Hi Everyone ,
I don't normally post on forums but i thought i would share my views, im a 46yo man , and 1st went to Alton Towers as a 10 year old in 1991. Before this weekends visit the last time i visited was in 2019 with my 2 Girls then 8 and 11.
Weve stayed onsite a few times uand last in 2019, i did try to look at staying , but the cost was astronomical to do so . It was over £260 just to stay on the Sat 18th plus 2 say park tickets this is way too much for what you get IMO and we stayed the friday and satutday at the travelodge in Asbourne for half that for the Friday and Sat nights.
In terms of this weekend, its very clear and sad to see the place as it is today , we went straight to Wicker Man at 9.30 , it started testing at 10am or just before and we entered the station at about 10.30, then it went down , we stuck it out and it was down for about 20/25 mins , not a great start (Ride was great). We then went to Spinball and waited abot 30 mins , all good. Then Smiler , we had been in the Q 30 mins and that went down. Over to oblivion all fine . Its now 1 pm and weve done 3 rides. Place looks very empty compared to the 90's & 00s , i remember more rides down the bottom . We then went to Rita and 13 waited about 30/40 for each of them , and headed to nemesis for the last rides of the day . Again nemesis broke down for 20 or so minutes but we waited anyway. Got on Galactica a few times as single riders which was great, this ride seems to take an age to load . do they ever use the other station?
Overall we managed all the rides , but couldn't help but feel as though it wasn't great of operations to be breaking all the time. Toxicator was also down for most of the day .
Day 2
We again got to the park for 9.15 , but today they had everyone in line at the gates until 9.30am , strange as this didn't happen on Sat. Again we went to Wicker Man 1st , got 1st ride which was great , had a great day though as only Spinball seemed to be down. Much better operationally imo.
We made our own food after doing our research about the food and drink prices , so are unable to comment on the food . It was very noticable just how empty the food outlets are and from my many years of going to the park its very obvious that they are overpriced for most families. I would say 10/15 yrs ago a good 50% more people would have bought food and drink onsite and not brought a picnic. The management have got it so wrong.
Unfortunatley imo the prices are just ridiculous , added to the fact the annual pass holder offers all around the park. I get you dont have to buy it , and my point is most arn't .
Im old enough to remember the days you could get a maccies in the park, those were the days .
My girls said it felt empty and not how they remembered as young children, there was no street entertainment anymore . As well as no Rapids , mine train no skyride to reduce the waking and no monorail, although we did use the bus. Why as the 1st in early you are guded to car park F is beyond me and the later arivals get A and B is just crazy .
My other gripe , is the fastpass system. Its bonkers price wise , it makes you feel like a 2nd class citizen in the normal q's, heres what you could have if you pay 5x the gate price. A sytem for the few either who are minted or have plenty of spare plastic. All those weathly people who can afford to push past all the peasants.
The place just feels as though its lost its magic and too much has been stripped back . even in 2019 we had a much better overall visit. It most certainly isn't the Alton towers i grew up with.
The grounds are amazing , but im sure so much more is fenced off now than it was in the 90s and 00's. and i feel as through theres way fewer rides . There seems to be more food outlets and amusments than rides these days .
Although we had a great weekend , weve decided its better value to go abroad moving forward as other parks not only offer a better day out , but better value.
Nemesis though feels brand new again , so much of a smoother ride than i remember a few years ago.
anyway i could go on all day . But the staff were lovley , , and it feels to me like the park is struggling finacially.
I really hope things improve .
I don't normally post on forums but i thought i would share my views, im a 46yo man , and 1st went to Alton Towers as a 10 year old in 1991. Before this weekends visit the last time i visited was in 2019 with my 2 Girls then 8 and 11.
Weve stayed onsite a few times uand last in 2019, i did try to look at staying , but the cost was astronomical to do so . It was over £260 just to stay on the Sat 18th plus 2 say park tickets this is way too much for what you get IMO and we stayed the friday and satutday at the travelodge in Asbourne for half that for the Friday and Sat nights.
In terms of this weekend, its very clear and sad to see the place as it is today , we went straight to Wicker Man at 9.30 , it started testing at 10am or just before and we entered the station at about 10.30, then it went down , we stuck it out and it was down for about 20/25 mins , not a great start (Ride was great). We then went to Spinball and waited abot 30 mins , all good. Then Smiler , we had been in the Q 30 mins and that went down. Over to oblivion all fine . Its now 1 pm and weve done 3 rides. Place looks very empty compared to the 90's & 00s , i remember more rides down the bottom . We then went to Rita and 13 waited about 30/40 for each of them , and headed to nemesis for the last rides of the day . Again nemesis broke down for 20 or so minutes but we waited anyway. Got on Galactica a few times as single riders which was great, this ride seems to take an age to load . do they ever use the other station?
Overall we managed all the rides , but couldn't help but feel as though it wasn't great of operations to be breaking all the time. Toxicator was also down for most of the day .
Day 2
We again got to the park for 9.15 , but today they had everyone in line at the gates until 9.30am , strange as this didn't happen on Sat. Again we went to Wicker Man 1st , got 1st ride which was great , had a great day though as only Spinball seemed to be down. Much better operationally imo.
We made our own food after doing our research about the food and drink prices , so are unable to comment on the food . It was very noticable just how empty the food outlets are and from my many years of going to the park its very obvious that they are overpriced for most families. I would say 10/15 yrs ago a good 50% more people would have bought food and drink onsite and not brought a picnic. The management have got it so wrong.
Unfortunatley imo the prices are just ridiculous , added to the fact the annual pass holder offers all around the park. I get you dont have to buy it , and my point is most arn't .
Im old enough to remember the days you could get a maccies in the park, those were the days .
My girls said it felt empty and not how they remembered as young children, there was no street entertainment anymore . As well as no Rapids , mine train no skyride to reduce the waking and no monorail, although we did use the bus. Why as the 1st in early you are guded to car park F is beyond me and the later arivals get A and B is just crazy .
My other gripe , is the fastpass system. Its bonkers price wise , it makes you feel like a 2nd class citizen in the normal q's, heres what you could have if you pay 5x the gate price. A sytem for the few either who are minted or have plenty of spare plastic. All those weathly people who can afford to push past all the peasants.
The place just feels as though its lost its magic and too much has been stripped back . even in 2019 we had a much better overall visit. It most certainly isn't the Alton towers i grew up with.
The grounds are amazing , but im sure so much more is fenced off now than it was in the 90s and 00's. and i feel as through theres way fewer rides . There seems to be more food outlets and amusments than rides these days .
Although we had a great weekend , weve decided its better value to go abroad moving forward as other parks not only offer a better day out , but better value.
Nemesis though feels brand new again , so much of a smoother ride than i remember a few years ago.
anyway i could go on all day . But the staff were lovley , , and it feels to me like the park is struggling finacially.
I really hope things improve .