Day 2
Our plan was to have a slightly earlier breakfast so that we could check-out and load up the car before setting off for the park. Although we arrived at the hotel entrance to the park at the same time as yesterday, today there was a line. Nonetheless we ended up at Wicker Man at the same time as yesterday, and we waited in that line for the same amount of time.
From there we headed to Runaway Mine Train (not to be confused with BTMRR which is an altogether superior ride). It was less fun than I remember. Yeah, I’m old now. I’ve made my peace with it.
At this point we had to make a decision about the weather. The forecast had been for rain literally all day. It had started with misty rain, then drizzle and was now regular hide-under-shelter rain. It seemed like there was little hope this was going to change.
We decided to bail. We headed back to the hotel entrance to the park only to discover that it was closed — they only open it to let guests in at park opening. (And perhaps to let them leave at park closing. But not to people who are bailing midway through the day.)
This meant we had to retrace our steps all the way back to where we had been, then proceed to the main entrance, and then walk from there to the hotel. The monorail was not running. This whole procedure took 45 minutes, in varying degrees of rain.
I found out later in the day that Alton Towers has a Rainy Day Policy and that today qualified. We get free return tickets, but for very restricted dates. No use to us.
The drive back was fairly uneventful and we made it home safely. I dropped my friends off at their house and then drove to my own, before driving to Sarah’s to pick up Calvin. He seemed happy to see me and he hasn’t (so far) punished me for leaving him — perhaps because it was only for around 48 hours, rather than the eight nights required for an Orlando trip. We had a lovely walk and even spent an hour or so playing with Sarah’s dog and one of her friend’s new puppy.
Final thoughts
I don’t regret the trip. It got us out of our houses. The days seemed long. We definitely had fun. And who doesn’t love a cooked breakfast (today’s was better than yesterday’s). I even enjoyed the drive — going with friends makes it an adventure in itself. Road trip! Woohoo! (It was about a 250 mile round trip, which to us is a Long Way. I know you people think nothing of driving that distance for dinner.)
I am probably going to spend the next 14 days worrying about whether I got COVID during the trip. I’ve already taken my temperature three times at home (fine, fine and fine).
I don’t feel any great desire to return to Alton Towers any time soon. That’s not an indicator of dissatisfaction. You’ve seen what a beautiful place it is. The rides were fun and we enjoyed ourselves.
But — here it comes — it’s not WDW. It’s not even UOR. It’s not a magical place. It’s not a place that addicts you and has you desperate to come back. Maybe we’ll go again next summer. Maybe we won’t. It’s not something I’ll be dreaming about.
No doubt this is confirmation bias, but it does seem like I am doomed when it comes to rain. I don’t know how many days Alton Towers declares as rainy days, but I managed to be there during one of them. Just like I was at MVMCP on that December day last year when WDW refunded everyone’s tickets because the rain was so heavy and continuous.
The funny thing was that I wasn’t even mad about it. I’m just resigned to it. From mid-March to the end of June — in other words during the entire lockdown period in the UK — the weather was almost consistently glorious. Then during July it has rained almost constantly every day. Of our scheduled 12 park hours, there were only about two when the sun was shining and it wasn’t raining.
We are scheduled to make our next theme park trip in October — to Blackpool Pleasure Beach, home of the Big One — when it was built (in the mid 1990s) it was the world’s tallest and steepest rollercoaster. It remains the UK’s tallest, as well as being (just) over a mile long.
I’ve been coming to Blackpool since the mid-70’s. It’s a classic British seaside resort, probably most famous for its tower —
Which features this rather stunning ballroom —