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Alton Towers Opening Weekend Meet: 20-22 March 2015
- Thread starter AstroDan
- Start date
delta79
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Nemesis, Air
Photos from saturdays meet
http://s1077.photobucket.com/user/Delta79/library/TST meet 21mar15
http://s1077.photobucket.com/user/Delta79/library/TST meet 21mar15
WillG
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Katun
Yesterday somehow ended up being a good day, but it felt weird for reasons I couldn't quite put my finger on.
Firstly - the obvious complaint points, and the entirely uneccessary soft openings which left large areas of the park inaccessible until 11 or even 12. This is simply unacceptable in a season where gate prices have broken the £50 barrier for the first time, especially with the opening hours already curtailed to a meagre seven hours. I hear they're looking to review the changes based on 'guest feedback' and it's to be seriously hoped they get plenty of it. Not only did this derail our plans to hit Dark Forest while it was still relatively quiet (and I'm not sure if Thirteen ever DID open...), but instead, like the apparent majority of the guests, we were shoe-horned into X-Sector where Smiler's operation was intermittent at best, and where both the main queue and the single rider queue were somewhere between 45 - 60 mins, due to someone's bright idea to run it on half capacity. 'Shambolic', 'rack and ruin' and 'budget CUTS!' were among the most frequently heard phrases of the day. Operations wise, this was not a promising start to the season, leaving many wondering if dark times once again lay ahead of the park. As such, and partly because I was tired, I didn't fancy it today - and, aside from Thursday, I may not return until the next scheduled meet...
And it wasn't just rides that suffered - food service was possibly of an even lower standard than this time last year (and the lack of card machine in Corner Coffee raised many an eyebrow)... and out of sheer impatience, I ended up having a Corner Coffee picnic lunch, rather than facing the interminable wait for service elsewhere.
Happily, that, coupled with the Skyride downtime and an encounter outside CBeebiesland akin to something out of a Gotye song, which killed my mood for a minute or two... concludes my rant.
SO - onto the positives, the most obvious being the new coaster. Aside from fears regarding throughput (which at <300pph were not unfounded), and of course, the fact that it wasn't built by Mack, the coaster was moreorless everything we'd hoped for - it looks great, it hits its target audience smack on, it's actually a surprisingly enjoyable and smooth ride (particularly when compared to the old Beastie). After the ride, I announced 'I've actually got a lot of love for that, for some reason', much to the amusement of the ride staff, and whilst it may market itself as 'my first rollercoaster', it's wound up being my 366th. In celebration of the occasion, I even bought my own overpriced Octopilots license afterwards
And not all of the off-season changes have been bad - whilst they've met with mixed reviews, I quite liked the fact that they'd decided to move a few things around inside Duel, the lighting obviously needs tweaking, some of the earlier effects need further repairs and the pacing was at times haphazard, but otherwise. Similarly, I'm not sure why some of the theming has been removed from the Mine Train, but this didn't upset me all that much - especially as I was distracted by the Duss' Drama immediately after the ride
It scarcely needs to be said, but Nemesis was running brilliantly, particularly later in the day when I broke off from the group to make sure I was in the Valley for 4:45ish. There's been little bits of decoration here and there in honour of its anniversary, and whilst, to my horror, I realised it'll be 15 years in July since my first ride, unlike me, I don't think it will ever get old - the traditional walk around beneath the track going 'WHY DON'T THEY DO THEMING LIKE THIS IN ENGLAND ANYMORE?!' was tinged with sentiment. As an aside, I notice that the ride host I have a bit of a crush on has returned this season
Other highlights included: actually being on time for a meet for once, pratting about with TomB's cameraonastick in the Rapids queue (though I hate to think how the video turned out!), meeting a few new faces, making LOTSOFNOISE on what may or may not have been our last ride on Blade, seeing lots of lovely people again to bring in the 2015 season proper etc. etc. A slightly silly night in Rugeley Wetherspoons ending in the kind of deep and meaningless late night chat that I haven't had in entirely too long, and finally finding out that Rugeley - Nantwich makes an ideal for a Sunday drive.
Firstly - the obvious complaint points, and the entirely uneccessary soft openings which left large areas of the park inaccessible until 11 or even 12. This is simply unacceptable in a season where gate prices have broken the £50 barrier for the first time, especially with the opening hours already curtailed to a meagre seven hours. I hear they're looking to review the changes based on 'guest feedback' and it's to be seriously hoped they get plenty of it. Not only did this derail our plans to hit Dark Forest while it was still relatively quiet (and I'm not sure if Thirteen ever DID open...), but instead, like the apparent majority of the guests, we were shoe-horned into X-Sector where Smiler's operation was intermittent at best, and where both the main queue and the single rider queue were somewhere between 45 - 60 mins, due to someone's bright idea to run it on half capacity. 'Shambolic', 'rack and ruin' and 'budget CUTS!' were among the most frequently heard phrases of the day. Operations wise, this was not a promising start to the season, leaving many wondering if dark times once again lay ahead of the park. As such, and partly because I was tired, I didn't fancy it today - and, aside from Thursday, I may not return until the next scheduled meet...
And it wasn't just rides that suffered - food service was possibly of an even lower standard than this time last year (and the lack of card machine in Corner Coffee raised many an eyebrow)... and out of sheer impatience, I ended up having a Corner Coffee picnic lunch, rather than facing the interminable wait for service elsewhere.
Happily, that, coupled with the Skyride downtime and an encounter outside CBeebiesland akin to something out of a Gotye song, which killed my mood for a minute or two... concludes my rant.
SO - onto the positives, the most obvious being the new coaster. Aside from fears regarding throughput (which at <300pph were not unfounded), and of course, the fact that it wasn't built by Mack, the coaster was moreorless everything we'd hoped for - it looks great, it hits its target audience smack on, it's actually a surprisingly enjoyable and smooth ride (particularly when compared to the old Beastie). After the ride, I announced 'I've actually got a lot of love for that, for some reason', much to the amusement of the ride staff, and whilst it may market itself as 'my first rollercoaster', it's wound up being my 366th. In celebration of the occasion, I even bought my own overpriced Octopilots license afterwards
And not all of the off-season changes have been bad - whilst they've met with mixed reviews, I quite liked the fact that they'd decided to move a few things around inside Duel, the lighting obviously needs tweaking, some of the earlier effects need further repairs and the pacing was at times haphazard, but otherwise. Similarly, I'm not sure why some of the theming has been removed from the Mine Train, but this didn't upset me all that much - especially as I was distracted by the Duss' Drama immediately after the ride
It scarcely needs to be said, but Nemesis was running brilliantly, particularly later in the day when I broke off from the group to make sure I was in the Valley for 4:45ish. There's been little bits of decoration here and there in honour of its anniversary, and whilst, to my horror, I realised it'll be 15 years in July since my first ride, unlike me, I don't think it will ever get old - the traditional walk around beneath the track going 'WHY DON'T THEY DO THEMING LIKE THIS IN ENGLAND ANYMORE?!' was tinged with sentiment. As an aside, I notice that the ride host I have a bit of a crush on has returned this season
Other highlights included: actually being on time for a meet for once, pratting about with TomB's cameraonastick in the Rapids queue (though I hate to think how the video turned out!), meeting a few new faces, making LOTSOFNOISE on what may or may not have been our last ride on Blade, seeing lots of lovely people again to bring in the 2015 season proper etc. etc. A slightly silly night in Rugeley Wetherspoons ending in the kind of deep and meaningless late night chat that I haven't had in entirely too long, and finally finding out that Rugeley - Nantwich makes an ideal for a Sunday drive.
Burbs
TS Team
- Favourite Ride
- Iron Gwazi
Really can't be bothered to write a trip report. Moaned enough already on social media.
Anyway, was lovely to see everyone again, and having good conversations with people I have never spoken to much before. Special shoutouts go to Saz, Russell, Rob, Will, Cheese, Rowe, Jonathan and Stu to name but a few.
Meet video to follow in the next few days.
Anyway, was lovely to see everyone again, and having good conversations with people I have never spoken to much before. Special shoutouts go to Saz, Russell, Rob, Will, Cheese, Rowe, Jonathan and Stu to name but a few.
Meet video to follow in the next few days.
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delta79
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Nemesis, Air
my trip report is here http://www.towersstreet.com/talk/threads/21-march-2015-meet-report.3493/
LewisNavex
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- EuroSat
Splendid trip chaps! See you all soon.
Danny
TS Contributor
- Favourite Ride
- Steel Vengeance
Had a lovely full weekend surprisingly rather than just the one day I originally anticipated. The weather certainly helped as well, I never thought I'd see the day we tackled The Flume as a group (that's the last time I ever share a bath with Russ ever again). My first ever ride on The Blade was certainly a plus too (apart from being bundled right into the forceless middle rows).
Thanks everyone for making it fab as per. Other than the shambolic park operations.... and the overwhelming amount of fobbing off inGuest Services Box Office... and the complete farce of food delivery in Towers St Bar & Grill (which despite the tardiness, we all seemed to enjoy).
And if you're a member of the general public reading this who happened to pass through Katanga Canyon on the Saturday and decided to come to a halt to observe the ongoing domestic between myself and he who shall not be named, I do apologise. We're done.
See y'all soon.
Thanks everyone for making it fab as per. Other than the shambolic park operations.... and the overwhelming amount of fobbing off in
And if you're a member of the general public reading this who happened to pass through Katanga Canyon on the Saturday and decided to come to a halt to observe the ongoing domestic between myself and he who shall not be named, I do apologise. We're done.
See y'all soon.
LewisNavex
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- EuroSat
I hope for your sake this is true, or you're sleeping on the couch tonight.
Craig
TS Administrator
Since I'm now over the nastiest case of post meet illness I've had, I'll be updating the meet pages in the next few days with a bit of a rundown of the weekend. So if anyone has any images you'd like to donate for use on the page, please drop me a message or e-mail them over to
.
Burbs
TS Team
- Favourite Ride
- Iron Gwazi
Well, here we go! Sorry about the wait guys.
Full Weekend Compilation (4:09)
Day 1 (10:05)
Day 2 (6:17)
Rapids with @WillG and @Towers freak (4:09)
Thanks again for another wonderful meet-up, and no doubt I'll be seeing you all again very soon!
Full Weekend Compilation (4:09)
Day 1 (10:05)
Day 2 (6:17)
Rapids with @WillG and @Towers freak (4:09)
Thanks again for another wonderful meet-up, and no doubt I'll be seeing you all again very soon!
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Towers freak
TS Member
Having not been on a Meet since Scarefest last year and not being able to see anyone since then, I forgot how much I enjoyed meets and although I was properly disappointed with the park for the first time since I started visiting in 2007 the company of you guys made it a fantastic weekend.
Highlights
Seeing people again
Talking with members old and new
Octonaughts credit
Having fun with @Tom.B camcorder
Deep but rather pointless drunk/tired conversation with @WillG at TL
Getting back on Nemesis after the long closed season
Chav's completely failing at insulting us at Rugely spoons by calling us geeks
Exploring the perimeter of the enchanted village with @Jonathan and @Tom.B
Lowlights
Budget cut's throughout the park
Destruction of headchoppers on RMT
Mass tree destruction
Chav's at Rugely spoons
Falling asleep on @WillG during afore mentioned conversation
Bad service in Towers Street Bar & Grill for @Rowe 's meal that should have taken 10 mins to cook
Having to say good bye
Walking the 20 mins from stoke station to Hanley to find KFC shut
Special Thanks
@WillG and @Jonathan for lifts
To you all for such a fantastic weekend
Really hope to be able to attend future meets and seeing you guys a lot more, now I actually have a job and can afford to.
Till the next one
Stu
Highlights
Seeing people again
Talking with members old and new
Octonaughts credit
Having fun with @Tom.B camcorder
Deep but rather pointless drunk/tired conversation with @WillG at TL
Getting back on Nemesis after the long closed season
Chav's completely failing at insulting us at Rugely spoons by calling us geeks
Exploring the perimeter of the enchanted village with @Jonathan and @Tom.B
Lowlights
Budget cut's throughout the park
Destruction of headchoppers on RMT
Mass tree destruction
Chav's at Rugely spoons
Falling asleep on @WillG during afore mentioned conversation
Bad service in Towers Street Bar & Grill for @Rowe 's meal that should have taken 10 mins to cook
Having to say good bye
Walking the 20 mins from stoke station to Hanley to find KFC shut
Special Thanks
@WillG and @Jonathan for lifts
To you all for such a fantastic weekend
Really hope to be able to attend future meets and seeing you guys a lot more, now I actually have a job and can afford to.
Till the next one
Stu
Sazzle
TS Administrator
- Favourite Ride
- Steel Vengeance