Alton Towers, Schmalton Towers

Saturday 10^th December

A Very early start for an action packed day. I met up with Zack at 07:30, since today we’d be heading to six flags – Magic Mountain. A huge theme park that shares the world record for the most rollercoasters (17). The reason for the early start was that we’d be driving for an hour and a half to get there. Plus we wanted to get summat to eat first. Stopping off at Jack in the Box for a spot of breakfast, with only $5 for a breakfast platter of mini pancakes, bacon, scrambled eggs and hash brown sticks, along with premium orange juice. Mmmmmmm lurrrrvely.

By 08:15 we were all feeling satisfactory, so we made tracks west towards six flags. Despite a fair bit of traffic and getting slightly lost thanks to the sat-nav (never worth the money) we made it with ½ hour to spare before the park opened. Zack had already bought my ticket, so it was up to me to pay him back while in the park.

10:30 came and we all charged towards the rides. We had planned to hit at least 10 of the 17 rollercoasters, depending on how busy the park would get. We first made our way to X2, where you’d be strapped in and fly around on your back. Despite this being our first ride, we still had to wait ½ hour. But by god was it worth it. Soaring around on your back through vertical drops and 3 loops, it was a wonder our jack in the box didn’t spring back up.

We planned to make our way around the outside of the park, so the next port of call was Viper, which housed not one, not two, not even three, but SEVEN loops. Surprisingly enough, we were on within 5 minutes, getting loopy with it. This quick theme carried on with the next 3 rides, De Ja Vu, Tatsu and Apocalypse. By this point, I was feeling fine, but Zack needed a quick breather. And that’s where I saw how I’d make the money up…Go karting.

We had to wait 10 minutes for the previous groups to finish, plenty of time to catch our breath and the butterflies in our stomachs. The go karts weren’t very fast, probably 25mph max, but I made easy work of all bar 2. I started in 2^nd and only just finished 1^st. Turns out my main competitors was avid go-karting fans who did this pretty much every weekend. After being beaten by a Brit with little experience, I don’t think they’ll carry on J

The next ride along was the Riddler's revenge, but had a 90 minute wait. We decided to come back to that one. Quickly moving on, we also saw the Green Lantern – First flight, which looked absolutely terrifying, so we decided not to go on that one either. After going for the next ride, Batman, we decided some food was necessary. So we ventured over to the Burger stand, where I experienced a true rip-off. Most people would pay about $5/$6 for a burger, fries and a drink. Here, after tax, it cost $13.21 (and I really wish that was a typo)

By now it was 2pm and we’d hit 6 of the 17 and the go karts. We were half way through the day and on track to beat our allotted amount. Zack decided to start from the opposite end of the park, which sounded sensible since everyone was heading in the opposite direction. We started with Colossus, which on a full day would have two tracks running side by side, pretty much like the Grand National at Blackpool Pleasure Beach, only longer and sturdier looking. Surprisingly enough, we were straight on, bar 1. Ironically, straight after this were Scream and Goliath, which were on the same thrill level as X2 and Viper, but had a 5 minute wait (WOW)

Skipping ahead, by 5pm, we’d hit all but 3 of the 17. Superman, which launches you at 120mph first horizontally, then vertically and back down again, Green Lantern, since the continuous flipping would have painted the whole park in a different colo(u)r, and Revolution, which was closed for repair.

We would have continued, but the night drew in and after our last ride, Oblivion, Zack wasn’t feeling good enough to venture onto the last rides and he was my ride home. Despite my offer to drive back (its stick so I knew how to drive it) Zack managed to bring us home. We headed back to our rooms where Zack apparently crashed out and I managed an early night.