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Old 23 Sep 22, 09:27 AM  
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#1
grant_w
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Alton Towers (first visit in over 20 years)

I had my first visit to Alton Towers for over 20 years this week. We chose a quiet day, can't be dealing with crowds and queues. We were there about 30 minutes before rides opened, and walked straight to Nemesis, joined the 4-5 people already queueing and got on the first train of the day. as good as I remembered from all those years ago, wouldn't say it was the "most intense ride in the world" as they claim though.
From there we walked straight on Galactica, completely different experience to Manta at Sea World. We then went back to Wickerman, and got the front row. Thought it was 'OK', not as good as I had hoped as I love woodies. Later in the day we re-rode and asked for the back row, and oh my goodness, what a totally different experience. The combination of sitting at the back and it warming up during the day made it so much better.
Th13teen and Rita were decent too, not been on them before, and Oblivion was superb.
We had a go on the mine train, Congo River and even Gansta Granny
We enjoyed a couple of the Oktoberfest shows, a decent band, some oompah music, a dance show and a sing-along show on the main stage.

My only 2 complaints about the park - the rides are all short in comparison with Florida, and the operations could be a lot better on a lot of the rides. It seems to be mainly due to people going 'through' the ride vehicles to put their bags in the racks, getting in the way of the exiting riders collecting their bags from the same racks, then all coming back to sit in the seats. Seems to take ages every time.

Overall we loved it, will definitely be back, just need to find another quiet week-day off-season to go next year.
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Old 29 Sep 22, 06:10 AM  
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themeparksandy
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Glad u had a good day. Alton Towers have 3 big differences to American parks space, height and noise issues but they had the world 1st with most of there SW9 coaster and to this day holds the record for the amount of times you go upside down with the Smiler.
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Old 29 Sep 22, 07:41 AM  
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Ivegottadream
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I love Alton Towers. You didn't fancy the Smiler?
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Old 29 Sep 22, 07:49 AM  
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cartoonp
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Last time I was there around 30 years ago food terrible staff rude rides not working so never again
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Old 29 Sep 22, 08:01 AM  
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ScoopsAhoy
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We really enjoy AT, they have some fantastic rides.
When Nemesis first opened in the early 90’s it actually was one of the most intense hence the sign but obviously it’s been overlapped since then!
I still really love the ride but can’t wait for a new track and hopefully the water will be red again 🤞🏼
The food has always been a bit ropey but woodcutters is ok and so are the kebabs.
Will just be waiting for Duel to reopen into whatever it will be now, hope it stays a haunted house atleast!
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Old 29 Sep 22, 03:45 PM  
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grant_w
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Originally Posted by Ivegottadream View Post
I love Alton Towers. You didn't fancy the Smiler?
As I've got older, my tolerance of loops/corkscrews seems to have diminished. I much prefer the newer coasters that concentrate on airtime etc rather than spinning everyone over and over. I can cope with a Montu/Kumba/Kraken with 6-7 inversions, but they are huge long coasters. Smiler has 14, and most of those are relentlessly one straight after the other. I didn't want to ruin the rest of the day really for the sake of one coaster. Also, when we were near it, the queue was 40-50 minutes, compared to 10-20 for everything else.
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Old 29 Sep 22, 08:57 PM  
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themeparksandy
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Originally Posted by ScoopsAhoy View Post
We really enjoy AT, they have some fantastic rides.
When Nemesis first opened in the early 90’s it actually was one of the most intense hence the sign but obviously it’s been overlapped since then!
I still really love the ride but can’t wait for a new track and hopefully the water will be red again 🤞🏼
The food has always been a bit ropey but woodcutters is ok and so are the kebabs.
Will just be waiting for Duel to reopen into whatever it will be now, hope it stays a haunted house atleast!
The Haunted house 2.0 is opening in March 2023. The trains have been sent to be retrofitted and to remove the guns and hardware. They currently ripping scenes but they keeping the same layout.
There’s rumours that Sub terra could be reopening next year with the retro squad expected to stay for another season.
Then 2024 Nemesis return with a new dark ride for 2025
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Old 30 Sep 22, 06:36 AM  
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ScoopsAhoy
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Originally Posted by themeparksandy View Post
The Haunted house 2.0 is opening in March 2023. The trains have been sent to be retrofitted and to remove the guns and hardware. They currently ripping scenes but they keeping the same layout.
There’s rumours that Sub terra could be reopening next year with the retro squad expected to stay for another season.
Then 2024 Nemesis return with a new dark ride for 2025
I’m glad they’re keeping it as a haunted house as there were a lot of rumours circulating and the guns definitely won’t be missed by us.
Sub terra is interesting, I know the floor was rotting so a major refurb and reopening would be welcome and another dark ride definitely is!
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Old 1 Oct 22, 03:23 PM  
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tiggertastic
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Sub terrible. That was the worst thing I ever queued for. Only ever went on once 😴😴

Love smiler, but single rider is the only way to get on that without a queue.
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Old 1 Oct 22, 11:26 PM  
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Beth_Disney
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I’m at the Alton Towers hotel as I type. We’ve been in the park today and it’s the best it’s been in my opinion. Rides felt well staffed, they’d made a real effort for Oktoberfest, there were several new retro rides which we enjoyed, everything was in a good state of repair and the atmosphere was great. I did buy fast passes but we didn’t really need them. Considering it’s a Saturday, ride queues were very short at the start and end of the day. There were some breakdowns but we went on another ride whilst we waited and they were quickly sorted.

The hotels are busy and expensive, the price is for the convenient location and it’s a Saturday. I’ve been to some lovely hotels this year and this one is the most expensive per night and this doesn’t even compare. They’re obviously doing something right as it’s absolutely packed! That’s not a moan, just an observation based on room rates and value for money. We have breakfast, golf and a few hours at the spa tomorrow.

Edited at 07:48 AM.
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