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Liam_82

TS Member
Hi all

New to forum so hope you don't mind me asking questions as my first post...

Visiting Towers next week with my little girl, she is finally old enough, first visit for me in nearly 20 years but was a regular during my college and uni years....I'm getting old. Obviously well out of the loop in terms of towers so hope you don't mind me asking a few questions to hopefully get the best from our day

1. We have got the half price tickets from Carex, there are download to phone, on the bottle it says need to present the voucher at the gate? Is this enforced? Fine if so but if not would rather not cart 2 bottles of shower gel just to bin them as soon as we are in!

2. She's ready to give big rides a go but doesn't want anything too intense, will rule out smiler which is a shame as I have never been on it but my plan was to try her on oblivion, wicker Man, Rita, thirteen then maybe drag her on nemesis right at the end for me :) - is there any fast track available for these rides and any view on the value of getting it, it's our big day out in the Easter hols so could stomach some additional cost if its value

3. Any views on the order of play to get the best out of the day, where to head to first, where to save to the end of the day for queue times?

Anyway thanks for reading, and stay well

Liam
 
How tall is your daughter, is she over 1.4m yet? That’s the height she’ll need to be to ride Nemesis. Wicker Man might well be worth leaving until the very end of the day, get yourself in the queue right at the end just before the park closes and you may be able to ride it as it’s getting dark, it’s incredibly atmospheric getting a ride on it in the evening or night.
 
Usually the best route to reduce queue times is to start at the back of the park and work forwards. You can get Rita, Th13teen, Galactica and Nemesis done before the crowds get there. It is also a good idea to join the queue for either Wicker Man or The Smiler just before ride close as you will still get a ride without the longer queues eating into your day (the queue will also be shorter because you won't be competing with fasttrack and RAP).
Edit: I am going to disagree with @Shaggy_Dog_ on the subject of sunset rides, the park shuts at 6pm next week and sunset is about 8pm so it will probably still be light when the last trains go.
 
1. In regards to the 2 for 1 vouchers I have never used them but here’s a link for you to help. It says on this page that you need to bring the bottle with you with your pre-booked tickets.

Merlin Claim - Carex

carex.co.uk carex.co.uk

2. In regards to the Smiler, it does have a Single rider queue. So if you wanted to ride it and she didn’t you could use that. I obviously don’t know how busy it will be but using single rider, u r usually on in 15-20 mins unless its a really busy day.
Fast track wise, the single shot for wickerman would be worth getting. It’s £10 each tho. The other rides aren’t worth getting fast track for because of point 3.

3. If you start the day in Dark Forest you can get 13 and Rita done within the first 30 mins. No one goes there first but the queue’s for these rides from midday onwards will be painful. Only problem with this strategy is that 13 is so unreliable and can’t operate if it’s too cold (5 degree’s or below) So sometimes it doesn’t open first thing.
After Dark Forest get the skyride to Forbidden valley and do Nemesis and Galactica.
That’ll just leave a ride you have fast track for, a single rider coaster and Oblivion which is a throughput beast so the queue is never that long.

Hope that helps.

PS: Try and do spinall too if you have time. It’s really good fun.
 
Trying to think what order I would do the rides with Annabelle for the first time. In my head, I have always had Blue Fire as the first inverting coaster, and Nemesis as the first 1.4m coaster, so I would probably head over to Forbidden Valley. Then do Air and then see how the day goes.

She loves Wickerman and Thirteen already, so I dont feel the need to ease her in to the bigger rides, but maybe Wickerman to get her ready would be the first ride of the day. She loves Thirteen as well, so maybe could do that, before getting cable cars to Forbidden Valley. I would try and let Annabelle lead, and see what she wanted to do I think.

Its hard to think about the best approach, going for shortest queue times might mean less time for her to worry about it in the queue, but not worrying about queues, and just building up the intensey of each ride might help give her the confidence to go for the bigger ones at the end of the day. Maybe a walk through the shop, and show her the medals you can buy would give her the extra motivation to do the big ones. I find ice creams after a big ride works well.

The only rides I would worry about taking Annabelle is Rita and Smiler, as the restraints can be a little uncomfortable for those just over 1.4ms. Head can bounce around a lot, and make it not enjoyable, so I would probably avoid those initially.
 
IanB said:
The only rides I would worry about taking Annabelle is Rita and Smiler, as the restraints can be a little uncomfortable for those just over 1.4ms. Head can bounce around a lot, and make it not enjoyable, so I would probably avoid those initially.
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That's a very good point, I'm only a 1.5m and Rita can be really unpleasant! It is less uncomfortable towards the front of the train. Also make sure she puts her head fully back against the seat and looks directly forward for the launch.

Smiler isn't a starter coaster but if she enjoys all the others and wants to try it she should be fine, there's only one part (about halfway through the second section) that shakes my head about too much, but it doesn't put me off riding it as the rest of it is just really fun.

In reality though if it's a busy day you'll probably have to decide between Wicker Man and Smiler at ride close and she should definitely not miss out on Wicker Man!
 
For me, I'm at about 5,6 or 5,7 rita is really uncomfortable, I always bang my head of the restraint on that first corner no matter how I brace for it or sit.
 
Thanks to all who have taken the time to reply, some really useful info and we are both looking forward to it now.

One last one if I may, was planning on traveling light, just car key and bank card but weather is looking a bit iffy for Tuesday, if k pack the waterproof in a bag is there somewhere to stick them when on the ride?

Cheers
 
Liam_82 said:
One last one if I may, was planning on traveling light, just car key and bank card but weather is looking a bit iffy for Tuesday, if k pack the waterproof in a bag is there somewhere to stick them when on the ride?
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Yes you can usually put it in the bins on the other side of the platform or in the bag hold on the smiler and thirteen (sometimes when they are open). There are also lockers around the park but they do cost, no idea how much though.
 
Liam_82 said:
Thanks to all who have taken the time to reply, some really useful info and we are both looking forward to it now.

One last one if I may, was planning on traveling light, just car key and bank card but weather is looking a bit iffy for Tuesday, if k pack the waterproof in a bag is there somewhere to stick them when on the ride?

Cheers
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Or if you don't want to bother with a bag, one suggestion would be to just pop the waterproof on when on a ride, then carry it on its own the rest of the time. Unless you have a packable one.
 
Wet weather planning...
If showers are forecast, I tend to hide a brolly in a bush somewhere central.
Easy to nip back for when it clouds over, and always exciting to see if it is still there!
Always forget to collect 'em at the end of the day, must have left half a dozen behind.
The only day I ever felt popular in the Nemesis queue...big golf brolly in the rain.
 
NuttySquirrel said:
Glad you had a great day - what did you tick off in the end?

And what did you think of the park after a 20 year hiatus?
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Sorry for the late reply.... haven't been back on the forum due to sulking about visit being over!!

Started with Rita and Thirteen then did David Walliams....took eleanor on Oblivion which didn't go down well (bad dad) so I promised I wouldn't make her do Nemesis. Got wicker Man in, ride on the mine train, back for a repeat of Rita, Thirteen and Flavios before finishing off with a few repeat trips on mine train Choo Choo. Was in park for quater to 10 and got off our last mine train at 5:57 so can't grumble at that for £30 each

As for the park, I loved it, there was a really good atmosphere and it was reasonably busy but the longest we had to queue was 50 mins for wicker man, which is such a good ride btw and that was with a breakdown (not sure if that's the correct terminology!) The festival of thrills stuff added a nice bit of atmosphere I thought.

The only bad bit was wondering where all the time went between my regular uni visits and me coming back with a nearly 10 year old daughter
 
Liam_82 said:
Sorry for the late reply.... haven't been back on the forum due to sulking about visit being over!!

Started with Rita and Thirteen then did David Walliams....took eleanor on Oblivion which didn't go down well (bad dad) so I promised I wouldn't make her do Nemesis. Got wicker Man in, ride on the mine train, back for a repeat of Rita, Thirteen and Flavios before finishing off with a few repeat trips on mine train Choo Choo. Was in park for quater to 10 and got off our last mine train at 5:57 so can't grumble at that for £30 each

As for the park, I loved it, there was a really good atmosphere and it was reasonably busy but the longest we had to queue was 50 mins for wicker man, which is such a good ride btw and that was with a breakdown (not sure if that's the correct terminology!) The festival of thrills stuff added a nice bit of atmosphere I thought.

The only bad bit was wondering where all the time went between my regular uni visits and me coming back with a nearly 10 year old daughter
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Oh no, poor Eleanor! Probably a good to call to skip Nemesis and Smiler then! Anyway you've a reason to go back now when she's a bit older and ready to brave the big rides. Galactica might be a good one to ease her in, although being tipped up so that you're facing the ground is a strange feeling!

Have to be honest and admit I didn't go on either Oblivion or Nemesis until I was around 20, so she is far braver than me!

Glad you enjoyed the park in its current form, it's changed a lot in 20 years but there's a lot going for it these days with all the new events etc.
 
NuttySquirrel said:
Oh no, poor Eleanor! Probably a good to call to skip Nemesis and Smiler then! Anyway you've a reason to go back now when she's a bit older and ready to brave the big rides. Galactica might be a good one to ease her in, although being tipped up so that you're facing the ground is a strange feeling!

Have to be honest and admit I didn't go on either Oblivion or Nemesis until I was around 20, so she is far braver than me!

Glad you enjoyed the park in its current form, it's changed a lot in 20 years but there's a lot going for it these days with all the new events etc.
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You did better than me though, I was 22 when I first rode Oblivion and 23 when I first rode Nemesis and Galactica.
 
Cheers all for the tips and comments, interesting saying so much has changed, in someway it has and in someway it's exactly the same...the walk to the monorail frost thing, the view and excitement as you come down towers st and see the lawns and the towers in front.

I suppose you guys and girls are much closer to the detail than me and probably feel little frustration with the park more but for me it's still a belting day out and that's without me getting on nemesis. Hopefully will be back later in the year
 
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