Alton Towers' 2023 opening day and the official opening of The Curse at Alton Manor...
Alton Towers' 2023 opening day and the official opening of The Curse at Alton Manor...
Alton Towers' closed season drew to an end on Saturday 18th March 2023, with the park launching their newly rethemed dark ride The Curse at Alton Manor. It was a great day with the chance to try out the new ride, meet up with loads of friends, check out the latest progress on Nemesis' retracking, and catch up with all the other changes around the park.
A first glimpse at Nemesis and the lack of track after the lift hill
A rather drizzly and misty start to the day
Walking up to Katanga Canyon
We discovered the end of the queue for The Curse at Alton Manor stretching back to Pizza Pasta
It would have been a long wait, so we decided to continue down the path rather than joining the queue itself and see what was going on in Gloomy Wood
First view of Alton Manor
There were a crowd of people gathered around waiting expectantly
Roaming actors were keeping people entertained
John Wardley was there to lend his support, along with new Divisional Director for Alton Towers Bianca Sammut
The Curse at Alton Manor was officially opened just before 11am
After watching the opening we made our way toward Forbidden Valley, past a long line of people waiting in Alton Manor's fastrack and ride access pass queuelines
A member of the Phalanx was on duty guarding a new viewing platform under construction, which should allow people to get a good view of the Nemesis retracking work going on throughout the season
Construction walls surround the Nemesis site
A large crane towers over the area, with the old lift hill the only visible sign of the old Nemesis track
Galactica only had a 10 minute queue
Sadly the large screen in the station wasn't working
It was great to get back to riding rollercoasters and blow away the closed season cobwebs though
Back to Gloomy Wood to meet up with some old friends
Time for a ride on Oblivion, the best (running) rollercoaster at Alton Towers
It's a simple enough instruction: don't look down
Crossing over to the other side of the park
Lunch at Woodcutters
The restaurant was suffering from first day issues and it took over an hour for the food to arrive
Unfortunately it was all a bit tough and overcooked once it finally got to our table
The ever reliable Th13teen
Closely followed by the ever reliable rain
Finally, a chance to ride The Curse at Alton Manor for the first time
Everything was absolutely fine according to the estate agent ... despite his head being on backwards
I think Emily Alton would beg to differ on that one
Mary was just looking for her friend
Behind the scenes with Ben and Hollie's Theme Park Adventures
We need to get this together if we're gonna make a decent album cover shot
Hey Bob
Queuing for Wicker Man in the late afternoon sunshine
In the station
Still running beautifully fast and smooth
Just can't help loving this rollercoaster
Sunset rides on Oblivion are the best
Rounding off the day with a final ride on The Curse at Alton Manor
Partying like its 1892
It was a fabulous start to the season: we had a fantastic day meeting up with friends, and The Curse at Alton Manor was a lot of fun