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Quick Questions

The Star Inn at Cotton is excellent. Not the cheapest but worth it for the quality. And probably not a lot more than Secret Garden these days anyway!
 
I’m going to the park tomorrow and just have a few questions about parking,
Are we able to drop people at the front if they can’t walk too far before going to park the car?
Are we still using the normal car park next to the monorail station or can we park closer?
Do they charge for parking at the John Lewis event?
Many thanks to anyone who can help with these questions
 
Blades1889 said:
I’m going to the park tomorrow and just have a few questions about parking,
Are we able to drop people at the front if they can’t walk too far before going to park the car?
Are we still using the normal car park next to the monorail station or can we park closer?
Do they charge for parking at the John Lewis event?
Many thanks to anyone who can help with these questions
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The drop off point is to the right just after you enter the site you can drop folk off there. You then need to do a u-turn to get back to the car park, drive off the drop off lane, then get in the right hand lane and just before the gate there is a cut through to get back into the drive in.

I suspect the parking charges are the same as usual, premium parking is close to the entrance but is pretty pricey.
 
Drop off moved a couple of years ago and is now at the back of what was the main coach car park. It's now accessed by turning right off the entrance road about half way along, it's signed for drop & collect / blue badge / express:

maps.app.goo.gl

Street View · Google Maps

Ort in Google Maps noch intensiver erleben.
maps.app.goo.gl maps.app.goo.gl

Drop off is in the coned area on the right after passing through the large green gates. It should then be possible to turn right onto the main access road to reach the main car park but it's possible they've changed things again and force all traffic to head towards the park entrance monorail station, in which case you'd have to U-turn as Dave described
 
Out of curiosity, is anyone aware of if the Alton After Dark days are exclusion dates at Alton for the Essential MAP?

I was thinking of finally using the Essential MAP I bought in November and giving Alton After Dark another go on one of the Fridays in March, but the thought did occur to me that my pass might not qualify.

Merlin’s website says it isn’t an exclusion date, but I wasn’t sure if they operated park-specific exclusions as well as the universal ones. Does anybody have any insight?
 
Matt N said:
Out of curiosity, is anyone aware of if the Alton After Dark days are exclusion dates at Alton for the Essential MAP?

I was thinking of finally using the Essential MAP I bought in November and giving Alton After Dark another go on one of the Fridays in March, but the thought did occur to me that my pass might not qualify.

Merlin’s website says it isn’t an exclusion date, but I wasn’t sure if they operated park-specific exclusions as well as the universal ones. Does anybody have any insight?
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If the Merlin website states that it's not an exclusion date, then it's not an exclusion date.

As an example; Gold Pass holders have 364 access to all Merlin attractions, excluding Alton Towers for Fireworks, this is mimicked on the availability calendar.

If you'd like official confirmation, you can always email Guest Services.

TLDR: You're fine for Alton After Dark.
 
Bowser said:
The Association of Leading Visitor Attractions have released attendance figures for tourist attractions in 2025.

Why are there no theme parks etc included?

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Because the attendance figures are for "Visits made in 2025 to visitor attractions in membership with ALVA".

Theme parks in the UK are generally members of BALPPA (British Association of Leisure Parks, Piers and Attractions).
 
Out of curiosity, what do people think is the best place to start at Towers in 2026?

Typically, I’d be making a beeline for Dark Forest, but with staggered openings and general issues getting stuff open, I’m wondering if there’s somewhere better to go… what does anybody else think?
 
Matt N said:
Out of curiosity, what do people think is the best place to start at Towers in 2026?

Typically, I’d be making a beeline for Dark Forest, but with staggered openings and general issues getting stuff open, I’m wondering if there’s somewhere better to go… what does anybody else think?
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I think that today, of all days, you'll be fine with anywhere that isn't CBeebies.
 
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