had fun. right next door was Spinball Wizzer tho.. and that I really wanted to ride. it's an extreme spinner, with some great theming. . . very good ride. to be continued. . .