Alton Towers Pirate Takeover and Splash Landings Hotel

It is one of our yearly traditions to go to Alton Towers during the February half term. They have on this Pirate Takeover event, which has a limited area of the park open. There is a deal that allows you to book up a day at Splash Landings Hotel, the night over at the hotel, and then go to the park the next day (or the reverse of that, really it’s up to you). We love amusement parks and hotels, so this is such a fun time for everyone.

Alton Towers Pirate Takeover

As we went to Alton Towers Pirate Takeover last year, there were some concerns from Kai and Robin that it might be the same this year. This was, thankfully, not the case! When we arrived, the same entrance area was all set up to get maps, but each area had two sets of game; an easy mode where you were looking to collect numbers and a harder mode where you are looking to get letters. There were also new areas and mini-games for these challenges, as well as some old ones. One of our favorite new ones included a new ride! We were able to open port holes to find the number we were looking for, but for the letter we got to ride a boat and listen to a pirate story, while singing a pirate song, and spy a letter from our boat. This ride isn’t one we had been on before, and as the park is on a special event, there wasn’t even a queue!

There was a dancing challenge, a cannon ball rolling challenge, one about finding fish… just a ton to do! Robin’s favorite was the mimic the dance, as the pirate dance was new and she liked following it. Kai really enjoyed the math problem, which had him pretending to pour pints! This math problem was there last time, but for the number, there was a filling a bucket to make a boat float, which was fun. Amelia said her favorite was “all of it” and that she couldn’t pick a specific. Along with all of these puzzles to get the code, there is also stamps dotted about, that you can stamp your map for. We collected all these too.

There were also a few other rides we got to check out; a pirate-themed spinning cup ride and one of those rocking ship rides. The main thing to do during your time, however, are these interactive activities. We had a lot of fun exploring and did ride the rides a few times! If you’ve got smaller children, there was also a bunch of rides at Cbeebies World, but the lines were surprisingly long and the rides were a bit too kidish for ours.

It’s worth noting that there is a schedule of live shows and acts at the Alton Towers Pirate Takeover, as well as a giant shark character and a lot of pirates walking around. We didn’t go to any of the shows this year, but if we did, we would end up being there for the entire duration of the day. We wanted to do the mini-golf near the hotel and decided to just stick to the activities. Alton Towers Pirate Takeover also has a Sealife inside, which is always fun to go through! Amelia and Robin got to pet star fish, and Kai and Dann really enjoyed looking at all of the strange fish and sea life. It’s a fun walk, and I am always impressed by all of the different sea animals that are on showcase. At the end of the event, we handed in our maps and got a big bag of goodies; chocolates, key chains, and the like.

Alton Towers Extraordinary Golf

Last time we attended Alton Towers, we didn’t have a chance to try out the Extraordinary Golf, but made time to go this time! This golf course didn’t have much wait time, so we were excited to get started. It seemed like this course could have used some love and care, as a lot of the course had seen the test of time and wasn’t as put together as it once was. With that said, there were a few fantastic interaction areas, with buttons that allowed for lights and sound! We enjoyed these specific holes, and many of them were actually themed after a bunch of rides. There were boards that showed the best course of action when it came to hitting the balls, and also some facts on a bunch of the rides. There were some signs missing, however, and a few areas that you could easily hit the ball into places where you’d not be able to get them again. It’s a good golf course, that does need some updating and work done!

Splash Landings Hotel

The Splash Landings Hotel is one of the many hotels that are apart of Alton Towers. This one is our one of choice, due to the massive water park in the middle of the hotel. We got to stay on the floor of the water park, which was very fun for all of us, in basically the same room. The room itself had a bunk bed for Amelia and Robin, as well as a double bed and pull out couch. There was also a dresser, shower and tub, and a small sitting area. On the table, this time, there was a bunch of coloring sheets and booklets, which Robin found entertaining in the evening.

The lobby of the hotel, especially in the evenings, has a bunch of activities for children including pirate-themed shows. Again, we aren’t the biggest fan of shows, but do know it’s pretty classic British to go to them! They have an all you can eat restaurant for dinner too, but we ended up going off property for food as it’s just not the best quality. With that said, we did go to the breakfast buffet included in our hotel’s stay, which had everything that you normally have for a full English breakfast, as well as pastries and pancakes.

When it came to the water park, this is where we really spend a lot of our time at Splash Landings Hotel. The water park is absolutely fantastic. There is a smaller, behind the rest of the major park area for toddlers, but a huge main area with several different heights full of water fun. We really love the lazy river, which you can float about on a tube in. There is a massive middle bit for swimming around, then a floor up, tons of different cranks and wheels to spin to make water come out of areas. Splash Landings has a giant dump bucket too, which is very fun to be under. There are some little slides, like a play park, full of water to play on, as well as bigger slides that require you to get tubes and wait in line. It’s just a fantastic way to spend your day.

Amelia, Kai and Robin’s favorite activity is swimming, so they easily spent all day there. The only real issue with Splash Landings is the food inside the water park. There is only nachos, burgers and hot dogs from those movie brand that feels so fake and gross. I am not a huge fan of any of this, and neither is Dann or Kai, who all like better quality food. It’s also quite expensive for what it is. With that said, you could leave and come back, but getting dry, dressed, and leaving feels like a lot! I just wish they had better food options.

Alton Towers and Splash Landings Hotel is one of our favorite yearly holidays and I do feel that all of it is well worth the price tag, especially if you book during one of their many sales! This makes for the ideal, bite-sized weekend away.

You can check out our other Days Out to see what else we’ve been up too!