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Have I made a mistake!?

Y

yoursilentface

TS Member
Hi

First post not sure if its in the right place.

At the age of 43 I've decided to take the plunge and buy a Merlin family pass...mainly for Alton Towers even though it's around 100 miles away.

We started late and our children are 9 and 6.

Our 9 year old love rides,she's done everything on the Pleasure Beach, Flamingo Land, Lightwater Valley...we've been waiting for her to hit the 1.4 level that Merlin seem to require at their parks to buy our first pass.

Thing is I think my little lad is going to be completely in no mans land with rides. He's over 1.2 but there's no way he's going to be interested in CBeebies Land

I noticed the rides closed for 'TLC' last year when me and the mrs went on our annual trip but thought they'd be open this year.

Anyway after buying the passes I started looking around and found this forum and its enlightened me to say the least!

Is there going to be a great deal to do that my 6 year old will enjoy?

I fear the worst!
 
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You've not made a mistake. The Merlin Pass is valid for a lot more than just Alton Towers. For your children, I'd suggest a trip to Chessington is made for the kids as well! Take a trip to London and there's stuff for kids there as well.

As for AT itself, The lad has Runaway Mine Train, Th13teen, Spinball Whizzer. Hex should be re-open this year. Mutiny bay contains Heave-ho and Marauders Mayhem, both should be entertaining for the kids! Sharkbait reef might also entertain them for 5 minutes or so. https://www.altontowers.com/theme-park/#theme-park-rides Look at this site for more information about various Height restrictions.

Hope is helpful for you.
 
Under 1.2 and school aged, AT is a pretty poor show these days. Far more for school age kids under 1.2 at Chessington. Best park in the UK in my opinion for that age and height group in the UK is Paultons Park, but that's not a Merlin park.

But since both of yours are over 1.2 you should have plenty to do at Towers, especially if Hex does reopen (my son loved Hex in 2015).
 
No mistake. For all its issues, AT is still the best Theme Park in the UK by a country mile. Whilst taken for granted by some, the kids will have a great time, and so will you.

There are loads of other attractions some of which are great. Your 6 year old will love Legoland too!
 
Thanks for the replies, I've nothing to worry about by the sound of it.

We're planning on getting good use out of the passes, we're picking them up at Blackpool Tower next weekend and spending 2 days there.

We've already booked hotels for Thorpe Park and Legoland too but like i said our main park will be Alton Towers.
 
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Alton is definitely not worth the 100 mile trip for a 6 year old IMO the family line up is very poor (10 rides for 1.2 excluding the fish tank) considering this market are the people most likely to spend when in the park. If they haven't been before then they will still enjoy it regardless, it will probably just leave a sour taste in your mouth. They won't know any different.

I wouldn't recommend Thorpe Park for the little one but ironically it potentially has more rides on offer for the little one.
It's not a mistake, just get good use out of it and then evaluate your experience for next year (and look at European park ;))

Oh and welcome :)

:):)
 
yoursilentface said:
Thanks for the replies, I've nothing to worry about by the sound of it.

We're planning on getting good use out of the passes, we're picking them up at Blackpool Tower next weekend and spending 2 days there.

We've already booked hotels for Thorpe Park and Legoland too but like i said our main park will be Alton Towers.
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I'm not sure which way you will be heading home but I travel towards Birmingham when returning from Thorpe. This means I can sneak a short visit to Warwick Castle on the way back which is Merlin owned. Usually best if you can catch a show such as the jousting and they finish the day firing a fireball from the Trebuchet. (Just stay away from the boathouse, or what remains of it :eek::p)
 
yoursilentface said:
We're planning on getting good use out of the passes, we're picking them up at Blackpool Tower next weekend and spending 2 days there.
.
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Make sure when you arrive in Blackpool if you would like to the circus ,reserve your seats. They get booked up quite quickly! It's a great laugh for young and old! Just go the box office.

I'm sure you'll have a fantastic time on the passes!

If you are on Facebook I would recommend joining the Annual pass holders group. It had loads of great tips and advice. https://www.facebook.com/groups/433978570084130/ - here's the link :)
 
Croftybaby said:
I wouldn't recommend Thorpe Park for the little one but ironically it potentially has more rides on offer for the little one.


:)
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Does it? As you said, Towers still has 10 rides for under 1.2m, plus CBeebies for the even smaller kids. With Octopus Garden long dead, the Fungle Safari and Canada Creek Railway gone and Loggers' Leap closed, I'd say Thorpe still has significantly less for smaller children then Towers, even with the TLC closures.

Chessy and Legoland obviously are the best Merlin parks for that age range, of course.
 
The OP said is 6 year old wasn't interested in Cbeebies, Just like the majority of 6 year olds I imagine
 
yes he's now over 1.2 metre's and i don't think he'll be at all interested in Cbeebies land really

as a pointer the last 2 years we've had season passes at Flamingoland and Lightwater Valley and also visited BPB with both children

he's been on a few of the coasters at BPB,he loved the Nickleodeon Sreak but the Big Dipper scared him to death last year if i'm honest but i'm sure it would most 5 year olds :D

he also loves Avalanche though and me and him went on it numerous times while my other half and Daughter went on the Big one

thanks for the replies and hopefully there'll be enough to keep him entertained,or us entertained as a family together in times when we're not split up as that's obviously what will have to happen so either me or my other half can take our daughter on the big rides:)
 
yoursilentface said:
thanks for the replies and hopefully there'll be enough to keep him entertained,or us entertained as a family together in times when we're not split up as that's obviously what will have to happen so either me or my other half can take our daughter on the big rides:)
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I hope I'm not teaching you to suck eggs here but Alton Towers have a parent swap facility. It's not much help for your little one but still a way both parents can enjoy the big rides and may end up giving you more time together as a family.

https://www.altontowers.com/useful-info/faq

Alton Towers said:
What is a Parent Queue Share Pass?
If you’re visiting the theme park with your little ones in tow but still want to enjoy the big rides pick up one of our Parent Queue Share passes.

Parent Queue Share passes enable Parent One to queue in the usual way, ensure that the pass is punched by a ride host. Parent two meets Parent One after the ride and takes the pass to the ride host via the access point to enter the ride. This ensures that the child is not left unaccompanied and that the parents can still enjoy our attractions.

We have enhanced our queue time information system with the introduction of digital boards in five key areas around the Park, as we appreciate our guests like to make informed decisions about which ride or attraction to visit next during the course of their day.

Parent Queue Share Passes are available from our Resort Box Office friendly near the main entrance on Towers Street, or from participating rides & attractions.
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Robert Jones said:
I hope I'm not teaching you to suck eggs here but Alton Towers have a parent swap facility. It's not much help for your little one but still a way both parents can enjoy the big rides and may end up giving you more time together as a family.

https://www.altontowers.com/useful-info/faq

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I had totally forgot about that,thanks

We actually used that one year when our babysitter let us down when our daugter was about 2 years old and we had pre booked tickets
 
You can having amazing year with an annual pass, particularly if it's your first year. I'm sure you will.

The mistake would be, in future, renewing and renewing and going to the same attractions over and over and kidding yourself into thinking it represents good value, or that you are saving money.
 
Tom said:
The mistake would be, in future, renewing and renewing and going to the same attractions over and over and kidding yourself into thinking it represents good value, or that you are saving money.
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That's actually a very good way of looking at it. :)
 
No you haven't made a mistake AT is still a good day out. The kids will enjoy Heave ho and barrels. You can head up to Katanga canyon and enjoy Rapids and Runaway mine train. Then you can go on Duel (if the kids are brave enough). Forbidden Valley holds Nemesis and Galactica which has a 1.4m limit, but you can get a parent pass from the box office to save too much queing. The kids will love going on the cable cars (skyride). Head to frog hopper, twirling toadstool and galopers. Hopefully Hex will be open too! If they are both brave enough th13teen is an option. They can both do Enterprise and Spinball too. So like I say its a great day out!

A good idea is to book a trip to London. You can have two free days out on the pass going on London Eye, Sea life centre, Shrek Adventures, London Dungeons and Madame tussauds. Loads to do!!!
 
A little late to be commenting on this forum i admit, however Myself and my Girlfriend have had Merlin passes for three years and although we do not have kids we both understand your concerns. I was going to quote a comment or two from the replies you have received but it seems everyone is drawn to the same conclusion, as am i. Chessington is great for kids of 1.2m and above. The Vampire should really get their ride legs going ready for Nemesis in the years to come. Also London trips are essential too!
The reason i am commenting is that i noticed you said you lived over 100 miles away from AT. Well don't worry we bought our Merlin passes because we love Alton Towers and we live 183 miles away (we still average 4 trips a year). So don't worry there is plenty to do!

Don't forget Thorpe Park either (depending how close you are to it).
 
Our first visit was last weekend staying at the Leek premier inn

We had a great time both days,my 9 year old daughter was an absolute superstar and did the big 6 both days...her first ride was on the smiler which she loved but was slightly nervous in the que because of what she'd seen on the news

My little lad and my Mrs went on enterprise first ride while they waited for us so they were both in at the deep end really,he also did th13teen and spinball and we did every other ride he could go on together as a family


A special mention to hex which we went on 3 times first day after struggling to get my little lad on at first as he'I a little nervous but once on he loved it thankfully

I suppose its children who are under 1.2 who will struggle

It made me laugh midweek as they were both singing the AT theme tune so it appears they''ve got the bug from their first visit just like I did 30 years ago

We''ll be back again Easter Monday and I''ve booked a weekend for CWOA,jLegoland and Thorpe park for June
 
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yoursilentface said:
her first ride was on the smiler which she loved but was slightly nervous in the que because of what she'd seen on the news
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Glad you had a good time, ignore the news, they like to play up every slight incident since the Smiler crash, Since then AT have installed more safety systems for the ride, and they wouldn't open it if it wasn't safe.
 
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