Although in our 50's, I can highly recommend Alton Towers for a good day out. We tried to book into one of the hotels on the Alton Towers Resort but they were fully booked so we stayed at a hotel in Stoke and travelled by short train and bus rides to the park. It’s worth mentioning that the traffic queues can be quite long through the villages approaching Alton Towers, so if you can stay on the resort itself or at one of the many B&Bs close by and walk in this would be preferable. There are good bus links from Stoke and Uttoxeter as long as you build the queuing into your day!
There were plenty of attractions for all ages. We were there with our 5 year old granddaughter who especially liked the following rides: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Ice Age 4D Experience, The Squirrel Nutty ride, the Frog Hopper, the Sky ride and, best of all, the ships at Mutiny Bay. We blasted other ships and spectators with water from the ship’s cannons and everybody got drenched but there was lots of laughter and fun. Fortunately, the resort now provides driers where you stand in a cubicle and for a small fee you get blasted with a warm, drying air! Even though the rides were aimed at younger children they were great fun for adults too and provided lots of surprises.
We didn’t try any of the white knuckle rides but my son and his wife who visited the park the day before we did said that the Smiler ride (new for 2013) was well worth the 2 hour queue. They said the Sonic Pin Ball was also worth doing and the Ripsaw was good fun although you will get very wet on this last one!
Since we were there last they have introduced the single rider queue where, if you don’t mind sitting next to somebody other than from your own party, you can beat the long queues…… good idea I think although we obviously didn’t make use of that this time.
There were lots of street dancers and entertainers which kept everybody amused between rides. The park itself is vast and there are lots of grassed areas for picnics and just to rest for a while. We bought food at Alton Towers’ burger outlet, The Burger Kitchen, where you could buy a child’s burger or chicken strips, chips and a drink for £3.99 which I think was reasonable. Adult burgers were, I think, around £5.99. There were lots of kiosks selling drinks and fast food and a few other dining options. You can buy for £5 a drink container that gets refilled free for the rest of the day
On our way out they were handing out Rice Krispie Rocky Road bars to everybody as they left which were a perfect snack for the journey home. Incidentally, on the way out I did notice the machines to buy parking tickets so if you are travelling by car you will be charged £6 for all-day parking.
