eee
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Posts posted by eee
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Yeah I've seen it like that.I don't mind the noodle place though it doesn't seem to get too mental.Reminds me of the time Burger King had 2 queues going out both the doors and near the teacups, bad times! :PBar 360 (Glass House) provides best value for money IMO, 2 meals for £12 plus annual pass discount means you can get a decent sized meal for £4!
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The only food I really enjoy at TP are the waffles and ice cream. Anything else I bring with me and leave in a locker till it's time to eat. There's enough queueing in a day at TP without queueing for food too.
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I never watch adverts I either channel surf or tivo stuff. starting to think I'll watch some to try and catch these.
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THE SWARM sounds amazing. Me and my better half (Serena) have been following the build and updates with much anticipation. We live in manchester so can't just nip to the park and we missed out on any preview days so we're doing two days at the start of the easter hols. We became thorpe converts when Saw was opened so can't wait for THE SWARM. The annual passes have been sorted and the hotel is booked. Roll on the 2nd of april!!!
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Well Evey,thank god I'm not alone in my views I was starting to think I was surrounded by AT employees. Yes the AP day at Thorpe was a farce, unscrupulous AP holders were equally as culpable as Merlin though; there were many making a few quid outside and no security preventing them selling their quota to a sea of morons.I have to say I think you are right about the amity theming, I'm not really overly concerned with theming I just like thrill rides but I imagine if I took the kids they would notice such things. And whilst I get your point about the volcano, AT has its theming faux pas moments...However, bang for buck thrill rides and quickest queues goes to TP. Oh and unlike being stuck in the middle of nowhere waiting for Air and not knowing it has broken down at least at TP you are close enough to hear the announcements if that should happen. No doubt I'll be dragged back to AT soon by my beloved and who knows maybe it will be ok, but I won't hold my breathI think the long and the short of this argument is do you prefer Alton Towers or Thorpe Park.Being a northern girl I practically spent my childhood in AT and had no wish to journey down south to TP. As I got older, and therefore more picky, I saw more and more problems with AT. Yes, the scenery is lovely. Yes, the majority of the rides are great. Yes, the reliability of rides are better. And yes, sometimes they get the theming right - this is important to me as I still call them theme parks. But the delightful spaces work against it. They let too many people in. This is a bad habit they do all year round and, in my opinion, has gotten worse in the last few years. These big spaces also take up more of your precious park time getting from ride to ride - Bolt or not - you have to admit that sometimes those walks are arduous - and even if you get you Sky Ride I object to queuing for what is, in essence, a transport device. (Don't get me started on the monorail and the crazy hike from the car park to the actual gates.) I have been at multiple times of year from crammed with school kids to random non school holiday weekends and the queue times have been getting more out of hand than ever. The answer is simple - stop being greedy and put a limit on the number of people you let in, Merlin! I am more than capable of planning my way around a park, but 7 rides has been my latest maximum - no ambling and with only 30 mins for lunch.Only in the past few years have I been to Thorpe Park and in all honesty, I found it a breath of fresh air. I was instantly hit with the theming of certain areas - I really enjoy Amity and wish this level could be taken around the rest of the park (I'm still confused by the idea of a volcano plonked in the middle of it all). The rides were a big contrast to AT - but that's a personal thing. The fact that it reasonably compact and you can get around it quickly is a huge plus to me. I was there on the first weekend of the school summer holidays and I was not crammed I was not pushed and there were still places to sit and have a moment of rest should I want it - oh, and the rides times weren't insane - the longest was an hour, which, again in my opinion, is long enough for any ride (my last visit to AT all the major rides had queue times of over 60 mins). Having said all this I was there on the AP holders day at the beginning of the season - it was pretty dire. Rides were out, the park was ridiculously packed and the whole thing just seemed inept. And no, Merlin, after driving down there staying in a premier inn the night before to make sure I wasn't shattered so I could actually have a good day there, a crummy money off voucher with a time limit on it was not an acceptable mea culpa.Both have their draw backs, for me, AT's biggest problem is the huge spaces filled with nothing. TP's is the reliability of the rides. I'm glad we have these two parks engaged in this fight because otherwise they would rest on their laurels and former glory.Right at this moment I'm in Thorpe's corner. visit for visit on the last 5 occasions TP has won hands down and even better - I've actually been able to feel my legs and feet at the end of the day!
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When I say getting to the park for 10, I mean at the gates at 10, not the car park... Regardless, I've never experienced problems of queuing aside from when the Monorail decides to pack itself in for whatever reason...the above kind of proves my point so you mean you get to the car park for 9.30.Oh I can assure you I know how long it takes to get to AT but I don't live in planet optimism I live in planet reality so whilst I accept I can get a good run, hell if I wanted I could roll up on the Ninja in no time, but generally it's pretty crap getting there. Living in stoke I'm sure it's no great hardship for you to get there and no doubt you can take many of your locally known little shortcuts. But the vast majority of people travel from all over so don't have your advantage. Damn, you could nip home for oatcakes at lunch and a pint with Robbie if you wanted. Me I'm stuck with thousands of others at the mercy of Britain's crap roads; hmm maybe merlin run them too. And actually we worked out that you can get to Thorpe from manchester in a little more than an hour longer and then when I get there my car won't be a million miles from the gate.I've been to Thorpe on a very busy day, however due to its nature there is a limit on the number of people they let in, whereas AT just lets them in by the million, and I had no problem. So I agree when Saw opened and broke and opened and broke it would have been pretty awful but are you seriously telling me you haven't been in AT when things break? Hmmm 13 maybe? Rita? It happens, it's a risk we take. I've been at TP when stealth broke virtually all day and there was no tidal wave running and still inferno etc didn't have queues as massive as AT. I have also been to the towers at several times of year but let's face it- it's too spread out, too busy, too remote and not open long enough during the day make up for that. I don't write this as a Towers Hater, I've enjoyed it many times, this is simply the reality as I've found it over the last 2 years or so. But if the fans can't see fault and the casual visitor doesn't know where to put their thoughts then its only going to get worse. Yesterday as we left Thorpe, 6pm in the car for ten past back in manchester for 9.30 (with a stop), we were planning the next trip with excitement. We then talked of AT and considered maybe halloween but then we decide no probably Thorpe again.
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Well benin I'm glad you have a system for AT, as do I. I merely mentioned spinball because for the average person, as in not an AP holder like myself or you, it is the likely the first thing they see and as such after such a long wait to get in it is often the first thing they head for. I've seen it happen and I'm sure you have too. Now I can believe you have arrived at the park for 10 but unless you have a jetpack in your rucksack you didn't get to the gate much before halfpast, though as I don't know you I could give you the benefit of the doubt and assume you run like Ussain Bolt and as such I guess you could make the park gates by 10.05, but you would need a powerbar and a lucozade as you swiped your card through the gate. If, however, you don't posess the athletic speed of mr bolt you will have had to trudge through a million cars or wait in the first queue of the day for the monorail. So for the non-super hero amongst us arriving at the park for 10 means arriving at the gate for about half past. Of course I could always get ripped off a little more by merlin and pay extra to park closer but I'm too tight for that.As you say its always good to arrive for 9 or earlier, but seriously the roads leading to the park mean leaving where we are in manchester at a ridiculously early time, this hardly helps with my mood in the queues. As you say indoor eating is sparse and whilst you point out some options for this unless you want lunch at 10.30am or 3.00pm then you ain't going to get inside them. And in fairness Thorpe isn't much better for food venues inside or out. So now lets say, not being able to sprint as quickly as Ussain Bolt, I get into the park for 10.30 and the park closes at 6. For my route I want to go to 13 first and follow it up with rita, I'll queue for the best part of 2 hours to do these and at 12.30 will be disappointed and starting to get hungry. I know oblivion has a very quick throughput so decide to cheer myself up with the rush that gives me and thereby allowing myself to go to kfc or picnic on the lawns. By 1.15 I'm slightly happier and opt for the lawns and my butties. So in my non superhero world 2 or 3 rides before lunch is the usual. Now at this juncture I must point out that this is on a better day at AT. Lets assume rita was working and I didn't get stuck behind a coach or 7 on the way in and got there for 10. I could of course eat in the queue, assuming no filthy bugger is smoking all over me but I like to sit and eat, I'm old fashioned that way.I'm glad you enjoy the strolls between rides, indeed if AT restricted the number of people allowed in to the park by 50% and the resulting queues were shorter then I too might enjoy the walks however to me they are a boring and torturous part of an inevitable slow slow walk to the front of a ride that may or may not excite me. As for atmosphere, I was in Thorpe yesterday and both me and my beloved commented on the lovely atmosphere. Like a southern european holiday spot my beloved remarked. As I walked through amity I noticed how much space there was and how little jostling about there was. It is not a country park atmosphere clearly but it has a beachy fun atmosphere to it that extends far and wide. It has a kind of fun party feel to it that stays with you all day. Add to this the fact that I can get a locker in the middle of the park to leave my lunch in and that when I was done at 6 I was in my car by ten past and on the m25 by halfpast. Thorpe isn't perfect it suffer from the greed and poor management of merlin like AT and others too but for my money and time I'll take it over AT 9 times out of 10.I don't have facebook so I don't know what people say on there but I do read travel writers and look on travel critic websites like trip advisor and I assure you people are finding AT a real chore.And so I will happily meet someone who thinks I'm wrong and will follow them round- no fast passes-no special car park and no getting there before 10 I would love to be proved wrong because me and my beloved have special memories of AT and we would both like to think we can recapture some of the past fun we had there. however, right now we're both disappointed with it.
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Where is all this marketing? TV, radio, net? Not seen any except in the park or on here. I spend more hours than is reasonable in front of the tv and listen to the radio in the car everyday and yet haven't seen or heard any of it.
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Alton Towers has become nothing but a let down. We used to love it but after visiting Thorpe you have to say, yawn. Its a day of long walks, long waits and boring rides. I don't see what the attraction for families is because if you want green space and such like you don't need to spend a fortune to go to your local park.The rides are not a patch on Thorpe and no, disney doesn't have uber thrill rides but it is genuinely well themed and not just the design its the shows and parades too, all tied into well known films, where are they for my 7 yr old in Alton Towers? Even Halloween has become dull at AT. Add into the mix that unless you arrive an hour before the doors open, no easy thing considering the winding slow b-roads miles away from motorways, it will take about an hour to get into the park. At which point you could quickly stomp to sonic spinball and wait an hour for a fairly average ride. After that you will be lucky to do 3 more rides after being fleeced for food and drink. Oh and if its cold dont expect to find somewhere warm and dry to eat, however, do expect to sit outside surrounded by rubbish and have the wind cool your, already slightly iffy ,food cold.Only the very lucky or the peculiar breed of sycophantic fanboy types have anything good to say about AT recently. Just google it, trip advisor it etc It's a total let down for the majority of visitors. Me and my beloved were staunch and loyal AT fans and we only tried Thorpe because we fancied a weekend away, man what an eyeopener it was. Now we only miss air and hex and despite the uniqueness of air we both agree its hardly a scarefest. And as for hex, it's a nice sitdown and a nice warm up for our halloween vists. However, I think our halloween this year will be down at thorpe. 7 years of halloween visits, its a tradition and as sad as it is we know we will only be disappointed at AT. Recently went to BPP with the school I work at and despite my inherent dislike of blackpool I had to concede the school were right to move away from AT and take the kids to BPP, it was much better VFM and in 6 hours the kids could do pretty much everything. Take them to AT and they complain for days about only getting on 2 or 3 rides.Alton Towers needs a rethink and soon.
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As the theming matters very little to me I honestly don't care what they do as long as the ride remains. Even better if no more sixth form theatre studies students waste their time trying to scare me.
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was on stealth yesterday (24th july) no smoke. Still, the throughput was rapid and we got on twice within first 35 minutes of our visit.Good to hear the smoke is back! Still haven't been to Thorpe this year, think I'll hold on until the Fright Nights or the Not-Fright-Nights in October!
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I can only assume you work for Alton Towers or have some special rose tinted specs for when you visit. If you are so lucky to have only have seen one hour queues at AT you should go and buy a lotto ticket cos with luck like that you will win big. 3 or 4 times a year I was dragged to AT by my better half I used to get excited but now its just tedious; I trudge through long queues for average rides. I trek miles from ride to ride and then I have to queue again, just to get the monorail to my car.Yeah, that sums up my view on your post!
(However I'll add that I'm confused about your queues thing, the queues are rarely over an hour.. whereas if you visit thorpe at the same time, they'll have at least a few rides with at least an hour queue!) -
There's is nothing even remotely disneyesque about Alton Towers. There is no immersion in a magical theme anywhere. The only disney comparison is the in your face cynical money making that's constantly present. But at least disney doesn't charge for fast passes.Alton Towers is so very over rated, after a visit to Thorpe last week my allegiences are well and truely being questioned. The only thing I missed about AT was Air. I didn't miss the huuuge queues, the stupid location or the hiking between rides. Nor did I miss the so called thrill rides because Saw the ride alone makes Thorpe a better option.EEE
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Very smooth, good theming (if that floats your boat, just irritates me) and a good family coaster.Want thrills? look elsewhere. eee
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Talk about queue I wonder how long it will take to get out of the car park at fright nights because of the new charging making everything slower?Queues you know when they are bad when you see 99mins put on them!I have learnt at thorpe park 2 hours is not that bad anymore it would be half that time if they did not have half the guests in the park with fastrack!The queues getting out of Alton Towers because of having to pay are horrendous.eee
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Sat 21st Aug 2010- followed the advice I found on here about queue times and got to the park for 8 and the longest queue we had was for Colossus in which after 55 mins we were told it was closed. After that tyhe longest we waited was 45 mins for Nemesis. SHortest wait time- 5 mins after running to SAW when the park opened ;)eee
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There's nothing like this at Alton Towers and me and my partner found this a great place for tired feet.
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As I've said on a couple of posts this morning Me and My partner paid our first ever visit to Thorpe on Sat. I really wanted to go on Colossus. Got in a queue with a 60 minute wait time and after 55 minutes was told the ride was broken. I was slightly miffed but the fast pass was handy and we got on Stealth in 5 minutes. Anyway at about 6pm we walked towards the Saw Maze(so lame) we noticed the queue wasn't in that wooded area, despite the sign saying there was a 70 minute wait, we ran back round and through the queue area and got on in 20 mins, yay! Now I'm a big guy and it was the only ride that I found a squeeze. I managed to lock the restraint though and off we went- I loved it. Bit rough but hey I didn't care. And no its no Dragon Khan ( my personal all time fave ride) but its good.EEE
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First time Thorpe visit on Sat (no planes hit anything
) and got to say- Stealth- wow- puts Rita to shame. My other half still prefers Furious Baco thougheee -
The thing that irritated me most at Thorpe was the poor service and attitude of the food vendors. Inefficient and inept. They were so slow and disinterested.And along with Alton Towers- go disney on fast passes no more greedy, cynical money making. Go to attraction, take a ticket with a time, go back at that time...simples. EEE
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My partner and I finally got to ride Saw on Saturday (3 times
) and we were so impressed. Never been to Thorpe before as we're from Manchester and are Alton Towers veterans. Saw blew us away! EEE
SAW: The Ride
in General Discussion
Posted
Me and the lovely Serena love saw and have ridden many times. Sometimes it's been rough others really smooth. Clearly as the day progresses and the track moves with the temperature the ride changes. One thing we have noticed is that the front is rougher than the rear. (did that seem a little rude? lol)