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Fabulous review of a trip away to Alton Towers by Helen from Casa Costello.  A family blog with tasty recipes, delicious cakes & bakes, easy to follow sugar tutorials and stunning photography.  This post looks at a day trip from a different angle, about what they learnt.  It’s brilliant, as a family of 5 ourself we can’t wait to visit. Helen can also be found tweeting @casacostello.

We are just back from spending a couple of days at Alton Towers – We stayed overnight in the Alton Towers Hotel and had a day each in the Splash Landings Waterpark, then today at the theme park. We’ve been to the hotel quite a few times before but haven’t visited the theme park as a family since Millie was about 2.

I’ve seldom seen the girls as excited as they were about this trip – Violet was physically squeaking when we entered the water park and declared that her ‘dreams have come true’! Millie reckons her favourite part was the theme park and Tara just loved all of it.

So what did me & Dermot get out of it? Well, we learnt a few things too:

Alton Towers have rooms that cater for 5!!…
This is a biggie – I’m not talking a travel cot shoved in a corner of the room but a proper double bed, bunks and a single – And it was like we are completely normal for having 3 children! I love holiday resorts that cater properly for ‘larger’ families. Can you recommend any others?

My children are super brave …
I watched Millie storm along the single riders queue for the Sonic Spinball ride today and chat happily to a lady in her cart (Who incidentally, was telling her that her boobs were going to escape at any moment but we’ll try to forget that). That ride looked truly horrific but she loved it.
We all went on the Runaway Mine Train which had me screaming like a baby but Tara (Aged 3 for 1 more day) thought it was brilliant.

On the other hand, we found out that Tara is properly scared of anyone dressed in an oversized fancy dress costumes – I would like to take this opportunity to apologise to Mike the Knight for Tara screaming and doing a runner.

My children also have to do cartwheels and handstands EVERYWHERE …
Most families were watching the evening entertainment at the Pirate Ship. Mine were enjoying it too … just while they were stood on their hands.

Husbands are not designed for the Postman Pat ride …
He enjoyed it really

No matter what shoes you wear, your feet still hurt …
I’ve tried it all, trainers, flats, boots – All feet ache at the end of the day trekking around the park – You will never be as pleased to see a bus to take you back to the hotel (The monorail does not open until the start of the season)

Lifts can be fun …
Anyone who has ever been in either the Alton Towers Hotel or the Splash Landings Hotel will know that the lifts are part of the enjoyment. Flashing lights, funny music – We’ve all been caught dancing when the doors open.

I think I like Mr Bloom more than my children …
We didn’t hang around too long for the show but I thought he was rather lovely and natural with the kids. There was a game to pick up loads of leaves, great to see a celeb not frightened to actually get stuck in with the crowd.

Disclosure: We were not asked to write about our time at Alton Towers – I just wanted to share a couple of brilliant days that we thoroughly enjoyed. We will definitely be back to visit again – I may even brave one of the water slides!