Spent a fortune on Alton Towers and nearly everything was closed

So sorry this happened to you, it must be a very big disappointment for you and your children.

I recall DD worked there when that was on. I picked her up from work. Eye opening is probably the best comment I can make.

Then you have a small claims (MCOL) case if nothing else! I'd actually like to know who refused you a refund - I suspect this was refused verbally by a 17 year old moron, or equivalent, and you would get more success by writing in. And if you don't, use MCOL!

(And let us know what happens)

Wait times look ok for the day before Easter weekend tbh. The Merlin pass is an absolute bargain if you use it right.

I went to AT 18 months ago. Several rides closed for periods throughout the day, some even after we'd been queueing for over an hour. Either their ride maintenance is shocking or they've become overzealous about things since the Smiler litigation. Possibly both. I mean, obviously I'd rather they keep people as safe as possible, but we were literally dodging ride closures all day in a way I haven't experienced at other theme parks.

Merlin don't cover themselves in glory in the headlines, that's for sure (see also Ride Access Pass).

Outrageous. Merlin are shit. I expect them to go u see when the universal park opens in 8/10 years

I’m looking to go at some point soon with my annual pass, but tbh i still wouldn’t visit with those wait times.

current queue times

We went to Alton Towers yesterday, stayed in the hotel and visited again this morning.
The only rides closed were the water rides (which don't open until May, I think this is normal practice), Runaway train and Oblivion. A couple of rides went down for short periods during the day but this was all visible on the app. Skyride and monorail aren't running but I wouldn't count these as rides.

We are having a fantastic time!

If you were skipping school and taking kids on a weekday in March and lots of rides were closed, I'd expect. Easter holiday and they should have most rides open. Yanbu.

It’s all open right now @Ninerainbows

Alton Towers is a shadow of its former self. The rot started 20 years ago when they started charging you parking fees on top of the entrance ticket; it's not like you can park elsewhere or use public transport. Standard Parking (15-25 minutes walk to the park entrance) is £15 on the day or £13 online. Express Parking (1-3 minutes) is £25.

Used to go every year in the 80s and 90s and loved it. Last time I went was 2013 when Smiler opened and was surprised to see how expensive everything was and how unloved the place was starting to look.

I have friends who say it's really badly maintained now, almost to the point of deliberately letting it run down. It needs a huge investment but doubt Merlin will due to Universal.

Actually, Merlin was the worst thing to happen to Warwick Castle, too.

The OP booked this a few months ago. Bit late reading a sign outside when you arrive, no?

I always Check their website to see what is open and closed before I book to go. Why didn't you do that OP? It's not as if they are hiding the closed rides. They put them on their website and display outside before you buy the tickets.

It’s wonderful, we love it there, you’ll have the best time!

We're going at half term. I'm so excited!

Agreed. We we were at Efteling again yesterday, from 9am to 6pm, longest queue was 25 mins for the big rollercoasters, we went on so much stuff, the food was great, the park was immaculate. Blows places like AT out of the water. Cheap flights/Eurostar and a Eurocamp to some of the Euro parks and it probably isn’t even much more expensive than the British parks and hotel.

This is right now. Just the main thrill rides, the small rides are worse.

It looks like this all day. They close rides for long periods which pushes up the queues on the things that are open. They don't put on the website that they're going to close Nemesis for 2 hours at lunchtime due to low staff but they do!

What are you on about? If you book a non-refundable hotel and ticket package in January it doesn't tell you what rides are going to be broken in April.

But 50% off the rides weren't out of commission

With sympathies to the staff, it couldn't happen to a nicer company. Just remembered Merlin run Warwick Castle. When I went (approx 2014), it was heaving but the facilities were so sparse that mums were having to toilet their toddlers in the bushes as the loo queues were so long. Just pay to hire some portaloos in busy periods, you cheapskates!

Again - 50% of rides were not down. Google would tell you that the battle galleons and rapids open in may.

only runaway mine train was closed

Google cannot tell you months in advance that 50% of the rides will be broken down and/or out of commission on a particular day in March.

Take that to its logical conclusion, any-one would be entitled to a refund even if the park is 90% or even 100% closed.

The point is that if you run an attraction like that advertising all the wonderful rides, there's an implied term that you are doing your very best to make sure everything is available all the time, with a regular maintenance and checking schedule. OK, it's accepted that there may be one or two unforeseeable problems, but again the expectation is that you have the staff and equipment on site to ensure those are minimised. Letting things deteriorate to the point when 50% of the attractions are out of commission is seriously bad management and, frankly, you deserve to go bust. Which AT will unless it gets its act together. Does anyone reading this thread feel motivated to book? And this is only one of a large number of similar stories about AT going around social media.