The biggest and arguably the best theme park in the country Alton Towers is certainly on everyone’s to do list when it comes to attractions in the United Kingdom. Here are our top tips for getting the best out of your day to Alton Towers Resort.
With a mixture of high octane thrill rides all the way down to wonderfully themed children’s rides there really is something for everyone at this Staffordshire resort.
With it being such a big park there’s quite a lot to fit into just one day so we’ve put our own little hints and tips together so you can have the best possible experience without anything slowing you down.
Are you ready?
Go, Go, Go….
Bring your own food
Alton Towers’ food is the same as many other theme parks when it comes to the food offering, in short, it’s rubbish.
Why waste your money paying £16 for fish and chips or £9 on a burger and pack your own lunch. There are plenty of places to eat around the park and the queues for food can sometimes be ridiculous which is only cutting into our ride time.
Avoid Bringing a Bag but if you do Use the Lockers
Lugging a bag around all day just isn’t fun, especially for a mostly uphill park such as Alton Towers and with such distances between rides you really don’t want that extra weight.
The park has numerous lockers around to store your bags in so do take advantage of them especially when they cost £5 for the entire day.
Avoid Wicker Man and The Smiler in the Morning
The closest rides to the entrance always get an insane queue no matter how quiet the park may be. Head down to forbidden valley right at the back of the park and get Nemesis and Galactica done nice and early and work your way backwards.
Use The Single Rider Queues
If you’re not too bothered about sitting next to your friends or if you just can’t stand queuing then please take advantage of the single rider queue. The queue is used to fill in spaces on each train and you just slot in there and the queue time for you reduces drastically.
If you don’t mind riding alone then get yourself down the queue line and hop on board. I’ve been down a single rider queue when the main queue line was 90 minutes long and got straight on, every single time.
It’s a shame that The Smiler only has a single rider queue currently to my knowledge with other rides that used to have it sadly doesn’t anymore. But for a ride like The Smiler, it’s well worth it to jump on there and spend more time with other rides without standing in queues all day.
Invest in a Merlin Pass
If you’re planning on visiting not just Alton Towers but many other Merlin parks including Thorpe Park, Chessington and LEGOLAND then invest in a Merlin Pass. Even the most expensive pass that Merlin offer is a bargain with you only needing to visit 8 parks in an entire year to get your money’s worth.
You’ll save an absolute fortune in the long run if you’re a thrill-seeker.
If you don’t want a Merlin pass there are many vouchers and discount promotions available with cereal companies, hand soap and more which include half-price entry or in some cases a free plus one entry.
Go to Towers Trading Early
Want to stock up on theme park merchandise but don’t fancy long queues then head to the shop first thing in the morning or mid-afternoon as it’s usually dead. Avoid visiting right at the end of the day as it’s on Towers Street where everyone needs to go to exit the park and people always stop in to pick up some swag.
Use the Skyride
Want to spend less time walking and more time riding then the Alton Towers Resort Sky Ride is just for you.
Whilst it’s not advised if there are long queues you will get some days where the sky ride is the perfect transportation from one side of the park to the other without the long walk in-between.
Walking from Dark Forest to Forbidden Valley can take around 25 minutes or longer whereas a Sky Ride will get you there in approximately two minutes if you jump straight on.
For me, it’s one of the scariest rides in the park purely because of the height and me not being a big fan of sky rides but if you’re brave like me you can fly to Forbidden Valley in no time.
If you’re a ride access pass holder there’s actually a separate queue line for pass holders to skip the main queue and jump straight on the sky ride.
Don’t Purchase Fast Pass Midweek
Even when the children are off school you should never be purchasing a fast pass for mid-week rides it’s a waste of money and whilst you will get to jump the queues your wallet will not thank you for the pleasure.
For me, I’d suggest never buying a fast pass at all. If you want a quick and easy way of beating the queues, check out our How to Beat the Queues video which has helped over 100,000 save money at Alton Towers.
We recorded the video on a very busy day and we didn’t need to purchase one single fast pass all day.
All of the big coasters in the park can be done in one day and even on the busiest days the park has ever seen we’ve still managed it.
So there we have it, my very own tips to get the best out of your day at Alton Towers. Check out the video below and have a great time on your next visit to Alton Towers Resort, the UK’s best theme park!
