Alton Towers

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Electric_Andy

Heavy Metal Fan
Location
Plymouth
I'd like some opinions please, me and my partner would like to take our kids there at Easter (16, 15 and 9). Trouble is, my son is only 1.32m so not tall enough to go on the main rides (Nemesis, Rita, Galactica, The Smiler, Oblivion). We are looking at a 1 day pass, staying at Splash Landings Hotel and then doing the waterpark the next day.

Anyone done similar? Good or bad experiences? It doesn't seem too bad for the price, I'm just worried that my son will be dissapointed not going on the bigger rides, and also will the waterpark be too young for him (he's 9 going on 15)?

Thanks,
 

Milkfloat

An Peanut
Location
Midlands
I have been with my kids a few times over the last few years. Assuming you or your partner are happy enough to miss the big thrill rides then there is more than enough to keep a smaller child happy. We are lucky enough that my wife is not a fan of the big coasters so I get to take my manic 14 year old daughter on and my wife takes my younger son on the other rides. We then meet up for some joint fun on rides like Thirteen, and Wickerman where my son can go on. This is a good list for the height restrictions https://www.altontowers.com/plan-your-visit/resort-information/height-restrictions/ I have to slump a bit as I am too tall for some rides :smile: The waterpark will be fine for 9-16.
 

icowden

Veteran
Location
Surrey
I'd like some opinions please, me and my partner would like to take our kids there at Easter (16, 15 and 9). Trouble is, my son is only 1.32m so not tall enough to go on the main rides (Nemesis, Rita, Galactica, The Smiler, Oblivion). We are looking at a 1 day pass, staying at Splash Landings Hotel and then doing the waterpark the next day.

Anyone done similar? Good or bad experiences? It doesn't seem too bad for the price, I'm just worried that my son will be dissapointed not going on the bigger rides, and also will the waterpark be too young for him (he's 9 going on 15)?

Thanks,

There are plenty of rides, I wouldn't worry too much about the big ones unless he is a *real* rollercoaster freak. He still has Thirteen and Wickerman which are great fun. The other coasters are both massive and terrifying - aimed at adult thrill seekers.

For a fun lunch, book the rollercoaster restaurant or if it isn't taking bookings have an early lunch - get there as it opens at about 11:30 rather than expecting to be able to get in at 13:00 - plus queue times will drop as people start to have lunch from 12:30 onwards. The queues for the big coasters can get *big*. It's worth using the app and looking at queue times. The gondola ride that links the dark forest to the main entrance doesn't open when the park does, so if you are relatively fit it's worth heading for dark forest and hitting Thirteen as it is likely to be the quietest at the start of the day - OR heading straight to Wicker Man. Similarly at the end of the day some of the queues will start to drop.

Some rides usually have no or small queues (duel and Hex for example, blade is often not too bad) You will get soaked on battle galleons so plan accordingly. Bystanders have access to high powered water cannon. Congo river rapids on the other hand you have about a 1 in 8 chance of staying fairly dry.

Hotel guests get to enter at X-Sector, so you could grab a quick go on the Blade (pirate ship) and then hit runaway mine train and wicker man, but I'd be tempted to head for Rita and Thirteen through the gardens personally.

As far as the Waterpark goes, he is about the right age. Again, the tube rides can get very busy so being early pays dividends. Some areas may not open (like the outdoor area) until later on. The waterpark is probably good for the morning but you might be getting bored by the afternoon. There is a mini golf course but it was pretty desperate for maintenance when we went last summer.

Food wise I'd recommend booking the Secret Garden in the main hotel - book early so you have a reservation. It is common to see people wandering around looking depressed that they can only get take out. Flambo's Jambo is a bit rubbish although we did get a good laugh about the veggie cauliflower steak - they just tried to roast a whole cauliflower.
 

cyberknight

As long as I breathe, I attack.
I could never understand the thrill of queuing forever to be span around for 5 mins bah humbug ;)
When my kids were younger we went to gullivers kingdom as it was less packed although i think maybe your older kids might find it boring ?
 

icowden

Veteran
Location
Surrey
I could never understand the thrill of queuing forever to be span around for 5 mins bah humbug ;)
When my kids were younger we went to gullivers kingdom as it was less packed although i think maybe your older kids might find it boring ?
To a degree, me neither. I prefer Universal and Disney where there is a heavy narrative to the queuing system and ride.
That said, some of the Alton Towers rides have narrative, but due to Covid, it's all switched off. The Wicker Man for example is supposed to have a pre-amble which is now disabled in favour of air flow and getting people to move through.
 
OP
OP
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Electric_Andy

Heavy Metal Fan
Location
Plymouth
Thanks everyone. I've found some POV videos of the rides on youtube, so I'm going to show them to my son and make sure he understands that he can't go on the 5 big ones. The others don't look too bad; got to be better than Flambards anyway, to which we have been every year for the last 5 years and they still enjoy it.
 
When is Easter ? He might have a growth spurt.

Splash Landings is fun anyway.
 

icowden

Veteran
Location
Surrey
Thanks everyone. I've found some POV videos of the rides on youtube, so I'm going to show them to my son and make sure he understands that he can't go on the 5 big ones. The others don't look too bad; got to be better than Flambards anyway, to which we have been every year for the last 5 years and they still enjoy it.

Oh - another tip - Alton Towers is in the middle of the countryside. Use Google Maps and trust it. The majority of traffic travels one way and the queue can get *very* long. Google may take you off the beaten path to another little road that allows you to circumvent most of the queue...

Last time we went my brother in law followed Google Maps and was in over an hour before us - my wife didn't trust the single lane road it wanted to take us down as there were brown signs pointing the other way....
 
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