IceDragon Posted August 11, 2007 Share Posted August 11, 2007 I won't bore you with the whole holiday (WHAT???? THERE'S A LIFE OUTSIDE THEME PARKS???), that'll come a bit later After waking up at 5:45 in the morning (I didn't think I'd be able to do that!) and getting everything ready (lunches for 11 people, showered, waking people, etc) we set off at 8:45... I could've had an hour lay in... I guess here I should tell you about the group. There's myself, Alex (Thorpe park maniac), Annalie (my sister), dad, mum, Kim (auntie), Mel (uncle), Leo (cousin), Holly (cousin), Mark (uncle) and our Gran. Being coaster enthusiasts, we had planned the day on the way. dad and mum, both disliking theme parks didn't plan to do much. The rest didn't know what to expect as they rarely go to theme parks. They all did some feats though. Our journey starts at our holiday home. We start getting all coaster geeky and everything as usual, when me and Thorpe park maniac heard our little sister say she's going on Corkscrew and Spinball Whizzer! As much as I wanted her to get her first inverting credit, why Corkscrew! Wasn't good new for any of us. I was particularly proud when she said Spinball Whizzer because she missed out on it last year... We arrive at the Towers and find the Monoral queue had already peaked about 20 mins! We waited, growing more excited as we got nearer the platform. The monorail came in, we departed and the queue had already wrapped itself right around the building! We couldn't get a photo, but holy cow! We enter the park and see they did the 'star in your own movie' thing. I wanted to do it but I had very little money and the ticket seller was a right *insert swear word*. We headed straight for Spinball and My sister was bricking it all the way to the station. The same with Holly. Holly and Mel went first with 2 strangers while me, Alex, Annalie and Mark went in another car. My sister was particularly worried about the horseshoe, but she loved it! We went on The Beastie (well, they did. My legs are too long) and they have TRIMS!!!!! I was surprised at that! Next was the Berry Bish-Bash playhouse thing. I didn't do that either. They managed to waste 30 mins in there... The Log Flume came next, and it was amazing!!! The massive duck that runs at you in the dark made us all jump! We had a whale of a time and my camera was soaked by the splashes and the shower thing right at the end (we all forgot about it). It survived thank God. Next was a ride we all went on, The Congo River Rapids. Gran, not used to theme parks or anything like this, was persuaded onto it. I really liked it as there were points I thought were really good, like the wave machine and waterfalls. Next was the Runaway Mine Train. Once again, we got Gran on it, forgetting how intense it actually is. She really didn't like it, but Her on-ride photo says otherwise... We headed for the Forbidden Valley so Alex and I could get on Nemesis and Air again. Kim, Gran and Leo decided to do the Golf Thing by Splash Landings, so we lost them. We missed out on the queue for Nemesis, so we didn't actually know the track layout. The theming was lacking in parts I thought, but the ride comes very close to the queue. We got a spectacular view from the front row, although the ride is getting slightly rougher... I came off with a light headache that wouldn't improve. The awesome thing about the Ops when we rode was, they actually held my camera at the booth while we were riding! They wouldn't let me take a picture of them pounding it though (sorry Ryan!). Air is much better in the second row. I felt I was actually flying. The front row sucks. I don't actually like this ride much, but Holly needed to do it. Once again, she was really worried about it, especially when it stopped. Someone tried filming the ride using their mobile, so the Ops stopped the ride and confiscated the phone! We got on, flew and it ripped out hair from my head and neck when we flipped, increasing the headache, but it was much better than last year. We took the Skyride over to Ugland to do Rita and Corkscrew, Annalie's and Holly's first inverting credit! But first, we had to do The Ugswingers. Quick maths lesson Corkscrew = pain. headache = pain. Corkscrew + headache = excruciating pain. lesson over. I had to do it so Annalie could get upside down on a coaster... she said it was painful but she really liked the corkscrews... Vertical loops: here we come! Rita broke down as we were just about to queue for about 30 mins, The launch over-heated according to Ride-Ops, so we headed for Hex. Hex is insane. It's not a white knuckle ride of sorts, but after doing it 7 times in a row last year, we had to do it again. The 8 of us (Kim, Leo and Gran hadn't finished golf yet) decided to do it. Mark (working in the theatre side of life) was completely stunned and amazed by it, which is an amazing thing! We all think the branch in the centre of the ride should 'levitate' near the end some time to finish the ride off. I still can't get my head over it! It is one of the best rides there. When we got out, the golfers had returned and found us, so we got all of them on it. they were stunned, but the one that was really nice was Gran. Have you ever noticed how kids are really really excited by Disneyland and the whole experience? You know the look of wonder they get in their eyes and the questions they ask and how happy they are? Gran was like that. She wasn't sure if she had gone upside down or not, so she asked us. When she did, she sounded as if she had returned to her childhood, asking the question as if she had been on Space Mountain. It was really nice and she loved it! Rita had re-opened by the time we had wandered over to it, so Mark, Alex, me and mum went on it. My mum couldn't take her glasses on (we found this out last year), so I had to tell her which way to lean as we approached each corner. We got second row and we saw the people in front using my guides to which made me laugh. The airtime hill before the brakes was still giving a good whack of airtime! While we had done Rita, Annalie, Mel, Leo and Holly decided to go on Corkscrew. Leo hates roller coasters, but he really liked this, so hopefully he'll start doing more... Unfortunately, the day had to come to an end, so we headed back to the carpark. dad, mum, Alex, Annalie, Gran, Leo and Holly on the Skyride, Mark, Mel, Kim and I through the gardens which look even prettier at 6pm! Queue times Spinball Whizzer - 25mins Beastie - 5mins Berry Bish-Bash - 0mins The Flume - 30mins The Congo River Rapids - 15mins Runaway Mine Train - 10mins Nemesis - 20mins Air - 40mins Skyride - 10mins Corkscrew - 10mins Hex - 0mins Rita - 40 mins All the rides we wanted to do were done except Oblivion, Submission, Enterprise and Duel. A shame, but The only ride we hadn't done was Submission, but that's no major loss We had a spectacular time, the Ops were really good with loading and unloading and the queue times were the best I have ever seen at a major theme park! Congrats to the Ops there! Without further ado, here are the photos! I'll leave you with Indiana Jones... FrogTums? This is where the magic ends folks... Spinball Whizzer... ... Through the trees!!! and you thought you'd get away without that line being used I wonder what part of the park we're in In England, we like driving jeeps into lakes and abandoning them Overhead Mine Train on the go iiiiiiit's SharkTums! Lions go RAWR! The Gardens Rather artistic in my opinion These looked out of place, but they're so pretty I wonder where this goes... onto the Gardens GO GO GO! The Gardens. More of that later... not exactly luxurious... The trains slowed down like hell on the lift hill... Oh Derek... exclusive shot!!! Mighty fast inversion! Silhouette of the mighty loop For those with a foot fetish... It looks too pinky... What's this I see? Oh yeah! It actually reads 'sex in the form of a rollercoaster' It was this dark before the camp duck sprinted at us The rather small and pathetic first hill... Just before the splash Good ol' real duckie Good ol' rubber duckie TRIMS ON A KIDDIE COASTER??? Jeff won't be too pleased... Very artistic... Provided a LOT of airtime for me and Annalie Spinball - our first credit! Right out of RCT... Air... Why not call it Fire, Earth or Water? It'd make much more sense... I SEE NEMESIS!!! (Yes, I do know it's actually Rita...) Alton Towers ahoy! 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Thorpe park maniac Posted August 11, 2007 Share Posted August 11, 2007 Wow, it was an awesome day out, whilst on Air, in the station we (Alex[me], James and Mark) were stuck in 'doggy' position for 5 secs and we'd thought the ride broke down, but as we were cheering it lowered , but Alton is a must if you go to Derbyshire or Saffordshire at anytime in your life. wish i could to rita again Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmBy Posted August 11, 2007 Share Posted August 11, 2007 Great TR, looked like a mini TPR with all those people. Must have been a good laugh that day. Good ride count and nice photos too. Yeah Air and Nemesis seem to be always getting stuck on the lift hills, happened to me when I was there a few years back. Its strange on air becasue of the flying position. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swoosh Posted August 11, 2007 Share Posted August 11, 2007 That's AIR, not NEMESIS. NEMESIS is farther back in the park whereas AIR is right near the parking lot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Groteslurf Posted August 11, 2007 Share Posted August 11, 2007 Good TR and some nice pics. Thanks for sharing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thorpe park maniac Posted August 11, 2007 Share Posted August 11, 2007 That's AIR, not NEMESIS. NEMESIS is farther back in the park whereas AIR is right near the parking lot. erm... its called a joke, he does know that Nemesis is white and Air is blue and is near the parking lot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Well, You're Wrong Posted August 11, 2007 Share Posted August 11, 2007 Great pics! Sounds like you had a blast. Alton Towers looks like a hell of a lot of fun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IceDragon Posted August 11, 2007 Author Share Posted August 11, 2007 That's AIR, not NEMESIS. NEMESIS is farther back in the park whereas AIR is right near the parking lot. I thought it was RITA actually... And I do know it's Air... Sheesh... Read the disclaimer at the bottom of the site... Great pics! Sounds like you had a blast. Alton Towers looks like a hell of a lot of fun. Heh, it is! What makes it better is that we live a long way from it, so there's no chance we can truly kill the magic! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Posted August 11, 2007 Share Posted August 11, 2007 Your photos are pretty decent.. I haven't been to Alton since March.. Seems too long! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swoosh Posted August 12, 2007 Share Posted August 12, 2007 ^^Great cover up, go back and edit your original post to make it look like a joke. ELL OH ELL By the way, you have a little pie on your face Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yankees15 Posted August 12, 2007 Share Posted August 12, 2007 Great trip report! I have always wondered this, why is Nemesis's track so dirty and rusty? No other B&M's are that bad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmBy Posted August 12, 2007 Share Posted August 12, 2007 Thats the look they were after I think. Its themed in that way to make it look all dirty and rusty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geraintl Posted August 12, 2007 Share Posted August 12, 2007 if air was going very slow on the lift hill it usually means they were running 3 train operations, the slow lift hill is to give the previous train time to clear the break run as if it has not cleared the break run the "air craft" will have to stop on the lift hill. how long were the queues when you went? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shockwave Posted August 12, 2007 Share Posted August 12, 2007 Yep, it's actually meant to look like that. I still don't think that Alton Towers are ever gonna build a better coaster than Nemesis. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IceDragon Posted August 12, 2007 Author Share Posted August 12, 2007 if air was going very slow on the lift hill it usually means they were running 3 train operations, the slow lift hill is to give the previous train time to clear the break run as if it has not cleared the break run the "air craft" will have to stop on the lift hill. how long were the queues when you went? Not too bad really, all were about half the time the display boards were advertising except air which had a few troubles here and there, nothing major though. And Swoosh: I think I know which is Air and which is Nemesis... and what cover up? meh, stupid troll Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cobra_roll06 Posted August 12, 2007 Share Posted August 12, 2007 Hey man great TR! Wow I can't believe how short the queues were for the holidays! Looked like you had fun! How was Rita running? Last time I was there it was pretty rough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alpenguy Posted August 12, 2007 Share Posted August 12, 2007 Looks like an awesome day. I really really liked Alton when we visited, and the ride crews were definitely fast then too. So sad to think of Tatsu's undeniably crappy operations after seeing AIR constantly clearing the station and running at absolute full capacity with a train often stopping on the lift... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrissie Posted August 12, 2007 Share Posted August 12, 2007 Great TR!! Looks like you guys had an awesome time!! Still trying to convince my bf 2 drive me to alton towers, its been 7 years *sob* Chrissie"someone take me to alton towers, I pay generously" Stevenson Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thorpe park maniac Posted August 12, 2007 Share Posted August 12, 2007 Hey man great TR! Wow I can't believe how short the queues were for the holidays! Looked like you had fun! How was Rita running? Last time I was there it was pretty rough. it wasn't too bad for us really, but i had my hands up so my ride was probably rougher for me than IceDragon's Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IwantRevenge Posted August 12, 2007 Share Posted August 12, 2007 Great trip report! I have always wondered this, why is Nemesis's track so dirty and rusty? No other B&M's are that bad. what about Medusa in SFGAdv that thing is rusted and worn pretty badly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IceDragon Posted August 13, 2007 Author Share Posted August 13, 2007 Hey man great TR! Wow I can't believe how short the queues were for the holidays! Looked like you had fun! How was Rita running? Last time I was there it was pretty rough. I hate to say this, but it wasn't too bad. I guess I was leaning into the curves instead of thrown in, but it really isn't too bad! I hate to say it, but my ride on Nemesis was rougher than Rita... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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