Theme Park Rip-Offs

Sharon87

dibuzz wrote: »

My son went to Alton Towers in July with his school. Never having been before he was excited but when he got back he said they had only been on one ride because it was so packed. The queues for the rides were 5 hours long.
I did email Alton Towers to complain but they more or less said "tough"

I've never experienced a 5 hours queue before! The largest queue I've seen is 2.5 hours for Saw in Thorpe Park in August. 2 hour wait for Air - when it was new and kept breaking down!

There are single rider queues too. Alton Towers need planning since the rides are so far away from each other. So go on 13 then RITA as they're near each other, then Air and Nemesis are in the same bit. Oblivion and Spinball ride are next to each other too.

If you get there as the gates open you can get on rides quicker, but my school trips always arrived about 11! So that's 2 hours missed in Alton Towers.

Rosedavid

We are planning to go to Legoland the sunday before the children go back to school and then Chessington on the Monday as mine don't go back until the Tuesday, what do you think the queues will be like on those 2 days?

loracan1

I agree, a complete rip-off. My son went to Alton Towers with the school just before they broke up and got on two rides because of the queues - he'd been to Europa theme park in Germany a week or so before and reckoned it was far better organised and half-hour queues at maximum.

I get the impression these places just cram as many people in as possible without investing in other rides or attractions.

balletshoes

loracan1 wrote: »

I agree, a complete rip-off. My son went to Alton Towers with the school just before they broke up and got on two rides because of the queues - he'd been to Europa theme park in Germany a week or so before and reckoned it was far better organised and half-hour queues at maximum.

I get the impression these places just cram as many people in as possible without investing in other rides or attractions.

Because of the amount of school day trips to Alton Towers, especially in the last 2 weeks before the schools break up in England, it can be busier in those 2 weeks than it is in the summer holidays. Added to that, its nearly all teenagers/nearly teens who only want to do the thrill rides, so it means those rides are even busier than they would be on family days. You do have to plan your trip to Alton Towers, be prepared to pay for fast track tickets at busy times etc, to make the most of your day there.

Alton Towers has invested loads of money on new attractions/themes in the last 10 years, its much more of an experience than it used to be, for the whole family now.

sooty&sweep

Hi

We're planning to go into Legoland Windsor in a week and half's time. I can't say that I'm looking forward to it but my two children most definately are. We're lucky that we're staying with relatives who live close by so no accomodation costs. I've ordered tesco clubcard tickets. I intend to take a packed lunch and get there early to avoid some of the queues.

Anything else I can do to prepare ? I believe they sell refillable drink bottles. Are they good value or better to take your own ?

Thanks

Jen

Threebabes

sooty&sweep wrote: »

Hi

We're planning to go into Legoland Windsor in a week and half's time. I can't say that I'm looking forward to it but my two children most definately are. We're lucky that we're staying with relatives who live close by so no accomodation costs. I've ordered tesco clubcard tickets. I intend to take a packed lunch and get there early to avoid some of the queues.

Anything else I can do to prepare ? I believe they sell refillable drink bottles. Are they good value or better to take your own ?

Thanks

Jen

We went on a coach trip to Legoland last week. We bought the refillable drink bottles which were £6 each. I bought 2, the price of the drinks are expensive so they were well worth it considering it was so hot. Also saved on having to carry heavy drinks around the park, unless you have a buggy to put them in. I took costumes and towels for my two to go into the duplo water park, they loved it. When we arrived in the park we headed straight to Atlantis Submarine and got on really quickly. The longest queue was for the rapids which was about half an hour. We went on about 7 rides, spent an hour in the water park. Had a look around the shops and miniland. Unfortunately we didn't have time to see the show or go into the 4D experience. We had a great day despite the soaring heat. Enjoy your day.

Viper_7

This is one reason why I like Blackpool. Sure it does not have the radical rides of the other theme parks, but it does have some great traditional oldies.
There are no long queues, there are no treks between rides.
You can leave the park and return as many times as you like. It's open early till late - indeed till 11pm at times,
which brings a new dimension to enjoying a theme park by night.
There are shows included in the admission price.

When you leave the park there is so much to do and see - yes still very much kiss me quick hat, but I for one hope it never loses the traditional beach-side holiday theme.
It's a great day out and fun to be had by all.
Trip to the Sandcastle for some water frolics as well thrown in.

Sod Alton towers and the like, better things to be doing that queuing up all the time!