Theme park fans can follow five top tips to beat the queues and get on as many rides as possible.
After a long and quite chilly winter, the UK's roller coaster filled amusement parks are about to reopen for the season.
Thorpe Park is set to swing opens its gates on March 24, Flamingo Land a day later and Legoland and Alton Towers started taking visitors on March 18.
If you’re a theme park fanatic, you’re probably no stranger to long queue times, but this can still be quite a dreary task, and particularly stressful when kids are in tow.
AttractionTickets.com has seen a 269% increase in bookings for UK attractions over the past 30 days, suggesting thrill seekers will be returning to the theme park with a vengeance.
Oliver Brendon, CEO of AttractionTickets.com, has shared his top five most useful tips on how you can dodge the queues and enjoy the resorts to their fullest.
Flip your route
Most people will instinctively start at the front of the park and work their way around.
However, flipping your route and starting with the rides at the back of the park could mean you avoid those pesky queue times - especially if the park has only been open for a couple of hours.
Experience the most popular rides during lunch hours
However much they love coasters, everyone eventually gets hungry and come lunch-time, there’s likely to be a bigger queue for your food than there is for the rides.
Oliver said: “If you can plan an early lunch, or bring snacks and take a later break, this is the perfect time to head to some of the most popular rides which tend to have queues all day long.”
Be an early bird
While it may sound obvious, the quietest times to avoid ride queues are the first 60 to 90 minutes of the day.
"If you buy your tickets online and get there early, you’ll benefit from the extra time when the gates open," Oliver said.
“This way you can head to your favourite rides first or relax knowing you don’t have to rush through big crowds.”
Download theme park queue track apps
“Many theme parks now have their own apps available that allow visitors to track the queue times at each ride in real-time," he continued.
"You can download the wait times for Thorpe Park on the Apple or Google store - this is perfect for planning your day as you make your way around the park."
The apps allow you to plan your day's schedule so you can avoid peak times on rides.
"We’d recommend downloading the app a couple of days ahead of your arrival to start reviewing which rides look the busiest so you can plan ahead," Oliver added.
Check height restrictions on rides
If you’re with the kids, it’s a good idea to check the height restrictions on rides.
You can do this via the website, app, or at information booths so you know which rides they can definitely go on.
This means you’ll be able to manage expectations of smaller children by letting them know in advance which rides they will be able to enjoy on the day.
