I tried Alton Towers' new ‘Disney-style' dining package which saved us nearly £100

Scottish Sun

a day ago

At the top end is The Ultimate Dining Plan, at £90 per person, which gives you a three-course evening meal at any of the hotel restaurants
IN LINE FOR A TREAT I tried Alton Towers' new 'Disney-style' dining package which saved us nearly £100
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window)
Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
HAVING just been hurled through the 14 loops of Alton Towers' The Smiler, that familiar summer holidays siren went off.
'Mummy, I'm hungry!' said my five children in unison.
Sign up for Scottish Sun
newsletter
Sign up
5
Gemma Quade tried the new Alton Towers package - it may seem pricey but it's great value for money
Credit: Jon Parker Lee
5
Gemma enjoys a glass of wine at Alton Towers
5
Gemma's family
Credit: Suppled
Due to the prices at theme parks, that's usually enough to make you feel sicker than when on the big rides.
Thankfully, rather than scouring the rucksack for some broken breadsticks, this time my reply was: 'No problem, where would you like to eat?'
My unusual generosity was because we were trying out Alton Towers' new Disney-style dining package. Launched this summer, it allows visitors staying in any of the resort's hotels or lodges to pre-pay for their food at a cheaper price. And it offers decent value at that.
There are four options, starting from a Standard Dining Plan, at £50 per person, which offers a two-course evening meal, a lunch and a snack.
At the top end is The Ultimate Dining Plan, at £90 per person, which gives you a three-course evening meal at any of the hotel restaurants.
You also get your pick of lunch options in the park, a towering snack from kiosks dotted around the themed areas, alcoholic or soft drinks, a Costa coffee and a bottle of fizz in your room.
Kids cost less. For £20, children aged three to 12 can get lunch, snacks and evening meals from locations that match their adult's dining option. Booking is recommended for evening meals.
For us, that meant a table at the Secret Garden Restaurant at the Alton Towers Hotel.
That's where we were staying in adjoining Moon Voyage rooms, complete with double beds and bunk beds — perfect for our big family.
We had worked up an appetite flying down the flumes and larking about in the lazy river at the waterpark in Splash Landings Hotel in the resort.
I was the first to ride Alton Towers' newest ride Toxicator - it was a topsy-turvy spinning explosion
So the three-course meal at the restaurant, which is decked out with plants to make it look like an English country garden, couldn't have been more welcome.
While the adults' food included smoked sal-mon tartare, duck with dauphinoise potatoes, ribeye steak with chips and wine, the kids were delighted with dough balls, chicken goujons, burgers and pasta.
When we totted up what we would have spent on this meal alone — over £80 each for the grown-ups, and £20 each for the kids — we had already made a huge saving with the dining plan. The next day, we loaded up on breakfast before an early start in the theme park — hotel guests get early access at 9am.
Thanks to fast-track tickets, we had managed to tick off nine of the big coasters before 1.30pm — in the height of the summer holidays.
5
Gemma and daughter
Credit: Suppled
5
Arctic Explorer room at resort hotel
Nemesis Reborn, Galactica and The Smiler were consistent entries on both the kids' and adults' top threes.
And despite the high-speed, brain-shaking and stomach-flipping twists and turns enjoyed or endured, depending on your perspective, the kids were all ravenous.
With five children aged between nine and 12, including one vegetarian, finding an option to suit everyone can sometimes be a bit of a chore.
Can't argue with that value
But on the Ultimate Dining Plan, you can choose a lunch meal deal from any of the restaurants on site, including Eastern Express with naan wraps, The Rollercoaster Restaurant serving burgers, and Just Chicken.
But we went for Explorers Pizza & Pasta Buffet in Katanga Canyon for its all-you-can-eat pizza slices and pasta dishes and bottomless drinks.
GO: ALTON TOWERS
STAYING THERE: Moon Voyager rooms at the Alton Towers Hotel cost from £265 per night based on two adults and two children sharing and including breakfast, evening entertainment, a round of nine-hole round golf and free car parking.
One-day theme park entry costs from £34 per person. Dining packages cost from £50pp for a Standard Dining Package. See altontowers.com.
Coming in at £22.50 per adult and £12.75 per kid for those rocking up on the day, the £90-per-person cost of the Ultimate Dining plan was looking like extraordinary value when you add in the other meals too.
With our snacks and coffees too, I reckon I chomped my way through £120 of food and drink, while the children ate their way through £41 worth of grub for their £20 Kids Dining Plan.
You can't argue with that value.
But better still is the convenience of being able to pre-pay for your food and drink at the time of booking your short break, which makes it just like an all-inclusive.
And let's face it, faff-free breaks during the summer holidays are what it's all about.