Alton Towers @ Staffordshire, UK: Awesome Dry & Wet Themepark for Familia

Before the year 2014 comes to an end, I ma gonna blog to recommend about this theme park which I think is best for the whole family to relax, enjoy and bond themselves closer together! :) ♥

On the way to Alton Towers, County of Staffordhire, UK from Birmingham. It took us an hour and a half drive there.

Passing by Hawthorne Close, the village area to get to Alton Towers.

Shop houses at the village area.

The front map shows some magical of Alton Towers Resort

Now, back to ma grandmother story telling....:P
Well, when I was having my summer holidays in the Europe, guess what?! 
I got to stop by Alton Towers during the weekend! wheeeeee~

At first, my elder bro was suggesting to be it on a weekday, so we may predict to be able to enjoy more rides, cause as we may all know, it might not be that packed during weekday. 
Woahh, I ma tell you that it was freakin' packed with humansss on weekends (babies, kids, teenagers, big small adults)~ LOL~

Regardless if you're a kiddie, an adrenaline junkie or whatever it is you might call yourself, I think this place which is located at the county of Staffordshire, United Kingdom (under the flagship of Merlin Entertainments) has a lot to offer! :D

From my search, the theme park has been opened for almost 3.5 decades since 1980, can you believe that? Just 2.5 decades after Disneyland California has been opened.

I was told that this park is opened at a village area, in order to develop the village place. I think this is a great idea. 
Besides, one will get to see green pasture along the way there, and I really think that it's really breathtaking & refreshes oneself, unlike the city centre! One may develop the area, but don't totally destroy the whole mother nature ya! ;)
I believe that both the city centre and the village area have a lot of things to offer, just in different ways.

Welcome to Alton Towers, at the entrnce to the magical land!

At first, upon hearing this name "Alton Towers", I was like judging the book by its cover. I had this thought that went on like this, "What is that Alton thang? Nice? Oh, a theme park like Disneyland ar? Really? Sure?" 
I've learned to be damn critical these days, especially when ppl you met or came across acted so critical. Eventually....... you will become like one. wth~ haha~

What do you need to know? Some tips for you guys, in order to be able to enjoy to the fullest, one may need to plan well too. Just like at work. wtf. LMAO~

The whole map for your planning.

My big kid has been there before with his colleagues. He took me there as his second time. So, he told me that he kinda know the way to it. All GOOD!

The view you see. when you entered the entrance. Overlooking Alton Castle.

We wanted to start at the Sonic Spinball roller coaster as this was the first roller coaster we saw quite nearby to the entrance. However, there were too many ppl queuing up. 
So, we went further to the park section known as the Dark Forest area. Trying to queue for Rita, when we queued halfway, we've been told that it's undergoing an emergency maintenance at that time, something wrong was spotted with its rides. They were doing some testings. We continued to wait and wait. I think we had wasted around 45 min waiting and the maintenance was unresolved. We walked out from the queue and went to the TH13TEEN roller coaster ride nearby. Supposed to be an eerie feeling-kinda ride as we rolled through some total darkness under tunnel. It was like a blackout moment for just a few seconds. I supposed it wasn't that scary and that this ride didn't bring on much adrenaline rush to me. LOL! Anyway, it was a good start off I think. ;)

Next, we went to queue for a bit at the Katanga Canyon section. We wanted to go for another ride,recommended by my big kid, called Congo River Rapids (I think...trying to refresh my memory), however, it was totally closed for that day, one hunk working there was standing directly in front of the entrance stopping anyone entering it. 
We went on to the oldest roller coaster in the park, Runaway Mine Train. Oklah. another ride to acclimatise ourselves. hehe~

Then, we went over to get ourselves wet at Mutiny Bay with the Battle Galleons water ride! 
We got on this boat as pirates. There were several boats circling the allocated area and we would need to keep shooting other boat riders and the passers-by on land with the mounted water guns, just like the pirates bombing others. Otherwise, you'll get wet instead cause the other pirates from other boats and those passers-by could stop by to shoot you back with the mounted water guns on land. It was like a time to release all your stress and anger on ppl that were not related to you! Everyone was like willing to shoot and be shot. LOL~ 
I ma tell you, we were all soaking wet and I got my legs bruised up coz I was trying to hide myself at the bottom while trying to shoot those enemies~ YOHOHO~
Later on, we went for another water ride, it was made like a bathtub, The Flume~ 
Each family gets to have an individual bathtub, without sharing. It's privacy when it comes to making your business at the toilet, right? lmao~
It feels and looks like a safe ride, coz even kiddies went on it. A bit of an adrenaline rushed though as we just only got to hold on tight on the railing at both sides in our bathtub as the water gushed us down our ride. I could feel that my heart was pouncing out and then pouncing back for a minute. lol~ I'm a bit chicken at heart but I still wanna play to enjoy myself. I told my big kid to grab me tight on my waist using his knees in order to make me feel secured, as he was just sitting at the back of me. However, most of the time, during the rides when it was like gonna fall or roll down, he liked scaring me by laughing and talking non-stop. shhheeesh~ haha~

Next, we went on to get our wet self dry now. We chanced upon this castle called Hex- The Legend of the Towers. 
It was about this crazy chained oak story, just the kind of ghostly environment that was trying to spook you out. You enter into this dark area with clips about the story of creepy science and ghost story. The feeling while I entered the area really made me had more expectations, thinking that some ghost will pop out at anytime soon. NOlahh..no such thing. then later you will be led to the this seats like you're gonna enjoy some 3D or 4D experience. The whole so called tower room will try to turn you into madness slowly in 360 degrees. A motion room to be exact. That's all. Anyhow, it was wayyyy better than the one I experienced at Ramoji Movie World, in Hyderabad. *seriously*

Then, it was time to enter the Duel- The Haunted House Strikes Back. This was really fun and unscary. hehe ;) 
We went on a slow, dark ride, sitting side by side with each other. Then, just concentrate shooting lasers towards the lighted up LED lights in green or yellow. There were graphics, freaky dolls and decorated ghosts on walls. Red means someone had shot it. So, this LED lights represented the lives of those ghosts. I totally had no time to fear for anything, just wanted to shoot them down. haha~ 
You can also see your scores,just in front of your seat too. 
I scored around 21000 points, not bad for a newbie right? ;) When I got on, there was the points of the previous rider, it was shown less than 1000 points. That was why, we said we were not bad. LOL~ *self-praise*

Finally, we went for the terrifying rides at the Forbidden Valley. Got into the Nemesis:Sub- Terra. Some drop towers housed indoor at underground. It was like the army-military kind of thang with some hunky-strict-actors leading you with their "yellings" into this underground maze experience. Then later, we took our seats and enjoy some dropdown experience in the dark, saw some graphics of the alienated huge egg exploding with some irritating thang poking you at the back of your waist and there were some kind of shredded paper feeling trying to ticklish your legs while the dropping experience was in placed. LOL~
I only discovered that I have this underground phobia thang cause immediately I got out from there, I was having this kinda mild puking feeling. After that, Alton also has the Nemesis roller coaster ride at outdoor. My minor puking had gone to a bit severe. darn...but still wanted to force myself to go on with the next forbidden ride. Terrible me ~.~

Too much of story-telling, me & the sub-terra fighter tank picture found outside the Nemesis section.

The Air, the flying roller coaster.

I fully recommend this Air ride, supposed to be known as the flying roller coaster too. I headache was quite great and  could just stare at the ground while in queue. My big kid promised that this was the best. I think I will call it a momentum-less kinda ride? as you wouldn't feel a thing, just flyingggggg.... You will be seated then tilted at 180 degrees until you're lying on your tummy before the ride totally started. Honestly, I was a bit worried thinking about the safety to be dangling like that, scared that I would be thrown away. 
I think, final verdict - safe! 
The worker also took time to check twice to make sure that our seatbelts clicked correctly. 
To tell you the truth, I really salute those families who brought their semi-paralyzed teenagers/ kids on wheelchairs. They actually went on these terrifying, adrenaline rushed rides with us too! 
I've seen quite a number of them, while I was there for one whole day. 
The theme park is made in such a way that it's also for those ppl in wheelchairs. Wheelchairs friendly. Kudos! 
IMHO, even though you may be paralyzed, the sky is still not the limit. :)

The Ripsaw, ripped your heart out if you open your eyes during those ride. :P

We did stop by to hydrate ourselves with some bottled drinks. We actually had a very light breakfast. So crazily enjoying ourselves and refusedto have lunch. 
The terrifying rides made us all had headaches eventually. hahaha~ 
One mistake we faced, next time, make sure you eat something, but not too much and not too little as well!
Too much will make you throw up. Too little, will make you feel hungry later, and get headache or motion sickness IMHO.  

Our last adrenaline rushed ride was Ripsaw, at nearby to Air. I just closed my eyes during those ride. Opened it when I was at mid-air for a few seconds. Otherwise, I will puke out my drinks due to my headache. LOL~  It took us for a 360 degrees ride. To add on it, it had a mini 360 degrees turnaround while doing the big 360 degrees turn. I couldn't feel the mini 360 degrees as I was closing my eyes. Too headache to feel the mini circles turnaround. LOL~

Stopped by a restaurant which served fish and chips. I supposed it didn't taste good and the fish wasn't fresh as well as it smelled a bit fishy kind of smell. It didn't have any weird taste though. So, no need to complain. Places like this, one may not expect the restaurant to be specialised in serving fish & chips. The price was expensive than the usual price too!
What to do, need to have late lunchhhh. But we shared our meal, luckily. Had choco drinks to ease the headache first. Big kid had beer~ *sigh*

CBeebies Land

Before the clock struck 6pm, we got onto a kiddie Treetop ride as big kid and small kid at CBeeBies Land to sum it off as our Alton Towers day affair! jajajajajaja~ 
It was simply relaxing and there was no age limit. 
I felt a bit embarrassed though as I felt guilty towards all the kids queuing behind us, although big kid wanted to try on it so badly before leaving the park~ :P 
Well, it was truly a park for everyone, indeed!!

I went there without much expectation. But it turned out that it was really a "Disneyland" in UK, unexpectedly IMO!!! 
I have not been to a disneyland before, but my senses are telling me that it is really an awesome place here in UK too. 
Disneyland is just another one of those broadly franchised and advertised attractions. Wait till I get my feet to step on disneyland, and I will do more justice for both~ 

I have tried to gather some news/ information about any mishap or unwanted accidents to see if it did happen at this theme park before. It was mostly just minor thang. I think the management and their team take things seriously & responsibly to maintain & upgrade their theme park especially on those rollercoasters. All these dangerous rides, if one were to take things lightly, it might bring unpleasant impact to everyone. 

Therefore, I'm keeping my fingers crossed so that they will continue to maintain their magical theme park and I hope to go back there again next time :)

Individual admission price is quite expensive, I supposed.
So, coincident, we saw a promo from the cereals. And so we got our special discount from Kellogg's cereals box cut-out.
Buy 1 free 1. I think it was a great, don't you think?!
They even plan for the Halloween & Christmas 2014 event, with some fireworks, I guess.
Get yourself ready and visit to this theme park with your family!

During the summer when we went, they opened the theme park until 6pm. 
I've been following its updates in facebook, it seems like they have extended their opening time. 
As for me, it would be wayyy better if we get to enjoy on all rides. XD

One bad comment was, our parking bay was located at the section "H" area (if i could still remember freshly on that particular alphabet) and it made us searched for "H" for almost an hour over at the parking area. We've been walking round and round at A, B, C, D, E, F, G....and H signboard was really hard to find. It was getting a bit darker and we were all so tired. Thus, because of finding this parking lot at a tired moment, we bickered along the way as how could we have lost our way in such a huge parking area. This wasn't a pleasant moment though.
Lastly, we decided to ask at the hotel resort reception, and finally we found it as according to the guidance informed to us. It turned out that the H signboard was hanging slightly lower than the rest of the other alphabets parking section area. :/ 

Some green pasture pictures, on our way back, real farmville.

Sheeps grazing the grasses ;)

The beauty of sunset.
I believe that light gives me hope, even as the day draws to a close, not only sunrise could give hope, sunset could also gives you hope for another day, which is tomorrow~ (my own quote, do you think it sounds nice?)

City centre view, back in Birmingham.

Till here, see you guys in Alton! ;)

How to get here:

Alton Towers 

@ Staffordshire (County in the West Midlands of England)

Opening hours:

10:00 - 17:00

(Do check on their website at www.altontowers.com as I think it would differ during Summer, Winter and etc.)