Anyone Up For Alton Towers??

We spent our wedding anniversary at Splash Landings Hotel in a Pirate Themed Suite and I had a fabulous swashbuckling time with my crew!  Alton Towers really is an awesome theme park and I'd highly recommend a visit to anyone.  It holds a special place in our hearts as me and Ian went on a date there when we were 16, the year that Blackhole opened!) We also honeymooned there in 1997.

As part of our hotel package we received Fastrack Passes to all the major rides and so we just walked on everything without having to queue.  Given that the queue for Rita was over an hour long, having the luxury of jumping it made our day much more enjoyable.  With a toddler to entertain, hanging around while the older kids and daddy go on rides can be a bit of a pain.  The Fastrack Passes solved this problem perfectly.

Thirteen is still the newest ride in the park, and with a height restriction of over 1.2m, my 8 year old Kizzy could experience the thrill!  She is quite an adrenaline junkie and squealed with delight at the twists, turns and drops.  Her other favourite ride was Sonic Spinball where you are thrown around like a ball in a giant pinball machine.

Alton Towers now does character Meet and Greet sessions and we got to have our photo taken with Sonic the Hedgehog.  Although we all know it's just an employee in a blue hedgehog suit, it always feels quite magical to meet the larger than life incarnations of stars from TV, Film or Gaming.  Sad, I know!!

Alton Towers includes acres of beautifully kept 150 year old gardens, which would be an attraction in their own right.  With lakes, gazebos, bridges and follies, it is an interesting place to explore.  The ruins of the Towers itself are dramatic and impressive.  I always fantasize about winning £100 millions on the Euro Lottery and paying for the renovations!

This year there is a new show on in Cloud Cuckoo Land's Theatre, the "Go, Go,Go Show".  Five all-singing, all-dancing performers boogie there way through a musical adventure alongside a belching, sock eating monster and a hapless professor.  The catchy tunes and dance routines were toe tappingly moreish, but the jokes were groan-worthy at best!  However Freddy sat riveted to the Go Go Go Getters antics and Kizzy said they were "crazy, but she liked it!"  The girls had their photo taken with the cast after the show.  Embarrassed Teenager much!!!

We ate in the Splash Landings All-You-Can_Eat Restaurant.  It boasts a huge selection of world cuisine, English roasts, salads, fruit, desserts, ice-creams and a chocolate fountain.  You can help yourself to as many platefuls as you like.  It comes at a cost of £19.95 for the over 14's, £10.95 for Kizzy and £1.95 for Freddy. Add to this the cost of a few glassses of pop and the price of dinner came to £89.95!!  Quite steep.  My biggest gripe is that as we are all vegetarians we can't eat 50% of what's on offer.  So we end up eating a lot less than a family who can tuck into the burgers, salmon, roasts and other meat dishes.   Yet we pay the same.  Just a little bug bear I have!!  Also, Ella is not a big eater but I have to pay the same for her as I do for my greedy old self.  It's a bit galling.  Maybe we should invent a system where they weigh you on the way in and again on the way out and you're charged per extra pound you put on during the buffet binge!  Thankfully, Kizzy ate her body weight in fruit!  It is a fabulous buffet though with a lot of choice and some good options.  We were too stuffed to indulge in the array of cakes they had on offer...I kick myself for that now, because I really fancy a bit of choccie gateau!  My advice...do not eat all day prior to going to Flambo's Restaurant!

 We had a great time at Alton Towers...from our fabulous pirate bedroom to the fun of the rides to the beauty of the gardens to the awesome water park to the mahoosive buffet....it was an excellent way to spend my anniversary weekend.