Published: August 21 2022

All you need to know about Alton Towers

The biggest park in the UK, coming in at a massive 910 acres of thrills, stunning well-kept gardens, and stately home. It’s the full package and caters to both families and thrill seekers.

Location

Stafordshire countryside

The park is in central Staffordshire, close to the city Stoke-On-Trent. However you’re getting to Towers, you’ll be sure to be greeted by the glorious British countryside.

Stoke-on-Trent is the closest city to Alton Towers, I’ve stayed at their Premier Inn which set me back around £50 and an extra £9 or so for the breakfast buffet, which is sure to set you up for your big day at Alton Towers as you’re going to be burning off a lot of calories walking around the park. Although a word of warning, I did turn up 15 mins late for my breakfast at the restaurant I was supposed to eat at, the Brewers Fayre and they already gave away my table. However, haven eaten at a few Brewers Fayres fine establishments in the past, you’re in for a treat if you do, good pub food and a stacked breakfast buffet that will cover all tastes. From fry ups to fruit, pastries and cereals too.

brewers fayres full English breakfast... delicious

Well with the original breakfast plans going out the window, in the town centre, I found a nice weather spoons too which will sort you out with a big old breakfast for less than £10. spoons breakfast

Right, enough about food!

Price

Always book online in advance if you’re planning a day out to Towers, it will save you a big chunk of money. Tickets online go for £36 but on the door it would cost you a whopping £65. Find out more about booking tickets here

Good news all merlin pass holders, you can gain free entry to the park on selected days (depending on what tier of pass you have). An Alton Towers Gold Pass can be purchased for £120, giving you unlimited access to the park and a discount on food/drink/merch from inside the park.

This is different to the Merlin annual pass. This pass will give you access to all Merlin parks in the UK;

Thorpe Park
Alton Towers
Legoland Windsor
Chessington World of Adventure

On top of that, you will get a discount or free entry to the following UK attractions:

The London Eye
The London Dungeon
SEA LIFE
Warwick Castle
The Blackpool Tower
Madame Tussuads
Shrek’s Adventure! London
London Eye River Cruise
The Bear Grylls Adventure

That’s a lot of choices! The pricing varies between different tiers of passes from the Discovery Pass at £89, which gives off-peak entry to attractions. The Silver Pass at £159, which gives almost year round access apart from peak times during summer holidays, the Gold Pass at £220 which gives you almost year round access (345 days of the year, just excluding some of the peak days in summer) and 20% off food/drink around the various attractions. Finally the Platinum Pass at £299 which also includes full 365 days a year access to their attractions.”

In Summary:

Discovery £89 - off peak only access to attractions
Silver £159 - A lot more dates than discovery, still not all peak times + 10% discount off food/drink
Gold £220 - Almost all year access 345 days of the year + 20% discount off food/drink
Platinum £299 - Full year round access + 20% discount off food/drink

Personally I managed to get a hefty discount on my Merlin Pass by buying it during a Black Friday deal. So for those bargain hunters out there, keep that in mind

Rides and attractions

This park is packed full of rides, with well over 40 rides, there are something for everyone.

Roller Coasters

The Smiler

The detailed theming and views of the ride you get during the queue adds some anticipation. Right from dispatch this coaster has you turning upside down as strobe lights flash. I’ve never come off this ride with anything but a smile on my face.

Galactica

Ever wanted to feel like Superman? Here’s your chance, a unique experience that has you flying around the park, there’s a lengthy section where you are lying on your back looking up to the clouds which are just a spectacular experience. A coaster everyone needs to add to their bucket list. Surprisingly comfortable too!

Nemesis

This classic coaster has been dishing out an intense ride experience ever since 1994. There’s nothing like it (well apart from the other nemesis in Thorpe Park), but what makes this one feel more special is the way it integrates with its terrain. You dash past rocks that were blasted out especially to make room for this special coaster and you pass over this giant alien creator a few times. This coaster is properly intense, so if that’s your thing be sure to give it a ride

Oblivion

Oblivion Worlds first dive coaster | length: 1,222 ft | height: 65 ft | drop 180ft | speed: 68 mph

Don’t look down! This scare machine has you facing down into the abyss before plummeting 180ft down into a dark misty hole. There’s nothing quite like it in the UK, a one-drop wonder, but a thrilling experience every single time.

Rita

Rita 0 - 100kph in 2.5 seconds | length: 2,099 | height: 68 ft | speed 61mph | duration: 0.25

Spinball Whizzer

Spinball Whizzer Spinning coaster | length: 1,476 ft | height: 55ft | duration: 1:15

Th13teen

Th13teen Worlds first free fall drop rollercoaster | length: 2,480 ft | height: 65 ft | speed: 41 mph

Wicker Man

Wicker Man This coaster has a fun well made pre-show and some of the best theming on any rollercoaster in the world. It’s also a speedy guy for a family thrill coaster.

Now for some family friendly rollercoasters

Octonauts Rollercoaster Adventure

Runaway Mine Train

Flat Rides/Dark Rides

There’s more to Alton Towers than just rollercoasters! A selection of family friendly and thrilling flat rides can be found scattered about the park. Here’s a selection of said rides:

Gangsta Granny The Ride

Gangsta Granny The Ride David Walliams’ Gansta Granny perfect for families

Retro Squad

Retro Squad Retro themed flat rides featuring Spinjam, a Tivoli Extreme | Funk n Fly, a Super Trooper | Roller Disco, a waltzer

Only for those with strong stomachs, fun carnival vibes with these classic flat rides and the music for all of these attractions will have you dancing and signing like an old-school disco.

Enterprise

Enterprise This ride generates enough Gs to let you invert without restraints, a fun experience, you will feel like an astronaut training for a mission to Mars.

Curse of Alton Towers

Curse of Alton Towers This ride came out March 2023, I’ve not had a chance to ride it yet so I’m afraid I can’t give it a personal review, although from what I’ve heard, it’s a quality flat ride!

Hex

Hex Again I’m so sorry to say that I’ve not actually given Hex a go, the last couple of times I was at the park this mysterious dark ride was either down for maintenance or I just didn’t get round to riding it!

The Towers and Gardens

We can’t talk about Alton Towers without mentioning the old stately home that takes up a sizeable chunk of the park.

The history of Alton Towers: The stately home was once the largest private house in Europe. The house has historically been owned by the Talbot family since 1406 when Sir John Talbot acquired the estate when he married Maud. He was the first Earl of Shrewsbury. The 19th Earl decided to open the grounds up to the public to fund repairs to the house around the 1890s. This inspired the 20th early to develop the state for tourist attractions. However, when the earl and his wife separated in 1896, he left his wife to live on the estate, although he refused to spend money on the up-keep of the building. A group of local businessmen bought the estate and formed “Alton Towers Limited”. By the 1920s they opened the grounds up to the public and added cafes, it was extremely popular during the 20s and 30s. When world war 2 broke out, the estate was re-purposed as a cadet training camp.

stately home

During the 1960s and 1970s, Towers began to see fair rides and other attractions spring up on the grounds, while the building itself was left deserted after taking heavy damage during the war. Although concrete floors were added to the house so visitors could enter and walk around. By the 1980s, the new owners of Alton Towers, inspired by Disney, wanted to open up a fully-fledged theme park. They themed streets inspired by Disney parks and opened up a new coaster that was the start of Alton Towers as we know it today… The Corkscrew. This was an instant hit, with line wait times going up 6 hours.

Corckscrew

To get an aerial view of the stunning grounds, you can take the Skyride to one area of the park to another. You will be entertained by audio describing some of the histories of the park as well as a distinctive view of the park.

There are many hidden gems of beauty throughout the park, you can walk through the gardens where you’ll see water features such as this

Throughout the park, there’s beauty, this waterfall is outside one of the best rides, The Wicker Man: Waterfall-still