Corkscrew

Backblipped as we decided to take our neace Jodi, her mum Amanda and our kids down to Alton Towers this weekend, even though the forecast was for rain.

Drove down Friday night through constant rain, got to the hotel in Stafford around 11.30pm feeling shattered. Up at 8am and still made it to the park for Opening time, and it was bucketing down. Never mind, waterproof trousers & coats all round, big camera left behind and trusty G7 in my pocket.

We had a great time. Jodi has been in a wheelchair for over the last year and missed much of school and has been a brave wee soul battling through all her pains and troubles. It was great to see a smile on her face and watch her enjoying herself like a normal teenager. The park was great, although i wish they had electric wheelchairs for rent like they do in the American parks as its no fun pushing a wheelchair up some of the steep inclines there are in that park! We had to push as the skyline cable car ride normally used to get around the park wasn't working. Mrs P and I are definitely fitter after yesterday, although very knackered

By lunchtime (2 hours after getting there), we had been on most of the major rides, c/o Jodi's wheelchair access avoiding all the queues, and by the end of the day we had done pretty much every ride with her. It rained a fair bit, but cleared up nicely by the afternoon. A couple of times today Mrs P & I caught Amanda with a tear in her eye watching Jodi, which made it all worth it! She will be sore today (Sunday) but full of memories.

Talking of memories, this blip features one of mine. Like a lot of people in the UK, the first roller-coaster i went on was The Corkscrew. True, it ended up tired, and an uncomfortable ride after 28 years of use, but its always going to be my favourite ride of all time. I love Nemesis & Air, two of the later additions to the Park, and am a huge fan of some of the rides in Florida like the Hulk, but there was something special about the corkscrew that i miss now its no longer there.

The replacement rides in that section of the park are ok. Rita, fast launch, not much else. 13, well, its a bit lame and could have been sooo much more. Its like they ran out of money halfway through building it and just missed out sections of the ride. If they combined what they have with something like The Tower of Terror in Florida, then it would be fantastic!

Anyway, a section of the Corkscrew is now a feature at the gates on your way in/out of Alton Towers. I hadn't spotted it until on my way out, and it brought back one of only a few good memories of my childhood so had to be blipped.

Planko