Theme park/staycation

[getmeouttaherethenow]

Hi! We are in Glasgow , so not looking to travel all the way down south. We've never been away ( bar Edinburgh), but would love to take the kids to a theme park/ beach/ activity type holiday. Now that the kids are older ( no lugging nappies/ bottles) , youngest being 5 oldest being 16.. what would you guys recommend? We can spare 4 days and would love to make it a proper holiday?
Don't mind travelling.. I'll just need to look into hotels/ caravans .
TIA

[Ginfilledcats]

Alton Towers is probably your closest theme park which is very fun for all ages, also has a hotel and a water park (indoor) that is great! No where near the sea though!

[emmathedilemma]

Definitely Alton Towers for theme park.
If you can get over it being trashy, tacky, worn round the edges (I'm being polite) and potentially full of your fellow Glaswegians then Blackpool would also tick your boxes.

[getmeouttaherethenow]

Oh no! Can't do Blackpool.. there's only so much off the east end I can do! Lol
How would I go about booking Alton towers.. it works out £1000 just for 2 nights!
Any websites u can recommend?

[MustBeDueSomeBetterFeet]

Well you just find a hotel nearby on Hotels.com or Booking.com, and then you can buy the day tickets with Tesco Clubcard vouchers (you get 3 x value)?

[SwimBaby]

Alton Towers but don’t stay in one of the on site hotels. You could look at self catering accommodation nearby and still visit splash landings and use the water park if that’s still allowed. The mini golf there is fun too, it was when I last went.

[Fivemoreminutes1]

Have a look at Drayton Manor. It’s got a Thomas Land and a zoo, and we don’t find it as crowded as Alton Towers. When we last went, we combined it with a trip to Cadbury World which is very nearby. Drayton has its own hotel.

[emmathedilemma]

£1000?!? Maybe Blackpool wouldn't be that bad after all!
It's £49 per person for a 2 day theme park pass if you pre-book. That's £300 for 6 of you. The waterpark is £16.50 / £12.50 so approx £100 depending on which side of age 11 your kids fall).
If you're going then try and go in the 2 weeks at the start of the Scotland school holidays before the English schools break up.

[getmeouttaherethenow]

@emmathedilemma , I know! I thot it would be gold plated rides at that price ..
yeah we were just waiting for the go ahead from Nicola .. just playing around with dates now . Thanks

[Spied]

Flamingoland NYorks?
It's great.

[waleswhaleswails]

When are you looking to go?
Alton towers is great but even before COVID the queues were unreal (I went 5 years ago out of school hols and often queuing 45 mins plus for each ride). Also with your range of ages you might find it hard to do stuff for everyone and spend a lot of the days split up.

For a grand you could get a lovely cottage somewhere and do a range of different activities like go ape etc

[Welshponyslave]

Avoid Flamingo Land atm, half the rides shut, massive queues and terrible food. I know a few people who went over half term and none of them have a good word to say about it.

[getmeouttaherethenow]

@waleswhaleswails , we were thinking off going 1st week of July.. and during the week .. hoping kids were at school there .
I haven't got the first clue about booking cottages etc ..
Even locally I had to google beaches before taking the kids out last weekend!
It's always been me and just the kids , it's only been the last year that dh changed jobs and can now be more hands on and days out..

[waleswhaleswails]

1st week in July is school term for state schools in England, private schools will be off.

Are you looking this year? If so lots of accommodation in prime areas booked up. As an example, We're in the lakes at the moment and all the cottages I'm looking at for next year are booked until sept/Oct now.

If you want a theme park then Alton towers is biggest in uk. But in balance I'd probably Blackpool and combine with beach holiday. Blackpool you can just pay for individual rides and don't have to go all day.

[Keepingitreal14]

Flamingoland might be a good option, on site holiday park with pool & clubhouse, theme park and zoo.

Just make sure everything is open with it being UK term time.

[emmathedilemma]

I just came across these glamping pods on another MN thread and they seem to be about £15 min drive from Alton Towers. I'm getting a quote of £80 a night for a 6 berth pod in august :)

[emmathedilemma]

The link might have been useful!! quarrywalkpark.co.uk/

[getmeouttaherethenow]

@emmathedilemma thanks !! Will have a look

[Doidontimmm]

We are off to Alton Towers from Edinburgh 2-4 July, we booked a nearby Airbnb for just over £300.