So how long have people here been visiting Alton Towers?

[funstie]

I posted this in the 'remember the 1st time' thread and it made me feel very old:

Wow, I feel very very old now. I am not sure when the first time I visited the towers was but it was certainly early 80's. I remember having to pay at the entrance to the car park and the queues to get it snaking along the country roads.

I have been going pretty much every year since the late 80's, early 90's. I was there the day that Kylie opened the Mouse and Beast (in the now extinct area next to Cloud Cookoo Land). I remember 1001 Nights and the Magic Carpet. The Corkscrew and the Black Hole were unbelievable in there day and I remember always being too scared to ride the 2 man bob....it looked like a death trap!!! 

I loved AT then and I love it now. This year we are taking my 3 year old daughter for the first time and I want her to love it as much as her Dad does.

So I got to thinking, I'm 34 (and certainly don't feel old) but are there any more older members on here who remember the 80's at the towers. The old cable cars, the old rides, no monorail etc etc. I remember getting a car sticker every year (mostly with the iconic corkscrew loops on them), I remember the Henry Hound years very well and still have my Henry Hound teddy that was won on one of the grab machines.

AND I STILL THINK IT IS ONE OF THE MOST MAGICAL PLACES IN THIS COUNTRY. Just writing this has put a smile on my face. Roll on May when I visit with my family!

[Benedique]

10 years this year since my first visit. I also stumbled upon this here website at the same time, as I was doing research for my visit to AT. How time flies ...

[Poison Tom 96]

First visit was 2009.

I have never visited AT without an Annual Pass of some sort

[ATJoseph]

It's been 10 years now since 2002 I was 3 at the time I can still remember going on the log flume and the red rapids boats oh I miss that time! It was so much fun and magic!

[Dom]

i went 10 years ago. i first arrived the year air opened. cant believe its been 10 years. stilll got my first picture on oblivion somewhere

[Lady Sol]

My first visit was in 1989. I then visited every few years until 2009. Then I got a car, moved to the Midlands, got an annual pass and now can visit regularly 

[Themeparksandy1981]

Been honest I first went to Alton Towers in 1993 so this season is my 20th. I hadn't heard of Alton Towers before I went as I only had been to American adventure and Drayton Manor. We only went as my parents had free kids tickets. I remember joining a kids club. Can't remember it's name but was in the first building on the right hand side of tower street if u were facing the towers. The queues that day is nothing like you see nowadays. Like we started queuing before the village and as none of us had been before we didn't know how much further the park was away. I always remember seeing Nemesis been built and that the time (Aug 93) All that was build was the lift hill and the start of the first turn. As the track was upside down to normal coasters I thought you rode it Upside down.

[lozzyhickers]

Ever since my birth, so coming up 20 years. As you can imagine, it was a long time before I rode any coasters. The swan boats and parades were my favourite 

[James]

My first visit was in 1996. I was obviously too young to remember anything (I'm 19 now), however my earliest memories come from 2000 - 2002. I am lucky enough the remember the scrapings of the 'Alton Towers Magic' before DIC took over. Me and my family have visited at least once a year since 1996, and from 1997 we have at least stayed in the Alton Towers Hotel once a year.

We used to make two trips a year (one in Easter, the other in Halloween) however due to the sharp increase in prices and generally the hotels no longer offering perks (such as Fastrack) and entertainment going down hill making two visits a year just isn't affordable or worth it. 

[oblivious]

1984 was my first time there . I think it was the same year the black hole opened

[CoasterCrazyChris]

I was lucky enough to go in 1998...but even more lucky to be able to remember it.

I can still recall how the place scared me, and didn't feel like a place for children, but there was definetely a special atmosphere.

[PeteB]

1988 - I'm one of the few "old skool" enthusiasts. Although I remember very little from pre 1991 I have vivid memories of everything from that point onwards, all through the "magic" era.

As for TTF, I've followed this site since 2003 but didn't join and post until 2006.

[Lucieloo]

I was 3 years old when I first went so I have been going for 28 Years!!.. not sure if I can remember the first day I ever went but it was a place we went to every year from then on..
I think it did lose a bit of magic when it became more commercial, but life moves on as it should!

[jayson2125]

Wow realised my first year would have been 1980 so been going to AT now for 32 years..

When I first went you used to pay in the car then park on the grass and walk into the park.

Rides when I first went were :

Dinosaur land
Pirate ship
bobsled
corkscrew..

I remember going during school holiday and watching hold tight being filmed and going once when thunderlooper was closed and while we were watching the engineers it opened and we had the ride to ourselves.

I remember nemesis being built and going on opening day for oblivion and spending 2 hrs to ride and then joining the queue again for a second go..

Fond memories

[Tom G]

I think I can just about remember before Nemesis was built, when I was 8 or 9. My grandma used to run coach trips there regularly in the early to mid 90s. She used to love the gardens and Towers etc but fell out of favour with it when things like Nemesis started cropping up. My last regular visit was in early 1998 when Oblivion opened.

I then had a 12-year hiatus due to parents splitting up and not being able to drive etc, but the park has always remained in my heart and I have often thought about it, planning to return.

And so I did in May/June 2010, since then I have made around a dozen visits I would have thought.

[wburgess]

Blimey, the first time I visited, Nemesis had just opened, I was a mere 8 years old but can remember a lot of details.

Walking up past the rapids and hearing that music for the first time, It felt so special and magical. It really did seem like you were off on a big adventure.

I remember seeing nemesis in the metal for the first time and being totally in awe of it, never dreaming of the day I may at last ride it... I was far too scared! Especially as some poor man had died of a heart attack a monday before (from what I can recall).

All this talk of the magic coming back excites me, I have some very special memories of that place. 

[starbugger1303]

Ermmm, I think my first visit was the year 2000, when I was a wee little toddler, at the age of 2....

My fondness of the place has grew over the years, resulting in: moving to Alton Village, buying an annual pass and visiting every week!

[scubahood]

I've been visiting a good 22 years now i'd say. I'm there with the old school fans (not enthusiast I hate the term).
My favorite ride used to be around the world in 80 days it was amazing.
Here's a pic of little old me on my first visit

[ynwa19]

My first visit was on 16 Apr 02. First ride - Nemesis! Great day and the weather was awesome!

[blivygirl87]

The first time I visited was I think was 95 though I may be wrong I was about 8 I can remember hearing about the man on nemesis but I was so young then I remember thinking thunder looper was nemesis and it took years later when I went on a school trip to find out otherwise! I can also remember going on the haunted house with my grandad and being absolutley terrified (I had my eyes shut the whole way round) and my younger cousin was very upset as she didn't pass the height restrictions for the big apple