I’m doing absolutely everything I can to avoid the World Cup football. In doing so we ended up at Alton Towers (handily a 30 minute drive from Hannah’s mum’s) on Monday. We had a BOGOF voucher to get us in too which made getting the Fast Track tickets (which I think are totally necessary) a little more affordable. Turns out we were hoping it would be dead quiet, but it was packed, and I figured it’s because many students have finished uni now. Last year we went and the then-unnamed ride Thirteen was still under construction so I was looking forward to checking it out this time. We started with Squirrel Nutkin of course, which Freyja loved, she grinned the whole way around which was adorable.
Me and Han proceeded to Oblivion after, which I rate and was much busier than last time we went; we practically walked straight on last time no queueing – twice! We also checked out Submission and Enterprise for once – we normally skip over those as Hannah doesn’t like them for one reason or another, but I swayed her and it wasn’t too bad (and there wasn’t really a queue so didn’t waste much time), apart from on Enterprise, she sat in front of me and squished something that shouldn’t be squished!!
We headed off to the Charlie and Chocolate factory ride after that, which was an “It’s a Small World”-esque water ride with a Charlie and Chocolate factory theme of course, although it noticeably missed the loveable Oompa Loompas for some reason. Freyja really loved it, but the best bit was the ride in the great glass elevator after! A group of riders were put on a hydraulic platform and 3D projections display to give a convincing illusion of the elevator flying around and smashing into things – Freyja absolutely loved it and didn’t stop smiling – lovely!
We went on Rita after (just me and Han of course, Freyja is a little young still…) for a quick thrill and then had some yummy lunch – turkey and ham snammiches and Freyja had some raisins, and we even shared a couple of doughnuts – even Freyja had a few bites. Post-lunch we had to queue for Thirteen as there was no Fast Track available for this annoyingly, so that took about an hour or so. This new coaster was well worth the wait though – at first a fairly standard ride until the cars end up in a derelict wooden shed. The lights darken, and the cars drop vertically, which was a great surprise I was not expecting. A backwards stint followed which added more unexpectedness, and we came back to the station grinning from ear to ear. Certainly worth the queue, although I really wish there was Fast Track for this ride. Whilst we were queuing for Thirteen, Hannah’s mum took little Freyja on Galloper’s Carousel in a little princess carriage, which she apparently loved.
Next followed the all-time-favourite Nemesis, always worth Fast Tracking I think – 10 minutes or so queue and makes queuing for the front seats a little more palatable. As Freyja had fallen asleep on the walk to Nemesis, we took advantage of Han’s mum looking after her and squeezed in the last two rides in one, and got a quick go on Ripsaw in (although came off disappointingly dry) and onto Air, what I like to think of as the “Superman” ride.
We ended up all very weary going back on the monorail, on which Freyja stood on the chair and proceeded to have a little shout at a young couple who sat in the same section as us which amused them slightly. She’s nice and warm, tucked up in bed now and I’m sure she’s zonked out for the count all night. A busy day, but I think everyone had lots of fun. Same time next year, eh?
