Photo TR: Wicksteed Park! - KoolKid's Travels

[mwm1444]

I think I had a slightly more painful ride in the front seat, last time I did Vampire. Back seat is still a bit 'shunt'-y, but the increased speed and forces kinda distract you, I think.

 

^ and ^^ should totally let me know if they're ever planning to do Chessie on a weekday, I like company.

[Koolkid]

You seem to get more "swing" nearer to the front, I've only ever tried the back a couple of times as it is almost always used for those that are disabled and Exit Passes. I did enjoy the back and it is strange how much of a difference there is from it and the front but I do definitely prefer the front

 

Rattlesnake and Dragon's Fury are both better though, only a little

 

^ And yes

Just stumbled across this picture of Vampire, one of my favourite's from Halloween Hocus Pocus

[hobbit]

Nemesis Inferno is the best coaster from Thorpe park..

great pictures !

 

It is fun to see that sometimes the smallest themeparks are having the best themed attractions...

[Koolkid]

^ Really? I would say Colossus is, by far actually. I find Nemesis Inferno a good ride, it just doesn't really seem to "do" anything, I find it hard to explain why it feels so average. Would give it a 7/10 if I was rating it.

 

But yes Chessington is definitely much better themed and overall, if you want a better day out, the better park by far At least in my opinion.

[hobbit]

Thorpe park is too small and full. (i dont like that)

on my visit there were lots and lots of people..

Colossus was also a good ride.. but i like B&M more..

 

but the barrel rolls from Colossus are great! just as the music in the queline.

[Koolkid]

I agree, everything is so crammed in, which seems to amplify the uncomfortable atmosphere the park has at the moment, which is a shame as a lot of the rides are very good.

 

Also with Thorpe, it can be a not very busy day, but the queue's will still all be huge, and if it is busy then there is absolutely nothing else to do, you either prepare for 2 hour long queue's or do nothing, and that is another reason why I struggle to enjoy Thorpe. Whereas for example at Chessington, there's the zoo, the shows, the general park atmosphere and there's always something to do or rides that don't get huge queue's.

 

And about Intamin Vs B&M, I am undecided and just enjoy both manufacturer's pretty equally. Intamin hasn't done any particular masterpieces over here though such as Nemesis, and I do find it disappointing how there most recent coasters don't have the same feel to them.

[hobbit]

koolkid has right,

if all the coasters are B&M's, or all the coasters where Intamins... the rides will be prety mutch the same.

happy for us, it isnt.

 

i always see thorpe park like a "mini" Cedar Point

[Koolkid]

Exactly, a little variety is always good, and they do both cover different areas of coasters.

 

From what I've seen of Cedar Point it looks like that is a fair similarity to make, very concrete-y with good rides but poor atmosphere, poor theming and always huge queue's.

 

Although a difference is that Thorpe doesn't have the space and therefore the rides are literally crammed in wherever possible.

[Koolkid]

Alton Towers 2/6/10

 

Hello There, today I visited the magical ( oh no wait, it's 2010 not 2007 so 'fantabulous')

 

I had an absolutely fantastic day out despite it being busy, it was also really hot today.

 

So we arrived around lunchtime and headed straight for Oblivion today, my last trip I suffered from a power cut and so only managed to do Thirteen, which by the way was unavailable today and will be tomorrow, apparently Intamin are on site.

 

Using Chessington's new brand, Adventurer James, Over and Out!!

So we arrived, as you usually do when you go somewhere, and as you can see it is Alton Towers' 30th Birthday!

Spinball Whizz... woops I mean Sonic Spinball

The legendary Oblivion! Hopefully this area will get some attention this closed season, it's not looking at it's best and without another ride such as the Black Hole, the area doesn't feel complete. Still a great ride though.

Ooooh, a shuttle in Re-hab, wouldn't like to ride this one at the moment, that would bring a whole new meaning to the term "floater"

Absolutely gutted Thirteen was closed today, but its better for it's problems to be sorted now, rather than in it continually break down. Here's a picture of it's station, which is great by the way!

Was like the ol' days without Thirteen, even if it was only like a few months ago.

Rita, this ride has had a new piece of audio for the launch this year. It now fits into the area better than previously when it was UG Land, but it's location is still terrible. Nevertheless I got a couple of good rides on her today and a surprising amount of airtime too

The new look of the control cabin, a million times better than before.

Rita's cross section of hills!

Who'd have thought, Towers at Alton Towers? What will they think of next...

A look back towards Towers Street

One of Nemesis' bit of heavy machinery, pouring with smoke, just the way we like it.

I like how it doesn't just rely on inversions, a lot of intense twists and turns as well, such as the one pictured.

Air next, didn't get many pictures of her today which is a shame as she was running great with a few strange pops of air throughout the course. Great ride. I still love that unique feeling of being tilted into position, it always feels like you go to far to me! Ha

Back to Spinball!

The Runaway Mine Train! I love this ride, such great fun but also with a couple of surprisingly forceful sections to it.

I love the interaction between the Runaway Train and the Rapids on these though, it's fantastic.

"Mummy" :'(

The Skyride with it's nice shiny gondola's

The gardens at Alton are also lovely to have a nice quick look around, and are often actually the quickest way to get somewhere.

Oblivion in the sun, it really was boiling today and glad I had my refill bottle

Hex! Didn't manage this today which was a shame.

And to finish off, the famous Corkscrews

 

 

Hope you enjoyed it

Edited June 4, 2010 by Koolkid

[coasterbilly]

man I want to get to Alton so bad, nice report dude!!

[Koolkid]

It really is a great park, but there are a lot more *support* attractions which I haven't actually pictured, there really is a lot to do.

 

 

The only park I could really think to compare it to in the states would be Busch Gardens Williamsburg, is that a fair comparison would you say?

[tiger01]

Awesome TR!!! I can't wait untill I visit this summer!!! Any Tips on how to make the most of the day on the big coasters?

 

BGW Dosn't have a height limit and so has bigger rides...So really it is a bit unfair to compare it to that but still Alton Towers ranks high!

Edited June 3, 2010 by tiger01

[Koolkid]

Sure

 

Definitely do Air and then Nemesis first, or if you want to do Spinball, that very quickly first. Then whatever other rides you wish to do. And then Thirteen's queue begins to plummet at about 3/4 and Oblivion is usually 10mins or less in the last hour of opening.

 

Hope that helps, any other tips feel free to ask.

[tiger01]

Thanks for the tips. Thanks for the photos aswell because I can't wait to see this amazing park!

[Koolkid]

If you can get to the park I'd certainly reccomend it, it's definitely the best park in the UK with the best range of rides.

 

Also, I didn't get pictures of them, but the racing granny's were out yesterday!

[bgwfreak777]

 

From that angle, it looks like the track ends and the cars about to go off the end of it, RCT style.

[Koolkid]

^ Ha, that could turn out to be a pretty cool element you know

[Koolkid]

Few more pictures from my trip to Alton and then I'll have another update from Chessington Sunday evening

 

Alton really is doing well this year, a great atmosphere on park and it's generally looking fresh with all staff as well also being great and friendly.

A 30th Celebration themed Towers Street

[Ed]

Thirteen was down? Eeek. I'm going on Monday, will be slightly disappointed if it's closed!

[Koolkid]

You should be fine , it was closed Wednesday 2nd and part of Thursday 3rd. You should definitely be fine but check the Alton site the night before you go.

[Koolkid]

This past weekend I was at Chessington and had an absolutely fantastic time, I stayed at the excellent, safari themed Holiday Inn Chessington which granted me evening access to the new Wanyama Village and Reserve and Early morning access to the new Wild Asia. Awesome!

 

It didn't start off to well when a journey that usually takes 1 hour 20 minutes took 3 hours 30 minutes! I hate the M25...

 

This cost us a good few hours in the park but over the 2 days I still managed a pretty good ride count.

 

Saturday 5th June , took 3 1/2 hours to get there, stupid M25! Anyway was there from 3.30 till 6.30

 

7x Dragons Fury

5 x Rattlesnake

2x Vampire

 

Sunday 6th June, was there from 9.30 till 1

 

6x Dragons Fury

5x Rattlesnake

1x Runaway Train

1x Tomb Blaster

2x Vampire

1x Ramases Revenge

2x Kobra

1x Monkey Swinger

1x Bubblework's

 

I also found out this trip how much quieter Sundays are than Saturdays and also how much even rain forecasted puts off Chessington-goers.

 

Anyway a few pictures

The wildest adventure available in Britain starts here!

Ramases Revenge, the ol' girl still gives a good ride and now, due to it appealing to the minority of visitors to the park, you get 2 goes of different cycles, which is good of them

Dragons Fury, awesome as always, it is running brilliantly.

The very quick lift.

R.I.P. Dennis and Beanoland

Twisty , It's a shame the ride was broken down at this point.

Some Ride Board index love

Vampire's station lighting has been adjusted and look fantastic

Rattlesnake, the awesome Wild Mouse

Fury again

Staff on Fury really were kicking ass all weekend!

You know you love Fury at sunset pics

Anyway, here is the new African Experience, Wanyama Village and Reserve. With Oryx and Zebra and mongoose and meerkat and ostriches on the way, it really is great

This meerkat was rejected by it's mum so had to be hand-reared, is incredibly friendly and cuddly though

Village entrance

It's not finished quite yet,

But there is an awesome viewing tunnel where you can literally peep up in the middle of the meerkat's enclosure

The safari themed hotel

Hello Mr Zebra

Can you run as fast as a Zebra/Cheetah/Ostrich?

Awww, cute skunk But I swear he was about to gas me... So I retreated verrrry quickly!

Wild Asia during ERT

Bubbleworks less awesome poster than when Professor Burp was in charge

Get back to bubble making!

That's better

Some of the remains of Chessington's ol' railway.

2 more enduring the awesomely violent Rattlesnake

Runaway Train!

And finally... yes at Chessington only the staff have access to your private parts, not even you have access to your private parts...

[tiger01]

If you have any spare time to be wasted, Try out Adventure Island Southend on Sea! It's a great little park and Rage is Awesome! Twistyness.

[the ghost]

I really want to do an England trip sometime in my life, all the parks look pretty nice. Also, I LOVE MEERCATS! I WANT ONE!

 

The Meercats rule Ghost

[Koolkid]

If you like Meerkat's Chessington certainly is for you, there's a few different enclosures of them. And they also have regular meet and greet sessions where you can stroke and cuddle them

 

To be honest, I've visited a lot of parks in quite a few different countries and if you like seriously great parks then you'll love both Chessington and Alton. Thorpe really has nothing going for it apart from a few decent rides, well that's my opinion anyway.

 

 

 

^^ I've thought about Adventure Island a few times in the past, but at the moment with Alton and Chessington giving such phenomenal days out, I can't go anywhere else, I am certainly getting good use out of my Merlin Annual Pass this year.

[themeparkman25]

Deleted by author

Edited January 20, 2011 by themeparkman25