Han30

The whole experience is just a mess and it’s like they never really thought things through that well. The 2 photo points in the queue are no longer in use so the ending part and the photo booth is pointless. They had the bag drop the first year and then got rid of that after just one season. Instead of fixing the mid section which I thought was a really good effect they’ve just hashed up a mini maze in there. The pre show is so long and tedious and they’ve now added almost a second preshow with an actor which seems to go on forever and as a result the second VR section has been cut. The initial second VR section was very odd so I do prefer the updated one but I would rather it have stayed what it was instead of cutting it to accommodate the actors speech which is quite tedious. My favourite part was the exit/gift shop but they’ve fudged that up now that the demon is gone - it genuinely scared me the first time I saw it but now just a person coughing doesn’t have the same effect. Even the shop looks pretty awful compared to how it used to be - half empty and selling other ride merch. Its just not worth re-riding (I only do if I’m with someone who hasn’t been on and wants to try it). There are so many options they could have gone for for a dark ride - even a bog standard ghost train would be better at this point. All the hype surrounding it and it’s just a pile of crud - I guess it was a gamble they took which hasn’t paid off. Wondering at which point it will just be called “ghost train” because I don’t think I’d want my name to be affiliated with it. Maybe I’m being harsh - I just miss the arena in all honesty.

They definitely weren’t communicating well - if you were riding for the first time you might assume the ones in bags are the clean ones maybe. Anyway I didn’t hear what was said as I had my head set on but apparantly the actor was both shouty and very sarcastic. Also - do they no longer touch peoples legs in there? That’s the main reason I went on 😂🤣. The ride is so dead in the water. We just had a woman coughing at the end - right in my face at one point so hoping she didn’t have a dose of covid. Will the demon at the end ever resurface? That was genuinely the best part of the ride

I went on Tuesday - second visit of the season. It was pretty busy in comparison to over the Easter weekend (guessing due to only premium and platinum passholders being the only annual passholders able to attend those dates). The Thrill Makers are…..interesting - I’m not bashing them because they seem popular for younger visitors - one of them came over to us and was really engaging which was nice but we wanted to move on before the show started so used the excuse that I needed a cigarette - I was quite shocked when the girl said “oh it’s fine don’t worry you can smoke here, it’s not enforced” - literally smack bang in the middle of what was a quite busy area and where kids were around. She even pointed to someone else smoking to prove her point. I know Thorpe aren’t as strict as other parks but I wouldn’t sit and smoke where there are kids about because it’s disgusting and I’m sure many parents wouldn’t want their kids inhaling second hand smoke. One fairly big gripe I have is with the Colossus team - painfully slow. Both this visit and last they weren’t even opening the air gates until the station was clear from previous riders which is insane - the queue yesterday was at 90 minutes at this point and my friend timed how long it took from the train coming in and the air gates opening and it was over 2 mins. If this is to do with safety issues then fair enough but it’s not happening on the other coasters? Very bizarre and it also results in being sat on the brake run for what seems like a bloody eternity which is uncomfortable. The new toilets are actually the best thing this year 😂. Staff on the whole are very friendly aswell

The weird thing was that when we got on the train the actors kept saying “don’t take the headsets out of the bags yet” giving the impression that the headsets actually work. My niece who I was with assumed the same (we hadn’t been on for a couple of years and a ton of headset were in bags) - after the first section my niece said she got shouted at by one of the actors for not using a headset - cos it was broken. Apparently the actor was quite rude and shouted at her for not having a working headset - would make more sense for the actors to tell people that the headsets in bags don’t work but they didn’t and implied to take them out once everyone was seated. I think my niece has only done ghost train twice before and due to covid and what was being said it’s an easy mistake to make, however I don’t think shouting sarcastically at a guest is the best attitude to have! Honestly I wish they would flatten the thing - at least the arena was a decent space for fright nights mazes

Went on this on Tuesday as someone in our group had never done it before. It was bad. SO bad. The preshow is boring now though I appreciate that if you’ve never been on it then it’s worth watching. So standing up watching that I was looking forward to getting on the train to sit down - no chance. We were greeted by an actor who talked a lot and then another actor came bursting in which was quite funny. Onto the train - loads of headsets in bags! Second section had a few actors in there who were pretty good at making us jump. Back on the train and they’ve gone and cut some of the VR to make it shorter! Over to the “exit” and there is no demon, but a rough looking woman just coughing everywhere. I’m assuming they’ve given up on the actual demon at the end now? Haven’t seen it for a long time though granted I rarely ride it these days but my last 2 rides just had a human coughing. Also amuses me that the “gift shop” has a photo kiosk when they no longer do photos for the ride 🤷‍♀️. I think the actors are trying hard to make the experience better and the ones in the middle section were pretty good but the one at the beginning was just very tedious especially right after standing and watching the preshow. I think it’s completely dead in the water and would need a miracle for it to be half decent. I would be up for the park to flatten it and bring back the arena again - at least it was a decent scare maze site

It’s been a long while since I went to a meet and would definitely be interested

If you are visiting on a day where kids are at school then one day is more than enough. If you visit on a half term day you may not get on everything you want due to queue times sometimes being really long.

Oh wow that is brilliant! Huge congrats to you Dr C

Going a tad off topic but I have 2 questions - What is going to happen to - 1) creek freak and 2) the curly fries place 🤣

I have smelt it quite a lot a Thorpe park - worst time being recent fright nights where it absolutely reeked of it outside the dodgems. Another time on the bus when there was only a handful of us and someone had some strong stuff on them. Had a young lad come up to me asking for a cigarette paper which I didn’t have but I offered him a cig and he said he needed paper to roll a joint! It’s the only park I’ve been to where you can smell it frequently

I think I accidentally clicked the wrong answer on the poll (I’m blaming my age 🤣 - the irony). Honestly I don’t think you can ever be too old for theme parks - if it is something you enjoy, go for it! I turned 40 last year (should probably change my forum name as I’ve been here 10 years and I’m no longer 30) and I don’t feel my age in general day to day life. That said I totally understand particularly Thorpe Park - because it is mainly teenagers that visit I can often feel a bit out of place but then I certainly don’t act my age so it doesn’t bother me - I usually visit the parks with my 17 year old niece and it’s not as noticeable as when I’m with my friend who is my age and her son because we are both in our 40s (don’t know if that made any sense - it’s been a long day!). I don’t think anyone at parks would be looking at you and thinking you are out of place unless they are extremely judgmental. I visited Thorpe a couple of times by myself when my ex worked at the park - first time I felt so uncomfortable at first and then after a while I thought sod it - people are out enjoying their day and won’t be scrutinising other guests or even noticing. Ive been an enthusiast for 21+ years but didn’t start visiting the Merlin parks regularly (more than my annual visit) until 2013. I did have a Tussauds pass in 2002 but that only covered off peak days for Thorpe and Chessington. So I was 32/33 when I became a regular visitor. Yeah I do feel old at times - but if I still enjoy parks when I’m 70 I’ll still be visiting. I totally understand being a bit self conscious but I honestly think these things are often more of a big deal in your head than in reality and the way we might feel is not a clear indication of what is real. Not sure if I’m making sense - it’s been a long day and I’m zonked. Also apologies for possibly typing an essay 🙈

You can get free water from the freestyle machines - when I first found this out I drank about 3 litres that day 🤣

I did Creepy Caves last year and thought it was brilliant - there wasn’t a solid storyline but the tight spaces in there and the actors really made it fantastic - I was shaking when I came out. Also at £6 (£5 for passholders) it is far better value than Thorpes offering in my opinion. It’s pretty short but it packs a punch and it genuinely made me scream/jump a few times

I think at this point they are flat out taking the pee

My late boyfriend was a larger guy and he was able to ride stealth, Saw, Swarm and Inferno - inferno has bigger seats in certain rows and all the big coasters have tester seats outside but I’ve heard that they aren’t always accurate but they were accurate for my partner. Colossus I would swerve as it is pinchy regardless and I’ve seen a fair few guests unable to fit - my nieces dad didn’t fit and he wasn’t actually too big when he tried (but he is pretty tall) In all honesty it’s a rough ride and will give you a headache. The only other rides that I can think of that may potentially be an issue is possibly Vortex (I know some ladies who are big up top shall we say struggle but you may be fine with it). Not sure on Samurai but both vortex and samurai have test seats outside the entrance which is handy 🙌 Rush is just a lap bar, Zodiac has no restraints and the water rides (Tidal Wave, Rumba, Depth charge and storm surge should all be absolutely fine) The other 2 coasters are lap bars so again shouldn’t be an issue at all.

The Flight Of The Sky Lion really impressed me - I booked Legoland not realising I’d booked the day the new area opened so it was crazy busy - visited another time so have had 2 goes on it which was fab. Hydras Challenge is a much needed improvement to squid surfer which was looking a tad grim and dirty before. @Matt Creek service was dire in that chippy when I went - massive queue to get in, nowhere to sit - oh and they expect you to eat fish with your fingers. The chips are nice though

out of the parks I’ve visited this season (Thorpe, Chessie and Lego) I’d say that Chessie have been the best but honestly those queues are insane!! I was there on Saturday and we decided to get an early lunch to avoid the carnage so went into Burger Kitchen at approx 11.45 - all tables cornered off and I asked the young girl what was going on - apparently they were short staffed! We were in there a good 20 mins waiting so I dread to think what it would have been like later. Also - the fish finger buns they sell are pretty dry and disgusting. Then at the end of the day we were hungry so went to the chicken place which was about to close - placed my order which was taken and paid for (fries and a coke) to then be told “oh we’re not doing any more fries” so I paid £2.50 ish and ended up with THREE mozzarella sticks which I really shouldn’t have eaten as it sparked off my IBS but that’s another story. Totally understand that it was the end of the day but maybe tell people while they order that you can’t provide what they’ve asked for rather than take their money then order a substitute. On another visit I got some dirty fries and they were that dry I was actually glad when it started raining 😂

This happened on my last visit and the place was heaving - also I feel a Rumba fast track is completely pointless because the merge point is usually where the queue tends to end. Fast track for Nemesis backing up to Rumba is crazy - I’ve seen it almost hitting the benches in the smoking area - the FT for that is also the RAP line which probably made it longer. I will never understand people paying for ultimate fast track on busy days when it makes more sense to go on an off peak day where you would almost certainly get more in for a fraction of the cost.

Not heard but seen - last Sunday 2 adults going the completely wrong way on Coastguard HQ - I don’t know how they managed it but they then tried to turn around and kept crashing the boat into the edge - assume they were attempting a 3 point turn but it went horribly wrong 🤣

I would just go with no expectations honestly - that way you won’t be disappointed. It’s not half term this week so may be slightly quieter. Dont get me started on the social distancing (or lack thereof). I completely understand that we as individuals need to adhere to the measures in place but it just makes zero sense to have people in queues on top of each other and then once you get to the ride you cant possibly sit next to the person that’s been breathing down your neck while you wait. At Legoland on Sunday we were waiting to go on the pirate ship and no one was keeping a distance yet every other row was blocked off. Pretty sure you’re more likely to catch covid in a long queue with people crowded than sat in front/behind someone for a matter of a couple of minutes. It’s frustrating but I understand they are trying to stick to the rules but they really do need to make more announcements to remind people to keep a distance. A friend of mine got verbally abused at Thorpe for politely asking someone to leave some space in the queue.

This thread is just brilliant - I’ve been reading through it again and nearly spat my Pepsi out 😂

I seriously question whether they have actually reduced visitor numbers - I went today and left at 1.30pm. Colossus shut until after filming for This Morning, Tidal Wave not running (although in this weather I doubt it would be popular) and samurai has scaffolding around it. We managed 2 rides on TWD purely because at the start of the day there was no queue, then went to Saw, teacups, had an early lunch, did Stealth then left. The queues were massive - even the dodgems have a gigantic queue. I honestly felt so bad for the people in the queue for Storm Surge - I wouldn’t queue more than 5 mins personally. Today was my 3rd visit this season and every time we have left early and gone shopping. It’s just not enjoyable currently and it’s frustrating that you have people on top of each other in the queues but then social distancing is in place on the rides which lowers the throughput. I totally understand why but it just seems bloody pointless when you have a complete stranger literally breathing down your next whilst in the queue. So far this year I’ve done Thorpe x 3, Chessington twice and Legoland once and Thorpe just seems manic - last time I went I took anxiety meds whilst being herded like cattle behind the gates in the park until 10pm - it makes zero sense to hold guests back in giant groups when they could let them disperse into the park and be more spread out. Today whilst queuing to get in I took anxiety meds. My MAP runs out in just under a month and I can’t see me renewing - I know covid isn’t the parks fault and guests not sticking to the distancing but what is the point of the covid marshals? They literally walk among the crowds. Queues today were horrendous and that was in awful weather conditions. I knew it would be rammed before going so only expected to get on a couple of rides but I really feel for people who have paid for a day ticket to spend the majority of the time in a queue.

Yes you can but be prepared for a long queue for bag searches

I guess that makes sense - I’ve never seen them all joined us so it looked a bit bizarre!

My friends partner got food from there on Sunday and it looked absolutely vile - apparently it didn’t taste much better than either. Also - what is up with Tiny Truckers? I was on the jumbos with my friends little boy and was thinking wtf then walked past it and all the trucks are stuck together 🤣 - it looks bizarre