What are the main problems?

It was clear that there were just too many people in the park, with 70-80+min queues the norm throughout the day. It was obvious that Alton Towers had sold huge amounts of FastTrack tickets meaning the queues were very long meaning the standby queues were moving very slowly because priority was going to FastTrack riders.

The biggest problem though which was actually confirmed to us by the person we spoke to at Guest Services at the end of the day after the nightmare 80 min wait for Galactica and then being told to leave the queue without any FastTrack or token of apology. 

Alton Towers understandably carries out its roller coaster maintenance in the off season so from November to March to avoid extended downtime in the main season. However, the person at Guest Services was not surprised that there had been so many closures during our visit because "rides tend to break down a lot more at the end of the season".

Now, this wouldn't be such a large problem if Alton Towers wasn't running their most popular and busy event right at the end of the season.

Their plan appeared to be let as many people in as possible, sell the absolute maximum amount of FastTrack tickets and don't worry about the consequences when obviously no proper maintenance has been done on the major thrill rides prior to the event. It was very disappointing.

To their credit we were offered £15 tickets to return next season but all those other guests who didn't go to Guest Services to complain will have left with nothing apart from a very bad experience. With Alton Towers generally being considered by most as the best theme park in the UK, it is clear it has a lot to do to ensure this title continues to be theirs.

What does Alton Towers need to do?

Well, this is obvious, after the busy summer season at the beginning of September, when attendance will drop, Alton Towers needs to carry out maintenance on the top thrill rides ensuring they can cope with the busy Scarefest event which this year has run on 7th, 8th & 13th - 31st October. 

Whilst I am sure, some maintenance must have been carried out in September, from our experience on October 23, it was clear that The Smiler, The Wicker Man, Galactica, Spinball Whizzer and Oblivion all needed work so they could run reliably throughout the day.

If the roller coasters had run smoothly the wait times would have been less and guests would not have gone away so disappointed with waiting for 80 mins and then being told to get out of the queue without even having ridden the roller coaster.

Nemesis is set to reopen in March 2024 and we are expecting huge crowds at Alton Towers next year to ride it. We really hope that for Scarefest 2024 Alton Towers can do a lot better in ensuring their line up of top roller coasters run smoothly.

Have you been to Scarefest at Alton Towers this year, we would love to hear your thoughts about your experience. Let us know by leaving us a comment below or on our Facebook page.