The Weekly Gripe

Gripes the News
The Soapbox
Gripes in the pipes
*

Long queues and wait times at Alton Towers

168 comments  Add a comment

So we decided to go to Alton Towers on a Saturday, and at a time when the schools had broken up for the holidays   We should have known better, but we were looking forward to it and I was quite optimistic that it wouldn't be too bad.

We had taken the kids to Legoland near Windsor a couple of weeks before and that was bad enough, queuing for up to an hour for some of the more popular rides and attractions.  However, our nightmare day out at Alton Towers made the whole Legoland fiasco seem quite insignificant.

Post a comment on the forum

We arrived at around 10.30 am, which wasn't early, but wasn't exactly late either.  The first thing to do was to queue up at the booths for tickets, this wasn't too bad and it all seemed to be flowing quite well.  Ticket prices were 29 for adults and 5 for the shortcut pass, but unfortunately all the short cut tickets had already sold out.

We didn't sit down to eat at any of the expensive junk food places; we had already decided this would just waste valuable time.  A small lightweight packed lunch turned out to be a very good idea as it meant we could eat whilst we waited in the queue to get on the rides.  Believe me, we had plenty of time to eat!

... wait time for that turned out to be around an hour and a half!

The first thrill of the day was to be Oblivion, a vertical drop roller coaster and one that I was particularly looking forward to, as I never had the opportunity to ride it on my last visit to the park.  Well, it was fun, it was VERY brief, and the wait time for that turned out to be around an hour and a half!  I didn't really grumble too much about that, probably because it was still quite early and I foolishly thought as lunchtime was approaching the queues might get better.

This was not to be the case, because we then had to stand for nearly two hours to get on Air.  I can't bring myself to say it was worth the wait though, because my legs really were aching by the time it was our turn to get strapped into the coaster.  After riding Air, I needed a sit down and some hot coffee, but I decided to have a hot drink on the move so that we could get to the next queue sorry, I mean the next roller coaster!

The final attraction of the day at Alton Towers was to be "Rita, Queen of speed".  Yes, this was to be the grand finale.  We didn't know it at the time, but the queue for this new thrill had grown to nearly two and a half hours; they had in fact had to extend the queue barriers to make room and the closed the gates not long after we joined the queue.  Still, at least this gave us plenty of time to eat the remainder of our picnic and read all the messages scrawled on the fence by all the previous thrill seekers.  These individuals had presumably been fed up as well!  It occurred to me at some point during out wait, that the queue I was in, was probably several times longer than the actual roller coaster track!

Anyway, we decided we had had enough and it was time to leave at around 6 pm, just before the fireworks started; no way was I about to queue up to leave the park.  For us, a day out at Alton Towers had consisted of a couple of minutes of sheer exhilaration on the 3 rides we managed to get on, and about 6 hours of shuffling whilst looking at the back of someones head!  Not exactly value for money is it?  By the way, I decided not to buy a car park token for 4 quid on the way out.  So there!

A roller coaster There are, in my opinion a number of reasons for the extended queuing times at Alton Towers and one of them is the number of people they try to pack through the gates each day.  Its a VERY big place with lots of open space, so it appears to be deceptively less busy than it actually is.

Another thing that may lead to the long wait times at Alton Towers is the shortcut-pass system they operate.  It's all very well to skim a few more quid of park visitors so that these people can join shorter queues, but if you think about it, it has got to increase the amount of time the rest of us spend queuing.  They are in fact operating a two-tier system, whereby if you can afford it, you can buy your way to the front of the queue.  What kind of message does this send out?  Thats really not very fair in my opinion!

The fast track system they operate, and I believe other theme parks use, is in some ways a much better.  You simply book your ride and then come back at the appropriate time.  The trouble is, at Alton Towers these tickets are all sold out by 10.30 and again its this two-tier system that slows the main queue down.

You are always going to get queues at theme parks, its a fact, and yes there are going to be some days that are busier than others.  However, I think the park planners should consider the worst-case scenario and get rid of these unfair money making schemes.  They provide extra income for the park, but at the expense of increased waiting time for the majority of paying public.  What do we want?  We want a single system, with a maximum waiting time of one hour.  There should be enough rides and attractions for the number of visitors to the park.

By: Thrill seeker with sore feet!


Leave a comment

First Prev 1/12 Next Last

The Old Codger

The Old Codger

I really dislike ill mannered posters who give themselves arrogant, conceited names such as " seeing things as they are".

No, yours is just one opinion among many and you could do with learning some manners.
24/07/14 The Old Codger
-1
seeingthingsastheyare

seeingthingsastheyare

This post and the comments that follow are absolutly ridiculous. First of all you go in the holidays when kids are off school, what do you expect there to be?? Of course there are going to be long queues there its is a prime time for these theme parks to have the guests in. With the paying extra to jump queues, is it the theme parks fault that so many people by them?? I think not, its the guests choice at the end of the day if they want to buy these tickets the theme park isn't forcing you to buy them at the gate or telling guests that they must pay extra for these as a requirement because they are one of the first guests to enter the park. If you wanted to get one then you should have used what brain you have a thought that its school holidays maybe i should get there before 10:30 when the park opens. And as for emilia's comment on 7/6 at the bottom about compensation .... are you actually being serious. Get a grip will you. Its guests choice when they go, how much extra they want to pay for things, and if they queue for a ride, no one at the park forces them into a queue do they. It's like when a store has a sale on and it gets sold out before you get there, would you complain that there isnt any stock left?? NO BECUASE ITS THE CUSTOMERS CHOICE TO BUY!!!!!!! But reading some of the comments a lot of you probably would. GET A BLOODY GRIP!!!!!!
24/07/14 seeingthingsastheyare
1
RollerCoasterAddict

RollerCoasterAddict

I'm going to alton towers with my school next year I'm hoping to have a go on all the rides!:)
21/04/14 RollerCoasterAddict
1
baker man

baker man

I think it would be a good idea to give out out a couple of free packets of pork scratchings at the entrance of theses theme parks. They are most delicious and everybody enjoys munching upon them. they are jolly hard and take ages to eat,either sucked or crunched depending on one's dental condition. My mouth is watering at thought of chomping away on a pack or two right now, and you can stuff the silly theme parks.
04/11/13 baker man
-7
miserablemoaninggit

miserablemoaninggit

Si, my previous posting was somewhat ironic. I hope you understood this(?)
04/11/11 miserablemoaninggit
-10
Si

Si

Yes miserablemoaner, if you dislike queuing for things as much as I do then the solution is not to go peak times! And if you have to take kids in the holidays use your brain and avoid a Saturday ;)
04/11/11 Si
-5
miserablemoaninggit

miserablemoaninggit

Yes, Si is right. If one must go to Alton Towers, ensure that you do not go with school children i.e. any person under the age of 18, or indeed any member of the teaching profession by going during term time. Also ensure that you do it in the chilly Autumn and Winter months. So, a non-child family trip in Autumn and Winter is absolutely fine, but for the rest of the year it is best to boycott Alton towers. Uh?
03/11/11 miserablemoaninggit
1
Si

Si

You people should know better than to go at half term or the school holidays! Me and my fiancée went yesterday, Nov 2nd, longest we queued was for Oblivion and that took 15 minutes total time to queue and ride. We did 13 twice, once riding at the front, took two minutes to queue for nemesis and 5 for air as we wanted to be on the front! Best of it was tickets were only £15 each, fantastic day out!
03/11/11 Si
0
miserablemoaning git

miserablemoaning git

In fact, glancing at more recent posts, the Alton Towers marketing department have clearly put in some time and effort - desperation clearly! There are far better ways of spending time than queuing at Alton Horrors!
30/10/11 miserablemoaning git
-5
miserablemoaninggit

miserablemoaninggit

Caroline's post is laughable! So obviously a 'marketing post' on behalf of Alton Towers - 'Just enjoy the day and don't worry about what you can or don't get on . . . ' she says. Doh! Does she think we are all idiots. The post by disgruntled is a much more true reflection of the sheer boredom and frustration that is Alton Towers. Caroline - you're having a laugh!
30/10/11 miserablemoaninggit
28
disgruntled

disgruntled

Went on 29th October for the 'scarefest' - but the only nightmares were the queue times. This place should be called 'Alton Queues'. One and a half hours for '13', an hour for Nemesis and the same for Oblivion. We gave up on trying to get in the Terror of the Towers as the queue times for this were one and a half hours - although as one of 'Alton Queues' employees told us we could buy fast track tickets!
I agree with many others that a two tier system is in place of people who are willing to pay extra to jump the queues, meaning of course a longer wait for those who choose not to pay.
What a ripoff the £12 spent on the two horror shows were, where the Black Hole used to be - amatuer dramatics for the feint hearted.
In conclusion an expensive, frustrating and tiring day out with less thrills and more QUEUES
30/10/11 disgruntled
-6
Caroline

Caroline

Well I love Alton Towers to be honest. If you go at the right time of year (fireworks is always busier and if you're not going to stay to watch there is no point going then) and plan to get on the big rides very early in the day and go over to air/nemesis or rita first then normally you can get on a few more.
Go when it's raining or even sometimes bank holidays can be ridiculously quiet. Get there early and if you can get early ride time make use of it. Use the skyride to get around the park instead of struggling across the gardens and getting lost (unless you want to see them as they are actually pretty amazing.)
If there's a long queue either join it or come back later. Just enjoy the day and don't worry about what you do or don't get on...
05/10/11 Caroline
-12
Liz P-H

Liz P-H

Hi I took my two on the first day of the summer hols on Tesco tickets (what a cheap skate!!). Hardly any queues for the rides themselves, but when we first arrived (10.40am) we had to queue for over an hour just to change cour Tesco Clubcard tickets into proper tickets! When not just send us the proper tickets in the first place?!!!!!!!!!!!!
28/09/11 Liz P-H
-16
Terry

Terry

What is unfortunate is that when you spend too long in one queue, it leaves less time for future rides. It is good when theme parks allow you to book yuor ride and come back later, because this gives you more time to enjoy the rides.
23/09/11 Terry
-1
lyrii

lyrii

sorry for my bad spellings on queue
l
l
V
17/09/11 lyrii
-15

First Prev 1/12 Next Last

FEATURES

Gripes the News
Gripes in the pipes
The Soapbox
spinner