The UK’s biggest and most renowned theme park, is set in the grounds of the Alton Towers estate and is a world of extremes, from ultra modern theme park rides to beautiful historic gardens and the ruined remains of the towers themselves ominously looming over the fun.

In recent years the collection of rides, attractions and entertainment has become so large, two hotels have successfully opened and a water park, turning one of the most popular British days out into an exciting resort.

What’s New?

Rita The Queen of Speed, a launched roller coaster, that starts with a bang, blasting you from 0 to 100kph in 2.5 seconds, slamming you into the back of your seat before hurtling around a twisting track, quickly changing direction, tilting from left to right around the trees ahead of a brief and comfortable halt leaving passengers with a disorientating and confusing “what just happened?” conclusion.    

Roller Coasters

Thrill-seekers come from all over to ride the world-renowned white knuckle roller coasters, of Alton Towers, none more infamous than Nemesis, an inverted coaster where riders sit in chairs suspended underneath the track. As the train leaves the station, the floor drops out of riders’ paths leaving their legs freely dangling and exposed to a multitude of near misses with industrial themed objects, a jagged rocky canyon and cascading torrents of red water. That’s just for starters the actual ride is a sharp rush through four exhilarating upside down inversions, that leave your legs kicking up at the sky, including two corkscrews, a loop and the utterly breath-taking zero g roll, all of which are interlinked by a storm of intense action.       

Test your nerves beyond the edge on Oblivion, as it mischievously pauses, treating victims to a face first view down its 180ft vertical drop into a misting crater in the ground. After an agonising three seconds the shuttles are released plummeting deep underground through a dark tunnel.    

Take to flight on Air, a unique in Europe roller coaster which simulates the experience of flying, soaring around the Staffordshire countryside you’ll dive, flip and swoop like a majestic bird or your favourite super hero. Although made out to be a white knuckle ride, Air is gentler than Nemesis and Oblivion and provides an intriguing calm exhilarating sensation. 

The Corkscrew was the first white-knuckle ride to open at the park and is certainly growing old disgracefully, the ride is sadly a bit too bumpy and if you watch the people leaving the exit, you’ll see a lot of people holding their necks! 

Spinball Whizzer is one of the more recent additions, riders sit back to back, in individual four seat cars and are lunged into a roller coaster version of pinball, spinning round and round, plummeting down sharp drops, through near vertical hairpin turns and into tightly winding coils. Although it may look like it’ll make you dizzy, surprisingly it isn’t as sickening as it looks from the ground.   

All aboard the Runaway Mine Train and attempt to catch the gold rush, this family friendly roller coaster darts around the river rapids, travelling into a dark mine shaft. For future coaster nuts there is the Beastie a calm junior roller coaster. 

Other Rides

Journey deep inside the towers to experience the magical legend of Hex come alive in an interactive show, ride experience. Equally as eerie is Duel the Haunted House Strikes Back, an updated version of the classic haunted house ghost ride, grab your laser gun to zap zombies that are taking over the spooky house. 

More hair-raising fun can be had on the parks collection of thrill rides including the tumbling Ripsaw which after a few high speed flips slowly lowers riders into a wall of soaking water jets.  

Drift down the white waters of the Congo River Rapids avoiding the crashing waves and drenching waterfalls and experience bath time on an enormous scale, as classic Flume ride has been re-themed, to include oversized showers, rubber ducks and bath time splashes into its forest bound course.

Sedate rides include Toyland Tours a boat voyage through a toy factory, the sceneic drive of the Vintage Cars and the acorns of the Squirrel Nutty’s Ride which glide through the treetops of Storybook Land.

There are plenty of rides especially designed for the younger children including Frog Hopper and Bouncing Bugs, as well as the farmyard themed adventures of Old Macdonald’s Farm.   

Getting Around  

Alton Towers is huge, with rides, attractions, shops, cafes and guest facilities concentrated into several themed clusters, which are quite spread out amongst the park’s dramatic terrain, so prepare yourself for a lot of walking.

To help take the strain out of walking so far, the Monorail transfers guests between the hotels, main car park and park entrance. Inside the park cable cars provide a scenic aerial shortcut from Merrie England to Forbidden Valley, and from Forbidden Valley to Cred Street and vice versa.  

Around the park are a few handy electronic signs which display up to date information, including show times and queue lengths. 

Queues 

One of the longest lines is for Spinball Whizzer, its near the front of the park and can only take four people at a time so the lines can get quite lengthy, so try and do this early on. 

The water rides are popular, and the lines peak around mid-day and early afternoon.

Oblivion, Nemesis and Air can attract long lines, but don’t let this put you off, the trains seat a lot of people, so the queue will move quite quickly.  

Food For Thought

McDonalds, Pizza Hut, KFC are here bringing familiar fast food from the high street, there’s also the BBQ styled Hogs Head & Courtyard Tavern outlets and the Towers Family Restaurant which serves traditional English dishes.

For a light snacks there’s plenty of kiosks serving a variety of food, from kebabs, to hotdogs, to doughnuts and waffles dotted around the park.

In Case Of Bad Weather

Duel and Hex are completely undercover and good rides to head too, the Tea Cups, Carousel have covered canopies to keep the rain off.

Why not check out one of the shows, including the Ice Arena, Tweenies Show or 3D Cinema. 

The Verdict

The park has a great collection of rides, with truly something to suit all tastes and ages.

Despite been very popular, the quantity of rides and shows absorb the crowds very well, so queuing shouldn’t be too much of a problem.  

Alton Towers is buzzing with a magical atmosphere the combination of legendary rides and the unique setting make this theme park very special.

2000 Review by Chris Cox

The UK's number one theme park, and the biggest in the UK, where to start! Well, lets just take you round the park, land by land! 

After parking your car, you hop on the monorail for the magic to begin! You then from that get a small insight to the park, Nemesis, The Haunted House, The Congo River Rapids, all there waiting for you to ride! Once you disembark the monorail, you buy your ticket and enter Towers Street, the starting point of the magic!

Walking down the street, you are greeted with the view of the towers, over the lake, and to your left and right, themed shops, cafes, etc... Then you have a choice, left or right?! Right to the X-Sector, left to Forbidden Valley, its up to you!

Lets go left! If you want to go straight on to Nemesis, you can hop onto the Skyway, which will take you from Towers Street, to Forbidden Valley, to UG Land, and then back! A quick way for those who don't want to walk! Lazy!!

Into Merry England, full of side shows, games a 3D cinema, which rumor has it will be changing to a 4/5D cinema in a year's time and two rides, The Tea Cups and The Log Flume. Now, this used to be the world longest, it is long, but a tad boring! Three drops though, a small one, a dark one, then the last high one, and the good thing is, you don't get that wet! The Flume though is very scenic, through the woods, as with all log flumes, its nothing special, its not themed, but still worth a go.

Walking further round, you get to The Runaway Mine Train, and the old Congo River Rapids, along with a few shops, and an eatery, (KFC and Pizza Hut)  I'm not sure if it is meant to resemble the wild west, or the Congo, a mix of both, but a effective mix!    

The Congo River Rapids, are very old, but still fun. As with all rapids, they are round, this one seats six people, you leave the station, and you journey on the Congo begins! A relaxing ride, at first, still not for thrill seekers, but for fun seekers. The rapids start to flow, as your tub, begins to get faster and faster, and you begin to see the white water! The tubs, bob up and down, and slop in and out of waves, sometimes really covering and soaking you, sometimes just wetting your feat! A unique part of the rapids, is when you go into a tunnel, along with The Runaway Mine Train to the side of you. If you are lucky enough to be at the same time as the Train, then its a great laugh, seeing them storm by and you get wet!  Then after a few more twists, turns, and sloshes, you get your photo taken, and then you go along the waterfall passage! Waterfalls falling to both sides of you, splashing your tub, and if your very unfortunate, your tub, might just veer a bit close to one of them, and the people on that side, will get, well...soaked! Then back up a hill and into the station! Fun, Soggy, and although old, still not outclassed, by other rides.

Now then The Runaway Mine Train.  Not the best themeing, but it fits in nicely to the surrounding areas. You get to go round twice, which is nice, and you do pick up quite a bit of speed, and even a bit of G-Force in places!

Leaving the station, you helix round to the left, and end up above the station, and in-between lots of wood, and old mine equipment, doing a few small bumps! Then you helix quite sharply down, and into the tunnel with the Congo River Rapids, this is tight, massively banked and a place where you do pull your arms in if they are up, head chopper illusion or what! Then through the tunnel, out a turn to the left and back into the station. A fun ride, always, and great for the kids who can't do Nemesis or Oblivion, but are working up to the Corkscrew.

Leaving Katanga Canyon, via a wooded path, you can hear some music in the distance, some very spooky music, and from the woods, and trees you see the turrets of an abandoned, haunted house, rise in front of you, just like in a horror movie. Do you dare to ride? 

The music gets louder and the house gets closer, then you are there, it is looming over you, temptingly inviting you in. Go on, you know you want to. I'm sure Alton have done some tweaking to the ride over the winter break, its a lot darker than it used to be, making it more eerie, and nerve raking, good work fellas, it is a lot better, but back to the ride.  

After getting into the house, you first walk through the main room, down a corridor, still queuing I might add, and then into a slanted room! As you step in, the whole room is at and angle, and you to, so it feels quite strange! Then after leaving that room, which has dramatically built up the tension and anxiety, you get to the loading platform, and all you can see in empty coffins come in, but full ones leave, where did the people go?? As you board, the two leveled three seater coffins, you have one second to think about ducking out and leaving the ride, too late though, as the safety bar comes down, to keep you safe, or is it to stop you leaving?

Then your coffin leaves the station, and you are on your own in the house. Large monsters, darkness, loud and strange noises all threaten you, spiders, ghosts, and things that make you jump are all there. To frighten and amuse you! Parts of it, will make you jump, parts will just make you think, cool! But it is not a bad ride at all. Ok you do eventually get off the ride, and leave, your not in any danger, and the house isn't haunted, but it is still worth a ride, not to scare you, but to amuse you. 

Leaving Gloomy Wood, you can't help but hear a roar, and screams, why? Is the haunted house that scary? NO! Forbidden Valley loams, and Nemesis, has its guests all quivering. As you can hear the noise, you want to see it, but the trees block your view, until suddenly its there, Forbidden Valley, home to the mighty Nemesis, the worlds most intense coaster, Ripsaw and Blade, along with as with every land, Shops and Food areas!

In with all the stone, browns, grays and yellows, there is a purple monster, parts of it all over the valley, parts that have fallen off Nemesis. You have to remember, how Nemesis in the theme, grew out of the ground, and now as you go to ride it, you are pulled and slammed through its body, over its body, under its body, all for your pleasure!

So as you enter what can be a long long line, you are walking in the queue down into the massive hole that Nemesis is situated in. This is why it is so intense, there are no trim breaks, so it never stops! The whole ride being in a hole, makes it even better, dropping under and flying over the queue line, amazing! So after you have queued, and seen most of the ride, from many angles, you finally get into the station, where the Nemesis music really kicks in adding tension and fear to the ride. You can then choose to queue an extra 30 minutes or so for the front row, which really is a completely different ride, and you have an amazing view or you can site elsewhere. Oh did I mention why the front is so good, because the four across seats are inverted! Yes inverted, so you are dangling below the track, and you get the flying sensation!

Well once your harness is down, the thumbs of the ride op's are up, and off the train goes, turning, and then climbing the rather short and not very high lift hill. 

So once the climb has finished, one just long enough to make you wonder why you are on this ride, you then start to drop, and you can see all below you, only a short drop though as your turn, dropping a bit more to the left, then another small drop over a waterfall, over the top of the queue, and then finally into the first corkscrew, an amazing feeling, seeing all below you go upside down, and smiling for the camera, just as you finish the corkscrew. Then swooping over the queue you drop into a sharp, G Force ridden helix round to the right, with your legs, almost hitting the iron railing which stops onlookers getting in the way of the train! Then your car slams you up over the station and into a zero G, weightless inline twist, only just enough room, for you not to him the top of the station, you come right out of your seat, and you shoulders hit into the top of the restraints, your glad that they are there now! After that you are pushed down, over a large hole, and helixes to the right, picking up speed, and then dropping down into the hole, gathering the speed, heading straight for the queue line, before being pushed to the back of your seat, and entering the vertical loop, it is the best vertical loop in the world, and you are on the outside of it! Seeing your legs with the sky above them, unbeatable!

But then after what seems like hours, you come out of the loop, and drop under the queue line, and above the red (blood!) water. There is no stopping here though, you go up and down, left and right, under the station again, just as you think the ride is coming to an end, you hit my favorite sneaky bit! Dropping under the station, you suddenly hit a corkscrew, which sends your legs so close to a steaming "crash" lorry, the sensation here is pure fear! You really think your legs are going to go! Then a final helix round to the right and into the first and last set of trim breaks, leaving you thinking wow, and you eyes streaming with water, from your eyes. The ride really is intense, and never lets up, this is the best inverted coaster in the world! The themeing is supreme, the dilapidated stone, red water and the main Nemesis alien, really is the second to none. If you miss this then you might as well miss the whole park, although it is 4 years old, it is still by far the best coaster at Alton, and well in the UK.

Also in Forbidden Valley, you can go on the Blade, a normal pirate ship, with the themeing, then we have Ripsaw. 

So Ripsaw, a simple Top Spin, themed as usual, but with water jets! You sit in the two rows, and the thing spins, and drops you into the water! It really is good fun, and on cold days they let off the water, which is nice, but if you go in the summer, prepare to come off wet and dizzy!  (For Top Spin details look at the Chessington Review!)

So hopping on the skyway, from Forbidden Valley you go over the gardens, they are lovely, but for those thrill seekers, your looking in the wrong place! The Skyway leaves the gardens, and you can make out the bright colors of UG Land, The Land Where Fun Began! As your gondola goes over it, you can see that Alton have done very well themeing it. It is themed as a stone age, area of the park, with dinosaurs, well you don't see them, but you see cave men walking round, and all the rides and shop really nicely fit in, nothing looks out of place, except your lack of costume! After you get off the skyway, you have to walk round past Mc Donalds, and Cred Street, which is home to the kids rides, such as Toyland Tours, very similar to Professor Burps Bubble Works at Chessington, and new for this year The Barney Show, sorry I didn't go to this area!!! But then you can see the entrance to Hex, looming over you, and you can see the Chinese restaurant, before seeing the UG Land entrance, lets go in! 

As soon as you enter UG Land you can see the whole of it, The Corkscrew, Dino Dancers, The UG Swinger, The show tree, the shops and games, all themed really well. That is what I love about Alton, and what makes it a class above Blackpool Pleasure Beach, its themeing makes the whole experience so much better, then just bunging rides in! So you can buy some food here is UG Land, or have a go at the themed games, on being Soakasaurus! Great Fun! You buy a bucket of water balloons, go into a special area, and fill up your catapult with them. Firing at your friend, and getting them wet, good old time fun, but a tad expensive for 7 water balloons! £1.50, a bit of a rip off to say the least, but I still went on it!

So the rides, well you have the usual funfair style rides all themed, a classic wave swinger and a Tea Cups ride gone wrong, they are nothing special, and are just there to go on something, the only special ride is The Corkscrew. This was Alton's Premier coaster, it has always been in the park, and was my first ever coaster! It is rough nowadays, yes, and they have now put the photo point back on it! It is old, yet does give you some wicked Air Time as you go down the first drop, especially if you are in the back of the ride! So the first drop is humped, and then you turn to the left into the two slow corkscrews, they are still possibly the best corkscrews ever! You really see the whole world turn round! Then some helixes, drops, dips nothing extraordinary, but still great fun! They have also spruced it up thanks to the UG Land themeing, which is really good, especially the Lift Hill box, just see the picture!

So that's UG Land, still new, still original and well worth the money, if the park doesn't have themed areas then it is not a theme park in my opinion, its just a big funfair! Ah yes, Hex The Legend Of The Towers, new for 2000, and a ride which actually uses the towers! The entrance is very proud, as it looms down on you, just putting that bit of fear into your body. So you get through that and join the queue. Now I don't want to give a detailed explanation of the ride, as it would spoil it for the people who haven't been on it yet, so I won't tell you about the legend, or what happens. Ok so once you have finished queuing you go into the first Pre Show room, where the professor tells you about the legend and the amazing discovery they have found. You are then taken into another preshow room, where things start to happen, finally leading up to the main ride, which is a haunted swing, but brilliantly themed! It gives you a very disorientating feeling as the room rotates around you, making you think you are upside down, it really is a great illusion.    

The ride itself is a good addition to the park, not especially for the die-hard thrill ride fans, but one for all the family above 6 or so! The legend and the themeing are great, and it is very Americanized, with the pre show. It is good fun, but the pre shows are a bit dull and the whole ride just suddenly ends, the ending could be a bit stronger, and I wouldn't queue for longer than 20 minutes for it, but its not bad! Unusual and a strange attraction, which shouldn't be missed really. You have to do it at least once!

So leaving the towers area, you can head along to X-Sector home of The Black Hole, Energizer, Enterprise and what else oh yeah the world's first vertical drop rollercoaster, OBLIVION. The whole area is themed on the SW4 idea, (Secret Weapon 4) and is stunning sliver and black mainly, with a hint of bright orange from Oblivion!

Oblivion does exactly what it sets out to do, give you a short but sweet intense adrenalin rush. The whole area round Oblivion which is now the X-Sector, was re-themed just for Oblivion. The Black Hole, originally was housed in a bright yellow and green tent, it is now dark/navy blue and sliver. Along with that, everything else is black and sliver. The shops and food outlets, are all themed also, with no bins but, "Waste Silos!" There is brown rock everywhere also, with the logo of Oblivion on it!

Lets get onto the rides, but not forgetting, there are games, and shops selling the great Oblivion Merchandise, and the KFC and Pizza Hut here are probably the best ones in the park, as you can grab your food, and walk down, into the a big hole, which is right next to the hole which the Oblivion trains fall into, so you can see the passengers loose their lunch as you eat yours! The Enterprise, is a simple ride, that you sit in, it spins and goes vertical, thus making you go upside down, very spinney and G intensive. Then there is Energizer, a ride that used to be WILD and a  real thrill ride, but now its been put on a boring cycle, so the family can all go on it! It is a big gondola, that you sit on with  two arms, both moving in opposite directions, thus slamming and pushing you around up and down, side to side, a laugh, but not as good as it should be.   

Then you have the two coasters, The Black Hole and that other one, um you know the world first, oh I forget its name, no I don't Oblivion! Right The Black Hole, after a possible queue outside, you then get into the Big Top style tent where the indoor dark coaster is house, a but of queuing there, and your on the loading platform. You board your shuttles seating two, and they depart into the darkness. Before you know it you are circling round and round, getting higher and higher, you can see below you, and other trains above vanish, the excellently composer score builds the tension up, and the lighting system which would be at home in a disco flashes all round you, when you actually drop, well you don't really know, you suddenly just fly down, really steeply, and really fast! Wow, the wind is really in your hair, you turn tightly on an over-banked helix, and then fly through a tunnel with fiber optics, looking like stars, but you don't have enough time to look at those, and you are rammed down another hill, more helixes and then breaks! The ride is fast and furious, but superbly themed, and real fun. It is exhilarating and unusual, possibly one of the best non-looping dark coasters in the world!

Ok then, I've been putting off typing about it, because it is such a hard ride to review! Yes Oblivion, well let me give you my feelings about it before I tell you about what the ride does! In the queue the tension really does build up, hearing and seeing the 16 seater (8 across in two rows) trains drop into that hole. The ride is really quick though, a one drop wonder, it was a world first and expensive, John Wardley has done well with it, but he always said anyone can design a good first drop, its the rest that counts. Nemesis is a great example of that, but Oblivion, well to say its a contradiction is to state the obvious! Its superb though, but not worth anything more than 20 minute queue after you have been on it before, maybe and hour if its your first ride, but when you reflect on it, you'll fell a tad disappointed that it isn't longer. Its intense, its thrilling, and it is very scary just before you drop, however it is all over really after that drop. I don't want to make it sound crap, because it is not, it is a great ride, and a world first, but a bit short!

Right that's my view, this is the ride. After queuing in a spiral, leading up to the station, you eventually get into the station, and get into a line with eight other lucky riders, about to hurtle themselves into Oblivion! The station is well themed, with televisions above showing the ride, with the music, all building up to overwhelm you! Eventually your train pulls up, and you jump in, pulling the bright orange harness down. The two rows both offer a front row view, because the second row is slightly elevated, but on the holding above the drop, you really can see the bottom of the hole in the front row. Once all in, and the ride op's thumbs are up, the train majestically leaves the station, with the TV saying, remember, "Don't Look Down" Your off and on your own now!

You start to climb the very very steep lift hill, and you have a great opportunity to see the surrounding area, and the towers, but not for long! The tension builds and you start to wonder why you are on this ride, you are very exposed, and you know you can't get off now! You finally reach the top of the lift hill and turn round to your left 90 degrees. Then you can not see any track in front of you as the train dips forward building up momentum to drop you, but stopping. It leaves you hanging over the edge, scared silly, and just screaming, your not even moving, yet people scream. All you can see below you is a black hole full of steam, waiting for you to drop in, and people looking at you from below, oh and the huge Oblivion logo and writing saying, "Don't Look Down" well you are, and you hear it as well, just like in the advert! Then after three seconds or so, you suddenly tip over the edge, and slam down vertically with you tears streaming from the speed, and the hole getting closer and closer. Eventually you plummet into it, getting wet from the steam, yet still dropping vertically! The feeling of speed and sheer exhilaration overwhelm you, that is the best first drop ever! Suddenly you see the light, and the train goes upward towards it, really pulling the G's! You are then in the daylight again, and the speed is still immense, you bank over to the left, drop down for a photo and then climb quickly into the break run. Your train stops, you eyes are watering, and you thinking, wow! But as you wait for the train to go into the station and unload, you can't help thinking, is that it.

A bit further on from X-Sector is Kiddies Kingdom, with lots of rides for the kiddies, bouncy castles, Squirrel Nutty's Ride, and more. The area is great for all the kids under 7 or so! I didn't go into it, because I was too big, but it looks like fun!  

The park is by far the best in Britain. It is amazingly themed in places, yet lacks in other places. It's surroundings are great, very spacious, and very pretty. However it being the best park in Britain, means you can have huge queues. Anything from a walk on to, two hours. Although Alton do operate Virtual Queuing in places, where you collect a ticket and come back at that time, sometimes they don't and sometimes its not that good! The Park though is overall outstanding, good value to get in, but like everywhere else you get stung for food and merchandise. The merchandise, is really good quality though, I do like it, especially the Nemesis and Oblivion range of clothing, have a look you might just buy something. I nearly did, but unfortunately I saw the price tag! We haven't seen anything big at the park since 1998 though, so I do hope we get a big new coaster in the next year or so! They do have there summer spectaculars, and special events, so if you go when they are on expect it to be busy, but well worth the extra hours queues! Not only is the park great for Thrill Seekers, but it also has enough to cater for all the younger children, with Story Book Land, Cred Street and Kiddies Kingdom along with them there is the rides, for those who just aren't big enough, or are to scared for the big ones. It does look out for all the family, not as well as Chessington, but still, they try! 

Overall Alton is a park for the teenagers and twenty year old age group, but if you do go along with the family, there should be something for everyone. Its beautiful surroundings, make it pleasant, and not all concrete, the woods, trees, flowers, all just make it something special and magical, and because it is the place where Magic Never Ends, all of these go a long way to helping the magic stay with you back at home, when you think about how good your day was.

A Magical Day Out, shame about queues! 

Park Images

Nemesis			Ripsaw
Haunted House	Inside HEX	UG Land	The Corkscrew
Oblivion

 The Tick List

 Rides

Themeing

Staff

Shows

Atmosphere

Total

Sponsors