Alton Towers is one among our favorite theme parks in the United Kingdom. It’s house to a perfect many rides and points of interest, from the kid-friendly rides and displays in CBeebies Land to the high-octane thrill rides such because the Smiler and Nemesis Reborn.
It’s the greatest theme park in the United Kingdom, and we’ve were fortunate sufficient to seek advice from Alton Towers on many events.
On this information, we’re going to percentage you with all our tricks to lend a hand make sure you get essentially the most out of your Alton Towers seek advice from, from discovering your approach across the park thru to creating positive you get to experience the entire rides you wish to have to experience, even on a hectic day.
This information is targeted particularly on guidelines for visiting Alton Towers.
When you’re searching for extra main points at the park, together with details about the entire rides, eating places, opening occasions, price ticket costs, our opinions and extra, take a look at our whole information to visiting Alton Towers.
That information is going into a perfect deal extra element in regards to the park typically, while this information focuses particularly on sharing tricks to get essentially the most from your seek advice from.
15 Guidelines for Visiting Alton Towers
Alton Towers Lodge is situated in central Staffordshire in England (about midway between Birmingham and Manchester) and is the most important theme park in the United Kingdom. The Alton Towers theme park sits on over 550 acres of land, with the bigger lodge space totaling 910 acres.
A seek advice from to Alton Towers is frequently a unique commute with friends and family searching for a amusing day or two. For plenty of it’s also a vital funding of their hard earned time and money.
We’ve visited Alton Towers a number of occasions through the years and we needed to offer guidelines and recommendation that will help you profit from your seek advice from to Alton Towers and get essentially the most from your day.
Those come with recommendations on tips on how to plan forward, save time, lower your expenses, steer clear of surprises, and with a bit of luck lend a hand steer clear of any tantrums!
Purchase Tickets & Parking in Advance
If you wish to get the most efficient value for tickets, you’re going to surely need to e-book your tickets upfront at the legitimate web site right here.
Tickets purchased on-line are just about at all times considerably more economical than purchasing them in user on web site. Purchasing your tickets upfront additionally approach you’ll be able to move instantly to the turnstile and skip any line for the price ticket place of job.
It’s additionally price noting that Alton Towers operates a dynamic pricing machine, so on busier height days tickets have a tendency to be costlier, and on quieter days tickets may also be more economical. If you’ll be able to be versatile together with your dates, you could in finding that opting for a special day in your seek advice from can prevent some cash.
We additionally counsel buying parking upfront for those who don’t seem to be staying on web site (parking is integrated for on-site lodge visitors). 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 calls for an additional price ticket) tickets also are inexpensive if booked upfront than if bought in-person at the day. They’re lately £2 in line with user inexpensive on-line than in user.
Make a Normal Course Plan for the Day
Alton Towers is unfold out over a big space, and it will possibly take some time (now and again so long as part an hour) to stroll from one experience to any other. So this is a just right concept to plot out your normal day and feature a normal path plan for what you wish to have to seek advice from and in what order.
Because you probably need to spend extra time playing the rides and points of interest than strolling, it’s a good suggestion to have a normal plan in your day on the park. Spending a while having a look on the park map both at the park’s website online or within the park’s app permit you to plan your path and prevent time at the day.
Alton Towers is specified by other zones, every of which has a special theme and every of which incorporates quite a few rides and points of interest. You’ll be able to be told extra about the entire zones and main points of each experience in my detailed Alton Towers information.
Relying in your staff, chances are you’ll or won’t finally end up visiting the entire zones. As an example, in case you are visiting with more youthful children, you might be most probably going to spend extra time in CBeebies Land and The International of David Walliams and no longer such a lot time within the X-Sector and the Darkish Woodland.
So a normal plan may well be one thing like this “Acquire tickets and parking upfront. Arrive at park at 9:30am, get started in CBeebies Land, wreck to have a packed snack, then move to International 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 closing!).”
Alternatively, in case you are visiting with youngsters and adults who meet the entire experience top necessities, you’re most probably 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 may well 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 front. Sign up for queue for most popular experience in Forbidden Valley, then do closing Forbidden Valley Rides. Head to Darkish Woodland for the joys rides then have lunch at Woodcutter Grill. After lunch head to Wicker Guy, then end the day at X-Sector”.
After all, relying on how busy the park is and whether or not or no longer you could have Fastrack Passes you’ll have to regulate your agenda. On very busy days with out Fastrack passes you could no longer have the ability to do greater than 3 or 4 large rides in an afternoon. Conversely, on a quiet day or in case you have a Fastrack Move it is possible for you to to slot in extra rides.
In case you are short of to seek advice from the Alton Towers Dungeon (additional price ticket wanted), remember to permit about an hour for that.
Having an concept of which rides you wish to have to do as a bunch is a brilliant get started in your seek advice from. You’ll be able to then have a look at the map of the park and determine which spaces you want to seek advice from.
It’s surely a good suggestion to experience the entire rides in a selected space that you wish to have to do sooner than transferring directly to a brand new space. Another way you’re going to spend extra time strolling between spaces relatively than experiencing the points of interest.
For the ones with any roughly accessibility or incapacity factor, we extremely counsel studying the Alton Towers accessibility information, advisable routes, and insurance policies. Ask any questions you could have upfront so you are ready at the day of your seek advice from.
Obtain the Alton Towers App
While I’m nonetheless no longer satisfied that the whole thing on the earth wishes an app, I’ve to mention that the Alton Towers app is lovely first rate, and vital when visiting the park.
It has numerous capability that may beef up your seek advice from, from are living experience queue occasions, to managing your experience footage, to a at hand map and navigation characteristic that may get you in every single place within the park you wish to have to head.
There’s unfastened WiFi throughout Alton Towers, so that you don’t wish to concern about information utilization. The app may be unfastened to obtain and use.
While one of the vital knowledge within the app too can simply be discovered within the park, different such things as experience queue occasions are a lot more uncomplicated to seek out within the app. Having the entire knowledge for your pocket can in point of fact lend a hand when deciding which experience to move to subsequent.
The app may also be downloaded right here.
Arrive Early / Depart Past due
To profit from your time at Alton Towers you must plan to reach early after which preferably keep till the park closes. The longer you might be on web site, the extra it is possible for you to to look and do, and the extra worth you’re going to get out of your price ticket.
It’s vital to notice that while rides typically get started working at round 10am, the park itself in reality opens at 9am. So you’ll be able to move into the park and sign up for the queue for the primary experience you wish to have to head on. Or simply seize a espresso or wander the gardens.
For last, relying at the time of yr and day, the park usually closes at 4pm or 6pm (for particular occasions it will possibly additionally keep open later than this). Alternatively, this last time is the closing time you’ll be able to sign up for a experience queue, no longer the closing time the experience runs. So in case you are nonetheless in a line after last time, you must nonetheless get to do the experience.
Now, if you want to depart the park for any explanation why, equivalent to to head for your automotive or let the children have a snooze, then you definitely simply wish to be sure you get a hand stamp from an admission team of workers member sooner than you go out so you’ll be able to reenter later. So you’ll be able to take a wreck and go back. This makes essentially the most sense for the ones staying in a single day on the Alton Towers Lodge.
We predict that profiting from your time at Alton Towers makes numerous sense as you could have invested a good bit of cash into your seek advice from, so must get the utmost worth from it.
Perceive any Journey Restrictions
Maximum theme park rides have minimal top restrictions for riders because of well being and protection causes. A number of the rides even have most top restrictions.
In case you are visiting Alton Towers with someone who may well be suffering from the experience top restrictions, for instance kids or the ones over 6 ft 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 staff. You’ll be able to see the entire experience top restrictions at the legitimate web site right here.
This will likely steer clear of you losing time going to rides that you’ll be able to’t all experience in combination. Understanding which rides your children can and will’t experience can lend a hand steer clear of numerous tears and sadness.
Understanding which rides are appropriate for which contributors of your staff may even permit you to divide your staff up if you want, so everybody will get to enjoy the points of interest they need to, and nobody will get disappointed about lacking out or having to attend round.
Plan your First Journey
In case you are a thrillseeker and wish the get essentially the most out of your day at Alton Towers, it’s in point of fact vital that you already know what you prefer to your first experience to be. We’d counsel selecting the experience which is prone to have the longest traces because the day progresses.
While it may be laborious to understand precisely which rides might be most well liked on any given day, as a normal rule of thumb the more recent extra exciting rides generally tend to have the longest traces.
As an example, the Smiler and Nemesis Reborn are usually highly regarded rides with lengthy wait occasions. So if the ones rides are in your to-do checklist, we suggest heading to these rides once you arrive and becoming a member of the road. This must get you onto those rides temporarily.
For instance, on a up to date seek advice from to Alton Towers I joined the road for Nemesis Reborn at 9.30am and was once using by means of 10.10am, handiest 10 mins after the experience opened. Later within the day, experience wait occasions have been over 2 hours for that experience.
For the ones targeted at the smaller rides and rides geared to more youthful kids, lengthy traces are typically much less of a priority. However it will possibly nonetheless be a good suggestion first of all the rides your children need to experience maximum.
Believe the Fastrack Passes
In case you are visiting Alton Towers on a busier day, equivalent to a faculty vacation or a weekend, then the queue lengths for most of the rides usually are quite lengthy.
Via quite lengthy, we imply 1 – 2 hours wait time for the extra widespread rides. The most well liked rides are typically the joys rides and massive themed rides, however even the smaller rides may have lengthy wait occasions on a hectic day (or if they’re new to the park).
The excellent news is that you’ll be able to skip nearly all of the traces by means of making an investment in a Fastrack Move. There are a number of Fastrack passes to be had, which might be named Bronze, Gold, Silver and Platinum.
The cross you select is dependent upon which rides you in point of fact need to experience, in addition to your finances. It’s additionally conceivable to shop for a unmarried Fastrack cross on a in line with experience foundation for most of the rides, which may also be an effective way to experience a selected experience temporarily for those who don’t need to spend money on a complete Fastrack cross.
As opposed to the Platinum Fastrack cross, the entire different passes permit you one access to the particular Fastrack line for every experience that has Fastrack. Nearly all of rides do have Fastrack, excluding the CBeebies Land rides and one of the vital different smaller rides.
The Platinum Fastrack cross is the one cross which lets you use the Fastrack line as repeatedly as you wish to have for every experience. It’s additionally the most costly, and in point of fact aimed toward those that need to experience as many rides as conceivable, more than one occasions in an afternoon.
We have now visited Alton Towers on an overly busy day, and the wait time for most of the rides was once nicely over an hour, with many rides having two hour wait occasions. With our Fastrack passes, we most commonly were given onto rides in 5 or ten mins. So for us it made an enormous distinction, that means as a substitute of using 3 or 4 rides within the day, we have been in a position to experience each experience 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 occasions are generally not more than 20 mins for a experience, by which case a Fastrack Move makes much less sense.
You’ll be able to purchase Fastrack Passes upfront of your seek advice from right here. You’ll be able to additionally purchase them in user on web site, then again you must bear in mind that the Fastrack passes do come from a restricted pool and they may be able to promote out.
In case you are visiting right through height season and also you do need a Fastrack, then purchasing upfront is a good suggestion to make sure you get the Fastrack Move you wish to have.
Pack a Smartphone Charger
The chances are high that that you will be the usage of your Smartphone so much at Alton Towers. You’ll be taking footage and movies of your adventures, the usage of the Alton Towers app to test experience occasions and in finding your approach round, and so much extra but even so. And all that use goes to empty the battery.
While there are charging stations to be had at Alton Towers for a price, we expect a a lot more smart resolution is solely to spend money on a conveyable battery pack in your telephone. Those can rate your telephone from flat more than one occasions over (relying at the capability), and imply you’ll have the ability to stay the usage of your telephone all day with out concern.
There are numerous choices available in the market, we lately use one like this which labored nicely to rate our telephones and our pals’ telephones on a up to date seek advice from to Alton Towers.
Make a Meals Plan
Along with creating a normal plan about what rides and appeal you wish to have to seek advice from upfront, it’s also a good suggestion to take into accounts what and the place you wish to have to consume. Considering forward can save you money and time.
There are a variety of meals distributors and eating places within the park open right through 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 Eating place.
It may be a good suggestion to have a look at the park map and feature a normal plan for lunch so if there’s a explicit position you wish to have to consume, you’ll be able to make your strategy to that space for lunchtime.
If you wish to lower your expenses (and more than likely a while), imagine bringing alongside your personal meals and snacks.
Alton Towers has a couple of other picnic spaces, and you might be greater than welcome to carry your personal meals to the park. This is a smart way to save cash in your seek advice from, particularly in case you are visiting as a bunch or circle of relatives, as meals prices for a couple of folks can temporarily upload up.
Convey a Refillable Water Bottle
You’re going to be doing numerous strolling at Alton Towers, and it’s going to be a protracted day. So that you surely need to keep hydrated.
Slightly than having to pay for beverages or purchase bottles of water, you’ll be able to carry your personal refillable water bottle after which use the water replenish stations which might be dotted all through the park. We use those water bottles by means of Klean Kanteen, however there are so much to make a choice from.
In case you are making plans to shop for comfortable beverages within the park, you could possibly lower your expenses by means of the usage of the Coca-Cola Replenish stations all through the park.
To make use of those, you want to buy one of the crucial refillable Coke Freestyle cups (priced at £15 right through our closing seek advice from) after which you’ll be able to drink up to you would like. You’ll be able to use the similar cup on long run visits for a decrease in line with day price.
Keep In a single day
One in point of fact just right strategy to profit from your time at Alton Towers is to stick in a single day, both at one of the crucial on-site lodges (see and e-book the entire choices right here) or at a close-by lodge.
We have now executed each, they usually every have their execs and cons.
Staying two nights can aid you get there early and keep till last the park with out being worried about heading house.
When you handiest make a selection to stick one evening, we’d counsel making it the evening sooner than your seek advice from. This fashion you’ll have the ability to input the park at opening time and profit from your day.
Lodging at Alton Towers
Staying on web site at one of the crucial Alton Towers lodge lodges surely has its benefits. First, the lodges are all themed, so your general enjoy might be prolonged. The theming extends from the principle spaces thru to every room, and there’s additionally leisure on be offering within the lodge spaces as nicely.
Some other benefit of staying on web site is that it will provide you with time to experience one of the vital different points of interest on web site that you could no longer in a different way have time to experience.
Those come with the Splash Landings water park and the park themed Mini Golfing. We’ve executed either one of those when staying in a single day and assume they’re each price experiencing.
When you keep on web site, you additionally get unfastened on-site parking, which can prevent just a little of cash in case you are using to Alton Towers.
In spite of everything, one of the crucial primary benefits of staying in one of the crucial on-site lodges is that you’ll be able to input the park by the use of the lodge visitor handiest front, which is close to the lodge monorail forestall.
This front brings you into the park proper subsequent to Galactica and Nemesis Reborn. If those rides are in your to-do checklist, then you’ll be able to are available in early and sign up for the road for them sooner than someone else.
It additionally approach you don’t must queue for the monorail, or stroll to the principle park front. On busy mornings the monorail queue may also be 40 mins lengthy, whilst the stroll to the principle park front from the lodges is round 20 mins. So you’ll be able to skip all that and be instantly into the park as a substitute.
For more info and an in depth breakdown of what every lodge has to supply, see my whole Alton Towers information.
You’ll be able to e-book the lodge lodges as a part of a package deal together with your park front right here. They frequently run provides during the yr, so do take a look at what’s on be offering as you could possibly avoid wasting cash in your seek advice from.
Lodging close to Alton Towers
As an alternative of staying on web site, you’ll be able to additionally keep at a close-by lodge. We have now additionally executed this, staying round 10 mins power away at the evening sooner than our seek advice from.
This allow us to arrive early and intended I were given to experience Nemesis Reborn as one of the crucial first riders with just a quick wait, relatively than the 2 hour wait that took place in a while.
The principle benefit of staying outdoor the park is that you just get a much wider selection of lodging, it may be higher worth, and it’s going to be a extra conventional lodge enjoy. Relying at the lodge, it can also be just a little of a quieter and extra stress-free enjoy because the on-site lodges are very well-liked by households.
Each may also be just right choices which might be nicely price making an allowance for in your Alton Towers seek advice from. If you have an interest in a lodge, listed below are some suggestions within the space, looked after by means of approximate using distance from the lodge:
- The White Hart – a well-liked inn within the village of Alton, providing a spread of en-suite rooms. 7 mins’ power from Alton Towers
- The Laurel’s B&B – This can be a well-rated B&B which serves breakfast. Rooms are en-suite with tea/espresso making amenities. 8 mins’ power from Alton Towers
- The Bay Tree – an overly well-reviewed B&B with en-suite lodging and breakfast to be had. 8 mins’ power from Alton Towers
- Peakstones Inn – This 3* lodge provides a spread of en-suite rooms and there’s an on-site eating place and bar. Breakfast is to be had. 10 mins’ power from Alton Towers.
- Heywood Corridor – This assets provides quite a few self-contained flats, every with a small kitchen an en-suite rest room. There’s additionally a sizzling bathtub and lawn for visitors use. 12 mins’ power from Alton Towers.
- Whiston Corridor – A former nineteenth century corridor which has been transformed into a contemporary mid-range lodge with its personal golfing route. A spread of en-suite rooms are to be had, and breakfast is obtainable. We loved our keep right here and the meals specifically was once superb. 13 mins’ drivee from Alton Towers.
- The Duncombe Hands – This pub/lodge is located in Ellastone and provides air-conditioned rooms with espresso machines and en-suite amenities. Breakfast is to be had and there’s a cafe and bar for different foods. 13 mins power from Alton Towers
- The Royal Oak – This inn provides a spread of cushty rooms within the the city of Ashbourne. There’s a cafe and bar on web site with foods to be had. 19 mins’ power from Alton Towers.
- YHA Ilam Corridor – This formative years hostel is located 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 mins’ power from Alton Towers.
After all, there are so much extra choices to imagine. You’ll be able to see a complete fluctuate of lodging choices close to Alton Towers on Reserving.com right here, which contains quite a few vacation leases as nicely.
Make Meal Reservations if Staying In a single day
If making a decision to stick at one of the crucial on-site lodges, you’ll want to make meal reservations upfront of your seek advice from. This comprises breakfast and dinner mealtimes.
The eating places get busy, so reservations are required to ensure that them in an effort to be certain that everybody has a just right enjoy. Reservations are unfastened, and detailed details about tips on how to e-book might be despatched to you as a part of your reserving affirmation.
The extra widespread occasions, equivalent to round 7:00pm to 7.30pm for dinner and round 8am for breakfast, e-book up speedy, so if you wish to have extra selection, we suggest reserving nicely upfront. You’ll be able to at all times trade the time of your reservation for those who trade your thoughts, topic to availability.
Whilst you’ll be able to nonetheless frequently consume with out a reserving, it may be a protracted look ahead to a desk or you could no longer get your selection of a cafe.
Believe the Virtual Photograph Move
If you wish to have recollections of your time at Alton Towers, then we’d counsel making an investment in a Virtual Photograph Move in your seek advice from. While you’ll be able to clearly take footage everywhere in the park, the only position the place images is exactly forbidden is at the rides.
The excellent news is that the entire rides have their very own images methods in position, generally positioned to seize a key second right through the experience the place you’re looking maximum excited or terrified. Naturally those could make for some memorable photographs! Moreover, there are some explicit points of interest with a photograph shoot component, equivalent to in CBeebies Land, the place you’ll be able to have further footage taken of your seek advice from.
The Virtual Photograph Move will provide you with get entry to to the entire experience footage out of your day at Alton Towers, for you and someone for your staff. The footage are all delivered digitally by the use of the Alton Towers app, and you’ll be able to then percentage them with pals digitally, or print them together with your most popular print carrier.
On a up to date seek advice from to Alton Towers as a bunch of six (4 adults and two children) we ended up with over 100 virtual photographs between the six folks, which made the Virtual Photograph Move greater than price it.
The principle tip I’d give could be to have the entire footage taken and added to the app, after which on the finish of the day you’ll be able to make a decision if you wish to pay for them. Sooner than you pay for them they may be able to be previewed in a small model with a watermark. If making a decision you just like the footage, you’ll be able to pay to free up upper solution variations without a watermark. Another way, for those who don’t like them, you don’t wish to pay.
The footage keep within the app for 90 days after your seek advice from, so you could have a number of time to make a decision. After getting bought, they then stay within the app for an extra yr, right through which era you’ll be able to obtain them for your tool and stay them eternally.
You’ll be able to in fact additionally purchase the Virtual Photograph Move upfront of your seek advice from or right through your seek advice from. It’s usually introduced as an possibility while you purchase your tickets.
Alternatively, until you might be 100% positive you’re going to wish the pictures, our advice is to attend till you spot all of them sooner than deciding to shop for.
Be Ready for Solar & Rain
The elements in England is notoriously fickle, even within the top of summer season. We’ve had studies the place we visited Alton Towers throughout two days, with the primary day being pouring rain and the second one day being gloriously sizzling sunshine.
So that you simply by no means know reasonably what you’re going to get, and the elements forecast isn’t at all times going to get it proper. So we suggest being ready for a spread of situations. We’d typically counsel making an allowance for packing the next, which you’ll be able to regulate relying at the time of yr you might be visiting:
Take Good thing about Loose Displays and Leisure
Alton Towers has much more to supply than exciting rides. There also are quite a few unfastened displays and different sorts of leisure on be offering, a lot of which might be best possible in case you are visiting the park with more youthful kids.
Those displays may also be an effective way to take a wreck and sit down down while being entertained. Displays range, however come with are living motion displays such because the Furchester Lodge, Whats up Duggee, Bluey, and Teletubbies displays. Lots of the displays additionally come with the chance to take a photograph with the characters.
Moreover, there’s a are living level arrange subsequent to the Alton Towers lake which frequently hosts performances. It would be best to test the agenda while you arrive to look what’s on in your explicit day.
In case you are staying in one of the crucial on-site lodges, then the birthday celebration doesn’t forestall while you get again for the evening. Every lodge usually has are living performances every evening so that you can experience as nicely.
Additional Studying
That’s it for our guidelines for visiting Alton Towers! We are hoping you discovered it helpful.
Sooner than you move, we needed to percentage a couple of of our different guides that you could in finding helpful.
- We have now a whole information to visiting Alton Towers, which has the whole thing you want to understand. It comprises knowledge on the entire rides, lodges, actions and so much extra.
- For wider UK commute making plans, we have now recommended one week and two week UK itineraries
- We have now guides to many different towns 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 Commute, and issues to do in Cambridge
- When you’re heading to Scotland, take a look at our 2 day Edinburgh itinerary, our Glasgow and Loch Lomond itinerary, our information to the perfect day journeys from Glasgow, our information to issues to do in Edinburgh, our itinerary for Skye and the Highlands, our information to the perfect day journeys from Aberdeen, and our information to the most efficient day journeys from Edinburgh to get you began. We actually have a information to getting from London to Edinburgh.
- We have now a information to 10 of the most efficient Stately Houses in England, a few of which don’t seem to be that a ways from Alton Towers
And that’s it! Have you ever ever visited Alton Towers? Do you could have the rest you’d upload to the above, or a query about an upcoming seek advice from? Simply tell us within the feedback underneath!
