Alton Towers - can kids wait to the side on the big rides?

[HappyBrite]

We're going to Alton Towers this year. We have a 12 year old and a 9 year old.

The 9 year old is a daredevil but is just under the required 1.4m for the main thrill rides, the 12 year old is tall enough but is not a thrillseeker in the slightest.

In the past, DH and I have taken it in turns to go on the "big" rides but this means double the queuing which is often not feasible so I end up losing out and go off with the kids on the tamer ones.

Now the kids are a bit older I was wondering if they could queue with us and wait off to the side until we've been on the ride. Does anyone know if this is possible at Alton Towers?

DH has suggested we chain them up outside like a bike but I think that might be frowned upon.

Also there are sadly also loads of media reports adult women going missing, being assaulted, murdered etc. More than children even I would say. Should we not let them out on their own ever either?

We have to accept that gradually kids get given more independence, even if that comes with a tiny risk, to enable to become young adults that can navigate the world. I work with too many older teenagers whose options (eg colle, jobs) are limited because they are scared to go anywhere unfamiliar / alone etc, because they've never been allowed to do anything themselves and therefore build up gradually.

Wow. Bit speechless really. How about taking your kids on a day out they can fully enjoy instead?

No the parent swap is for when parents want to go on the rides but the children can’t. I specifically remember the advert when it came out, it was a couple with a baby in a pram, one queued while the other stayed with baby, then they swappped and the 2nd could use the parent swap card and not have to queue again to ride

Alton towers doesn’t close to the public for school trip days

If you and DH go mid week when school is on (including gcse exams) then the queues will be much shorter. Take them another time, or do Chessington with them where there are a lot more rides suitable for the 9yo.

Same. We went on a school trip at 12 and were free to wander around.

A 12-year-old should not be in charge of a nine-year-old at a theme park though.

I think 12 is a reasonable age. Mine have been getting the tube in London since they were 12 though, so perhaps I have a different perception of risk to some here.

Oh at Legoland it's the other way round! I used it as a single parent with 2 DC so we didn't have to queue twice when DC were too small to go on rides without an adult.

I find it a bit sad that a theme park has come up with a way for grown adults to go on rides without their kids, but fully accept that I don't get the attraction of rides myself so am not the target audience. You couldn't pay me to go on Nemesis or Hyperia.

Imagine! Like a royal visit. My kids would have loved having the run of Thorpe Park when they were younger!

Consider single rider queues as well - they're often shorter and quicker so if one parent has to go on by themselves, it doesn't take as long to go on the ride.

This is unbelievable! You plan to take your kids to Alton Towers, so they can spend half the day standing in queues for rides they can’t go on, then stand around some more while you and your husband go on the rides? That’s like waking your kids up at 5am on Christmas Day to watch you and your husband opening presents, while not having any themselves!

Can I make a suggestion? Why don’t you and your husband take a day off work and go to Alton Towers while the kids are at school. It’ll be much quieter, you’ll be able to go on endless thrill rides, and your kids won’t have to stand there waiting for you.

You can get parent queue at alton towers which allows parents to take it in turns to fastrack

@ItShouldntHappenToMeYet there isn't a single person on this thread who agrees with your viewpoint 🤷‍♀️

And yes, I will feel sorry for your kids if you don't allow them any freedoms like going to a theme park unaccompanied.

Not allowed out alone in public until at least 14?! And we wonder why there's so many teens experiencing mental health and resilience crisis these days.

You do not know if I have kids
You don't know if I have lost a kid to illness or trauma
So please keep your 'sympathy' to yourself.

I didn't say they weren't allowed out in public - it is the situation and context that should guide decisions

@ItShouldntHappenToMeYet if you choose to share stuff then people are going to respond.

You don't get to dictate what people think about your posts.

Yes I agree - surely this is a wind up?

Okay...

Some have single rider queues that are supposedly quicker, I don't think you should be leaving a 9 year old with a 12 year old to queue and they won't allow the 9 year old to be in the queue

Neither did I.
I said alone in public.

Oh yes, I forgot about them - my husband had a lovely time in Chessington going repeatedly on one of the rides while we went on the Gruffalo ride or some such, as the single rider queue was so short. So if they have them at Alton towers you may be better off queuing separately anyway. Perhaps with the bigger rides there you get more single riders though.

The answer is no.

It's in their terms and conditions that a child under 12 must be under the supervision and control of a person over the age of 18 at all times.

I got a bollocking from security for leaving a ten year old for 5 minutes while I went on a ride they were too small for.

For a 9 year old daredevil that's not yet 1.4, Alton Towers wouldn't be my first choice. Basically 13, spin ball, wicker man and smaller rides at that size.

There's upside down coasters with lower restrictions at a few theme parks in the UK now - Fantasy Island, Chessington, Drayton Manor, Blackpool - and all of those have more interesting options for shorter kids generally.

Then there'll be more you and hubby can do with 9 year old, and 12 year old is able to do their own thing if wanted.

Could you buy some platform shoes for the 9 year old so that they meet the 1.4m criteria?

Or fluff their hair up?

Are you serious? It's not a random rule for no reason it's a safety restriction!

Do you want a smaller child falling out of the restraints while upside down at 60 mph because you put them in platform shoes and fluffed their hair up? Jesus.