Alton Towers is one in every of our favorite theme parks within the UK. It’s dwelling to an incredible many rides and sights, from the kid-friendly rides and exhibits in CBeebies Land to the high-octane thrill rides such because the Smiler and Nemesis Reborn.
It’s the largest theme park within the UK, and we’ve have been fortunate sufficient to go to Alton Towers on many events.
On this information, we’re going to share you with all our ideas to assist make sure you get probably the most out of your Alton Towers go to, from discovering your means across the park by way of to creating certain you get to trip all of the rides you wish to trip, even on a busy day.
This information is concentrated particularly on ideas for visiting Alton Towers.
In case you’re in search of extra particulars on the park, together with details about all of the rides, eating places, opening instances, ticket costs, our opinions and extra, take a look at our full information to visiting Alton Towers.
That information goes into an incredible deal extra element in regards to the park on the whole, while this information focuses particularly on sharing tricks to get probably the most out of your go to.
15 Ideas for Visiting Alton Towers
Alton Towers Resort is situated in central Staffordshire in England (about midway between Birmingham and Manchester) and is the biggest theme park within the UK. The Alton Towers theme park sits on over 550 acres of land, with the bigger resort space totaling 910 acres.
A go to to Alton Towers is commonly a particular journey with household and pals in search of a enjoyable day or two. For a lot of it is usually a big funding of their hard-earned time and money.
We’ve visited Alton Towers a number of instances over time and we needed to supply ideas and recommendation that can assist you profit from your go to to Alton Towers and get probably the most out of your day.
These embody tips on find out how to plan forward, save time, lower your expenses, keep away from surprises, and hopefully assist keep away from any tantrums!
Purchase Tickets & Parking in Advance
If you wish to get the perfect value for tickets, you’ll undoubtedly wish to e-book your tickets upfront on the official website right here.
Tickets purchased on-line are practically all the time considerably inexpensive than shopping for them in particular person on website. Shopping for your tickets upfront additionally means you possibly can go straight to the turnstile and skip any line for the ticket workplace.
It’s additionally price noting that Alton Towers operates a dynamic pricing system, so on busier peak days tickets are usually dearer, and on quieter days tickets could be inexpensive. In case you could be versatile along with your dates, you would possibly discover that selecting a distinct day to your go to can prevent some cash.
We additionally advocate buying parking upfront if you’re not staying on website (parking is included for on-site lodge visitors). While there’s no saving for doing so, it saves you having to pay for parking on website.
The Alton Towers Dungeon (situated throughout the park however requires an additional ticket) tickets are additionally cheaper if booked upfront than if bought in-person on the day. They’re presently £2 per particular person cheaper on-line than in particular person.
Make a Common Route Plan for the Day
Alton Towers is unfold out over a big space, and it will probably take some time (typically so long as half an hour) to stroll from one trip to a different. So it’s a good suggestion to plan out your basic day and have a basic route plan for what you wish to go to and in what order.
Because you presumably wish to spend extra time having fun with the rides and sights than strolling, it’s a good suggestion to have a basic plan to your day on the park. Spending a while trying on the park map both on the park’s web site or within the park’s app may help you propose your route and prevent time on the day.
Alton Towers is specified by totally different zones, every of which has a distinct theme and every of which incorporates a variety of rides and sights. You possibly can study extra about all of the zones and particulars of each trip in my detailed Alton Towers information.
Relying in your group, chances are you’ll or might not find yourself visiting all of the zones. For instance, if you’re visiting with youthful children, you’re seemingly going to spend extra time in CBeebies Land and The World of David Walliams and never a lot time within the X-Sector and the Darkish Forest.
So a basic plan may be one thing like this “Buy tickets and parking upfront. Arrive at park at 9:30am, begin in CBeebies Land, break to have a packed snack, then go to World of David Walliams, stroll to Mutiny Bay and purchase lunch there, spend the remainder of day cut up between Mutiny Bay and Katanga Canyon (save water rides for final!).”
Nevertheless, if you’re visiting with youngsters and adults who meet all of the trip top necessities, you’re seemingly going to be heading for the larger rides.
A basic plan for Alton Towers if visiting the bigger rides and staying in a single day on website may be as follows.
“Have breakfast in lodge at round 8am and head over to park for 9am opening with pre-booked tickets. Use visitor lodge entrance. Be part of queue for most popular trip in Forbidden Valley, then do remaining Forbidden Valley Rides. Head to Darkish Forest for the joys rides then have lunch at Woodcutter Grill. After lunch head to Wicker Man, then end the day at X-Sector”.
After all, relying on how busy the park is and whether or not or not you’ve Fastrack Passes you’ll have to modify your schedule. On very busy days with out Fastrack passes you may not have the ability to do greater than 3 or 4 large rides in a day. Conversely, on a quiet day or when you have a Fastrack Move it is possible for you to to slot in extra rides.
If you’re wanting to go to the Alton Towers Dungeon (further ticket wanted), make sure you enable about an hour for that.
Having an concept of which rides you wish to do as a gaggle is a good begin to your go to. You possibly can then have a look at the map of the park and determine which areas it’s essential go to.
It’s undoubtedly a good suggestion to trip all of the rides in a selected space that you simply wish to do earlier than transferring on to a brand new space. In any other case you’re going to spend extra time strolling between areas relatively than experiencing the sights.
For these with any sort of accessibility or incapacity difficulty, we extremely advocate studying the Alton Towers accessibility information, really useful routes, and insurance policies. Trip Entry Passes have to be utilized on-line and visits utilizing the go have to be booked upfront. When you have any questions, ask them upfront so you are ready on the day of your go to.
Obtain the Alton Towers App
While I’m nonetheless not satisfied that every thing on the earth wants an app, I’ve to say that the Alton Towers app is fairly respectable, and essential when visiting the park.
It has plenty of performance that may enhance your go to, from dwell trip queue instances, to managing your trip images, to a helpful map and navigation function that may get you all over the place within the park you wish to go.
There’s free WiFi throughout Alton Towers, so that you don’t want to fret about knowledge utilization. The app can also be free to obtain and use.
While a few of the info within the app also can simply be discovered within the park, different issues like trip queue instances are a lot simpler to seek out within the app. Having all the data in your pocket can actually assist when deciding which trip to go to subsequent.
The app could be downloaded right here.
Arrive Early / Depart Late
To profit from your time at Alton Towers you must plan to reach early after which ideally keep till the park closes. The longer you’re on website, the extra it is possible for you to to see and do, and the extra worth you’ll get out of your ticket.
It’s necessary to notice that while rides typically begin working at round 10am, the park itself truly opens at 9am. So you possibly can go into the park and be part of the queue for the primary trip you wish to go on. Or simply seize a espresso or wander the gardens.
For closing, relying on the time of yr and day, the park usually closes at 4pm or 6pm (for particular occasions it will probably additionally keep open later than this). Nevertheless, this closing time is the final time you possibly can be part of a trip queue, not the final time the trip runs. So if you’re nonetheless in a line after closing time, you must nonetheless get to do the trip.
Now, if it’s essential go away the park for any purpose, similar to to go to your automotive or let the youngsters have a nap, then you definitely simply must be sure to get a hand stamp from an admission employees member earlier than you exit so you possibly can reenter later. So you possibly can take a break and return. This makes probably the most sense for these staying in a single day on the Alton Towers Resort.
We expect that taking advantage of your time at Alton Towers makes plenty of sense as you’ve invested a good bit of cash into your go to, so ought to get the utmost worth from it.
Perceive any Trip Restrictions
Most theme park rides have minimal top restrictions for riders as a consequence of well being and security causes. Just a few of the rides even have most top restrictions.
If you’re visiting Alton Towers with anybody who may be affected by the trip top restrictions, for instance kids or these over 6 toes tall, then it’s a good suggestion to do a little analysis upfront as to which rides are going to be appropriate for the entire group. You possibly can see all of the trip top restrictions on the official website right here.
This can keep away from you losing time going to rides you could’t all trip collectively. Figuring out which rides your children can and might’t trip may help keep away from plenty of tears and disappointment.
Figuring out which rides are appropriate for which members of your group will even permit you to divide your group up if you want, so everybody will get to expertise the sights they wish to, and no-one will get upset about lacking out or having to attend round.
Plan your First Trip
If you’re a thrillseeker and wish the get probably the most out of your day at Alton Towers, it’s actually necessary that you already know what you desire to your first trip to be. We’d advocate selecting the trip which is more likely to have the longest traces because the day progresses.
While it may be exhausting to know precisely which rides will probably be hottest on any given day, as a basic rule of thumb the newer extra thrilling rides are inclined to have the longest traces.
For instance, the Smiler and Nemesis Reborn are usually extremely popular rides with lengthy wait instances. So if these rides are in your to-do listing, we advocate heading to these rides as quickly as you arrive and becoming a member of the road. This could get you onto these rides rapidly.
For instance, on a latest go to to Alton Towers I joined the road for Nemesis Reborn at 9.30am and was driving by 10.10am, solely 10 minutes after the trip opened. Later within the day, trip wait instances have been over 2 hours for that trip.
For these targeted on the smaller rides and rides geared to youthful kids, lengthy traces are typically much less of a priority. However it will probably nonetheless be a good suggestion to begin with the rides your children wish to trip most.
Take into account the Fastrack Passes
If you’re visiting Alton Towers on a busier day, similar to a faculty vacation or a weekend, then the queue lengths for lots of the rides are more likely to be pretty lengthy.
By pretty lengthy, we imply 1 – 2 hours wait time for the extra common rides. The most well-liked rides are typically the joys rides and massive themed rides, however even the smaller rides can have lengthy wait instances on a busy day (or if they’re new to the park).
The excellent news is you could skip the vast majority of the traces by investing in a Fastrack Move. There are a selection of Fastrack passes accessible, that are named Bronze, Gold, Silver and Platinum.
The go you select will depend upon which rides you actually wish to trip, in addition to your price range. It’s additionally potential to purchase a single Fastrack go on a per trip foundation for lots of the rides, which is usually a good approach to trip a selected trip rapidly when you don’t wish to put money into an entire Fastrack go.
Aside from the Platinum Fastrack go, all the opposite passes enable you one entry to the particular Fastrack line for every trip that has Fastrack. Nearly all of rides do have Fastrack, excluding the CBeebies Land rides and a few of the different smaller rides.
The Platinum Fastrack go is the one go which lets you use the Fastrack line as many instances as you need for every trip. It’s additionally the most costly, and actually aimed toward those that wish to trip as many rides as potential, a number of instances in a day.
We now have visited Alton Towers on a really busy day, and the wait time for lots of the rides was effectively over an hour, with many rides having two hour wait instances. With our Fastrack passes, we largely acquired onto rides in 5 or ten minutes. So for us it made an enormous distinction, which means as an alternative of driving three or 4 rides within the day, we have been capable of trip each trip within the park.
After all, the Fastrack Passes gained’t make sense for everybody. We’ve visited Alton Towers on quiet days the place wait instances are normally not more than 20 minutes for a trip, wherein case a Fastrack Move makes much less sense.
You possibly can purchase Fastrack Passes upfront of your go to right here. You can too purchase them in particular person on website, nevertheless you ought to be conscious that the Fastrack passes do come from a restricted pool and so they can promote out.
If you’re visiting throughout peak season and also you do desire a Fastrack, then shopping for upfront is a good suggestion to make sure you get the Fastrack Move you need.
Pack a Smartphone Charger
The probabilities are that you will be utilizing your smartphone quite a bit at Alton Towers. You’ll be taking images and movies of your adventures, utilizing the Alton Towers app to test trip instances and discover your means round, and plenty extra apart from. And all that use goes to empty the battery.
While there are charging stations accessible at Alton Towers for a charge, we expect a way more wise answer is simply to put money into a transportable battery pack to your cellphone. These can cost your cellphone from flat a number of instances over (relying on the capability), and imply you’ll have the ability to maintain utilizing your cellphone all day with out fear.
There are plenty of choices on the market, we presently use one like this which labored effectively to cost our telephones and our pals’ telephones on a latest go to to Alton Towers.
Make a Meals Plan
Along with making a basic plan about what rides and attraction you wish to go to upfront, it is usually a good suggestion to consider what and the place you wish to eat. Pondering forward can prevent money and time.
There are a variety of meals distributors and eating places within the park open in the course of the day, from sizzling canine and ice cream stands to sit down down eateries just like the Woodcutter’s Bar and Grill and the Rollercoaster Restaurant. Anticipate typical theme park costs.
It may be a good suggestion to take a look at the park map and have a basic plan for lunch so if there’s a particular place you wish to eat, you may make your approach to that space for lunchtime.
Be aware that for the reason that COVID-19 pandemic, a few of the sit down eating places at Alton Towers are asking folks to order meals along with your smartphone after scanning a QR code. We had a troublesome time getting this to work on two totally different events on the Woodcutter’s Bar & Grill.
The second time we went, we ended up having to order with an individual after a number of failed makes an attempt to get it to work. In case you don’t wish to order through a smartphone app, you would possibly wish to simply say you don’t have a smartphone and order with a employees member on the bar from a bodily menu. I imagine they’ve to supply one for accessibility and inclusion causes even when they at first say you need to order on-line.
Now, when you don’t wish to pay theme park costs for meals and also you wish to lower your expenses (and possibly a while), think about bringing alongside your personal meals and snacks.
Alton Towers has a couple of totally different picnic areas, and you’re greater than welcome to carry your personal meals to the park. This may be an effective way to save cash in your go to, particularly if you’re visiting as a gaggle or household, as meals prices for a couple of folks can rapidly add up.
We all know some households wish to pack their very own meals, however then splurge on one thing like ice cream or candyfloss for the youngsters.
Deliver a Refillable Water Bottle
You’ll be doing plenty of strolling at Alton Towers, and it’s going to be a protracted day. So that you undoubtedly wish to keep hydrated.
Reasonably than having to pay for drinks or purchase bottles of water, you possibly can carry your personal refillable water bottle after which use the water refill stations that are dotted all through the park. We use these water bottles by Klean Kanteen, however there are tons to select from.
If you’re planning to purchase smooth drinks within the park, you would possibly have the ability to lower your expenses through the use of the Coca-Cola Refill stations all through the park.
To make use of these, it’s essential buy one of many refillable Coke Freestyle cups (priced at £15 throughout our final go to) after which you possibly can drink as a lot as you want. You need to use the identical cup on future visits for a decrease per day value.
Keep In a single day
One actually good approach to profit from your time at Alton Towers is to remain in a single day, both at one of many on-site lodges (see and e-book all of the choices right here) or at a close-by lodge.
We now have accomplished each, and so they every have their professionals and cons.
Staying two nights could make it simpler to get there early and keep till closing the park with out worrying about heading dwelling.
In case you solely select to remain one evening, we’d advocate making it the evening earlier than your go to. This manner you’ll have the ability to enter the park at opening time and profit from your day.
Lodging at Alton Towers
Staying on website at one of many Alton Towers resort lodges undoubtedly has its benefits. First, the lodges are all themed, so your total expertise will probably be prolonged. The theming extends from the principle areas by way of to every room, and there’s additionally leisure on supply within the lodge areas as effectively.
One other benefit of staying on website is that it provides you time to take pleasure in a few of the different sights on website that you simply may not in any other case have time to take pleasure in.
These embody the Splash Landings water park and the park themed Mini Golf. We’ve accomplished each of those when staying in a single day and suppose they’re each price experiencing.
In case you keep on website, you additionally get free on-site parking, which is able to prevent a bit of cash if you’re driving to Alton Towers.
Lastly, one of many predominant benefits of staying in one of many on-site lodges is you could enter the park through the lodge visitor solely entrance, which is close to the lodge monorail cease.
This entrance brings you into the park proper subsequent to Galactica and Nemesis Reborn. If these rides are in your to-do listing, then you possibly can are available in early and be part of the road for them earlier than anybody else.
It additionally means you don’t should queue for the monorail, or stroll to the principle park entrance. On busy mornings the monorail queue could be 40 minutes lengthy, whereas the stroll to the principle park entrance from the lodges is round 20 minutes. So you possibly can skip all that and be straight into the park as an alternative.
For extra info and an in depth breakdown of what every lodge has to supply, see my full Alton Towers information.
You possibly can e-book the resort lodges as a part of a bundle together with your park entrance right here. They usually run gives by way of the yr, so do take a look at what’s on supply as you would possibly have the ability to avoid wasting cash in your go to.
Lodging close to Alton Towers
As a substitute of staying on website, you can too keep at a close-by lodge. We now have additionally accomplished this, staying round 10 minutes drive away on the evening earlier than our go to.
This allow us to arrive early and meant I acquired to trip Nemesis Reborn as one of many first riders with solely a brief wait, relatively than the 2 hour wait that occurred in a while.
The primary benefit of staying outdoors the park is that you simply get a wider alternative of lodging, it may be higher worth, and it’s going to be a extra conventional lodge expertise. Relying on the lodge, it could even be a little bit of a quieter and extra enjoyable expertise because the on-site lodges are extremely popular with households.
Each could be good choices that are effectively price contemplating to your Alton Towers go to. If you’re serious about a lodge, listed below are some suggestions within the space, sorted by approximate driving distance from the resort:
- The White Hart – a preferred inn within the village of Alton, providing a spread of en-suite rooms. 7 minutes’ drive from Alton Towers
- The Laurel’s B&B – It is a well-rated B&B which serves breakfast. Rooms are en-suite with tea/espresso making services. 8 minutes’ drive from Alton Towers
- The Bay Tree – a really well-reviewed B&B with en-suite lodging and breakfast accessible. 8 minutes’ drive from Alton Towers
- Peakstones Inn – This 3* lodge gives a spread of en-suite rooms and there’s an on-site restaurant and bar. Breakfast is accessible. 10 minutes’ drive from Alton Towers.
- Heywood Corridor – This property gives a variety of self-contained flats, every with a small kitchen an en-suite toilet. There’s additionally a sizzling tub and backyard for visitors use. 12 minutes’ drive from Alton Towers.
- Whiston Corridor – A former nineteenth century corridor which has been transformed into a contemporary mid-range lodge with its personal golf course. A spread of en-suite rooms can be found, and breakfast is obtainable. We loved our keep right here and the meals particularly was superb. 13 minutes’ drivee from Alton Towers.
- The Duncombe Arms – This pub/lodge is present in Ellastone and gives air-conditioned rooms with espresso machines and en-suite services. Breakfast is accessible and there’s a restaurant and bar for different meals. 13 minutes drive from Alton Towers
- The Royal Oak – This inn gives a spread of comfy rooms within the city of Ashbourne. There’s a restaurant and bar on website with meals accessible. 19 minutes’ drive from Alton Towers.
- YHA Ilam Corridor – This youth hostel is present in a gothic corridor set in 84 acres of parkland. There’s an on-site breakfast, kitchen for self-catering, and a alternative of shared or non-public lodging. 22 minutes’ drive from Alton Towers.
After all, there are tons extra choices to think about. You possibly can see a full vary of lodging choices close to Alton Towers on Reserving.com right here, which incorporates a variety of vacation leases as effectively.
Make Meal Reservations if Staying In a single day
In case you determine to remain at one of many on-site lodges, you’ll want to make meal reservations upfront of your go to. This consists of breakfast and dinner mealtimes.
The lodge eating places get busy, so reservations are required to ensure that them to have the ability to guarantee everybody has an excellent expertise. Reservations are free, and detailed details about find out how to e-book will probably be despatched to you as a part of your reserving affirmation.
The extra common instances, similar to round 7:00pm to 7.30pm for dinner and round 8am for breakfast, e-book up quick, so if you would like extra alternative, we advise reserving effectively upfront. You possibly can all the time change the time of your reservation when you change your thoughts, topic to availability.
When you can nonetheless usually eat and not using a reserving at one of many lodges, it may be a protracted look forward to a desk otherwise you may not get your alternative of a restaurant.
If you wish to eat on the Rollercoaster Restaurant (situated within the park however strolling distance from lodges), you additionally must e-book these dinner reservations upfront. This restaurant can typically be booked out a few weeks upfront. In case you can’t get a reservation throughout your keep, attempt to go for lunch the place reservations usually are not required.
Take into account the Digital Picture Move
If you wish to have recollections of your time at Alton Towers, then we’d counsel investing in a Digital Picture Move to your go to. While you possibly can clearly take images throughout the park, the one place the place images is strictly forbidden is on the rides.
The excellent news is that every one the rides have their very own images methods in place, normally positioned to seize a key second in the course of the trip the place you’re looking most excited or terrified. Naturally these could make for some memorable photographs! Moreover, there are some particular sights with a photograph shoot component, similar to in CBeebies Land, the place you possibly can have extra images taken of your go to.
The Digital Picture Move provides you entry to all of the trip images out of your day at Alton Towers, for you and anybody in your group. The images are all delivered digitally through the Alton Towers app, and you’ll then share them with pals digitally, or print them along with your most popular print service.
On a latest go to to Alton Towers as a gaggle of six (4 adults and two children) we ended up with over 100 digital photographs between the six of us, which made the Digital Picture Move greater than price it.
The primary tip I’d give could be to have all of the images taken and added to the app, after which on the finish of the day you possibly can determine if you wish to pay for them. Earlier than you pay for them they are often previewed in a small model with a watermark. In case you determine you just like the images, you possibly can pay to unlock increased decision variations with no watermark. In any other case, when you don’t like them, you don’t must pay.
The images keep within the app for 90 days after your go to, so you’ve loads of time to determine. Upon getting bought, they then stay within the app for a further yr, throughout which era you possibly can obtain them to your system and maintain them without end.
You possibly can in fact additionally purchase the Digital Picture Move upfront of your go to or throughout your go to. It’s usually offered as an choice if you purchase your tickets.
Nevertheless, except you’re 100% sure you’re going to need the photographs, our advice is to attend till you see all of them earlier than deciding to purchase.
Be Ready for Solar & Rain
The climate in England is notoriously fickle, even within the top of summer season. We’ve had experiences the place we visited Alton Towers throughout two days, with the primary day being pouring rain and the second day being gloriously sizzling sunshine.
So that you simply by no means know fairly what you will get, and the climate forecast isn’t all the time going to get it proper. So we advocate being ready for a spread of eventualities. We’d typically counsel contemplating packing the next, which you’ll modify relying on the time of yr you’re visiting:
Take Benefit of Free Reveals and Leisure
Alton Towers has much more to supply than thrilling rides. There are additionally a variety of free exhibits and different sorts of leisure on supply, a lot of that are good if you’re visiting the park with youthful kids.
These exhibits is usually a good approach to take a break and sit down while being entertained. Reveals fluctuate, however embody dwell motion exhibits such because the Furchester Lodge, Hey Duggee, Bluey, and Teletubbies exhibits. Most of the exhibits additionally embody the chance to take a photograph with the characters.
Moreover, there’s a dwell stage arrange subsequent to the Alton Towers lake which regularly hosts performances. It would be best to test the schedule if you arrive to see what’s on in your specific day.
If you’re staying in one of many on-site lodges, then the social gathering doesn’t cease if you get again for the evening. Every resort usually has dwell performances every evening so that you can take pleasure in as effectively.
Additional Studying
That’s it for our ideas for visiting Alton Towers! We hope you discovered it helpful.
Earlier than you go, we needed to share a couple of of our different guides that you simply would possibly discover helpful.
- We now have a full information to visiting Alton Towers, which has every thing it’s essential know. It consists of info on all of the rides, lodges, actions and plenty extra.
- For wider UK journey planning, we’ve got instructed one week and two week UK itineraries
- We now have guides to many different cities in England. See our information to issues to do in Manchester, issues to do in Stratford upon Avon, issues to do in Bristol, issues to do in Portsmouth, recommendations on a weekend in York, recommendations on Visiting Oxford on a Day Journey, and issues to do in Cambridge
- In case you’re heading to Scotland, take a look at our 2 day Edinburgh itinerary, our Glasgow and Loch Lomond itinerary, our information to the greatest day journeys from Glasgow, our information to issues to do in Edinburgh, our itinerary for Skye and the Highlands, our information to the greatest day journeys from Aberdeen, and our information to the perfect day journeys from Edinburgh to get you began. We even have a information to getting from London to Edinburgh.
- We now have a information to 10 of the perfect Stately Houses in England, a few of which aren’t that removed from Alton Towers
And that’s it! Have you ever ever visited Alton Towers? Do you’ve something you’d add to the above, or a query about an upcoming go to? Simply tell us within the feedback beneath!
