8 hours of expensive queuing - Went 1/11/25 Great Rides, well themed, lovely gardens BUT 5 hrs travelling, 7-8 hours of queuing, 4 rides (about 15m total ride time) , £78 entry for 2+ £12 parking. Never again

Fastpass is no longer optional 😢 - My 13 year old daughter spent 8 hours in the park yesterday (28th September) with our local youth centre arriving at midday and leaving at 8 pm as part of the spooky spectacular. She absolutely loves the fast rides and has visited Alton towers around 6 or 7 times. She got on to 4 rides yesterday. In 8 hours!!!!!!! Many rides were closed due to winds (4 of the big ones) throughout the day which of course led to huge queues everywhere. Smiler was 2 hours all day which prevented her being able to go on it (it’s her favourite ride). Fast passes now seem to be a necessity rather than a nice to have but are at a prohibitive price and I do think it’s shameful that it’s basically now a waste of time going to Alton Towers (if you like fast rides) in school holidays unless you’re able to double the amount you spend (around £200 each) for a ticket and fast pass. There should be at least one ride in your entrance ticket that lets you ride once without a 2 hour queue. It’s so sad as it’s punishing kids in the school holidays and parents who just can’t afford this scandalous amount of money that you pay on top of an entrance ticket.

Overcrowded and unsafe - Pirate takeover with a 4 yr old and a 2 yr old. Stayed at splash landings. Everything about the trip was overcrowded. Couldnt view the entertainment in the hotel and the theme park because of crowds. Could not go on rides because of huge waiting times. Did not feel safe with little ones at all. Rollercoaster restaurant closed. Monorail not working so a half an hour walk just to get the the park. Would NOT recommend

Now Neuro-divergent unfriendly - As a parent of a child with Autism, DCD, OCD and huge sensory challenges, yet again we find an organisation deciding to downgrade and discriminate against children who are not "disabled enough" or disabled in the "right way". Autism and sensory issues are hard. They are hard on the person with them, they are hard on those who care for them. Navigating a neuro-typical world when neuro-divergent is tiring, expensive and difficult. There are extra medical costs, having to constantly explain, battles with govt department just to get basic needs met - the list goes on. For goodness sake - budget airlines provide fast track through airports and assistance - this puts Merlin Group and Alton Towers below them in levels of decency and caring for neuro-divergent paying guests. This is not a case of Neuro-divergent vs those with physical disabilities as the PR team have tried to spin - it is down to costs and cost cutting and maximising shareholder profit at the expense of the vulnerable customer base. As a previous regular visitor to the park - both as a child myself and as a parent of children, I will not be going back. Its a shame when companies put costs above those with special needs. Shame on you Merlin and Alton Towers.

Disappointed by change in welcome for those with ADHD - Really disappointed by the proposed changes to the ride access system. Not all disabilities are visible. Such a shame that the experience of visitors with ADHD will now be very different (if in fact they go at all)

Not inclusive - We have been loyal visitors and Merlin Gold Pass holders for many years, but sadly the recent changes to the Ride Access Pass (RAP) system mean we can no longer visit. I have two neurodivergent children whose disabilities make queueing in busy, noisy, unpredictable environments impossible. This is not about convenience or preference, prolonged queueing causes extreme distress, meltdowns, physical illness, and in some cases self-harm behaviours. Under the previous RAP system, reasonable adjustments were in place that allowed them to access rides safely and with dignity. The new system removes recognition of “difficulty with crowds” and instead promotes things like pre-visit videos, sensory bags, and sensory rooms. While these may help some families, they do not address the core issue. A sensory room cannot help a child who is already in meltdown in a queue. Reactive support does not replace preventative reasonable adjustments. As a result, Alton Towers is no longer accessible to our family. Equality is not about treating everyone the same; it is about making adjustments so disabled people are not placed at a substantial disadvantage. Unfortunately, the current approach excludes many neurodivergent children with invisible disabilities. It is incredibly disappointing to feel pushed out after years of loyalty and careful planning around quieter days and shorter visits. We have now taken our custom elsewhere, not by choice, but because access has been removed. I hope Alton Towers and Merlin take time to listen to neurodivergent families and reconsider a system that worked, rather than replacing it with one that looks inclusive on paper but fails in reality

Shadow of its former self - I used to be a pass holder for years between 2005 - 2015. This was my first visit back since the cheap fairground era of Covid, and boy the park is suffering. It’s like no maintenance has been done to the look of the park in years. Can’t go in the towers anymore, anyone heard of a jet washer? Now living 2 hours away I wouldn’t consider visiting again with the super short opening hours, it doesn’t offer value for money. The food price is very high and the quality is appalling. Bring your own food. The sky ride looks like it’s come out of a skip. The biggest shame is the gardens, they were gorgeous, now they look like they’ve pruned the budget. Nemesis looks fantastic and it was great to see sub-terra re-open. X-Sector looks pretty run down. Management need to either be replaced or Merlin need to sell the park to a company that wants to invest and make Alton Towers world famous again. Maybe go to Paultons Park and see what a theme park should be in the UK in 2025. Sad to see the state of this park, value for money was poor and we left feeling pretty dissatisfied.

Disability discrimination !!!ride access is a complete unfair system you need to sort it out - It's near impossible to get a ride access ticket I have booked 2 mths ago and not manage to get ride access and I check daily. We should be visiting tomorrow and I now have to let the children down. The next weekend available ride access is June and my pass runs out July it's an absolute joke. We visited in Sept and couldn't get a pass to had to go home. I had to take my child out of school so I could get a pass as its pretty much the only time they are available. Customer service and live chat is a farse.

Please Read before going! - Decided last minute to visit Alton Towers with family. Booked tickets on Monday 27th and visited on Tuesday 28th October. Set off from Bury with a stop off in Bolton at 7:30am. Arrived 2 miles from the park at 10:10am. We then spent 1.5 hours waiting to queuing traffic to get to the park. All roads leading to the park were gridlocked. When we were parked it was on the overflow car park. £24 to be put on a field. Also to point out that no tickets were checked when leaving the park in the evening. As we were going back to the cars staff were advising is to put our hazard lights on if we were stuck in mud.. On entering we waited over 1hr to go on Spinball Wizard. All the little games that they have in the queue with the balls that shoot round no longer work. At this point we noticed that Rita, Smiler , Oblivion , Galactica and Wicker man were all listed as closed on the app. 12:30ish. The option to go fast track was not available on this ride until 2:45! We walked over to the run away mine train which was queuing round past the pizza restaurant. The option to break off for dinner at the pizza place was off the table as that too was queuing past that queue for the mine train. At that point I left 6 members off the family queuing for Nemesis reborn while me and my 6 year old went to the CBB Land. After 2 hours the family were still waiting in the Nemesis line. I went to customer service to speak to a manager. At first 3 members of staff asked me to fill a form in. I politely asked to speak to a member of management to feedback my frustration. I spoke with guest relations manager Sam who was really polite but actually unhelpful. I asked if he thought it was ok to be here at 3:22pm and only been on 1 ride. He said that it was a busy period and that they were open till 9pm. He said that all ride times are advertised on the app. I explained that most of the top ones were closed which was pushing the queue times in the others through the roof. The app at this point was only listing next day as an option for fast pass. He said he would take my details and pass it on and somebody would be in contact. Very frustrating. I could have gone to Blackpool if I wanted to waiting in a two mile traffic and at least seen the lights and been a few hundred pounds better off. We had a lovely time with the family and in the end that’s what counts I suppose. I just have a bad taste in my mouth when I feel like I have been ripped off. Alton Towers are taking hard earned money from people when the can’t facilitate them. No ride should be closed. Its peak holiday time. It’s unacceptable to have that many people in one place and not to facilitate them. It must be bad when even the upgrade to fast track is off the table. My advise would be to set off early if you have already booked and be accounting for a 1.5 hour wait to get in. Be prepared to stop the whole day and hope that the rides are all working. I must add that I buy into Alton Towers and we have had annual gold passes for myself and my son for 2 years. The staff on the whole are always really nice and the quality of food etc and variety is good. The amount of people in the place today was not fare game and for that I feel really let down. Have a day in Blackpool and come back when it’s not school holidays. Lesson learnt!!!! 🤨

Merlin Entertainments and Alton Towers cannot run a theme park park - First 5 hours in park, could only do 1 ride. 2 hour queues minimum and 2 broken rides that we didn’t get to ride. Alton Towers and Merlin Entertainments are the abysmal, a disgrace to the British entertainment industry. In addition. Hot dogs are £15, not fancy ones. Shows are charged extra on top of entrance fee, parking is charged despite not having any other real means to get here. Alton Towers is so far beyond a rip off, extracting large amounts of money yet not providing a service. They really should be investigated and licences removed if they can’t run a theme park with at least something resembling competency. Note we have visited 3 years in a row and each year is the same if not gradually declining.