So... I'm back, after my 4th break or whatever lol. I'm sorry, I'm not a consistent person. I promise I'm actually back now. Got 2 weeks of time to kill and nothing to do before I go away on my next trip so might as well get back to business. Gangsta Granny.....
I finally got back to Towers last week after about 8 months and boy did I miss it. Finally got to do Gangsta granny and the retrosquad, which will get their own review with time, don't panic. So let's start with gangsta granny!
Ride experience:
The ride itself is a Garmendale Spin Master dark ride, one of a few dark ride models the company manufacture. The ride vehicle features 2 rows of 4 making for 8 people per car and with separate onload and offload platforms for easier access. 8 people a car let to quite bad throughputs, especially before covid allowed multiple groups in the same vehicle. As of the last change of restrictions, the operations and thoughput are a lot better, but still one of the worst on park :/
I don't really know what else to say tbh. I think a family focused dark ride was a good fit for Alton Towers, especially in the area they put it. But yeah it's a dark ride, isn't exactly 'thrilling' or forceful😂.
Theming & Storyline:
Right, now we're into the juicy part. The theming/story. The ride tells it's story quite effectively, with the use of screens, physical props, in-character ride hosts, and a decorated queue line. After reading the original book the ride takes it's story from, you can tell it's very obviously the same, just with a few minor inconsistencies with the ending and a lack of all the background info given in the book. I really enjoyed the humour in the ride; one thing I like about is their use of child humour that's still funny to most ages, which can be difficult to pull off.
In short, the ride & book tell the story of Ben and his granny going to steal the crown jewels after he finds out she is an international jewel thief. I think the book is aimed at roughly 7 - 11 year olds, so the age bracket above cbeebies land but before the 1.4m coasters, so around the same as Wicker Man and Th13teen.
Effects (e.g sounds, lighting, smoke etc):
The ride makes use of smoke effects, smell effects and noises to create the atmosphere of different scenes (some nicer than others). Many of the effects were very well used, others not so much. There aren't many rides on park at Alton Towers that would need the complex system to run effects like this, which, I assume is why they didn't add more. there were so many places where the use of fire, water etc could have been so effective if placed properly but there may be some other reasoning as to why these could not be used I suppose.
Area & general thoughts:
The new area 'The World of David Walliams' is such a needed face-lift of an old, tired out area that could do with the replacement and upkeep of the attractions previously located in the area. I loved all the other rides, and I think this was definetly the best next step in terms of the development of Alton Towers. I would give Gangsta granny the ride a 3/5 and the area a 4/5.
Have you been to Alton Towers to check out the World of David Walliams? What did you think of the area? Thank you so much for reading, I'll see you next time!
Cleo x
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