Off to Alton Towers? Ride all ‘Big Six’ coasters to earn FREE re-entry

By MoneySavingExpert's Coupon Kid, Jordon Cox

This summer, Alton Towers will give you a free ticket to return to the park on weekdays in September as a reward for braving its six scariest rollercoasters. Can’t be too difficult, right?

The offer itself is quite simple – I’ll take you through it fully later, but you basically ride the ‘Big Six’ coasters in one day until  Thu 31 Aug, scanning an app as you go to track your progress – and as long as the queues aren’t too long, squeezing six coaster rides into one day shouldn’t be too big a challenge for determined thrill-seekers. Well, that’s what I thought, but my stomach had other ideas…

See what happened when I tried it below:

The ‘Big Six’ rollercoasters you need to ride:

• Galactica
• Rita
• Nemesis
• Oblivion
• Thirteen
• The Smiler

How to claim your free re-entry ticket

At the end of each ride, there’s a special QR code – a bit like a barcode for your smartphone camera to read – which you need to scan using the Alton Towers app (download it using WiFi before you go to save data).

Once all six are completed, you’ll receive a notification via the same app and will be able to choose a free return day, which has to be a weekday between Mon 6 Sep and Sat 30 Sep – so this is only worth the hassle if you’ll actually be able to visit during that period. Then just turn up and show your phone to get in for free.

If you find that any of the coasters are out of order (like Galactica was when we visited), you should be able to scan the QR code near the ride and still collect all six, though do check with staff when you’re there.

Tickets are normally up to £52 on the gate, though you can get in cheaper by booking online or using a voucher (see below).

How to get cheaper entry for your first visit

To get into the park to complete the challenge, you can cut costs by using 2for1 vouchers and half-price ticket offers. Currently, you can get 2for1 entry with promotional packs of Cadbury chocolate, as well as 2for1 free adult entry with Kellogg’s cereal  and half-price entry with promotional Carex soap bottles to name a few. For the full list of discounts, see our Alton Towers deals page.

So, if you’re feeling brave, you can essentially get a couple of trips to Alton Towers for the price of one.

Will you be attempting the ‘Big Six’ challenge? Let me know how you get on in the comments below, on Twitter @MSE_Deals or on Facebook.