The UK's most thrilling theme park (Thorpe Park)

Member Name: aylawarner

Product:	Thorpe Park
Date:	02/07/09 (239 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Masses of extreme and thrilling rides, great fun day out

Disadvantages: Not for the faint hearted, not so great for younger children

Thorpe Park has to be my best pick for theme park days out in the UK as it's not far from my home and it hosts some of the best rides and thrills of any theme park.

The park is located in Surrey, about 20 miles out of central London. The easiest way to get there is probably by car as you can park in the theme park's own car park. However, train is also easy and takes around an hour from central London with regular trains travelling from Waterloo to Staines and then a quick bus ride from the station to the park.

The park is filled chock-a-block with extreme rides which is why this is my favourite park, as I find it caters more for adults, whereas Chessington is more for kids. The extreme thrills include Colossus - the world's first ten looping rollercoaster; Stealth - Europe's fastest rollercoaster; Nemesis Inferno - the rollercoaster from hell; Vortex - a spinning and swinging pendulum; Rush - a giant swing for adults; Samurai - 360 degrees of stomach-churning spins; Detonator - plunge 100 feet to the floor; X:\ No Way Out - a backwards rollercoaster in the dark; Slammer - propel 105 feet into the sky then slam back down to the ground; Tidal Wave - one of the UK's tallest log flume rides; Saw - The Ride - the world's first ever horror movie themed rollercoaster and the world's most terrifying.

I absolutely love spinning rides which puts Vortex and Samurai at the top of my favourites list. I could gladly just go on these two all day as I love the feeling of my stomach somersaulting and be spun around in the air. Unfortunately though, my husband hates spinning rides and even the tea cups make him want to puke so his favourites are rollercoasters with Colossus being his best. Rush isn't one for the faint hearted as I was actually so terrified that I was going to fall out and someone even had a heart attack on it the last time we were there. I haven't been on either Stealth or Saw - The Ride as these are both fairly new.

There are also many other rides which are both less thrilling for those with a faint heart or more suitable for younger children. Rides range from water flumes to railways and carousels to tea cups and there's plenty for everyone here whether you enjoy screaming, laughing or just having fun.

If turning up and paying on the day ticket prices are £35 for adults and £21 for children but I would no way pay this price. There are many options to get cheaper prices and you'd be stupid if you passed up getting these and paying the full price. If purchased online beforehand, tickets are quite a bit cheaper - £28 for adults and £18 for children. There are also many vouchers which can be found all over the place such as in newspapers or through Tesco Clubcard which offers deals such as 2 for 1 or money off. There are also other tickets you can purchase such as family or group tickets, Annual passes and fast track tickets which allow you to jump all the queues to various rides.

There are many places to eat and drink at Thorpe Park including diners, restaurants, cafes and kiosks as well as the usual fast-food outlets including Pizza Hut, KFC, Burger King and McDonalds. Or a picnic could be packed to eat in many of the grassy areas, however, I would only recommend taking your own food if travelling by car otherwise you'll have to carry it around with you for the whole day. But if eating in the park, food isn't expensive to buy here like it is in some theme parks.

Thorpe Park is easily my favourite theme park and, if you go when school is still on on a quiet day, you'll hardly have to queue at all. It makes such a fun day and if you're an extreme ride lover this is definitely the place to go.

Summary: You'll be screaming and laughing all day