Bucket List item checked off! Bert does the UK with Theme Park Review (a photo trip report)

[PKI Jizzman]

bert those boots and glasses slay! another awesome trip report. keep it up! thanks for sharing the experience!

[bert425]

Day 6:  Drayton Manor

it was pretty overcast, and a bit chilly, and there was a chance of drizzle in the forecast.

But everyone was still excited to continue on the trip and to check out Drayton Manor - even tho we had been told that most of the big thrill rides had been taken out over the years and they had targeted more towards families, with a large Thomas Town section, and lots of family rides.

so after eating breakfast and checking out of our 1 night hotel, we climbed onto the bus, and after a shortish drive, we pulled up to the signs for the next park on the itinerary.

it really looks like it's in the middle of a nice neighborhood. . . LOL. .you just come upon the sign noting it's there.

this is apparently the "new" entrance, which feeds you into the Viking section of the park - which is apparently also fairly new.

not super packed prior to opening, but a few dozen folks out and about on this day (I believe it was a weekday, and with the forecast, it surprised me to see as many people there as there were - even tho it wasn't that many)

 

I don't recall us having any kind of early admission or fast passes for this park (not that we'd have needed them), so most of the group followed Robb/Elissa's lead, and headed to the newest coaster in the park - a Vekoma family boomerang, called Accellerator - to get that out of the way as it was probably the lowest capacity coaster in the park.

(of course, I had to stop and snap pictures along the way)

the theming and LOOK of Accelerator are really well done, even if the ride is really not too exciting.

the indoors queue is kinda cool too

Noted!

happy, and a little chilly, TPR folks mixed in with GP

I see Jack and Jackie, and Andrew and April on this train.

and further back, Nick, Doug, Hawk, David, John, Chris, and Ryan

and here's Andrew, Stacy, me, Nick, Doug, Brad, Jere, and Eric (and his son)

I think this pic is thanks to Elissa?

 

Hi Dad, I'm in Jail!

this wasn't quite ready to open, so we'd have to come back in a bit. . . it was a walk thru haunt experience, tho I can't recall if there was an actual "ride" or if it was just a guided tour kind of thing.

next door, this indoor shooter was open tho.

so we took a spin on this.

That's Larry & his Niece there.

this wasn't open today, tho I do love these kinds of rides. . . . so snapped a couple of pics

 

we missed this one by only a few weeks - this is the park's new for 2024 coaster, that is called Gold Rush.

it's an Intamin tire launch family coaster with multiple switch track.

they had it mostly ready to go, and a lot of the theming was in place.   but it hadn't started testing yet, and they hadn't yet announced the name yet when we were there.
so the big walls were still up around it.

heading back into the main park.. you can see how non-busy it really was today.
tho  to be fair, it seemed a lot of the folks who were here, were in Thomas Land .  . which is where we were gonna head next.

Troublesome Trucks is a Gerstlauer Junior coaster (with a creepy ass face on it) over in Thomas Land.

I mean. . LOOK at that face on the front of the train.

LOL. . .but it was a fun coaster and actually had some speed and pops of air.

what I found most interesting is how the queue for the coaster runs right along side the back of the Thomas the Tank Engine Train ride.

so you get a really great view of how the engine detaches from the front of the train when it returns to the station, spins around, then comes back around and attaches to the back of the train, making that the front.    so they don't need a big "turn around" track for the whole train.

and yes, the Thomas Engine has creepy ass eyes that move around as it chugs along.

almost our turn on the coaster tho.   I do think this one might have been the longest line of the day for us at this park.

but I think most of the TPR folks did ride it.

 

is this something to do with Harry Potter?

 

Hand to G-d, I swear this man introduced himself to me as Mister Top or Bottom.

I thought it was hysterical and posted about it.

i was corrected by several friends online who told me that his name is Mr. Toppan Hat.      but he used to be called something more offensive.

and sure enough, when I went to upload this trip report?   I actually DO have a picture of a statue of him that says Sir Toppan Hatt.

I think "Mister Top or Bottom" is way more amusing of a name tho

nothing else in Thomas Land was anything else I was interested in, so I wandered out to check out the remaining areas of the park.

we had passed this cute Carousel so did I stop and ride it now?

You Betcha!

a Map of the park - the entrance we came in is at the top over the lake.

you can tell it's not a HUGE park, and a big chunk of it is dedicated to the Zoo and Thomas Land (basically everything on the left).

despite the low crowds, they did have a show running, with a few participating

Mr Sequins there did try to get me to participate, so I shook my butt for a few moments to make him happy

and then we went back to the Haunting.

I say again, I REALLY don't remember much about this experience. . I *think* it was mostly acting and set pieces they walked us by.   but the theming was well done in the queue area.

it was getting ready to rain, and a light drizzle had started - so we headed over to the only other coaster that was open today (the "thrill" coaster, the Wave, hadn't opened yet today).

Jormungandr is Zamperla powered coaster.

and from it's queue line location, we were able to get some more looks at the new coaster that hadn't opened yet.     So that was an extra benefit for riding on this - and we bumped into a bunch of TPR folks while in this queue, so it was a mini-TPR-takeover

ohhhh. . a pony express ride next door?  yes please!

some different views of the new Gold Rush coaster

Happy TPR riders!

 

the pony express type ride next to it was called Sleipnir. . and Adults were allowed to ride (yay!)

close enough to a Carousel horse that these always excite me and I try to ride them if they allow adults.

in the Viking section, the park also has a Nebulaz.

I didn't even attempt to ride, as I know the seats are very snug. . and this one seemed to be taking forever to load/unload.

it's looks great in this section tho with that design

Stacey wanted to ride the Disk-O (a ride type I generally don't care for) so I sat and waited for her - which was a good call, as the chilly rain started during her ride.

can you spot her all bundled up and freezing her butt off ?  

at least she enjoyed herself.

meanwhile, I found a nice throne to wait on.   I love me a good throne.

while waiting for the Disk-O to finish, an announcement came out via the group messenger that the Wave had opened.

the Wave was at one point (up till 2023) called "Shockwave" and was the only Intamin Stand up coaster with a zero G roll.

in 2024, they swapped out the stand up trains for sit down trains, and renamed the coaster "the Wave"

it's still pretty intense, at least to me, and so was a 1 and done.   but it's the big thrill ride in the the park.

 

there's a nice flume/chute the chutes ride too, but it was already pretty moist so I didn't go on that.  Those that rode it said it was fun tho.

it offers a nice photo op.

 

oh, and a backwards big drop.

Besides the Thomas train ride, there's also another train here at the park, that brings you around the perimeter.

Stacey and I took a ride on that.

it really is a lovely park in places.   it's odd to have so much unused space in the middle of the park tho.   Wonder if they sometimes have paddle boats out here?

the big loop on "the wave"

there's also a pretty moist Rapids ride here at Drayton Manor

and an Air Race. . . for those looking for the more "adult rides"

it was getting close to time for the bus (we didn't spend more than 5 hours here, if I recall correctly), so it was time to get some shopping done, and I wanted to check out some of the zoo.

but first?  another photo op.    No idea who this character is. . but he's a Daddy, so needed a pic with him.

it's a fairly large zoo, but I didn't want to chance getting stuck way near the back and then having to run to the bus.   So I just checked out a few animals towards the front of the Zoo.

a few birds

and some monkeys

and whatever these are. . . otters?   merkats?

and with that it was time to meet back at the bus. . we still had a bit of a drive ahead of us.

we were off to yet another bucketlist park for me. . . a multi day stay (on property!) at Alton Towers.

 

to be continued. . .

[michaellynn4]

I would've liked to have visited Drayton Manor, but I fear if I tried to cram one more amusement park into our honeymoon while in Great Britain (already had BPB, Alton, and Thorpe on the schedule), my wife would've sought to annul our marriage the moment we landed on the tarmac at JFK. Mind you we also already did Efteling and Walibi Holland in the Netherlands during the trip, as well.

Looks like you had a great time!

[Garet]

It is sad to see all those thrill rides leave the park but Drayton Manor have handled the conversion to families while keeping the park interesting and themed much better than places like Lightwater Valley.

[Nrthwnd]

Drayton Manor was an interesting park. From the skyride, that took you "there and back", to the well hidden Haunted Swing attraction (UFO theming, back then). But there was that (then) stand up coaster. Ugh. Very hurtful to tender parts of the male body. Great TR of what you experienced there, Bert. Not bad for only five hours' visit. And ....

Yeah, I liked him. too! TPR 2006 UK Tour.

[bert425]

Day 7. . . checking into Alton Towers resort (for 3 night stay!) and ERT in the waterpark this evening.

apologies for the long delay (travels, illness, and injuries contributed), but trying to get back on track!   

upon leaving Drayton Manor, we drove the rest of the way to Alton Towers, and arrived in the evening for check in.    We had missed the park for the day, but that was no problem as we had gotten tons of riding in at Drayton earlier.    besides, Robb and Elissa had surprised us with an offer for after hours ERT / dinner at the indoor waterpark on site!

so here's images from the hotel, the room I had, and the ERT at the Waterpark:

 

after a drive, we pulled into the Alton Towers resort. .

a view of the other resort (themed to the kiddie properties) that was across the way from us, but still closeby to the monorail station to get to the park.

it's a large, and themed hotel. . tho the themes seemed to be a bit all over the place.

still. . they were all in tho.

 

lobby theming. .

the restaurant downstairs (and bar) were themed too

 

and the steampunk pirate ship that's in the center atrium also served as a stage for musical performers, and a magic show each night.

the rooms heavily leaned into the "steampunk" / "Pirate" theming. . .except when they didn't and parts of it were "steampunk" / "Outer-space"

still. . it was an incredibly lovely room.

with a big, separated bunk-bed area that could sleep even more

the bathroom is where it really went into outerspace

but at least you had a robot buddy on the back of the door so one never has to poop alone

 

changing into my swimwear, I headed back down to the lobby area, and snapped some pics as I made my way over to the other hotel - where the waterpark was located

a giant chair?  sure, I'll attempt a pic

the fountain outside the main entrance to the hotel

and a look at said main entrance

I suppose the British folks knew who these carvings were of. . I had no idea, but thought they were rather cool.

most of the walkway between the hotels was covered. . . tho as seen above, we did have to go outside to go to the connecting hotel.

lots of oversized props. . . but I guess since this hotel is geared towards the kiddie stuff, it makes sense that things would be giant to the patrons.

a peek down at the waterpark from the walk way.

the waterpark is in the center of the hotel, and tho it was open for us, it had closed already to the public.   so we were surrounded by folks looking out windows and wondering why there were people in the closed waterpark.     it felt very "zoo-y". . .LOL

the layout of the waterpark (and even tho it was pretty chilly outside, the outdoor stuff was open for us.  I felt bad for the lifeguards that had to stand out in the cold, but they were pretty talkative, and fun and seemed to be enjoying our fun)

Stacy and I are ready to have a splashing good time!

it's not a large waterpark, but as noted, there are some outdoor things too.   and what they have offers quite the fun variety.

the food was delicious too. . . took way too much (as hadn't eaten much today). . but everything was great.

heya Adam & Nick.

Group photo, courtesy of Robb, before we got in the water!

and this seems to be the aftermath of the giant dunk tank tipping on us. . somewhere I have that pic, but not finding it at the moment.

I believe this hot tub was off the lazy river, and was called "Bubbly Wubbly". . so of course, had to soak in it.

thanks Elissa for this pic.

to be continued. . .

[bert425]

and two random pics that found their way in (out of order)

 

this one is sad to share, as Oakwood just announced it's shutting down. . but here's on the bobsled slide at Oakwood

 

and I THINK this might be the Wave at Drayton Manor?  anyone know for sure?

[bert425]

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. . .

 

[bert425]

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.

 

[Nrthwnd]

Awesome TRs of Alton Towers, Bert! And I love that perfectly placed DONUT SHOP in front of Oblivion's drop, heh. And I would love getting one of those models of the Wicker Man coaster cars. Very kewl looking.

[Garet]

13 hours ago, bert425 said:

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.

I think this is why so many people are disappointed in it. It is a perfect 'first big' roller-coaster for younger kids wanting to try a bigger ride and should have been marketed as such.

 

Instead for whatever reason the marketing went with 'World's scariest roller-coaster' and their viral stunts included a more adult trailer advertising it after 9 P.M. on TV, and news reports released by the park claiming it was so scary that only riders 16+ could ride and you'd have to sign a waiver before riding.

So instead of getting excited families and their kids for what I agree is a great family ride, you got teenagers and thrill-seekers lining up for hours for something that wasn't what they expected.

[michaellynn4]

The Smiler theme in the queue music is still an earworm in my and my wife's ears 7 years later. 

[bert425]

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. .. .

[bert425]

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.

[teacherkim]

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.

[bert425]

10 minutes ago, teacherkim said:

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.

Oblivion was really good too (tho very short).

honestly, there wasn't really a bad coaster in the park, tho a couple of them were way too intense for me (Smiler and Galactica)