zeirdo Posted December 15, 2005 Share Posted December 15, 2005 Hi, (Updated) I am planning a small one week trip end of may, or very early in june. I was hoping you could help me out. Right now it's looking like: - thorpe -chessington + thorpe -drayton - alton tower (2 days) However, i can't find ticketprices anywhere. any help? Also, for the uk members, any park i really should get in there, based on locations? I have one day open. Plus, and i know i'm asking a lot, if you know cheap places to stay near these parks, any suggestions are welcome. This trip was inspired by the coasterguru's that started this site, so their blessing is very warmly welcomed. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SharkTums Posted December 15, 2005 Share Posted December 15, 2005 Ticket Prices are on all of their websites. Are you renting a car or taking public transport? There are so many parks to choose from in the UK it's kind of hard to add one more! www.travelinn.com has decent cheap hotels. have fun! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoasterCrazy Posted December 15, 2005 Share Posted December 15, 2005 ^The ticket prices aren't on all of their web sites! http://www.thorpepark.co.uk/tickets/ticket_prices.asp http://www.chessington.co.uk/tickets/ticket_prices.asp http://www.alton-towers.co.uk/themepark/openingpricing.asp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eyeamthu1 Posted December 15, 2005 Share Posted December 15, 2005 Ticket prices: each park is about £30 per day (just over $50 if my Maths is up to scratch!). Considering you'll be hitting those 3 parks for 4 days, it'd probably be cheaper to buy a Tussauds Annual Pass at £80. This will cover all the entry to those parks. As for other parks... well, I LOVE Oakwood, but that's well out of the way. Drayton Manor is fairly near Alton- it's got a Stand-Up coaster, an X-Car coaster, a couple of decent flats and water rides. That could be worth a look, but it's not amazing. Blackpool is 1hr-90min drive from Alton. Also worth a look perhaps. I'd suggest Drayton over Blackpool, purely because it's on the way between Thorpe and Alton. You have a rental car I presume? (Chessington hasn't got many thrill-rides, but as it's close to Thorpe, you could just do half a day at Chessie and do an extra half day at Thorpe -- especially if you have the Annual Pass). Cheap places to stay. There's Travel-Lodges / Travel Inns-- there's one right outside Chessie I know of. They're fairly cheap. There's Alton's hotel- it's not cheap, but it's convenient and there's an on-site water park, early entry to the park plus many line-cutting bonuses for staying there. Might make your life easier! Or there are small Bed&Breakfasts in Alton Village which are nice-- and you get a quality English Breakfast. Any other questions, gimme a shout! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zeirdo Posted December 15, 2005 Author Share Posted December 15, 2005 Just wanted to thank everyone for responding I will not be using a rental car, only trains, busses and my feet I was wondering whether the anuall pass would end up cheaper, with the addition of chessington it certainly will. Thanks again for the great responses, you've been really helpfull Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidmorton Posted December 16, 2005 Share Posted December 16, 2005 Blackpool is where you want to spend your spare day - no contest! And you can do Alton in a day (midweek, when the schools are not out) easy. Dave. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zeirdo Posted December 16, 2005 Author Share Posted December 16, 2005 Don't kill me, but i never managed to see the appeal of blackpool. It kind of reminds me of a fairground on steroids, no landscaping or theming. Am i wrong? If you say alton could be done on one day, does that mean 5 min queues? Another dumb question, do most parks have single rider lines in the uk? If al goes well, my girlfriend will be a bit too pregnant for coasters and part of the trip will be solo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shockwave Posted December 16, 2005 Share Posted December 16, 2005 If you're going to the parks on weekdays, the queues will generally be dead. Make sure you try and avoid the school holidays though, as the parks get really busy when the kids are out! Thorpe & Chessington have single rider lines, as does Alton Towers. Drayton Manor doesn't, but it's not busy enough to warrant them. Blackpool is an amazing place to visit, so if you have the chance, go there! All those parks can be done in a day, Drayton can probably be done in a few hours on a weekday. The Tussauds Annual Pass would end up cheaper than buying 3 individual tickets for their parks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zeirdo Posted December 16, 2005 Author Share Posted December 16, 2005 When would these school holidays be then? Is it like in belgium, july and august, or are there different periods to avoid? Will try to get blackpool in there if it seems in any way possible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shockwave Posted December 16, 2005 Share Posted December 16, 2005 Try and avoid: Easter - Starting in Late-March through to Mid-April. Term break - Last week of may/first week of June. Summer - From the July 15th onwards to September 10th (approx). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eyeamthu1 Posted December 16, 2005 Share Posted December 16, 2005 Extra help: > Definitely get the Annual Pass! > Using buses, trains etc will be quite difficult, and will certainly be expensive. I've tried on many occasions to use it to get to parks, but it's hard work; it takes a lot of time and money to do it. But it IS possible- but needs careful planning... :? > Blackpool doesn't have much theming; it is just a Pleasure Beach. The rides are really fun though. It might be easier to get to on public transport than Drayton... again, it depends on what you want :? > Single Rider Lines-- all the Tussauds parks have them, on most major rides. They can work really well sometimes, others, they fail miserably. They tend to work pretty well on all the coasters though Those dates to avoid are fairly accurate; however, most of June will be busy. The reason is that a lot of teens and students will have finished exams or be on exam leave- they all go to the parks, assuming it'll be empty. The parks aren't horrendously busy, but don't go assuming that everything will be 5min lines. They'll be nearer 30mins. Try to avoid end of June / early July- lots of school trips go to the parks. Coupled with all the teens/students, lines can be massive. You CAN do Alton in a day, but it is hard to get to by public transport, so to maximise your time there, I'd still go with 2 days, especially if the park is busy. You want to do everything (and re-ride Nemesis 50 times). You COULD do a day and a half at Alton, and the other half day at Drayton... When are you thinking of going, cos that dictates how busy the parks are going to be and how much time you need to spend at each...? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zeirdo Posted December 17, 2005 Author Share Posted December 17, 2005 Well, I was thinking of early june, but based on your reactions, I think i will move the trip to mid may. Or mid june. Current plan: sunday night : bus from ghent to london monday: thorpe tuesday : thorpe and chessington tuesday night : bus to stoke on trent wednesday : drayton (getting there needs planning) thursday & friday : alton fridaynight : busses back to ghent the nightbusses pretty much spell out total selfdestruction, but it's the only way the trip is going to work. I really regret not having my driver's license at this point. Once again, thanks for all the info. It's been really helpfull in planning this trip. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidmorton Posted December 17, 2005 Share Posted December 17, 2005 Tuesday night: bus to Stoke - you do realise Drayton isn't really near Stoke. Tamworth is where you want to be going for Drayton. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ncf Posted December 17, 2005 Share Posted December 17, 2005 I heard that the busses are not a good way to travel in the UK. We used trains and I must say that ALLways ask where to go! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nrthwnd Posted December 17, 2005 Share Posted December 17, 2005 Will try to get blackpool in there if it seems in any way possible. Do try and get to it. To me, w/o even having been there yet, Blackpool feels (and looks like, thru countless books and video programs) like the Big Brother my crappy little Playland Amusement Park would aspire to grow up, and become.... but never does, has, or ever will (it currently seems), darnit. Not much scenery within the park itself to view, but hey - right beside the ocean isn't too shabby, hmm? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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