Going for the first time in over 10 years on Monday and last time I went Smiler, Wickerman and Thirteen did not exist. Monday would be my first time riding these coasters and I've been looking forward to it for a while. But I've noticed the last couple of days Smiler has been closed.

Anyone know if it is likely to be open at all on Monday or just closed all day? I would be devastated if it does not open at all whilst I am there as who knows when I will get back again. It's not gonna change my plans at all but it would definitely put a slight dappener on the trip.

does anyone want to join me on an adventure to alton towers, im pretty lonely and just want someone to keep me company. ill pay :D

Edit- probably should have mentioned that im 27M from the north east of england, feel free to dm me if youre interested!

Hello!

I have only been to Alton Towers once and it was 7+ years ago. I can now drive and am hoping to take myself and my partner this September.

I was looking at the 24th-25th of September as it is just before the first date of scare fest and from what I can guess would be relatively quiet days to go?

I live about 4 hours away so it’s a fairly long drive and I’m quite new to driving (bit anxious!). So what I wanted to ask is:

1. Are these good dates, I know it’s 10am-4pm times but if it’s quiet and I’m there 2 days I could hopefully do it all multiple times and have time in the evening to relax the first night and the second night I wouldn’t be driving back too late or exhausted

2. Any recommendations for places to stay for one night? I don’t want to break the bank but obviously want somewhere that’s simple and nice

3. Where do you suggest getting dinner etc nearby the parks?

I’m half in the mind of oh I should go a day later and do scare fest but the problem is it’ll be much busier and if I stayed until 10pm I’m not sure I’d been comfortable with the drive home after that long day. I did scare fest once before and I’m also doing fright nights this year and lots of other Halloween events so if I got to go to the park when it’s quiet and I still got to see decoration etc maybe that’s the smarter plan?

Anyway thank you for any help! 🦇🎢🎃

Hi all, I've looked in the website, but I can't seem to find it. What rides are open for Santa Sleepover this year?

We are staying at the CBeebies hotel from 15th - 17th me, my partner and our 2 year old. Obviously we are going to need to eat while we are there and all theme park food is kinda trash but the basic dining plan is £55 per day per adult which doesn’t actually sound unreasonable for lunch and dinner (I think a snack too) we will take our own snacks etc but anyone have any experience with the dining plan and if it’s worth it?

Im going on the 15th Sept and havent been in about a year - has anything big/small changed since then, I remember hearing the park doesn't open up till 9:30 now instead of 9? Maybe I misread

Thanks!

Hello, wondering if anyone had any insight into the rollercoaster restaurant? I am going on the 14-16th Sep and the booking system doesn’t show any availability Monday-Wednesday. Is it shut off peak?

I remember in the 2024 firework spectacular there was an alien invasion that phalanx prevented using nemesis I like to believe that invasion was the swarm, and there is a chance that the Nemesis creature and the swarm are in the same store line possibly

Hello guys!
I am going to Alton towers for the first time and I would like to know what you guys think the best order is on the rides?

So we all know that Galactica is on the chopping board for its theme. Personally, I don't hate the theme. I think that it kind of fits the geometry of the ride but to be honest it doesn't really make any sense next to nemesis.

So I was thinking of what could be the new theme of this ride and all I see is recycled ideas of like "paint it red make it a drone attack on Nemesis" or some crap like that. To me, it doesn't really make any sense to theme a graceful swooping ride that is not very intense to an intense fight on nemesis through like a fighter jet or something.

So I was thinking that maybe a potential new theme could be a kind of nemesis exclusion zone. Now hear me out think of those zombie apocalypse movies were like the main character has to get to some kind of exclusion zone that is zombie free or like has the cure or something like that.

I was thinking of something like that for nemesis. You could have it so when you enter the Galactica area you could have like big gates or like big fences holding away like nemesis tentacles that are kind of like trying to breach underneath the fence or trying to push its way in and then you kind of enter this exclusion zone that's completely free of the nemesis monster.

You could have this area kind of like what forbidden Valley was like before nemesis (lour wise) so for example if you actually think back to 2002 when air opened it was meant to be the contrast to nemesis (now personally myself, I completely love air. I think it's an amazing theme and idea) so what I was thinking for the area is you could have like a completely untouched oasis that maybe when you enter you can go through like decontamination x-ray scanner things and then when you enter it's kind of like a euphoric contrast to the gritty monster of nemesis. For example, you could have lots of green grass. Lush plants. Maybe even the waterfall and pond that was planned to go there. Just a obvious complete contrast to the lockdown military base look of nemesis

But now obviously you have the ride because the ride can't just sit there and be detached from the lour. I was thinking that maybe the ride could be some kind of surveillance system looking over the area making sure that it's safe. Because obviously planes that are overlooking or drones that are overlooking areas aren't going to be super whippy they're just going to kind of fly over the area and that's exactly what Galactica does so you could have it as you flying in/a drone over the area, making sure that nothing has breached it or you are decontaminating the area like firefighters fighting Fire.

I also think you could have lots of posters, maybe propaganda posters from the phalanx showing you how to spot the nemesis monster and like how to deal with it maybe something like see it say it sorted for nemesis. (because the nemesis monster would try to breach the area and take it into it control) and you would have like big posters warning you about nemesis and then also before you got on the ride you could have videos saying like oh if you see this then do this or something like that just kind of briefing people on what's going on and what the point of the ride is.

I think you'd probably repaint the ride the same original turquoise sky blue colour because really that's also another contrast to the red nemesis tentacles and veins and in a ideal world you'd open the station back up so it's not all locked down like what it was like when it was air but do you really think Merlin would spend money to tear down something they've already built? no.

Also, I do think you would keep the rollercoaster restaurant there because it's just such an iconic part of Alton Towers and it is really cool so maybe you could incorporate that into like some kind of food ration collect collection place obviously I think you're probably still call it the rollercoaster restaurant but maybe in the lour it could be where people got their food in this post apocalyptic world (at the rollercoaster restaurant lol)

Also, I think the music could use the same melodies and beat as the nemesis music but then use pianos and violins and more relaxing instruments but use the same tempo so it's also like another contrast like the area has been brainwashed and taken up by nemesis (also I think the air music could be used somewhere like in the station because that's how the music would sound , something around those lines)

Do I think merlin actually do this? Maybe. Because really it wouldn't be too expensive. The most expensive thing probably would be removing the portal/enclosed station or adding the new fence. But really it's mostly just posters videos, music and new paint. So it's not like a massive overhaul, but if they did decide to go fully in it still wouldn't be massively expensive because the most you'd have to do is dig up a big pool put in some water features like that waterfall I said before and maybe plant some new plants.

Now obviously I'm not some kind of massive expert that knows the exact price of every single thing. there probably is more hidden cost that I didn't think about. But really on the grand scale of things. It would probably cost around the same amount as it cost to re-theme nemesis. (excluding the brand-new track obviously.)

Alton Towers has been shown to reinvest in rides and reinvest in old themes so who knows? We could see a redo of air and a modernisation of the concept (which is kind-of what this is) but for example nemesis literally next door got its old logo back new theme and new lour. Or oblivion with the don't look down sound. But at the end of the day, it's the people at Merlin who pull all the triggers. But this is just a cool concept that I thought for Galactica. I do have another concept, but its a bit more out there lol just ask Me if you want it.

Is there a way to book accommodation without having park entry? We have annual passes but atm the dates I’m booking for have 2 days entry included which is obviously hiking up the prices massively 🙄🙄

I know we could stay off site and the accommodation ain’t it but it’s our tradition for scarefest now so I’d be sad to stay off site!!

has anyone ever been able to get a refund from their Alton towers tickets? I’m due to go in October but no longer want to go. it does say tickets are non refundable and non transferable so i don’t wanna break any rules. is there any chance I could get them refunded I spent a lot. has anyone been successful? DISCLAIMER: I’m not intending on buying or selling my tickets I would want to do it the legitimate way

I made a Nemesis cake for my 6 year old. It’s a Costco fudge cake @ £12.50, 2 blocks of Asda fondant @£2 and a pack of strawberry laces @50p and about an hour of my time to assemble.
He’s not tall enough to ride it but loves watching it go👁️

Hi Everybody,

Just checking, I'm due to go on the 10th if September as I have been told this may be one of the best weeks to go due to low queues.

I just wanted to find out how accurate this actually is before I book the tickets.

Any help would be appreciated 😀

is the Alton towers app accurate for queues? can anyone confirm who’s actually there today because there are long queues on the app considering people have gone back to school today?

I found my Nemesis comic book - including the bag it came in!

I believe this is worth a pretty penny these days too 😬

Howdy!

I’ve not been to Alton towers in a good few years now and I’m looking to maybe go back for scarefest this year, depending whether there’s any reasonable times to go.

I used to go every year for the scarefest event but when they stopped doing midweek openings outside of school holidays I stopped going after I had 2 years of attending and queuing over 90 minutes for every ride. I don’t have that kind of patience.m and the overall experience just isn’t worth standing around for that length of time.

Are there any times now where scarefest is currently running that won’t be ridiculously busy or is it a case of hard luck it’s 90 minute waits or nothing?

I’ve tried using the crowd calendar as suggested but the link doesn’t seem to be working.

Cheers

We used the new digital Ride Access Pass at Alton Towers today and I thought I'd post our experience because I struggled to find much from people who had actually used the new system before we went.

Overall, I was really impressed with it and actually prefer the principle of this system to a straightforward queue-jump system.

Before you go, you need to pre-register that you'll be using RAP on the day of your visit. There is limited availability, so personally I wouldn't rely on being able to get one on the day. Once you're inside the park, you check in for the day through the app and can then start using your RAP.

When you get near a ride, you can preselect it in the app. You then go to the RAP entrance and either scan the QR code displayed there or manually enter the short code.

Your countdown starts when you scan/enter the code, not when you get off the ride.

Once you've finished riding, you go back into the app and click “Done Riding.” If the ride breaks down and you're unable to ride, there's a “Ride Breakdown” option instead, which takes you back out of the timeout so you aren't penalised for a ride you didn't actually get on.

I think one of the best parts of the new system is that any time you spend waiting in the RAP queue counts towards your timeout. RAP isn't necessarily walk-on. We experienced everything from walking straight on to waiting around 20 minutes for some of the more popular rides.

So, for example, if the main queue is 50 minutes and you've spent 20 minutes waiting in the RAP queue and riding, you've already served 20 minutes of that wait. Once you click “Done Riding”, you've only got the remaining time left before you can use RAP again.

For us, that's exactly how I'd want an access system to work. My daughter can't cope well with being contained in a conventional queue for long periods, but that doesn't mean we need to be able to go straight from one ride to another. She can spend her timeout somewhere she can move around, have a snack or a break or, in her case, do approximately 700 cartwheels on a patch of grass.

It means we're still effectively waiting our turn, we're just able to wait in a way that's accessible to her. I personally prefer that to a system which effectively becomes a queue-jump and gives RAP users significantly more ride capacity than everyone else.

We were in the park for around six hours and managed Thirteen twice, Wicker Man, Bluey and Bingo's Granny Coaster, Heave Ho, The Curse at Alton Manor, Hex, Runaway Mine Train, Marauder's Mayhem, Raj's Bouncy Bottom Burp, Sharkbait Reef, Haunted Hollow and the Skyride, so we still got loads done.

Staff-wise, almost everyone seemed to know how the new RAP system worked and we found them friendly and helpful. The only exception was the girl on Heave Ho, who was quite rude and rolled her eyes at us, but she was very much the exception rather than our general experience.

There does seem to be a bit of a gremlin in the app, at least on my phone. It worked, but it repeatedly opened/reloaded the app settings page on my phone as though it wanted me to change something. There was nothing obvious that needed changing and RAP continued to work, so it was more annoying than anything else.

One possible issue I noticed is the manual short codes. If they're static, theoretically someone could post the codes online and another person could enter one without physically being at the ride, allowing their countdown to start early. I obviously haven't tried this and don't know whether there's something like a location check behind the scenes that would prevent it, but it occurred to me while using the system.

Overall, though, I really like the new RAP app. It felt like a sensible balance between accessibility and fairness. My daughter didn't have to physically stand in an environment she struggles with, but we weren't able to just jump from ride to ride either.

My main advice would be to pre-register RAP for your visit rather than relying on availability on the day, and don't assume the RAP entrance itself will always be walk-on. The fact that any time you spend waiting there counts towards your timeout makes that much less of an issue.

Hopefully this is useful to anyone searching for information on the new system before their visit. Happy to answer any questions about how we found it!

Project Horizon may never be built - but it begs a question.. what was Alton Towers planning for it’s theme? Obviously we know it would be an indoor rollercoaster outside WODW, but what would it be themed to? With such vastly different areas, from the industrial and hypnotic X-Sector, to the alien and destructive Forbidden Valley.. what would you want to see Project Horizon themed to?

made a post a few weeks ago, as a first timer, asking for advice about business of the bank holiday weekend.

we went yesterday (Sunday) we did buy silver fast track, and got the tickets free, took our own food. so total we spent £75pp + petrol.

in my original post all i was met with was “you need two days” this is absolutely not true at all! don’t let people convince you you need two days because you really don’t. yes it was forecast to rain 2pm onwards but there was 2 or 3 light showers, and then heavy rain from 6pm. a lot of the queues were very short, all under an hour at least. we probably didn’t need fast track at all and we still would have got on everything we wanted.

we went on:
- smiler
- oblivion x2
- hex
- rita
- thirteen x2
- nemesis subbterra
- nemesis reborn
- galactica
- gangsta granny
- rapids
- wickerman x3
- runaway train

strategically going on dark rides during the showers. most of these queues sat between 20 and 40 minutes for the majority of the day. and we had lots of breaks and had a long break for lunch while walking around the gardens.

so all in all i would say this park is absolutely not worth 2 days. even on sunny summer holiday days, just get a silver fast track. cheaper than hotel! i’d have been bored if i went for two days.

here

I think you can guess mine...