Alton Towers is one in all our favorite theme parks within the UK. It’s dwelling to an incredible many rides and points of interest, from the kid-friendly rides and reveals 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 essentially the most out of your Alton Towers go to, from discovering your approach across the park via to creating certain you get to experience all of the rides you wish to experience, even on a busy day.
This information is concentrated particularly on ideas for visiting Alton Towers.
If you happen to’re on the lookout for 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 typically, while this information focuses particularly on sharing tricks to get essentially 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 most important 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 usually a particular journey with household and associates on the lookout for a enjoyable day or two. For a lot of additionally it is a big funding of their hard-earned time and money.
We’ve visited Alton Towers a number of instances through the years and we needed to offer ideas and recommendation that can assist you take advantage of your go to to Alton Towers and get essentially the most out of your day.
These embrace recommendations on the way 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 one of the best worth for tickets, you’ll undoubtedly wish to e-book your tickets prematurely on the official web site right here.
Tickets purchased on-line are almost at all times considerably cheaper than shopping for them in particular person on web site. Shopping for your tickets prematurely 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 cheaper. If you happen to could be versatile along with your dates, you may discover that selecting a unique day on your go to can prevent some cash.
We additionally suggest buying parking prematurely in case you are not staying on web site (parking is included for on-site resort company). While there’s no saving for doing so, it saves you having to pay for parking on web site.
The Alton Towers Dungeon (situated throughout the park however requires an additional ticket) tickets are additionally cheaper if booked prematurely than if bought in-person on the day. They’re at the moment £2 per particular person cheaper on-line than in particular person.
Make a Basic Route Plan for the Day
Alton Towers is unfold out over a big space, and it will possibly take some time (generally so long as half an hour) to stroll from one experience to a different. So it’s a good suggestion to plan out your normal day and have a normal 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 points of interest than strolling, it’s a good suggestion to have a normal plan on your day on the park. Spending a while wanting on the park map both on the park’s web site or within the park’s app will help you propose your route and prevent time on the day.
Alton Towers is specified by completely different zones, every of which has a unique theme and every of which accommodates a variety of rides and points of interest. You possibly can be taught extra about all of the zones and particulars of each experience in my detailed Alton Towers information.
Relying in your group, you might or could not find yourself visiting all of the zones. For instance, in case you are visiting with youthful children, you’re possible 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 normal plan is perhaps one thing like this “Buy tickets and parking prematurely. 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 break up between Mutiny Bay and Katanga Canyon (save water rides for final!).”
Nevertheless, in case you are visiting with youngsters and adults who meet all of the experience peak necessities, you’re possible going to be heading for the larger rides.
A normal plan for Alton Towers if visiting the bigger rides and staying in a single day on web site is perhaps as follows.
“Have breakfast in resort at round 8am and head over to park for 9am opening with pre-booked tickets. Use visitor resort entrance. Be part of queue for most well-liked experience 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”.
In fact, relying on how busy the park is and whether or not or not you have got Fastrack Passes you’ll have to regulate your schedule. On very busy days with out Fastrack passes you may not have the ability to do greater than 3 or 4 huge rides in a day. Conversely, on a quiet day or when you have a Fastrack Go it is possible for you to to slot in extra rides.
In case you are wanting to go to the Alton Towers Dungeon (additional ticket wanted), be sure you enable about an hour for that.
Having an thought of which rides you wish to do as a gaggle is a superb begin on your go to. You possibly can then have a look at the map of the park and work out which areas it is advisable go to.
It’s undoubtedly a good suggestion to experience all of the rides in a selected space that you just wish to do earlier than shifting on to a brand new space. In any other case you’re going to spend extra time strolling between areas fairly than experiencing the points of interest.
For these with any form of accessibility or incapacity concern, we extremely suggest studying the Alton Towers accessibility information, advisable routes, and insurance policies. Experience Entry Passes must be utilized on-line and visits utilizing the cross should be booked prematurely. You probably have any questions, ask them prematurely so you’re ready on the day of your go to.
Obtain the Alton Towers App
While I’m nonetheless not satisfied that the whole lot on the earth wants an app, I’ve to say that the Alton Towers app is fairly first rate, and a must have when visiting the park.
It has a whole lot of performance that may enhance your go to, from reside experience queue instances, to managing your experience pictures, to a useful map and navigation characteristic 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 be free to obtain and use.
While a number of the data within the app may simply be discovered within the park, different issues like experience 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 experience to move to subsequent.
The app could be downloaded right here.
Arrive Early / Depart Late
To take advantage of your time at Alton Towers it’s best to plan to reach early after which ideally keep till the park closes. The longer you’re on web site, the extra it is possible for you to to see and do, and the extra worth you’re going to get out of your ticket.
It’s vital to notice that while rides usually begin working at round 10am, the park itself really opens at 9am. So you possibly can go into the park and be part of the queue for the primary experience you wish to go on. Or simply seize a espresso or wander the gardens.
For closing, relying on the time of 12 months and day, the park usually closes at 4pm or 6pm (for particular occasions it will possibly additionally keep open later than this). Nevertheless, this closing time is the final time you possibly can be part of a experience queue, not the final time the experience runs. So in case you are nonetheless in a line after closing time, it’s best to nonetheless get to do the experience.
Now, if it is advisable go away the park for any purpose, reminiscent of to go to your automotive or let the youngsters have a nap, you then simply have to ensure you 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 essentially the most sense for these staying in a single day on the Alton Towers Resort.
We expect that profiting from your time at Alton Towers makes a whole lot of sense as you have got invested a good bit of cash into your go to, so ought to get the utmost worth from it.
Perceive any Experience Restrictions
Most theme park rides have minimal peak restrictions for riders resulting from well being and security causes. A couple of of the rides even have most peak restrictions.
In case you are visiting Alton Towers with anybody who is perhaps affected by the experience peak restrictions, for instance kids or these over 6 toes tall, then it’s a good suggestion to perform a little research prematurely as to which rides are going to be appropriate for the entire group. You possibly can see all of the experience peak restrictions on the official web site right here.
It will keep away from you losing time going to rides you could’t all experience collectively. Realizing which rides your children can and might’t experience will help keep away from a whole lot of tears and disappointment.
Realizing which rides are appropriate for which members of your group can even can help you divide your group up if you want, so everybody will get to expertise the points of interest they wish to, and no-one will get upset about lacking out or having to attend round.
Plan your First Experience
In case you are a thrillseeker and need the get essentially the most out of your day at Alton Towers, it’s actually vital that you recognize what you desire to your first experience to be. We’d suggest choosing the experience which is more likely to have the longest traces because the day progresses.
While it may be onerous to know precisely which rides shall be hottest on any given day, as a normal rule of thumb the newer extra thrilling rides are likely to have the longest traces.
For instance, the Smiler and Nemesis Reborn are usually highly regarded rides with lengthy wait instances. So if these rides are in your to-do record, we suggest 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 using by 10.10am, solely 10 minutes after the experience opened. Later within the day, experience wait instances have been over 2 hours for that experience.
For these centered on the smaller rides and rides geared to youthful kids, lengthy traces are usually much less of a priority. However it will possibly nonetheless be a good suggestion to start out with the rides your children wish to experience most.
Contemplate the Fastrack Passes
In case you are visiting Alton Towers on a busier day, reminiscent of a faculty vacation or a weekend, then the queue lengths for most of the rides are more likely to be pretty lengthy.
By pretty lengthy, we imply 1 – 2 hours wait time for the extra standard rides. The preferred rides are usually the joys rides and large 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 Go. There are a number of Fastrack passes obtainable, that are named Bronze, Gold, Silver and Platinum.
The cross you select will rely upon which rides you actually wish to experience, in addition to your finances. It’s additionally attainable to purchase a single Fastrack cross on a per experience foundation for most of the rides, which is usually a good technique to experience a selected experience rapidly when you don’t wish to spend money on a complete Fastrack cross.
Apart from the Platinum Fastrack cross, all the opposite passes enable you one entry to the particular Fastrack line for every experience that has Fastrack. Nearly all of rides do have Fastrack, aside from the CBeebies Land rides and a number of the different smaller rides.
The Platinum Fastrack cross is the one cross which lets you use the Fastrack line as many instances as you need for every experience. It’s additionally the most costly, and actually aimed toward those that wish to experience as many rides as attainable, a number of instances in a day.
We now have visited Alton Towers on a really busy day, and the wait time for most of the rides was properly 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 a substitute of using three or 4 rides within the day, we have been in a position to experience each experience within the park.
In fact, the Fastrack Passes gained’t make sense for everybody. We’ve visited Alton Towers on quiet days the place wait instances are often not more than 20 minutes for a experience, through which case a Fastrack Go makes much less sense.
You possibly can purchase Fastrack Passes prematurely of your go to right here. It’s also possible to purchase them in particular person on web site, nevertheless you ought to be conscious that the Fastrack passes do come from a restricted pool and so they can promote out.
In case you are visiting throughout peak season and also you do desire a Fastrack, then shopping for prematurely is a good suggestion to make certain you get the Fastrack Go you need.
Pack a Smartphone Charger
The probabilities are that you’re going to be utilizing your smartphone rather a lot at Alton Towers. You’ll be taking pictures and movies of your adventures, utilizing the Alton Towers app to verify experience instances and discover your approach round, and plenty extra moreover. And all that use goes to empty the battery.
While there are charging stations obtainable at Alton Towers for a payment, we predict a way more wise resolution is simply to spend money on a conveyable battery pack on your telephone. These can cost your telephone from flat a number of instances over (relying on the capability), and imply you’ll have the ability to hold utilizing your telephone all day with out fear.
There are a whole lot of choices on the market, we at the moment use one like this which labored properly to cost our telephones and our associates’ telephones on a latest go to to Alton Towers.
Make a Meals Plan
Along with making a normal plan about what rides and attraction you wish to go to prematurely, additionally it is a good suggestion to consider what and the place you wish to eat. Considering forward can prevent money and time.
There are a selection of meals distributors and eating places within the park open throughout the day, from sizzling canine and ice cream stands to take a seat 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 have a look at the park map and have a normal plan for lunch so if there’s a particular place you wish to eat, you may make your technique to that space for lunchtime.
Notice that for the reason that COVID-19 pandemic, a number of the sit down eating places at Alton Towers are asking individuals to order meals along with your smartphone after scanning a QR code. We had a tough time getting this to work on two completely 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. If you happen to don’t wish to order by way of a smartphone app, you may 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 offer 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 completely different picnic areas, and you’re greater than welcome to carry your personal meals to the park. This may be an effective way to economize in your go to, particularly in case you are visiting as a gaggle or household, as meals prices for a couple of individuals can rapidly add up.
We all know some households prefer to pack their very own meals, however then splurge on one thing like ice cream or candyfloss for the youngsters.
Carry a Refillable Water Bottle
You will be doing a whole lot of strolling at Alton Towers, and it’s going to be an extended day. So that you undoubtedly wish to keep hydrated.
Fairly 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 heaps to select from.
In case you are planning to purchase gentle drinks within the park, you may have the ability to lower your expenses by utilizing the Coca-Cola Refill stations all through the park.
To make use of these, it is advisable 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 should use the identical cup on future visits for a decrease per day value.
Keep In a single day
One actually good technique to take advantage of your time at Alton Towers is to remain in a single day, both at one of many on-site resorts (see and e-book all of the choices right here) or at a close-by resort.
We now have completed each, and so they every have their execs 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.
If you happen to solely select to remain one evening, we’d suggest making it the evening earlier than your go to. This manner you’ll have the ability to enter the park at opening time and take advantage of your day.
Lodging at Alton Towers
Staying on web site at one of many Alton Towers resort resorts undoubtedly has its benefits. First, the resorts are all themed, so your general expertise shall be prolonged. The theming extends from the principle areas via to every room, and there’s additionally leisure on supply within the resort areas as properly.
One other benefit of staying on web site is that it offers you time to get pleasure from a number of the different points of interest on web site that you just may not in any other case have time to get pleasure from.
These embrace the Splash Landings water park and the park themed Mini Golf. We’ve completed each of those when staying in a single day and assume they’re each price experiencing.
If you happen to keep on web site, you additionally get free on-site parking, which is able to prevent a bit of cash in case you are driving to Alton Towers.
Lastly, one of many major benefits of staying in one of many on-site resorts is you could enter the park by way of the resort visitor solely entrance, which is close to the resort monorail cease.
This entrance brings you into the park proper subsequent to Galactica and Nemesis Reborn. If these rides are in your to-do record, 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 must 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 resorts is round 20 minutes. So you possibly can skip all that and be straight into the park as a substitute.
For extra data and an in depth breakdown of what every resort has to supply, see my full Alton Towers information.
You possibly can e-book the resort resorts as a part of a bundle together with your park entrance right here. They usually run gives via the 12 months, so do take a look at what’s on supply as you may have the ability to avoid wasting cash in your go to.
Lodging close to Alton Towers
As a substitute of staying on web site, you too can keep at a close-by resort. We now have additionally completed 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 experience Nemesis Reborn as one of many first riders with solely a brief wait, fairly than the 2 hour wait that occurred in a while.
The primary benefit of staying outdoors the park is that you just get a wider selection of lodging, it may be higher worth, and it’s going to be a extra conventional resort expertise. Relying on the resort, it could even be a little bit of a quieter and extra stress-free expertise because the on-site resorts are highly regarded with households.
Each could be good choices that are properly price contemplating on your Alton Towers go to. In case you are fascinated about a resort, listed here are some suggestions within the space, sorted by approximate driving distance from the resort:
- The White Hart – a well-liked 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 obtainable. 8 minutes’ drive from Alton Towers
- Peakstones Inn – This 3* resort gives a spread of en-suite rooms and there’s an on-site restaurant and bar. Breakfast is obtainable. 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 lavatory. There’s additionally a sizzling tub and backyard for company use. 12 minutes’ drive from Alton Towers.
- Whiston Corridor – A former nineteenth century corridor which has been transformed into a contemporary mid-range resort with its personal golf course. A variety of en-suite rooms can be found, and breakfast is obtainable. We loved our keep right here and the meals particularly was excellent. 13 minutes’ drivee from Alton Towers.
- The Duncombe Arms – This pub/resort is present in Ellastone and gives air-conditioned rooms with espresso machines and en-suite services. Breakfast is obtainable 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 snug rooms within the city of Ashbourne. There’s a restaurant and bar on web site with meals obtainable. 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 selection of shared or non-public lodging. 22 minutes’ drive from Alton Towers.
In fact, there are heaps 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 properly.
Make Meal Reservations if Staying In a single day
If you happen to resolve to remain at one of many on-site resorts, it would be best to make meal reservations prematurely of your go to. This consists of breakfast and dinner mealtimes.
The resort eating places get busy, so reservations are required to ensure that them to have the ability to guarantee everybody has a great expertise. Reservations are free, and detailed details about the way to e-book shall be despatched to you as a part of your reserving affirmation.
The extra standard instances, reminiscent of round 7:00pm to 7.30pm for dinner and round 8am for breakfast, e-book up quick, so if you need extra selection, we advise reserving properly prematurely. You possibly can at all times change the time of your reservation when you change your thoughts, topic to availability.
When you can nonetheless usually eat with no reserving at one of many resorts, it may be an extended look forward to a desk otherwise you may not get your selection of a restaurant.
If you wish to eat on the Rollercoaster Restaurant (situated within the park however strolling distance from resorts), you additionally have to e-book these dinner reservations prematurely. This restaurant can generally be booked out a few weeks prematurely. If you happen to can’t get a reservation throughout your keep, attempt to go for lunch the place reservations aren’t required.
Contemplate the Digital Photograph Go
If you wish to have reminiscences of your time at Alton Towers, then we’d counsel investing in a Digital Photograph Go on your go to. While you possibly can clearly take pictures throughout the park, the one place the place images is strictly forbidden is on the rides.
The excellent news is that each one the rides have their very own images techniques in place, often positioned to seize a key second throughout the experience the place you’re looking most excited or terrified. Naturally these could make for some memorable photos! Moreover, there are some particular points of interest with a photograph shoot ingredient, reminiscent of in CBeebies Land, the place you possibly can have further pictures taken of your go to.
The Digital Photograph Go offers you entry to all of the experience pictures out of your day at Alton Towers, for you and anybody in your group. The pictures are all delivered digitally by way of the Alton Towers app, and you’ll then share them with associates digitally, or print them along with your most well-liked 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 photos between the six of us, which made the Digital Photograph Go greater than price it.
The primary tip I might give can be to have all of the pictures taken and added to the app, after which on the finish of the day you possibly can resolve if you wish to pay for them. Earlier than you pay for them they are often previewed in a small model with a watermark. If you happen to resolve you just like the pictures, you possibly can pay to unlock greater decision variations with no watermark. In any other case, when you don’t like them, you don’t have to pay.
The pictures keep within the app for 90 days after your go to, so you have got loads of time to resolve. Upon getting bought, they then stay within the app for a further 12 months, throughout which period you possibly can obtain them to your machine and hold them eternally.
You possibly can after all additionally purchase the Digital Photograph Go prematurely of your go to or throughout your go to. It’s usually offered as an possibility once you purchase your tickets.
Nevertheless, except you’re 100% sure you’re going to need the pictures, 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 peak 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 at all times going to get it proper. So we suggest being ready for a spread of eventualities. We’d usually counsel contemplating packing the next, which you’ll be able to regulate relying on the time of 12 months 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 reveals and different forms of leisure on supply, a lot of that are excellent in case you are visiting the park with youthful kids.
These reveals is usually a good technique to take a break and sit down while being entertained. Reveals fluctuate, however embrace reside motion reveals such because the Furchester Resort, Hey Duggee, Bluey, and Teletubbies reveals. Most of the reveals additionally embrace the chance to take a photograph with the characters.
Moreover, there’s a reside stage arrange subsequent to the Alton Towers lake which regularly hosts performances. You’ll want to verify the schedule once you arrive to see what’s on in your specific day.
In case you are staying in one of many on-site resorts, then the celebration doesn’t cease once you get again for the evening. Every resort usually has reside performances every evening so that you can get pleasure from as properly.
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 just may discover helpful.
- We now have a full information to visiting Alton Towers, which has the whole lot it is advisable know. It consists of data on all of the rides, resorts, actions and plenty extra.
- For wider UK journey planning, we’ve got prompt 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
- If you happen to’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 one of the best 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 one of the best 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 have got something you’d add to the above, or a query about an upcoming go to? Simply tell us within the feedback beneath!
