Alton Towers Trip Report 2nd-4th April

[Zeock]

For this trip, I went with my parents and my 5 year old brother.
We arrived at Alton Towers at just before midday and entered via the Galactica entrance (the monorail station is definitely purple in person).

I then took a look through the gates that bar you from the Nemesis site out of curiosity:


We then walked to The Curse At Alton Manor. I rode it twice on my own and once with my parents and brother. We all loved it! My review is in the Alton Manor thread.

We all went on Congo River Rapids. Despite the lack of the waterfalls, it was really fun for all, especially as none of us had been on it since 2018!

My mum and I then went to Chav-I mean X Sector to go on Oblivion. I hate X Sector but Oblivion was fun as always, despite being in the back, not the front.
I was then left to my own devices, and first went on Spinjam. It was a walk-on, and was surprisingly intense!
After that, it was Twistatron. I wasted about 45 minutes of my life in the queue as it was extremely slow-moving. It was a boring ride anyway.

Then, I went back to Gloomy Wood to ride Alton Manor 3 more times. It was fun every time, and some of the actors were quite fun(ny)!

I saw that Rita was on 20 minutes, so I went on that. Unfortunately, that queue was a low point of the day. Some people (around 9 or 10) were doing graffiti on the wood. Their mother didn't seem to care, despite the fact that multiple people were complaining to her about said graffiti. They ended up being too small for the ride anyway, as their mum thought that it was a 1.2! The queue was also 50 minutes-not 20, which isn't that bad, but Rita's queue is pretty terrible so there isn't much to do in the queue except stare at your phone. It was a fun ride though, and definitely not rough. There were pockets of airtime to be found also.

I then went back to X-Sector to meet my dad. We then went on Oblivion again, as it was a walk-on, and enjoyed it a lot, although it was the back again. The floater airtime down the drop was sustained, however at the end of the ride it was stacking pretty badly.

My dad and I walked back to Dark Forest after that at about 17:30. TH13TEEN was only 15 minutes, and I don't usually pass up TH13TEEN as it has sentimental value to me. We were in the back, which meant that the drop actually provided a lot of floater airtime. The rest of the outdoor section provided weak floater. The vertical free fall drop was good as always. As a side note, the Tesla coil was working. We went round TH13TEEN again for the last ride of the day. This time, it was row 7, which meant that the outdoor layout was a little weaker.
To exit the park, we walked through the Haunted Hollow, where I spotted that the demons seemed to have some colour, although I can't remember what they looked like last year:

That's the end of this instalment! Hopefully, the next one will be tomorrow after park close!

 

[NuttySquirrel]

We arrived at Alton Towers at just before midday and entered via the Galactica entrance (the monorail station is definitely purple in person).

Nah it's definitely blue

 

[Zeock]

Today, I started my day at 10:00 am and went on Galactica with my mum first. It was a very relaxing ride, and was a good warm-up to the day! However, the throughput wasn't great, which was measured at 648 pph over an average of 3 measurements.


Then, we went to The Curse At Alton Manor. I have to admit, for the first time ever in a UK theme park, I was fully immersed at one point of the ride! However, the ride system seemed to make a horrible squeaking noise in the finale that sounded a little concerning.
After that, we both went on Wicker Man. It was a fun ride as always, with some good pops of airtime!

We both went on The Smiler next, which was managing a very good throughput (averaged at 923 pph over three measurements). We were allocated the front row, and it was an intense ride, as it should be, and it also wasn't too rough! The highlight, as always, was the second airtime hill.

We met up with my dad and brother to go on Gangsta Granny. The queue was long as usual (50 minutes), and the sets were rather minimal. I remember it being far better last year, although I have been to DLP since then. The cardboard cutouts of the Beefeaters were laughable.
It was then time to go on Wicker Man with my dad. The first ride, I went in row 10. It was incredible, with bucket loads of sustained floater airtime! As a side-note, the pre-show still delivered as usual. I love the rumbling noise the speakers make! We went round again, and this time, we were in row 8. It was less exciting, but still fun! My dad had had enough of Wicker Man so I went on it once on my own. Luckily, I was put in the back row, and WOW! Ride of the season! It was, to put it bluntly, barmy! So much ejector airtime (I would estimate that there was just over 10 seconds of the stuff), and it was incredibly fun, and smooth! If I manage to ride Wicker Man tomorrow, and it is delivering rides as good as that one, I might have a new no. 1 coaster!

Finally, on my own, I went back to The Smiler, which had a 40 minute wait. I was placed in row 2, however it wasn't nearly as good as my earlier ride. Less airtime, and less intensity. After that, I met up with my mum and we went on The Smiler together. This time, we were placed in row 3. It honestly wasn't great, and didn't provide the intensity that The Smiler is famous for. As there was only a couple of minutes left before close, I left my mum behind (she allowed me to beforehand) and went round for a final time. I was once again placed in row 3, but this ride was slightly better, and both barrel roll down drops delivered, and were quite intense. The airtime was solid as well, although the first hill, as always, was weak.


Thanks for reading this trip report! The next one will be tomorrow, after I have left the park!

 

[Zeock]

Firstly, my mum and I went to The Curse at Alton Manor. It was great as always, and I finally experienced the mirror effect! When I experienced it, I let out quite a loud 'YES!', which seemed to startle the people riding in front of us in the same car. As I was buzzing from the mirror effect working, I went round again on my own. It was once again a very good ride, with everything working, and I also noticed an extra non-screaming head!

Then, my mum and I went on Runaway Mine Train as it had a 10 minute queue. It was my first ride on it since 2017, and it was very fun, with the tunnel being a highlight! It also seemed to pull some decent forces as well.

We then went to Wicker Man, which was displayed as 70 minutes. As an additional note, the fastrack queue was outside the entrance! I overheard one staff member talking about Galactica's closure because the queue was at capacity, saying that 'I have never seen anything like it before'. Once again, Wicker Man was incredible. I am not sure why it has been so great this season. The airtime was again amazing, with the airtime hill after the drop being by far the best part, with around 3 seconds of sustained (floater) airtime on that element alone!
Then, I went on my own to The Smiler. I was placed in the front, and it was a very good ride, as it was suitably intense and not too rough. I went round again and was placed in row 3 this time. It was still a great ride, with the second airtime hill being the stand-out. One element I like on The Smiler which isn't mentioned much is the first inversion, which delivers a lot of hangtime. I was also impressed with The Smiler's operations.

Then, my mum and I met up with my dad and my brother to go on Runaway Mine Train, which was once again very fun!
After that, I went on The Curse at Alton Manor own my own. There was an extra doll in the finale, however one of the doll jumpscares in the attic were static, and would not move again that day.
After that, I went on Wicker Man with my mum. We were in row 9, and again,it was amazing! Then, it was Wicker Man on my own. I was put in row 5, yet it was just so good still, with lots of airtime!
I met up with my mum and did Oblivion. It was fun as usual, however the B&M rattle was very apparent, and I have to be honest when I say that I had a minor headache at the end of the ride.

I went, this time with my dad, on Wicker Man. We were placed on the back row, and once again it was absolutely incredible! So much airtime, both floater and ejector!

It was then time to go on Alton Manor again. The first time was on my own, and was good as always, with the mirror effect still working. In the pre-show, they seem to have reduced the amount of the 'Musty' aroma oil, and seem to just be using the scent you smell at the start of the house. After that, all of us went on it, and it was great! I pointed out the mirror effect to my dad and brother, as they had not seen it before, and they both said that it was the best part of the ride. My mum's favourite part is now the girl on a swing in the garden, and mine is still the trommel. I thought that this would be a good time to applaud the actor in Gloomy Wood who is carrying a spade, as he really interacted with everyone, and made some unsuspecting people jump! I then quickly went round on my own again, as it was almost 18:00. It was a great way to round off the day! I was a little sad after that ride, as it meant that our trip to Alton Towers was over.

Thanks for reading! The next trip report will actually be in under a week, when I go to BPB, which I have not been to before!