Taylor's Week in England- Huge PTR COMPLETE
- Thread starter LiveForTheLaunch
- Start date
LiveForTheLaunch
CF Legend
^ It is, especially if you don't have the cred.
LiveForTheLaunch
CF Legend
^ Ultimate and Nemesis are the two creds I most want in England, but Ultimate was too out of the way. I'll be coming back a few times in 2011 so I'll be sure to get it 
.
Day 5- Chessington
The day started off early, with a funny mistake on Brad's part. We got up at like 6:33 and and he said "OMG we're late we were meant to be leaving at 6:30am", so we went down to the parking lot after rushing to get ready (I didn't even have enough time to put makeup on or anything) only for Marc to tell us that we weren't leaving for another hour. So I went back up and got ready, and then we left on time with Jordan and Sam.. And poor Ian's car wouldn't start!
When we got there, I realized it was cold, but I was excited for the track walk despite being tired. What can I say besides the fact that it was really interesting and cool, and the guy was really nice! I never got to do any kind of behind the scenes of anything before, so I thought it was great, besides the one room with all the mechanisms that he explained. I think like, three people asked me "Taylor did you understand ANY of that" once we left the room.. An insult to my intelligence! Of COURSE I understood it.. Not.
So after the track walk we were informed that the coaster would open later and that we would get to cut the queue a few times, yay! After funtimes eating candy, slurping hot chocolate, taking pictures with random characters, and having hammer fights, we went to Runaway Mine Train next, or whatever it's called, and I thought it was a lot of fun. I enjoyed the safari hats and for some reason got all giggley and couldn't stop when Gavin dropped his. Obviously not an amazing coaster, but good enough!
Then we went to Rattlesnake, where I rode with Sam, Jordan, and Brad.. Walking around the park really surprised me because, like I said to a few people, I expected Chessington to be like a stupid little petting zoo with some rides slapped in the middle of it, but it's actually a very nice park. Rattlesnake was, well, average but it scared me as any coaster with hairpin turns does!
I think we were going to Rameses Revenge next, which I was going to sit out of due to being freezing. It was closed anyway, so we rode Tomb Blasters. This was such a fun queue, even though it was super long! I liked the hammer fight with Neal, especially when I thwacked him in the face. Then the long discussions with Ben and Chris, which involved Canadians being made fun of. All I have to say to them is BLEGHHHHMERGHHHHERGHHHBLEGH and milk in a bag <3 Tomb Blasters was a pretty cool shooter, but I disliked how hard it was the press the trigger on the gun, which is CLEARLY why I lost to Brad by like, 7,000 points or so.
Random but they're ADORABLE.
We then went for lunch after this, deciding on Pizza and Pasta buffet which had a long line, but it ended up being not so long and the pizza was yummy. And so was the half a plate of random pineapple pieces that I ate <3
After lunch it got pretty cold out and I can't really remember what we did next. Pretty sure we went to Dragon Falls to get prizes and whatnot (my huge yellow bag of win), then some people rode it while the pansies who dislike the cold all stood in a giant dryer to keep warm. I also think I got two or three ribs crushed in it, but good times none-the-less.
I think we went to Wild Asia after this, where some people rode the Disk-O thing or whatever it's called. Of course, I got tricked into standing in front of the elephant thing, which was really neat but was annoying when it sprayed out water, not that it mattered since I already looked like a drowned sewer rat thanks to the rain . A few of us opted to go on the bumper cars instead, which was amusing times. I have AMAZING bumper car skills and Brad insulted them, saying I'm a horrible driver as if bumper cars is any indication of driving skill. Seeing Richard's car get stuck was awesome, too <3
Dragon's Fury was the third cred of the day for me, and even though the line was longish and cold, soon enough we were on our way up. The cars were reduced to two people each because of the rain and stuff, but because of all this we got an amaaazing spin! It's definitely the best spinner I have ever been on!
We did some random rides after this, such as some random car ride and the Pink Elephants, both of which I sat out on, opting to enjoy candy/sweets and hot chocolate instead. Richard tried to get me on the carousel, but I wasn't stupid.. I saw the spinny cups of doom and decided I'd rather NOT get sick!
It was getting dark then, so it was time for GLOWSTICKS. Everyone else was building their fab chains and I couldn't even figure out how to get them to stay in a circle for the life of me, but eventually I got it, and we all looked awesome! Since Bubbleworks is indoors, we went there next and had funtimes on that! I love the looks we got in the station and from random people.
The second last ride of the day was the Black Buccaneer before Vampire line cuttage was to happen. Our chant was "Coaster Force Ian Bell" and even though I HATE pirate ships, it was very fun being with a bunch of weirdos like myself .
After a pee break, we headed to Vampire. I was glad as it had gotten a bit warmer by then, even though my shoes were absolute swamps and still smell like cheese to this day. I had three goes on it, two with Brad and one with my Sloshpocket, AJ! Funtimes screaming bad words on it . The ride was really fun, I didn't expect it to be that fun to be honest, or that intense for a family ride!
After Vampire we went through some whack walkthrough thing, which wasn't even scary at all, but oh well at least they put effort into it. Then to some cauldron thing which I didn't see the point of!
Then the sadtime happened of leaving everyone! So I gave hugs, and parted ways after an awesome two days <3 The rest of the night consisted of more chocolate, Waterloo Road, and Jersey Shore .
Day 6- Return to London
Since we didn't finish everything we wanted to do on Sunday, we went back to London on Wednesday after a nice and much needed sleeping in. Before leaving though, I watched Brad as he made us sandwiches! HA!
We hopped on the central line (yay for my knowledge of the underground) and got into London a bit later than we hoped, but oh well. We were hitting up the Dungeons first!
(They taste like mush, I assure you)
I really liked the London Dungeons! I wasn't even sure what it was exactly, a haunt or just a boring history talk, but it was a nice mix of both and it definitely lasted quite a while/kept my interest. I didn't know it had things like the boat ride and I completely forgot about the drop tower (which I screamed for, how embarassing), so yeah I'd say I was quite pleased! I disliked the first part with the mirrors because I got scared ****less, but it was funny when Brad got pulled up to have the torture devices demonstrated on him, yayy!
Bought slushies and other random stuff in the giftshop, the slushies ending up being amusing. First of all, I never thought it'd be so painful to order "a large blue slush and a small red slush," but finally he understood me, but then got the order wrong. Either way, we just kept trading slushies.. Usually when Brad's ran out of juice he'd trade it with mine until that one ran out of juice and then the cycled continued.. Anyways..
Before heading to Harrod's to see AJ, we went to London Bridge and the surrounding area. Was neat to see all of these landmarks that I had only ever seen in pictures or in movies!
Across the bridge was the Tower of London, where, despite what Brad tried to get me to believe, does not have live executions on the weekend (I promise I didn't believe it.. *cough*).
We then went to the underground for the eight millionth time (but it's so convenient and amazing) to go to Harrods where we met up with the fantastalicious AJ!
He gave us a tour around the store, which is GINORMOUS! We got to see the pet section, the toy section, the apple section.. It was just huge and amazing, yet expensive.
Toy car for £10,000 anyone?
We took the underground to Covent Gardens/Soho, and just walked around the area a bit.
Then we went to a steakhouse which I can't remember the name of, but it was an epic dinner full of good food (besides Brad's fish which tasted like actual mush), and immature/funny times!
The wine was gross.
He was being sexy with his salt shaker!
After dinner we went on the subway to where we would depart ways with AJ. Tears formed as he is amazing and I didn't want to leave him!
Me and Brad still had one more landmark to see, so we walked to Buckingham Palace. It was beautiful, and beautifully lit with no other tourists around, which made it nice. I couldn't really believe I was actually there!
Then we took the underground back to Brad's which took a good hour and a half, and called it a night!
Day 7- Lazy Day and Party
I didn't get any pics on this day, but basically didn't have anything planned until later in the night. We went for predrinks at his friend's house around 7, then took what seemed like a super long train ride to a random club in London which his friend rented out for his birthday. Oh and, I threw up on the train which was really super embarassing. Then the rest of the night we all got really drunk, ended up on Oxford street at a 24/7 McDonalds, got busted for sneaking onto a bus, and then busrode back to Brad's. I don't remember some of the night but.. It was a good time!
Stay tuned for day 8 and 9- Alton Towers!
.Day 5- Chessington
The day started off early, with a funny mistake on Brad's part. We got up at like 6:33 and and he said "OMG we're late we were meant to be leaving at 6:30am", so we went down to the parking lot after rushing to get ready (I didn't even have enough time to put makeup on or anything) only for Marc to tell us that we weren't leaving for another hour. So I went back up and got ready, and then we left on time with Jordan and Sam.. And poor Ian's car wouldn't start!
When we got there, I realized it was cold, but I was excited for the track walk despite being tired. What can I say besides the fact that it was really interesting and cool, and the guy was really nice! I never got to do any kind of behind the scenes of anything before, so I thought it was great, besides the one room with all the mechanisms that he explained. I think like, three people asked me "Taylor did you understand ANY of that" once we left the room.. An insult to my intelligence! Of COURSE I understood it.. Not.
So after the track walk we were informed that the coaster would open later and that we would get to cut the queue a few times, yay! After funtimes eating candy, slurping hot chocolate, taking pictures with random characters, and having hammer fights, we went to Runaway Mine Train next, or whatever it's called, and I thought it was a lot of fun. I enjoyed the safari hats and for some reason got all giggley and couldn't stop when Gavin dropped his. Obviously not an amazing coaster, but good enough!
Then we went to Rattlesnake, where I rode with Sam, Jordan, and Brad.. Walking around the park really surprised me because, like I said to a few people, I expected Chessington to be like a stupid little petting zoo with some rides slapped in the middle of it, but it's actually a very nice park. Rattlesnake was, well, average but it scared me as any coaster with hairpin turns does!
I think we were going to Rameses Revenge next, which I was going to sit out of due to being freezing. It was closed anyway, so we rode Tomb Blasters. This was such a fun queue, even though it was super long! I liked the hammer fight with Neal, especially when I thwacked him in the face. Then the long discussions with Ben and Chris, which involved Canadians being made fun of. All I have to say to them is BLEGHHHHMERGHHHHERGHHHBLEGH and milk in a bag <3 Tomb Blasters was a pretty cool shooter, but I disliked how hard it was the press the trigger on the gun, which is CLEARLY why I lost to Brad by like, 7,000 points or so.
Random but they're ADORABLE.
We then went for lunch after this, deciding on Pizza and Pasta buffet which had a long line, but it ended up being not so long and the pizza was yummy. And so was the half a plate of random pineapple pieces that I ate <3
After lunch it got pretty cold out and I can't really remember what we did next. Pretty sure we went to Dragon Falls to get prizes and whatnot (my huge yellow bag of win), then some people rode it while the pansies who dislike the cold all stood in a giant dryer to keep warm. I also think I got two or three ribs crushed in it, but good times none-the-less.
I think we went to Wild Asia after this, where some people rode the Disk-O thing or whatever it's called. Of course, I got tricked into standing in front of the elephant thing, which was really neat but was annoying when it sprayed out water, not that it mattered since I already looked like a drowned sewer rat thanks to the rain
. A few of us opted to go on the bumper cars instead, which was amusing times. I have AMAZING bumper car skills and Brad insulted them, saying I'm a horrible driver as if bumper cars is any indication of driving skill. Seeing Richard's car get stuck was awesome, too <3
Dragon's Fury was the third cred of the day for me, and even though the line was longish and cold, soon enough we were on our way up. The cars were reduced to two people each because of the rain and stuff, but because of all this we got an amaaazing spin! It's definitely the best spinner I have ever been on!
We did some random rides after this, such as some random car ride and the Pink Elephants, both of which I sat out on, opting to enjoy candy/sweets and hot chocolate instead. Richard tried to get me on the carousel, but I wasn't stupid.. I saw the spinny cups of doom and decided I'd rather NOT get sick!
It was getting dark then, so it was time for GLOWSTICKS. Everyone else was building their fab chains and I couldn't even figure out how to get them to stay in a circle for the life of me, but eventually I got it, and we all looked awesome! Since Bubbleworks is indoors, we went there next and had funtimes on that! I love the looks we got in the station and from random people.
The second last ride of the day was the Black Buccaneer before Vampire line cuttage was to happen. Our chant was "Coaster Force Ian Bell" and even though I HATE pirate ships, it was very fun being with a bunch of weirdos like myself
.After a pee break, we headed to Vampire. I was glad as it had gotten a bit warmer by then, even though my shoes were absolute swamps and still smell like cheese to this day. I had three goes on it, two with Brad and one with my Sloshpocket, AJ! Funtimes screaming bad words on it
. The ride was really fun, I didn't expect it to be that fun to be honest, or that intense for a family ride!After Vampire we went through some whack walkthrough thing, which wasn't even scary at all, but oh well at least they put effort into it. Then to some cauldron thing which I didn't see the point of!
Then the sadtime happened of leaving everyone! So I gave hugs, and parted ways after an awesome two days <3 The rest of the night consisted of more chocolate, Waterloo Road, and Jersey Shore
.Day 6- Return to London
Since we didn't finish everything we wanted to do on Sunday, we went back to London on Wednesday after a nice and much needed sleeping in. Before leaving though, I watched Brad as he made us sandwiches! HA!
We hopped on the central line (yay for my knowledge of the underground) and got into London a bit later than we hoped, but oh well. We were hitting up the Dungeons first!
(They taste like mush, I assure you)
I really liked the London Dungeons! I wasn't even sure what it was exactly, a haunt or just a boring history talk, but it was a nice mix of both and it definitely lasted quite a while/kept my interest. I didn't know it had things like the boat ride and I completely forgot about the drop tower (which I screamed for, how embarassing), so yeah I'd say I was quite pleased! I disliked the first part with the mirrors because I got scared ****less, but it was funny when Brad got pulled up to have the torture devices demonstrated on him, yayy!
Bought slushies and other random stuff in the giftshop, the slushies ending up being amusing. First of all, I never thought it'd be so painful to order "a large blue slush and a small red slush," but finally he understood me, but then got the order wrong. Either way, we just kept trading slushies.. Usually when Brad's ran out of juice he'd trade it with mine until that one ran out of juice and then the cycled continued.. Anyways..
Before heading to Harrod's to see AJ, we went to London Bridge and the surrounding area. Was neat to see all of these landmarks that I had only ever seen in pictures or in movies!
Across the bridge was the Tower of London, where, despite what Brad tried to get me to believe, does not have live executions on the weekend (I promise I didn't believe it.. *cough*).
We then went to the underground for the eight millionth time (but it's so convenient and amazing) to go to Harrods where we met up with the fantastalicious AJ!
He gave us a tour around the store, which is GINORMOUS! We got to see the pet section, the toy section, the apple section.. It was just huge and amazing, yet expensive.
Toy car for £10,000 anyone?
We took the underground to Covent Gardens/Soho, and just walked around the area a bit.
Then we went to a steakhouse which I can't remember the name of, but it was an epic dinner full of good food (besides Brad's fish which tasted like actual mush), and immature/funny times!
The wine was gross.
He was being sexy with his salt shaker!
After dinner we went on the subway to where we would depart ways with AJ. Tears formed as he is amazing and I didn't want to leave him!
Me and Brad still had one more landmark to see, so we walked to Buckingham Palace. It was beautiful, and beautifully lit with no other tourists around, which made it nice. I couldn't really believe I was actually there!
Then we took the underground back to Brad's which took a good hour and a half, and called it a night!
Day 7- Lazy Day and Party
I didn't get any pics on this day, but basically didn't have anything planned until later in the night. We went for predrinks at his friend's house around 7, then took what seemed like a super long train ride to a random club in London which his friend rented out for his birthday. Oh and, I threw up on the train which was really super embarassing. Then the rest of the night we all got really drunk, ended up on Oxford street at a 24/7 McDonalds, got busted for sneaking onto a bus, and then busrode back to Brad's. I don't remember some of the night but.. It was a good time!
Stay tuned for day 8 and 9- Alton Towers!
WelcomeToOblivion
Giga Poster
be careful not to break a rib on The UltimateLiveForTheLaunch said:^ Ultimate and Nemesis are the two creds I most want in England, but Ultimate was too out of the way. I'll be coming back a few times in 2011 so I'll be sure to get it
. I still need the other LWV creds.
LiveForTheLaunch
CF Legend
^ Saw: the Ride above the Ultimate in your top ten? Suddenly Ultimate doesn't sound too promising .
Nah, I've been on rough coasters before, I think I can handle it :lol:
.Nah, I've been on rough coasters before, I think I can handle it :lol:
LiveForTheLaunch
CF Legend
^ Only you, Marcus.. Only you .
.
LiveForTheLaunch
CF Legend
Day 8- Alton Towers
So, being in England I decided I couldn't miss out on Alton Towers, so for an insane amount of money ($130 on the train tickets, $130 on the hotel, $35 on fasttracks, among other expenses) I decided we would go there.
We got up really early and after getting in later than 3am, we were both pretty tired. But thankfully, I didn't have a hangover, though Brad was a bit of a different story. The train journey to Euston went smooth, but we got there way before the train was due so we sat to eat Burger King, which had delicious hashbrowns and pancake bites as usual, though it had nasty coffee! Soon enough though, we were on our way.
When we got to Stoke-on-Trent, we realized that our train was going to be delayed by an hour, which was really annoying. But, rather than moaning about it, we went to Subway and chilled there for a little while, Brad eating a sub (which I realized sweet corn is a fab topping) and me eating a bag of oriental rib "crisps" <3 . When it was time to board the other train, which was literally the tiniest thing I had ever seen, it got a bit hectic because there were two trains that got delayed, all of us trying to get on this small little kaboose thing. Thankfully, Brad got on the train right before they stopped letting passengers on, but they let me on as I was with him, yay.
We got to Uttoxeter station just after 1 in the afternoon, where I saw FURIE, so I gave him a big hug. So we drove to the park, took the monorail to the entrance, and finally we were ready to go in and ride some stuff (after getting our special access passes that would let us jump the huge lines).
The first thing on the agenda was Sonic Spinball. It was amazing because Sonic is amazing, but otherwise it was just an average spinner, nothing to write home about. It spun decently, but it's not even close to being as good as Dragon's Fury! Still, me and Sonic got to share a tender moment:
Then it was time for something more exciting- Oblivion! I didn't think I'd like this ride that much because it just seemed like a one trick pony that didn't do an insanely exciting trick. But, I was wrong! I screamed all the way down, and the drop just seemed to keep going and going! It was such a rush and it made it into my top twenty coasters. I still stand by my opinion that dive machines should focus more on the drop rather than an entire layout, just like Oblivion does. Also, walking towards Oblivion and seeing the castle and everything, I realized how beautiful the park was!
Heading to Oblivion!
I believe we did Charlie and the Chocolate Factory next, which I thought might be cute despite all the horrible things I had heard about it. I didn't like the Johnny Depp version of the movie but it was still alright and I figured they could make a decent ride out of it but it was a bit ridiculous. You sit in a boat and go around and see pretty much nothing. The glass elevator was the only cool part, and even that wasn't that cool .
We decided to skip Hex for the day, as we would be back tomorrow anyways. Besides, if we had skipped the line with our passes, I might have missed the theming which really is the whole point of it. With that being said, we headed to the Dark Forest to ride Rita and Thirteen.
Rita is one of those coasters I didn't know much about. I knew it just had turns and hills but I still didn't know the layout. Nobody else rode but me and Steph, and I actually didn't think it was too bad. The launch was really forceful, if only it went to a higher maximum speed, it'd be one of the best launches I have ever been on (anyone know the acceleration rate?). There was decent airtime on the hills, but it was a bit snappy and overall not an amazing ride. Still better than what people give it credit for, though!
After Rita we headed straight over to Thirteen. Basically all I can say is that, besides the first drop and the little drops in the tunnel thing, it's a poor poor poor excuse for a coaster! It just didn't do anything for me, and I understand it's meant to be a family coaster but still, it's just a pile of crap.
After that, we walked around a bit and then rode Duel, or as you Brits call it, "Jool".
Unfortunately Jool had been turned into some kind of haunted thing instead of a shooter, which disappointed me as I wanted to beat everyone with my awesome skills. It was still cute though and they definitely put effort into it.
Next on the agenda was the coaster I had pretty much come all the way there for. NEMESIS!
The coaster was so awesome looking! I knew it was in a trench and stuff but the theming and the atmosphere is amazing. As for the coaster itself, my first ride I can't really say I was overwhelmed. I thought it was maybe a low top ten or top fifteen coaster at best. But then I rode it again and decided it was amazing. It picks up speed so well and it's just so intense and awesome, better and more unique then any other invert I have ever ridden, and I put it as #6.
Being right next to Nemesis, Air was next! We waited quite a while for it, even with our special access passes. I don't know why everyone hates on Air! I think it's a decent length, very fun, not too intense, and definitely better than the Superman coasters because I think it pulls off the flying thing better.
After Air I believe we only had two more credits left to get, so we headed over to Katanga Canyon for some Runaway Mine Train goodness! And this was one of my favourite mine trains.
Beastie was the last credit I needed, so me, Ciaran, and Steph rode it while the others sat out as they were clearly too cool for it. It was good fun though, we were all laughing for pretty much the entire thing. Tragic, I know, but I didn't get any photos of the coaster .
We decided one more night ride on Oblivion would be the last thing we would do, so while Furie went to retrieve the car, we all took a ride.
It was amazing as usual, and even though I'm pretty sure I caught something in my mouth, I loved it!
We met Furie at the meeting spot and he then drove us to the hotel, where we said goodbye . It was so nice to meet him finally, as well as Ciaran (who got the Canadian dissing thing down well) and Steph! Then we crashed, as we had to get up for another day at Alton!
Day 9- Alton again!
The morning started off fairly rough as we heard so many different things about the busses going to Alton. Everyone was giving us different times and due to traffic, all the times were messed up. So after grabbing a bunch of food from the Spar, we waited for the bus that never came, and finally decided to just take a taxi to the main bus station where we saw HIX waiting for us! We all got on the bus and had a fairly long journey to the actual park since the traffic was pretty bad and then we had to get our fast tracks sorted, etc, but we got in around one and only had til a little after four in the park!
After we got the fast tracks sorted, me and Brad went to the little zoo thing (which had a big lack of animals) and went through a random maze that had a bunch of five year olds playing in it, just to kill time.
Once we got a hold of Hix, we didn't want to waste any time, so we headed straight to Nemesis which was amazing as usual! We rode near the back once again, and even though I never rode the front, I don't think anything can beat the back!
Then we rode Air.. Which was fun. Not much else to say since I already reviewed it!
We walked through the gardens on the way to Burger King and Hex, which were beautiful but made me exhausted because of all the stairs!
Once our stomachs were all full on junk, we got in line for Hex, which didn't have an insanely long line but it broke down right before it was our turn, so that made the wait a little bit longer. Still, the theming is amazing, the story is really cool, and Vekoma Madhouses in general are just awesome! They pull off the illusion really good, and the poor girl across from us was like freaking out so bad </3
The last ride of the day was to be Oblivion, which also broke down once but for a very short period of time. We waited a little while for it before boarding, and we got on just in time because if we hadn't got on just then we would have had to leave since me and Brad had to catch our bus. It was a great way to end off a great time at Alton!
Hix walked with us back to the gates where I had one of the most relieving pees of my life, then I said goodbye to him which was really sad as he's awesome!
Me and Brad got on the bus and got to the train station with a couple of minutes to spare! We ended up getting back to his place just a bit after nine.
Day 10- Home
Yeah not much to say about this day other than a very very early morning and a whole lot of tears on my part. The flights all went pretty smooth but transferring in Phili, I came within ten minutes of missing my flight even though I had two and a half hours between them. They're way too hardcore with their security there! I ended up getting back to my residence at school at like, midnight, so it was a long and sad day and I just wanted to crash when I got back, even though people were partying in costumes all over the place.
I had an amazing trip and want to thank everyone that was a part of it. I will be back in England in December so if anyone wants to meet up somewhere let me know .
So, being in England I decided I couldn't miss out on Alton Towers, so for an insane amount of money ($130 on the train tickets, $130 on the hotel, $35 on fasttracks, among other expenses) I decided we would go there.
We got up really early and after getting in later than 3am, we were both pretty tired. But thankfully, I didn't have a hangover, though Brad was a bit of a different story. The train journey to Euston went smooth, but we got there way before the train was due so we sat to eat Burger King, which had delicious hashbrowns and pancake bites as usual, though it had nasty coffee! Soon enough though, we were on our way.
When we got to Stoke-on-Trent, we realized that our train was going to be delayed by an hour, which was really annoying. But, rather than moaning about it, we went to Subway and chilled there for a little while, Brad eating a sub (which I realized sweet corn is a fab topping) and me eating a bag of oriental rib "crisps" <3 . When it was time to board the other train, which was literally the tiniest thing I had ever seen, it got a bit hectic because there were two trains that got delayed, all of us trying to get on this small little kaboose thing. Thankfully, Brad got on the train right before they stopped letting passengers on, but they let me on as I was with him, yay.
We got to Uttoxeter station just after 1 in the afternoon, where I saw FURIE, so I gave him a big hug. So we drove to the park, took the monorail to the entrance, and finally we were ready to go in and ride some stuff (after getting our special access passes that would let us jump the huge lines).
The first thing on the agenda was Sonic Spinball. It was amazing because Sonic is amazing, but otherwise it was just an average spinner, nothing to write home about. It spun decently, but it's not even close to being as good as Dragon's Fury! Still, me and Sonic got to share a tender moment:
Then it was time for something more exciting- Oblivion! I didn't think I'd like this ride that much because it just seemed like a one trick pony that didn't do an insanely exciting trick. But, I was wrong! I screamed all the way down, and the drop just seemed to keep going and going! It was such a rush and it made it into my top twenty coasters. I still stand by my opinion that dive machines should focus more on the drop rather than an entire layout, just like Oblivion does. Also, walking towards Oblivion and seeing the castle and everything, I realized how beautiful the park was!
Heading to Oblivion!
I believe we did Charlie and the Chocolate Factory next, which I thought might be cute despite all the horrible things I had heard about it. I didn't like the Johnny Depp version of the movie but it was still alright and I figured they could make a decent ride out of it but it was a bit ridiculous. You sit in a boat and go around and see pretty much nothing. The glass elevator was the only cool part, and even that wasn't that cool
.
We decided to skip Hex for the day, as we would be back tomorrow anyways. Besides, if we had skipped the line with our passes, I might have missed the theming which really is the whole point of it. With that being said, we headed to the Dark Forest to ride Rita and Thirteen.
Rita is one of those coasters I didn't know much about. I knew it just had turns and hills but I still didn't know the layout. Nobody else rode but me and Steph, and I actually didn't think it was too bad. The launch was really forceful, if only it went to a higher maximum speed, it'd be one of the best launches I have ever been on (anyone know the acceleration rate?). There was decent airtime on the hills, but it was a bit snappy and overall not an amazing ride. Still better than what people give it credit for, though!
After Rita we headed straight over to Thirteen. Basically all I can say is that, besides the first drop and the little drops in the tunnel thing, it's a poor poor poor excuse for a coaster! It just didn't do anything for me, and I understand it's meant to be a family coaster but still, it's just a pile of crap.
After that, we walked around a bit and then rode Duel, or as you Brits call it, "Jool".
Unfortunately Jool had been turned into some kind of haunted thing instead of a shooter, which disappointed me as I wanted to beat everyone with my awesome skills. It was still cute though and they definitely put effort into it.
Next on the agenda was the coaster I had pretty much come all the way there for. NEMESIS!
The coaster was so awesome looking! I knew it was in a trench and stuff but the theming and the atmosphere is amazing. As for the coaster itself, my first ride I can't really say I was overwhelmed. I thought it was maybe a low top ten or top fifteen coaster at best. But then I rode it again and decided it was amazing. It picks up speed so well and it's just so intense and awesome, better and more unique then any other invert I have ever ridden, and I put it as #6.
Being right next to Nemesis, Air was next! We waited quite a while for it, even with our special access passes. I don't know why everyone hates on Air! I think it's a decent length, very fun, not too intense, and definitely better than the Superman coasters because I think it pulls off the flying thing better.
After Air I believe we only had two more credits left to get, so we headed over to Katanga Canyon for some Runaway Mine Train goodness! And this was one of my favourite mine trains.
Beastie was the last credit I needed, so me, Ciaran, and Steph rode it while the others sat out as they were clearly too cool for it. It was good fun though, we were all laughing for pretty much the entire thing. Tragic, I know, but I didn't get any photos of the coaster
.We decided one more night ride on Oblivion would be the last thing we would do, so while Furie went to retrieve the car, we all took a ride.
It was amazing as usual, and even though I'm pretty sure I caught something in my mouth, I loved it!
We met Furie at the meeting spot and he then drove us to the hotel, where we said goodbye
. It was so nice to meet him finally, as well as Ciaran (who got the Canadian dissing thing down well) and Steph! Then we crashed, as we had to get up for another day at Alton!Day 9- Alton again!
The morning started off fairly rough as we heard so many different things about the busses going to Alton. Everyone was giving us different times and due to traffic, all the times were messed up. So after grabbing a bunch of food from the Spar, we waited for the bus that never came, and finally decided to just take a taxi to the main bus station where we saw HIX waiting for us! We all got on the bus and had a fairly long journey to the actual park since the traffic was pretty bad and then we had to get our fast tracks sorted, etc, but we got in around one and only had til a little after four in the park!
After we got the fast tracks sorted, me and Brad went to the little zoo thing (which had a big lack of animals) and went through a random maze that had a bunch of five year olds playing in it, just to kill time.
Once we got a hold of Hix, we didn't want to waste any time, so we headed straight to Nemesis which was amazing as usual! We rode near the back once again, and even though I never rode the front, I don't think anything can beat the back!
Then we rode Air.. Which was fun. Not much else to say since I already reviewed it!
We walked through the gardens on the way to Burger King and Hex, which were beautiful but made me exhausted because of all the stairs!
Once our stomachs were all full on junk, we got in line for Hex, which didn't have an insanely long line but it broke down right before it was our turn, so that made the wait a little bit longer. Still, the theming is amazing, the story is really cool, and Vekoma Madhouses in general are just awesome! They pull off the illusion really good, and the poor girl across from us was like freaking out so bad </3
The last ride of the day was to be Oblivion, which also broke down once but for a very short period of time. We waited a little while for it before boarding, and we got on just in time because if we hadn't got on just then we would have had to leave since me and Brad had to catch our bus. It was a great way to end off a great time at Alton!
Hix walked with us back to the gates where I had one of the most relieving pees of my life, then I said goodbye to him which was really sad as he's awesome!
Me and Brad got on the bus and got to the train station with a couple of minutes to spare! We ended up getting back to his place just a bit after nine.
Day 10- Home
Yeah not much to say about this day other than a very very early morning and a whole lot of tears on my part. The flights all went pretty smooth but transferring in Phili, I came within ten minutes of missing my flight even though I had two and a half hours between them. They're way too hardcore with their security there! I ended up getting back to my residence at school at like, midnight, so it was a long and sad day and I just wanted to crash when I got back, even though people were partying in costumes all over the place.
I had an amazing trip and want to thank everyone that was a part of it. I will be back in England in December so if anyone wants to meet up somewhere let me know
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WelcomeToOblivion
Giga Poster
^Taylor. I hate you right now for distracting me from my assignment. Lol jk thanks
LiveForTheLaunch
CF Legend
^ soo-reee! And I realized some of my pics doubled for some reason but oh well.
WelcomeToOblivion
Giga Poster
haha, nah, Alton Towers is much better than Human Rights Law, so it's no big deal. I'm glad you loved Nemesis and Oblivion. They are amazing rides oh and Rita goes from 0-62mph (100km/h) in about 2.2 seconds if that's what you meant
. I think if I re-rode The Ultimate it would move up. It's been a few months haha
oh and Rita goes from 0-62mph (100km/h) in about 2.2 seconds if that's what you meant That was a tough choice to be honest haha. I'm such a loser for liking Saw: The Ride that muchLiveForTheLaunch said:^ Saw: the Ride above the Ultimate in your top ten? Suddenly Ultimate doesn't sound too promising
Nah, I've been on rough coasters before, I think I can handle it :lol:
. I think if I re-rode The Ultimate it would move up. It's been a few months haha
Glad you had fun Taylor, although I must ask, why are some of the pictures repeated? It's annoying.
It was a pretty nice day actually, sure we didn't have a huge ride-count, but we certainly had fun (well I did at least). Also, we should've queued for the front on Nemesis, I thought you'd done it with furie etc the day before, so I wasn't that fussed!
<3
It was a pretty nice day actually, sure we didn't have a huge ride-count, but we certainly had fun (well I did at least). Also, we should've queued for the front on Nemesis, I thought you'd done it with furie etc the day before, so I wasn't that fussed!
<3
LiveForTheLaunch
CF Legend
I dunno what happened with that, I think maybe when I went to copy and paste the next photo, it didn't copy and paste properly so just repeated the previous one.
Yah I had a lot of fun! You boys are a laugh to hang around with :lol: . Our ride count wasn't huge but for just a bit over three hours and how busy the park was, I think we got a good amount done!
LiveForTheLaunch
CF Legend
^ Yeah, I was gonna say that the acceleration felt faster than that. It's definitely one of the strongest I've been on, anyways.