Alton Towers Resort Reviews 1,033

Such a bad experience.
Queues are too long because too many people are admitted. Just pure greed. Don't go!!!

What totally ruins the day. Is the ridiculous waiting times for some of the rides
Just look at the reviews. If that was my business I'd genuinely be disappointed with myself.

Genuinely disappointed at the team. Raised a query by calling the Merlin pass team with a view to upgrading our tickets to Merlin annual passes for 5 people on the 19th of June. They logged a case and promised someone will get back into touch. Got an automated email response acknowledging the case created. Have had two non-committal emails back since.

It’s been a month now and I have been passed from Pillar to post and now they have even stopped replying. Really disappointed at the level of service. Genuinely expected better from an organisation of this size.

Definetly wouldn’t do yous any harm to hire security companies to help improve customer experiences especially with the queues for rides due to the amount of queue jumping

This is specifically about the coffee offering on the main street by the entrance. There are thousands of coffee shops all over the UK with successful models, so I am curious about how they managed to get this so wrong. First, there are ordering screens by the door. This means the doors are clogged with people, and there is no obvious queuing system (a stressor for Brits). Then, once you have navigated the screens, you wait in a huddle in a very cramped area for your number to be shouted out by the baristas. There is a screen showing what's ready, but this wasn't being used. The baristas have to shout due to the excessively loud music being played in the cafe. The seating is also inadequate for the number of visitors. Another problem is that if you require plant milk, this has to be ordered at the counter as it's not on the screens. To order a tea, for example, with plant milk, you have to order a black tea from the screens, then ask for plant milk at the counter. If you don't know this, it means a trip back to the screens. I was not the first person to just walk away from this chaos.

The queues were way too long, 2 hours for one ride is ridiculous. Too many people admitted to the park and it was completely overrun by school parties. Fast Track tickets extortionate and not an option when there are 6 of you. The rides are amazing but so frustrating to be taking home disappointed teenagers who only got on 3 big rides because of the queue times. Rides kept randomly being closed down which was also annoying. This could have been such a fantastic day but I don’t feel we got value for money at all. Yes there are a few other rides/ experiences but our teens were only interested in the big ones - isn’t that what everyone wants .. to ride the rides you have seen advertised and heard so much about?? Goodness knows what the place would be like peak season in summer holidays?? Don’t think we will be back just too expensive and no fun at all spending most of the time stuck in queues in the heat.

I only got on 3 rides with ride access! A new stupid rule, 11/2 hours after a ride! Joke. stuck in the smiler queue for 40 mins because it broke down went up to the gate and it was shut on us finaly let us out of the queue and went to spin ball wizzer went to the queue and wouldn’t let us in due to the 1 and 30 mins rule and said it had to be crossed out by the person that did it who wasn’t there. You need to get your act together. When we entered the park half my schools passes didn’t even work. I usually love this park as I love roller coasters

Honeslty id love to ask who is actually managing this place and when will they move on to pass the place to a company or individual that actually cares about the park and most importantly guest experience? We only live 25 mins away from the resort and as such brought a season pass as we have done so for a few years now however I do question as to why we bother even more so after today's visit to the themepark (12th July). There's no magic around the place what so ever! You walk up to the main gates and your greated by tents of security which yes there needs to be some safety etc but when not implement built in metal detectors etc and should they activate may e conduct a bag search but this really is the start of the it.

The park used to be buzzing with interaction from the minute you entered the park, staff used to smile etc but that appears to be long gone. Staff appeared to be very unhappy granted it was a hot day but still leafing and joking with each other just not with guests. What happened to if you see a guest taking a photo offer to take it for them or something as basic as that like they used to? What happened to the entertainment? The park feels very dead and feels worse than a travelling fair that actually has more going on than Alton Towers did today.

This park used to be amazing but its very clear to see that its struggling and being run into the ground and its very much feels thats its a money grabbing exercise right now rather than a magical experience like it used to be.

I would like to also point out that we did experience some discrimination today from a host called George from the Smile ride team. The way in which he spoke to my 14 year old daughter as she attempted to join the queue with her RAP pass was appalling! My daughter has underlying neuro-diverse conditions and the way in which he spoke to her in front of other guests was triggering for her and very much upset her quite visibly. This is under no circumstances acceptable and clearly the ride staff need some training on disability and how to behave around those not so clear disabilities.

Honeslty Merlin / vice president this was by far my worst visit in recent years to the resort. No doubt no one will actually care but hey its worth sharing this. My advise to families is visit else where such as Blackpool Pleasure Beach who don't discriminate toward disability and they still have entertainment!

Customer service poor. Charged twice for a meal due to their card machine going down. No appolgy to begin with. Spent that evening and the next morning to try to resolve the issue. Promised their first transaction had not been charged and would fall off pending transactions. They then decided to issue a refund as a gesture of goodwill - to which has not went through and both charges for meal have now been full charged to my bank.
Terrible lasting impression of a holiday. I have emailed this morning to follow up to be told it will be up to 14 days for a reply. I'm frustrated that this business does not see it as a priority that your customers have been left out of pocket due to your systems and lack of team training - with no resolution and them having to waste more of their time pushing to get their well earned money back.

I go there 2–3 times a year and every time it is worse. We felt the staff had to make a fake crowd so it looked like many people were waiting. On rides they sent empty seats so we had to wait 110 minutes for our turn. The food was bad: £11 for hot dogs or dry burgers. Rides were closing and opening because of “problems” (people were still in line but you could not join). The place wants to get money for fast track more than give good fun. Sad, but maybe it is time to find another place for a family trip because it will only get worse here.

Utterly Disappointing Day Out, Poor Rides, Poor Service, Poor Resolution

I’m genuinely upset to be writing this review, but our recent visit to Alton Towers was an absolute shambles from start to finish and their “customer service” since has only made it worse.

We visited as a group of four adults, excited for a full day of fun. Instead, we got anything but. When we arrived, we discovered that Rita, Th13teen, and Wicker Man were all shut, with no clear explanation or apology. This alone severely limited what we could do.

In nearly six hours (10:30am–4:00pm) we managed to go on only three rides, one of which (The Smiler) we were forced to pay an extra £12 each for Fast Track tickets just to guarantee we could actually get on something. The queues for everything else were ridiculous and made worse by constant breakdowns.

For example, we queued for 70 minutes for Nemesis, then were told they were adding an extra cart to make it quicker, only to wait another 15–20 minutes to be told it was broken and shut altogether. To add insult to injury, we queued for Spinball Whizzer for 40+ minutes, got all the way to the very front, and then it was closed due to a fault. By this point, our day was completely ruined.

Basic facilities were also poor, we tried 4 or 5 vending machines on the way out and they were all broken. And just to top it off, the monorail wasn’t working either, so we left tired, angry, and completely disheartened.

When we raised a complaint, we received a generic apology and an offer for discounted tickets at £20 each to come back again. After explaining that this was completely inadequate (why would we want to pay more to gamble on another day being better?), they responded to say they would not amend this offer further.

So not only did we pay a lot for a wasted day out, but we’ve basically been told “take it or leave it” in terms of any kind of resolution. No meaningful gesture of goodwill, no real attempt to put things right, just more money they want from us.

Alton Towers markets itself as the UK’s top theme park, but sadly our experience was far from magical or memorable. I strongly urge anyone thinking about visiting to be aware that you could end up spending a small fortune to stand in queues for hours and get on next to nothing, and if you dare complain, don’t expect any real customer care afterwards.

We couldn’t be more disappointed. It is a shadow of its former glory. We certainly won’t be returning.

Amazing staff! Couldn’t have been more of a help i recently got a nimbus card and didn’t know I had to prebook the access pass and they were at full capacity… but after me explaining about my disability they were happy to oblige after checking with the manager …. I was given a access pass so I didn’t have to stand in the huge queue’s , then second problem I had 4 children with me but the pass only allows 3 other people to get on the access pass with you … which meant one child would have had to wait in the long line alone …. But again they as a one off let me have the pass for 5 of us … the lady Emily who helped us was amazing thank you and the beautiful girl with the blonde hair who helped was amazing to sorry I didn’t catch her name …. All in all they made my really hard day slightly better thank you very much …. I now have my id card which lasts for 3 years and will definitely be returning ! Only downfall the mobility scooters was a little steep £50 but you get 25 back at the end of the day which isn’t to bad .. but as I didn’t know about this hadn’t budgeted £50 so it was a real real hard day the place is huge the pass helped me on the rides but the walk to the rides has left me in tears unable to move ( not Alton towers fault) but will budget for it next time for sure! …. The rides: it was a little struggle as 2 children measured the 1.4m needed for the big rides and 2 was just and so to small , I felt a little bad as there wasn’t loads for the smaller ones ( that we managed to find ) so had arguments between the 2 pairs lol …. Prices of drinks and food was very VERY expensive £3.50 for a bottle of water 🙈 please try and lower prices even slightly on the bottles of water BUT there was water refill stations which is amazing we found them late in the day … all in all would definitely recommend Alton towers but take some snacks and drinks and jobs a goodun

We went yesterday and tbf i love all the big rides but the queues were just ridiculous 100 mins at some point and they kept breaking down ,
Prices,, well it's crazy over priced, £12 for parking, £10.30 for a dried up hot dog which at best is worth a £1 .
I love the rides i managed to get on but overall VERY DISAPPOINTED.

Firstly, there is no organisation at all when it comes to queuing and putting your bags away for example on Wicker-man. People just push each other to put their stuff away and the staff just shove as many people as you can into the room where the Wicker-man story is told. I waited 2 and a half hours for this ride, got to the front and then there was a delay it was an absolute waste of time!
Secondly, while queuing and when you get close to the ride it gets quite claustrophobic like in Thirteen and Wicker-man and the air feels suffocating. Staff just tell as many people as they can to get to the top but there is still a waiting time so they need to calm down.
I also think that they should limit the amount of people entering per day. This means that queues won’t be as long and you will get to enjoy the park. Waiting in the line for hours and then going on a 1 minute ride is absolutely ridiculous I mean at least make the ride go round a second time.
Also the fast track is a waste of money because the bronze fast track only allows you to go on 4 rides which is priced at £35 and it isn’t even the good rides aswell. The platinum fast track is priced at “only” £135 per person and both passes cost even more than a single ticket alone.
Alton towers should really consider their prices and the amount of people entering if they want customers to have an enjoyable experience

Worst funfair, they let too many people most good rides are 1 hour and 20 minutes standing in hot weather or closed wicket man and rita and oblivion closed today yet still paid full price . If I didnt have kids I would never ever go . I would never go again.

We stayed in the Alton Towers Resort Hotel, which was initially relatively cheap for four adults. On arrival, the first room was unsuitable with a small pull-out child’s bed under the single bed. We raised this with reception as we had booked a room with a double and bunk beds. The response was the booking showed a room that “you could have” and not necessarily what you will have. We paid an extra £13 to move to a room with bunks that fortunately also had aircon.

The hotel bar was filthy and pricey. The floors were very sticky, like 1980’s nightclub sticky-floor sticky, the glasses were filthy and cloudy, the tables were filthy. £8 for a pint, £13.50 for a cocktail (drinks were good, if pricey).

The hotel restaurant was a farce. Run by kids working their first jobs. Our drinks order was taken and the wrong drinks delivered. Our food order was taken and the wrong food delivered. Took 40 mins for one course to be delivered. Pricey food £20.50 for a bowl of pasta, £34 for a sirloin (extra £4 for peppercorn sauce and £5 for onion rings). The food was warm but not hot and below average. Desserts were delivered to the table, despite not ordering any. They all appeared on our bill though, which took a long time for the staff to correct! Very close to walking out.

Breakfast was cheap-hotel, left on the hot plate too long food. Tables dirty, cutlery dirty, floors filthy.

The hotel was tired needing a deep clean, some paint and some maintenance.

If we were planning this again, we’d eat before arrival and bring our own booze, some cards and entertain ourselves.

The park itself was very tired, everything needs a clean and some paint. Despite being out of school hols and a cold, rainy day, the queues were all 1hr +. More when broken rides were taken into account. Every major ride was closed at some point, some multiple times, a few when we were queuing for them. The rides were fun, just 5 hours plus queuing for 2.5 minutes total ride experience…

Food at the park, don’t get me started. £13.50 for a frankfurter hot dog with some cold crispy onions and a squirt of Tommy-K. The franfurters were microwaved, so inedible as they were then nuke-hot and dripping grease. They should be grilled as the display photos suggested. Disgusting. Water was £3.50 per bottle. Food and drinks from the machines, £4 for a bag of sweets, £3.60 for a 500ml bottle of coke.

Overall, with diesel from S Wales and food, the visit cost the four of us £660. We’ve done the full-on Florida Disney for a fortnight for £20k, which represents far better value.

Alton Towers used to be fun - it’s just not the value that it was in the past. Sadly, I won’t be back.

Alton towers is such a scam, I honestly don’t know how they get away with it, spent most of the day stood in queues managed to go on 2 big rides the entire day, the place was full of coach loads of school trip kids, it was just awful, really really awful, such a rip off never ever again

We recently stayed at the Alton Towers 22/06/2025 Hotel for one night and visited the theme park the following day. Unfortunately, while there were some highlights, our overall experience left us disappointed.

Starting with the Alton Towers Hotel, we want to sincerely commend the staff—they were absolutely amazing. From check-in to check-out, they were polite, welcoming, and couldn’t do enough to help. It’s a shame, however, that our room (Room 368) had a significant issue that negatively affected our stay. The air conditioning unit was leaking badly, soaking the carpet from the wall all the way past the bed by about three feet, making it nearly impossible to move around without getting our feet wet. The room also had a noticeable damp smell due to the soaked carpet.

We reported this to Guest Services, who said they would look into it and get back to us. While someone did come to inspect the issue, no one followed up, and we were not offered a room change or any solution—which we feel was due to the fact we were only staying one night. Regardless, that kind of response is not what anyone should expect from a resort like Alton Towers.

On a positive note, the restaurant at the hotel was lovely, and again, the staff were friendly and attentive, which we greatly appreciated.

Moving on to the Alton Towers Theme Park, this was unfortunately a letdown. A number of the main rides were either out of service due to maintenance or broke down during the day, which significantly impacted the experience. Even more concerning was the attitude of some of the staff at the park—many were rude, disinterested, and more focused on chatting among themselves than helping guests.

One particular incident on the Wicker Man ride stood out as deeply unpleasant. A young male staff member confronted me aggressively, wrongly accusing me of filming on the ride. I showed him my phone to prove otherwise, but the tone and manner in which he spoke to me bordered on verbal assault. It was humiliating and completely unnecessary, and it seriously affected how safe and welcome we felt in the park. If there were a way to give zero stars for that interaction, we would.

In summary, while the hotel staff were truly wonderful and the restaurant was enjoyable, the lack of follow-up on our room issue and the poor customer service in the park left a lasting negative impression. Sadly, we expected more from a resort of this reputation and price point. We did go back into the park to use the final day of our two day ticket but it was a massive disappointment the let down was complete. It had been 33 years since I was last there and I had cherished memories of my teenage years and I wished to give my 9 year old some the same experience but my god you have destroyed those memories for me although I managed to keep all this in for my child’s sake so he would still have an amazing time .

seriously
They want the school to complain
My 12 yrs old went on school trip
After visiting
He calls it Alton waiting a long time to see broken rides towers
Asked if we should visit he says had more fun stuck in M6 traffic on returning

Not worth the one star to be honest, quick to take your money on the outside that's because if you knew what was waiting you wouldn't have gone, well over half the rides were not running "nothing new there then".
My daughter has a disability but when we asked for the disability armband they said no because they were fully booked, strange because the disability car park was only half full when we left at 12-30.
So we were refused a disability armband but there was no limit to selling fast track tickets.
Alton towers you need to sort out the stopped for maintenance before someone is seriously injured. Anyway we did manage to go on two rides,ghost ride and hex, for this we paid £25 per ride.
You have been warned