On an early Friday morning, the English and American players and some brave adults met at Timperley Club to make the trek to Alton Towers, an amusement park about 90 minutes away. The park is situated on the original site of a gorgeous old manor estate. The original structure dates back to 1731, with the early 1800s being the peak of the manor. The park includes many beautiful gardens, woods and a lake that makes the amusement park a lovely attraction for kids and adults alike.
Now, onto the rides. This place is not for the meek and mild. In a very scientific and statistically significant poll (method: this blogger asked various kids), it was split between whether they believed that Alton Towers is better than Hershey Park -- both among the English who went last year, and the Americans. Some believe that Hershey Park is better, while others find Alton Towers to be the best.
The favorite rides? Rita, the fastest roller coaster in Europe; Oblivion, the world's first vertical drop (I believe you can pick up your stomach on the way out); Nemesis, a loopy coaster, and Thirteen (dark, fast, ugh...you get the picture).
The lines (or queues as they call them here) were not too bad and the kids got to get onto all the rides they wanted. Several kids won large stuffed toys (bananas seemed to be the fan favorite), so it will be interesting to see how they fit those into their bags -- or perhaps the England families now have a new accessory for their homes!
It was a sea of yellow shirts throughout the park, with friendships continuing to meld. The rain held off until late in the day, and the evening activities included some pals meeting for pizza in Hale or attending an IMAX movie.
All is well in England! We are getting ready for our last day of matches today at Timperley, followed by a BBQ and farewell party. It's gone so very fast and we're going to be so very sad...our hosts have been truly incredible!
More later.
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