Alton Towers

copier_guy

First visit to Alton Towers for a couple of years but i didnt expect the following

You now have to pay £5 to park your car. This is naughty as you cant park your car anywere else!! its a complete con.

If you pay extra you can now queue jump. You get a pass which allows you to walk up the exit's of a ride and go more or less straight to the front of the queue.

Luckily we visited it in a very MSE way so we didnt pay full price to get in.

melorablack

It's not a con....they are not being secretive about any of the charges are they? If you don't want to pay then don't go.

And at every theme park I've ever been to from Disneyland to Blackpool pleasure beach you have to pay for parking and they all offer the queue jumping tickets...hey even Easyjet were offering that service when I went to Paris! :rolleyes:

BritRael

copier_guy wrote: »

...If you pay extra you can now queue jump. You get a pass which allows you to walk up the exit's of a ride and go more or less straight to the front of the queue...

Are you talking about the queue reservation system? Where you book a certain time to ride? If so, I think that its a good idea. It's certainly not queue jumping, and just allows people to make best use of their time rather than standing around doing nothing. They even do the same thing at blood donor sessions nowadays
As for doing it on the cheap, if you want to avoid the queues and not pay extra for the privilage, I'd suggest going on the popular rides very early or later. When I go to AT, I always go on Nemesis after 5pm, when there are very small queues. I did it 6 consequtive times once with almost no queuing

copier_guy

Its called fasttrack,

http://www.altontowers.com/plan-your-visit/fast-track/

you walk straight to the front of the queue.

pompeyrich

melorablack wrote: »

It's not a con....they are not being secretive about any of the charges are they? If you don't want to pay then don't go.

And at every theme park I've ever been to from Disneyland to Blackpool pleasure beach you have to pay for parking

Thorpe Park, Chessington, Legoland, Paultons Park, Drayton Manor, Lightwater Valley and no doubt many more UK theme parks offer FREE parking to visitors who are probably going to spend at least £100 on passes food and drink etc. Given the lack of alternatives to driving to AT I, too, think the charge is a bit much.

It is common to pay to park abroad, they even charge to use the loo in Germany and Belgium parks, would that be ok too?

copier_guy

I was surprised to pay for parking to be honest. You cannot park anywhere else really as the park is in a remote location.

But is is free parking if you buy an annual membership from them whilst at the park

so for my family of five, on the day is £180 plus £5 parking. plus food during the day plus you always end up buying a photo on the rides.

Door_knockers_will_die

Just boycott the place. Must be 20 years since they ripped me off at a non-existent Chris De Burgh concert there. Bought the concert tickets, arrived a bit early and had to pay to spend a few hours in Alton Towers first. Although we mentioned the concert when we paying for admission no one told us the concert had been cancelled. All cost a fortune for nothing.... Alton Towers insisted it wasn't their problem, concert promoter ignored letters. Non of my family have ever been back since. Their loss.

millymollyk

I agree paying for parking there is a bit of a con - it might cover the cost of security though.

deanos

The parking has been around for about 5 or more years now, it started off as £1

advent1122

melorablack wrote: »

And at every theme park I've ever been to from Disneyland to Blackpool pleasure beach you have to pay for parking ............

You obviously haven't been to many theme parks in Britain then.
Apart from Alton Towers I have not paid to park at any other theme park.

weanie

My two son's and their friend are traveling around UK in a camper van. They have Alton Towers on their intended visit schedule. Is is £5 r mre to park something bigger than a car [ie a camper van]?