As you may or may not be aware, Gazza flew across from Australia last week to experience some of the UK parks.
Family_furie decided to meet up with him on his first park of the UK and asked me if I would like to come along, I accepted the offer and off I went.
It was a bit of an early start for me, but nevertheless going to Alton on a Sunday is something I don't get to experience very often due to the terribleness of Sunday trains.
Once I got to Stafford, furie literally turned the corner into the station and within minutes I was in the boot of the car and on the way to Alton!
It had just gone 10 when we arrived and we weren't meeting Gazza until half 11. So the first stop while we waited for 11:30 was to Sharkbait Reef.
There were some awesomely coloured toys I really wanted on one of the games stalls in Mutiny Bay. But there were many reasons why I didn't want to have a go on the stall!
These reasons would be:
1, The game was too expensive and probably had very few duckies which would allow you to win one.
2, I would get annoyed carrying it around all day
3, It wouldn't of fit in furie's car
4, I would've looked like a right pillock on the train and bus!
So over to Sharkbait Reef we went. Bag lady took a new twist, this time I was pushchair lady. About 15 minutes elapsed while family_furie were in there and i was getting steadily more hungry with the smell of the kebabs behind me and the doughnuts.
I resisted temptation of the doughnuts as I don't like kebabs.
Once Sharkbait was done, our intention was to go to Squirrel Nutty but en route got distracted by Heave Ho in which MF took MMF on!
Me and furie then compared cameras as I have the newer version of the Canon Powershot that furie has. We then headed over to Nutty.
Madame_furie went on with MMF and SSIL_furie, while furie, MF and me waited around with the pushchair.
By this time 11:30 was approaching and furie disappeared to the toilet and returned 10 minutes later with Gazza.
With the introductions over, furie took Gazza, MF and MMF onto the Beastie so that Gazza could get the credit. They suitably got beaten up by it.
Not wanting to queue for Spinball, myself, furie, MF, Gazza and SSIL_furie headed to Guest Services so we could have the special access bands.
Gazza and SSIL_furie then went on Spinball.
Once they had got off Spinball, we headed to Old McDonalds farm to find Madame_furie and MMF. We found them and had a look at the rabbits. They were fun!
Having already done a lot of walking backwards and forwards, we headed over to Duel via the Haunted Hollow so that MMF could get his fix!
Once Duel was over, we stopped for 15 minutes and had snacks and then headed onto the Rapids.
There is one very large dip round the back of the Pizza and Pasta buffet that now gets you and the rest of the boat soaking wet! Today was no exception. With me and Gazza in the firing line and me knowing what was coming, I moved swiftly onto the available seat and let Gazza get the full impact of it. :lol:
He did, but me and furie still got wet as were the next people in the boat to be in the firing line. Even the fountains seemed to get us wet as well.
So with a mildly moist to wet ride on the Rapids, we left and met back up with Madame_furie who was push chair watching and getting harassed by some duckies.
We then split up again as MMF wanted to see the pirate show. So Madame_furie and MMF went there while we got distracted by the short queue for the Flume.
Obviously, with a Alton Towers n00b with us, we were willing to experience anything within reason. We did decide to go on the Flume and with SSIL_furie not fancing going on it in a boat of 5, we split up into a 3 and a 2.
Me, furie and Gazza had the one boat and Gazza willingly sat at the front.
I stole the back of Gazza's poncho to cover my camera bag which was useful as I didn't really want that to get wet.
The 1st and 2nd drop went without as much as a splash on me and furie and then onto the 3rd drop we went.
Since when had the flume been that wet?! Already wet from the 3rd drop, I had noticed that the showers were on so stole the back of Gazza's poncho and tried to keep a little bit more of me dry.
Not that that helped at all.
Gazza wanted to experience Battle Galleons, so we suggested that he should go and fire one of the cannons. The rest of us apart from MF stayed well clear.
We then caught the Sky Ride over to Ugly Land to meet back up with Madame_furie and MMF so they could do Hex.
But not before a quick stop at Burger King.
And over the SW6 site we went.
After Burger King, we met back up with Madame_furie and MMF and then headed for Hex. I was willingly push chair lady while they went on Hex.
MF didn't fancy Hex and instead wanted a go on the trampolines.
This was amusing to watch with the kids who were behind MF, they were like 'I'm sick on trampolines, I can do back flips innit'. They however, couldn't and it was very amusing to watch.
MF, however, could.
Once MF had had his 5 minutes on them, we then headed over to the exit of Hex and sat on the wall and waited. Thankfully, it was only 1 ride we had to wait.
Myself, Gazza and SSIL_furie wanted to go on Rita, so we cut a 40 odd minute queue by using the access bands and went on through the exit.
This was a fun ride and I still really like Rita. The true scale of the hole on the SW6 can be seen from it!
Once we went on Rita, we faffed a while while we waited for Gazza to buy the ORP, so I took yet another photo of Rita.
It had actually warmed up quite a lot by now as we headed for a go on Blivian. The walk around the entire queue line was longer than what we had to wait to go on it!
The queue was just outside the station and soon enough we were on it and preparing for an ORP.
We then faffed again in the shop while Gazza brought the ORP and I discovered a Oblivion t-shirt that I really liked.
It was originally £13 but reduced to £6.50 and with AP discount only came to £5.20.
I was rather happy. =]
We then rode again as the queue was still tiny. Still as good as always even with the fat boy faff we had to sit through.
We then left X-Sector and headed over to Forbidden Valley via the Gardens. We only queued around 10 minutes for it as the end of the queue was just by where you get hairtime when the train goes in the loop.
Gazza was still taking photos of his first UK park while we were in the short queue.
We then headed to Air via the exit of the ride as Air's queue is always usually ridiculous. Furie and MF were bag ladies and took a photo of us while going up the lift.
Air was fun as usual and we noticed that even Air didn't have a queue! It was on the bridge over the station and that was about as far as it went!
Once we had been on Air, we headed all the way back to the top of the park where we waited around half an hour to get Gazza's AP processed. The machine was experiencing problems.
As soon as we had finished there, we went to the monorail where some chav goon and locked the part of the queue off at the base which meant we had to climb over it.
We then went over to the waterpark where we would meet Madame_furie and MMF. Furie took Gazza for a walk over the bridge in the water park and it had literally just closed.
We then headed back up to the lobby, where we found Madame_furie and MF waiting for us.
Gazza filled in a customer review thingy saying it should be open longer than 6pm.
We then bid farewell to Gazza at the car as he headed back to the park to get some grub.
And that was it!
Great day and was great to meet someone new! Gazza seemed to really enjoy Alton as well, so I hope he did enjoy the other parks he visited.
Family_furie decided to meet up with him on his first park of the UK and asked me if I would like to come along, I accepted the offer and off I went.
It was a bit of an early start for me, but nevertheless going to Alton on a Sunday is something I don't get to experience very often due to the terribleness of Sunday trains.
Once I got to Stafford, furie literally turned the corner into the station and within minutes I was in the boot of the car and on the way to Alton!
It had just gone 10 when we arrived and we weren't meeting Gazza until half 11. So the first stop while we waited for 11:30 was to Sharkbait Reef.
There were some awesomely coloured toys I really wanted on one of the games stalls in Mutiny Bay. But there were many reasons why I didn't want to have a go on the stall!
These reasons would be:
1, The game was too expensive and probably had very few duckies which would allow you to win one.
2, I would get annoyed carrying it around all day
3, It wouldn't of fit in furie's car
4, I would've looked like a right pillock on the train and bus!
So over to Sharkbait Reef we went. Bag lady took a new twist, this time I was pushchair lady. About 15 minutes elapsed while family_furie were in there and i was getting steadily more hungry with the smell of the kebabs behind me and the doughnuts.
I resisted temptation of the doughnuts as I don't like kebabs.
Once Sharkbait was done, our intention was to go to Squirrel Nutty but en route got distracted by Heave Ho in which MF took MMF on!
Me and furie then compared cameras as I have the newer version of the Canon Powershot that furie has. We then headed over to Nutty.
Madame_furie went on with MMF and SSIL_furie, while furie, MF and me waited around with the pushchair.
By this time 11:30 was approaching and furie disappeared to the toilet and returned 10 minutes later with Gazza.
With the introductions over, furie took Gazza, MF and MMF onto the Beastie so that Gazza could get the credit. They suitably got beaten up by it.
Not wanting to queue for Spinball, myself, furie, MF, Gazza and SSIL_furie headed to Guest Services so we could have the special access bands.
Gazza and SSIL_furie then went on Spinball.
Once they had got off Spinball, we headed to Old McDonalds farm to find Madame_furie and MMF. We found them and had a look at the rabbits. They were fun!
Having already done a lot of walking backwards and forwards, we headed over to Duel via the Haunted Hollow so that MMF could get his fix!
Once Duel was over, we stopped for 15 minutes and had snacks and then headed onto the Rapids.
There is one very large dip round the back of the Pizza and Pasta buffet that now gets you and the rest of the boat soaking wet! Today was no exception. With me and Gazza in the firing line and me knowing what was coming, I moved swiftly onto the available seat and let Gazza get the full impact of it. :lol:
He did, but me and furie still got wet as were the next people in the boat to be in the firing line. Even the fountains seemed to get us wet as well.
So with a mildly moist to wet ride on the Rapids, we left and met back up with Madame_furie who was push chair watching and getting harassed by some duckies.
We then split up again as MMF wanted to see the pirate show. So Madame_furie and MMF went there while we got distracted by the short queue for the Flume.
Obviously, with a Alton Towers n00b with us, we were willing to experience anything within reason. We did decide to go on the Flume and with SSIL_furie not fancing going on it in a boat of 5, we split up into a 3 and a 2.
Me, furie and Gazza had the one boat and Gazza willingly sat at the front.
I stole the back of Gazza's poncho to cover my camera bag which was useful as I didn't really want that to get wet.
The 1st and 2nd drop went without as much as a splash on me and furie and then onto the 3rd drop we went.
Since when had the flume been that wet?! Already wet from the 3rd drop, I had noticed that the showers were on so stole the back of Gazza's poncho and tried to keep a little bit more of me dry.
Not that that helped at all.
Gazza wanted to experience Battle Galleons, so we suggested that he should go and fire one of the cannons. The rest of us apart from MF stayed well clear.
We then caught the Sky Ride over to Ugly Land to meet back up with Madame_furie and MMF so they could do Hex.
But not before a quick stop at Burger King.
And over the SW6 site we went.
After Burger King, we met back up with Madame_furie and MMF and then headed for Hex. I was willingly push chair lady while they went on Hex.
MF didn't fancy Hex and instead wanted a go on the trampolines.
This was amusing to watch with the kids who were behind MF, they were like 'I'm sick on trampolines, I can do back flips innit'. They however, couldn't and it was very amusing to watch.
MF, however, could.
Once MF had had his 5 minutes on them, we then headed over to the exit of Hex and sat on the wall and waited. Thankfully, it was only 1 ride we had to wait.
Myself, Gazza and SSIL_furie wanted to go on Rita, so we cut a 40 odd minute queue by using the access bands and went on through the exit.
This was a fun ride and I still really like Rita. The true scale of the hole on the SW6 can be seen from it!
Once we went on Rita, we faffed a while while we waited for Gazza to buy the ORP, so I took yet another photo of Rita.
It had actually warmed up quite a lot by now as we headed for a go on Blivian. The walk around the entire queue line was longer than what we had to wait to go on it!
The queue was just outside the station and soon enough we were on it and preparing for an ORP.
We then faffed again in the shop while Gazza brought the ORP and I discovered a Oblivion t-shirt that I really liked.
It was originally £13 but reduced to £6.50 and with AP discount only came to £5.20.
I was rather happy. =]
We then rode again as the queue was still tiny. Still as good as always even with the fat boy faff we had to sit through.
We then left X-Sector and headed over to Forbidden Valley via the Gardens. We only queued around 10 minutes for it as the end of the queue was just by where you get hairtime when the train goes in the loop.
Gazza was still taking photos of his first UK park while we were in the short queue.
We then headed to Air via the exit of the ride as Air's queue is always usually ridiculous. Furie and MF were bag ladies and took a photo of us while going up the lift.
Air was fun as usual and we noticed that even Air didn't have a queue! It was on the bridge over the station and that was about as far as it went!
Once we had been on Air, we headed all the way back to the top of the park where we waited around half an hour to get Gazza's AP processed. The machine was experiencing problems.
As soon as we had finished there, we went to the monorail where some chav goon and locked the part of the queue off at the base which meant we had to climb over it.
We then went over to the waterpark where we would meet Madame_furie and MMF. Furie took Gazza for a walk over the bridge in the water park and it had literally just closed.
We then headed back up to the lobby, where we found Madame_furie and MF waiting for us.
Gazza filled in a customer review thingy saying it should be open longer than 6pm.
We then bid farewell to Gazza at the car as he headed back to the park to get some grub.
And that was it!
Great day and was great to meet someone new! Gazza seemed to really enjoy Alton as well, so I hope he did enjoy the other parks he visited.
