Walked to the back of the park via the hotel entrance. The describe it as the “woodlands walk” but to be honest its a bit of a hike, took a good 20mins to get there.

The path leads to the “Forbidden Valley” where Air and Nemesis lay in wait.

It was about 9:30 when i got on Air, the park was still closed to the public so queues were non-existent…

source: Towers Almanac

Air: An amazing ride, you sit in the chairs which originally hang vertically under the rails. Once you’re all belted in the seats swig up into a horizontal position so you are looking at the ground. The ride itself leads you into sweeping dives, fast acceleration at all manner of loops and rolls – the sensation is quite strange.

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Got my priority pass, and I’m going into the park now before its open to the public…

Just sitting down in the buffet restaurant in the hotel tucking into a carvery meal… Followed by a Tex Mex and finished with desert… Ordered a Margarita just to get me started.

May pop into the bar a bit later on for a couple

Fu..dge, just got my bill for the meal £18.95 for a buffet! Jeez if I’d know that I would of gone for another course, and got a doggy bag!

Well I’ve retired to the bar looking out over the deserted water park, no Guinness or 1664 so I’m slumming it drinking a Stella Artois.

Just sitting in the "MaGarrita’s Bar" looking "outside" into the indoor water park, looks like a lot of fun…

The water roller coaster is fascinating, how on earth did they get the water to flow uphill and still carry the rubber rings with people in? The flow is very fast and there isn’t any belts or anything people are moving too fast!

Just arrived at the "Splash Landings" hotel. Strange configuration, the reception is on the top floor, and you go into the lifts (playing the captain pugwash theme) to go down to the rooms – I think of it i built into the side of the hill.

source: Towers Times

There is a strange damp odour that frequents the halls, possibly due to the hotels built in water park which I’ve still got to investigate.

source: Towers Times

The hotel cost also includes a 1 day theme park entry and a priority access ticket to allow you to jump the queue’s – but only once per ride. I think I may use the "single rider" option initially and then use the pass later on in the day.

On my way to Alton Towers today, left about 11.30 and I’m now at the services 60 odd miles from the park.

I’m booked into one of the hotels on-site so I can get a early start tomorrow, again I’ve booked a B&B to stay in before the trip home on Friday…

I forgot to bring a camera, so I cannot share the great view I have from directly above the 3rd lane of the M1 – but I’m sure you can use your imagination.

When I get to the park tomorrow I was thinking of getting a DVD of the day using what they call YourDay DVD. You get given a wristband with a RFID tag in it, and when you’re on any of the major rides, it picks up the wrist band and captures you on video. At the end of the day the computer splices your video content into a previously film series of scenes and voila 5 minutes later you have a 20 minute DVD…