americananneinlondon
May 2025
4.5
Excellent for wheels users
I haven't seen many reviews specifically for wheels users at Alton, so thought I'd share my experience, focusing less on details of getting RAP, etc. I am limited ambulatory with a stick.
- Disabled parking costs the same as standard parking (pre-payable online), and is first come/first served up at the top right of the park entrance. We got there before 9am to guarantee this parking.
- After getting RAP sheet & any carer tickets, the first building on the right after turnstiles has the mobility scooter rentals. I pre-booked & paid mine, to guarantee it. It's a robust mobility scooter. The 2nd day scooter had less oomph, but lasted all day. (Note: if you buy the photo pass, you go a few buildings down on same side to "activate" the pass.)
- One massive positive is that at Alton, anywhere able people can go, so can your wheels: Skyride, wheel queue lines, restaurants, etc. What is not well done, and why I dinged 1/2 point, is that signage is not great, and I was unable to find an online map of wheels entrances, so I'll specify it here in the order they are listed on the RAP sheet for the rides I went on. (*Note: wheels RAP entrance only; ambulatory RAP entrance usually elsewhere):
1) Wicker man: RAP mixed entrance to the left of the big fiery head (abled-bodied to the right). You join the main queue before the waiting hall. If you want to bypass the scary/sensory show in the next room, alert the attendant who writes on your RAP card, then stay to the left and head to the front of the waiting hall. They will take you in directly after the group ahead and skip that room. You are then in batching queue, and there is a same-side egress door for wheels.
2) The Smiler: The lift is in the gift shop, which is all the way to the left and behind the main entrance. The lift is tucked away on the left towards the back of the shop. It is most often broken (as of writing). If you are able to walk, the RAP queue entry is much shorter than main queue, but consists of at least 6-7 flights of stairs (about 1/2 up & down) before and after the ride. It is a *lot* of stairs & walking, with no real opportunities to rest.
3) Galactica: Wheels entrance is to the right of the Roller Coaster restaurant entrance; opposite the ride/shop exit. It is a long ride down gentle ramps. You return to a different, parallel track to where you started, on the far side. So we had to park the scooter by the ride, get on, after walk across the ride while people loading to get back to scooter and reverse the above. Am assuming non-ambulatory could have area cleared for chair to be brought to them after?
4) Oblivion: Hard to find wheels entrance. It's all the way behind where the coaster does the big drop, and is the ride exit as well. If there before ride opens, the gate isn't opened for you. You need to open the gate and take yourself down the ramp to the ride exit, where you'll be helped and RAP signed.
5) Rita: Right up by the ride exit. All the way to the right and hidden to my view is a lift to platform. I climbed the few steps as I didn't see it.
6) Th13teen: Wheels & ambulatory entrance right next to able entrance gate. Rather long route to the ride side, with some tight corners for a scooter or larger chair, then reverse some of it for ride exit.
7) Nemesis Reborn: Go all the way towards the back of the ride, and when you see the photo booth, you'll see a sign for wheels entrance right at ride side. Wheels only. Not sure where ambulatory RAP entrance is, but they were turning away ambulatory RAP.
8) Spinball Whizzer: I found this confusing. Go right into the centre of the circular plaza inside the ride, and you'll see to the left of the photo booth the ride exit, single riders queue, and wheelchair exit only lanes. The wheelchair exit only is also the wheels entrance.
9) Hex: You go to the left of the main queue all the way around and to a back door that says Wheels RAP and has a camera above the door. We waited less than a minute before they opened the door for us. There didn't appear to be a way to bypass the pre-ride show/s, and we kept to the left. It is dark, and difficult to see. There is a challenging ramp to navigate at the end of the pre-shows - it has hairpin turns. Then you enter last and I left my wheels in a designated space before the room. Non-moving seats are an option. The ride exits to the far side: you go back to the near side to collect wheels and come out an entirely different random door that eventually leads you back to the main outside area.
10) Skyride: We didn't see a separate RAP entrance at either end, but the scant queue moved very quickly.
Restaurants: We ate at the Pizza Buffet and Roller Coaster restaurant, and both accommodated my scooter inside.
The biggest downfall is lack of signage. E.g., I knew we should not attempt going through the valley to get to rides, but it's unclear to newcomers which roads will become unsuitable for wheels users until you're so far down that you want to try to just keep going. Basically, if the path dips down at all with a view of pretty foliage, don't take it. Stick to the big wide paved paths above the valley.
Everyone was so nice, polite and helpful, and got us on the rides as soon as possible (within a cycle or two, usually). It'd be a perfect experience with better signage and pre-bookable blue badge parking, so for better or worse, you know exactly what your travel to the park entrance will be.
I haven't seen many reviews specifically for wheels users at Alton, so thought I'd share my experience, focusing less on details of getting RAP, etc. I am limited ambulatory with a stick.
- Disabled parking costs the same as standard parking (pre-payable online), and is first come/first served up at the top right of the park entrance. We got there before 9am to guarantee this parking.
- After getting RAP sheet & any carer tickets, the first building on the right after turnstiles has the mobility scooter rentals. I pre-booked & paid mine, to guarantee it. It's a robust mobility scooter. The 2nd day scooter had less oomph, but lasted all day. (Note: if you buy the photo pass, you go a few buildings down on same side to "activate" the pass.)
- One massive positive is that at Alton, anywhere able people can go, so can your wheels: Skyride, wheel queue lines, restaurants, etc. What is not well done, and why I dinged 1/2 point, is that signage is not great, and I was unable to find an online map of wheels entrances, so I'll specify it here in the order they are listed on the RAP sheet for the rides I went on. (*Note: wheels RAP entrance only; ambulatory RAP entrance usually elsewhere):
1) Wicker man: RAP mixed entrance to the left of the big fiery head (abled-bodied to the right). You join the main queue before the waiting hall. If you want to bypass the scary/sensory show in the next room, alert the attendant who writes on your RAP card, then stay to the left and head to the front of the waiting hall. They will take you in directly after the group ahead and skip that room. You are then in batching queue, and there is a same-side egress door for wheels.
2) The Smiler: The lift is in the gift shop, which is all the way to the left and behind the main entrance. The lift is tucked away on the left towards the back of the shop. It is most often broken (as of writing). If you are able to walk, the RAP queue entry is much shorter than main queue, but consists of at least 6-7 flights of stairs (about 1/2 up & down) before and after the ride. It is a *lot* of stairs & walking, with no real opportunities to rest.
3) Galactica: Wheels entrance is to the right of the Roller Coaster restaurant entrance; opposite the ride/shop exit. It is a long ride down gentle ramps. You return to a different, parallel track to where you started, on the far side. So we had to park the scooter by the ride, get on, after walk across the ride while people loading to get back to scooter and reverse the above. Am assuming non-ambulatory could have area cleared for chair to be brought to them after?
4) Oblivion: Hard to find wheels entrance. It's all the way behind where the coaster does the big drop, and is the ride exit as well. If there before ride opens, the gate isn't opened for you. You need to open the gate and take yourself down the ramp to the ride exit, where you'll be helped and RAP signed.
5) Rita: Right up by the ride exit. All the way to the right and hidden to my view is a lift to platform. I climbed the few steps as I didn't see it.
6) Th13teen: Wheels & ambulatory entrance right next to able entrance gate. Rather long route to the ride side, with some tight corners for a scooter or larger chair, then reverse some of it for ride exit.
7) Nemesis Reborn: Go all the way towards the back of the ride, and when you see the photo booth, you'll see a sign for wheels entrance right at ride side. Wheels only. Not sure where ambulatory RAP entrance is, but they were turning away ambulatory RAP.
8) Spinball Whizzer: I found this confusing. Go right into the centre of the circular plaza inside the ride, and you'll see to the left of the photo booth the ride exit, single riders queue, and wheelchair exit only lanes. The wheelchair exit only is also the wheels entrance.
9) Hex: You go to the left of the main queue all the way around and to a back door that says Wheels RAP and has a camera above the door. We waited less than a minute before they opened the door for us. There didn't appear to be a way to bypass the pre-ride show/s, and we kept to the left. It is dark, and difficult to see. There is a challenging ramp to navigate at the end of the pre-shows - it has hairpin turns. Then you enter last and I left my wheels in a designated space before the room. Non-moving seats are an option. The ride exits to the far side: you go back to the near side to collect wheels and come out an entirely different random door that eventually leads you back to the main outside area.
10) Skyride: We didn't see a separate RAP entrance at either end, but the scant queue moved very quickly.
Restaurants: We ate at the Pizza Buffet and Roller Coaster restaurant, and both accommodated my scooter inside.
The biggest downfall is lack of signage. E.g., I knew we should not attempt going through the valley to get to rides, but it's unclear to newcomers which roads will become unsuitable for wheels users until you're so far down that you want to try to just keep going. Basically, if the path dips down at all with a view of pretty foliage, don't take it. Stick to the big wide paved paths above the valley.
Everyone was so nice, polite and helpful, and got us on the rides as soon as possible (within a cycle or two, usually). It'd be a perfect experience with better signage and pre-bookable blue badge parking, so for better or worse, you know exactly what your travel to the park entrance will be.
