Great for Thrillseekers of the South (Thorpe Park)

Member Name: mrjoegoodwin

Product:	Thorpe Park
Date:	18/05/09 (45 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Stealth, Saw, Colossus

Disadvantages: Queue times if saw is broken!

We visited Thorpe Park on the last day of the 2009 Easter holidays, proving to be quite a busy day for the Park, billed as the Alton Towers of the South.

The primary attraction is new rollercoaster 'Saw: The Ride', based around the horror film franchise of the same name. Starting off in an abandoned warehouse, the Saw ride begins in darkness, with one large drop and several twists that take you by surprise. The main feature of the ride is the Euro-Fighter style vertical climb, and subsequent beyond vertical 100 degree drop. Whilst Saw is an excellent ride, it was somewhat spoilt for us when the ride broke down, extending the already long 1 hour queue time to almost 90 mins. Not a ride for younger children, Saw comes with a 12+ parental advisory warning.

X:\ No Way Out seems to mimic Disney's hugely popular 'Space Mountain' indoor rollercoaster, taking place entirely in the dark. Whilst the ride has a nice twist (you ride the coaster backwards), there was nothing special at all about this ride.

'Stealth' on the other hand, is a superb ride. Launched from 0-80mph in 1.8 seconds, climbing to over 200ft before dropping and twisting back down, Stealth is the fastest ride in the park, and certainly the most daunting from the ground, so tall and imposing is the top.

'Colossus' can easily be passed by without too much thought if you enter the park and head straight for 'Saw' (a popular route), but is a fantastic coaster in its own right, featuring a world record 10 inversions.

Nemesis Inferno is an inverted (legs dangling) ride, sister to the Nemesis ride at Alton Towers, and is good fun without being spectacular.

Of the water rides, Rumba Rapids is a traditional river rapids ride, and great fun in a large group, particularly if only some of you get wet! Loggers Leap is the ride to end the day on if you have a spare change of clothes in the car, a double log flume (currently the tallest in the UK) that is guaranteed to get you absolutely drenched.

If you have an extra £9 and it's a busy day, the FastPass queue jump system can be bought for up to 4 rides (on the day we visited, this excluded 'Saw' however), and lets you join a shorter queue for each of the main thrill rides. On a quiet day, you should be able to get away without it however. Also, be on the lookout for the 2-for-1 entrance vouchers that are doing the rounds at the moment in many retailers, saving you half price on the entrance fee at the door.

Overall, Thorpe Park is an excellent theme park, and certainly the best for thrillseekers in the South of England.

Summary: Well worth a visit, especially if you can get a 2 for 1 entry voucher