Kung Fu Panda 2 - Review

The Dragon Warrior and Furious Five are back to kick more butt and save Kung Fu from the evil clutches of Lord Shen and his cannon (no pun intended).

I absolutely LOVED the first Kung Fu Panda, usually Jack Black can over do the erm 'epicness' (such as in Tenacious D In The Pick Of Destiny) but I found him to play Po well and bring his sense of humour to the character. 

This film has a lot more depth to it than the first, with the discovery that Po's goose father, is not his real father (shock horror, I know!) With this leaving Po on a journey of self discovery whilst also trying to defeat the evil Lord Shen from taking over China, the film is a lot more emotional and even has Tigress giving Po a hug!

I also ADORE little baby Po from his flashbacks and memories, I've never seen something so cute!

The films ending also hints at a possible Kung Fu Panda 3, with a shot of Po's real father stating "My son is alive" in a group of Pandas, suggesting Po's journey of self discovery has only really just begun.

With even more butt kicking and Ku Fu action than the first film, and the added wolf and gorilla villains this is definitely one to see and a film the whole family can enjoy together.  

Alton Towers Resort - Review

For my 'get away' this year and as a celebration of my exams FINALLY being over, me and the manfriend took a trip to Alton Towers Resort for two days!

Now, as a keen goer to Thorpe Park (thanks to an annual pass), I had high expectations for the rides to up the anti a bit, and I can happily say my expectations were definitely met!  

Ripsaw (above) I'll admit churned my stomach a little! But my favourites had to include Air where you literally feel like you're flying, Oblivion which has an amazing vertical drop, and Nemesis which is much more thrilling than the one at Thorpe Park!

They also offer a good deal on ride photos - 5 for £20, so when you take into account they're £8 each and there's so many rides to have photos taken on, it's a pretty good deal!

Food, toilets, and entertainment are all easily accessible around the park, and once you've walked around once it's pretty easy to find your bearings and not get lost!

The hotel was also lovely, with beautiful gardens to relax in after a hard day of rides, and good food and drink on offer for reasonable prices. 

The room came with a good sized bathroom, TV, and was spacious enough to feel at home in. Hotel guests also get the park and rides to themselves between 9am-10am, which was a nice touch and meant we could enjoy the more popular rides before everyone else.

Personally, I rate Alton Towers above Thorpe Park. Due to it being a bigger park you get a lot more breathing space meaning you're not constantly surrounded by people. They've also kept a lot of the gardens as they are and built the rides away from them, meaning it's a lot more aesthetically pleasing.

The only thing I would advice is to drive there as it's a bit of a trek on trains / tube, and the bus service isn't very reliable from Uttoxeter station (there wasn't even a timetable up).

I would also advice making it a two day trip due to the parks size and the large amount of rides they have on offer, although fast track also helped with this and allowed us to avoid tedious hours of queuing!    

Overall it was an exciting trip and the resort had everything we could have wanted or needed, definitely a trip suitable for a adventurous couple get away, or a nice family day out!