Top Tips for Alton Towers: Good to Know, Beat the Queues, Important Restrictions, Where to Eat | Alton Towers Guide

Top Tips

Good to Know

Save yourself some money by booking your tickets online in advance, as well as being cheaper you will save time by not having to queue at the entrance - Alton Towers Tickets
If you travel to the park by car, it's wise to buy your car park token at the start of the day, otherwise you might face a long queue when you leave.
The weather can be an important factor, try to dress accordingly to avoid getting too hot, too cold or too wet! It can also be pretty unpredictable, if it ends up being a wet day there are ponchos available to help you stay dry.
Wear sensible footwear to avoid feeling uncomfortable after a long day, it's also important to make sure shoes are fastened securely when going on some of the more intense rides to make sure that they don't fall off!
Save yourself getting exhausted from too much walking by making use of the Sky Ride which connects Towers Street, Forbidden Valley and Cred Street. Also, you can hire pushchairs if you have young children.
Children can be given a wristband which you add your name and mobile number to, if a member of staff finds them unaccompanied you will be contacted so that they can be reunited with you.
If you're visiting with a group of friends it's a good idea to agree on a place to meet up just incase you get seperated and have trouble finding each other.
There's plenty of great gifts available from shops all over the park, if you decide to buy any ask for them to be taken to the collection point near the exit to save you carrying them around all day.
It's best to avoid doing the wettest rides at the end of the day otherwise you might not be able to dry out before the journey home.
Ride photos are nice souvineer of your day so look out for the cameras and don't forget to smile, if you decide to buy any ask for them to be taken to the collection point near the exit to save you carrying them around all day.
It might be a good idea to make use of the lockers around the park to avoid carrying too many things, the locations of these are shown on the Park Map.
Alton Towers accepts all major credit/debit cards, there are also ATMs located around the park, although some of these do apply a charge to each transaction.
You can join a ride's queue right up until it's closing time, it is the queue that closes then and not the ride.

Beat the Queues

Timing - Generally it's best to do the biggest rides in the first hour that the park is open, at lunchtime, or in the last hour that the park is open, as the queues tend to be the shortest at these times. Plus, you can often beat the crowds by starting at the back of the park and working your way towards the front.
Electronic Boards - These are located in various places around the park and display the latest queue times for many of the rides in the park, make sure you check these out to help you plan when to visit each ride.
Parent Queue Share - On busy days parents with small children can get a special pass which allows just one of the parents to queue, when the first parent has been on the ride the second can go on without having to queue again.
Early Ride Time - If you have an Annual Pass or you're staying at either the Alton Towers Hotel or the Splash Landings Hotel, you can enter the park an hour early!
Single Rider Queue - If you're at the park alone or don't mind who you ride with, you might find that joining the Single Rider Queue reduces your waiting time. Available on Air, Nemesis, Rita, Spinball & Oblivion.
Fastrack Tickets - These provide reduced waiting times for an extra charge: Fastrack Thrill £8 (Air, Nemesis, Oblivion & The Flume... add Rita for £4 more), Fastrack Adventurer £4 (Charlie & The Chocolate Factory, Runaway Mine Train & Corkscrew), Fastrack Ultimate £30 (Air, Nemesis, Rita, Ripsaw, Duel, Rapids, Hex, Spinball, Runaway Mine Train, Oblivion, Corkscrew, The Flume, Enterprise, Submission, Charlie, Battle Galleons, Heave Ho & Marauders Mayhem)

Important Restrictions

Height and other restrictions apply to each attraction, full details of these can be found at the entry point of the attractions, here's a summary of some key categories:

Minimum Height 1.4m - Air, Nemesis, Oblivion, Ripsaw, Rita
Minimum Height 1.2m - Corkscrew, Spinball Whizzer, Submission, UG Swinger
Minimum Height 1.0m - Bouncing Bugs, Driving School
Minimum Height 0.9m - Battle Galleons, Berry Bish Bash, Blade, Congo River Rapids, Enterprise, The Flume, Heave Ho, Hex, Marauder's Mayhem

Where to Eat

Have a think about when you're going to eat, trying big thrill rides immediately after lunch may not be wise!
Most of the outlets tend to get busy between 11am and 1pm, try to avoid these peak hours to avoid a wait.
There's a wide range of outlets across the park, there are vegetarian and healty options available at many of them.
If you're looking for well known chains, try Burger King at Cred Street, Forbidden Valley and Mutiny Bay or KFC & Pizza Hut at X-Sector and Katanga Canyon, but it's well worth trying some of the many themed outlets too!
The monorail to the car park can get busy when the rides close, why not grab a bite to eat before your journey.

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