Altonators Southern Merlin Adventure 26th - 30th June 2011

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Altonator
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Joined: Tue May 11, 2004 5:37 pm
Location: 23 miles from the magic

Day 1 26 6 11 Chessington World Of Adventures
Arrived 2:00pm
Left 6:00pm ride close 5:00pm
Weather brilliant sun all day

Rides Ridden
Safari Skyway
Peeking Heights
Kobra
Vampire

Entered park and looked around the zoo first saw the Asiatic lions being fed after watched the sea lions which were great felt like we were in Florida with the glorious weather. Liked Safari Skyway Alton should have one!
Liked the Creepy Caves Exhibition. Was amusing seeing generic Merlin attractions eg pizza pasta and Aqua Adventures. 250pm wandered through toy town after checked out Ramses Revenge which was drenching guests in the Surrey Sun. Ramses did have a bit of downtime then but was soon back open.
Wandered past Tomb Blaster and rode Peeking Heights which was a great ride shame it didn’t last longer was brilliant how we could see loads of major London Landmarks on the horizon eg Wembley Stadium Canary Wharf and London Eye to name a few. Had a look in Lorikeet lagoon which was good. After queued 45mins for Kobra had a bit of downtime due to guest who was ill. this was a great ride Alton should have one. Watched Monkey Swinger great with water jets!
Wander past Dragons Fury heading Towards Vampire 4:45pm. Joined Vampire queue 4:50pm and boarded 5:35pm that was a brilliant ride it maybe a few yrs old but the setting and station theming were awesome as was the ride itself. Left 5:45pm will be back tommz!
Ps we stayed at Premier Inn which is literally on CWOAs doorstep Vampire is in the hotels back garden! Loving it here! Had a quick look round CWOA Holiday Inn theming is impressive but from what we saw it doesn’t beat Alton’s Hotels. After this went for tea………

Day 2 27 6 11
Chessington Day 2
Weather sunny and warm am cooler pm
Arrived 1045am
Left 530pm
Rides Ridden
Rattle Snake x2
Safari Skywalk x2
Chessington Carousel
Dragons Fury
Peeking Heights x2
Tomb Blaster x2
Dragons Falls
Kobra x3
Runaway Train
Vampire
Sealife Centre


Entered park and rode Rattle Snake 1050am 5min queue. Then Rode Safari Skywalk twice which was walk on. Others rode Chessington Carousel 1125am. After grabbed some drinks and watched Monkey Swinger. Was going to ride Dragons Fury but 50min queue in this heat put us off decided to leave it until later. Watched the show at sea lion bay at 1200pm was and good show liked how children could feed the sea lions as well as the trainers. Queued for Dragons Fury 1225pm and boarded 1235pm. Was a great ride seemed longer than Sonic Spinball. Rode Peeking Heights 1250pm and stayed on For a couple of rides as there was no queue. Had a couple of goes on Tomb Blaster 120pm and 135pm liked the theming a lot but shame there weren’t more LEDs to shoot. Watched the action at Ramesis Revenge 140pm. Others rode Dragons Falls 215pm. Had 3 goes on Kobra which is brilliant! Rode Runaway Train at 335pm liked the ride but it’s not as good as Alton’s as it’s to short although we did have 3 laps. Rode Rattle Snake again 350pm. Afterwards rode Vampire at 420pm after 25min queue defiantly the best ride at Chessington. Went to see penguins at 430pm and then went into Sealife which like Alton’s is a great attraction. Left park 530pm and went back to hotel.


28 6 11 Day 3
Lego Land
Arrived 11:30am
Left 6:15pm

Merchandise
Lego brick phone strap
Wizard Keyring
Lego Box
Lego Land Pic Frame

On arrival we saw the Lego land Hotel being built which was looking great (flash back to 2002 and SLH building site) this will be great if its themed as well as Towers Hotels:D imagine having Lego board wallpaper what you could stick bricks too!
After checking out the Lego models in the foyer we boarded the train @ 1135 down to the bottom of the hill. Wandered slowly over to Atlantis admiring the models enroute. Arrived @ Atlantis 1205 but it was down. Wandered past the hotel its not as big as Towers hotels. Does anyone know if this is being run by Merlin like Towers Hotels and hopefully won’t be another Holiday Inn or Travel Lodge or any chain for that matter hopefully.
Wandered past Wave Surfer 1215. Loved all the models en route and having pics with them! Saw Pizza and Pasta. Just missed Pirates of skeleton bay show so boarded Orient Expedition 1220 liked the water jets! Atlantis was back in business when we past it. Entered Lego City 1240 and rode Atlantis 1245 was a great ride with excellent theming throughout and lots of fish to watch. Loved the aquariums as well after the ride (a good pic impunity) Anyway @ 1255 left Atlantis and wandered past driving school watched Aero Nomad reminded me of American Adventure days as did Balloon school.
Rode Laser Raiders after 25min queue. The showers now began so sheltered in Laser Raids shop for good half hour. Got to Pirates Landing 220 grabbed some drinks at BBQ and watched Pirates falls Dynamite Drench. Got to Knights Kingdom 305 and rode Dragon 325 and 345 great theming again throughout the ride. Toilet signs made us laugh with Lego man woman and baby in funny positions lol!
Watched Spinning Spider 400pm. Now over to the highlight of the trip MINILAND! Absoluty loved this area and it was a lot bigger than I expected. So much attention to detail! Loved the mini Wembley and Canary Wharf and London Eye this had to be one of the best models. I reckon they should have models of major landmarks from all Merlin Attractions. Lego Nemesis anyone? Even a model of the Towers/Ruins perhaps Stealth or Blackpool Tower what do you reckon? The London Underground model along with the commentary was awesome! The Royal Wedding at Buckingham Palace was a nice touch:D Brighton Pier was impressive liked Kennedy Space Centre Countdown to launch and special effects. After admiring mini land. Had a quick look round Duple Land 500 This area looks great for kids when the sun is beaming down. Headed back up the slope 515 taking a few pics with our Lego friends around the foyer and in the shop. Brought a few souvenirs from the gift shop which was a Lego Heaven! Left the park 615 feeling great from managing to relive my childhood! Was a excellent day with so much too see. As known most attractions are aimed at the younger generation but I would defiantly return just to see mini land again. Now where’s that curver box of Lego……………..

Spent the evening in Windsor around the castle.

29 6 11 Day 4 Thorpe Park
Arrived 1045
Left 700
Weather sunny and dry
Rides Ridden
Slammer x1
Nemesis Inferno x2
Stealth x3
Detonator x1
Canada Creek Railway x1
Merchandise
Stealth pic
Ride It T shirt

Entered park 1055 and headed towards Saw the ride 70min queue perhaps not. Next Colossus 90min queue. This wasn’t looking good so a ride on Slammer was required @ 1140am after 25min queue was a good ride Checked Nemesis Inferno queue this was 80mins. So over to Stealth forgot about single riders so joined normal queue 1205 and boarded at 110pm would of boarded soon but ride went down for about 20mins and an engineer was required. Anyway that was an awesome ride loved the speed height and view from top! Work has commenced on a new coaster for 2012 behind Stealth Not that I know any details. Reminded me of being on Rita’s platform in 2009 when Thirteen was being built (with Rita and Stealth being the same kind of coaster)
After Stealth had a wander round for a bit after all that queuing loved the atmosphere at Thorpe and the interaction with the guests over at Tidal Wave! So many great water rides at Thorpe!
Over to Colossus again 145pm queue still huge. Grabbed a hot dog and succumbed to the fact that I would have to join one of these huge queues if I was going to get anywhere today! So Nemesis Inferno was the chosen one entered 210pm and boarded 330pm I must admit I thought there were more SR Queues at Thorpe Stealth has one no others though. Nemesis Inferno was a good ride liked the lights and steam at the start of the ride I think Towers Nemesis goes faster? Back over to Stealth SRQ this time waited 20mins boarded 410pm. Had a bit of a break then another go on Stealth boarding at 510pm after 25min wait brought pic. After this Detonator 525pm was a good ride. Shame it only drops once and doesn’t go up and down tower. Joined 50min Colossus queue at 535pm but ride went down so we were given free fast pass for Stealth or Nemesis Inferno (very impressed by this considering it was end of day) chose Nemesis due to riding Stealth loads already during the day. Boarded 620pm these were open later due to Colossus breakdown.
That was a great day at Thorpe Park.

Day 5 30 6 11
Chessington and Thorpe Park 2 Merlin Parks in one day!
Arrived at Chessington 1025 and had a Merlin Breakfast @ Adventurers Chicken Shack. which was delious. We sat outside in the Surrey Sun. After a nice relaxing breakfast we spent a while at Sea lion Bay 1130am Entered Monkey and Bird Garden 1145 and saw penguins being fed. Really liked Wanyama village and reserve. After popped over and watched the action at Ramesis revenge 105pm. Entered Transylvania 120pm and was going to ride Vampire but queue was 1hr so we decided to leave it. Left the park at 145pm and walked back to hotel and set off for Thorpe Park. Entered 235pm was going to ride Colollus but queue was 90mins so decided to leave it til later. Watched the action at Tidal Wave 245pm then popped over to Stealth SRQ boarded 320pm after 25min queue. Had a photo taking session then queued up for Slammer 400pm and got on 425pm. Started to queue for Rush but decided it wasn’t worth waiting 75mins for. So rode Stealth again 520pm after 25min queue SRQ. Ride close was 600pm so went and joined Colossus queue 545pm board still said 90mins but turned out to be only 15mins as the queues had dropped dramatically. Now this had to be my best ride at Thorpe (although I never got chance to ride Saw will have to wait until future visit) 2hr queue today! Colossus was awesome! Being sent upside down so many times on one rollercoaster yyyyeeeeaaaaaahhhhhh! Stealth has to be in 2nd spot and Nemesis Inferno in 3rd. Queues were now closed so took a few Colossus pics during its last rides of the day. Then took a few more over at Saw which was still in full action!
This spectalor 5 day theme park holiday was now over as we took a slow walk towards the exit with the sun still beaming down. Left 720pm.
Its been a gr8 5 days will have to do this again!

Cheers for reading.
Will put pics up some time soon.
Whatever the weather outside it\'s always tropical at Cariba Creek
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