Evolution is a funny old thing; as the world changes, so do the things in it. Eons ago, whales were in fact a type of shore-dwelling canine and we were chattering monkeys who had not yet invented pants, toothbrushes or cheesestrings. Needless to say, times were hard but evolution stepped in and steadily improved things. This is essentially what is going on at Alton Towers.
For as long as I can remember a trip to a theme park usually involved buying several photos of me on an assortment of rides. No doubt many of you have similar pictures in your homes, on your fridges and even on your keyrings. These pictures have remained very similar for over 20 years, but now that’s all about to change thanks to YourDay.
YourDay are offering personalised DVDs of your theme park adventure. By wearing a RFID wristband (RFID = radio-frequency identification, for those of you who care) you can be filmed on eight of Alton Towers’ most popular rides. This footage is spliced together and for a modest price you can take home a DVD of you looking windswept and excited for your friends and family to enjoy. A clever little system I’m sure you’ll agree, but just how good is it?
From a financial point of view it’s a bit of a bargain. You can get all eight of the featured rides on your DVD (providing your wristband got detected on them) for under twenty quid. If you were to buy the photo from each of these rides you’d be looking at over forty quid so that’s a noteworthy saving. Initially I was not convinced you would actually watch your DVD once you got it home. When I returned from my Alton Towers escapades I was proven wrong within the hour. After my girlfriend demanded to see it so she could see a little bit of dribble escape my mouth me looking dignified and thoroughly attractive on Rita: Queen of Speed, the DVD was rapidly passed to my flatmate and his girlfriend.
I think this is really going to be the defining feature of YourDay: you don’t actually watch it yourself. It will probably be mainly used by friends and family to laugh at the silly faces you make when zooming around Spinball Whizzer at a frankly ridiculous pace. As I type this the DVD is doing the rounds at the office, people seem to genuinely enjoy the footage, a victory for YourDay in my opinion.
I’ve written a fair amount about “the footage” and I’m sure you are wondering just what you get for your money. The DVD I received at the end of the day was around 10-15 minutes long. It contained enough footage of me to keep my friends and family chuckling and engrossed and had some very well spliced in stock footage to give the impression we were being filmed by a proper film crew rather than robo-cameras. Truth be told, you only appear on screen for a few minutes of the total running time but that is more than enough for all but the most desperate former reality TV contestants.
If you are truly desperate for maximum on-screen time, I would suggest you ride The Flume, Congo River Rapids, Nemesis, Air, Rita: Queen of Speed, Corkscrew, Oblivion, and Spinball Whizzer. Wear something garish so you stand out and wave or pout at any camera you see. The DVD of all eight of Yourday’s filmable rides will set you back just under twenty pounds and lasts approximately 20 minutes but rest assured, your friends will thank you.
Overall I would say that a YourDay DVD is a fun and affordable memento of a day at Alton Towers but it’s not a replacement for a good photo. It is best used in conjunction with one or two photos from your favourite rides. The fact the price changes depending on how many rides you choose to add to it is a nice feature. You can choose to take home a DVD of only your favourite ride, the one where your hair looked best, you weren’t green and nobody was sick on or near you. It’s a bit of a shame you can only record your last visit to any ride but that really is the only negative thing I have to say about the whole system.
I strongly suggest that if you’re going to Alton Towers any time soon grab a YourDay wristband. You’ll barely notice you’re wearing it and there is no obligation to buy anything. Preview the video they make for you at the end of the day and see for yourself. It’s the biggest thing to happen to theme park photography since they started photoshopping extra water into flume pictures.
