StevenX

I'm looking to do a UK theme park tour with a friend who's visiting from Europe soon, but it's probably going to have to be August. I was wondering whether that's a good idea or not, given crowd levels over the summer holidays - it's been forever since I've been to any of the parks at that time of year. The current plan is Alton Towers on Friday, 10th August and Thorpe Park on Monday 13th August, probably with Blackpool Pleasure Beach on the Saturday in the middle. I'm not too worried about Blackpool as from experience it seems to soak up any crowds fairly well, but what are the lines likely to be like on Monday, 13th August for Thorpe? It has shorter opening hours (10:00 - 18:00) than the Friday, which suggests it'd be best to do it this way round. Any advice appreciated!

Not sure, but it was running yesterday all day with 2 trains. The only things which were closed were Slammer, Slammer and that weird Neptune's beach thing at the front. Oh, and SAW Alive - which I'm led to believe is now only operated over Fright Nights? If true, that's very poor show.

Thanks for the advice. Just back from the park now, and had a really good day out - much better than the other time I went when the park was packed! The park was really quiet today. After the initial morning rush, The Swarm had a maximum queue line of 10 minutes, Stealth and Nemesis: Inferno were max 20 minutes all day, and SAW peaked at 30 minutes. Longest queue of the day was Colossus at about 40 minutes. We managed to do The Swarm 6 times, SAW twice and Stealth, Nemesis: Inferno, Colossus, Rush, Storm Surge, Rumba Rapids, Detonator and X No Way Out once each - very successful day!

Thanks guys. We're going to be getting the 950 shuttle bus to/from Staines station, which I believe stops running about 40 minutes after the park shuts. If the park hours get extended until 6pm, does the shuttle bus stop time change to reflect that? Also, how do you find out when the park hours are extended?

Any ideas how busy this Sunday might be? I'm guessing, being a weekend, it's likely to be pretty packed... As I've not done The Swarm yet though, as long as I get to do that once or twice, I'll be happy. Any tips for the weekend - I'm assuming as long as I hit The Swarm first, it'll be all good?