Time to let you all know how my birthday trip to the Towers went!
This is day one of my two day trip, I'll leave day number 2 review if anyone wants to read it?
Firstly, some pre-info. We had a group of six, 4 of us are regular visitors, and we had 2 newbies with us, one of which is classed as a "Senior". The core 4 had last visited at Scarefest last year, so the 6 month dry spell was just enough.
After the 3.5 hour drive, we arrived at around 11:30. We got straight onto the monorail and headed for the park. It was an amazingly sunny day which really attributed to it being a great day.
After sorting out tickets, we headed straight to Spinball. We chose this as a stepping stone rollercoaster for our 60+ member. She seemed nervous, but laughed all the way around. I'm sure you could hear her from FV!
Next up, was The Smiler. I have to give credit again to our 60+ member to go from Spinball to Smiler. We waited around 50 minutes (our only real "queue time" of the day). I have been on the ride around 5/6 times before, and as much as I do love the ride, it had a few flaws. The Optical Procedure room was fully lit with bright lights and he projectors kept turning on and off blue screen. Another pet hate of mine is the restraints, they absolutely stink. As usual, the ride packed a punch, Albeit slightly shaky.
After that, a quick circuit of Oblivion and we were done with X Sector for the day.
Our next ride was a time filler; CatCF. We were at the gates awaiting our boat and were told that he had to send 4 empties through before we go on. I'm not sure why, possibly to space out the guests for the elevator scene? The ride was fun, but it needs rejuvenating badly.
Next was lunch at The Courtyard BBQ. Food was good, and the show seemed well put together to entertain the younger guests.
Up next, Rapids! I've never had 6 in a boat but it definatley makes a difference! I've never been soaked on the rapids before, but not one of us came off dry. It was brilliant and the most I've ever laughed on a ride! The new roof and bridges look good, but in my opinion the roof doesn't fit the theme at all.
Next, a quick lap on the Runaway mine train. Another fun ride with a surprising little punch, especially entering the tunnel. Unfortunately, no boats were passing as we did, so no cheering.
Next was a Duel. As usual, a walk on for all 6 of us. I don't use the guns as I prefer to look around the ride as it is one of my favourite pieces of ride history at Alton. Unfortunately a few of the effects, including the spinning tunnel, weren't working but nothing major that a regular rider would notice.
Next up was FV. After passing Sub-Terra's non existent queue, we got to Neme21s. I'm really pleased they chose to commemorate my favourite roller coasters birthday! We got straight to the front row queue and straight on. Surprisingly, this was our 60+ group members favourite ride!
We did a couple of laps on Nemesis and headed to our last ride of the day, Air.
Two of our group members sat out, meaning we had group of 4 and we could fly together. We chose the back row as it is my favourite. It delivered a good ride, nice and relaxing. I understand some people think it's boring or not thrilling enough but I don't think that was ever Air's intention.
We walked back to Towers Street and were bid farewell by the street entertainers in blue outfits (I can't remember their name), they made us laugh so much on their little segway scooters. The queue for the monorail was reaching back to the ticket huts so we walked up to the car and off we went!
Overall we had such a fantastic day, the staff were all so friendly, every single person wished us a great day which is such a simple but lovely gesture. Time to start planning the next trip!
Thanks for reading,
Liam
