Spent a fortune on Alton Towers and nearly everything was closed

[Foxy200]

Warning to anyone thinking of taking the kids to Alton Towers this Easter, AVOID it unless you have checked exactly what is open.

We drove all the way up yesterday, paid for a hotel last night and again for tonight, and arrived to find that nearly everything is shut. Only a handful of rides are actually open.

It is absolutely disgraceful to be charging full ticket prices when so much of the park is closed. After just an hour of walking around and seeing the reality of it, we asked for a refund and were told no.

The disappointment for the children has been awful, and to say I am angry is an understatement. We have spent a huge amount on tickets, travel and hotels for what has turned into a complete waste of money.

Families deserve to know before making the trip, this has completely ruined what was meant to be an Easter treat.

The information was on the website

Was it there several weeks beforehand when OP booked?

I don’t know, I didn’t check.

Then your comment was pointless.

It was also pointless because, for the 28262672nd time, the unplanned closures and later ride openings after lunch are frequent and done on a whim.

you didn’t get the joke, nevermind.

Yeah, right.

I’ve just watched another video on YouTube of people going to Alton Towers and it all being closed, it’s definitely a growing trend

Search : Coaster Crew Alton Towers Easter Shambles

Um, I think it might have changed a bit since then!

In fact I have only been once and that was in 1985 I think. In those days there was still a boating lake and a cable car and I seem to recall a model railway layout being advertised.

DH took DD a couple of times in the noughties and they enjoyed it but everything I read about it now sounds ghastly.

I'm back from Alton Towers this week. Two of the rides broke down as we got to the front of the q and other rides were down at various points over the two days.
We had a couple of other issues too. Our hotel room still had the previous guests in it so we had to wait an hour while they sorted it out and found another room to put us in, we got a partial refund for that.

Hotel guests get early access via the Galactica end of the park, when we got there on our last day there was a massive q to get in, they only had one scanner available and the staff member said we would be quicker going through the regular entrance. We walked round there and it was packed out, but managed to get onto a shorter q at the far end of the entrance area. Our plan that day was to get into the Wickerman line early so we didn't lose too much time in the end.

We've done AT five times as a family and this was by far our worst experience there. We're off to Chessington and Thorpe Park in the summer so will be interesting to see how they compare!

I had a similar issue once at Thorpe Park where 2 rides shut down while we were quite far into the long queue. I complained to guest services while there and they gave us some free fast track tickets.

I did end up going last week. Firstly I couldn't believe the price - £84 for the 2 of us and £15 for parking. I went last year and I'm sure I paid less than that for the parking.
We got there super early (8.45) and there were hoardes of people already waiting to get in, all with the same idea. We shot straight to the Bluey ride and managed to get on as soon as it opened at 10 as we were one of the first queuing for it, but the queues for the ride for rest of the day were minimum 1hr45, and it was stopping and starting from what we were told.

cbeebies land had atrocious queues as usual, Octonauts ride took an hour queuing and randomly stopped working for about 30 minutes.
We didn't go round the rest of the park as it was baking hot and little one had had enough by 3pm, but I do know from speaking to others that the big rides had been on and off all day, and that smiler didn't open until 4pm! Rita and Thirteen didn't open at all. Warm day, no weather issues. Massive queues at guest services as we were leaving.
I know people online are also kicking up a fuss that the water sprayer thing on Toxicator hasn't been working at all this season and now has a cover on it. In better news, Oblivion is back up and running