Rides, Shows & Hours at Alton Towers versus...

[AstroDan]

Basically, pick a medium to major theme park and do a rides and shows comparison against what Alton Towers offer. I have done it for 7 parks, and its worth noting that Alton owns the least rides and has the highest rollercoaster to overall rides ratio. However, there may be other parks out there which own less rides and have a higher ratio - so feel free to check out some major park's websites!

• Rides must be included with park admission. This includes transport rides within the park. Non-ride attractions such as ball pools and/or parks, walk through aquariums etc. do not count for the purposes of this.
• A show is defined as a show venue with currently operating show - if a venue plays different shows at different times of day - count it once.
• Opening Hours are for Saturday, 20th May 2023.

ALTON TOWERS
Total number of rides included with park admission: 31 (includes x4 temporary, hired rides) of which 29% are rollercoasters
Total number of shows included with park admission: 1 (Big Show Fun Time venue)
Hours on 20/5/23: 10:00 - 17:00 = 7 hours

PARC ASTERIX
Total number of rides included with park admission: 36 (of which 22% are rollercoasters)
Total number of shows included with park admission: 8 + 4D cinema
Hours on 20/5/23: 10:00 - 22:00 = 12 hours

NIGLOLAND
Total number of rides included with park admission: 35 (of which 17% are rollercoasters)
Total number of shows included with park admission: 1 (Niglo-Show)
Hours on 20/5/23: 10:00 - 18:00 = 8 hours

CHESSINGTON WORLD OF ADVENTURES
Total number of rides included with park admission: 28 (includes new-for-2023 Jumanji attractions which open in May) (of which 18% are rollercoasters)
Total number of shows included with park admission: 2 (difficult to assess, website unclear)
Hours on 20/5/23: 10:00 - 18:00 = 8 hours

BLACKPOOL PLEASURE BEACH
Total number of rides included with park admission: 38 (of which 26% are rollercoasters)
Total number of shows included with park admission: 0 (Hot-Ice runs on select dates, other shows are subject to additional fee)
Hours on 20/5/23: 10:00 - 17;00 = 7 hours

EUROPA-PARK
Total number of rides included with park admission: 56 (of which 23% are rollercoasters)
Total number of shows included with park admission: 12 + 4D cinema + fountain show
Hours on 20/5/23: 09:00 - 18:00 (park extends on the day) = 9 hours

PLOPSALAND DE PANNE
Total number of rides included with park admission: 33 (of which 18% are rollercoasters)
Total number of shows included with park admission: 3 + meet and greets
Hours on 20/5/23: 09:00 - 18:00 = 8 hours

 

[Thameslink Rail]

Thorpe Park
Total number of rides included with park admission at present: 18 (of which 33% are rollercoasters), if everything was open then 22 rides of which 31% would be coasters.
Total number of shows included with park admission: 2
Hours: 10:00-18:00 = 8 hours

 

[pluk]

Interesting and depressing in equal measure.

 

[Matt N]

For interest, I decided to go for two parks for which I’ve heard the “coaster-heavy” criticism levelled at to a similar extent to Alton Towers.

SeaWorld Orlando
Rides: 14 (excluding Pipeline: The Surf Coaster, upcharge Sky Tower, and 2 play areas in Sesame Street)
Roller Coasters: 6 (43% of overall ride count; this will increase to 7 and 47% when Pipeline opens)
Shows: 4 (I thought there were more, but there are apparently only 4 “presentations”…)
Opening Hours on 20th May 2023: 9am-9pm

Busch Gardens Tampa
Rides: 28
Roller Coasters: 10 (37% of overall ride count)
Shows: 3 (excluding various one-day live concerts shown on the website)
Opening Hours on 20th May 2023: 10am-10pm

I’m aware that SeaWorld and Busch Gardens also have various non-ride animal exhibits, but in terms of rides, it would appear that SeaWorld Orlando in particular comfortably beats Alton Towers in terms of rollercoasters to overall rides ratio.

Excluding the RetroSquad, Alton Towers’ ratio of coasters to other rides is marginally higher than Busch Gardens’, but with these rides in place, Busch Gardens does have a higher ratio than Alton Towers at present.

Both parks do have more shows than Alton Towers, though, as well as significantly longer opening hours.