It all started with an invitation from Suzy for a day out at Alton Towers with her, Cyd and Jessie. She had found that by pre booking early it wasn’t going to cost us an arm and a leg. Of course, Netti and I were up for it as was Harry, who wanted to go on his first big rides. Kate also said she’d come along. The big surprise addition to the party was Cain, who said he was coming to keep Harry company. As we had planned to be on our way by 8.30am Kate and Harvey slept over at our house so she didn’t have to drag Harvey; who had decided a theme park wasn’t for him; out of bed.
We woke up to a wet and miserable morning but, undeterred, we sorted out who was going in which car, made coffee for the journey and eventually set off at 8.50. We made good time and in the time it took to get to Derby the weather had brightened and there were patches of blue sky. Our spirits started to lift, maybe it wasn’t going to be so bad after all. However, as we followed a heavy lorry, very slowly, for several miles through numerous little villages, our hopes were dashed. Heavy black clouds rolled in, the heavens opened and we were driving in torrential rain, still behind the slow moving lorry, due to the twists and turns of the road and the 50mph speed limit. As we reached the turning I thought we needed I was praying that the lorry didn’t take the same turn. I turned into the junction with a sigh of relief as the lorry sailed on past. Only to become really disorientated; unusual for me; and decided I had taken a wrong turning. So we had to find somewhere for two cars to turn around and head back to the main road. Where Kate checked on my maps app to find I had been right all along and we now needed to turn around again and retrace our steps. Cain commented that it was like being on a white knuckle ride as we hurtled along the country lanes until we caught up and joined a long line of cars, all heading to Alton Towers. It was still raining. Once at the theme park it seemed to take ages to get to the car park and by the time we got parked up everyone was desperate for the toilet. It’s a good job the car park toilets were open as, with the monorail not running, we had long walk to the main entrance and several of us would never have made it. But at least the rain had stopped. At the entrance we hit our next hurdle. The phone reception has always been dire at Alton Towers so Suzy couldn’t get into her emails to retrieve the tickets, which needed to be scanned. So there we were, all trying to get our phones to work so she could log in to her emails. In the end the guy on the gate suggested we go to the ticket collection office where they would be able to retrieve the booking. In the end, whilst Netti and I queued, she managed to get online for long enough to access the tickets. By the time we were strolling down the main street in search of coffee the rain had stopped and a weak and watery sun was shining through a small chink in the clouds, warming it up enough for me to dispense with my jacket. We found a cafe, bought coffee and went back outside just as the rain started again. It looked like this was going to be the pattern for the day. We, well, Netti and I really, decided that we ought to check out Oblivion first as Harry had watched the video and said he’d like to try it. When we got there we were told the queue was closed as it was too long, but if we wanted to wait for ten minutes it should reopen. So we waited….. and waited….. and waited….. They had decided to put two extra cars on the track so we had to wait whilst this was done and all the safety checks were completed. And in the time we were waiting the clouds had cleared, the sun was beating down from a clear blue sky, the heat had risen to furnace level and everyone was stripping off their warm layers and bemoaning the fact that we had dressed for a cool, dull day. When we eventually got our turn on the ride we had to get straight off the car we were on and wait for the next one since Cain needed the one with the larger seat; well, with all his weight training, he is a man mountain. After the ride Harry couldn’t make up his mind whether he liked it or not but Jessie appeared to have enjoyed it.
Next up was everyones favourite, Hex, for which we queued for a good 40 minutes with no shelter from the now blazing sun only for Harry to hate it so much that when it ended he literally ran from the ride. We then went to check out Rita and Thirteen but decided that a 2 hour wait for each was a bit excessive. I love these rides but even I don’t think they are worth wasting 4 hours of my time for five minutes of ride time. By this time we were all getting a bit hangry so we decided to get some food. Kate wanted to get herself a tikka wrap but the overall consensus was to find the burger place Netti remembered from a prior visit. In the end Kate decided to go back and get her wrap, the better choice I think, because the burgers were not the best and were barely warm. Whilst we were in the burger bar it had started to rain again so rather that walk to the opposite side of the park we convinced Netti to take the skyride. Netti hates heights and getting into a glass bubble suspended on a cable stretched over a deep chasm is something she has always managed to avoid. Until now.
Once over the other side we decided to head for Nemesis, one of my all time favourite rides, which only had a 40 minute queue. As we wound our way along the path Harry kept telling Netti that if the ride went upside down he wasn’t going on, to which Netti kept replying that it didn’t go upside down. Until we were standing under the main twist.
“You lied” accused Harry.
“No I didn’t, you’re on the outside of the rail so you just twist over” said Netti.
By the time we got to the front of the queue he was crying so much I really thought we’d be told he couldn’t go on, especially as we were on the front car. Netti and Suzy opted for the second row with Harry and Jessie leaving Cyd, Cain, Kate and me on the front row, not something that happens often. Once the ride was over Harry decided he quite liked the ride after all and Jessie wanted to go on again. We then decided to head for either the new Wicker Man ride or the river rapids. On our way we went on Duel and racked up a few points shooting at ghosts and ghouls. Well, everyone apart from me, who can’t hit a stationary target at one pace never mind multiple moving targets at a distance. The sun was blazing down again by the time we reached the lake. Kate and I checked the queue for the Wicker Man, another 2+ hour wait, before we decided to head for the Congo River Rapids. Which had just shut down as we got there. We weren’t having much luck with our ride choices today. To pass the time we went on the Runaway Mine Train hoping the rapids would reopen by the time we got off. It was so we joined the queue. All I can say is what has happened to this ride? No water jets, no splashes, no risk of getting wet, all in all quite disappointing. The only good thing was we got a really nice photo, the only one without having to have our facemasks on.
After the rapids we gave Jessie and Harry the choice of a few of the lesser rides or queuing for the Wicker Man. They opted for more of the lesser rides, particularly as Jessie wanted to go on the Spinball Whizzer and time was getting on and we had to follow the one way system from the rapids exit. Netti, Harry and Cain decided to take a slow stroll to the pirate ship whilst the rest of us hurried across the green to the Spinball Whizzer, which only had a ten minute queue. As we exited the ride I joked to Jessie that if we were quick we might get another go, so whilst Suzy, Cyd and Kate were discussing what to do next Jessie and I nipped back through the gate for another go. This time as we left the ride I spotted that the entrance was still open and asked if we should go again. Jessie didn’t need much convincing and we snuck round again. Suzy later commented that it was funny watching Jessie trying to avoid looking their way as we sneaked round. The young attendant chap at the start of the ride had a bit of a joke with us as we ran up for the third time, which turned out to be our last ride of the day. We then had to locate Netti, Cain and Harry and Kate, who had gone off to the shops in search of a present for Harvey. The shop was the most traumatic experience of the day. We had put off buying stuff around the park as the assistant in one of the outlets had told us we could get everything on sale there in the main shop. No, we couldn’t. In the end, since we’d already promised he could look for Joey’s birthday present, we had to compromise and buy something else.
Then came the long walk back to the car park, which seemed even longer as we were all shattered and our feet were hurting. Even though I wasn’t relishing the drive home I unlocked the car and slid into my seat with a sense of relief. Thankfully it was a relatively easy drive, apart from going all the way round the roundabout in Derby because I missed my exit. Back home, despite our tiredness, we were soon discussing another visit.
