Full ‘gate’ price tickets at Thorpe Park are £55 for adults, and at Alton Towers it’s an eye-watering £58 on the day. It’s expensive!
The reality is though, there’s no need to spend that much. There are loads of ways to save money on theme park tickets.
Here are the cheapest ways I’ve found.
THE CHEAPEST – Use Tesco Clubcard vouchers
If you have a Tesco Clubcard and shop in Tesco regularly, this is by far the best way to get cheap Alton Towers and Thorpe Park tickets.
Tesco periodically convert your points in to vouchers, and these vouchers can be redeemed either in-store or with a “rewards partner”, like theme parks and restaurants.
The great thing about using your vouchers with a rewards partner is that your vouchers are worth a lot more with them than they are alone. Three times more.
For example, £10 of Tesco vouchers can be redeemed for £30 of Alton Towers or Thorpe Park vouchers!
All you’ll need to do is use the Tesco Clubcard app to exchange your Tesco vouchers for a reward voucher, then use the link on the email they send you to book your cheap theme park tickets!
You’ll just need to pay for any remaining balance not covered by the voucher.
2nd Cheapest – Find a 2for1 or 50% off voucher
Because of the new measures theme parks have put in to place because of Coronavirus, these vouchers might be a little harder to find this year, but there are vouchers on various products from Cadbury, Carex, Kellogg’s and Seabrook crisps.
If you can find one of these vouchers, pre-book your tickets using https://www.merlinfun.com/book/
O2 Customers can also use the O2 Priority app to get 50% off tickets in August.
Remember that all discounts are based on the full “on the day” prices, and not the lower online prices. This means that using 2for1 vouchers will grant 2 adults entry to Alton Towers for £58, that’s £29 each, £5 cheaper than buying online 5 days in advance.
3rd Cheapest – Buy online at least 5 days in advance
If you book your tickets online, at least 5 days before your visit, you’ll get a much better price for tickets.
- Thorpe Park tickets booked online more than 5 days in advance are £39
- Alton Towers tickets booked online more than 5 days in advance are £34
4th Cheapest – Consider a Season Pass or Annual Pass
🎫 Season Pass
If you’re going to visit the same park again later in the season, it might be worth buying a Season Pass. This will give you access to the park until the end of the 2020 season (end of October).
Season passes are the same price as a full price day ticket.
🎫 Merlin Annual Pass
If you plan on making more than 3 or 4 visits to any Merlin attractions within 12 months, the Merlin Annual Pass might be the best value option for you, giving you 12 months access to Merlin attractions across the UK, plus free parking on Premium passes and discounts in various stores and restaurants.
There is a ‘Summer Sale’ in 2020, so passes are cheaper than usual at the time of writing.
Traditionally these go on sale every Boxing Day, so it’s worth keeping an eye on the website after Christmas if you’re after a cheap Merlin Annual Pass.
All of this information was accurate in August 2020.
Do you have any tips on how to get cheap Thorpe Park / Alton Towers tickets in 2020? Leave a comment below and share!
