You've just missed the wildest meet of the year!

For the third year running, a group of intrepid researchers gathered to visit Alton Towers theme park in Staffordshire, England, camping nearby at the The Star Caravan and Camping Park for the weekend. Both campsite and the ever so hospitable Olde Star Inn had changed somewhat this year, but food and were still consumed a-plenty!

We set the date for the weekend of the 19th to the 21st of September, so that researchers could attend for a day or two, or even longer, as they wished. if you missed it - there's always next year.

Useful Info

For the insider info on what's happening (and happened) at Alton Towers, take a look at the Alton Towers Almanac.

Getting There

This map shows the Alton Towers area. The campsite is just below a place called Cotton, and the pub is literally just south-west of the campsite.

For anyone travelling by rail, a list of local stations is shown in the left hand box of this link, but main stations are Uttoxeter and Stoke-on-Trent. Last year, those travelling by train arrived at Stoke station and took the bus to the campsite, or grovelled to other researchers for a lift.

There is a bus service available, offering a service from Stoke Station to the Pub. Using this site for journey planing, closer to the expected time of travel. Choose the Stoke link, your journey will probably be from 'Stoke Station', the final destination is 'Cotton', you want to get off at the 'Star Inn'

What Happened in 2003? (in process of being updated)

Most of the group arrived late Friday afternoon, meeting at the campsite and pitching tents before leaving for the Olde Star Inn pub¹ where we spent our evening. Some researchers were kind enough to stay sober long enough to pick up late arrivals from Stoke Station on Friday evening².

Saturday began with an on-camp cooked breakfast of bacon butties ³, before heading off to Alton Towers, seeking thrills and spills aplenty.

We returned to the Park on Sunday determined to get on everything we hadn't been on the day before, finally coming to grips with the "Virtual Queuing system" which we fully recommend you make use off as much as you can!

We stayed overnight at The Star Caravan and Camping Park again this year, which has pitches for tents and touring caravans, and also mobile homes to let. The campsite has free showers, a play area⁴ and the usual facilities. The Olde Star Inn, just 200 yards down the road, does good food but they stop serving at about 8.30pm. There are Chinese takeaways, chip shops and so on available a short drive away in Cheadle, plus supermarket and other shops⁵.

The charge for camping in 2003 was £6 per night per tent (unoccupied), plus £2 per person. The gates to the site close at 11.30pm and re-open at 7.45am. No noise after 11pm! Or else!

Alton Towers Ticket Prices - 2003

Standard⁶ ticket prices for age 12+ are £24.50 for a day⁷ pass. Alternatively, in 2002, before leaving the park on the first day, you had the option to buy a return ticket for the next day for just £10. This is an additional bonus to any discounts got off the first day, should you happen to get a special offer elsewhere (excludes the BOGOF tickets mentioned below).

In 2002, Alton Towers introduced a charge for car-parking. If you don't fancy walking the 1.2 miles back to the campsite at the end of the day then you will also need to budget for a car-parking ticket⁸. In 2003, car parking in the main car parks is £3 per car⁹ or you can pay £6 for priority parking, right by the park entrance.

Special Offers/BOGOF

In both 2001 and 2002, we managed to acquire brochures from the campsite, which allowed us to get a second day's ticket to Alton Towers for free, when paying full-price for the first day. If you would like to be sure of getting your brochure, which includes other discounts for Staffordshire attractions, you can order a copy direct from the Staffordshire Tourism Website.

There are also often special offers to be found, such as BOGOF¹⁰ vouchers.

Generally speaking, unless you really want to, there doesn't seem much need to pre-buy tickets. The one advantage of pre-buying is that you can get into the park half-an-hour earlier, assuming you are awake that early!

Attendees

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This lot couldn't attend

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PRAT!

If you missed out this time and/or would like to attend the next Alton Towers meet, why not sign up for PRAT? You can also mail us.

¹Which serves food until about 8.30pm²of course they were properly rewarded with a beer on their return³Well some of us managed to stomach breakfast anyway⁴Falling asleep face down in the toxic woodchip in the children's play area is not recommended!⁵Ideal for stocking up for a bbq on Saturday night!⁶The weekend of the meet falls into the 'standard' ticket price range. See the Alton Towers Website for further details.⁷If you plan to visit AT on both Saturday and Sunday, make sure you obtain a BOGOF voucher, details below.⁸The fewer cars we take to the park, the lower the cost per head, so come prepared to share the journey!⁹You park the car and catch the monorail to/from the park entrance, or you can walk, but it's a bit of a trek.¹⁰Buy One Get One Free