“Your legs don’t get as tired when you’re having fun.” —Chilli
CBeebies Land is a fantastic area for toddlers and small children. With the rides and play areas, you could spend a whole day there.
Apart from CBeebies land, there is not a huge amount at Alton Towers for toddlers to do apart from the Sea Life Centre and the David Walliams area.
There are a couple of other rides with a low height restriction of 0.9m: The Curse, Hex, Heave Ho, Battle Galleons.
The Curse and Hex may be scary for younger children. Heave Ho is a typical swinging pirate ship.
Battle Galleons is a fantastic water shooting slow ride that me and my daughter found hilarious. My Husband found it even funnier squirting us from the side whilst waiting with my son!
Older toddlers, who are 1.1m, can also ride the Congo River Rapids, Runaway Mine Train, and Marauder’s Mayhem.
At 1.1m, small children can also ride a lot of the children’s rides alone which is really handy if you are going solo with siblings.
Out of all the Merlin theme parks, Alton Towers is probably the most geared toward older children for the thrill-seeking rollercoasters.
However, I do think it is worth a visit if you have a CBeebies or Bluey fan!
The grounds at Alton Towers are stunning with lots of wildlife and room for a picnic blanket. Though there are also plenty of picnic benches dotted around the park.
As we live in Kent, we always stay over at Alton Towers Resort so tend to bring a pack lunch and eat at the hotel.
I therefore cannot comment on dining at Alton Towers with a toddler.
Out of all the Merlin theme parks, Alton Towers is probably most geared toward older children for the thrill-seeking rollercoasters.
However, I do think it is worth a visit if you have a CBeebies or Bluey fan!
CBeebies Land with toddlers
We love Cbeebies land! There are so many different rides for toddlers and regular shows with current favourite characters, like Bluey and Bing, even during term time.
What surprised me, during our first visit – when my youngest was one, is how many of the kid’s rides had height restrictions.
This makes Alton Towers, in my opinion, not as accessible for babies but better for older toddlers.
The following have a 0.9m height restriction: Bluey: The Ride, Peter Rabit Hippity Hop, Go Jetters Vroomster Zoom Ride, Octonauts Rollercoaster, Justin’s Pie-O-Matic Factory.
There are plenty of other rides for little ones but if you only plan on going once, I would try and wait until the kids are over 0.9m.
Rides and attractions without a limit (But require adult supervision) include: Hey Duggee Big Adventure Badge, Andy’s Adventures Dinosaur Dig, JoJo and Gran Gran at Home, Something Special Sensory Garden, Bugbie Go Round, In the Night Garden Magical Boat Ride, Get Set Go Treetop Adventure.
Below I describe each ride in more detail to help you decide if it is suitable for your toddler.
Rides in CBeebies Land for toddlers
Bluey the Ride: Here Come the Grannies!
We were really lucky to ride the Bluey rollercoaster when it had just opened. It is actually a really good for a kid’s rollercoaster.
My 2-year-old was just 90cm (which is the height requirement) I wouldn’t take kids any younger than this as his face did look at bit shocked at the speed and drops!
My 4-year-old loved it though.
The main thing I just loved about the Bluey rollercoaster was the queue – no I am not being sarcastic.
Alton Towers have made a break through and their queue was filled with activities and play areas designed to keep the kids occupied.
They even play the ‘Chattermax’ song randomly in the queue and all the kids go mental.
It took me back to my clubbing days when Sandstorm started playing. But with little people high on E numbers instead of… well minus the numbers?
Peter Rabbit Hippity Hop
This is a gentle up and drop ride for children over 0.9m. It is exactly the same as Raj’s Bouncy Bottom Burp in the David Walliams area so there is no need to do both.
The negative is that if your child is under 1.1m, you must ride with them. The seats are child sized and very uncomfortable for my Ben and Jerrys loving bottom.
Bugbie Go Round
This is a cute little car merry-go-round ride, suitable for all, with no height requirement and even babies that can sit up unaided would enjoy the gentle ride.
The children sit on colour trikes and adults can sit in the middle on what is the most uncomfortable seat known to man.
It is nice but I wouldn’t wait in a long line for it.
In the Night Garden Magical Boat Ride
This is my son’s favourite ride in CBeebies land, although we never got in to In the Night Garden, he learnt who Iggle Piggle was just from this ride.
I, and my children, really enjoy the gentle boat ride through the magical bedtime story.
The only negative is because it is such a slow ride the queue can get really long. Still, they do have a couple of interactive walls to keep young children occupied.
For more tips on queueing with toddlers, click here.
Get Set Go Treetop Adventure
Similarly, this tends to have a long queue. If you catch it short on the app, I would recommend doing it.
It is suitable for all, with no height requirement, and a nice tree top slow track ride exploring CBeebies Land.
Go Jetters Vroomster Zoom Ride
We have never actually done this Dumbo style ride where children can control if they go up or down.
There is no real reason but is just a bit out the way of the other attractions and isn’t high on our priority list.
There is also a 0.9m height requirement.
Octonauts Rollercoaster
Before the Bluey Rollercoaster arrived, this was our favourite rollercoaster, at Alton Towers, for our toddlers.
There is a 0.9m height requirement but it is much tamer than the Bluey rollercoaster.
If you are unsure how your child will react to a fast rollercoaster, I definitely recommend trying this first.
There is also usually a much shorter queue than the Bluey Rollercoaster so this is a good alternative if you don’t want to queue long or are unsure if your toddler will enjoy a rollercoaster for the first time.
Play areas in CBeebies Land
Hey Duggee Big Adventure Badge
This is a really good play area with smaller slides and trampolines for young toddlers; perfect for a bit free play.
The Alton Towers website description confused because it says you collect badges and meet Duggee but it really is just a playground.
We have seen Duggee in there once but no badges, either I have this mornings Weetabix in my eyes or it has recently changed.
Andy’s Adventures Dinosaur Dig
This is another play area perfect for toddler free play as it has a sand pit for digging.
Unfortunately we have never caught the show.
They also travel around CBeebies in a safari type jeep, with a little baby dinosaur, teaching and interacting with the children.
JoJo and Gran Gran at Home
There is a queue time for this attraction but we have never had to queue. I think they just make sure it is not too full.
My children love this indoor play area, although we have never watched the programme.
There is an interactive kitchen area with touch screens and tablet games.
It feels a little strange paying hundreds of pounds for them to do what you try to avoid doing at home, in a pretend home but hey – if they’re happy I’m happy!
There is also a garden area with different activities for children to play with and a mini soft play type area that has stairs and a tunnel.
Something Special Sensory Garden
This small outside walk through is aimed at children with additional needs but my children enjoyed exploring the different sensory areas.
Mr Tumbles plays on screens throughout and there are his little suitcases that children can lift to find different garden creatures.
Fingers crossed he is not the next person named on Epstein’s files as I really like this area and think it is suitable for babies to crawl around and explore.
Justin’s Pie-O-Matic Factory.
With a 0.9m height requirement, this is for older toddlers and children, and even much older children would enjoy it.
Our 2.5-year-old son managed to meet the height requirement and really enjoyed it. I am still a bit puzzled why there is any height requirement as it is just an indoor play area with stairs, no climbing or slides, etc.
The whole concept is collecting balls and firing them at each other which is very satisfying, especially if your Husband left you with a stonker of a nappy change in the morning!
There is also a queue for this to manage the amount of people inside. We have been a few times and not had to queue but have also seen the queue get quite high.
David Walliams area: The Towers & Cloud Cuckoo Land with toddlers
Here you will find several rides and attractions suitable for toddlers and small children.
This area could easily be missed as it is the other side of the park to CBeebies Land. I do think it is worth a visit and home to some fun toddler friendly rides.
We have always found the queues shorter here than CBeebies land too!
Gansta Granny The Ride
This has a 0.9m height requirement and could be scary for some toddlers. We have all seen David Walliams right?
It is a bizarre indoor immersive ride venturing through the story of Gansta Granny.
Some of the tech and ideas were really cool so if you find it has a short queue I would check it out.
Though the ride is slow and calm enough for small children, there are some loud noises that freaked my son out.
However, there a lots of exciting special effects, including bubbles, and I challenge you to find me a toddler that does not like a bubble!
Raj’s Bouncy Bottom Burp
As an up and drop ride, this is exactly the same as the Peter Rabbit Hippity Hop in CBeebies Land so there is no need to ride both.
It has a 0.9m height requirement but if your child is under 1.1m you must ride with them.
I still have PTSD of getting stuck on a similar ride at Chessington. It wasn’t because I’m fat (or so they say) it just broke down. A kid was freaking out and pushing lower down on the already extremely tight bar. If you want to avoid costly therapy bills then nominate your husband or avoid altogether.
Royal Carousel
Does what is says on the tin: it is a carousel ride.
With no height requirement it is accessible to all and has seats for babies as well as horses.
Cuckoo Cars Driving School
This is a great quirky little driving school for older toddlers as there is a 1m height requirement.
A bizarre thing to note is if you enter the David Walliams area via The Towers, right by Cuckoo Cars, and if you have a pushchair you need to wait for the ride to finish and for a ride attendant to open a gate for you to access the area as otherwise the only path is via a bridge with stairs.
I’m surprised in a world with AI replacing jobs this is the only option.
There is, however, a more accessible route if you keep going past the towers and enter the land nearer the Sky Ride and Carousel.
Sharkbait Reef: Alton Towers Aquarium
A nice addition to Alton Towers Theme Park is a small aquarium ideal for toddlers and babies.
I always remember taking my daughter to an aquarium, when she was a few weeks old, and she was just absolutely mesmerized.
My 2 and 4-year-old toddlers still enjoy an aquarium so this is a welcome break from rides.
Entertainment at Alton Towers for Toddlers
Big Fun Show Time
Throughout the day, there are various shows, meet and greets, and activied at Big Fun Show Time.
This is forever changing so check the times and characters on the day of your visit.
We have enjoyed different characters here like: Teletubbies, Bing, Hey Duggee, and our favourite of them all… Bluey!
They usually have a meet and greet with the characters after the show.
Around the Show space there are different little games that babies, toddlers and children can access.
This is also a nice spot for a picnic break as the area is shaded. Though there are a couple of clever ducks that also use it as a picnic spot.
If you plan on staying the night at Alton Towers, check out my Alton Towers Resort Guide here.