The latest arrivals to the Alton Towers line, The Retro Squad. One of my favourite marketing I have ever seen come from a theme park in all honesty. This ‘Squad’ consist of 3 travelling fairground rides located in three different areas where flat rides once lived across Alton Towers. So today I thought I’d sit and have a chat about them and share my thoughts on what I think of them.
Mixtape – X Sector:
I’ll begin with the first out of the 3 we rode, Mixtape. I seem to believe this is basically a more modern version of the Jumping Frogs which have always been a firm favourite of mine. But these were quite different. Off-ride I assumed you’d get that sinking feeling each time you bounced yet it wasn’t there. It was fairly bland but quite funny watching everyone else’s faces. I’m not entirely sure how I feel about it in all honesty but I can see why people might actually love this and I think if my restraint was a notch looser I would have enjoyed it a lot more too.
Funk’n’Fly – Forbidden Valley:
Honestly, I thought this was going to be the best out of the lot. Again I used to really enjoy the older version of this style of the ride but my goodness I didn’t anticipate it to feel as brutal as it did on the stomach, it was grim. When people have said it’s intense I never thought it would be THAT intense. It’s also worth mentioning the metal bar is very tight on the thighs so if you are like us and have chunk thighs expect to sit alone and to have the bar cutting into your thighs.
Roller Disco:
If I’m honest we never bothered with this ride mainly due to it looking as if you barely get any spins as there is no one stood pushing you to make you spin more. But everyone loves Waltzers, right?
Overall:
I’ll be honest I think this is a brilliant decision from Alton Towers to install these rides. They all do exactly what they were put in to do and that’s soaking up the queues from the surrounding attractions. I don’t think I have seen any of the three walk-ons at any point across the two visits. People love this style of rides. But also it has brought the life the areas have needed too even if some don’t really fit into the areas it is another ride and another burst of energy & life to some blank areas. The only fault I have is the lack of songs on them as when you’re waiting to ride them you basically hear the entire music they have playing twice over. Other than that though they look good and they make the guest happy (or sick depends on what you can tolerate haha). I really hope in the long term this has an impact on the future of flat rides at the park and we perhaps see more introduced on a permanent well-themed scale.
What are your thoughts on The Retro Squad? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments.