{"id":12636,"date":"2026-03-27T10:52:06","date_gmt":"2026-03-27T10:52:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.coastersonthecoast.co.uk\/?p=12636"},"modified":"2026-03-27T10:52:06","modified_gmt":"2026-03-27T10:52:06","slug":"top-5-rides-at-alton-towers-for-first-time-visitors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.coastersonthecoast.co.uk\/?p=12636","title":{"rendered":"Top 5 Rides at Alton Towers for First-Time Visitors:"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is the type of blog post I desperately needed before my first visit to Alton Towers. I often think back to my first visit to Alton Towers and how I ended up overlooking many staple attractions because I had no idea where to begin, especially given how large the park is and how hidden some areas are. So, if this blog can do anything hopefully it\u2019ll highlight some must-experience rides for you. <\/span><\/p>\n

Thirteen:<\/span><\/h3>\n

As a first-time guest, this is an easily overlooked attraction hidden up in the corner of Dark Forest amongst the forest itself. Yet it\u2019s one of the unique attractions to the park with a very beautiful eerie themed story. Some guests won\u2019t anticipate what occurs and others will usually have a giggle at their clueless friends. It\u2019s a pleasant family fun attraction that gives all you\u2019d want from a coaster the butterflies on the first drop, airtime moments and all around spooky fun.\"\" <\/span><\/p>\n

The Curse:<\/span><\/h3>\n

A stunningly intricate dark ride that\u2019s quite honestly one of the best in the UK in my opinion. It\u2019s creepy mixed with fun. It\u2019s yet another family attraction with a lower height restriction but I\u2019d suggest it be more own judgment as some of it can be a little scary to younger guests. The storytelling & theming throughout is gorgeous. You\u2019ll be left in awe of how well this whole attraction is created.\"\" <\/span><\/p>\n

Nemesis Reborn:<\/span><\/h3>\n

I feel everyone knows what Nemesis was it was iconic. This is effectively the same just with a new track and a new colour scheme. Nemesis Reborn is either a love-it or hate-it style of rollercoaster these days. But the legacy alone is a reason to experience it.\"\" <\/span><\/p>\n

Wicker Man:<\/span><\/h3>\n

I love this rollercoaster it just gives it all within the brief space of the track. There\u2019s airtime, the slight rough edges of a woodie and the first 2 drops are tremendous. The interaction with Big Bob is always super fun and during the later opening hours mainly around October \/ November time night rides are EVERYTHING. It\u2019s yet another perfectly themed attraction with an easy-to-follow story which is illustrated during the pre-show.\"\" <\/span><\/p>\n

The Smiler:<\/span><\/h3>\n

14 whole inversions in 1 rollercoaster. The record holder even to this day. The Smiler is one of those must-ride attractions. Again, it\u2019s another one of those that either have people adoring it or despising it. I personally think it\u2019s enjoyable not the best but the individuality of the record it holds is enough of a reason to say at least I\u2019ve done it. It\u2019s impressive given the compact nature of the footprint it’s built within. Throughputs are usually decent on here too but it\u2019s still a VERY<\/strong> popular attraction.\"\"<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014-<\/p>\n

What are you 5 recommended rides for those new visitors to Alton Towers?<\/span><\/p>\n

Thank you for reading!\"\"<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is the type of blog post I desperately needed before my first visit to Alton Towers. I often think back to my first visit to Alton Towers and how I ended up overlooking many staple attractions because I had no idea where to begin, especially given how large the park is and how hidden some areas are. So, if this blog can do anything hopefully it\u2019ll highlight some must-experience rides for you. Thirteen: As a first-time guest, this is an easily overlooked attraction hidden up in the corner of Dark Forest amongst the forest itself. Yet it\u2019s one of the unique attractions to the park with a very beautiful eerie themed story. Some guests won\u2019t anticipate what occurs and others will usually have a giggle at their clueless friends. It\u2019s a pleasant family fun attraction that gives all you\u2019d want from a coaster the butterflies on the first drop, airtime moments and all around spooky fun. The Curse: A stunningly intricate dark ride that\u2019s quite honestly one of the best in the UK in my opinion. It\u2019s creepy mixed with fun. It\u2019s yet another family attraction with a lower height restriction but I\u2019d suggest it be more own judgment as some of it can be a little scary to younger guests. The storytelling & theming throughout is gorgeous. You\u2019ll be left in awe of how well this whole attraction is created. Nemesis Reborn: I feel everyone knows what Nemesis was it was iconic. This is effectively the same just with a new track and a new colour scheme. Nemesis Reborn is either a love-it or hate-it style of rollercoaster these days. But the legacy alone is a reason to experience it. Wicker Man: I love this rollercoaster it just gives it all within the brief space of the track. There\u2019s airtime, the slight rough edges of a woodie and the first 2 drops are tremendous. The interaction with Big Bob is always super fun and during the later opening hours mainly around October \/ November time night rides are EVERYTHING. It\u2019s yet another perfectly themed attraction with an easy-to-follow story which is illustrated during the pre-show. The Smiler: 14 whole inversions in 1 rollercoaster. The record holder even to this day. The Smiler is one of those must-ride attractions. Again, it\u2019s another one of those that either have people adoring it or despising it. I personally think it\u2019s enjoyable not the best but the individuality of the record it holds is enough of a reason to say at least I\u2019ve done it. It\u2019s impressive given the compact nature of the footprint it’s built within. Throughputs are usually decent on here too but it\u2019s still a VERY popular attraction. \u2014- What are you 5 recommended rides for those new visitors to Alton Towers? Thank you for reading!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5661,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[5051,5053,5054],"tags":[4479,39,3220,5490,1111,5633,3263,1532,5636,3414,5634,5635,1812,5638,5637],"class_list":["post-12636","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-attractions","category-theme-parks","category-themed-attractions","tag-alton-manor","tag-alton-towers","tag-alton-towers-advice","tag-alton-towers-coasters","tag-alton-towers-dark-ride","tag-alton-towers-must-ride","tag-exciting","tag-first-time","tag-first-time-visiting","tag-guide-to-alton-towers","tag-must-ride-attractions","tag-must-ride-coasters","tag-the-smiler","tag-world-first","tag-worlds-most-inversions"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pb4qDv-3hO","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.coastersonthecoast.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/64D8200E-3828-4EEB-A9C2-A55011177908.jpeg?fit=1620%2C1080&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.coastersonthecoast.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12636","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.coastersonthecoast.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.coastersonthecoast.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.coastersonthecoast.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.coastersonthecoast.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12636"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.coastersonthecoast.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12636\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12637,"href":"https:\/\/www.coastersonthecoast.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12636\/revisions\/12637"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.coastersonthecoast.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5661"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.coastersonthecoast.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12636"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.coastersonthecoast.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12636"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.coastersonthecoast.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12636"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}