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Food & Beverage 2021

Roary

TS Member
Favourite Ride
Woodcutter Bar and Grill - Riding the bar
Hi All, New poster but avid alton towers goer! I've just got a merlin gold pass so going to be attending alot this year.

Just a question about the dining if anyone knows, pubs & restraunts in england will be able to open outdoors for seated service on April 12, one of my favourite things about alton towers after the rides is eating & drinking!

Do you think Woodcutters bar & Grill will expand their outdoor seating? How about Pizza Pasta? Availability of alcohol? I rather enjoy 3 or 4 pints with lunch then stumbling onto Rita!

Thanks
 
My guess is that they will need to try and offer enough outdoor dining so they may need extra tables out, but the focus will be on Burger Kitchen and similar take-out rather than trying to get the table service places running.
 
We do express parking and (she) preload at the car, then go back to the car for a boozy picnic lunch.
Saves in the long run if your wife is a coaster hating lush.
Then there is the hip flask and all day drinking cup.
I imagine lots of extra outside seating in all areas.
 
We do express parking and (she) preload at the car, then go back to the car for a boozy picnic lunch.
Saves in the long run if your wife is a coaster hating lush.
Then there is the hip flask and all day drinking cup.
I imagine lots of extra outside seating in all areas.
Haha, thats a great idea. I just cant justify the extra ££ for Express parking though, although we did blag our way in there for free once. Also noticed they dont man the express car park after mid day so can sneak in.
The hip flask is a tried and true method! however recently i've tended to sneak it in a water or juice bottle for easy disposal, the mrs nearly got her hip flask confiscated last time (the rookie put it in her bag which got searched...) Whereas i keep it in my sock or down my gusset.
I dont mind paying for food and drink in the park though, all part of the experience! just cant be bothered with being outside in the cold weather! At least if the pubs are open outdoors I can wear a beer coat.
 
Hi All, New poster but avid alton towers goer! I've just got a merlin gold pass so going to be attending alot this year.

Just a question about the dining if anyone knows, pubs & restraunts in england will be able to open outdoors for seated service on April 12, one of my favourite things about alton towers after the rides is eating & drinking!

Do you think Woodcutters bar & Grill will expand their outdoor seating? How about Pizza Pasta? Availability of alcohol? I rather enjoy 3 or 4 pints with lunch then stumbling onto Rita!

Thanks

Welcome to TowersStreet, as a drinker I'm sure you'll be fitting in nicely :tearsofjoy:. There's been nothing announced in terms of food and beverage in the awkward period between the 12th April and the May yet however I'd be surprised (and disappointed!) if there wasn't something available, so all of the below is pure speculation.

On the food front I'd agree that the focus will be on quick takeaway options like Burger Kitchen, Eastern Express and Just Chicken. However, I wouldn't immediately discount the possibility of something from Woodcutters. It may be a very limited menu to get bums on seats and back out again. They already have an outdoor area in addition to plenty of spare seating from the Oktoberfest event that could be plonked in Fountain Square too. Pizza pasta may open for takeaway only as it did last season, although I'd probably just expect them to hang fire until May at least now.

Drinks wise, I'd generally expect the Tavern (Welcom Inn) to be open, and going back to Woodcutters they may just go down the drinks only route as opposed to offering any food. The park is setup for online ordering at Woodcutters, and at seat ordering was available at the Tavern last season, so they're familiar with the setup now.
 
one of my favourite things about alton towers after the rides is eating & drinking!
I wish I could agree but the food and drink at Alton Towers is just awful. Mediocre at best.

At least this year we can look forward to a pint of Corona. I guess it makes a change from the delight that is Stella Artois..
 
Welcome to TowersStreet, as a drinker I'm sure you'll be fitting in nicely :tearsofjoy:. There's been nothing announced in terms of food and beverage in the awkward period between the 12th April and the May yet however I'd be surprised (and disappointed!) if there wasn't something available, so all of the below is pure speculation.

On the food front I'd agree that the focus will be on quick takeaway options like Burger Kitchen, Eastern Express and Just Chicken. However, I wouldn't immediately discount the possibility of something from Woodcutters. It may be a very limited menu to get bums on seats and back out again. They already have an outdoor area in addition to plenty of spare seating from the Oktoberfest event that could be plonked in Fountain Square too. Pizza pasta may open for takeaway only as it did last season, although I'd probably just expect them to hang fire until May at least now.

Drinks wise, I'd generally expect the Tavern (Welcom Inn) to be open, and going back to Woodcutters they may just go down the drinks only route as opposed to offering any food. The park is setup for online ordering at Woodcutters, and at seat ordering was available at the Tavern last season, so they're familiar with the setup now.

Thanks Craig! Haha Cheers for the welcome, I always thought I was an enigma being a drinker at Alton Towers! One of my favourite rides is the bar.

I do enjoy eastern express those tikka wraps mmm. Washed down with a big ol' stella.

Ah yes i remember the seating by the foundtain square, but i cant imagine that staying there without a stage?
Really hope pizza pasta is open this april, i just love those greasy deep pan pizzas.

@Alsty Are they really switching Stella for Corona on draft? or are you making a covid joke? I've never seen it on draft before.
 
Thanks Craig! Haha Cheers for the welcome, I always thought I was an enigma being a drinker at Alton Towers! One of my favourite rides is the bar.

You'll pretty much find a chunk of us on every meet at the Tavern for most of the day at some point, especially if the weather is good!

As for Corona, there has indeed been pumps put in for it. Not sure if it's replacing Stella or if it's just an addition though, we shall hopefully see in a month or so! The draught pumps were appearing in a fair few places up until everything shut down last year, quite flashy they are too!

Corona-set-to-be-available-on-draught_wrbm_large.jpg
 
If only the quality of the beer lived up to the pump! It's good to have a change from Stella but I wouldn't consider it much of an improvement.

I always get the impression that the person who chooses which beers to supply doesn't drink the stuff. The beer selection at Alton Towers always feels like going into a working men's club with generic offerings. Anybody worth their salt knows the craft beer industry is where it's at... things like Punk, Hop House or Goose would be an obvious starting point.
 
Stella is a guilty pleasure of mine. Problem with drinking at Towers is, unless I'm on spirits, I always need a wee as soon as I get into a queue.

I was there the day Wicker Man opened to the public and rumours were swirling amongst the staff that they were going to do a surprise opening shortly before park close (for those that don't know, it was when we had all that snow in March a few years back and the opening was put back because of ice). Rather than loitering around the entrance to the ride like everyone else, me and my brother kept a close eye on developments from the comfort of the Welcome Inn with pints in hand as they repeatedly tested it and inspected the track. As soon as they starting letting people into the Wicker Man queue (there was a load cheer and round of applause), we drank up and joined. Once we got to the kiosk in the queue line, we were both bursting and had to leave the go to the toilet before rejoining.

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Looking forward to the restrictions lifting so the bottles of cider in the coffee shop at Forbidden Valley are back on sale again.

My last visit of the season, excited for some rides on Nemesis & a relax with afew bottles of Cider... Nemesis was down and the fridge was taped up :(
 
@Matt.GC Ahh the good old days of the Welcome Inn, I'd forgotten about that place, everytime I visited last year it looked closed. I think the last time I boozed there was scarfest 2018! I'll have to pencil it in for a grand re opening booze up, its proximity to wicker man is great to keep an eye on the queues! I know the struggle with needing a wee, i havent found it to be too troublesome though, just aim to hit every toilet I walk past even if i dont need to go :eek:

@Matt878787 Oh yeah the nice nemesis cafe, used to be great sitting there and watching Ripsaw, there is meant to be a new flat ride in its place this year from a funfair so that will be interesting. I normally go for the wine or beer in that cafe but daang £££. Hoping the merlin pass will make the trips a bit cheaper.

On that score, does anyone know how the annual pass discount works with the table service digital ordering? I dont recall seeing any option on the app to enter pass details to get the discount?
 
On that score, does anyone know how the annual pass discount works with the table service digital ordering? I dont recall seeing any option on the app to enter pass details to get the discount?
You have to go up to the bar or flag down a member of staff and then ask them for the discount code. They will then give you a code you can enter at the checkout.

It's a bit of a joke to be honest. Firstly, it is a hassle to have to get the code and secondly there's nothing to stop non-passholders from just using the code (there's no validation and nobody ever asks to see the pass). My experience is also that the staff don't ever know the code. If you ask for it then expect a game of Chinese Whispers to start. The staff normally ask each other blankly "do you know the code?", fumble around looking for it, make some phone calls to get it, and then when you do get it then it doesn't work because they change it regularly and it differs between venue (hotel, park etc).
 
You'll have digital ordering at Woodcutters and the hotels, however Welcom Inn (unless it changes) was a member of staff coming to the table once you'd sat down last year. So just need to mention you're a passholder when ordering :).
 
And don't even think about using cash in the Tavern.
Just been on the Woodcutter Bar and Grille™ ordering page (from an old QR code scan!) and they have indeed added Corona, £3 for a half and £5.50 for a pint :oops: looks like they are keeping good ol' Stella though. Phew!
 
There are loads of decent breweries around Alton, such a shame they dont stock local produce. I'm sure that even at quite a premium people would be prepared to pay to try weird and wonderful quality local beer.
 
They sell the Peakstone Brewery Ales in the hotels, certainly the Nemesis and Oblivion beers anyway. Not sure if you can get these at the Welcom-inn though.
 
They sell the Peakstone Brewery Ales in the hotels, certainly the Nemesis and Oblivion beers anyway. Not sure if you can get these at the Welcom-inn though.
They also sold these in the rollercoaster restaurant and at times in coffee lounge in the valley. However alcohol was all removed from there last season with the various rules that were in place.
 
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