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The Adventure Bag

September 21st, 2009

As if the Play and Stay staffers weren’t enough for our lovely readers we’ve invited two of the UK’s top parent bloggers to write exclusive posts for us.

First up is Sally Whittle, mummy blogger extraordinaire at Who’s The Mummy where she discusses life with four-year old daughter Flea.

Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below and if you want to join our select panel of bloggers then get in touch.

I have this theory about parenting. Faced with the awesome responsibility of not raising a serial killer, new parents latch on to anyone who can tell us the “right” stuff to do. That’s why we spend £5 a week on classes to help our children walk along a bench in a straight line, or to hit a tambourine.

But when you think about it, the things that are the most fun aren’t usually organised. They’re almost certainly not the sorts of things that are designed to boost your child’s development or give them a head start. Flea and I did the activity class thing, but it’s fair to say she’s not big on organised fun.

At swimming class, Flea didn’t want to take her float off – which is pretty smart when you think about it because she was 18 months old and couldn’t swim. It’s hard to fault that kind of logic, really.

Morrissey At a musical group, she didn’t understand why we kept listening to nursery rhymes, and repeatedly asked, “When are we having some guitar music?” That’d be my fault for introducing her to The Smiths, then.

Perhaps our most traumatic experience was at a language skills class, when Flea made the grave error of talking when it was time for listening. The look the class leader fixed poor Flea with reduced her to tears.

These days we’re big believers in disorganised fun. We’ve created a special bag that lives in the car, and it’s called The Adventure Bag. Inside The Adventure Bag is everything we need to go off and have fun somewhere. There’s a picnic blanket, water bottle, spare set of clothes and our camera. There’s also a Spider-Man figure and three small dinosaurs. Because you should always have a dinosaur or two on your side when you’re having adventures.

Over breakfast, Flea and I think about what we’d like to do. While I’m drinking coffee, Flea likes nothing more than considering her options, and will eventually say, “Mummy, I’ve got a brilliant idea.” Our adventures this year have included visiting museums, exploring the Lake District, various zoos and safari parks, numerous beaches, one theme park and one day when the GPS broke down, the town of Harrogate (we were supposed to be in Ilkley, I’m still not completely sure what went wrong).

Wherever we go, we buy a small badge or pin, and stick it on The Adventure Bag. Over the years, I hope the bag will become covered in images that are a visual record of all the places we’ve been together. Already, the bag holds lots of lovely memories of the first place Flea went sailing, the day she discovered dinosaur bones, the long afternoon we spent having a barbecue on Brighton beach and the day we went to Chester Zoo and spent the entire day looking at different varieties of monkey.

I figure that when Flea is a teenager and would rather poke herself in the eye than be seen in public with her mother, I’ll have all those memories of our adventures, thanks to The Adventure Bag. And you know what? I bet those memories will be a lot better than anything involving church halls and a tambourine.

Weird and Wonderful Theme Parks Across the World

September 1st, 2009

Recently I came across a news story describing a Ferrari theme park due to open in Abu Dhabi in 2010. The park is set to become the world’s largest indoor theme park, with a red-roofed dome in the shape of a Ferrari GT. It will have more than 20 attractions, including the world’s fastest rollercoaster, a full-size racetrack and the region’s first Ferrari store.

Somewhat intrigued by the idea of a theme park based around the Ferrari, I went on a mission — to find a selection of other weird, wonderful and fascinating amusements parks. So brace yourself for robots, aliens, Lego and much more as I reveal my findings….

LEGOLAND:

Legoland Resort

Oh LEGOLAND! A family favourite and one I could not miss from this blog. Children over the years have had great fun building all sorts of wonderful Lego creations. So, what a great idea to turn a childhood favourite toy into a unique theme for an amusement park.

LEGOLAND has proven extremely popular worldwide with parks located in Germany, England, Denmark and the United States. Malaysia is also set to jump on the LEGOLAND bandwagon by 2012.

Suoi Tien Park:

Suoi Tien Resort

Diverting from Lego, I take you to Suoi Tien Park, a land of bright colours and Buddhas! Yes that’s right, this unusually themed park is based around the Buddhist religion.

Aptly named attractions such as Heaven Palace have somewhat distorted my previous conception of Heaven. I pictured chillaxing on clouds, however, here you splash around in a water park designed to look like the afterlife.

Think that sounds quirky? Well what about Hell Palace, similar but with frowning statues? Now I don’t know about you but I’m not sure if I could “let my hair down” and have fun if I am being glared at by sculptures. Will I face judgement if I visited Hell Palace over Heaven Palace? Where are the terms and conditions for this place?

On a happier note, the Tien Dong beach features an impressive sculpted waterfall, bearing the face of an emperor and you can even head over to Crocodile Kingdom, where you can feed some of the 1,500 live crocodiles. What this has to do with Buddha I don’t know.

Alien Apex Resort:

Alien Apex Resort

I never thought I would write about Lego, Buddha and aliens on the same day, but here I am. Fancy taking a trip to Roswell, New Mexico in 2010 for the opening of the Alien Apex Resort? I know what you’re thinking; how original! Yes I am afraid there are plans to place Roswell at the heart of alien activity once again after the famous incident in 1947.

Nevertheless the UFO-themed amusement park is said to include an indoor rollercoaster that’ll take passengers on a simulated alien abduction, which does sound sort of cool providing there’s no probing involved.

Robot Theme Park:

Robot Theme Park

Now, this I had to include. South Korea are intending to build two robot theme parks, with the first to be finished in 2013. Yes 2013 is a little while off but after all the theme is pretty “futuristic” (ha, at least I make myself laugh).

Robots are used in the nation’s key industries and the government are keen to promote the robotics industry. Apparently you will be able to see (what I can only picture as R2-D2 look alikes) compete in various events. Nothing screams “good day out” like watching robots in battle… right?

So there you have it, a selection of weird yet wonderful theme parks which exist or should exist soon. The question remains, what theme would you like to see as the basis for an amusement park?

You Know What I’d Do? I’d Ban it!

August 14th, 2009

As you are no doubt aware Alton Towers have taken the earth-shattering decision to ban skimpy swimming costumes for their male guests. They’re making them go naked – no, no, no, that was a joke; they’re making them cover up by insisting that all men wear swimming shorts while at the park and at the Splash Landings pool.

Now, if you ask me – and no, no one has – this piece of legislation is long, long-overdue. The Speedo look might just pass on the Continent, but in Blighty it’s a bit rich isn’t it? Plummeting temperatures, the threat of a downpour constantly hanging over us like a drizzly sword of Damocles? Give it a rest. Those alpha males who took to Alton Towers in little more than a pair of briefs no bigger than your average train ticket must surely have been northerners, because, as a rather delicate southerner, there is simply no way I’d brave the outside after a dip in the pool in anything less than a full-body wetsuit, a scarf and thick woolen mittens.

Anyway, that rather grisly episode is behind us all now: history has closed the page on that menacing chapter.

The only question that remains is: why stop there?

Below is a list of things I’d like to see banned from Alton Towers. Feel free to tack some on at the end. We’ll get a list together, then I’m writing to Mr Towers…

Everybody loves a good poncho

Right, first up, I’d ban the selling, acquisition and the donning thereof of ponchos. I’m not talking about genuine ponchos, you understand; I’m not having a dig at the Hispanic overcoat of choice. No, I’m talking about the sorry excuses for ponchos that get handed around every time it gets a little bit damp. They are, effectively, shopping bags with eye-holes cut in. There is simply no way that one could protect you from one of Mrs Tittlemouse’s delicate sneezes, let alone a gale force storm. It’s preposterous:

Dad: The heavens have opened, let’s take shelter!
Mum: Don’t worry dear, I’ve got three-and-a-half yards of cling film here.

No, no, no. They’re out: right out.

What else?

Photos. Yep, I’d ban photos. Why is it that the second you step off a ride someone wants to sell you a mug with a picture of you screaming on it? I can understand the appeal when it’s a ride like Rita, Queen of Speed, but when you’ve just hopped off the Squirrel Nutty Ride I think photographic evidence is bit over-the-top. No one’s putting that on their mantlepiece.

That brings me, rather neatly, to the Squirrel Nutty Ride itself, yes I’d ban that too. Yes, I know it’s a ride for little children. It lets them “travel in their very own acorn”, but I maintain that this wasn’t made clear to me at the time… the boys from the stag do still won’t talk to me.

You know, I’ve got quite a taste for all this banning lark, it turns out… I’d ban queues, I’d ban bum bags, I’d ban loud noises, I’d ban really scary rides, I’d ban the lot.

Sorry about that. I seemed to got a bit carried away there. Anyway, if you have any suggestions about what you’d like to see banned from Britain’s theme parks add it on here, I’m drafting the letter as we speak…

Return to LEGOLAND

June 15th, 2009

This weekend, armed with three tickets, a picnic and big dreams of reliving last year’s fun, I took the family to Legoland for the day. The sun was shining, Stanley was practically wetting himself with excitement and the lovely Mrs Lane was no longer “with child” – fun times were ahead.

legoland-2

Last time we went to the park, Land of the Vikings had just opened and the place was packed. We queued for up to 45 minutes to get on some of the better rides.

Now, I’m not sure if it was because of the new area, Kingdom of the Pharaohs, or if Legoland just wasn’t as busy as before, but the queues were significantly smaller this time round. A quick look at the board on entry showed waiting times were reduced to 15 minutes on average. Was it because there were more rides to choose from?

Anyway, we took advantage of this and went on as many rides as we could while trying to sample the few we didn’t make it on last time around.

And we did it as well. This made me realise that Legoland Windsor is actually a great place to take the family for a short break as well as a day out destination. The only ride we didn’t get on was Jungle Coaster – at five years old, Stan was still slightly too small to go on it.

If there was one attraction that was the highlight of our day, it had to be the Bob the Builder show in 4D. It was only 15 minutes long, but the show was actually (as my boss would say) awesome. I won’t spoil it for you, but I will say this: the effects were spot on and there is a lovely little surprise at the end of the show.

legoland-1

We left the park at 7pm (the same time as every other Tom, Dick and Harry) and proceeded to sit in the car for another 30 minutes as we tried to get out. If you like traffic jams, you can stop reading now. But, if you want to escape the rush, hang back for a short while. Eat some food, wander round the shops for a bit, practice speaking foreign languages – whatever – the point is, leave later. You will escape the crowds and still get home at the same sort of time.

Legoland Windsor was nothing short of brilliant once again – I really can’t stress how great the place is, you just need to go there and see it for yourself. If you have small children and live the South, there is nowhere better to take them for a treat. I look forward to going back there next year when Stan will be old enough to ride the Jungle Coaster and checking out the new zone for 2010.

New Ride At Alton Towers

April 24th, 2009

A little while back we reported how Alton Towers had confirmed plans to build a new ride in 2010 under the name Secret Weapon Six. Now, in true Play and Stay Blog style, it is time for a spot of speculation.

Normally I would leave this sort of thing to Jonathan Buckingham-Dudley, but he is far too engrossed in what is happening to Susan Boyle. So, for this instalment at least, you have the pleasure of my company.

First of all, a big thank you to Screamscape for supplying me with the crumb-trail. Without you, I really would have had no work to do this afternoon. And while for some that sounds like a marvellous thing, it doesn’t half make hometime a long way away.

There are three videos on YouTube at the moment. The beginnings of a new viral promotion or merely fan fiction? You decide:

Now, I don’t know about you, but I get the distinct feeling that Alton Towers are also going for something a bit spooky in much the same way Thorpe Park did earlier this year when they unveiled SAW – The Ride.

The difference being, of course, is that Alton Towers is aimed at a younger market – so we can expect it to be a little tamer than the aforementioned.

We also reported that the ride will have a backwards section, somewhat similar to Disney’s Expedition Everest ride (see above video). A quick glance at the plans below, which were submitted to the local council by Alton Towers, clearly shows the point where the ride stops its forward motion, in favour of a backwards section.
Secret Weapon Six

At this time, this is all we really have to go on, but fear not – we are on the case and will bring you all the latest as and when it hits.

Oh, and one last titbit for you. Here’s a video of the locals’ reactions to the ride. Some good, some bad. You can decide for yourself what you think.

New Rides at British Theme Parks: Thorpe Park and Paultons

March 12th, 2009

Yes we are back and yes we do more than just theme parks now, but for this blog, I intend to talk purely about rollercoasters and thrill rides. In particular, new ones.

2009 is not a good year if you are superstitious – TWO Friday the thirteenths in just two months? Surely nothing good can come from that. Can it? If you are a theme park fan, then the answer is yes. Well, sort of.

Saw - The Ride On Friday March 13, Thorpe Park champions its latest offering to the masses: SAW – The Ride. Based on the film franchise of the same name, the ride is the world’s first ever horror movie themed rollercoaster. Having watched the films and been left feeling rather queasy after a few scenes, I must say the thought of this ride is horrid.

Here’s why:
1. It has a past vertical 100 degree drop.
2. It reaches speeds of 55 mph.
3. It has a past vertical 100 degree drop.

While researching the ride, I stumbled across a few more facts: It will last one minute and 40 seconds from start to finish (queueing not included), has three inversions and cost a whopping £13.5m to build.

The cost is especially impressive when you find out how much the other new ride that opens on 13 March cost. We’ll get to this in but a moment. For now, my colleague and I are debating whether or not Thorpe Park had to pay a license fee for the ride, or if Lionsgate willingly gave the rights for free in return for future sales of the DVDs. Any of you guys know? Please let me know…

There is also some debate about whether or not SAW – The Ride is a worthwhile venture from the film industry, or if it’s simply a product of those marketing types looking to make a few extra bucks.

Also, in ten years time, will we actually remember the films, or will they be cast into the pit of forgetfulness along with the fizzy Nemesis drink that made its way into our vending machines in the mid 90s? (Look it up – it did exist.) Nemesis is still one of the best rides in the world – a true legend in fact, and SAW – The Ride looks set to be another major player in theme park land. There is no doubt in my mind that we will still be riding it ten years time – I am just not so sure I will remember anything of Jigsaw and his sordid ‘games’ with complacent victims.

Edge The second ride opening this week is Edge at Paulton’s Park. If you haven’t heard anything about Edge, let me give you a brief description: It’s a big spinny-roundy disc that seats 40 people. Said disc then spins horizontally while moving along a 90 metre section of track at speeds of 43 mph. Back and forth, back and forth, I’m not entirely sure that anyone will be able to stand up or hang on to any lunch after riding the Edge.

The ride is another first for the UK – it’s the only one of its type here and the eighth of its kind in the world. Sure, Spinball Whizzer at Alton Towers does the same sort of thing, but that one actually goes round a proper ‘rollercoaster’ track and only accommodates four riders at a time.

Edge cost just £1m to build which, let’s face it, is nothing compared to SAW – The Ride. With the backing of Merlin, Thorpe can justify the spend. Paulton’s, on the other hand, can’t.

So where will you be heading this weekend? If you live near London, it’ll have to be Thorpe, but if you live near the New Forest – you’re surely going to Paulton’s. Me? I’ll be doing something far more cowardly, like stroking kittens, or watching Raven with my kids. Either way, you are going to need to take a packed lunch – the queues are going to be loooooooooong.

Project Dylan Video – Very Impressive

October 3rd, 2008

You know what’s cool? Youtube’s cool. That wonderful little website is responsible for a noteworthy proportion of my daily smiles. It has brought us such gems as ‘fat kid stuck on rollercoaster’ ,’lady falls down hole’ and ’star wars kid’. It turns out that lovely, wonderful youtube is also a hotbed of ‘Project Dylan’ titbits.

There’s the Thorpe Park youtube channel of course, but there is also a small group of people who somehow are making simulations of what a lap of Project Dylan might look like. What programme they are using or how long it takes I have no idea but what I do know is that the simulations look pretty credible. The video is not 100% accurate of course but it’s the closest thing to a full lap of the new ride you’re going to get until next year when it opens.

If any of you clever clever readers know what technological wizardry is used to make these little videos please let me know, I’m intrigued.

Good is’nt it?! We owe our thanks to the mysterious ‘leighhills’. I’ll be keeping my eye out for her/his future youtube offerings.

Project Dylan – Thorpe Park’s New Ride

September 16th, 2008

As I’m sure you’re all aware, Thorpe Park is in the process of building a new roller-coaster. Facts are still a little thin on the ground but being the google super-sleuths that we are, Play and Stay® have managed to polish the various rumours, blogs and outright fibs into a few nuggets of almost-news gold for you. Of course nothing is official just yet so this “gold” really is just our best guess at what’s going on. There are some pretty convincing facts and figures to work with so I’m feeling confidant that our guesswork will turn out to be pretty accurate. Before we get to the newsy part of the blog I feel the need to point out what a superb job the builders of this new coaster have. Rather than putting up dreary tower blocks or trendy town centre flats, these guys get to play with what is essentially, giant mechano!

The prospect of such a fun day’s work is almost tempting to me. Unfortunately I’m not very good at the following: digging, lifting, sweating, wearing neon vests, operating machines more complicated than my X-box, wolf-whistling and reading The Sun. My list of handicaps does not make me a particularly attractive employee for a builder, so I blog.

Fortunately for me I get to blog about fun stuff; LEGO®, Halloween at theme parks (watch this space for a hyperblog all about me at Alton Towers’ Scarefest) and the new ride at Thorpe Park. I like not being a builder. Anyway, enough about my career choices, time to have a look at “Project Dylan” – Thorpe Park’s new coaster.

First things first, thankfully ‘Project Dylan’ is just a working title. For a little while I was worried that this very exciting new coaster may have been going down the same route as the terribly named but very fun “Rita: Queen of Speed” at Alton Towers. The name of the new coaster is still unknown, considering it is themed in the style of a disused sawmill with a strong horror element I’m expecting something like “Buzzsaw” or “Lumberjacks Revenge”.

We know that Project Dylan is being built by Gerslauer, the German company behind the Euro-Fighter design which commonly features greater than 90 degree drops. We also know that Gerstlauer have built quite a few coasters, most of them heavily themed. Having had a trawl through their previous work, one coaster stands out as particularly similar to what Thorpe Park have planned and it’s located in a very surprising place indeed. ‘Mystery Mine’ is a Euro-Fighter coaster with a 95 degree drop (Project Dylan will reportedly have a 100 degree drop) themed around a haunted mine. This thoroughly fun sounding coaster is in Dollywood, yes, Dolly Parton’s theme park. Here’s a video so you can get yourself aquatinted.

Just like Project Dylan, Mystery Mine has several dark sections, what seems to be the the promised low scenery to create the so-called “head chopper” effect and the Euro-Fighter’s trademark massive drop. The themes are obviously similar so I imagine Thorpe Park’s new coaster will be quite similar but according to the specs, considerably more hardcore. Project Dylan will have four inversions, Mystery Mine only has two. Mystery Mine has a track length of 1811 feet with a total ride time of two and a half minutes, Project Dylan has 2362 feet of track with a total ride time of one minute forty seconds. This obviously implies that Project Dylan will be considerably faster than Mystery Mine which has a respectable top speed of nearly 50mph. Obviously, these figures are largely based on online rumour so nothing is concrete yet but presuming at least some of these numbers are correct we are in for a real treat when Project Dylan opens.

For those of you who are simply desperate to see Project Dylan here is a collection of construction photos. See if you can spot something I missed and let us know!

All I can say for sure is that Thorpe Park’s new coaster will be located in Canada Creek, it’s brown/black, it opens in 2009 and it’s going to be scary. Thorpe Park are making no secret of Project Dylan’s horror theme. The ever questionable wikipedia even suggests that the coaster will have themes similar to excessive gore flick, Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Whatever it is that those lucky lucky builders are putting up over at Thorpe Park all I know is, I want a go.

Our Day at Alton Towers

September 5th, 2008

A couple of weeks ago, I reported on the latest offering for visitors to Alton Towers which resulted in the team from Play and Stay being invited up to the resort for a day of fun and laughter (for free, of course). My co-worker and understudy, Jonathan “Big D” Dudley, has just posted his review of the DVD on our blog for you all to read. I, however, am going to report on the events that unfolded on that fateful day, September 2, 2008.

Spinball Whizzer
It all began at 4:00 in the morning when my alarm went off, thus telling me it was time to get up out of my bed. Whilst the darkness and beating rain outside was trying to stop me from leaving said bed, the thought of going to Alton Towers for the day won over.

Armed with a cup of hot tea, the company’s Ford Galaxy and free entry to the park, I set off on my travels to pick up the rest of the team.

By 5:00 am, everyone was onboard and almost awake, so we headed for the M20 and the lovely prospect of a four hour drive to the Midlands.

After a long drive (made ever so much longer by Nathan’s request to listen to the Today Show on Radio 4), we arrived at Alton with no McMuffins in our bellies. It would appear that the M1 is no place for McDonalds.

Oblivion
The first ride we went on was Spinball Whizzer. Although when I say “we”, I actually mean “everyone except me.” I am indeed a chicken and have a real fear of theme park rides. (See entry entitled Family Fun at LEGOLAND Windsor for a little history.) The rest of the team seemed to thoroughly enjoy the ride and Jonathan realised at this point that he really shouldn’t have bothered straightening his hair this morning.

From there, we headed over to X Sector. Of course, there was absolutely no chance I was going on anything here – I was content to take pictures of everything around me. Oblivion did get rave reviews from all who braved it whereas the general consensus of Enterprise was “AAAAARRRGHHHHHH I’m going to fall out!!!!!”

I was allowed to escape a few rides without getting too much stick and I unfortunately used my quota in this section alone. It’s ok, Hex was next. Any of you who have previously ridden Hex will probably agree that this is one confusing ride. After watching a few films on TVs dotted around the various dark rooms and corridors, we were all led into a chamber with two rows of seats facing each other, separated by a cursed branch in the middle. What happened next just didn’t add up. It felt like we were spun all the way around, yet my camera never left my lap. Anyone got any ideas what actually happens in there? Answers on a postcard please…
Riat Queen of Speed

Next up was UG Land; home of Rita and Corkscrew. I chickened out of Rita to much ripping from my comrades and opted to test my wits against the Corkscrew instead. Quite why, I’m not sure. Rita is new, doesn’t involve any massive drops or loops and is relatively safe. Corkscrew on the other hand is old, rickety, and downright horrible. I was stupid enough to sit on the wrong side and felt like I was about to smack my head on the uprights every five seconds. If nothing else, Corkscrew did get the nerves out of me and enabled me to actually start enjoying the rest of the park.

After a leisurely stroll through the Gardens, we ended up in the Forbidden Valley. I had heard that Air was pretty tame, so I was well up for ride. Some unfortunate soul didn’t agree though and chundered at the end of the ride, just before we were allowed off. Air is definitely exhilarating and thoroughly enjoyable. The best part of the ride is easily when you rotate round so that you are facing the sky. I actually wanted to go again, but our priority passes were only good for one turn each.
Alton Towers Gardens

Next up was Nemesis, the ride I had waited all day for. When I went to Thorpe Park last year, it was easily the best ride there, and this one was supposed to be even faster. After a short wait and an obnoxious employee who didn’t really want to give us priority, we made it on. And WOW, what a ride. Nemesis is still the best around. I’m hoping that one day, when all my hard work as a copywriter pays off, I might actually be able to open my own theme park full of various Nemesis rides. Or even just one really long one that lasts about 10 minutes. Or maybe even both.
Air

Onwards and upwards, we headed round to the the delights of Duel where the ever smug understudy got a high score, almost doubling my own effort. If the Zombie Holocaust that is (apparently) only a matter of years away actually happens, Jonathan is so on my team.

The last ride of the day was the Runaway Mine Train. This is my chance to shine and actually remove my hands from the safety bar for more than one second. The crew operating the ride were great. Ever smiling and chatty, I honestly believe they made the ride what it is.
Nemesis

With Priority Ride Passes in your hand, two things happen:
1) You feel extremely important when you stroll to the front of the queue and
2) You get through the park in a very short amount of time.

Both factors are great and made the day that much better. We started at 11.30 and finished just before 17:00 but then we did miss out all the water rides and the extremely inviting Squirrel Nutty Ride. All that was left to do was go back, grab a shower, and then head down to the bar to discuss the day’s events.
Duel

We were staying at the Alton Towers Hotel which was absolutely amazing and the perfect end to the day. It is only moments away from the park via monorail and comes complete with a bar, a restaurant and Stacey the singer. Splash Landings was also great, but the entertainment was a little too young for my liking. This is where the real difference comes in to play: Alton Towers Hotel is the better choice for couples and families with older children whilst Splash Landings is definitely more for the kids.

The only thing left to say is that the buffet breakfast rocked and that apparently, I am eight years younger at Alton Towers. Thanks Giovanna.

For more great pictures of our day at Alton Towers, check out Play and Stay on Facebook.

YourDay At Alton Towers – Like Big Brother, But Good.

September 4th, 2008

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.