Alton Towers Trip Planning Questions and Discussion

[Lewis232]

I'm going to Alton Towers this Thursday for my first ever scarefest visit, getting the train there and back from London. My train back is 21:53 from Stoke-On-Trent. AT website says taxi ride is a 25 minute journey, would booking a taxi at 21:10 from the AT Hotel be best, as assume any queues to get out of the park are from the car parks, rather than from the hotel?

 

[Skyscraper]

I'm going to Alton Towers this Thursday for my first ever scarefest visit, getting the train there and back from London. My train back is 21:53 from Stoke-On-Trent. AT website says taxi ride is a 25 minute journey, would booking a taxi at 21:10 from the AT Hotel be best, as assume any queues to get out of the park are from the car parks, rather than from the hotel?

The the park car park exit merges with the hotel car park exit, so you'd likely still encounter a bit of traffic on the way out, but yes I think that would be best.

 

[Lewis232]

The the park car park exit merges with the hotel car park exit, so you'd likely still encounter a bit of traffic on the way out, but yes I think that would be best.

Thank you, will do that then

 

[djtruefitt]

You would probably be best getting a taxi from the drop off point which is near the park entrance, unless you are staying in the hotels?

Other wise you’ll have to make your way from the park to the hotels, only to drive past the entrance to the park anyway.

Also if it’s busy the roads from the hotel car parks will be busy to leave the resort, especially if they’re filled any of the overdue or field car parks.

 

[Steve74]

If you have a Platinum Pass, then you have entry to the park providing you make a prebook on the MAP portal. If you have a Gold or Silver pass, you'll need to purchase the upgrade ticket that you mentioned is on the Towers website. Discovery pass holders are not eligible for the upgrade ticket and have to purchase standard admission. You can find all this laid out in the resort's FAQs

Posts also moved to the Trip Planning Questions topic

Also just to add that if you have the older Premium Pass (like I have) you'll need to buy the £25 upgrade ticket each day too.

 

[Lewis232]

You would probably be best getting a taxi from the drop off point which is near the park entrance, unless you are staying in the hotels?

Other wise you’ll have to make your way from the park to the hotels, only to drive past the entrance to the park anyway.

Also if it’s busy the roads from the hotel car parks will be busy to leave the resort, especially if they’re filled any of the overdue or field car parks.

Issue last time was I booked a taxi through an app to pick up from Alton Towers and the driver drove to the car parks and then called me and I had to navigate him back to the pick up point so thought the hotels would be a better landmark to choose for the driver.

 

[havaska]

Anyone going to the Run Alton Towers event this weekend? I’m doing the 5k on Sunday (my wife is brave and doing the half marathon).

Just intrigued as to what the ride offering is likely to be.

 

[GooseOnTheLoose]

Anyone going to the Run Alton Towers event this weekend? I’m doing the 5k on Sunday (my wife is brave and doing the half marathon).

Just intrigued as to what the ride offering is likely to be.

Last year everything was in operation, apart from Nemesis and Hex. As it's a corporate buy out, with a decent amount of competitors and spectators, they keep all of the park open.

 

[havaska]

Last year everything was in operation, apart from Nemesis and Hex. As it's a corporate buy out, with a decent amount of competitors and spectators, they keep all of the park open.

Oh wow that’s much more than I expected! I’m more excited now!

 

[GooseOnTheLoose]

Oh wow that’s much more than I expected! I’m more excited now!

The car park section of the route though, if they haven't changed it, is a little sadistic and repetitive. Otherwise it's a great event!

 

[PhalanaxOperativeA1127]

Quick question, trying to book an overnight stay for the Easter holidays. I have a merlin pass, but the rest of the family don't.

But when booking through the Merlin Holiday Club site, there's no way to add park tickets. There is the option if you go through the normal booking procedure, but then you don't get the merlin discount!!

Any ideas/tips out there?

 

[AT86]

Quick question, trying to book an overnight stay for the Easter holidays. I have a merlin pass, but the rest of the family don't.

But when booking through the Merlin Holiday Club site, there's no way to add park tickets. There is the option if you go through the normal booking procedure, but then you don't get the merlin discount!!

Any ideas/tips out there?

Book the hotel with your pass discount and then book the theme park tickets separately.

If you need one day tickets it’s most likely cheaper to book friends and family discounted tickets via the Merlin pass website, if you want two day tickets it’s usually cheaper to just book these direct from Alton Towers and not use your pass discount.

 

[PhalanaxOperativeA1127]

Book the hotel with your pass discount and then book the theme park tickets separately.

If you need one day tickets it’s most likely cheaper to book friends and family discounted tickets via the Merlin pass website, if you want two day tickets it’s usually cheaper to just book these direct from Alton Towers and not use your pass discount.

Thanks, yeah that's the usual approach for myself.

However, trying to be a cheapskate and save money in these times, I should've said i was hoping to utilise their free 2nd day park ticket offer they've got going on at the moment - but that only applies to new hotel bookings. Which would presumably rule out adding them in via the hotel booking hub (for want of a better word) after purchase.

 

[AT86]

Thanks, yeah that's the usual approach for myself.

However, trying to be a cheapskate and save money in these times, I should've said i was hoping to utilise their free 2nd day park ticket offer they've got going on at the moment - but that only applies to new hotel bookings. Which would presumably rule out adding them in via the hotel booking hub (for want of a better word) after purchase.

Yeah the general rule is you can’t combine offers. So it’s either take the regular 2nd day free offer but pay full price for the hotel, or get the hotel cheaper and pay slightly more for the tickets.

Just a case of working out which one is cheaper overall.

 

[PhalanaxOperativeA1127]

Yeah the general rule is you can’t combine offers. So it’s either take the regular 2nd day free offer but pay full price for the hotel, or get the hotel cheaper and pay slightly more for the tickets.

Just a case of working pot which one is cheaper overall.

Yeah, thought it might be something along them lines.

Think the 25% off hotel via the MAP still works out cheaper; if you book the hotel at full price for 4 people, you're then forced to pay for 4 people for the 2-day pass ... redundant if I don't need one for mysrlf but there's no option for only 3 Cos you've selected 4 people who are staying. So you not only forgo the 25% off deal, but you're then forced to pay for a ticket you don't need.

Such an awkward system.

Edit: but even if with no extra deal on, there's no way to buy park tickets during the booking process through the holiday club. Does make things easier if it's all part of the same booking. As above, such an awkward system.

 

[jon81uk]

Edit: but even if with no extra deal on, there's no way to buy park tickets during the booking process through the holiday club. Does make things easier if it's all part of the same booking. As above, such an awkward system.

I think this is probably deliberate to discourage families from getting one annual pass just to get the discounts and then buying tickets for the rest of the group.

 

[Adthoms]

Am I going crazy? I'm trying to book 2 nights for a group of 5 at the Alton Towers Hotel through the Merlin Holiday Club website but I can't find a way to split our party across 2 rooms instead of us all piling into one. Is that even an option?

 

[Craig]

Am I going crazy? I'm trying to book 2 nights for a group of 5 at the Alton Towers Hotel through the Merlin Holiday Club website but I can't find a way to split our party across 2 rooms instead of us all piling into one. Is that even an option?

Nope, you're not going crazy. It's another option that's gone on the website I'm afraid. You can ring them on 03302368862 to book multiple rooms on one booking, or just separate them onto two sets of bookings on the website.

 

[Adthoms]

Nope, you're not going crazy. It's another option that's gone on the website I'm afraid. You can ring them on 03302368862 to book multiple rooms on one booking, or just separate them onto two sets of bookings on the website.

Thanks Craig - how frustrating! Appreciate the help, I'll give them a ring tomorrow.

 

[Nerdsticks]

I'll be attending Signalling School in April, so I'm planning a trip down south in March for a day out before starting my new career. We used to always stay on the resort, but as we all know, it's really not up to standard. During my last visit, we stayed at the Chained Oak B&B, and wow, what a difference. Unfortunately, they are already booked up, so we'll be staying in a nice looking cottage in Alton, by The Talbot.

We'll be traveling down on Friday and should arrive around 12:00. Since our day on the park is Saturday, that leaves plenty of time on Friday to hang out and explore outside of the resort – something we never normally do. During our last visit, we only ventured as far as The Talbot. I've already seen some recommendations on the forum (I've got my eyes firmly on Rambler's Retreat for some lunch), but I was wondering if anyone had recommendations for a good breakfast on Saturday morning, preferably within a 10-minute drive. Any other general recommendations are very welcome too!