Alton Towers Reopening: Our experience

As I type this, we are currently on our way home from visiting Alton Towers reopening day. Alton Towers, like every other theme park in the world, has had to adapt its operations to maintain the highest levels of safety during the coronavirus pandemic. So, allow me to give you my thoughts on this.

How busy was the park?

Alton Towers is only selling a limited number of tickets, meaning the parks capacity is greatly lowered. This was definitely noticeable as we walked around the park, which was moderately quiet. This allowed for safe and easy social distancing at all times. Staff at the park were very helpful and all did their best to make the park a vibrant and enjoyable place to be despite some of the unusual measures. Temperatures of all guests are taken at the entrance of the park. To enter the park your temperature must be below 37.8c. The temperature checks ran very smoothly and efficiently. It only took us 5 minutes to get through this check and into the park. 

The emptiness of the park on the day of Alton Towers reopening was not reflected within the ride wait times due to the numerous new time consuming safety procedures. Despite this, chevrons on the floor of all queues made it easy to maintain social distancing in these often long waits. 

A pre-purchased ticket is required to visit the park. Therefore, you must make sure that you don’t turn up to the gates without a ticket. You must book your ticket for a specified day online beforehand, even if you have an annual pass. Season pass or annual pass holders are charged £1 to pre-book the day they want to visit. 

How did they keep the coasters safe?

All coasters require that you wear a mask when on the ride. Indoor attractions, such as Duel and Hex, were closed today due to the increased risk of the virus being spread in environments without constant air circulation. Rollercoasters with rows significantly distanced at around 2 meters, the government recommended distance, operated with all rows loading. These rows however, were not necessarily filled as they were only able to seat one party per row. Attractions operating like this included: Nemesis, Galactica and The Smiler. On these coasters, the staff were directing alternate rows to load and unload at staggered times. This stopped any pile ups of people that would risk social distancing not being possible. 

Oblivion was also operating with both rows loaded, however could seat multiple parties per row so long as two empty seats were left in between groups. 

Wicker Man, whose rows are much closer, was only loading every other row. On top of these measures, which meant most carriages weren’t completely full, between each few rides the carriages would all be deep cleaned and then sent round empty. This only occurred approximately every half an hour but did add significant wait time.

We waited 2 hours to ride Wicker Man, 1 hour to ride oblivion and 30 minutes for Nemesis and Galactica.

Did I feel safe?

Throughout my whole day, even considering this was the first day of Alton Towers reopening, I never once felt at risk. Everyone kept their distance, wore their masks and respected the staff’s directions. Stores and dining locations were limiting the amount of people allowed in at once and the lines to get in were just as well organised as those for the coasters. The sanitation of the carriages was done to a very high level and hand sanitisers were available all round the park. Toilets were spotless, carnival games were available and their equipment, such as basketballs, was thoroughly cleaned between uses. If you feel uneasy at all, let me reassure you not to worry. Alton Towers are doing a brilliant job keeping everyone safe. 

Was it still fun?

Absolutely! When is riding coasters not fun. But on a more serious note, yes, the new measures didn’t strip any of the fun out of our day. The parks did not feel like a dangerous place to be. Staff at the park were also very pleasant, ensuring that they implemented the necessary safety measures while remembering that visiting a theme park is about having fun. You are free to roam around as you please, ride whatever you want and just generally enjoy yourself! Something that we’ve found hard to do during the painfully long lockdown. Nothing is lost at the expense of wearing a mask and keeping your distance. Ride lines do move slower than normal due to the new measures. But, even with such slow operations, the wait times were similar to what you’d normally see on a busy Saturday or Sunday.

Was it worth the cost of admission? 

As all tickets must be purchased online, the price is reduced from £58 to £34. This is a regular offer which is typically available and has nothing to do with the new measures in place. These measures do not limit your enjoyment of what is open, however they do limit what is open. As already mentioned, Hex and Duel are both shut. 

Unfortunately, the passage next to the towers which leads to the Dark Forest is completely shut off. This means Rita, Thirteen, The Dungeons and the whole of Cloud Cuckoo Land are not available. The Dungeons cannot open for safety reasons. However, we were not aware that Rita and Thirteen would not be operating. Alton Towers hadn’t made it clear that this would be the case and this was a little disappointing. Alton Towers have now stated on twitter that they are working on opening Rita as soon as possible (Edit: Rita is now open). We have also been informed that Thirteen cannot operate due to the requirements of social distancing. For Thirteen to comply with distancing requirements it would have to run its carriages half empty. However, due to how this ride operates and its design this would apparently cause weighting issues. Therefore, the ride cannot operate under the current circumstances.

This is definitely something to bear in mind when weighing up if the price of admission will be worth it for you this season. Essentially, you are paying the regular price of admission to visit an only partially open park.

Overall, we had an absolutely wonderful time on the first day of Alton Towers reopening. Even with the multitude of closures, the parks offerings were more than enough to satisfy our longing for coasters. I can’t overstate how great it felt to be back at Alton Towers or how well they are handling the current situation. If you want a safe and fun day out, book a ticket for Alton Towers!

So, will you be visiting anytime soon? Or have you already been? If so, how was your experience?