Waiting outside the gates, as expected a pretty large queue started to form just before entry and when we were let in, it became a full-on sprint race to get to the Smiler first. Because my brother and I were at the front of this queue, I managed to hold off 2 marathon runners and get there first, although a couple of girls who were staying at the resort were already waiting outside. (A piece of advice, if you go here this season, get there early and get to the Smiler quickly otherwise in the middle of the day a 3-hour queue will await you and after we rode it first thing, the queue was never under 80 minutes.) Anyway, priority riders meant we didn't get front seats but it didn't matter too much anyway because after walking down a stupidly long (but necessary) queue, the second row seats on the first ride of the day were gladly taken. As for the ride, it did not disappoint. It was much more intense than I was expecting. Yes, I knew it would be inversion after inversion stuff but both parts actually kicked serious ass and the vertical lift in the middle was kinda needed for a bit of recovery. It was very smooth for us also except for a couple of bumps on the cobra roll and the first of the 2 rolls at the end of the ride. This is what Alton Towers should've been adding with all their money because the whole experience was epic. Unfortunately because of the queue, I didn't get to go on it again like I wanted but never mind. (If you get to it early, you might meet a guy in a Smiler hat and t-shirt who'd already been on it 66 times.)
After the awesomeness of the Smiler, it was across the X-sector to Oblivion. After 7 years of not even thinking of going on it, my trip to Thorpe park was like a watershed moment that all of sudden made me fear nothing (except for launch coasters. For personal reasons I didn't go on Rita). Because we were just about the first people off the Smiler, Oblivion was almost a walk-on in the single riders queue so we got on twice in about 10 minutes. I don't really know why I didn't go on it sooner because the drop is amazing and you get great views across the X-sector and the Smiler which looks really cool when the trains duel. It's a pretty intense drop but fun nonetheless. My ride photos always sucked though. Too much trying to smile so I ended up grimacing.
Then it was out to Sonic Spinball or whatever it's called now. A favourite ride (along with Nemesis) in trips past. Not quite as thrilling as it once was for me but still well worth the long queue skipping 10 minute wait in the single riders queue (seriously I have no idea why more people don't use it. It cuts about 30 minutes off my wait at least every time) and still just as wild and hilarious as it always was as Spinball Whizzer.
Because we were using Spinball as a break on the way to the Forbidden Valley, Air was next and because everybody was tied up in the Smiler queue, it was pretty much a walk-on. Air was very nice to cool down on and it's always a nice, smooth, relaxing ride to have a lie-down on. Don't use the single riders queue for this. Normally, it won't help.
Nemesis in the single riders queue was also basically a walk-on. Another couple of rides in little time made it 7 rides in total for the first hour that we were there which was good for us. It meant we could relax a bit for the rest of the day but obviously not on Nemesis. We all know how intense it is and today was no different. Non-stop thrill and high Gs all within a short minute. It's still probably my favourite ride I've ever ridden but the Smiler is not far away from it for intensity and overall thrill.
By this time I was fairly roasting and Th13teen seemed like a fairly good way to cool down with it's long, chilly tunnel at the end. It's not the most exciting of rides but nevertheless smooth and still fairly unique. Undortunately we had to wait a bit longer because a long queue for collecting belongings formed and they were running empty trains a few times round to let the queue dissipate. We weren't delayed too long and if anything, we were thankful because we were inside.
After lunch at the drop of Oblivion, we headed back over to Nemesis again where I for the first time rode in the back row right seat which is pretty much where it is most intense I believe. It certainly felt that way to me. I came off pretty dizzy with a minor headache (more than likely because of this combined with the heat). Obviously I then needed to ride in row 2 to recover. Nemesis solves problems.
For the next hour and a half, we then tried to get as wet as possible to have some hope of cooling down and the rapids and the flume were the best way to do it. Shall I say it didn't work because although we got pretty drenched, we were completely dry in 10 minutes as if it never happened. Although to be fair, I did go on Oblivion while my brother went on Submission to try and get some sort of wind chill factor to cool off.
After a quick ride on Sonic Spinball again, we were back to Oblivon for another couple of rides. My brother didn't ride the second time because he had had a headache for quite a while and it was making it worse. Finally, the end of the day, we rode on the Rapids another couple of times to try and cool down for the bus but as fun as the rides were, they didn't really help.
Overall, I got something like 18 rides in that day which is not too bad considering the weather and the draw of the Smiler. I had a great time there as usual but I just wish, dare I say it, that it wasn't quite so warm next time.
