Alton Towers Theme Park Review

Alton Towers Resort is a theme park, water park, and hotel complex in Staffordshire, England. This is an Adventure Park with roller coasters and vertical drops, plus rides and attractions for younger kids.

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We were lucky we visited the park on a sunny summer day.  Remember to bring your suncream and a hat for little ones! Upon arriving at the giant car park I was surprised that you had to get on a Disney like monorail to get to the entrance of the park.

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The park is home to CBeebies Land which is very popular with babies and children of preschool age, you can read the review of CBeebies Land here.

Outside of Cbeebies land the girls had a great time with some of their favourite rides in Cloud Cuckoo Land which were:

Driving School, Frog Hopper (a gentle bouncing ride) and Ice Age 4DExperince which is a 20 minute movie combining 3D footage with physical effects such as wind blasts, bubbles and snow.

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The children enjoyed and were happy that Daddy won them a Sid toy from Ice Age from the ball in the bucket game located outside.  There was an extra charge for this.

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The in-between rides for those who are looking for something tamer than the thrill seeking rides but need a little more grown up action is Twirling Toadstool which is a fast chair plane ride and the Congo River Rapids.  This is a fun ride but expect soggy bottoms or take a foldaway poncho with you.   As our girls are young we didn’t use these rides.
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We were also lucky to meet the characters around the park, my daughters had their photos taken with Sonic the Hedgehog.

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The Mutany Bay area is as you would guess pirate themed.  The girls enjoyed the Runaway Mine Train, Marauders Mayhem is like the tea cup ride but pirate themed spinning barrels.  The Heave Ho pirate ship, was a smaller tamer version of The Blade and Gallopers carousel.

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The children enjoyed the Pirate Show in the castle square and you can sit and watch the show eating some lunch from the burger restaurant located here.

The small aquarium at Shark Bait Reef by Sealife, is a chance to touch a starfish and look at other Sealife such as rays and seahorses.

Alton Towers has many rides and shows for all ages, my children were too young for the iconic rollercoasters such as Nemisis, Oblivion, Smiler, Rita and Thi3teen (Our review was written before the launch of the new Galactica ride, the first virtual reality coaster) but there are plenty of rides and activities here to keep families entertained during your visit.

Top tips:

  1. Visit Guest services on entry for a wrist tag as your little one is measured in advance and given a tag which means they don’t need to be measured again.
  2. You can request a Parent Q Share Pass which lets one parent ride while the other parent is watching the children and then the other parent can use the pass to gain entry to the front of the queue.
  3. Buy a refillable drinks cup for £5 and you can refill your cup from the kiosks and restaurants as you travel around the park. The cup is yours to take home as a souvenir of the day.
  4. Use Tesco Clubcard vouchers or Kellogg’s cereal 2 for 1 vouchers to gain entry to the park to reduce costs. It is free entry for children under three and the best deals are through the website booking in advance
  5. The park is spread out and there is lots of walking, mostly flat but if your child is younger I would recommend taking the buggy as little legs get tired quickly. There is buggy parking for you to leave your buggy while you embark on a family ride.
  6. Double buggy hire charge is £15 for the day.
  7. If you don’t want to pay park prices the grounds offer plenty of picnic and grass areas to stop off for a bite to eat.
  8. If you forget your raincoat you can buy a plastic poncho in the park or bring one with you.
  9. Don’t forget there is additional parking charge of £6.
  10. Photos are expensive but if this is what you would like best option is to buy the digipass for £30.

Within the park, the grounds are beautiful and a nice experience is to ride in the cable car.  You can rest your legs and is a lovely way to get around while admiring the views.  There are lots of toilets and baby changing facilities.

There are also lots of restaurants, snacks stops and kiosks located throughout the park.  The food prices are as expected expensive, either bring a picnic with you or look for family meal deals.  For hungry tummy’s there is a pizza/pasta buffet restaurant.

There are lots of open areas to explore.  On a rainy day you will get wet and the rain can be a factor of ride closures on the bigger rollercoasters.

The park is well signposted but does feel like you are in the middle of the country side.

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trentham1We stayed in the Premier Inn Trentham Gardens, which is 16 miles away but due to the country roads it was around a long 40 minute journey.  This was a nice location as the hotel was situated in Trentham Gardens itself which is a shopping Village, gardens and garden centre.

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We would like to go back to visit the Enchanted Village and stay in the Splash Landings hotel to experience the resort in its entirety and make use of the priority access to the park from 9am.  The hotels, pools and restaurant look magically themed and my children are excited for our next visit.

Alton Towers is a great day out for families and if you have little ones they will love CBeebiesland.

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