Over the past month or so we’ve visited all of our usual parks during off peak days. It was unintentional but we discovered that actually we’ve easily done 4/5 UK parks now. We hope this blog helps somebody to decide whether on peak or off to visit these parks. Today’s blog is all about Alton Towers and we’ll be discussing all areas which off peak effects. We hope you enjoy and would love to know your thoughts below. Don’t forget to keep your eyes peeled for more blogs like this from Thorpe Park, Chessington, Legoland Windsor & Blackpool Pleasure Beach.
Monorail // Palace Queues // Entering the Park;
During each visit this season the monorail has been super reliable with enough trains on. The queues never been more than 20 minutes during on peak days so during our off peak visit it was walk on. Once arriving on the palace usually they allow the ERT queues in at 9:15 however that day it was 9:25. But that isn’t an issue given the fact that on paper passholders & hotel guest aren’t allowed in until half past anyway. In comparison to on peak days during off peak it’s much easier getting through the turnstiles for sure. As there isn’t any many people to push and shove like there is during peak days.
ERT:
Just in case your not sure what is available during ERT there’s Wickerman, Oblivion & CBeebies Land. Almost every time we head to Wickerman as usually it’s to beat the morning queues. However during the off peak visit we got to Wickerman and it was completely empty queue line. It was running beautifully however whilst passing through the queue line & within the area there was sometimes 2 people on a train then a full.
Queues // Throughputs // Capacity:
Truthfully we were really surprised by the throughputs to be honest. Wickerman was running 3 trains with minimum queue and majority of the day no queue at all. There was small issues like Thirteen there wasn’t enough people to send a train as it needed 18 people yet there was 5. We had to leave and ride Rita instead which wasn’t an issue. Of course Rita, Nemesis, Galactica and Thirteen were all running 2 trains. The Smiler was running the basic amount of trains which was fab. As for the queues everything was kept to the minimum unless a little down time had happened like Rita. Even then the queues got to about 20 minutes maximum. Everything was running beautifully with the best possible capacity and throughputs.
Opening Hours // Is There Enough time On Park?
As for opening hours there’s enough time in the day to do all the rides for certain. Yet we found the day went real fast and by time we wanted to do the park again we ran out of time. However day visitors and those who don’t visit often will no doubt find the hours perfect and enough time. But just for us we found it a little too short and wished we had an extra hour but we do understand the reasons as to why it’s 10-4.
Truthfully if you want re rides or in fact just to have a quieter day at Alton Towers then definitely head there on an off peak week day. However weekends are never over the top busy but can be sometimes busier then you’d maybe like. It was really lovely to have such a quiet day on park whilst embracing those smaller rides we don’t usually do. We did plan to experience CBeebies Land but never got the chance as we did run out of time! But let us know your thoughts below of what you prefer?