Alton Towers!!

Today, we took a day trip to Alton Towers, one of the UK's biggest theme parks. It was loads of fun. I'm not going to lie, it was a little tough at first. When we got there, it was drizzly and cold. It down-right rained for a bit there. However, we persevered and had fun. Luckily it did clear up around lunch time so the entire day wasn't miserable. I didn't really take any pictures, sorry! I didn't want to get my camera all wet and my hands were so frozen that I don't know if they would've been capable of clicking the button. After today, I'm sure I'll be returning when the weather is decent. I'll get pictures then.

Only a portion of the park was open and tickets were discounted. It's Half-term for the school kids so I guess they figured they could make some money off of parents needing something to do with their kids. We were able to ride Nemesis, Air and Oblivion along with some of the other "thrill" rides. I'm going to try and explain these as best I can. The best way I can is to compare them with Busch Gardens, so bare with me. Nemesis was similar to Alpengeist. It didn't have quite as many twists and turns but it was inverted and had a few corkscrews and a loop. Air was actually the first coaster we rode. I was excited about it until I saw people board and it take off. When you get in the seat, it seems like you're getting into one for Alpengeist or any other inverted coaster...except that there are leg harnesses. Once you're secured, the floor goes down (like other inverted coasters) BUT THEN the seats pull up so that you are essentially dangling, face down along the track. It was pretty awesome! I definitely want to go back and ride it when it's not raining. I was having a hard time keeping my eyes open because they were being pelted by rain. The last coaster we rode was Oblivion. It's claim to fame is "the world's first vertical drop coaster". If you can't tell by that description, it's the great-grandaddy of Griffon essentially. However, you can definitely tell there have been some advances in coaster technology. All Oblivion does is go down at 90 degrees, bank around a curve and go back into the station. It was fun, but definitely not as fun as Griffon. I didn't realize how spoiled I am to have Busch Gardens in my life.

We also rode Hex. It's somewhat similar to DarKastle in the way it sets itself up as a legend. This legend is actually about the Earl who owned the castle at Alton and there's still proof of the legend on the property. It's not 4-D though, which was nice for me because I don't do well with those kinds of rides. However, I wasn't quite prepared for this one. When we got in the last room, we sat in what looked like church pews that were connected, two rows on each side and the sides faced each other. Then we started to rock back and forth. Then the room started to move as well. By the end, it seemed as though we were flipping upside down because we were rocking opposite of the way the room was turning. Once I got off of that thing, it took me a few minutes to figure out which way was up. It was fun, but it's one of those that I could only handle once in awhile. We also rode a few smaller coaster-type rides. One was called Sonic Pinball. They did a really good job of making you feel like a pinball in a machine. It was similar to the Wild Maus that used to be at Busch Gardens. There were 4 people per car, two facing front and two facing back. As it went along the crazy track, the car would spin. That was another ride where I had to regain my bearings once I got off.

I'm definitely excited to go back once the weather gets nicer and the rest of the park opens up. There's a coaster there called Thirteen. The new coaster at Busch Gardens, VerBolten, has been compared to Thirteen. I am stoked to have the chance to compare the two myself! There's another coaster that wasn't open today as well, Rita I believe. I'm sure that one will be good too.

My cheeks are a little rosy from the wind burn and pelting by the icey rain. It was definitely worth it though! I'm glad I toughed it out and dealt with the ridiculous weather. A few of us made the statement that if the weather had been like this in the States, none of the rides would've been running. I guess they have to be prepared for rain here since that's about all it does.