On A Rollercoaster

[danieldwilliam]

Quite literally on rollercoasters.





As part of my regularly scheduled programme of being a parent I took Bluebird to Alton Towers this weekend and had a fantastic time.

She and I met up on Friday evening in Bristol and made our way to Stoke-on-Trent by train. This took a while as we had one of those journeys where the hourly service from X to Y arrived five minutes after the hourly service from Y to Z left but we were in good spirit and had plenty to talk about so the time passed well. We arrived at Stoke at eleven.

We stayed in a hotel right opposite Stoke railway station, jolly handy given when we arrived.  The hotel had decidedly seen better days and some of those days might have been in the 19^th century but it was comfortable, cheap and convenient and not a Premier Inn.

Saturday saw BB and I head off by bus to Alton Towers. We took the early bus, keen to make the most of our day out, and ended up sharing with about 50 Alton Towers staff.  We arrived at about 8.20. The park opens at 9 so we had a bit of hanging around to do. We filled the unforgiving minute with a phone call to my mum to wish her a happy birthday. Then bought tickets, fast passes and an all you can eat pass. All worthwhile.

Onwards to the park.

BB and I headed off to the Nemesis. At ten o’clock the queues were pretty non-existent so we piled straight on to the Nemesis and got seats at the front. 

As we were getting on I recognised my sister and brother in law getting off. Turns out they were up for a weekend at Alton Towers too.

Nemesis dangles you from an overhead structure.

WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And then


WHOOOOOOSSHHHHH!!!!!!!!!

General Alarums and noises off.

WHOOOHOOOO!!!!!!!

I made the mistake of taking my glasses not contacts, so after the first go on Nemesis I had to leave them in my pocket. Rollercoasters when the motion blur is increased by general blur blur are a much more benign experience once you convince yourself that the machinery is perfectly safe and in any event there is nothing you can do about it now. 

Sis and BIL met us from our ride and we went over to AIR. AIR dangles you from an overhead structure and then tilts you forward so you are parallel to the ground. Mostly. It’s like flying. If you went flying wearing a too tight corset.

WHOOOSH!!

WooHHOOO!

Alarums.

By lunch time we’d been on most of the big rollercoasters and so far without using our fast passes. So after lunch when the park was full we could whip round most of them again.

After lunch we went on the brand new rollercoaster the Smiler.  During the morning the queues for this had topped two hours.  When we went they were still more than an hour.  Sis and BIL had a fast pass for this but BB and I didn’t so we decided to go Single Rider. This cut our wait down to about half an hour. Which I think is about my tolerance for waiting in a queue.

The Smiler has 14 loops in it. The most in any roller coaster in the world.

WHOOOOHOOOO!!!!

WaaHeheyHEEOOO!!!

Alarums.

By the time I’d come off the Smiler my adrenalin system had pretty much packed up and my hind brain had begun to believe that hurtling through the air at 50 miles an hour was both normal and safe. The experience of riding a rollercoaster once you are familiar and immune to it is very nice. At the end of the day BB and I managed to fit in a couple of goes each on Nemesis and Air back to back. I found myself rolling around the sky in the early evening sunshine and feeling very fine indeed.

This was my first trip to  Alton Towers and I enjoyed it greatly.  I’ve not been to many theme parks. I took BB to Legoland when she was six but that’s more aimed at small people. When I was ten we stopped off at Disney in LA on the way to Australia. A few summers ago we went to Disney in Orlando as part of our US trip with BB but that’s it.  I really enjoyed Alton Towers and will definitely go again.  It’s  a great day out. 

Back to Stoke for perhaps the worst curry buffet I’ve ever had but so surreal was the experienced and in such good humour that it may be one of the most enjoyable meals I’ve ever had.

The next day BB and I slept in and then pottered off back to Bristol via lunch at Nandos in Birmingham and a little bit of shopping at the Bullring.

Comments

[andrewducker]

I enjoyed my one trip to Alton Towers in much the same way - Air was a particular favourite because it did feel very much like flying (or SCUBA, for that matter). Some day I will hopefully go back. Probably with a child as an excuse :->

[danieldwilliam.livejournal.com]

Air was rather smart and between Air and the Smiler there seemed to be a move away from attempts to induce terror in the audience.

No need to wait for kids. There seemed to be quite a few hen and stag events and quite a few groups of mates. I can see MLW, BB and I heading back there in the nearish future if we can persuade Danddad to take the Captain for the weekend.

[f4f3.livejournal.com]

I have fond memories of taking Mikey to Blackpool when he was about 12, and recreating all the fun I had when I was about 12, before Spain was invented. WaaHeheyHEEOOO!!! indeed.

[danieldwilliam.livejournal.com]

I have never been to Blackpool.

I’ve been to the funfair at Aberdeen beach which has the scariest rollercoaster I’ve ever been on.

[rhythmaning.livejournal.com]

I can't think of anything worse.

[danieldwilliam.livejournal.com]

Than a day on the rollercoasters?

Whyfore?

[rhythmaning.livejournal.com]

Really, REALLY not my idea of fun.

Though I do recall enjoying Disneyland when I visited in 1981.

[andrewducker]

Being drowned in tarantulas.

[rhythmaning.livejournal.com]

I couldn't think of anything worse.

Now I can.

Thank you.

[andrewducker]

Always happy to help :->

(My first thought was "A Skrillex concert", but I decided that wasn't quite awful enough :->

[rhythmaning.livejournal.com]

...although my experience of tarantulas has generally been benign.

There were a lot (or similar sized arachnids) when I did fieldwork in New Caledonia.

In one hotel there was one that lived behind the salt and pepper. It would scuttle across the table to collect crumb which fell from our cutlery. I didn't dare try to move it.

I heard a story of someone (told by his wife, who was also present) who objected to the large number of large arachnids living in the grass ceiling of a holiday chalet in the Amazon. So he took a straw-broom to the ceiling, with the intention of chasing them away. All he did was dislodge them from the straw ceiling to the floor. Surprisingly, he was a lot less happy than when he started. And his wife was positively angry at his stupidity.

[andrewducker]

I wonder how long it would take me to get used to tarantulas. Whether six months sharing a hotel with one would mean I'd be comfortable, or if it's something buried too deep for me to get it out.

[rhythmaning.livejournal.com]

When I was a child, I really didn't like spiders. When I was a teenager - 13 or 14 - is actively decided to tackle this, by ensuring sitting in the spider-ridden garden shed.

While no arachnophile, it more or less worked.

We were only in the tarantula hotel for three nights. Disturbing the spider on the table - and others which hid within loo rolls - seemed a much worse option than leaving them to get on with their business.

I made sure I checked my boots before putting them on, though. (A trick I learned in Italy, where scorpions regularly hide in one's shoes.)

[danieldwilliam.livejournal.com]

A man who is tired of looking for scorpions in his shoes is tired of Anhk Morpork.

[danieldwilliam.livejournal.com]

As part of the preparation for our round the world trip I’ve been trying to explain to BB that, whilst Australia does have many dangerous animals they are much less of a hazard if you get into the habit of watching out for them and not going where they are or doing so in a way that makes you look like food or a threat.

[alitheapipkin.livejournal.com]

I grew up about an hour's drive from Alton Towers but have been precisely once because I'm in the detest rollercoasters group too (altho I agree drowning in tarantulas is worse, thanks for that Andy!). Funnily enough, I've spent the past few days in Bristol :)

[danieldwilliam.livejournal.com]

The country side around about was lovely. BB and I took the bus from Stoke to Alton Towers, through lots of little villages. Very picturesque.

I have mixed feelings about Bristol. I’ve spent about 10 years trying to get through Bristol to somewhere near Bristol and my over riding impression of it is somewhere that is difficult and tedious to navigate and full of unhelpful transport services workers. In recent years, as BB and I have spent more time in Bristol, I’ve come to like it more. I’ve found a few pubs I like and found my way to interesting parts of the city. Bristol has also had a bit of a renewal. I’m not sure I’d want to go and live there but it wouldn’t fill me with horror today the way it would have done five years ago.

[alitheapipkin.livejournal.com]

It is a beautiful part of the world. I couldn't afford to live there, but it's lovely.

I didn't see much of Bristol as I was at a conference & staying in the same hotel. Mostly, I got big city (to me), southern (it was really warm but some folks were walking round in wool coats, explaining why they think Scotland is baltic), and not as unfriendly as Aberdeen... I missed my East coast breeze but I don't think it is always as muggy down there!