There are no shortage of articles about Alton Towers on the internet. It is certainly one of Britain’s premier theme park resorts. Their website has a wealth of information about the park and how accessible their rides are but I got a little confused about the cost of entry for our family.
- Image via Wikipedia
Getting There
On approaching the park in our motor-home some care was necessary due to the narrow road and a number of coaches that had presumably dropped their passengers at the park and were speeding back to base. Sign posting was excellent, so there was no difficulty finding the place.
About half way up the drive is an entrance marked Disabled and Express Parking. There was an attendant waving everybody past.
A flash of the Blue Badge secured a ticket for this car park from the attendant. The ticket is important because it needs to be displayed in the vehicle instead of your Blue Badge.
YOU NEED TO TAKE YOUR BLUE BADGE INTO THE PARK WITH YOU.
Getting In
After parking (loads of room), the next stage is paying for entry. Most people were approaching from the opposite side, so the ramped ‘Disabled’ pay-point didn’t have a queue. Bonus!
Our ‘party’ consists of Mum, Dad (in wheelchair), 9 and 5 year old. The ‘Disabled’ and ‘Carers’ entry fee was half of the adult price – £18 (£36 for adults). Obviously I am disabled and Mum is my carer but they also classed my 9 year old as a carer. We paid the full child rate for my 5 year old – £27. Therefore, we paid a total of £81 instead of £135.
After entering the park you should visit the ‘Customer Services’ office down the slope on the right hand side. This is where you need the Blue Badge. We were given a registration form to sign and in return I was given a red wrist band. My Carers and youngest daughter were given blue wrist bands.
These bands allowed us priority access (jump the queue) to all the rides that I – the disabled person – wanted to go on. This was fantastic because the line for most of the popular rides was between 30 and 60 minutes long. I don’t think we waited for more than 5! If the disabled person is not going on the ride, you need to queue in the usual way.
The downside was that a few of the rides were not accessible to wheelchairs. We were given a booklet and map that contained accessibility information. This, combined with the support of staff around the park, proved to be both accurate and indispensable.
Inside the Park
- Image by rogerbarker2 via Flickr
If you are clear and realistic about what you can and can’t manage, you’ll have a great time!
Getting about the park was manageable for us, but only just. There are no steps other than specific ride access, but I think there probably were steps originally. Some of the slopes are very steep and were a challenge for my very fit carer. There were no rough surfaces to deal with which is a great help but some of the slopes would have been impossible for me to manage alone. Once again, you need to be realistic about your abilities.
Our day was long but very enjoyable. The kids loved it and I had a better time than I had expected. If you are disabled and want to go, check out the website and look at the Accessibility Guide to the rides. It is very accurate so really helps you plan your day.
DON’T FORGET
YOU NEED PROOF OF YOUR DISABLED STATUS. My wheelchair and Blue Badge were enough.
Have Fun!
This article was originally posted on Tintent.com. We visited Alton Towers in the Summer of 2009. Prices quoted were correct at time of writing. I have left them in because they illustrate the generous savings offered to Disabled People by Alton Towers.
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