Alton Towers wait times
Opens 10:00 · Closes 16:00
Queues right now
Updated:
- Wicker Man45min
- The Smiler35min
- Galactica25min
- Oblivion25min
- Spinball Whizzer20min
- TH13TEEN20min
- Hex - The Legend of the Towers15min
- Nemesis Reborn15min
- Octonauts Rollercoaster Adventure15min
- Go Jetters Vroomster Zoom Ride10min
- In The Night Garden Magical Boat Ride10min
- Nemesis Sub-Terra10min
- Bugbie-Go-Round5min
- Get Set Go Tree Top Adventure5min
- Heave Ho5min
- JoJo & Gran Gran At Home5min
- Justin's House Pie-O-Matic Factory5min
- Marauder's Mayhem5min
- Monorail to Entrance Plaza5min
- Monorail to Hotels & Car Parks5min
- Peter Rabbit Hippity Hop5min
- Runaway Mine Train5min
- Sharkbait Reef by SEA LIFE5min
- Skyride to Dark Forest (From Forbidden Valley)5min
- Skyride to Forbidden Valley (from Dark Forest)5min
- Skyride to Forbidden Valley (from Towers St.)5min
- Skyride to Towers St. (From Forbidden Valley)5min
- The Curse at Alton Manor5min
- The Gardens5min
- Toxicator5min
- Hey Duggee’s Big Adventure Badge0min
- The Furchester Hotel Live Show0min
- Altonville Mine Tours: Tiny's RevengeClosed
- Amigos in the AfterlifeClosed
- Bluey the Ride: Here Come The Grannies!Closed
- Burial GroundsClosed
- CompoundClosed
- Cuckoo Cars Driving SchoolClosed
- Dark HollowClosed
- Edge of the ForestClosed
- Final ExhibitClosed
- Gangsta Granny: The RideClosed
- Raj’s Bouncy Bottom BurpClosed
- RitaClosed
- The Royal CarouselClosed
- Trick O' Treat TownClosed
When the queues are shortest
Average wait across the 10 rides with the longest queues, hour by hour, over the last 30 days
See the hour-by-hour data
| Time | Wait |
|---|---|
| 10:00 | 17 min |
| 11:00 | 29 min |
| 12:00 | 33 min |
| 13:00 | 31 min |
| 14:00 | 30 min |
| 15:00 | 28 min |
| 16:00 | 37 min |
| 17:00 | 42 min |
| 18:00 | 40 min |
| 19:00 | 34 min |
| 20:00 | 25 min |
Ride by ride
Each ride’s quietest hour and the one to avoid
| Ride | Average | Best time | Peak time |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Smiler | 41 min | 10:0029 min | 17:0059 min |
| Rita | 37 min | 10:0011 min | 12:0046 min |
| Wicker Man | 37 min | 10:0028 min | 19:0058 min |
| Galactica | 33 min | 10:0016 min | 17:0051 min |
| Nemesis Reborn | 30 min | 10:0012 min | 17:0039 min |
| TH13TEEN | 29 min | 10:0011 min | 17:0050 min |
| Spinball Whizzer | 29 min | 20:0015 min | 17:0042 min |
| Oblivion | 23 min | 20:0010 min | 17:0028 min |
| Bluey the Ride: Here Come The Grannies! | 20 min | 10:0017 min | 16:0030 min |
| Gangsta Granny: The Ride | 19 min | 11:008 min | 14:0023 min |
Calculated by WaitDrop from 21,984 wait-time readings recorded every 5 minutes (September 13 – October 13). Park local time, within its opening hours.
Crowd forecast
Next 7 days
Best days to visit
The quietest days left this month at Alton Towers
Days to avoid
About Alton Towers
Alton Towers Resort is the UK's largest theme park, set in the Staffordshire countryside around the ruins of a 19th-century country house that gives the park its name. It is best known for its roller coaster collection, several of which were world firsts, and for building rides into the landscape — a legacy of local planning rules that limited how high structures could rise above the treeline.
Which rides get the longest queues
Nemesis Reborn, the inverted coaster carved into a pit in Forbidden Valley, is the park's signature ride and draws queues all day. Wicker Man, the wooden coaster with its burning centrepiece, and Galactica, the flying coaster, also build long waits. The Smiler, with its record fourteen inversions, has limited throughput that makes its queue one of the slowest-moving in the park. Oblivion, the vertical drop coaster, stays busy through the afternoon.
How to avoid the queues
- The park sprawls and the walk from the entrance to Forbidden Valley is long — head there first while most visitors are still near the front.
- Ride The Smiler early: its low capacity means the queue rarely shrinks once it forms.
- The last hour before close is consistently the quietest time for the big coasters.
- Check live waits before crossing the park; the walk between areas is genuinely time-consuming.
- Midweek visits outside English school holidays are dramatically quieter than weekends.
Frequently asked questions
How long are the waits at Alton Towers?
On busy summer weekends the headline coasters regularly exceed an hour. Midweek outside school holidays most rides sit at 20-40 minutes. The live waits on this page show the real figure at any moment.
Is Fastrack worth it at Alton Towers?
On peak days it can save a lot of queueing on the busiest coasters, but it is priced per ride and per time slot. On a quiet midweek day, arriving at opening and planning your route usually makes it unnecessary.
When is Alton Towers open?
The park runs a main season from around March to early November, plus Scarefest around Halloween and a Christmas season. It closes over winter. Opening hours vary considerably by date.
What is the best day to visit Alton Towers?
Tuesdays to Thursdays outside English school holidays are the quietest. Weekends, bank holidays and the summer holidays are by far the busiest periods.
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