Thorpe Park Trip Reports

[JoshC.]

Amazingly not the first time, there used to be a smaller gate leading into Infernos shed/lift hill bit and someone has a picture of it wide open for anyone to run into and get beheaded...

The things the staff do nowadays to get Fright Night theming is unbelievable.

[James6]

EDIT: I have decided to remove my trip report as I felt It could be seen as me being a bit angry which its not at all Lets just say I'm writing a letter and it takes a LOT for me to write a letter! I think that shows how bad my day was today and I will definatley be thinking twice about visiting Thorpe park soon which is a shame as its the closest park on my Annual pass. Message me if you wish to see my trip report, I warn you in advance its lengthy Ride CountSaw x 1Colossus x 1

[Alex]

Two rides?! That's shocking. Post your trip report, I'm intrigued.

[JoshC.]

Went to Thorpe Park today for the morning (had other things to do). Park was really quiet at opening. Everyone went to SAW, which opened late. Got on first Samurai ride of the day. That side of the park was packed, didn't fancy riding Loggers, which was empty, (it was a day for my mum - she didn't want to get any wetter).Went over to Inferno - dead. Got on twice (once at the front). Went on the Teacups (Teacup 2 = win). It was deserted this side fo the park. Headed over to SAW at 11 (now open) which had a 2 hour 15 minute queue, but was probably more. Colossus was 2 hours. Rush and Vortex were 40 - 50 minutes. Left at about half eleven to do the other stuff.It was like 2 diferent parks, Inferno side dead was like Thrill Chill (but with all rides open), SAW side was like a summer day.Ride CountSamurai x1Inferno x2Teacups x1

[James6]

Blimey , really wish I had gone to that side of the park for the morning then!. you done more than me and I was there for almost double the time! Why oh why did I stay on the SAW side

[Mark9]

EDIT: I have decided to remove my trip report as I felt It could be seen as me being a bit angry which its not at all Lets just say I'm writing a letter and it takes a LOT for me to write a letter! I think that shows how bad my day was today and I will definatley be thinking twice about visiting Thorpe park soon which is a shame as its the closest park on my Annual pass. Message me if you wish to see my trip report, I warn you in advance its lengthy Ride CountSaw x 1Colossus x 1

Post it here dude... we all wanna see!

[Dan9]

I've seen it *smug*.

[Sidders]

I wanna look!!

[James6]

ha , ok , if you insist its nothing special so don't get your hopes up.Went to Thorpe Park today after deciding to do it rather than chessington The weather on the way there was constant rain and so I thought it would be quiet at Thorpe, how wrong I was. I am currently considering writing a letter and am going to think long and hard about visiting Thorpe in the future. I just thank god my annual pass covers Alton and Chessington as well.Right well lets start from the start, arrived there early to heaves of people and instantly I could feel it in the air it was going to be a bad day. We walked in and went straight to SAW to find out it would be "opening slightly late this morning". Then after a little chat with one of the workers there they said it was likely it wouldn't be working till this afternoon due to. Wait for it...... Maintenance. Now I'm no big cheese billionaire that runs a bustling theme park but surely you leave your maintenance till either off-peak or after the ride has closed that evening? And it Wouldn't be that bad if they even stated it on the boards outside but nope, you have to wait till you've walked all the way to the saw island , joined the que and THEN you find out.So with that irritating information I chose to Que for Colossus, My next in a very long list of regrets today. It was still testing when I entered the Que and was greeted with a wait round the back of the second tunnel to my surprise so I guessed it would be about an hour, then after a couple of trains go round with people another train went round empty adding to my groans and wishes I had gone to chessington. and then as I got to the distance where your to far in to get out but far enough away that you want to get out SAW opened. I stayed in the Que for Colossus and enjoyed my ride. Then walked past SAW and it was up to 2 hours already... , so I decided to try out the single rider Que as I decided it would be the only way possible I could ride SAW and what is at the moment my only saving grace for the park. I've not seen the films but jigsaws voice in the indoor queuing bit really sets my heart pumping and for the first time in 3 visits all effects (that I know of) were working. Meaning the first time Ive seen the blades swing and blood squirted and they are very good effects at that. Then I decided to eat and I love the food in the calypso BBQ and I know it takes a while to get your food there but today, seeing other people who ordered after me get there food before me was frustrating to say the least. Yet again though I can compliment the staff as even through the rain they were friendly. Today was the first day I've actually left earlier than I needed to and on the way out Colossus broke down and sounded quite serious as they were really pushing you to leave the Que. which made me think ,at the time it was 2 hours long and had I been standing in that Que for an hour or even half an hour I would want some sort of fastrack, I think I would just break down if I had qued for an hour and then have to wait an hour and a half for it to be fixed whilst I could have been on other, but if you leave then you've wasted an hour and a half and got no compensation. (There are many times I don't think you should get compensation in one form or another, but this isn't one of them, they used to do it Alton towers and it was annoying the ride broke down but it didn't put a damper on your whole day.) Surely there's a way where they know you've qued an hour and let you leave and try the other (few) rides that are working.During the day I saw quite a few stealth trains go round empty and I didn't even make it out of the lost city.Whilst walking out I thought I would try one of my favourites Quantum... But yep you guessed it , it was broken down.The atmosphere, one of the things I thought that was pretty good on Tuesday because it felt a lot more "friendly and family" with less smoking and less "sup bruv" people. But again today I had to hold my coat over my nose to not pass out as the smell of smoke makes me lightheaded and gives me a headache. Everywhere I turned there was another gang of "init bluddd"'s ready to "bang me out" if you look at them funny.I'm not an angry person at all and I would say I'm quite forgiving but Thorpe park , these past 2 or 3 visits I've had have been unforgivable. Maybe had one of them occurred, I would be able to deal with it but 3 in a row. If I didn't have an annual pass and had payed £34 or whatever it is to get in. I would NEVER visit Thorpe again unless I had been assured by friends/family who've visited previously they had sorted some of what are the main aspects to an enjoyable day out. I am sure you have probably read this and said , well that's not that bad but, I really do feel let down by Thorpe that my past couple of visits have all had aspects to them which in some way or another made them that bit(or a lot) less enjoyable. I will probably edit and add more as I remember it , this is all.... for now :PSorry for the HUGE rant. I'm not usually like this , I promise!! :PI may have exaggerated some things unintentionally but I've read it over a couple of times and I don't think I haveAlso , quick note, didn't want to make a fuss over it I just didn't think anyone would want to listen to me rambling on. sorry for the trouble Anyway hope you enjoyed it

[thorpeparkjack]

Yet another negative trip report. Thanks for taking the time to write it!

[Sidders]

Ouch. Looks like you had a really bad day. But hey, I guess it was Easter Weekend/Holiday time, and with the marketing SAW has been given, the queues weren't going to be short, but still, rides breakng down constantly and in the rain aswell couldn't have helped.

[James6]

It was no trouble ThorpeparkJack :angry2:Yes I agree, I did take that into account and if it had just been this visit , I would have just been fine and called it a blip but it is frequently happening. It's SO annoying though because I love Thorpe, But recently it really has lost the little "magic" it had left when I first started visiting (2003)

[Phyciodes]

It was no trouble ThorpeparkJack :angry2:Yes I agree, I did take that into account and if it had just been this visit , I would have just been fine and called it a blip but it is frequently happening. It's SO annoying though because I love Thorpe, But recently it really has lost the little "magic" it had left when I first started visiting (2003)

I know what you mean, when I used to visit once a year I remember looking forward to my trips to thorpe for weeks before and constanyl looking it up, I could never sleep the night before and it really was very special. No however its no more exciting than visiting the cinema Most proberly because I visit all the time now, I still do enjoy it though just not in the same way I once did.

[James6]

Yep thats what I mean , Theres no real buzz in the park anymore , the only place I feel it actually is when you enter the SAW building and thats it

[Paul]

I know what you mean, when I used to visit once a year I remember looking forward to my trips to thorpe for weeks before and constanyl looking it up, I could never sleep the night before and it really was very special. No however its no more exciting than visiting the cinema Most proberly because I visit all the time now, I still do enjoy it though just not in the same way I once did.

I completely agree. I don't think it's because the park has got worse (in terms of quality of day out), but I think it is because, like you said, now I probably visit between 10-20 times a year, whereas I used to only visit once a year, if that. I also remember not getting a wink of sleep the night before, and logging on the fansites and www.thorpepark.com every day for months before my visit!

[Todge]

23rd April 2009Arrived at 9:10am and was bored to death... I made my way to SAW to find out it wasnt ready to be open yet again so I jumped straight on Colossus and when we got to the top of the hill, there was people queing for SAW. I was so peed off but anyway Colossus was good so after that I went to saw in srq blah blah game over your dead and all that shiz very good. I was one of the first people in the station and all of a sudden this annual pass advert came on.. Like WTF? I looked as confused as the staff did. Well I got on and to my surprise Billy wasnt talking, just looked like he was trying to catch flies.. The two TV's at the bottom of the lift hill were not working although they did have audio only later in the day, the second time I went on saw I noticed the countdown timer clock whatever you want to call it was taken down (the one nearest to the gates) and to make things worse the tv's at the exit were not working so a bit of a bummer really.Most of the flat rides were 5-10 minutes, didnt really go over that so it was a real bonus, spent most of my day around lost city flats.I didnt see samurai being tested once all day or any engineers around the ride :(One of the times I went on stealth there was a 'shutdown' whatever that is, I dont know what happened but we were in the train behind and we waited about 5-10 minutes but the staff were very friendly and went much quicker Ride Count for todaySAW: The Ride - x4Colossus - x2Nemesis - x2Stealth - x3Rush - x4 (can you believe it? )Vortex - x3Quantum - x1Queue Times (Average)SAW: The Ride - 70minColossus - 25minNemesis - 15minStealth - 30minRush - 5minVortex - 10minZodiac - 0minQuantum - 0minDetonator - 10minTidal Wave - 0min (that was surprising as it was a pretty hot day)Rumba Rapids - Closed for the whole day I think..Slammer - 10minI thought it was a very good day considering there was alot of kids there... Grr9/10 That was my first Trip report, How was it?

[TimR]

Todge in answer to your question your trip report was excellent, really well set out and nice titles and sub-titles etc.

[James6]

Awesome Trip report :PI am praying for it to be like that in the 1st may (this coming friday) :(Dont think it will be though

[Paul]

Awesome Trip report :huh:I am praying for it to be like that in the 1st may (this coming friday) :DDont think it will be though

If you are hoping that the queue times will be roughly the same, then I'm sorry to disappoint but you might and probably will encounter larger queues on a Friday then any other day in the week.

[Josh R]

Okay, I was pressganged into going along to TP with my cousin and his freinds today, which wasn't bad, so while they all qued up for saw, I went off for a mooch around the park, and this is my trip report...Day started at 9AM, got on train at waterloo, and all was going well until we hit Ashford, where 3 signals on the trot failed on the way to staines, we got there after about 45 minutes of slowness and boredom, and got on the bus outside the station. As I have the annual pass, and they booked their tickets online, we didn't have to do much queing outside the park, which was good because it was busy. Very busy. We got in, and the first thing we went for was stealth, which we got onto within 10 minutes. Then onto detty which had a 25 minute que, and then onto the canada creek railway, which despite the new route and changes to the park over the years, is very nice.They had never been to thorpe park before, so I took them to my favourite BK resteraunt in Canada Creek, and we eat lunch, which was nicer than normal, for some reason. They all went off to saw for the next 3 hours, so I took off on my own, and had a look around the place, this was my first trip in the new season, and the first thing I noticed was how spruced up everything looked, especially around the Tidal Wave splash pool and on detonators platform. Another thing, and this may just be me, but I noticed a lot of older staff, which was actually rather nice, because unlike some of the younger cast members who rush through everything, they took their time in checking everything was done up and secure. I noticed more security walking around the park this season, which is also good because it keeps the toublemakers at bay, and I also noticed more cleaning staff around the place. It looked a lot tidier the whole day.I managed to get onto rush, and no change there, still a great ride, after that, I got to Quantum, which seems much more jerky and violent this season - as does Loggers leap. I thought I would cut my losses and join the saw single riders que, which broke down as I joined, I was patient and waited, and we were allowed into the ride building, which wasn't all it was made out to be. The ride though, that was fantastic, the jolt was not that hard, and the drop was incredible and the inversions were smoothWe finished up and left at around 5, but all in all, not a bad day considering it was a very warm and sunny friday, good job I used my pass though, I wouldn't be so happy if I had payed.I'm heading up to chessie next friday, I'll write a report for it when I get back...

[TimR]

What were queue times like today then?

[Josh R]

What were queue times like today then?

Saw was about 2 1/2 hours for most of they day (it opened late)Colossus peaked at 180 mins when I walked past, but went down to 40 in the afternoonNemmy was at around 60 mins for the whole day,Rush was 30 mins for most of the day, it dropped to 15 at one pointStealth was displaying 30 for most of the day, although they were operating 2 cars and it was probably closer to 20Samurai was closed and had scaffolding around itMost of the water rides were at an hour for the whole daySlammer was at 40 mins for most of the day, it did get to 60 mins during the saw downtimeDetonator was at 25 mins for the whole day.I never saw flying fish times, I'd say it was probably walk on, most of the cars where half full all day.Time voyagers was open for an hourQuantum, eclipse and vortex were all 10 mins each for most of the day.I didn't expect them to be quite so high, but then I knew it wasn't going to be quiet. At least saws blades were spinning and both the screens were working!

[Mark9]

Are they joke queue times because really this is theme parks quiet period and if Thorpe are getting hour queues for things like Slammer and Inferno then it looks like Thorpe are where Alton was in 2004, ie, never a quiet period at the park.

[Josh R]

Are they joke queue times because really this is theme parks quiet period and if Thorpe are getting hour queues for things like Slammer and Inferno then it looks like Thorpe are where Alton was in 2004, ie, never a quiet period at the park.

Nope, they are real. You have to remember, it was a lovely day, and it is a friday, so it makes sense. Something did make me laugh though - Loggers leap broke just as saw started working.

[Mark9]

Yes, I was at work today and our longest queue was 10 minutes for Tiny Truckers and Dragons Fury (same max queue length as Alton Towers).It was still sunny on our side of the M25 yet with none of the frankly ridiculous queue lengths.