Visiting Alton Towers with Children who are 1.3m Tall - Itinerary & Tips

The last time I visited Alton Towers was over 10 years ago. I'm not really sure why but I think it's probably the expense. As a family of 5, it's not exactly a cheap day out and we've always favoured less expensive parks like Lightwater Valley which are both cheaper and closer. We've just invested in Merlin Annual Passes though so can visit Alton Towers as often as we want to this year. Exciting! We made our first visit over Easter and picked up lots of tips for visiting with kids who are too big for CBeebies Land buy not quite 1.4m tall which is the height restriction for most of the thrill rides here. My children are aged 8, 10 and 12.

Itinerary & App

I honestly cannot recommend downloading the Alton Towers App enough. It is so handy with a map, live queue times and walking distances to places when you're in the park. I used this to plan a rough itinerary before our day and I'd highly recommend you do this too. Alton Towers is HUGE and a little planning will help you to get the most of your day. This was our itinerary:

1 - Hex
2 - Cloud Cuckoo Land/Rita
3 - Thirteen
4 - Lunch at the undercover picnic tables
5 - Maurander's Mayhem
6 - Shark Bait Reef
7 - Duel Haunted House
8 - Runaway Mine Train
9 - Wicker Man
10 - Spinball

We arrived at Alton Towers at 10:30am and left at 5pm on a Saturday in the Easter Holidays. We managed to do everything on our list apart from Hex (which was closed) and Spinball which we were too tired to do and ready for home by the time 5pm hit.

Alton Towers Arrival Tips

If you're a Merlin Annual Passholder or staying over, you can make use of Early Ride Time and enter the park at 9:30am. There are a few rides open this time and if we ever stay over, we'll definitely make use of this. We are not natural early risers though so didn't make it there until 10:30am so missed out. Nevermind! By the time we arrived, the queue for the monorail was HUGE so we decided to walk to the park instead. We were parked by the hotels which I think is the furthest point from the theme park and our walk took 20 minutes. It was easy to follow and I'd definitely recommend walking instead of catching the monorail if there's a queue. With your Merlin Annual Pass, your pass is simply scanned by a member of staff as you enter the park. It's super easy.

Tip : Walk from the car park rather than using the monorail if there's a queue. It will only take 20 miutes. 

On entering the theme park there are loos, water refill stations, lockers and stands selling refillable drinks capsules for £7 each. You are allowed to take your own food and drinks into Alton Towers and if you're on a budget, I'd definitely recommend doing this.

Tip : There are lots of water refill stations around Alton Towers where you can fill your bottle for free. 

Your bag will be searched (glass and sharp items are not permitted but food and drinks are) and then you're good to go. Unless it's raining, I'd avoid using the lockers and just take a bag that's easy to carry instead. All rides have somewhere to store your bags as you ride (although obviously at your own risk). It is much easier to have everything with you can close to hand rather than having to go back and forth to a locker.

Tip : Carry your bags rather than using a locker. Invest in a comfortable rucksack. 

I screen shot my itinerary and used it as my phone screensaver/wallpaper which stopped me from having to keep unlocking my phone/going into my notes every time I wanted to check which area we were heading to next. It worked really well.

Tip : Save your itinerary on your phone as wallpaper and a screensaver 

Hex / Cloud Cuckoo Land / Rita 

Driving School at Cloud Cuckoo Land

Our first ride was going to be Hex but this was unfortunately closed for the day - definitely one for us to try next time. We walked straight past this to Cloud Cuckoo Land which I thought looked a little bit too childish for Heidi and Jack if I'm honest but they really enjoyed this area and it was a nice introduction to the day. They rode the carousel and took part in driving school which were both cute. There were no wait times for these rides either so they were straight on. This ride is next door to Rita and if I'd thought on, Harry and Steve could have gone on that one (which is for those over 1.4m only) while I stayed with the younger two. We'll definitely try this next time.

Thirteen 

The queue for Thirteen was long! The app and ride said 30 minutes but we stood in the queue for over an hour. I'd recommend packing a quiz book, top trumps and snacks that take a longer time to eat (we used refresher bars) to pass the time. The anticipation really builds for this ride and younger kids may find it a little scary. It was worth the wait though as this was my favourite ride of the day - loved the surprise element!

Tip : Take quiz books, Top Trumps and snacks for queues. 

Lunch 

Tip : Take your own hot dogs for lunch and head to the undercover picnic area if the weather is not great. 

We packed our own hot dogs for lunch, simply warm them up, pop them in a food flask and top up with hot water and they'll be good to go. This saved us loads of money. We walked around the lake to the undercover picnic area next to Mutiny Bay but it was actually pretty sunny so we sat outside. Maybe this is a little unethical but as we were right next to the Alton Towers stand we were able to use their ketchup and mustard too. I packed a flask of coffee, juice/pop for the kids and a packet of cookies and bag of crisps too and I think our DIY hotdogs and snacks saved us at least £40.

Maurander's Mayhem & Shark Bait Reef 

These two areas are pretty close together and near the lunch area. I'd probably recommend visiting Shark Bait Reef first and letting your lunch settle before whizzing around Maurander's Mayhem. Considering the Shark Bait Reef is included with admission, it's actually a pretty decent sealife centre and a good place to hide from the rain or sun. There are touch pools, fish and sharks to spot and lots of facts to learn. You do need to exit through the gift shop though!

Tip : Set a rule on how much £ kids can spend on games and in the gift shop before you visit. As the kids have grown older, I now just impose a 'no spend' rule and put a blanket ban on buying anything. We've wasted so much £ on gift shops in the past and honestly, kids don't need any more tat. This also helps our day as we don't waste time browsing and deliberating what to buy. 

Maurander's mayhem 

Maurander's Mayhem is a brilliant family ride. Kind of like super-charged teacups. There was hardly any queue for this one and it was one of our favourite all-rounders. Definitely one to try.

Dual Haunted House 

Dual Haunted House was a real surprise for us as there was no queue at all. It's very similar to the LEGO Ninjago ride at LEGOLAND where there's often a 2 hour+ queue! This ride fits 5 per cart and everyone has their own laser gun to shoot various ghosts and ghouls as you travel through the ghost train. It might be a little scary for younger ones (it's in darkness and various animatronic ghosts/monsters appear) but we loved it. The competitiveness broke out too and our fingers were all sore by the end of the ride from shooting so much (I came a respectable 2nd place). Dual Haunted House is kind of hidden away in a corner so make sure you don't miss it.

Runaway Mine Train 

I'd never actually been on this classic Alton Towers ride before so was looking forward to trying it with the kids. It's a tame rollercoaster but still fun. This was Jack's favourite ride from the day and perfectly pitched at braver 6-8 year olds and their families. The app told us there was a 45 min queue for this one but we were on in 20 minutes. Winning!

Wicker Man 

This was the ride I wanted to go on the most. The queue stated 45 minutes but it was actually around 1 hour 20 minutes. When we visit next, we'll definitely make use of Early Ride Time and head to this ride first (we might actually do this itinerary in reverse and add the River Rapids after the Wicker Man next time). As you snake through the queue, the anticipation does build with manacing music and a noisy, fast rollercoaster flying above your heads. Plus you can see fire too which might put off younger kids. We were all set to go on until we reached the front and Jack chicken-ed out. I didn't want to force him on a ride he didn't want to go on but also didn't want to miss out myself! We spoke with a member of staff at the ride entrance and they suggested letting Jack cross over and stand behind the exit gate next to the luggage store as we rode. This worked really well and we'll probably use this technique again next time. Other options include parent swap but this wasn't really ideal for us as we had two other children who wanted to ride with us.

Wicker Man was worth the wait - we all loved it and are pleased to have finally made it on. It's great being able to ride bigger rides like this with your kids when they are older.

Top Tip : Register for Parent Swap at Guest Services if you want to go on bigger rides yourself and if your kids chicken out of a ride after queuing, speak with staff who will have options for you - don't just leave the queue! 

We were too tired to ride on Spinball so are saving that for our next trip and we'll definitely add some of the water rides into our itinerary when we visit again in the summer - it was far too cold for these during our visit in April (but the queues were short so if you're feeling brave - why not?). We also missed out Blade which we'll add in during our next trip. If you're visiting on a busy day, I think you'd need 1.5-2 days to get around everything.

We left the park at around 5pm and were absolutely shattered! The queue for the monorail back to the car park was short and I was pleased we didn't have a 20-minute walk back to the car after a long day. I was so impressed with our family visit to Alton Towers. The staff were particularly fantastic and I can't wait to visit again soon.

Let me know your favourite ride at Alton Towers......

If you enjoyed this post, why not check out these posts below:

• What to pack for a day at a theme park
• The best theme park hotels for families
• Visiting LEGOLAND Windsor in the rain 
• Signing up for a Pay Monthly Merlin Annual Pass

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