Dave
TS Founding Member
The pit was designed for Nemesis, SW2 was also in a pit but not the same one. The pit wasn’t dug until Nemesis had been commissioned so the pit was dug around the design for the invert not the pipeline coaster.
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2026: General Discussion
The pit was designed for Nemesis, SW2 was also in a pit but not the same one. The pit wasn’t dug until Nemesis had been commissioned so the pit was dug around the design for the invert not the pipeline coaster.
AT86
TS Member
Standard car parking has increased £3 to £15 for 2026. Reduced to £13 if you book in advance.
Express Parking has increased to £25 midweek and £30 weekends and school holidays. Previously it was a flat £20 charge.
www.altontowers.com
Express Parking has increased to £25 midweek and £30 weekends and school holidays. Previously it was a flat £20 charge.
Car Parking Prices and Information | Alton Towers Resort
Enjoy easy, practical parking at Alton Towers. See more about car parking fees & express time-saving options. Alton Towers Parking is free for hotel guests.
www.altontowers.com
Bert2theSpark
TS Member
Well they’ve obviously timed that so they don’t get bad publicity over FHT. Considering the original justification was to pay for road infrastructure around the park, the intention of the charge has since been lost for a convenient revenue source.Standard car parking has increased £3 to £15 for 2026. Reduced to £13 if you book in advance.
Express Parking has increased to £25 midweek and £30 weekends and school holidays. Previously it was a flat £20 charge.
Car Parking Prices and Information | Alton Towers Resort
Enjoy easy, practical parking at Alton Towers. See more about car parking fees & express time-saving options. Alton Towers Parking is free for hotel guests.
They’d be better off having free parking and putting that revenue onto the ticket price, same revenue overall but the value perception changes and the optics aren’t suddenly about extra up-charges everywhere. People aren’t likely to return if they feel their wallets are constantly being drained, it’ll be more tolerable just to swallow it all upfront.
Bowser
TS Member
Notably the other Merlin parks have not increased parking costs (yet).
If you added the parking cost onto the ticket price, you'd have on the day tickets exceeding £80. It would be a sizeable revenue boost for AT as the majority of people who visit by car share a vehicle and thus the cost, whereas adding it to the ticket price would impose it on everyone individually plus even those who don't travel by car (though presumably the vast majority at AT do).
I suppose they could average it out by estimating previous parking revenue and modifying ticket prices accordingly within the dynamic pricing system but it's still going to change the revenue stream and likely to put tickets at £70+ which isn't palatable imo.
Do agree on the optics though, seems to work for Paulton's.
I think this was expected with the "cheap" essentials passes being given out. I'm sure fast track will be increased as well and we have already seen food prices go up. Obviously there is a belief that hooking guests in with cheap entry prices or annual passes is the key to running a theme park business. The profit will come from all the "added extras" that most guests won't realise they are signing up to until they have already gained entry.Standard car parking has increased £3 to £15 for 2026. Reduced to £13 if you book in advance.
Express Parking has increased to £25 midweek and £30 weekends and school holidays. Previously it was a flat £20 charge.
Car Parking Prices and Information | Alton Towers Resort
Enjoy easy, practical parking at Alton Towers. See more about car parking fees & express time-saving options. Alton Towers Parking is free for hotel guests.
It's a clever business model and I'm sure they have plenty of data to show it works. Ultimately if you don't have guests in your parks you aren't making money which is what has happened to places like Oakwood despite the belief from most enthusiasts that higher prices and better experience is what is needed.
Most of your costs for running rides are fixed as they all need to be open, this doesn't change if you have 5,000 people in the park or 10,000. All that changes is more parking revenue and sales of food and merchandise with the added disgruntled guest willing to fork out £100+ for fast track that wouldn't if the park was empty. You also have your annual pass visitors who will just see it as a poor day but know they can come back and try again as it feels like it's a free visit anyway.
Skyscraper
TS Member
All those poor souls who were enamored by the over night stay offer are now discovering that their new Essentials passes don't include parking or any other benefits. Looks like they didn't read the T&C's before booking
AT86
TS Member
All those poor souls who were enamored by the over night stay offer are now discovering that their new Essentials passes don't include parking or any other benefits. Looks like they didn't read the T&C's before booking
Lots of assumptions being made there.
Skyscraper
TS Member
Not really, people have been moaning about on social media.
I like how people complain about the price but when you look at other parks across the globe car parking fees at Towers are lower than the average. Alton for what your get is cheap to enter £37 quid entry it really should be £50 at least maybe higher to get higher quality rides
GooseOnTheLoose
TS Member
The entry price for Alton Towers is not £37. That's the advance online rate. The actual on the gate price (the value Merlin assigns to the product they are selling) is £68.
Setting the gate price at £68, tells the consumer that a day at Alton Towers is a premium product, worth significantly more than a day at Efteling (€56 / ~£49) or Europa-Park (€76 / ~£66).
The fact that almost nobody pays £68 because the market is flooded with 2 for 1 vouchers and advance discounts is immaterial to the valuation. The park positions itself as a £68 experience.
When you view the current offering through the lens of a £68 ticket, it fails miserably.
You're suggesting they raise the price to £50 to "get higher quality rides", but they're already charging £18 more than that. The money just isn't going where you think it is.
Urgh I wish we would stop comparing AT to other theme parks across the globe, the majority of which are bigger and better and have better transport links.
To suggest it should be £50 is ludicrous. If it was a world class park, with decent opening hours, and decent transport alternatives to using a car then fair enough. But it isn’t.
I hate to say it but with the constant rises in hotel, food, drink prices and the poor quality of offerings across the resort along with reductions in annual pass perks, this really does feel like a park/company that is now getting very desperate to stay in business.
To suggest it should be £50 is ludicrous. If it was a world class park, with decent opening hours, and decent transport alternatives to using a car then fair enough. But it isn’t.
I hate to say it but with the constant rises in hotel, food, drink prices and the poor quality of offerings across the resort along with reductions in annual pass perks, this really does feel like a park/company that is now getting very desperate to stay in business.
Alton Towers is a good park I really hate how people think its the worst park in the world when it really isn't
I don't think this is a company desperate to stay in business. They have clearly worked out that us British folk like to feel like we are getting a bargain and keeping the gate price high and the promotions plentiful they have tapped into how we are programmed. For as long as I can remember merlin parks have always had 2for1 and we think we have got something for free for buying a cereal or a chocolate bar. If they just made the gate price £30 we would still be looking for the vouchers or pre-booking discounts.
I hate to say it but the battleground for UK theme parks is secondary spend. This prevents the likes of Drayton Manor and Blackpool charging more. The £75 Drayton wanted for a gold pass seemed expensive compared to £54 for a merlin essentials pass even though the Drayton pass still offered really good value.
Getting people through the front door is what they need to do to survive. Once they are there some will spend extra and even the ones that don't will convince others to buy fast track tickets just by being in the park and clogging up the queue lines. I bet none of the other parks sell anywhere near the number of fast track tickets as merlin parks as they are just not busy enough to convince people to spend money on them.
The only danger of this is disappointed guests not returning but as its mainly families visiting there are always new victims to this model every year. Add in being the only place to see Bluey / Cbeebies and having some of the best rides in the country and they know the visitors will just keep coming as long as the price remains low enough.
Thameslink Rail
TS Member
I don't think they need to increase the entry price to £50 but I think it would be fairer to increase the entry fee and reduce the parking fee at least while it is near impossible to access the park any other way.
If we assume the average car has 3 passengers (since you're getting more families than individuals) then if we made the entry fee £39 then the parking charge could be reduced to £7.
On the other hand, I do wish Merlin didn't charge £68 on the day since that gives people an unrealistic view of what they're getting.
If we assume the average car has 3 passengers (since you're getting more families than individuals) then if we made the entry fee £39 then the parking charge could be reduced to £7.
On the other hand, I do wish Merlin didn't charge £68 on the day since that gives people an unrealistic view of what they're getting.