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Alton Towers
vs
Thorpe Park

On a typical day Alton Towers queues less: about 21 minutes a ride against 24 at Thorpe Park, a difference of roughly 3 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 Thorpe Park compared on their typical recorded queue times
TypicallyAlton TowersUnited KingdomThorpe ParkUnited Kingdom
Average wait per ride 21 min (best of the two)24 min
Rides with recorded waits 40 (best of the two)21
Longest typical queue Wicker Man52 minHyperia54 min
Shortest typical queue The Gardens5 minVortex5 min
Average ride uptime Share of opening hours a ride is running79%85% (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 Thorpe Park compared on live queue times
Right nowAlton TowersUnited KingdomThorpe ParkUnited 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 Alton Towers queues less: about 21 minutes a ride against 24 at Thorpe Park, a difference of roughly 3 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 want shorter queues: Alton Towers averages 21 minutes a ride against 24 at Thorpe Park
  • You want more to do: 40 rides here have recorded wait data against 21 at Thorpe Park
  • Wicker Man is on your list - it is Alton Towers's longest typical queue at about 52 minutes, so it is the one to do first
  • You want Alton Towers's own character - the rides, theming and atmosphere described below

Pick Thorpe Park if…

  • You will accept a longer queue - 24 minutes a ride here against 21 at Alton Towers - for what Thorpe Park has that Alton Towers does not
  • You would rather not find rides shut: Thorpe Park's rides run 85% of opening hours against 79% at Alton Towers
  • Hyperia is on your list - it is Thorpe Park's longest typical queue at about 54 minutes, so it is the one to do first
  • You want Thorpe Park'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

Thorpe Park

Thorpe Park is the UK's premier thrill-ride destination, sitting on a lake-filled 500-acre site in Chertsey, Surrey. Owned by Merlin Entertainments, the park is built around adrenaline: Stealth rockets from 0 to 80 mph in under two seconds, Hyperia stands as Britain's tallest and fastest rollercoaster at 236 feet, and Nemesis Inferno, Saw and Colossus round out one of the most coaster-heavy line-ups in Europe.

Queue times at Thorpe Park swing dramatically with the seasons - quiet in spring and on weekdays, extremely busy during Fright Nights in October and summer weekends. Check live queue times before your ride priorities, and use the crowd calendar to pick a midweek visit if you want to hit every major coaster in a single day.

Thorpe Park live queue times

05 · Questions

Alton Towers or Thorpe Park?

Which is better, Alton Towers or Thorpe Park?

If you are judging on queues, Alton Towers: it averages about 21 minutes a ride on a typical day against 24 at Thorpe Park, roughly 3 minutes back on every queue you join. Alton Towers has 40 rides with recorded waits against 21 at Thorpe Park. Thorpe Park also runs its rides more reliably - 85% of opening hours against 79%.

Which has shorter queues, Alton Towers or Thorpe Park?

Alton Towers, by about 3 minutes a ride. On a typical day Alton Towers averages 21 minutes against 24 at Thorpe Park. 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 Thorpe Park best time to visit to pick a quiet day.

Can I visit Alton Towers and Thorpe Park 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 Thorpe Park for the full ride lists.

Is Alton Towers bigger than Thorpe Park?

By rides we track waits for, Alton Towers is the bigger day out: 40 rides against 21. Acreage matters less than how many you can actually get on, which comes down to queues and opening hours - and on those Alton Towers 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 calendarThorpe Park calendarCompare other parks
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