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Busyness and travel options?

Lewiss

TS Member
Hey all,

I'm travelling to the UK in June from Australia to visit family. I'm arriving in London on Monday the 1st and staying until the weekend when I'm travelling up to Scarborough. Figured I'd go to Alton Towers on the way up, and was thinking of staying over Saturday night at Stoke on Trent and visiting the park on Sunday. My main question is how busy is the park usually on Sundays? I want to go on as many rides as possible, but I'll be a single rider as I'm going by myself so will I be able to do plenty?

My other question is regarding trains from London to Stoke on Trent - so far I can only find very expensive trips... will it be cheaper if I book a train closer to the date?

Thanks in advance.
 
Sunday's are usually quite busy with queues frequently exceeding 60 mins. Very few rides have single rider (Currently Smiler and Spinball). Park usually open 10-5. Usually London to Stoke is cheaper when you book online in advance because they use an airline-style pricing system however looking on Avanti Trains website I agree their prices are ridiculous. (It doesn't help that they have a near monopoly on that route). Once you get to Stoke, how are you getting to Alton Towers because public transport options are pretty much non-existant?
 
You would be better going on a week day, however Sunday's are usually quieter than a Saturday. You could also purchase fast track to ensure getting on all the rides. If you just want to do one of each ride then you could for silver or gold fast track, if you want to re-ride then you could look at the platinum fast track https://www.altontowers.com/tickets-passes/extras/fastrack/

I don't advocate using fast track, but considering that you are travelling afar and this may be your first and only visit, then it may be worth considering.
 
Looking at the Avanti West Coast website it appears the cheapest advanced fares have not been released yet for the weekend of 6/7 June as every train is showing only the standard off peak fare for £74.90 one way. If you look at the 5 day calendar you can see fares as low as £16.50 for the same journey on the Friday.

You could either change your travel plans and head up to Stoke on the Friday or hold out for the cheaper fares for the Sat being released soon. I don’t think Avanti have a ticket alert system where it will email you when these tickets come out, but thetrainline.com do have this feature.
 
Thanks for the info guys. Super helpful. Would I be better holding out until the Monday? Also is there a better place to stay than Stoke on Trent? I'm a bit confused as to the closest town.

I don't advocate using fast track, but considering that you are travelling afar and this may be your first and only visit, then it may be worth considering.

I grew up in the UK and went to Alton Towers when I was a kid, but I was too scared to go on any of the big rides so I'm planning on going back with a vengeance ;) Can I ask why you don't advocate for fast track?
 
There are also a number of bed and breakfast places in Alton village.
The Chained Oak is within walking distance of the park, and very popular with Towers visitors.
 
The problem with Fast track is that it (quite justifiably) makes you quite unpopular with those who don't have as much money and have been waiting for ages.

It does seem quite unaffordable for most people. The ones at Disneyland are free and the fast passes at theme parks here in Queensland are really cheap so I can understand why people would be mad. Thanks for the heads up.
 
Fastrack all the way. If you are traveling from the other side of the planet why would you not fastrack :D
Get those rides in again and again

And again
 
If you can afford it and if the park is busy(ish), Fastrack is worth it - and in your case with travelling so far it's definitely worth it.
 
Fast track gold (one ride on each of the following: Wicker Man, Galactica, Oblivion, Nemesis, Rita, TH13TEEN, The Smiler, Duel, Runaway Mine Train, Congo River Rapids, Marauders Mayhem, Battle Galleons, Enterprise, Hex and Spinball Whizzer) is £60. Unlimited of all of these rides is £100.
However Hex, Duel, Battle Galleons and Marauders Mayhem rarely have queues.
 
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