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Usefulness of Platinum card for a specific day

J

JayMacGee

TS Member
Hello

I’m brand new to this forum, planning a first ever family trip to AT, having only visited once before in, erm, about 1989.

We’re using Tesco points for our entry tickets and we are now debating what type of fast track we should go for, if any. We’ll be visiting on Monday 8 July, arriving for opening time, and want to make the most of the day. We’re a family of four (kids teens).

Can I please have your thoughts on whether we need fast track of any type, which is best, and whether we need to order in advance.

Thank you

Jay
 
JayMacGee said:
Hello

I’m brand new to this forum, planning a first ever family trip to AT, having only visited once before in, erm, about 1989.

We’re using Tesco points for our entry tickets and we are now debating what type of fast track we should go for, if any. We’ll be visiting on Monday 8 July, arriving for opening time, and want to make the most of the day. We’re a family of four (kids teens).

Can I please have your thoughts on whether we need fast track of any type, which is best, and whether we need to order in advance.

Thank you

Jay
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I'm not commenting based on the expected queue times but if it's a special trip it's worth looking into platinum fastrack.
Please keep in mind you cannot fastrack cbebbies land.

Wickerman, spinball, nemesis,Rita and TH13TEEN are the rides I think it is most useful on, I advise against using fastrack on hex unless it is exceptionally busy as you miss part of the story line (admittedly a minor part).

(I'm a soon to be former VIP)

(Edit) forgot oblivion, it's also useful on smiler if you are in a group.

Sent from my Swift 2 Plus using Tapatalk
 
Monday the 1st of July I wouldn’t likely bother with any fast track (only caveat is I’m not sure when school trip season starts). Start in dark forest and work your away around the park. Don’t forget the closing time is for the queue not the ride so enter Wickerman just before queue close.
 
Don't waste your money on fast track unless you really need to. Getting on all of the main rides on a busy day is doable so long as operations don't **** the bed.

If you get there for 10 o'clock, then go straight to Dark Forrest and do Rita and Thirteen. Those rides won't have a queue early in the morning but will get busy later on, so make sure you do them early. Don't make the mistake of heading straight to Wicker Man and Smiler, because that's what everyone else does and there will be a huge queue. Do them towards the end of the day once the queues have died down. Once you've done Dark Forrest, I would recommend going on Hex which is always walk on.

The rapids and the Runaway Mine Train open at 11 o'clock, so I would head over to Katanga Canyon at this point to beat the crowds as these rides get busy later on. Another tip would be to have lunch early, as the queue times die down from 12-3 when people on park are having lunch.

Nemesis is usually walk on, so no need for fast track there. Galactica and Oblivion shouldn't be too busy if operations are good.

Also remember that the rides don't shut at closing time, so as long as you're in the queue before 5 o'clock you'll get to go on the ride. I would recommend Wicker Man as the last ride of the day as it absolutely flies around the track in the evening. Have a good trip!
 
Monday 8th July will just be the start of school trip season. I would echo the same advice above regarding starting at Dark Forest and then Katanga Canyon/FV leaving Smiler and Wickerman to the end of the day.

There will be a few coach loads of school kids (although no where near as bad as it will be the following week).

If you arrive and find it busier than expected you can always buy fastrack on the day. As well as the Box Office on Towers St you can also purchase fastrack on the app and in the Smiler and Galactica shops.
 
As the others said, only get fastrack if it looks mega busy when you're there. It was rammed on Satirday, i did the Thirteen, Rita, Hex, Mine train, rapids trick, and got on everything by 4pm.
 
Hi thank you all for your help.
Looks like it is perfectly feasible to get on all rides that day without fast track. However, when we have been to other smaller theme parks, we found that if we liked a ride, we wanted to get straight back on, sometimes several times in a row. Do you think that is possible without fast track or are we likely to face a cycle of 2 mins on a ride, 30 /60 mins in a queue? And would platinum make that 2 mins on a ride, 5 mins in a queue? How much does platinum actually reduce queuing, in your opinion?

Thanks again!
 
If I remember correctly fast track is officially supposed to be at most 50% of the actual queue time.

30 minute normal queue - 15 minute fast track queue.

I've not used fast track, but from watching people queuing at the station i would say it tends to be significantly less than this.

If you want to jump queues, fast track is an option.

Four people is £400, why not have 2 or 3 days at the park for that money. Pop into the waterpark too. That's the option I often choose. There is plenty of cheap accommodation around that will cost a lot less than fast track. Make it more of a mini-break!

I personally have a limit to the number of rides I can do in one day without feeling ill, so the break between rides is totally necessary for me. Plus it lets me enjoy other less intense things like the gardens, towers, a sit on the grass with a donut. I find it really helps to make the day a lot more relaxing and less rushing around.
 
Lurker said:
If I remember correctly fast track is officially supposed to be at most 50% of the actual queue time.

30 minute normal queue - 15 minute fast track queue.

I've not used fast track, but from watching people queuing at the station i would say it tends to be significantly less than this.

If you want to jump queues, fast track is an option.

Four people is £400, why not have 2 or 3 days at the park for that money. Pop into the waterpark too. That's the option I often choose. There is plenty of cheap accommodation around that will cost a lot less than fast track. Make it more of a mini-break!

I personally have a limit to the number of rides I can do in one day without feeling ill, so the break between rides is totally necessary for me. Plus it lets me enjoy other less intense things like the gardens, towers, a sit on the grass with a donut. I find it really helps to make the day a lot more relaxing and less rushing around.
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Merlin tell VIPs anywhere from 50% reduced to only reduced by a third.

Sent from my Swift 2 Plus using Tapatalk
 
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