All time
The Smiler has the longest average queue at Alton Towers, at 46 minutes, followed by Wicker Man (46 minutes) and TH13TEEN (34 minutes). 29 of the 45 rides have an average queue of 15 minutes or less.
Wicker Man sees the longest peak queues at Alton Towers, with its daily maximum averaging 69 minutes, ahead of The Smiler (67 minutes) and TH13TEEN (57 minutes).
Alton Towers is usually quietest in December, when crowd levels average as low as 29%. The busiest month tends to be August, at around 73%.
| Month | Average crowd level, % |
|---|---|
| Jan | 32 |
| Feb | 77 |
| Mar | 40 |
| Apr | 45 |
| May | 40 |
| Jun | 47 |
| Jul | 59 |
| Aug | 73 |
| Sep | 40 |
| Oct | 48 |
| Nov | 46 |
| Dec | 29 |
Tuesday is typically the quietest day of the week at Alton Towers, averaging 42% compared with 67% on Saturday. On average, weekdays are 18 percentage points quieter than weekends.
| Day | Average crowd level, % |
|---|---|
| Sun | 57 |
| Mon | 48 |
| Tue | 42 |
| Wed | 42 |
| Thu | 44 |
| Fri | 46 |
| Sat | 67 |
So far in 2026, Alton Towers is running 9 percentage points busier than at the same point in 2025 (52% compared with 43%). Of the full years on record, 2018 was the busiest, averaging 60%. 2020 and 2021 are left out of these comparisons because COVID-19 closures and capacity limits affected crowd levels in those years.
| Event | Average crowd level, % |
|---|---|
| β οΈ Pirate Takeover | 82 |
| π» Feel Good Summer | 79 |
| π± February Half Term | 76 |
| π Greg the Sausage Roll Takeover! | 75 |
| β Celebrate 10 Years of the UKβs only CBeebies Land | 68 |
| π Alton After Dark | 66 |
| π Fireworks | 65 |
| π Scarefest | 65 |
| π Twilight at the Towers | 58 |
| π» Mardi Gras | 48 |
| π Christmas | 30 |
| πΊ Oktoberfest | 28 |
| π’ Festival of Thrills | 28 |
| Day | Crowd level, % |
|---|---|
| February 12, 2024 | 100 |
| February 23, 2023 | 99 |
| April 08, 2026 | 99 |
| August 24, 2021 | 99 |
| August 04, 2020 | 99 |
| September 02, 2019 | 99 |
| September 01, 2020 | 99 |
| June 02, 2021 | 99 |
| June 07, 2021 | 99 |
| August 20, 2021 | 99 |
| Day | Crowd level, % |
|---|---|
| September 28, 2021 | 0 |
| September 23, 2015 | 0 |
| September 30, 2020 | 0 |
| June 11, 2019 | 0 |
| October 05, 2021 | 0 |
| October 05, 2022 | 0 |
| October 06, 2015 | 0 |
| April 02, 2019 | 0 |
| October 08, 2015 | 0 |
| May 09, 2019 | 0 |