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UK travel

Welcome to our UK travel forum where you can get advice on everything from holidays to exotic destinations, to tips on London travel.

Original poster

Alton Towers or somewhere else?

32 replies

stevematekatemate · 09/04/2021 18:43

I was thinking about a couple of days at AT in October as part of the Scottish a school holiday break. We have the middle 2 weeks off and I thought/hoped it may be fairly quiet.

That said, I’ve read a few historic posts on here and it seems that it is a bit of a marmite place to go. We’ve never been but have done Disney/Orlando and Paris.

We live in rural Perthshire and really are over rural countryside walks given the last year. We have everything outdoors literally at our back door.

We have thought about a couple of city breaks such as York but we’d like to do something for the DC too, hence AT as it also has the water park.

Can anyone suggest anywhere else? I know there are places like Dayton Manor and Chessington but some are quite far South and I an conscious of driving times. We’ve done Blackpool. DC are 13 and 12.

Centreparcs is too expensive once we factor everything in. It’s over £1k just for accommodation for 4 nights.

OP posts:
ErleighBird · 09/04/2021 18:46

My kids loved Scarefest at that age, we stayed on the hotel there which I liked more than I thought I would. The park lit up for Scarefest is impressive tbh.

IMHO the water park is better for younger ones.

Original poster
stevematekatemate · 09/04/2021 18:48

@ErleighBird

My kids loved Scarefest at that age, we stayed on the hotel there which I liked more than I thought I would. The park lit up for Scarefest is impressive tbh.

IMHO the water park is better for younger ones.

Thanks. I was just looking at YouTube videos for the water park and I did think it looked a bit young.
OP posts:
gluteustothemaximus · 09/04/2021 18:49

We love AT. Waterpark is brilliant and the grounds are lovely. English October half term is one of their busiest times of the year, so if you go out of that, you should be ok. We hired a cottage for the week one year, really cheap, and had merlin passes (when they were more affordable) and had a blast. Imagine it's all gone up now, which is why we're unlikely to go anytime soon.

Drayton manor really not worth it vs AT.

Hellocatshome · 09/04/2021 18:50

Yes they are good ages (as long as they are average height they should get on everything) stay on the park, the pods are cheaper than the hotels and the kids loved them. You can still go in the hotels (apart from the cbeebies one I think) for food/drinks/a look around. You probably won't get much out of the water park at that age there is only 1 exciting water slide and it always has a long queue.

Peachylovesherpoochy · 09/04/2021 18:54

Chessington is completely crap - rundown, dirty and the staff last year were completely overwhelmed with the crowds. I have only been to AT once in October half term and we had an absolutely brilliant time. Yes it was busy but the rides are great and the scarefest was good. We stayed at the travel lodge down the road and it was super handy.

Original poster
stevematekatemate · 09/04/2021 18:54

@gluteustothemaximus

We love AT. Waterpark is brilliant and the grounds are lovely. English October half term is one of their busiest times of the year, so if you go out of that, you should be ok. We hired a cottage for the week one year, really cheap, and had merlin passes (when they were more affordable) and had a blast. Imagine it's all gone up now, which is why we're unlikely to go anytime soon.

Drayton manor really not worth it vs AT.

Thanks. I think the English school holidays are the week of 25/10. We are off the week before which is 18/10.
OP posts:
Floralnomad · 09/04/2021 18:55

Have you done London with your dc as that may be better and perhaps take in the Harry Potter studios if you’ve not done them .

Original poster
stevematekatemate · 09/04/2021 18:59

@Floralnomad

Have you done London with your dc as that may be better and perhaps take in the Harry Potter studios if you’ve not done them .
We’ve done that but appreciate you posting. Open to any ideas.
OP posts:
BernadetteRostankowskiWolowitz · 09/04/2021 19:02

Love AT. Do Longleat while you are down there too

I'd say AT is a 1.5 day thing (if you want to revisit any rides). Longleat a full day.

BernadetteRostankowskiWolowitz · 09/04/2021 19:02

AT will probs be done up for Halloween too.

Original poster
stevematekatemate · 09/04/2021 19:06

@BernadetteRostankowskiWolowitz

Love AT. Do Longleat while you are down there too

I'd say AT is a 1.5 day thing (if you want to revisit any rides). Longleat a full day.

Thank you. I had no idea longleat was close by. Will definitely look that up.
OP posts:
felulageller · 09/04/2021 19:09

Flamingo land is a bit closer but not been in decades so not sure what it's like.

AT was fab when there c 10 years ago.

DC also loved Landmark which is much closer to you but low key. Maybe a day trip?

Original poster
stevematekatemate · 09/04/2021 19:10

@BernadetteRostankowskiWolowitz

AT will probs be done up for Halloween too.
Thank you.
OP posts:
eternalopt · 09/04/2021 19:18

AT is about 3 hours from longleat!

WhyDoesItAlways · 09/04/2021 19:20

You mentioned a York city break. Have you thought about lightwater valley? I haven't been in years but it was good when I was a child and is close to York so could combine with the city break.

Original poster
stevematekatemate · 09/04/2021 19:22

@WhyDoesItAlways

You mentioned a York city break. Have you thought about lightwater valley? I haven't been in years but it was good when I was a child and is close to York so could combine with the city break.
Never heard of it but will look. Thank you.
OP posts:
BernadetteRostankowskiWolowitz · 09/04/2021 19:38

We deffo did AT and Longleat on the same trip when I was a kid. We did other stuff too though so maybe I didnt realise the distance.

BernadetteRostankowskiWolowitz · 09/04/2021 19:40

Are you driving from Perthshire? If so are you doing any visits on the drive down and back up?

BG2015 · 09/04/2021 20:50

I live near to AT! It's a great day out. I'd stay at one of the hotels and get up and out as early as you can. I end up taking my son and his mates for Scarefest over half term.

The Smiler is often the most popular ride and queues are long - so plan which ride you want to tackle first and head there!

If you want to stay around the area for a few days there's also Trentham Gardens which is lovely, some quirky shops, massive garden/home centre and if you want to go into the gardens too there's walks and a lake and a lovely cafe (playground for various ages too).

Nearby there is also the Monkey Forest where you can walk through families of monkeys - there's often a talk about them throughout the day by one of the keepers.

BG2015 · 09/04/2021 20:57

Just bear in mind that AT isn't on the same scale as Disney Land!

AccidentallyOnPurpose · 09/04/2021 21:05

AT can be great if you do a few days and can take it easy. We spent 3 days there, so if anything was terribly busy we just went "meh.. we have time, let's look at /do something else".

The water park is mostly aimed at younger kids but it can be fun if they just like water in general.

If you stay at the hotel, if you miss the shuttle it's worth it just doing the walk instead so you can take advantage of early rides, otherwise it gets too busy.

There's quite a lot of walking involved in general, but we did enjoy it. Planning to go back for a long weekend at some point.

I think there's a small mini golf course too for a fee, which we ended up doing on the last day.

Chessington is great for younger kids, but I think yours are too old to be fully worth it.

Drayton manor definitely not worth it.

ErleighBird · 09/04/2021 22:12

@BG2015

I live near to AT! It's a great day out. I'd stay at one of the hotels and get up and out as early as you can. I end up taking my son and his mates for Scarefest over half term.

The Smiler is often the most popular ride and queues are long - so plan which ride you want to tackle first and head there!

If you want to stay around the area for a few days there's also Trentham Gardens which is lovely, some quirky shops, massive garden/home centre and if you want to go into the gardens too there's walks and a lake and a lovely cafe (playground for various ages too).

Nearby there is also the Monkey Forest where you can walk through families of monkeys - there's often a talk about them throughout the day by one of the keepers.

I second Trentham Gardens and the Monkey Forest.

Wickerman was also v popular when we did Scarefest in 2019 - amazing in the dark!

denverRegina · 09/04/2021 23:22

Longleat is hours away from Alton towers and will add 6 hours minimum to OPs overall driving.

Alton Towers is fine but I wouldn't spend 3 days there

Original poster
stevematekatemate · 10/04/2021 00:51

@BernadetteRostankowskiWolowitz

Are you driving from Perthshire? If so are you doing any visits on the drive down and back up?
Yes just not sure where yet. York and Manchester have both been mentioned but no firm plans yet.
OP posts:
madasamarchhare · 10/04/2021 08:31

Agree with all the above. AT is great, so much to do, but yes go for a couple of days so you don’t feel stressed if the queues are long. Scarefest is brilliant my kids loved that. We stay in a premier inn. There are lots locally to choose from. I second what someone else said about Trentham. We’ve done that a couple of times and it’s a really nice place to spend a few hours.