CBeebies Land and Alton Towers Resort - travel review
Tim Thursfield and his family put Alton Towers Resort's new attractions to the test...
'We welcome you with furry arms!'
The words echoed over the glorious sunny skies of Alton, Staffordshire.
Or to be more precise – Alton Towers Resort.
Britain's number one theme park has extended the popular CBeebies Land section of the park by adding two new attractions for 2017.
Youngsters can now meet the likes of Funella, Phoebe, Fergus, Isabel, Elmo and not forgetting Cookie Monster in the brand new Furchester Hotel show, which allows children and their grown-up counterparts to enjoy the escapades of their favourite furry monsters, and join in with the mayhem of running around searching for cookies before feathered singing superstar Chick Swagger performs his 'hit' songs, encouraging excited onlookers to join in with the fun and frantic dance moves.
Also on offer is the Vroomster Go Jetters ride, where passengers can control the rotating spaceship and imagine battling the mischievous Grandmaster Glitch.
Myself, my wife and my five-year-old daughter have visited CBeebies Land previously, and so were thrilled when we were invited to try out the new attractions.
On arriving at the Alton Towers Hotel we were quickly escorted to our room by a very prompt and courteous porter.
The moon voyage bedroom in which we stayed was impressive and my daughter was most impressed when she realised that she had her own television and X Box console, and bunk beds more suited for the characters from Q Pootle 5, for those parents who are regular viewers of CBeebies.
We then made our way to the Ubercorn Disco which was specifically designed for the youngsters, featuring regular visits from characters Elmo, Grandmaster Glich and a fun DJ spot from Go Jetters 'Ubercorn' himself. To add to that there was a large buffet on offer to all guests and games for all of the children.
I have to say that Alton Towers always seems to go the extra mile to impress their guests, and the welcome disco was no exception.
After a much-needed sleep in our futuristic space ship style bedroom (nanoo nanoo!), it was then time to rise for an early breakfast.
It was more a case of 'We welcome you with blurry eyes!' rather than the famous Furchester Hotel catchphrase as we searched for eggs, toast and a cuppa.
We soon forgot about the early start though when we spotted some of the famous faces seen regularly on the CBeebies channel.
My daughter was over the moon to be having a chat with the likes of Chris and Pui while munching on her toast. I know this means nothing to people who never watch children's television, but it's a big deal to young fans of CBeebies.
It was then time to frantically make our way to the launch parade where the stars of Cbeebies and the likes of Danielle Lloyd, JB from JLS and other stars made their way to the new attractions at CBeebies Land.
After the spectacular launch event it was time to see what all the fuss was about.
As we made our way into the new Furchester Hotel live show every child battled for the front row before joining in with the fun provided by all of the favourite characters from the hit show. My daughter revelled in finding Cookie Monster's cookies and joining in with the dance moves before singing along to songs provided by feathered popstar Chick Swagger.
After the show it was time to experience the new Vroomster Zoom Ride.
Although the queue was quite long it was well worth the wait as youngsters launch from the jetpad and fly around various landmarks such as the leaning tower of Pizza and a Grandmaster Glitch style Statue of Liberty in the Vroomster.
It's a shame that CBeebies Land does not allow the use of fast track wristbands, but once on the rides they do not disappoint for youngsters.
The two new attractions are an excellent addition to the line-up of 12 other rides and attractions, including Postman Pat's Parcel Post, In The Night Garden Magical Boat Ride and the Octonauts Rollercoaster Adventure.
I could easily go on about the fun times to be had at CBeebies Land, but I feel the last word should go to my five-year-old daughter who thought the whole day and the new attractions were simply 'awesome!'. Nothing else needs to be said.
By Tim Thursfield
