Alton Towers is one of the UK’s biggest theme parks and there are multiple ways that the park will try draining your wallet (if it’s not by taking your loose articles on the rides) so you end up spending way more on a day out then you need to. Here are some hidden tips not everyone will know that will help you to save money as well as time to make the most out of your day at one of the countries best theme parks. Some of the best tips are saved for the further on you read!
Check CrowdCalendar
If you’re flexible with the day you plan to visit the park, I would first highly suggest using the website Crowd Calendar as it shows accurate crowd predictions for the day you plan to visit as well as average queue times and the crowd level percentage. Another bonus tip is to not just check the date you plan to visit but also the date of visit exactly a year prior as the website updates afterwards to show the exact crowds/percentages to the fullest accuracy.
Always book online in advance BUT NOT direct from the website
Alton Towers always claim that booking your park tickets in advance is the cheapest option however, most of the time you can in fact buy them way cheaper from other sites that always seem to be running ticket promotions such as Cadbury, Kelloggs, and Carex.
A little known secret is that in most cases you don’t have to actually purchase one of these products to get the promotion and can just go to the link on their the webpage and it’ll let you buy a ticket. However, if it does end up asking for a promotional code then the next time you’re in a supermarket just take a photo of the barcode for a product running the promotion as that tends to be what it asks for. It’s worth doing for the big savings you can get.
Another note – It’s worth checking the different promotions each time you visit as due to park tickets working on a dynamic pricing system, it may turn out to be cheaper to buy from a different one. Attached below is a table showing the difference in cost for a 1-day ticket for 1 person buying direct from the park compared to one of the multiple promotions that they frequently run.
| Ticket Seller | On-the-day price | Online in advance price |
| Alton Towers (Direct) | £68 | £32 |
| Cadbury | £68 | £15 |
| Kelloggs | £68 | £23 |
| Carex | £68 | £27.20 |
Use Student or Blue Light Card Discount
If you are eligible, it might also be worth checking student discount or Blue Light Card discount for park tickets as they may end up cheaper than the other promotional deals listed above and can be used all-year round. It’s worth checking both main student discount websites Student Beans and UNiDAYS as sometimes they can be cheaper than the other.
| Ticket Seller | On-the-day price | Online in advance price |
| Alton Towers (Direct) | £68 | £32 |
| Student Beans | £68 | £24 |
| UNiDAYS | £68 | £24.50 |
| Blue Light Card | £68 | £27.50 |
Don’t Buy Food On Park
Food on park can be VERY pricey and poor quality nowadays so I would advise away from buying food on park and instead stock up beforehand from a supermarket like Tesco/Sainsburys. The park doesn’t enforce any rules on bringing your own snacks/drinks into the park so you’re completely allowed to bring in a Tesco Meal Deal for £3.95 (currently), which will save you a load from buying lunch in the park. You can even get ice-creams and a Krispy Kreme doughnut now with Tesco so use this to your advantage!
And if you do buy food…
A Theme Park Saver tip which I’ve used in the past is to purchase a kids meal at the on-site quick service restaurants instead of the full adult meal as it’s more value for money. Take a look at these images taken from Just Chicken at Alton Towers which show the difference between them where the kids meal is surprisingly enough to fill you up and significantly cheaper in price. You get 5 tenders with the adult meal whilst 3 with the kids where they also both include the same portion of fries and a drink saving you almost £7 by buying the kids one. Except with this one you either get just water or a Capri-Sun if you’d rather a bonus nostalgia blast.
Merlin Annual Passholder Special Discounts
If you happen to be the owner of a Merlin Annual Pass, most Merlin parks in the country offer discounted food/deals which can be seen on a board at the entrance or near some of the main food kiosks. Alton Towers tend to alternate theirs around the year but this is the latest deals board that I could find.
Don’t Buy Water On Park
Don’t be fooled into buying bottles of Smartwater on park for £3+ as there are plenty of free refillable drinking stations that you can top up from throughout the day. Another bonus tip is if you find any Coca-Cola Freestyle machines around the park you can dispense free ice cubes from them to put into your drink on a hot day to cool you down! You used to be able to dispense free water from these too but I believe they no longer do this.
Get food/shop discount on park
Merlin Annual Passholders get a 20% discount on most food and shop purchases on park however in some cases, you don’t need a pass entirely to get this discount. When ordering from a self-serve machine in one of their restaurants, at checkout when it asks to apply an annual pass to get a discount, you can manually enter in any number and it should grant you 20% off your meal! This is because it appears that Merlin don’t link their tills to a database with annual pass numbers on which is why this works and there is also no minimum spend for this either.
This can also be done at manned tills such as Towers Trading Co. or Generator in Forbidden Valley where by asking if they accept MAP discount they will press a button on the till to give you 20% off. But use with caution though as they may ask to scan your pass to or stop this loophole at any time. I accept no liability if you choose to do this so do so at your own risk!
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