Seeing as no one else has yet submitted a review of this sorely missed ride then I thought I would write a little tribute/review to it.

My first memory of Alton. A big, colourful building as I walk under an arch, holding my dad's hand as I run around the shiney chrome bars. A blur of colour, and exciting music. It's 1994, I'm 6 years old and have never felt so childish in my life! The fantastic music swills around my head, and as I race towards the entrance, I stand amazed at what I can see.

The queue itself got me so excited! The theming was of course all new to me - I hadn't seen Nemesis yet, and even when I did I would be too young to apreciate the work gone into it. The ferry of the TT queue made me feel even MORE excited, which I never thought would be possible. And then, I reached the line. A yellow line on the floor, and even at the tender age of 6 I knew that my time was close.

I boarded the boat, now feeling slightly nervous (hey, I was 6, people! ) not knowing what to expect. Then off we go, into the first ride of my memory. Into the ride we go, sailing past the 'think tank', of which I thought was very clever. The ride made me smile so much, I really did feel as though I was in a factory. Many many other parts of the ride made me laugh with a special kind of laughter, that only a child can make. The 'Snailectrix' race, and the ball factory I thought were particularly good. And the surprise of the fishes before the tunnel spitting water still surprised me, until their final days.

I remember one part of the ride distinctly more than other. The Sonic part made me possibly the happiest boy in Alton Towers that day. As an avid Sonic fan, I could not believe my luck, when after turning that corner I saw a hedgehog, shining in all his glory, possibly bigger than me! It made my day.

So our ride carrys on, into the finale of the ride. A huge cake swirls and disorientates me with colour, and a band plays a song behind me. Im sure that that bear made me want to play drums! Then my face drops . We've reached the line of candy sticks, symbolising the end of the ride. We enter the exit tunnel, and to my complete and utter joy one last shock to make me smile as I leave the ride. Busy Hippo. A sight I will never forget in all my days.

So, that was my first ride, and most certainly not my last! On all my visits since, I endevoured to ride Toyland Tours, hoping to recreate that feeling of when I was 6. And yes, everytime I rode it, it succeeded. I will miss the ride sorely, as Im sure many enthusiasts on this forum will. Thinking back, the concept of the ride was amazing. Some of the ideas in that ride, such as the Dolly Mixtures, the Think Tank and the Robot with CCTV of your actual ride in, were all strokes of genius and were pulled off in such an amazing fashion that could bewilder children and amaze adults. One part of the ride I will always remember was the 'Boucny Castle Testing' area. It took me until I was 17 to actually figure out how the castles were bouncing!

The ride was amazing. The theming was amazing. And we can only hope that CATCF will be half as good as TT. From the moment I saw my dad smiling on that day in 1994, I knew that Toyland Tours would be a hit.

R.I.P. Toyland Tours, 1994-2005. You will be missed.

Lauzi: Nice review, but be careful of s+g mistakes please

A great ride, I remember the first time I went on it. Fantastic. I rode on it everytime I visited the park, and loved every minute of it. Nearer the end it seemed more and more run down, with sections not working properly. A true shame.

That hippo at the end still scares me, yet i remember it fondly.

R.I.P. Toyland Tours, 1994-2005. You will be missed.

Lauzi: Edited s+g slightly

There were 3 things I remember the most about this ride:

1-The music. It was very catchy! The song rang though my head for days!

2-What can only be described as THAT hippo.

3-The highlight of the ride for me. The Sonic on the Megadrive! Even the first time I saw it, it was outdated. (The Dreamcast was SEGA's main thing at the time) , but hearing the music go sonic style with all the sound effects from the game, and seeing this giant Sonic stand tall on a dated games constrol was a real treat to see.

R.I.P. Toyland Tours, 1994-2005. You will be missed.

I agree 100% with the original poster. It's litterally how I remember it.

I went to AT for the first time in a few years this year, and was looking forward to riding TT (yes, I'm 21) but lo and behold, it was gone.

I was so unbelievable saddened. I downloaded the on ride video, to cherrish those moments forever.

The only thing that came close to this, sadness wise, was the removal of the New Beast.

Toyland Tours was my first ride at the Towers, after Nemesis. After my mates & me had a ride on Corkscrew & the Enterprise, we went over to the new ride to have a ride. The queues were about 30 minutes, but we waited.

A funny thing was definitely when we got into our boat, it tipped about 25 degrees to the right and we got water in it. Anyways, onto the ride, the Snailetrix was certainly a strange idea, it was cool anyway! My mates loved the jumping bouncy castles, which was a great humorous touch.

The bath-time area was the most garish part of the ride, and we got even more wet when the fish & the rubber duck squirted water on us for no apparent reason. Next, my favourite part.....

Unfortunately, one of my mates did something stupid and splashed water on me, probably too much ale, but anyways (going off topic again, sorry!) the Sega Megadrive area was always going to excite, me, since Sonic was there!!!!! This probably made me, like some people, the happiest person on the planet, my mates were too busy acting like animals though. (Yes I know, going off topic)

The party area at the end was wonderful, so lively & full of brightness, like all the ride was. Sorry I can't think of other words, but the Busty Hippo at the end made my mates happy. We got with grins on our face, but wet for some reason.

I miss Toyland Tours so much, now that's it replaced with the convoluted piece of trash in the world, Charlie & the Chocolate Factory

I loved Toyland Tours I have even still got the cassette of it with haunted house on the other side, I liked everything in there I also spotted that the bouncy castles at first used to be plastic then they became inflated don't know why. By the end of its days most of the parts were broken and I think the robots surfing around the cake weren't working for about 7 to 6 years.

RIP

Edited for spelling & grammar - Williscroft

The highlights of this ride for me were:
Snailextrics
Bouncing Castles
Sonic The Hedgehog

The Sonic The Hedgehog room was by far my favorite part. It had the green hill zone music mixed in with the toyland tours music. genius.

I was so sad to see it go, and then sadder still to see it replaced with such a terrible ride

Toyland Tours was a great attraction that the whole family could ride and enjoy!

Toyland Tours was a boat ride which took you through different toys and games. Memorible scenes that come to mind are the snailextrics, the helecopter elephant and the teddy train; not forgetting the ballet dancing Hippo. As you can tell from memories, Toyland Tours was a great ride that was so much fun and something great to go on after lunch too. Toyland Tours was so magical and enchanting for kids and big kids alike. Not to mention the amazing music that was so fabulous and catchy you just had to sing along with it while going round the boat ride.

Rating from me ...

Thrill - 1/10
Family - 10/10
Fun Factor - 9/10
Themeing - 10/10

Overall Rating ...

9/10

Toyland Tours, what a great ride it was.