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Quick Questions

I'm going to Alton Towers for the first time in 25 years this week, the last time I was there was in 1998 for oblivion opening so looking forward to seeing the changes and new rides. I’m going for two days, staying over in the hotel on site. Closing times are stated as 5pm but is that just the time the rides close? I noted a post on here saying the dungeon admits until 5.30pm with an exit at 6.15pm. Alton Towers don’t seem to have restaurant times on their website but according to Google Maps most of the restaurants in the park are open until 10pm / 11pm but I'm not sure if that is an error or not. Are you allowed to remain in the park after it closes and just walk around or use the restaurants until late at night?
 
Lewis232 said:
I'm going to Alton Towers for the first time in 25 years this week, the last time I was there was in 1998 for oblivion opening so looking forward to seeing the changes and new rides. I’m going for two days, staying over in the hotel on site. Closing times are stated as 5pm but is that just the time the rides close? I noted a post on here saying the dungeon admits until 5.30pm with an exit at 6.15pm. Alton Towers don’t seem to have restaurant times on their website but according to Google Maps most of the restaurants in the park are open until 10pm / 11pm but I'm not sure if that is an error or not. Are you allowed to remain in the park after it closes and just walk around or use the restaurants until late at night?
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Only Rollercoaster Restaurant is open after park close.
 
Lewis232 said:
I'm going to Alton Towers for the first time in 25 years this week, the last time I was there was in 1998 for oblivion opening so looking forward to seeing the changes and new rides. I’m going for two days, staying over in the hotel on site. Closing times are stated as 5pm but is that just the time the rides close? I noted a post on here saying the dungeon admits until 5.30pm with an exit at 6.15pm. Alton Towers don’t seem to have restaurant times on their website but according to Google Maps most of the restaurants in the park are open until 10pm / 11pm but I'm not sure if that is an error or not. Are you allowed to remain in the park after it closes and just walk around or use the restaurants until late at night?
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If it's 5pm close then they'll shut all the queue lines and they'll be no enjoying the majesty of the garden's or Towers in the sunshine after you get off your last ride. The audio will be turned off and a buggy will drive around the park ensuring you can't enjoy it any further, ushering you back to the absurdly long and slow queue for the monorail, which you can no longer be trusted to wait on the platform for.

If you do manage to find an open food outlet that was also open in 1998 throughout the day (many of them are long gone) that isn't Towers St hotdogs and doughnuts, it will be closed way before you exit the park. RCR will be open after park close but you will probably have to book a table for it in advance because it's not big enough to handle the crowds it gets. This is regardless of whether you are staying over or not, but you may get lucky.
 
Lewis232 said:
I'm going to Alton Towers for the first time in 25 years this week, the last time I was there was in 1998 for oblivion opening so looking forward to seeing the changes and new rides. I’m going for two days, staying over in the hotel on site. Closing times are stated as 5pm but is that just the time the rides close? I noted a post on here saying the dungeon admits until 5.30pm with an exit at 6.15pm. Alton Towers don’t seem to have restaurant times on their website but according to Google Maps most of the restaurants in the park are open until 10pm / 11pm but I'm not sure if that is an error or not. Are you allowed to remain in the park after it closes and just walk around or use the restaurants until late at night?
Click to expand...

So ride close is the time they close the queues, so long as you are in the queue at 5pm you will be able to ride. The coaster that best suits an end of day ride is probably Wickerman as being a wooden coaster it warms up quite considerably.

The food options on park will close around 4ish, on resort the best food option is secret garden but I’m not going to pretend the resort isn’t having issues with food at the moment and prices are high so take that into account.

If you want to eat on park late then roller coaster resteraunt is your best bet, it’s fun but again food is a bit iffy at the moment.

As for the new rides since 1998, you have lots to go with, hope you enjoy it.
 
Thank you all for your answers, very much appreciated. I did see on here that the dungeons last entry is half an hour after park closed so could I in theory join Wickerman (for example) at 4.50pm, have a ride and then do the dungeons at 5.30pm then exit back to the hotel at 6.15pm? Just thinking of a way to maximise my time at the park on day one and see everything the park has to offer. Will probably eat in the hotel restaurant I think and then maybe Rollercoaster restaurant at the end of day two.

Thanks again for your answers. Really looking forward to it, it'll be strange to not have the corkscrew there! Used to ride it every year as a teenager.
 
Lewis232 said:
Thank you all for your answers, very much appreciated. I did see on here that the dungeons last entry is half an hour after park closed so could I in theory join Wickerman (for example) at 4.50pm, have a ride and then do the dungeons at 5.30pm then exit back to the hotel at 6.15pm?
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If Dungeons are advertised to close at 5:30 then it sounds like a good plan to me. Wicker man is definitely the best ride to finish with as it's much faster by the end of the day. I'd start at Wicker man too and work your way round the park. The order I tend to do is; Wicker man, Mine train, Alton manor, Galactica, Th13teen, Rita, Oblivion, Smiler then Spinball. Off course there are the retro rides, rapids and gangsta granny too if you want to try them. Hope you enjoy it it'll certainly be a very different experience from 1998. If it's busy then I'd personally say you should prioritise Alton manor, Wicker man and Smiler as they are the best 3 rides on park. No Nemesis this year so it's a weird atmosphere in the valley but at least there's plenty of new rides for you to get on.
 
Lewis232 said:
Thank you all for your answers, very much appreciated. I did see on here that the dungeons last entry is half an hour after park closed so could I in theory join Wickerman (for example) at 4.50pm, have a ride and then do the dungeons at 5.30pm then exit back to the hotel at 6.15pm? Just thinking of a way to maximise my time at the park on day one and see everything the park has to offer. Will probably eat in the hotel restaurant I think and then maybe Rollercoaster restaurant at the end of day two.

Thanks again for your answers. Really looking forward to it, it'll be strange to not have the corkscrew there! Used to ride it every year as a teenager.
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I would say if you have done dungeons anywhere else then there is not much you gain from doing them at Towers.

If you have never done a dungeons before then go for it.
 
If you are really wanting to do the Dungeons and book the last slot, give yourself a little contingency with your Wicker Man queue time.

Once the last dungeon group has set off, they won't let you in.

Have a great time !
 
Just a couple from me....

Is it possible to take suitcases on the monorail? Traveling by bus and don't fancy walking from the entrance to hotel!

Can you use merlin pass discount to reactivate freestyle cups?

Thanks 👌
 
Going to ATR but I don't know what to do do I go straight to Nemesis Sub terra or do I go for The curse?

ThemeParkOwen said:
Just a couple from me....

Is it possible to take suitcases on the monorail? Traveling by bus and don't fancy walking from the entrance to hotel!

Can you use merlin pass discount to reactivate freestyle cups?

Thanks 👌
Click to expand...
I know about the Merlin pass one and the answer is yes! You can use a discount for re-activating cups I have done this many times.
 
Mhoowee said:
Going to ATR but I don't know what to do do I go straight to Nemesis Sub terra or do I go for The curse?
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Curse has a significantly higher throughput than Sub Terra and will not have much of a queue most days. Out of the two I would head for Sub Terra first if you are arriving early.
 
Hello all,

I'm planning on taking my youngsters 3&7 this Saturday but I've never been on a weekend before. Can anyone advise roughly how busy it will be?
We'll mostly be in Cbeebies and the pirate area. I know its half term so maybe kids will be going during the week?
Can you advance book the parking near the front?
Weather looks nice!
Also, can one adult go on Go Jetters, Octonauts etc...with two kids? Both are over 1m (and so am I ;))
Thank you very much
 
petegeorge1 said:
Hello all,

I'm planning on taking my youngsters 3&7 this Saturday but I've never been on a weekend before. Can anyone advise roughly how busy it will be?
We'll mostly be in Cbeebies and the pirate area. I know its half term so maybe kids will be going during the week?
Can you advance book the parking near the front?
Weather looks nice!
Also, can one adult go on Go Jetters, Octonauts etc...with two kids? Both are over 1m (and so am I ;))
Thank you very much
Click to expand...
Cebeebies Land is always very busy, even on off-peak days, so being held term I'd expect it to be packed.

Octonaughts requires those under 1.1m to be accompanied by an adult and Go Jetters requires those under 1.25 meters to be accompanied by an adult, so if your kids are taller than that they'll be fine to sit alone.
 
petegeorge1 said:
Hello all,

I'm planning on taking my youngsters 3&7 this Saturday but I've never been on a weekend before. Can anyone advise roughly how busy it will be?
We'll mostly be in Cbeebies and the pirate area. I know its half term so maybe kids will be going during the week?
Can you advance book the parking near the front?
Weather looks nice!
Also, can one adult go on Go Jetters, Octonauts etc...with two kids? Both are over 1m (and so am I ;))
Thank you very much
Click to expand...

It will be busy. Saturdays are always busy in CBeebies, add in half term and it will be busier still.

Go with a plan and you can maximise your day.

Yes you can prebook Express parking, do it quick as it often sells out.

Arrive early, ideally before opening so you can be in the gates and ready for the first ride opening at 10am. Get Set Go and In the Night Garden will probably have a queue of an hour most of the day, so if you knock one of those off first at 10am you are winning.

Take some time in Big Fun Show Time to sit and watch a show, you might also want to wander out to the Mardi Gras area in front of the Towers as there are lots of colourful performances happening that the kids (and adults) might enjoy.

The kids rides in Mutiny Bay are likely to not have much of a wait, plus there is the Sealife centre which is pretty much always walk in. So you can balance the day so it’s not all queuing.
 
Thank you Skyscraper, AT,
We've never watched the shows in cbeebies so that's a good shout for a rest.
We've done Night Garden and the squirrel thing before so can sit that out, never understood the queues there.
Express Parking is sold out for that day but the hotels don't seem busy based on the price. My kids will like the monorail I reckon :)
 
petegeorge1 said:
Thank you Skyscraper, AT,
We've never watched the shows in cbeebies so that's a good shout for a rest.
We've done Night Garden and the squirrel thing before so can sit that out, never understood the queues there.
Express Parking is sold out for that day but the hotels don't seem busy based on the price. My kids will like the monorail I reckon :)
Click to expand...
Just be aware that the queue for the monorail can get really long in both directions. You can walk it in 20 minutes, which could be quicker if the monorail is busy. Also note that it's difficult to see out of the monorail windows due to the wrapping on them.
 
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