Alton Towers or somewhere else?

[stevematekatemate]

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.

What about 2days at Alton towers and a day at Blackpool pleasure beach?

I live in Stirling and we have left about 5am to be in Alton Towers for 10am, stayed all day, got the return the next day for £10 (maybe £15) There's a few premier inn places about 20-30 mins from Alton Towers, and given that you have been up early and busy all day, will probably just want dinner and sleep. Day 2 at Alton towers.

Then, if you are not all rollercoastered out, it's only 2hrs ish to Blackpool pleasure beach.

My teens said it was the best holiday ever. Although, it was quite tiring with driving and queuing all day!

I live quite close by but have stayed in the woodland lodges and they were fab! There is also a crazy golf and high and low ropes course near the hotels. The park is much, much better than Drayton Manor. If you stay off park I agree with PP re Trentham Gardens and Monkey Forest for another day out. My kids enjoyed it at similar ages to yours.

We are in Fife and considering similar holiday. Actually sort of considering Alton towers for a couple of nights Thursday/Friday and then down to Cornwall for a week which is pretty cheap out of season. Home with a stop over for one night somewhere half way gives you a ten day holiday. If you fancied a whole week near Alton towers there’s plenty of nice holiday house and the Peak District is beautiful, the village of Alton has lovely pubs with beer gardens by the river. Leek is great for a wander around and the scenery is very dramatic.

Flamingo land is actually pretty good for roller coasters and has always been much quieter than Alton towers. It’s not as exciting somehow but it does also have a zoo. Also a nice area of Yorkshire to relax in.

Can I throw in a total curve ball?
Would you consider travelling abroad?
energylandia.pl/en/ or
www.efteling.com/en
Maybe not for this cause well you know but...

Alton Towers is probably one of the vest if not the best theme park in England. Not sure what you mean about it being "marmite". It's a theme park...

I agree with giving Drayton Manor theme park a miss.

Theme park geek here! If you’ve never done AT then yes absolutely - it’ll be perfect for kids your ages. If you can go on a weekday outside of the England half term queues won’t be too bad either. Go the England half term week and it will be chaos. But bear in mind the park is open late so you do get extra time to get rides in (best tip - the scaremazes get really busy as it gets dark which means the bigger rides have smaller queues). If you decide on York then Flamingo Land is the park to go for - they are meant to have a new big coaster opening this year but not been confirmed thanks to covid.

Two days at AT is more than enough - don’t discount the waterpark though. Its not an all day thing but you’ll still be able to have a good morning or afternoon in it. Alternatively Waterworld is just down the road in Stoke.