AWESOME DETONATOR! (Thorpe Park)

Member Name: foxster27

Product:	Thorpe Park
Date:	18/05/04 (1188 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Thrilling rides, Clean, tidy, Appealing Park, Great for Families

Disadvantages: Could have more 'White Knuckle' rides

I visited Thorpe Park yesterday and the first thing that struck me was how compact it was. Now don?t get me wrong, I don?t mean small. I just mean that everything appeared to be in close proximity to each other, and it is. This is something that I personally liked as apposed to other parks where you have to trundle miles to get to each ride instead of actually enjoying them. You could probably walk from one side of the park to the other in about 10 minutes. The scenery is very good too, very colourful with themed architecture, lots of water features(the park is virtually surrounded by water), and greenery. It actually made me feel like a small child again, something which I very rarely experience these days!
The facilities at the park are very comprehensive. You never seem to be very far from the toilet facilities which are located throughout including equal numbers of disabled toilets, nursing mothers/baby changing facilities, guest telephones, cash dispenser (1 Natwest dispenser), drinking water dispensers (although these appear to be concentrated around just one half of the park), first aid centre, lost children area, lost and found and guest lockers. There are many places to eat and drink (18 in total) catering for all tastes (there is a bar serving alcoholic beverages for the adults), however there does appear to be a strong American influence, ie, burgers and donuts. The park has 10 gift shops.

Now for what?s really important ? the rides. I have to admit that I was only able to spend 4 hours at the park and being the thrill seeker that I am spent most of my time riding the ?white knuckle? rides and didn?t manage to get round and try everything. However I feel that this could be possible should you have a whole day there. It should just be mentioned that some of the rides require you to surrender your bags and loose belongings beforehand and the white-knuckle rides have minimum height restrictions of between 1.0 metres and 1.4m. The child orientate
d rides have height restrictions of either a maximum 1.2m or minimum 0.9m tall.

The first ride I tested was ?The Vortex? (1.4m restriction). This reminds me of the old ?pirate ship? style rides but it has a new twist. Riders sit in rows of four and there are 8 sets of seats (this means that the ride has a capacity for 32 riders which is good for keeping the queue down). Each set of seats is suspended by what can only be described as a giant claw. What happens is that the claw rotates in a circular motion. This begins very slowly at first, then picks up speed. As it does so the gigantic pole that suspends the claw begins to swing back and forth. This carries on until you start to feel that this all swinging, all rotating pendulum may actually swing all the way over the top, but it doesn?t! It does however give your stomach a lifting and churning sensation. This ride is best attempted on an empty stomach as I found out after my second go following lunch! The ride last approx 4 minutes and I queued for a reasonable 20 minutes. One improvement would be to make the entrance for the queue more recognisable.

The next ride I sampled was ?The Detonator? (1.3m restriction). This is the Star attraction at the park and this was very evident from the queue sizes. I queued for 1 ½ hours, but don?t let that put you off because if you love to be scared, this is AWESOME! The ride is a 60/65 foot square tower that has 11 seats positioned around the base. When all are strapped in you begin to slowly rise towards the top of the tower, legs dangling down. About half way up you start to think that you must be near the top, but oh no, you just keep going. You really can?t appreciate the height until you are up there, but once at the top you have a fantastic view that goes on for miles. You really have no time to enjoy this though as you have more pressing things to worry about. You are fully aware of the drill from watching what happens from the queue. First a countdown
to ?detonation?, 5,4,3,2, and 1. You would be wrong in assuming that what ever was about to happen next would occur after hearing the number one, why?, well the operators of this ride are a little sadistic to say the least. They may decide to set the ride off on number 4, or number 2, or the worst case scenario is when they leave you hanging there awaiting your fate long after the count has gone! So, what happens next? Well you just fall, you go into free fall at a reported 5.5 g-force back down to earth. I have never felt so scared in all my life, but at the same time in was thrilling! Oh, they do manage to stop you just before you touch down! This ride is something special and worth attempting, but it?s not for the weak hearted. The ride last approx 45-60 seconds. Again this ride needs better identification of where to start queuing.

I next had a go on ?The Tidal Wave? (1.2m restriction). The name is very apt as I have never seen a water-based ride produce such a big splash. The ride takes the shape of a basic oval roller coaster and passengers sit in a car with a capacity of about 16. The car moves along a track and starts to climb a high slope. As the car turns the corner the views are very good, the car then turns again and you are hurtled down an equally steep slope hitting a pool of water at speed. You get very wet as the car makes impact with the water and get totally soaked as the water falls back down again. The water is very cold as well! Then the car cruises back round the track to the start where you exit, dripping wet wondering why you ever thought it was a good idea to ride this thing! This ride lasts about 4-5 minutes and I queued for about 20 minutes.

Next was ?X:\ No Way Out? (1.4m restriction). This ride takes the idea of a traditional roller coaster and adapts it. It is in complete darkness and it goes backwards! It had an incredibly short queue and I was in within 10 minutes. As you go in you have to make your way through a se
ries of dark tunnels that are almost pitch black and seems to go on for miles leaving you wondering if there is actually a ride in there at all. Along the way there are various robotic objects set behind glass in the walls, but these are few and far between and made me feel that not much time or effort had been used here. The trek along these tunnels could have become much more interesting and exciting with a little bit of imagination and creativity. The saving grace in all this tunnel trekking is a spinning tunnel. You walk along a platform and the walls spin around causing you to feel very dizzy and disorientated and that it is you whose is spinning. When you finally reach the ride itself(there is a kiosk to hand in your belongings) you hop into a car that carries two and is very cramped at it?s capacity. The row of 6 or so cars are hurtled backwards into complete darkness. You can sense that you are going up and the car starts to make a series of twists and turns, which I have to admit that the constant jerking of the car was quite painful on the body in the cramped space. After a while the car just stops leaving you unsure of how high up you are or what is to follow next. It was at this point that I was expecting something exciting to happen, like perhaps the car shooting downwards, almost vertically, but I was to be disappointed. The only difference between this ride and a traditional roller coaster is strictly limited to the difference stated previously. The car makes more twists, turns and stops until it reaches the end. The exit is pretty mush like the entrance; more tunnels. I have to admit to being a little disappointed with this ride, but if the queue is quite short then it?s worth a look. The whole experience last about 8-10 minutes.

Some of the other rides that I didn?t get to experience were:
Thunder River: A water rapid ride in a circular dingy
Logger?s Leap: Log flume ride
Miss Hippo?s Fungle Safari: Travel through a man made sa
fari in a car on a track
Mr Monkey?s Banana Ride: Pirate ship type ride
Canada Creek Railway Station: Travel on a train around the park
Thorpe Farm: Farm with animals
Water Bus: River boat that takes passengers to Thorpe Farm
Zodiac: A large Wheel that rotates riders at speed horizontally
Neptune? Beach: A man made beach with large swimming area and water slides
Depth Charge: Water slide for fully clothed people who sit in a dingy

And other rides and attractions.
It is also worth mentioning a new roller coaster due to open next year described as ?the world?s first 10 loop coaster?. This can already be seen part constructed.

I also had the opportunity to see a live performance of an all singing, all dancing ?blues brothers? band, performed in the main street area, including authentic American police car with siren. This performance appeared to happen hourly.
There were also people dressed in costume walking on stilts firing water pistols at passers-by and others selling helium-filled balloons. A lot of the rides have what is known as ?happy memories?. This is where your picture is captured on camera when you are at you most terrified and unattractive and are virtually available to buy once you get off the ride.

The staff were friendly, pleasant and helpful and it appeared that safety was of paramount importance. People with disabilities are also considered and catered for. The rides I tested all appeared to have special ramps leading to them and on two occasions I witnessed staff assisting people in wheel chairs to enable them to enjoy the rides as well.
It is well worth checking out the website for the park (www.thorpepark.com). It features all the attractions at the park, including a run down of opening times, which vary, so check them out before going. Details about how to get there by various means (including a map). It lists ticket prices (currently £16 per adult) and is apparently cheaper if
you book online! It also gives details of groups bookings. These are classed as 12 people or more and are also discounted. All telephone numbers to contact the park are listed.

To sum up all this I would have to say that Thorpe Park is worth a visit. It is a day of escapism that appears to have something for just about everyone. Thrill seekers like myself may be a little disappointed that there are not more original white-knuckle rides but ?The Detonator? goes a long way to make up for it. Children and families will love it I?m sure. The entrance price is a tad high I feel and could be perhaps reduced by a couple of pounds. This is mainly based on a comparison of what your getting in relation to the price and what is provided at Alton Towers (sorry I had to make a comparison sooner or later!).

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