To think £500 for a DAY out is "a bit" steep??

[LemmysMole]

Basically DP and I were hoping to take our children (his two and my two) on holiday abroad this summer. However after pricing it all up - plane fares and accomodation for two adults and 4 "boys" aged between 20 and 15 would cost us over £6k. We just can't do it - especially as we're getting married in May and all of the kids need their passports renewing etc.

So Instead we're looking at doing lots of fun days out/weekends away instead. One idea was Alton Towers Halloween Special - which is simply a day away at the theme park with a few 'horror' bits added on.

Now - tickets for 5 adults (my eldest doesn't want to go) would be £200 (£40 each). Now that's bad enough in my opinion for a day out (obviously not including petrol getting there, food and parking!) but DP wanted to go and buy the fast track tickets for everyone too - that's an extra £45 each!!! This would push the ticket price for everyone up to £425 - when you include everything else this would push it beyond £500 for the day.

AIBU to think this is just too much for a day out? Plus everytime I've been anywhere with his kids his 20 year old just mopes about and doesn't actually go on anything so I can see it being a waste of money and a source of tension on the day!!

AIBU?

[Nonidentifyingnc]

I would look for some Alton Towers deals - often you can get away with not paying full price. But yes £500 is too much

[thenewaveragebear1983]

Ludicrous! But if you want alton towers and that's what it costs, then that's how much it will be. Is there some kind of reduction available if you scour the internet, book in advance or get a merlin card for example?

[JellyMouldJnr]

It really hangs on whether you are willing to pay double the price for fast track tickets. I wouldn't, but some people must do.

[AnchorDownDeepBreath]

Don't do fast track. Look for offers - there's usually buy one get one half price or something similar around. Having an odd number might be a bit annoying, though.

[SkyShadow]

I'd be reluctant to pay that much.

But as a pp says, theme parks often have deals where entry is reduced, so I'd look into that first.

[DoctorTwo]

£500 for a day out isn't steep. It's effing vertical! (thank you Bottom)

[PandasRock]

You can do Merlin attractions for far cheaper - collect the tokens from WHSmiths/cereal/crisp packets (although special days may be excluded)

Alternatively, look at getting Merlin passes if you are anywhere near any of the parks - standard passes start from £99 per person at the moment, and while it wouldn't help with fastrack, you wou,d at least be able to go far more often, and so pick less busy days/go later in the day when crowds start thinning out etc. we live fairly nearby 3 of the parks, and being able to plan to go for eg just a few hours near the end off e day, but more often, means we dot queue as much as we would otherwise.

[AutumnLeavesArePretty]

Not worth it for Alton Towers and the fact one of the children didn't want to go is enough to switch the venue anyway.

For six people, days out to theme parks will be expensive.

[TheBunnyOfDoom]

Have you looked for deals? There are a lot of buy one get one half price deals, or cheap group tickets? I know if you book in big groups it's cheaper than paying for 6 individual tickets sometimes.

[ZenNudist]

Merlin pass sale starts on 5 jan. You can get a pass that would do you for a number of places (inc AT) and last all year. It would be costly with 6 of you but justifiable as an alternative to a family holiday, you'd get much more out if it if you were willing to travel around a bit.

Get the premium pass for at least one person to cover parking (check t&c that you don't all need premium passes)

I think fast passes are a nice to have but you just have to let go of how much it's costing. I guess you're paying to get more out of the park and otherwise you will spend much more time in line.

Your alternative is an overnight stay to be there when it opens but even then it would be really busy for a special event like Halloween. Hotel would cost you a lot for 6 of you.

I'm not sure the annual pass covers special events do you might have to rethink Halloween.

[Ragwort]

Utter madness - and if your 'boys' are aged between 15 - 20 do they really want a day out at Alton Towers with their parents?

[gymboywalton]

i bet you you COULD have a holiday for kless than 6 k
where hve you been looking?

[Tigs0609]

I live near Alton towers, it's about a 15/20 minute bus ride away. Unless I have a half price voucher, then I wouldn't go. Personally, I really don't think it's worth £40 for a ticket. I always tend to go during less busy times too. I once went in the peak of summer and Halloween and I managed to get on about two rides all day. The food/drink is a rip off as well.

[Asheth]

Have you looked at ferries rather than flights? Much cheaper. Our Dover Calais crossings last summer were only about £120 return for 5 people.

[KathyCantDoInteriors]

Do the boys actually want to go 'on holiday' with you. They seem a bit old for a Halloween special. I'm sure they will go, but will it be the experience you are hoping for. Take them for a special meal instead?

[throwingpebbles]

Look for offers first.
But I think it is just always going to be expensive with 6! Me and DP have 4 between us so I sympathise

I do think trying to do the odd day out together would be a good way to help you feel more like a family.

However, most of them are getting to the age when they might stop going on family holidays anyway.

And in another couple of years you won't be tied to school holidays so could do a cheaper trip away

DP and I do take the view that it is worth coughing up for activities for all 6 as it makes us feel like a family

Sorry, rambling, but I would say if all the boys would enjoy something then take the hit. But how about something other than theme parks too? You could try things like paintballing /go ape ??

[Vickymumof4]

To go abroad you will pay for 6 adults because of their ages. You could look at cheap flights then hire a villa. It works out much cheaper than a hotel and you have the luxury of your own pool. We re a family of 6 and do this to keep costs down. A trip to the local supermarket when you arrive to stock up, so that you don't have to eat out all of the time and lazy days by the pool so you are not spending everyday helps too. Hope that helps somewhat.

[icanteven]

Well obv. the Alton Towers thing is ridic, and the solution is not to go, so that's simple.

But what kind of holidays are you looking at that cost £1k per person?

We just booked flights to Greece yesterday for the summer holidays and it was £1k for the four of us, and that's timed around peak school holiday dates. Add on a fabulous villa by the sea with 4 bedrooms, there's another £1.6k

Car hire = £20 a day or so, so let's say £300.

So there's £3k for flights, a house and car. Food will be cheap enough. Beach is right there.

I bet you could bring the house down a bit too.

What else had you in mind?

(I used to want to be a travel agent...)

[throwingpebbles]

Have to add, I did still go on holiday with my parents at that age but only because they booked holidays I wanted to go on. We would hire a yacht and skipper and sail somewhere like the Scillies (not as expensive as you might think), or city breaks to interesting places.

My parents also paid for me and my siblings to go on breaks without them eg water sports, trip to Amsterdam! Could that be an option?

[m0therofdragons]

The sun do deals - my friends and I did alton towers for free with the sun tickets. Down side is you have to buy the sun. I think she had s subscription so got early warning and we got 4 tickets. I've never bothered with fast track but I've always been happy to do single rider on occasion. The pizza place is good for food as it's a set price all you can eat and drink and then packed tea in the car to eat before you leave.

[m0therofdragons]

seem a bit old for Halloween special? I'm guessing that poster has never been. Very much aimed at teens and adults with many groups of adults dressing up etc

[Chewbecca]

You don't need to spend £6k.

Use sky scanner to find some cheap flights, you should be able to the summer flights for £150pp. (Rome for e.g).

Then scour booking.com and/or owners direct for a villa, you can get one with a pool for under €1000.

Total cost under £2000 before spending.

[Hulababy]

Alton towers always has two for one tickets - look for them on Cereal boxes etc or even online discount t websites.

But you cant use them online so have to pay the on the door price.

Otherwise look at their group rates.
If you download the AT app you can get discount codes for the restaurants here too or take a pack up.

fwiw we took ourselves, Dd and 7 of her friends last year - so 10 of us - and it pay us much less.

[Hulababy]

Don't get fast track ESP not in advance. You can buy them once inside the park when you see how busy it is. Based on last year ESP since the accident it wasn't busy at all much of the time.

And I wouldn't bother with the special night - it will be much busier so everywhere will be queues - far better on a normal day.