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Food & Beverage: Alternative Options

Alsty

Alsty

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Splitting off from the thread "Food & Beverage: The Aramark Era begins"...

The food at the parks and hotels is increasingly getting more expensive while quality drops. Therefore I am interested to know what the alternatives are, for example do you take food with you for lunch, do you stop off in Alton village for a meal before you go home, do you get takeaway food delivered to the parks or hotels? This could be any park, not just Alton Towers.

Hopefully we can get some inspiration for those of us who want a change from the same old overpriced stuff you can buy on resort.
 
Alsty said:
Splitting off from the thread "Food & Beverage: The Aramark Era begins"...

The food at the parks and hotels is increasingly getting more expensive while quality drops. Therefore I am interested to know what the alternatives are, for example do you take food with you for lunch, do you stop off in Alton village for a meal before you go home, do you get takeaway food delivered to the parks or hotels? This could be any park, not just Alton Towers.

Hopefully we can get some inspiration for those of us who want a change from the same old overpriced stuff you can buy on resort.
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I always bring a packed lunch and snacks with me when I go. Can't go wrong with that.
 
I always bring a packed lunch with me. I don’t have any issue with the on-park food, but I simply feel that a packed lunch reduces faff and costs less money!
 
Saying it for the hundredth time, posh picnic with real beer in real glasses, at cheap prices, express parking, under the big tree at the bottom.
For about twenty years.
Gives you an extra hour on the rides, a quick exit, and a chance of an afternoon nap on the back seat for the non goons.
 
If I'm there for a couple of days during reasonable opening hours (so never these days, but you never know...) the nearest place I'd pop out to for a bit of lunch would be Ramblers Retreat for a slice of lemon meringue pie so tall you can't see over it.

But realistically a cool box and a picnic is really the only way now. Not a lot of good over 2 days, just have to bite the bullet on the second day.

I imagine things would change if every lunchtime the carpark was full of picnicers.
 
Hey, with a bit of thought, effort, ice block and freezer box, we kept the precious beer cold for a whole 48 hours...basic cheese butties get a bit boring on day two though!
Three posh picnic boxes now, chiller, dry snacks, and beer and pop.
Is it time to warm up the hot dog flask yet then?
 
I generally only eat once a day in the evenings and grab a quick snack if I'm hungry when I'm at work so I don't feel the need to have an elaborate packed lunch or anything. I also can't justify stopping for half an hour or so when the park closes at 4, I've paid for that short time when in the park so I'm not going to waste it eating.

But it's almost a 3 hour drive, so I am hungry late morning. So a bag full of snacks to eat in queue lines is what I usually do and I stop off somewhere on the way home to eat.

If staying for the night, I've gone out and brought stuff back to the hotel room before. I used to have a few pints in the evening but now that's so much of a rip off, it's a 10 pack from Tesco Express back in the hotel room.

So that just leaves Scarefest with its 9pm closes. That's the food vans, with Merlin food as a last resort.

I've had 2 Burger Kitchens this year and used to always at least take something hot food wise into a queue line with me from one of their establishments only a few years ago. I'll also happily go and grab a Burger King at Thorpe to queue up with because I know what I'm getting. But Merlin have conditioned me not to bother eating in their parks beyond that. There's no time to have a sit down meal, there's few options and I can't trust the quality. Which is a shame, because I'll happily sit down and eat when abroad. I'll also do the same at Paultons and even Crealy, but rarely at Towers.
 
I’ve always bought packed lunches and snacks for myself and my family on trips. I’m really in to value for money and can’t bring myself to pay the prices for food and drinks in UK parks when I can just go to a Lidl, Aldi, or Poundland and stock up on supplies. I I don’t mind buying the kids an ice cream sometimes at a park though as that’s one thing you can’t really bring in a packed lunch.

However though abroad it can be a different matter. For example when I went to Energylandia I made use of the Netto supermarket just outside it for getting snacks but inside the park it was so cheap by comparison to UK parks that it was no problem to just buy whatever food and beverage we wanted over the two days we were there. Normally part of my planning for visiting European parks involves finding out where the nearest supermarket is as it’s not just only about saving some money but I also like to make the most of my time at a park and eat on the go rather than taking a chunk of time out to queue up, order food, and sit down and eat it.
 
I stop off on the way to the park at Morrisons or Tesco to get a cooked breakfast which sets me up for the day. I don't tend to get a lunch (although I like the sound of @rob666's lunch. Might look into that)

Typically I've ended up eating at Woodcutters but was wondering what the options in the village are for an evening meal on the way home? Anybody got any recommendations?
 
Alsty said:
I stop off on the way to the park at Morrisons or Tesco to get a cooked breakfast which sets me up for the day. I don't tend to get a lunch (although I like the sound of @rob666's lunch. Might look into that)

Typically I've ended up eating at Woodcutters but was wondering what the options in the village are for an evening meal on the way home? Anybody got any recommendations?
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I think The Star at Cotton is good for food, expensive though. Still at least you are paying for quality rather than just paying...

I've had food at the Fox and Goose in Foxt as well, I think that was decent, and a bit cheaper.

Hetty's at Froghall is great for breakfasts, lovely spot on the canal as well.
 
I never used to, however during the last year or two sometimes I will go elsewhere before park.

Depending on park hours and what time I’m getting to the park, i usually either go to Tesco in uttox for a meal deal and snacks, or I’ll go to Greggs on the way for some food.

That usually means I then don’t need any food at towers or I only need one meal rather than buying breakfast or two meals.

If I’m only popping up later in the day then I won’t buy anything on park.
 
We usually buy food from woodcutters in the park on the day but that might change next year. The service in September and the food was shocking.

We don’t stay in the hotels anymore and use the Chained Oak down the road for accommodation and breakfast.

Evening meals We usually head up to the Bulls Head in Alton village or the Star at Cotton. The Talbot do food now i believe as well though it’s quite small inside but nice on the lawn outside in the summer.

I think for food in the park next year we will stop at Tesco on the way and get some meal deals to take in and then buy snacks in the park as needed.
 
Went to The Bull's Head in Alton village yesterday evening. It is under new management and only recently started serving food again (2 weeks ago)

Unfortunately the experience wasn't what it should have been. It took 35 minutes before anybody took our food order. We then waited another 50 minutes before the food came out.

The food itself was lovely and the staff were really nice, but the speed of service just wasn't acceptable. I hope it's just teething issues but I'm not in any hurry to return.
 
We’ve taken our own food for years now. That’s admittedly not down to any previous dislike of the food offering at Alton Towers, but we just find it easier and cheaper to take a packed lunch.

On Saturday, we ate sandwiches made at home. On Sunday, we ate sandwiches purchased from the Asda by the Premier Inn in Uttoxeter. It worked very well on both days!

If I had to think, I honestly reckon that it’s been at least 5 years since I last ate something from one of Alton’s fast food outlets for lunch… we do have a sandwich from the Coffee Lounge or Corner Coffee on the odd occasion (usually on the second day of a 2 day visit, where we’re unable to access a kitchen to make our own sandwiches), but we haven’t eaten from the likes of The Burger Kitchen for years.

Even when visiting a park on my own, I usually make myself a packed lunch these days. I just find it easier!
 
Roughly, Towers food went to "abysmal" generally, with minor pockets of "reasonable", but overpriced decency (currently Woodcutters and E Express), about two decades ago.
The queues for food on busier days also put us off.
We used to eat quite well at Towers using their food, we were forced into self supply when the food became third rate, at premium prices.
So two decades of express parking, no queues, quality picnics in good company, and real beer, in real glasses, for just over a quid a pint...
Compared to refusal of service for a bottle of brown ale for nearly a fiver because I had the indecency to try to use cash.
Express makes for quicker entry and exit to the park as well, an extra hour on the rides, and a handy dumping point for coats/bags etc.
 
Matt N said:
We’ve taken our own food for years now. That’s admittedly not down to any previous dislike of the food offering at Alton Towers, but we just find it easier and cheaper to take a packed lunch.

On Saturday, we ate sandwiches made at home. On Sunday, we ate sandwiches purchased from the Asda by the Premier Inn in Uttoxeter. It worked very well on both days!

If I had to think, I honestly reckon that it’s been at least 5 years since I last ate something from one of Alton’s fast food outlets for lunch… we do have a sandwich from the Coffee Lounge or Corner Coffee on the odd occasion (usually on the second day of a 2 day visit, where we’re unable to access a kitchen to make our own sandwiches), but we haven’t eaten from the likes of The Burger Kitchen for years.

Even when visiting a park on my own, I usually make myself a packed lunch these days. I just find it easier!
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Me too; my family and I only eat at a theme park's outlets if we are staying overnight. We usually just take a packed lunch.
 
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