Alton Towers Trip 8/5/16

[DeadJack5]

So I recently visited Alton Towers for the first time in 2016 and this was my trip!

Got to the park for 8:45, caught the monorail and got to the entrance for 9. Didn't have ERT so stayed at the gates until we were let thru at 9:45.

We went straight to Galatica and got there for around 9:55. I went on alone and the queue was empty, worked straight on. Was on the 3rd row in the left station and the ride was fun!! I was surprised and quite anxious about riding and it was so worth it! The VR was immersive an generally a good ride (You can read my full views on it in the separate forum.) Next we tried Nemesis which was again walk on. For my Girlfriend's first time, she loved it but was very nervous, she enjoyed it none the less

Next we had a walk thru the gardens which on the hottest day in 2016 did take a toll on us! We then got to Th13teen which had 5 minutes for a queue and then tried Rita which was 10 minutes. So far, so good, it was only 11:15 by this time. Next we went to X-Sector for me to ride Oblivion and The Smiler. I queued for 20 minutes for the smiler via the single rider queue and then 5 minutes for Oblivion via the single rider queue again. By the time i got off Oblivion which was the final roller coaster to ride out of the main 6 and it was only 12!

We had food at the fried chicken co and made our way to spinball wizzer. We queued around 10 minutes for this compared to the 30 minute queue that was advertised. We next went to battle Gallons and got absolutely soaked!By this time, it was 1:15 so we thought we would go to RMT & the rapids to see which had a shorter queue, we ended up on RMT which was the longest queue of the day for us at around 25 minutes!

After this we re-rode Nemesis with yet another walk on queue. We then headed back over to Dark forest for a re-ride of Th13teen which was 5 minutes once again. which was then my girlfriend's last ride of the day, She is very new to roller coasters so she did well for her first time. We then headed to X-sector for one last ride on both Smiler and Oblivion, Smiler was around 10 minutes this time due to the ride op for the single rider queue letting me in straight away! I then rode Oblivion which was empty, i literally shared a whole row with 2 other people. After this we headed to dark forest to ride the sky ride back to Forbidden valley to re-ride Galatica one last time which was walk on again in the right station! I got on the front row on my own! It was a nice ride to myself just sitting and talking to the ride op (Next time, i will be asking for backwards if possible after hearing about the rumors in the forums)

This was then it for the day, we walked back to the entrance to catch the Monorail and decided for a game of golf which was great! Never played it before at Alton Towers and it was good fun!

Overall, I was impressed at how quiet it was for a Sunday! I expected queues for all the rides but generally, it was an average of 5/10 minute queues for all!

I will definitely be re-visiting on a Sunday in the future and planning on a trip mid week in June on a Wednesday for a trip with my school friends. Generally it was a great day and showing Alton Towers in my opinion are back on form!

Ride Count (As best to my knowledge):

The Smiler x2
Nemesis x2 (Walk-on both times)
Galatica x2 (Walk on both times)
Th13teen x2 (5 minute queue 2)
Oblivion x2 (5 mintue queue & walk on)
Rita x1 (10 minute queue)
Battle Gallons x1 (10 minute queue)
Spinball Wizzer x1 (10 minute queue)
Runaway Mine Train x1 (25 minute queue)

[JSMarsden]

What were the wait times for normal riders queues? Galactica showing 45mins today, everything else to a minimum just as you would expect!

[DeadJack5]

When I rode the smiler first time it was 30 minutes queue and the second time was 25 minutes. Oblivion was advertised 10 minutes and then my second time was walk on even for the normal queue. Galatica had no single rider queue so was walk on both times for me. Very surprising indeed