Our home park and a park that we’ve been to over 100 times in the last 5 years and never missed a ride. Here’s our handy guide for how to beat the queues at Alton Towers.
Alton Towers can be an absolute nightmare for people at numerous times of the year and timing and planning is key unless you want to be stuck in two-hour queues watching everyone else enjoying themselves.
The following article includes numerous tips for how to beat the queues at Alton Towers, these tips have been tried and tested for every single one of the 100+ visits we’ve had over the last 5 years whether it’s the weekend, Scarefest, Oktoberfest, bank holiday Monday or just your normal weekday and we hope they help you with your next visit.
Tip 1. Use Express Parking and Arrive Very Early
The most obvious tip in our how to beat the queues at Alton Towers piece.
Arriving early is definitely the most obvious tip that everyone seems to follow but when you arrive at Alton Towers everyone is already piling into the park and the car park queues are forming before you’ve even stepped foot into the gates.
The car parks stretch all the way back to the Alton Towers Hotel and the monorail queues to get into the park during a busy day can be one of the longest queues you’ll be in all day. You also don’t want to be walking a good 20-30 minutes to get to the park before you’ve even started your day.
I’d highly recommend express parking. For £18 (or £12 if you’re a pass holder) you’ll be able to turn into the designated express parking space which is right at the entrance to the gates of Alton Towers.
If you’re already paying Alton Towers prices to get into the park an extra £12 to save not only your legs, but time saved queuing for a monorail or walking in-front of the mass crowd heading to the park should be a no-brainer.
If you’re travelling to the park and staying locally I’d even go as far as catching a taxi to the park to not only save you parking fees but the taxi drop off point is right next to the express car park and you’ll be straight in the park without walking a mile or two.
Alton Towers opens at 10am so make sure you get there early as the park usually let you in a little earlier regardless and you’ll already be ahead of 99% of people ready to get on some rides.
If you’re a hotel guest at Alton Towers or a pass holder you’re allowed into the park at 9:30am and can get some early rides in before the general public arrive!
With COVID-19 and all the restrictions in place guests are being allowed into the park early regardless because of queuing outside of the gates.
For more on early ride times for when you visit click here for the latest updates
Tip 2. Head to Forbidden Valley – Avoid Wicker Man / Spinball
As you enter any theme park the rides at the front always amass the biggest queues as it’s right there and people want to jump on them as soon as possible.
The only issue is, everyone is of the same mindset and those queues quickly rack up. If you’re one of the first in the park then this tip doesn’t apply but being the first in a theme park is certainly a rare occurrence indeed so for the purpose of this article avoid Wicker Man and Spinball.
Wicker Man is not only the parks newest ride it’s also one of the closest to the entrance. The queues stack up quickly.
I arrived at 9:45am only last week, 15 minutes before the park was officially open and the queue was already showing 60 mins on the board.
Currently the queue boards are showing the wrong times due to social distancing within the queue line but nevertheless that’s still a good 20-40 minutes of queuing that you really don’t want to be doing the second you walk in.
The same goes for Spinball. Both of these rides are family-friendly and as a result will chew into your day should you visit them instantly.
All the adults will race to The Smiler or Oblivion but Dark Forest (home of Rita and Thirteen) and Forbidden Valley situated the furthest away from the entrance and home to Nemesis and Galactica will always have lower numbers and in most cases be absolutely empty and walk-on especially earlier on.
For the sake of this article I’d recommend going to Forbidden Valley first with Nemesis being arguably the best ride in the entire park and Galactica being another ride in the Big 6 that deserves your attention.
Dark Forest has the weakest coaster selection in the entire park and for this reason I’d always choose Forbidden Valley first and then work your way back accordingly.
Tip 3. Spot A Walk-On? Walk on it!
As you make your way to Forbidden Valley you’ll go past rides such as Marauders Mayhem (if you pass through Mutiny Bay), Runaway Mine Train, River Rapids and Duel. If there is no queue and you want to ride as many rides in one day then jump on them!
Marauders Mayhem almost always have a short queue no matter how busy the park is.
Runaway Mine Train has 2 laps so as the day goes on the queue stacks up.
River Rapids (if they’re open) has a ridiculously long queue line so jump on that one. If it’s a rainy day though however it’s usually empty and walk-on.
Duel is a ride that never really has a queue unless it’s Scarefest and everyone wants to do a creepy dark ride. Duel is certainly a ride I always catch on the way back from Forbidden Valley but if you’re worried about it getting busy then feel free to jump on and shoot some ghouls.
If you’ve followed the tips so far you should have completed a good three or four rides within the first hour of the park being officially open.
Tip 4. Use Single Rider Queues When They’re Available
Don’t mind not sitting next to your friends on the rides? Join a single rider queue and jump on in any free seats on the ride.
Currently with the restrictions in place Single Rider Queues are not available but I’ll leave this tip in here for the time when they become available again.
The queue times are much smaller and you still get to jump on the ride and if that means more than sitting next to your friend pulling some silly faces then i’m all for it!
Tip 5. The Alton Towers App is Your Friend
For all the latest information on queue times and so much more download the Alton Towers app and use it to plan the rest of the day.
Once you’ve got a handful of rides under your belt it’ll be drawing towards midday or at the very least busier queue times all round.
Use the app to plan your direction but make sure to group ride times together for specific sectors.
If Rita is on a 10 minute queue (not likely) and Th13teen is on 40 mins add those two together and compare them to X-Sector.
Wicker Man and Spinball are treated individually and are usually quietest at dinner time when everyone is grabbing a bite to eat. Have a late or early lunch or even take your lunch into the queue line (there are bins at the end to get rid of food / drink) and kill two birds with one stone.
Tip 6. End of the Day Rides = Lower Wait Times
As people start to head home throughout the day the queues get smaller and sometimes even walk-on for such high throughput rides such as Oblivion and Nemesis.
Make the most of the last hour before the park closes and remember that queue lines close when the park does and not the ride. This means you can jump into a queue 5 minutes before the park closes and you’ll still get to ride whichever ride you’re queuing up for.
Once again rides at the far ends of the park (Forbidden Valley and Dark Forest) will have the smallest queues. Make the most of them.
Tip 7. If Money Is No Object then Fast Pass Is a MUST!
If you have the money you will beat the queues at Alton Towers every single time!
Highly recommend this option If you’re not local or this is your first visit to Alton Towers then a fast pass will be an absolute godsend to you on the busiest days. You’ll certainly get the most out of your day with fast pass that’s for sure.
There’s no need to rush, to plan your day, just pick and choose your rides. Twiddle your thumbs for a bit, got to the arcade and play a few games, feed a few ducks, sunbathe on the lawn and when you want to ride just walk up to the ride of choice and jump on it within 10 minutes.
It’s an easy life for some isn’t it?
Every single time we’ve used the fast track our longest wait was 10 minutes for a night ride on Wicker Man during Scarefest which as most people know is the most insane queue in the park all year round.
At the moment of me writing this article the full fast track isn’t in operation only fast shots. Three rides (Wicker Man, Nemesis and The Smiler) at £10 a go for a fast track.
The full Fastrack passes (Bronze, SIlver, Gold and Platinum) will be back for 2021.
During Oktoberfest (our first visit) the Smiler was on a 90 minute queue, we left the ride until last and whilst it was just after midday we just didn’t want to queue. I brought a fast shot (through the app) and within 3 minutes we were walking out the gift shop after an incredible ride on the 14-looping coaster.
I will praise fast track until the cows come home but understand that not everyone can afford them or will want to fork out extra money on top of the money they’ve already spent but for the busier days it’s certainly worth considering.
If you’ve never been to the park and it’s busy it’s also worth considering. You can buy fast shots and fast tracks on the app whilst you’re at the park to save you queuing up at the fast track / admissions booth inside the park.
You’re given a scannable code and you present this to a member of staff in the queue line and away you go.
Without Fast Track You Will Be Queuing at Some Point
It’s a theme park. No more, no less. If you’re not fast tracking your queues or you arrive late, or you spend too much time eating dinner and waste time you’re naturally going to encounter a queue at some point of your trip.
It’s part and parcel of being at a theme park. Weekdays when the children are at school is the perfect time to visit a theme park, it’ll always be nice and quiet but even during the busy days with our tips above you’ll be able to fit in the Big 6 rides every single time you visit.
You’ll have two completed within the first 90 minutes of being inside the park if planned correctly and the rest you can chop and change accordingly.
The Smiler, Th13teen and Rita will always amass queues so hit those at dinner time or within the last hour of the park being open.
Oblivion seems to the quieter ride out of the group above and as a result you can usually get that one done within 20-30 minutes.
I have given you the tips, now go smash it!
For even more tips on how to beat the queues at Alton Towers and for an example of our tips implemented into a busy day at the park then check out the video below!
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