Could do with a bit of a revamp...or de-tattifying - sure, it's not a ride, it's merely a form of transport, but for a lot of people it's an integral part of the day, it starts the day off, you get to see a preview of the park you're just about to enter and it's fun! It could be a lot more magical, and it doesn't need to be anything drastic, but there would be no harm! When In The Hall of the Mountain King is playing in there, it truly is a magical thing as you work your way through the park. The decor could perhaps be improved though!

Still a very effective, essential part of the day, though. It's more to do with what it shows you than what the actual 'ride' experience is.

The monorail is an adequate form of transport from the two hotels to the main park entrance. In my opinion all it needs are some new seats, a paint job {not referring to the inevitable cadbury repaint}and more attraction information as the guests glide by each ride. Other than the specified points i think it is a superb experience which hopefully will be running for at least another 7 years.

When you first think of the Monorail you think of it as just a mode of transport, a way of getting you into the park, and true it isn't the most intense or the most exciting, but for shear magic, the Monorail wins hands down.

Any hardcore fan of the towers can relate to the pure excitement that is generated when your queueing impatiently outside the station. The atmosphere alone makes you excited. People are talking amongst themselfs, chatting about the new ride and how exhilarating it looks. People are laughing and joking, and at this point, you realise that you are part of it, part of this magical adventure. As you begin to queue up inside you notice the t.v screens above you, video clips of the different rides flick past, each one making your stomach turn inside out with the excitement. As the crowd surges forward once again you hear the rumble of the train surge out of the station, now your really getting excited about the day ahead of you!
You finally get to the platform and move into the closed turnstile, you can hear the train approaching and you anxiously look towards the end of the station. The silver pod like vehicle seems to take forever as it slowly makes it's way into the station. The doors open, and the magic has just begun.
You get yourself comfy and look around, true the monorail isn't much to look at on the inside, but your not going to be concentrating on the interior for too long. The doors shut. No way out now. The train slowly moves out of the station and into a small wooded area. Then it hits you. A huge, blue, twisted piece of metal which even though you know what it is, looks like nothing you've ever seen before. You hear children shouting with amazement, ' Look dad, Air!' & 'Look mum, look mum quick!'.
Then. The beast. The daddy. How else can you describe it? It's Nemesis. The monorail shows it to you in a way that nothing else can. It looks like it's jumping out right out at you like a giant metal squid! Everybody's now speachless and just looking forward to the day ahead.
We now enter gloomy wood. The haunted house looks as creepy you could possibly make it with the morning sunshine just cutting the tops of the trees.
Next we enter an African village known as Katanga Canyon which you notice has beautiful lush themeing to go with the magical Runaway Train and Rapids rides. You only manage to catch a glimpse of them as you move through the coach park. You notice people on the ground moving swiftly towards the park. This again gets you excited and revved up. You finally reach the main entrance and this is when it finally sinks in.

Your in the magical world of Alton Towers.





This is based on memories I have of the monorail and the way I felt when I was younger about it. It's more of a story than a review but what the hell! I just hope you enjoyed reading it, and I hope many of you still feel the same way about it that I did when I was a kid.

Phil

I love the monorail, but when I'm buying my tickets on the day i ALWAYS pay the extra money for priority parking. It allows me to be at the front of the Q for tickets, and get in ASAP. However, if i've got advance tickets I take the monorail as it's a good start to the day. However, the interior DOES need revamping and 'The Halls of the Mountain King' should always be playing. I think the theme music for each ride should play as you pass it. The view of the park, especially nemesis, is great. A brilliant finish to that superb 10-minute drive from the uttoxeter roundabout!

Edited for spelling and puncuation. Phil

I think the monorail is a great part of Alton Towers. I went with my friends on saturday and I noticed the excited buzz they had on it looking at all the rides and also noticed other people aswell.

I think its good in the way it shows you most of the park before you go in and makes you even more excited. Also I think it's good when your going home because you talk about your experience on each ride while going past .

Although I do think it needs doing up. I have a cassette from when I went to Alton Towers in 1995 or 96 I think and It sounded even more magical because there was music playing and someone talking about having a great day. I think they need to play the music again because it adds to the excitement.

The monrail is a good for you to plan your way around the park and its good for children to keep them busy looking at the park rather than sitting there bored.

Ryan, i love your idea, but on to the subject of the monorail....

When i first came to Alton Towers, i went on the monorail (must of been 8-10) and i was really excited because i thought it was my adventure. The monorail now to me is just a mode of transport that takes you to the park and hotel. If the repaint that Ryan mentioned was done, i think Alton Towers would get more noticed by their fabulous themes throughout the park.

Not sure if this is true, but didnt the monorail start off life as a prototype for a exhibition? Pretty certain that there is a photo of the monorail at its old location inside the staffroom at towers street station.

I am not sure if this is what you mean, but our monorail was used at expo 86 in Vancouver. The world fair was about transport and monorails were seen as visionary at the time.

Monorail above
Monorail Station with familiar roof

Hope that helps!

Stay cool,
Chip

I love the monorail it gets me giddy every time, wheres the fun in walking across a car park to an entrance. you get a sneak preview of the park when riding the monorail and i love that, to me its part of the magic.

I too love the monorail. It does its job which is to transport guests to and from the park entrance and Towers Street. The outsides of the trains look 1million times better than they used to (the old grey ones). The soundtrack of the person talking inside the train (eg Pirate Whats-his-name) is always out of time when I ride so it always starts as we go past Duel. A new interior would be nice, but Alton Towers are too busy worrying about Th13teen at the moment. I would doubt that they will do anything for a long time as the trains were rethemed only last year.

What I find rather annoying about the monorail is that terribly annoying music! I mean turn it off already! I don't know what it's supposed to do! Is it suppossed to please me! Is it! ... Sorry about that. It's all very magical and not annoying at all... i wish.

the thing that actually made me lol when i firt saw it was the paintjob on the trains, they're just so wierd, but fun to kids i suppose, i never did go on one though, maybe this year