Saturday 22 October 2011

Spinball


One of the newer rides at Alton Towers is Sonic Spinball, renamed a couple of years ago from Spinball Whizzer. It's amongst the first rides reached from the main entrance and riding it early is a good idea because changeover time is pretty slow and queues build up rapidly to a long wait. It's fun, with cars turning randomly as they navigate the compact track. Some of the edges are definitely interesting. "Eeeep. Are we still attached?"


Opened on March 27th 2004 at a cost of 3.5 million, Sonic Spinball has a track length of  450m with a high point of 17m. In total the ride lasts 1 minute 10 seconds and reaches a top speed of 32mph. It's fun and slightly scary, but the spinning makes me feel mildly nauseous. Not one of my favourites, but that doesn't stop me from riding.

What about you? Are you a rider or a bag holder, or even someone who stays away all together?
Do you race for the big rides or prefer a different pass time?

10 comments:

  1. I'm better at watching than riding something like this. :))

    ReplyDelete
  2. I stay away altogether! I feel a little vertigo coming on, just looking at the pictures.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I am a bag holder :0) My husband, son and daughter always loved going on wild rides such as this but I am more of the mild merry-go-round ride type. I did enjoy watching the rides, however, so I didn't mind tagging along to hold everything while they went on the rides.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi,
    I use to be a thrill seeker. Now, have grown a bit afraid of heights. Isn't it weird what happens to you after raising children. I still like some rides, but nothing super high or scary. Still love Thunder Mountain Railroad at Disneyland. That's about as scary as this old lady can handle. lol!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Ummm...ummm...I'm glad I only ate oatmeal for breakfast! Even thinking about this ride makes me queasy!

    ReplyDelete
  6. I certainly will pass time different. I have trouble retaining my balance on terra firma!

    ReplyDelete
  7. I'm a rider...but sometimes it takes a while to get me on a ride! When we lived in England, my son LOVED Sonic! This was 11 years ago and he's just started playing Sonic games again.

    We went to Alton Towers once when we lived there. I couldn't believe how far out in the country it was. I remember it being a HUGE park built into the hillsides with beautiful gardens.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I wish I WERE brave enough to tackle these rides, but my stomach ends up in my mouth.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I'm a sitbackandwatcher :) Never have liked this kind of thrill...

    ReplyDelete
  10. I'm a rider, though it really depends on the ride too. My in-laws house is near Six Flags Magic Mountain and I've been there several times because of that. I can handle most of the rides there but the ones that are a little too high and too extreme...those are the ones that turn me from a rider into a bag holder :)

    ReplyDelete