Alton Towers Discussion Thread

[Nrthwnd]

Neil, that LAUNCHING! shot is a-mazing! Beautiful timing, lighting...everything!

 

And nice to see some surroundings around it all, too.

The Coaster Restaurant entry looks impressive, as well.

 

Thanks for all the great photos and observations of what's what!

[Purplepills]

Thanks for taking the time to post neil, its good to get so much detail on it and a few photos

[LDedios432]

Hi everyone!

 

I'm travelling to Europe for the first time this summer, landing in Heathrow and then country hopping for a couple weeks. I'd like to squeeze in a trip to Alton Towers or Thorpe Park at the beginning of my trip. Ideally Alton Towers since it's been a dream of mine to visit that park ever since Nemesis opened. Looking online, it seems like going from Heathrow to Alton is a huge trek unless you rent a car -and I'd like to avoid having to rent a car during my trip unless I absolutely have to.

 

Any tips on getting to Alton Towers from London/Heathrow Airport? Do you recommend that I stay overnight in Alton and then head back to London the next day? I really only have a day to visit the park, so it'll be a quickie.

 

Thanks for any suggestions!

[Dar]

Honestly, I don't think Alton is possible if you've only got a day and don't want to hire a car. The park is practically impossible to get to using public transport with only one bus in the morning that takes an hour to get there.

 

If you really want to do without hiring a car, you'll need to get to Stoke-On-Trent station, then get on the bus from the stop over the road.

Check here for the time the bus leaves Stoke and the return times: http://www.firstgroup.com/potteries/more/alton-towers/stoke-station

 

Not to mention that train fares in this country are obscene, with a return journey from Heathrow to Stoke-on-Trent costing over £200!

 

Renting a car is definitely the better option, it's only a 3 hour drive to Alton from Heathrow. Renting a car for a day can be as cheap as £50 + fuel, so it's certainly cheaper as well!

[thedazza]

Hi everyone!

 

I'm travelling to Europe for the first time this summer, landing in Heathrow and then country hopping for a couple weeks. I'd like to squeeze in a trip to Alton Towers or Thorpe Park at the beginning of my trip. Ideally Alton Towers since it's been a dream of mine to visit that park ever since Nemesis opened. Looking online, it seems like going from Heathrow to Alton is a huge trek unless you rent a car -and I'd like to avoid having to rent a car during my trip unless I absolutely have to.

 

Any tips on getting to Alton Towers from London/Heathrow Airport? Do you recommend that I stay overnight in Alton and then head back to London the next day? I really only have a day to visit the park, so it'll be a quickie.

 

Thanks for any suggestions!

 

Get the train to Uttoxeter, there is a bus stop just outside the train station. There you can get a bus to Alton Towers, It doesn't take too long on the bus from there (20-30 minutes) and I think they are quite regular. Have only been once on public transport but that is how I did it. If there are no buses then there is also a taxi rank outside the station. I think it is most likely the same case from Stoke-On_Trent train station.

Hope that helps.

[Farley Flavors]

Alton Towers is a real bitch to get to on public transport. The bus services from either Stoke-on-Trent or Uttoxeter railway stations are seriously infrequent (there's only four per day from Uttoxeter) so unless you plan your journey meticulously you'd be looking at taxi journeys.

 

The train journey needn't be as expensive as Dar suggests. By booking in advance on the right trains you can get a return from London Euston (reachable on the tube from Heathrow in an hour) to Stoke-on-Trent for as little as £18.

 

A return journey in one day might just be possible. Have you booked your flight to Heathrow yet? If so, what time does it arrive? Are you staying in London for a while before you go to the continent or are you flying straight out after Alton Towers?

[Murfie]

I went from London to Alton Towers and back to Heathrow in a day once Its possible but it does require you to get up really early and you have to plan out every single detail to make it work. It's a hassle but it's also possible.

 

I woke up in a B&B extra early and took the bus to Euston train station, from there I took a train (with tickets I bought early for a good discount, not that expensive at all) and went to Stoke on Trent. From there it's an hour with the bus. In the evening I did the whole thing over because it was the day before a TPR trip and everybody was meeting up at Heathrow..

 

Personally I thought it was totally doable, the trains were cheaper and more reliable timewise than what I'm used to at home. But you will be traveling for many hours so for some people it's probably too much of a hassle. In my case I really really needed to go Alton Towers and I had no options to wait till morning to return or anything like that. If you do, than staying overnight is certainly the more relaxed route as I was up and about from 6 till 23 o Clock I think... Worth it though IMHO ^_^

[Purplepills]

In addition to the posts above you did mention an overnight stay, which would be in a B&B - this is what we always have done, we live a 4.5 hour car journey away and its much nicer to not have that at the start of your day.

 

There is a B&B right outside Alton Towers gates called the Trough Ivy House, I've stayed there a couple of times, cosy but nice and its closer to the turnstiles than the car park is! There is another 5 minutes walk down the road called the Chained Oak which we have also used twice, again very nice. Its a short walk up the hill but its a bit of a busy road with no pavement/sidewalk. I always see people doing it and its probably fine just something to bear in mind.

 

At a quick glance here are some bus times from Uttoxeter station, if you scroll down from the 5th timetable onwards there seem to be buses every couple of hours. I can't tell you how accurate this information is, although it was only posted a year ago. There may be a better timetable somewhere but this should work as a guide

 

Bus times Uttoxeter station to AT

[Garet]

There is another 5 minutes walk down the road called the Chained Oak which we have also used twice, again very nice.

 

Is it named that because it's close to the actual tree or just because of Alton Towers?

[rctneil]

There is another 5 minutes walk down the road called the Chained Oak which we have also used twice, again very nice.

 

Is it named that because it's close to the actual tree or just because of Alton Towers?

 

The actual chained oak is very close to it and it's named after that.

[Garet]

^ Thanks, checking out the actual tree Hex is based on was always on my to-do list before I left for Korea but I never got around to it.

[Henry M]

My tip for you is not to go to Alton Towers. It is for two reasons, Thorpe Park is much closer to get to and Alton towers is miles away. Thorpe park is almost next to Hethrow. Also as you said it was your dream to go there, don't go because you will be disappointed. It is good, but from reviews I have geared this year, 2016 is not the year to visit.

[Married a Canadian]

I'm travelling to Europe for the first time this summer, landing in Heathrow and then country hopping for a couple weeks. I'd like to squeeze in a trip to Alton Towers or Thorpe Park at the beginning of my trip. Ideally Alton Towers since it's been a dream of mine to visit that park ever since Nemesis opened. Looking online, it seems like going from Heathrow to Alton is a huge trek unless you rent a car -and I'd like to avoid having to rent a car during my trip unless I absolutely have to.

 

While Alton Towers is a great park, I personally agree with Henry M, and think that it is a bit too difficult to get to in the timeframe you have said from Heathrow airport. While renting a car might be cheaper option, if you are not used to driving on the opposite side of the road (from the US)..getting out of Heathrow can feel pretty tricky (quite afew Roundabouts!) and if you are doing it after a flight from LAX....even more so. Heathrow does have pretty good transport links though and there is a bus station there (National express) which can take you pretty much anywhere in England. I disagree with the 200 pound rail fare stated though...I have never paid anywhere close to that in the UK anywhere. If you leave planning to the last minute then sure...but if you book online..or get something called a "Britpass" then you can get some good deals. Rail will require you getting into central London though which you can do through the underground or Heathrow express (expensive). Bus station is right at the airport if you went that route. Personally I think you are asking a LOT of yourself though to do this in a short period of time..but it is doable.

 

Thorpe park is pretty much adjacent to Heathrow, lots of accommodation options around (even staying in London would be OK)..and there are some pretty OK rides there aswell (you can ride Nemesis Inferno as a consolation to actually doing Nemesis), I also loved the "Saw" ride as the theming was pretty cool.

Transport options are numerous without needing a car (even bus or taxi from the airport would only take 15 mins),and if you stayed in London...rail options are plenty.

You may well feel more relaxed doing the closer park and you could tie it in with some sightseeing in London if you haven't already.

 

My opinion only...I lived in the South East of England for a couple of years, while my aunt and uncle lived near Alton towers...so I know both areas. I don't think there is a wrong answer for you....just whichever you think will work out best. You will enjoy both parks...whichever you choose.

The only thing I will say is DON'T rent a car if you are not sure about driving on the left. I think they make Heathrow as much as a b*****r to get out of as possible just to trip up the American tourists!!!

[Purplepills]

The only thing I will say is DON'T rent a car if you are not sure about driving on the left. I think they make Heathrow as much as a b*****r to get out of as possible just to trip up the American tourists!!!

 

This is true, some years ago my brother had friends visiting from when he did a year of college in the US...they rented a car, and returned it after 10 minutes of trying to get out of Heathrow. Its not the nicest place to drive when you live here, let alone in a foreign country!

 

Thorpe is a much easier option, so much transport, dedicated buses every 15 or 20 minutes from Staines station...but if you can leave London 2pm(ish) and get to Alton for 8pm and stay overnight before going in this is what I would suggest doing. In a single day it is a lot! Both parks are good but for me if it was one or the other I'd choose AT.

[AustinR]

Rent an automatic if you rent. It's worth extra £ for the less hassle/safety. Also a smaller car is advised as the roads get tiny. Chained oak B&B is awesome, the best B&B I've ever been to- I stayed last week, too bad hex won't be open for you.

 

Thorpe would also be a fun trip also, but Alton is beautiful even though I'm super disappointed with them this season. Still some run down looking buildings and sad with so many rides closed.

[Gutterflower]

If you can make it to Terminal 5 at Heathrow there is a bus (the #71) which heads direct to Staines and stops close to the train station (takes about 10mins) where the shuttle bus to Thorpe Park runs from. Should cost something like £2 or £3 in total so it really is easy.

 

As mentioned for Alton Towers there are National Express Buses which run from Heathrow to the nearby Stoke On Trent which takes between 4 and 5 hours to get there and can be bought for as little as £15. There are 4 buses a day which goto stoke from the bus terminal at Heathrow Terminals 2 and 3.

Then again there is a shuttle bus from Stoke on Trent railway station to the park which is a little more expensive than usual at £10 for an adult return.

 

The trains are much faster but will cost more. Probably looking at £60 to £70 for a return to Stoke On Trent or Uttoxeter from London Euston which takes 2 and a quarter hours or an hour and a half on the express. The problem is trains before 10am will cost an absolute fortune more like £250 return thanks to the ridiculous premium they put on the trains during commuter hours.

 

Hope that helps a bit.

[Farley Flavors]

Then again there is a shuttle bus from Stoke on Trent railway station to the park which is a little more expensive than usual at £10 for an adult return.

There's no shuttle bus to the park. It stopped running a couple of years back.

The trains are much faster but will cost more. Probably looking at £60 to £70 for a return to Stoke On Trent or Uttoxeter from London Euston which takes 2 and a quarter hours or an hour and a half on the express. The problem is trains before 10am will cost an absolute fortune more like £250 return thanks to the ridiculous premium they put on the trains during commuter hours.

As I already mentioned, if booking in advance you can get a return to Stoke for £18. This includes hourly departures from Euston from 0746. You can check the fares and timetables at http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/.

[LDedios432]

Thanks for the awesome replies everyone! Much appreciated and very helpful! Yeah, renting a car in England is probably something that I want to avoid, since I'm used to driving in Los Angeles (which is a hell of a battle in its own right, lol!)--so driving on the left side of the road, sitting on the right side of the car, roundabouts...they're all things that, I'm sure, will take a lot of getting used to, for the short amount of time that I'm there. That said, I'd rather take trains, buses and taxis when I can!

 

I'm still deciding between the two, but whatever decision I make, I'll post a TR & some pics when I get back

[StealthFan]

So I have now been to the park and experienced Airlactica and my opinion on the ride is this. While it isn't quite as dumb and stupid as I was expecting it was still nothing special considering the cost involved in installing it. I will not consider this a hit for the park either as I heard a lot of people getting off the ride saying thing like "was that it?" "What was the point in that?" "I preferred it before the video". I could easily see all the headsets being gone within the next 5 years.

 

The biggest issue I have with the whole ride is very simple. If I don't want to wear the headset I shouldn't have to! Air was the wrong ride to put VR on as it completely removes the aspect of the flying coaster from it. If I want to experience the feeling that Galactica gives me I will gorilla tape my phone to my face put on a TPR POV and turn a fan on because thats about how it feels.

 

I will leave you with a genuine quote from Guest Services when I went to see if there was any way I could ride without the headset and this was the response I got "If we gave people the option not to wear the headset no one would wear them". What does that tell you about the feedback they have had on it?

 

I will do a TR at some point soon but for now that is my thoughts on Craplactica I mean Airlactica, wait no GALACTICA.

[eddytheviper]

Airlactica. I like it.

[RyanTPM]

I guess it's a matter of opinion as to whether you like it or no, because i loved it and at least when i was there it seemed like everyone else was too. Although i do think that they should give you the option to ride with or without the headsets, but Air really wasn't a good coaster so it shouldn't matter too much.

[coneyislandchris]

I will leave you with a genuine quote from Guest Services when I went to see if there was any way I could ride without the headset and this was the response I got "If we gave people the option not to wear the headset no one would wear them". What does that tell you about the feedback they have had on it?

Words fail me.

[rctneil]

I rode a couple more times during a visit to the park yesterday. My first ride of the day was fantastic. All in sync, audio was balanced and not just in one year, was nice and clear too. When everything is correct it all works to bring quite a nice experience (apart from the video rushing through all the destinations).

 

My second ride in the afternoon was another story. The audio was fine but it was waaay out of sync. Before trying Galactica I didn't think it would affect me as much when it was out of sync as it actually did. Blimey I was wrong, the video was 1-2 seconds behind where I actually was on the track. It seriously makes you feel as though you are going sideways. Very very weird feeling. Thankfully they seem all too aware that things can go wrong with it in small ways like that and promptly gave us fasttracks for another day which was kind of them.

 

I do think the boarding process has reached its fastest (I honestly can't see how it can speed up anymore considering the amount they have to get done to get all riders in place and set up before departing. It's not the fastest but you shouldn't expect it to be as fast as Air was.

 

I managed to get a clearer photo of the small boxes they have between each pair of seats which allows the operatives to manage the VR experience for each person. It's a small touchscreen that gives a read out of the headsets battery status, bluetooth status and also allows the ops to reset the orientation. (Resetting the orientation is such a big thing as to how a rider experiences the ride that I believe they should explain more clearly before putting on the headsets that once they are on and been tightened to sit and look directly forwards (I find a slight tilt of the head up helps too) whilst the reset the orientation so everything is correctly aligned.

 

 

I also noticed that a lot of the action in the video happens directly in front of you and a lot of people must miss it as they are looking down rather than infront of them.

 

I asked to try a subtitled version which they kindly quickly enabled. This gave me a small translucent rectangle at the bottom of my viewport that followed my vision around. Unfortunately the headset wobbles and bounces too much during the ride that it makes it very hard to read. The rectangle is also placed very nearby to you in 3D space so if you've adjusted the focus to be sharp on the background video, it puts the text slightly out of focus adding the legibility issue. The other thing that made me laugh is that as you are sat in the station you sit and stare at a rather large Galactica logo in the centre of a very black room. This Galactica logo was also subtitled "Galactica"!!

 

Overall, people seem to enjoy but I really can't see it lasting all that long. It definitely increases Air rerideability but on the downside takes away its rollercoasterness. People are so focused on the video and audio and forget they are on more than just a simulator. This is proved from standing in the plaza watching the ride and just seeing silent trains go around the track with no one making any noise!

[TyRush]

I know the accident was terrible and all, but I saw these photos on Facebook and thought it was crazy how damaged the train was check it out...

Photos from National Health and Safety Lab

[viking86]

I saw those pictures on facebook. Really makes you realize the horrors that those poor people must have gone through.