Alton Towers with a Toddler

I visited Alton towers yesterday and while this attraction has plenty for both grown ups and children I visited with my toddler son. I first visited Alton towers when I was a child myself and have experienced the big rollercoaster's such as Air and Nemesis but this visit was completely different so thought it would be useful to do a review of a family visit.

Opening times

The opening times do vary it was the rides were open from ten to five with last monorail back to the car park or hotel at 6pm. The website has a calendar for daily opening times.

Cost

Adult £37
Child £28.
Family of three £83.10
Family of four £104
Family of five £126.50
Family of six £148.80
Disabled/ career £18.50
Children under 4 are free

Car parking is £5

There are discounts available for ordering online. There are also often discount vouchers around. I was fortunate enough to get a voucher that was parent with toddler entry for £12 with free car park.
There are also various options such as two day tickets and annual passes.

Entry to the park

After been directed to the parking space .Do remembers to look what area you are in as I have seen people wandering around a vast car park with no idea where they have parked.

You then go on a monorail trip towards the main entrance which is your first glimpse of the towers.
You disembark and queue for tickets before entering through Towers street which has shops, bars and food.
There are three main areas I visited with my son: storybook land, Cloud Cuckoo land and mutiny bay

Story Book Land

The first Place we visited was story book land who had a Robot and teddy bear greeters but my son is still pretty scared of large costumed animals so refused to even speak to them wave or acknowledge them.

The first ride we came to was the squirrel nutty ride. This was up some stairs but there was a buggy park and a lift for disabled guests. We got to go round a track in a nut train carriage which had a squirrel on the back it which was high above the story book land and old McDonalds area so we got to get our bearings where we would be going next and it was slow enough that it didn't create anything but enjoyment.

We next went on the tractor ride which had two seats at the front with steering wheels to drive and a long bench seat at the back which is ideal for accompanying parents. It was a very slow sedate ride that slowed down considerably at each corner. My son did love the horn as well.

We next went on the Doodle Doo Derby which is a roundabout with various farm animals which all have buttons to press that make the respective noise. My son went on these four times and rode a pig, cow, goat and goose. I got to ride a cow and goat. These animals are in various sizes to suit all different ages of children. There is also a bench in the middle for those parents that aren't prepared to actually get involved. The ride is slow enough that when my son got off to change animals he didn't even wobble.

The last ride we went on in this area was an Eye spy boat ride which meandered around a stream with a mixture of plastic and real animals to spot and corresponding buttons to press. This caused great delight for my son who squealed most of the way round.

The one thing I particularly liked about these rides is that they are designed for adults to accompany children when necessary. There are minimum height restrictions for Children to be over 0.9 meters on most rides.

There was a racing car ride which was only suitable for 4 year olds and over.
There was also a berry bish bash attraction which was basically full of giant machines that blew the balls away but my son really didn't like it and ran off and hit behind the attendant so we didn't stay in this area very long.

Within this area were also things to see as well as do. There are some huge rabbits, guinea pigs and miniature donkeys. Although we didn't get much view of the donkeys as they were indoors.

There was a singing barn which had buttons to press which started individual animals singing old McDonalds farm which my son looked at suspiciously. I have to say I don't blame him as the dog did look like he was having a fit when singing.

Cloud Cuckoo Land

We went down to Cloud cuckoo land which is new for this year and the first ride we encountered was the Charlie and the chocolate ride.

My son has never seen this film so wasn't sure what he would make of it. When we first walked in there were TV screen which immediately got his attention. We then went on a boat ride which has music and you got to see the various rooms and the characters in there final state for example violet was blown up like a berry. My son bounced up and down on his seat all the way though the ride. After the boat room you go through a couple of extra rooms before entering the glass elevator. From the Toddler perspective this is a little more unnerving as he wasn't sure what was happening and kept looking to me as the elevator whizzed around the factory and finally up into the sky. This was my favourite ride of the day.

We then went into wobble world which had a huge inflatable area which as my son was over 0.9 meters he went in the large area where parents aren't allowed but they did have a CCTV camera that watches what the children are doing. I did like the fact there is a smaller area for younger children and despite there been no little one's in there they still are directed the older ones back to the appropriate area. This was great for my son who played with a couple of older girls in there and so got some play time without mommy. There is a cafe in this area so parents can sit down and have a drink.

We next went on the galloping carousel which had some very strange coloured horses and a carriage for those not up to riding the horses.

We went to the 12.30 show in the theatre which I was a little unsure about as my son has difficulty sitting still but as it was 20 minutes long I thought it was well worth a go. He sat happily for 15 minutes and really enjoyed it. There were bubble machines and the basic story was of a dragon that couldn't fly. This Dragon obviously was available in the gift shop. My son did get restless towards the end but I was very impressed. That it held his attention for so long.

Eating Lunch

After the show it was time for lunch. We went into Burger king and I was pleased to discover that the vouchers been given away at Iceland for a free kids meal when you buy and adult meal was valid here. The meal was fine except there was a complete lack of mayonnaise and lettuce on my sandwich.

Mutiny Bay

After lunch we wandered over towards mutiny bay as my son loves pirates but on the way he was desperate to go in the castle and as he was

tall enough to go on Hex I let him. Hex is based on a true story that a curse on a tree by a beggar women who was refused some money from the lord so every time a branch fell a member of his family died. The lord became obsessed and chained the tree up. The Hex is a ride in a room that appears to be revolving around one of the branches of the tree. My son definitely did not like this and whimpered throughout but when it stopped and I said did you like that he replied yes.

Our main reason for going up to mutiny bay was the shark bait reef which is run by sea life and had all sorts of animals such as jelly fish, seahorses and sharks. My son loved this .There were talks and feeding but my son ran through excitedly flitting from one tank to the next.

We next went on the pirate ship which you got to shoot water through cannons which my son got a little frustrated as he couldn't do it independently. As the boat sails round the river you get to shoot water at the observers on the side but they also have cannon's. I did appeal to people that I had a small child but as he squealed with delight it did nothing to help. We were soaked. They do have drying rooms for £2 which blow out heat and we managed to share one.

Photographer

After this soaking we wandered back down to story book land for a final couple of rides and stopped at the old fashioned photographer. It cost £1 per person for the sitting and so my son and I dressed as pirates. We sat for the shot but felt a little lost with no direction and after we got changed back into our cold damp clothes we got to view the photos and I was very disappointed. The worst photo was I was standing with a sword across my face. I left after paying the sitting fee. I did think that especially as they were digital photo's she would have been able to check how they were coming out. I felt they were snappier than the photo's I take.

We returned to Story book land and repeated a few of his favourite rides before catching the monorail back to the car.

Other facilities

We did visit a couple of toilet with baby change facilities which were excellent. They had a choice of music and colour changing stars on the ceiling which kept my son occupied.

There was plenty of choice of places to eat, drink. There was a wide selection of shops where the gifts related to the area you were in.
There are free cash points in a couple of areas.

There was a lot of walking but that was why I took his buggy but he also had his harness so he could also walk when he wanted. There was plenty of Places to park buggy although it did mean abandoning it and carrying valuables with you.

Summary

Overall this was a great day out for a toddler and I would happily take him back again.
If you want more information then check out the website www.altontowers.com