| Product: |
Thorpe Park |
| Date: |
08/08/04 (8713 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: GREAT RIDES, SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE
Disadvantages: QUEUES
All throughout school, the last day of term would arrive and me and my close pals would all arrange to ring each other during the summer holidays - It rarely happened due to working responsibilities, boyfriend commitments and family holidays so we made a pact this year at the end of college to do something all together. As you can probably guess we decided apon a theme park trip seeing as it was the first summer a few of us could drive. I was really glad when we all decided apon Thorpe Park as I'd been to Alton Towers three times in the last two years and I'd also been to Chessington.
Although I had been to Thorpe Park when I was a lot younger there were a few rides I could remember and all the rest was a blur. We opted to stay in a Travelodge for the night nearby so we wouldn't struggle to drive there and back in a day. Our day was fantastic, a real giggle and it all started at approx. 8am on the 29th July 2004. We stayed up the night before and had a few drinks, probably a bad idea but we didn't go mad. So at 8am we all crawled out of our pits and into the shower which was closely followed by a huge English breakfast in the Little Chef next door and by 9am we were on the road and heading for Thorpe Park.
It was easy enough to get to, from where we were we had to travel along the M4 - straight onto the M25 and follow the signs for Thorpe Park! (Leave M25 at either junctions 11 or 13) We did keep the address of the place close to hand though - just in case:
Staines Lane
Chertsey
Surrey
KT16 8PN
The signs were all easy enough to follow and we had arrived at the park by 10:30am. The parking process was easy peasy and very quick even though it was very busy. Entrance queueing times were a little longer but not by much - just time to have a sneaky fag. Once you've paid and your in you walk along a bridge which is over a beautiful lake, it gives the impression Thorpe Park is a 'magical island'
which indeed it is (Don't laugh at my cheesy comments!) You will meet a huge dome which is a super meeting place and food and games hall. Once you've walked through the dome you will see all the rides, attractions and fun awaiting you!
Finding your way around the park is quite easy - its not that big (I'd say its smaller than Alton Towers and Chessington) There are signs everywhere and staff are always around when you need them. Eating facilities are also rather good and tend to be exceptionally friendly and hygenic but as like most theme parks your choice of food is limited. (REMEMBER you can bring your own packed lunch) Restaurants and food bars vary from KFC to Burger King to Pizza Hut so if fast food isn't your thing - it may be wise to bring your own lunch. Food and drink is quite highly priced and on a hot day you are going to buy at least a couple of bottles of water and at a £1 a time this can all add up - especially if your paying for the family.
Thorpe Park like most tourist attractions offers many extra facilities and offers for yourselves. You can buy your photos from the photo booths after each ride at £4.75 a time and you can also buy rain mac's for those wet rides. Gift shops and souvenirs are everywhere you look. The approx. queue time for each ride is displayed above the entrance to the queues. As you go through the queue you will also notice signs saying 10mins from here etc. Thorpe Park also offers pre booked queue tickets online and in the park you also have the fast track option. This is where you can purchase one ticket per person at your chosen ride and the ticket will display a time to come back at - e.g - BETWEEN 3.10 - 3.50pm. These are really handy and when you come back at your designated time you join a much,much smaller queue! Definitely worth it!
Now to the rides:
Thorpe Park offers a great variety of rides, these are the main attractions:
COLOSSUS: This is a rollercoast
er and a popular one at the that. Its in the Guinness book of world records for being the first ever rollercoaster to have 10 loops. It is a sit down ride where your feet are in a carriage - not hanging freely. It reaches speeds of up to 65kph and has 120 jockey wheels of NASA-developed materials. The ride is only 2mins long but it feels longer. This is a real adventurous ride that gives thrills all round. The queue time for this ride can reach an hour and a half but it's worth it. We joined a queue with a queue time of 1hr 20mins but we were in it longer as it decided to break down whilst we were half way through the queue. However at 3:30pm after we had done most of the major rides the queue time had reduced to only 20mins so we did the ride again - Recommendation - wait till this time and queue for a shorter period!
NEMESIS INFERNO: This ride is also at Alton Towers although obviously not exactly the same. It reaches speeds of 77KPH whilst you hang with your feet in the air. This ride plunges you through the air, twisting and turning and going upside down whilst being sprayed with mist at some parts throughout the ride. Queue times can vary from 20mins to an hour but once agan its totally worth it.
SAMURAI: This ride is NEW for 2004 and you may know the ride from Chessington. It is a windmill consisting of 6 blades that rotate you at 360degrees. This ride is not for the faint hearted - you get chucked around everywhere whilst your feet hang in the air. The ride contains unbelievable G forces and is a real experience. The queue time tends not to be that long as around 30 people go on each ride.
VORTEX: Thorpe Park says this ride is a product of a darker art. It spins you in a 360 degree circle whilst swinging you up and down like the pirate ship does. I would imagine this ride really knocks your senses and is a real thriller. Unfortunately we left this ride till the end of our day and after 15mins of queueing it broke down so we went! T
his ride offers a special alternative queuing system where single riders can form a queue and when a spare single seat becomes available - you get the ride!
DETONATOR: This ride reaches 75kph and consists of many G forces - infact the most the human body can take. This ride plunges you up into the air and then suddenly drops you back down again! Ahh - how annoying - this ride was shut all day due to technical faults! GREAT! I have been on the same ride at Blackpool though (Ice Blast) - A good ride - when working! Cannot comment on queuing times.
QUANTUM: This ride is quite popular at theme parks - its the classic magic carpet that makes your tummy go funny over and over again! The magic carpet swings you around and around dropping and hurling you everywhere! Good fun if you can gurantee not feeling ill after it! Short queues of around 5-10 mins if that.
TIDAL WAVE: What a ride! Although it only lasts 2mins and consists of 1 drop its well worth it! This water ride is a log flume that can hold up to around 8-12 people. The drop is huge and nearly vertical. You will not get off this ride dry - you get drenched EVERYWHERE. The ride has an impact of 1.5 G's and you plunge into a 3 million gallon lagoon - 3 tonnes of water suddenly turns into stinging vapour surrounding you! Absolutely brilliant ride - if you don't mind getting wet! It was a real hot day when we went so we were fine - if it wasn't so dry I'd of had to say no! Queuing times will vary depending on weather - we had a gorgeous day and queued half an hour.
ZODIAC: This is an older ride and is at most theme parks - it spins in a circle whilst you are in carriages and then goes up to spin 360 degrees vertically. This makes you very dizzy! It only lasts for 90 seconds but I can't handle it! Do not know queueing times.
RUMBA RAPIDS: A great family ride - a white water experience which is 7 minutes long. Up to around 6 people sit in a round raft and you trave
l through the currents getting a little wet but this all depends on where you go and where your sitting. Great ride and short queues.
X:\ NO WAY OUT: Quite an old ride now but still great! A rollercoaster in the dark! The ride consists of ice mist, wind, darkness and flashing ligts. You go forwards - backwards - forwards and then down huge drops! Great ride - hence the long queues - all depends on time of day though. ALSO most queuing is inside in darkness which isn't that great when its boiling hot outside!
There are many other rides too! A brilliant share for all the family! Thorpe Park also offers a gorgeous sandy area with a nice pool by the entrance of the park - this is wonderful for those who are simply not into the rides or for those children that need to cool down and calm down! There are also many grassy areas for you to enjoy picnics or maybe just a simple break from all the fun!
The number for Thorpe Park is as follows: 01932 562 633 or you can visit their superb website at www.thorpepark.co.uk. This gives you all the info that you may need to plan your visit. The park is open from 9:30 in the morning till 7:30pm. The rides however tend to close at 6pm. There are many vouchers around this summer so make sure you keep an eye out for cheap admission tickets. You can book online (On the thorpe park website) and you will recieve £8 of normal admission charges. (£20) We all got our tickets from the July issue of 'CLOSER' magazine which gave us two £15 entry tickets in each magazine. You can also gain £15 entry when you buy something from 'BIRTHDAYS' the card shop. When leaving Thorpe Park - if you intend to come back soon you can get a ticket there and then at a discount price!
Normal admission prices are as follows:
OVER 12 YEARS OLD: £28
UNDER 12 YEARS OLD: £21
UNDER 4 YEARS OLD: FREE
FAMILY OF FOUR: £78
FAMILY OF 5: £99
FAMILY ANNUAL PASS: £240
ANNUAL PASS: £80
DI
SABLED: £14
SENIOR: £21
CONCLUSION: I had a great day at Thorpe Park and I'd do it all over again. It had its ups and downs but all in all a good day out! Cheap - fun and entertaining! However - never go to a theme park to whinge about the queues - you will always have to queue - thats part of the fun!
BEST BITS
A gorgeous day out
Clean
Friendly staff
Good offers on admission
Good fun
Generally good queuing times
Good selection of rides
Good selection of other entertainment - fun games and the beach and pool
Quite a small park - easy to find way around
DOWN SIDE
A few rides closed
A few rides breaking down
No smoking in the queues (Although everyone does)
No eating in the queues (Bit of a bummer as a lot of people - inc. us wanted to buy lunch and queue whilst eating!)
Price of food
Variation of food
Tiring!
The best bits are so much more important than the down sides! Fancy a great day out this year...? ~ Try Thorpe Park! Hope I've helped and I hope you enjoyed reading.
Cheers
Emma x
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