It's been soooo long since I wrote a blog post! The time has flown since our last Disney trip and unfortunately life got in the way of me finishing my trip report. BUT the full trip of vlogs are now available to watch on our You Tube channel.
In April, we decided to become Merlin Premium Annual Passholders and we've had lots of fun at several of the parks around the UK over the past month. We've visited Chessington World of Adventure, Warwick Castle, the National Sealife Centre, Legoland, and most recently, we spent yesterday at Alton Towers, so I thought I'd do a little trip report of our day.
My Daughter's school was closed so it could be used as a polling station so we took it as a sign that we should have a Merlin day out! We hadn't been to Alton Towers for over 12 years, and this was to be our Daughter, Amelia's first trip.
We drove the 1:45 hr journey from Northampton and arrived at about 9:25am and queued for the monorail. We were worried that we wouldn't make it in time for early entry but we needn't have, as the queue moved fairly quickly and we got straight in. We declined the photo they now take at the front of the park and hot-footed straight to Wickerman where we walked right on. It was fantastic! Although I screamed a lot! Amelia was lucky to have eardrums by the end of the ride!
I suggested going on again before the park opened, but my husband, Paul, and Amelia wanted to go on Thirteen, so we hurried over there and again, it was a walk on. I had heard people say that this was a bit like Expedition Everest (at Disney's Animal Kingdom) which is one of my favourite rides in Disney World.
I didn't watch any POV's or anything, however, Paul did, and said there were a few surprises which made me nervous, to say the least. I love rollercoasters but HATE vertical drops and weightlessness, so for him to say that led me to believe I was in for both! I won't spoil it for those of you who haven't ridden on it, but I was certainly surprised!! In a good way though! So much so that we went back for round 2! Amelia is a little daredevil and loves coasters and wanted to ride it again in the front seats with Paul, so we got back in the queue and it was a walk-on once again. They managed to get the second row and I sat behind them. The second time, I knew what to expect, so I managed to hold the screaming in!
From there, we stumbled across Cloud Cuckoo Land and at first, thought it was closed as it was so quiet. Amelia did the driving school with a couple of other kids, then she went on the froghopper, which they kept on a total of three times! Amelia's 9 and getting a bit old for these sorts of rides, but I think she liked them more than she let on! After that, she went on the carousel and was the only one on there!
From there we went on Hex, which again, was a walk-on. Amelia was pretty scared whilst watching the back story video at the beginning but was OK on the actual ride itself. Much like Haunted House at Legoland, only with a branch in the middle instead of a Lego feast! It did make me feel slightly queasy though I have to admit.
We made our way over to Smiler which was a 30-minute wait. I really didn't want to go on but urged Paul to go on his own as I know how much he wanted to ride it. Amelia and I sat and waited for him in a little area in front of the ride. She was getting sulky, as is becoming a common occurrence on Merlin days out when we're doing something that isn't for her 😡. I put it down to getting hangry and cracked open the packet of custard creams that we'd bought with us and tried unsuccessfully to lighten the mood. As soon as he came off she cheered up a bit. We went over to the kiosk at Oblivion and refilled our blue merlin cups that we'd bought with us. There was nothing on the outside to suggest they refill the cups there, but they do. You just have to ask.
It was 12pm now and we were all feeling hungry. We'd had breakfast at home just after 6am, so we were definitely ready for lunch. We decided to have a picnic in the gardens and found a bench in between the orangeries where we enjoyed our packed lunch. We then took a walk around the gardens and I took some photos. It really is beautiful there. I'd love to know more about the history, and who lived there back in the day.
From there we went on Duel (those lasers are blimmin heavy aren't they?) and then Congo river rapids which were a 10-minute wait. Had it been any longer I would have been disappointed as none of us got wet - not that I wanted to! But isn't that the whole point of rapids? The waterfalls were turned off and it was just a pretty smooth boat ride, to be honest. Not a patch on the rapids in Florida.
After that, we went over to the Runaway Mine Train. Despite it being a walk-on, we were held up 5-10 minutes as a little boy followed his teacher's instructions (she'd obviously ignored the signs) and threw his bag across the tracks to the other side, only it didn't make it and fell through the track seconds before the train pulled into the station. The poor boy was only about 5 and was sobbing his heart out, bless him. The teacher didn't console him or anything and I was more annoyed at that than having to wait. I just wanted to give him a cuddle! He cheered up when they retrieved his bag and I'm sure he was fine after he got on the train. The mine train was great fun and I loved how it went around twice. Disney could learn a thing or two there, particularly on Goofy's Barnstormer (shortest ride ever!)! Choo Choo!
After the mine train, Amelia went on a downer again as Paul and I wanted to go on Nemesis. I first went to Alton Towers when I was about 12 and this was my first ever rollercoaster. I absolutely love it and just had to ride it again, especially as it was advertised as a 10-minute wait (which actually turned out to be a walk-on). Amelia was upset that she was too small to go on (she's just over 1.3m) and was almost crying when we got to the front. The ride operator let Paul go to the other side at the exit with her while I rode first and then we swapped when I got off.
We wanted to do Galactica as well (formerly called Air), but it was a 30-minute wait and we thought it would be a bit unfair to queue that long and her to get off at the other end, so we saved that for another day.
Amelia wanted to go on Blade which Paul refused to go on. He hates pirate ships. I hadn't been on one since I was a kid, so volunteered to take her on. Never again! I felt so sick! I can see why Paul doesn't like them now!
We got some more drinks and Paul and Amelia wanted to go back over to Thirteen for a last ride of the day. She declared it was her new favourite ride. I begrudgingly trekked all the way back over there with them, only to discover that all the rides were closed. The park actually closed at 4pm and not 5pm as we'd thought. To be honest, I was glad as I'd just about had enough now. My feet were killing me and I felt exhausted. I'd also became aware that my arms were really itchy. It wasn't until we used the toilets on the way out of the park that I realised how sunburnt my arms were. Before we'd left home the weather said it would be cloudy and 14 degrees but it was full sun all day and in the 20s.
We had a quick look around the towers and the garden before trudging all the way back to the entrance, Amelia whining all the way about how much her feet hurt, and obviously hard done by that Thirteen was closed and she had to hold her own drink. God, I hate the 9-year-old whining phrase! To be fair though, my Fitbit read that I'd walked over 22,000 steps, so she must have done more than that with her little legs. All in all, we had a great day. The weather was perfect, it was quiet, chilled and we got on everything we wanted to do with little or no wait. It should be a polling day more often! If you'd like to come along with us and watch our day on YouTube, please click the pic below 
