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Alton Towers
vs
Pleasurewood Hills

On a typical day Pleasurewood Hills queues less: about 8 minutes a ride against 20 at Alton Towers, a difference of roughly 12 minutes on every queue you join.

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01 · On a typical day

What you would normally queue.

Averages across recent weeks, so one broken ride or one wet Tuesday cannot decide it. This is the comparison to plan a trip on; the live figures below are the one to act on today.

Alton Towers and Pleasurewood Hills compared on their typical recorded queue times
TypicallyAlton TowersUnited KingdomPleasurewood HillsUnited Kingdom
Average wait per ride 20 min8 min (best of the two)
Rides with recorded waits 40 (best of the two)24
Longest typical queue Wicker Man49 minWater Fun Factory23 min
Shortest typical queue The Royal Carousel5 minWoody's Wheel5 min
Average ride uptime Share of opening hours a ride is running78%93% (best of the two)

Averaged across every ride at each park with recorded waits. A ride that never opened is left out, so a park is not flattered by counting a shut ride as a queue of zero.

02 · Right now

Both parks, this minute.

Live queue times at both parks. These fill in as soon as the page loads, and keep updating while you are here.

Alton Towers and Pleasurewood Hills compared on live queue times
Right nowAlton TowersUnited KingdomPleasurewood HillsUnited Kingdom
Average wait right now --
Rides open --
Opening hours today --
Longest queue --
Shortest queue --

These keep refreshing while this page is open. A closed park posts no waits, so its rows read as dashes rather than zeroes.

Verdict, on a typical day On a typical day Pleasurewood Hills queues less: about 8 minutes a ride against 20 at Alton Towers, a difference of roughly 12 minutes on every queue you join.

03 · Choosing

Which one is your day out.

Every line here is earned by one of the figures above - nothing is a generic sentence with a park name dropped into it.

Pick Alton Towers if…

  • You will accept a longer queue - 20 minutes a ride here against 8 at Pleasurewood Hills - for what Alton Towers has that Pleasurewood Hills does not
  • You want more to do: 40 rides here have recorded wait data against 24 at Pleasurewood Hills
  • Wicker Man is on your list - it is Alton Towers's longest typical queue at about 49 minutes, so it is the one to do first
  • You want Alton Towers's own character - the rides, theming and atmosphere described below

Pick Pleasurewood Hills if…

  • You want shorter queues: Pleasurewood Hills averages 8 minutes a ride against 20 at Alton Towers
  • You would rather not find rides shut: Pleasurewood Hills's rides run 93% of opening hours against 78% at Alton Towers
  • Water Fun Factory is on your list - it is Pleasurewood Hills's longest typical queue at about 23 minutes, so it is the one to do first
  • You want Pleasurewood Hills's own character - the rides, theming and atmosphere described below

04 · The parks

What each one is.

Alton Towers

Alton Towers is the UK's largest theme park, set in 910 acres of Staffordshire woodland surrounding a gothic country house. The ride line-up is unusually varied: Nemesis and Oblivion pioneered inverted and vertical-drop coasters in Europe, Wicker Man brought a major wooden coaster back to Britain, and Galactica, Smiler and Rita cover everything from flying to 14-inversion thrills. The park also has two full hotels and a Waterpark on site.

Because the park sits in a rural valley with limited paths and only a few coaster duplicates, queue times build quickly on busy days. Use our crowd calendar to pick a quieter Tuesday or Wednesday, and check live wait times in the morning to plan your route - the north side (Galactica, Smiler) often stays quieter than Forbidden Valley early on.

Alton Towers live queue times

Pleasurewood Hills

Pleasurewood Hills is a family theme park in Lowestoft, Suffolk, on the Norfolk-Suffolk border. It's a small but well-regarded regional park with a mix of family and thrill rides: Wipeout boomerang coaster, Marble Madness indoor spinning coaster, Rage double-launch coaster, and a large Pirate Ship swing ride. The park sits on 50 acres of mixed woodland and open field.

Pleasurewood Hills' season runs roughly Easter to late October, with school holidays and UK summer weekends driving peak crowds. Weekdays in May, June and September are usually very relaxed. Check live queue times for Rage and Wipeout on arrival, and use our crowd calendar to pick a quieter day - the park pairs well with a Suffolk or Norfolk coastal holiday.

Pleasurewood Hills live queue times

05 · Questions

Alton Towers or Pleasurewood Hills?

Which is better, Alton Towers or Pleasurewood Hills?

If you are judging on queues, Pleasurewood Hills: it averages about 8 minutes a ride on a typical day against 20 at Alton Towers, roughly 12 minutes back on every queue you join. Alton Towers has 40 rides with recorded waits against 24 at Pleasurewood Hills. Pleasurewood Hills also runs its rides more reliably - 93% of opening hours against 78%.

Which has shorter queues, Alton Towers or Pleasurewood Hills?

Pleasurewood Hills, by about 12 minutes a ride. On a typical day Pleasurewood Hills averages 8 minutes against 20 at Alton Towers. Queues still move hour by hour, and a midweek day outside school holidays beats the gap at either park. See Alton Towers best time to visit and Pleasurewood Hills best time to visit to pick a quiet day.

Can I visit Alton Towers and Pleasurewood Hills in the same trip?

Yes - both parks are in United Kingdom, so a two-park trip is realistic over a long weekend. Split the days so you start at whichever opens earliest and drive to the other in the evening.

How many rides does each park have?

See the tables above for ride counts - or jump to Alton Towers and Pleasurewood Hills for the full ride lists.

Is Alton Towers bigger than Pleasurewood Hills?

By rides we track waits for, Alton Towers is the bigger day out: 40 rides against 24. Acreage matters less than how many you can actually get on, which comes down to queues and opening hours - and on those Pleasurewood Hills is the quicker park.

Then pick
the quiet day.

Both parks have a crowd calendar with six weeks of forecast and the best day left to go.

Alton Towers calendarPleasurewood Hills calendarCompare other parks
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