Thorpe Park Trip Reports

[themeparkmad]

^ Can you remember any of the queue times?Only cause I am being put off going if it is still busy.Cheers

[Marc]

Its obviously alot quieter now than it has been, id say expect 20/30 min qs at peak on coasters, 5 / 10 mins for flats maybe depending on time of day.

[Whiteknuckle]

Had a few hours there today. The park was pretty busy so decided to leave a bit earlier.All but Slammer and Tidal Wave were open. Queues were 45 minutes to an hour when we noticed.Rides we went onNemesis Inferno 1Colossus 1Saw-the ride 2Stealth 2X:// WTF 1, with lights onRapids 1

[JamesB]

Just got back from good old Thorpey! Despite the awful start weather wise I had a fantastic day with my mates.Did Saw Alive for the time and wow.... I was totally expecting this to be bad from reviews and I absolutely loved it, the actors were on top form and the atmosphere was amazing, really love what they have done with this, of course its very short and could be extended but its such a good thrill, came out with my heart racing but still having a great time.Riding X with lights on was really interesting, its great to see the layout and what it really looks like, but I think its had its day and its time for it to go...Zodiac was closed for a little while when someone threw up and Quantum was down all day (I think) with people working on it.AND FINALLY, I met Denise, Duncan who were filming on site (at Detonator) got to see Denise dropped, was such a laugh! My friend got autographs from them both. and also Jason from Dancing on Ice was there too Hes a babe!Colossus - 1 (2 trains)Inferno - 2 (2 trains)Saw - 1Saw Alive - 1Stealth - 1 (1 train)Rush - 1Vortex - 1Rumba Rapids - 1Zodiac - 1X:wtf - 1Samurai - 1 (Seemed to be on a good mode today)

[Tom]

My trip report of my 4 hours at Thorpe Park, Monday 4th October, 2010.I was on a school trip, but traffic was so bad we got there late and missed our lecture on Physics, luckily the park agreed to hand our teachers the materials so we could go through them in our lessons. This aggravated me as although I have an annual pass I had to pay for a ticket because of being given the lecture. We arrived at around 11 and headed straight for Nemesis Inferno. Although it was almost a walk on, one train operation all day made the queue move excruciatingly slowly. I was on the back row and although there was a one train operation I did enjoy my ride, walking off feeling fantastic. I then walked towards Stealth, again to my dismay it was also running one train, and a 5 minute queue for the front row took 10 minutes. This was by far the best ride of the day, despite the queue. I then headed towards X:/ No Way Out. I was told by a cast member that the lights would be on today and was extremely angry to find out she had lied to me, I had been lied to. Halfway during the ride the lights suddenly flicked on, but as I left I was told it had broken down, so I'm guessing they were emergency lighting rather than just X:/No Way The Lights Are On LOL. I left feeling angry and upset, so I stormed to Colossus where yet again only one train was operating, and so what could've been a 10 minute queue was a half hour queue. I was not happy about the attitude THORPE PARK: The Nation's Thrill Capital were showing today. I felt as if they didn't want me to have a good time and wanted to ruin my day, after all I had to leave at 3, so queueing unnecessarily was not an option. Ignoring Colossus I headed towards Saw - The Ride, this was a good experience for once as all effects were working and I was on car 2 so I even saw the pre-show. But they were infuriatingly slow at loading and checking bars. I was not impressed with the throughput at all. Loggers Leap had no queue and the ride was as it always is, although I didn't get wet enough. I missed out Rocky Express due to time concerns and headed straight for Burger King between Ranger County and Canada Creek. Outrageously there was one person taking orders and getting drinks and getting fries, and one in the kitchen. With a queue of 6 people this was not at all on, and to add to this the fries were cold and I was given a gram too much ice in my diet coke. Suprisingly I felt fine after eating such filthy food, and headed over to Slammer. To my disgust it was closed, I was furious, 'they cannot close an attraction so early before the season ends just because of a low gate figure, how dare they?' I said. I then walked to Lost City where I went on Colossus front row with a queue of about 20 minutes, the ride was mediocre. All the other rides in lost city were a walk on, and all mediocre. Didn't get a high spin on Vortex, was given swing B on Rush, it was awful. After then partaking in Depth Charge and Flying Fish I had to leave the park.Overall my day was below satisfactory and I wouldn't recommend Thorpe Park to a friend or Family Member.

[James6]

For Thorpe, sounds like a good day :)Aha, anyway, shame to hear about that. Rides running on less than full capacity, when it "could" be, really grates on me as well.

[D4n]

Slammer isn't closed 'due to a low gate figure'. Just sayin'.

[MikeyT]

I went yesterday, had a fantastic day. Rode Colossus for the first time this year and loved it; extremely shaky and looking a bit worse-for-ware but it still remains one of my favourites. Shame to see a slight slip in effects maintenance (Colossus' Cobra Roll pit, no water vapour on Inferno)- things seem a bit random as a few things have been improved but in a lot of other places have gotten worse.It was really interesting going through the X queueline, smelling the different scents used in Hellgate, and also smelling the smoke used for Asylum in Inferno's exit, I imagine they were testing a few things before the event kicks off.Yesterday was very much about riding the rides though as I haven't been for ages, with minimal queues we got a lot done!

[NathP]

I went to the Fright Nights today from 4pm.Colossus and NI was walkon (Both were on 2 trains) and Saw was 10min to 30min queues all night! Stealth was down all night, very disappointing! I heard it closed just before 4pm!The Mazes were very good! Queues were Asylum 20min, Hellgate walkon, The Curse 15min, Saw Alive 5min and Horror Zone walkon. Saw Alive looks like it has improved a great deal since my last visit, maybe just cause its Fright Nights afterall ;)Lots of smoke machines around the park

[thorpeparkjack]

I will do a full review later but mixed reviews about last night. The terror zone is the biggest load of crap I have seen in my life. I think Thorpe's worst cock up in history. However Se7en was brilliant.

[A-Kid]

Well I'm very achey this morning after yesturday. The Terror Zone looks pretty with all the lights and effects, making the area full of life. But as an attraction it was ****. Hellgate - CrapCurse - CrapSe7en - OkAsylum - Good! Did this with only 2 others so we got attacked a lot ;)Ride/Attraction Count:Stealth - 7Rush - 10Inferno - 10Colossus - 8 (1F)Det - 5Saw - 3Loggers - 2Fish - 1Depth Charge - 1X - 1Zodiac - 1Vortex - 1Quantum - 1Samurai - 1Rumba - 1Hellgate - 1Saw Alive - 1Seven - 1Curse - 1Asylum - 1Scare zone - 159 attractions.

[Marc]

Stealth was down all night, very disappointing! I heard it closed just before 4pm!

Stealth did reopen for a short time in the evening, got a front row ride in the dark great stuff and Mark lost his bet so we had to ride Tidal Wave :(Was there all day yesterday, very tired for it now!Got on pretty much everything, the park was sort of busy at times, but then others seemed totally dead, All coasters were on 2 trains but most of the time Colossus / Inferno were sending around empty trains as there were not enough people to fill them..I thought Dead End was alright, id strongly advise to try it in the dark and avoid in the day as the night time does add alot too it. Theres alot of clever uses of smoke where actors will come out of no where so it can provide a few good scares.Out of the mazes, my personal favorite last night was The Curse, I thought it was much improved and actors were very good, also some very dark parts in there, Second place would come The Asylum, There are a few new bits and bobs around the maze which look pretty good, and nice to see the chain saw person still there! After that its Se7en for me, Thought the new smells in there were very good and as ever the last scene is great. Hellgate was abit disappointing last night, some bits seemed abit to dark and couldn't see some bits (like the jail bit near the end) but I think the final scene is alot better than previous years. I guess thats what these early fright nights are for though! Overall thought the park was pretty good, Shame about stealth but apart from that all rides ran pretty well, also think the park wide track they play during fright nights is pretty good.

[Simon]

First post Made a trip to Thorpe yesterday. Arrived about 9.45 (couldn't of been more than 10 people on the 950 which surprised me).Ride queues were minimal for most of the day, with the longest I noticed around 30 minutes for Saw. Once the mazes opened around 4 there was a rush to them, to quote a member of staff at the Asylum queue entrance "would you be interested in fastrack, 1hr 30 queue" (queue was just out the covered area), cynical part of me thinks she was just saying that to sell fastrack, seeing as we queued from a similar point later on and it took under half that. Went through all the mazes, Asylum was the best for me, Hellgate the worst, though that wasn't helped by someone in our group pointing out where all the actors would jump out from.Didn't see when Stealth broke down (busy with mazes), was well summed up by a woman in front of us in the Saw queue "Stealth breaks when it's sunny, raining, when it stops raining, when it's hot, when it's cold..."Good points-> Decent ride count due to minimal queues-> Nice to see Thorpe operating 2 trains on Colossus, NI & Stealth despite it being a quiet day.Bad-> Slammer unavailable all day, Stealth for much of the evening.

[Mattgwise]

Sounds good, can't wait til next week when I go.

Overall thought the park was pretty good, Shame about stealth but apart from that all rides ran pretty well, also think the park wide track they play during fright nights is pretty good.

Do you mean every area/ride was playing one playlist rather than the previous individual tracks for each ride?

[JoshC.]

Well, here's my TR.Got there near to 3; disappointed that slightly that normal music plays before 4. Still in 2 minds about Saw Alive being open all day, but hey-ho - sure it'll prove a good decision on busy times.First off was Rush. Fun as ever, but it was taking AGES to unload. Was stuck in the seat for at least 30 seconds before they even bothered to release. Queue was just under 10 mins. Tried Vortex, but after 5 mins and of waiting and the floor not even being lowered, left the queue.Headed over to Samurai and did Saw as they were both surprisingly short. Now, maze time. Couldn't be bothered with Alive due to time restraints.Hellgate first. Disappointing. Nice theming and love the soundtrack before you go in the maze, but if you look at the scares, they weren't there. Nice to see the spinning tunnel though. Asylum. Was alright I s'pose, but not enough actors to be classed as any good. Found the light and sound effect was getting boring with no actors there to interact. The actual experience was still good, but the scares were poor.Se7en. T'was good. Not as good as last year, with a couple of the middle scenes being poor, but the first and last 2 were very good. Decent scares and the smell in the gluttony(?) room was amazing!The Curse. Terrible. Little scares and too predictable. Soundtrack added little and the maze seemed amateur-ish with the odd good theming. In order of quality:Se7enAsylumHellgateThe CurseDead End. Best way to sum it up: Dead Good. What people have trouble with I do not know. I did it just before half 6 I think (had to leave at 7) when it was still light-ish and every actor made me jump to some extent. The theming is odd and may not be appreciated by the public, yes. The smoke effects were very good and made it disorientating and hard to see. Actors made full use of surroundings and props. Did it a second time and still thoroughly enjoyed it - especially one of the actors recognising me and picking on me all the more! ;)Only problem is the fact it could become congested and take away its charm. However, I think it was amazing and by far the best attraction of the night!Music I heard sounded good too. ;)Hope I can go again soon to more experience the rides in the dark, and maybe the odd maze.

[Ricky]

Dead End. Best way to sum it up: Dead Good. What people have trouble with I do not know. I did it just before half 6 I think (had to leave at 7) when it was still light-ish and every actor made me jump to some extent. The theming is odd and may not be appreciated by the public, yes. The smoke effects were very good and made it disorientating and hard to see. Actors made full use of surroundings and props. Did it a second time and still thoroughly enjoyed it - especially one of the actors recognising me and picking on me all the more!

*stares in ore* I actually am agreeing with Josh ;)

[rollerross11]

Got there after 6pm, I was expecting big queues but none almost none for even a friday night this was unexplainable. First off was The curse, It was my first ever maze I did so every time I go to Fright Nights its the one I do first every year. It was the best I ever experienced it, Firstly I was at the front and if others have experienced it (its the darkest maze around. ) Some new touches in the actors personalities, loving the guy at the beginning with the head (nice touch) and one of the anamatronics made me jump. Headed over to se7en which was walk-on it was just me and my friend in a group as there was no one else. I was forced to the front again and therefore had the endures of the incredible amount of smoke and the girl in lust touching my hair asking for my number LOL ! I also enjoyed the fact there was 5 actors in there but I dislike the fact I'm way to tall for the first room and hit my head at least 4 times. I then headed over to loggers as a relaxation, again walk on and the on nemesis with a 10min wait time! It was getting pretty dark now so it was time for Hellgate, what used to be my favourite and now utter crap. I was at the back and found that one actor just joined the group which was lame and even jumped with us :S ! Very Disappointing., however its one of the Nicest theming and interesting theming in a maze and love the soundtrack before you go in and also the old smells, but if you look at the scares, they just weren't scary and the maze needs a bit of TLC!Asylum. Was just amazing took our group 15 minuets to get round as we walked into the mirrors twice also the new theming around was just a nice touch and found the maze felt longer than I remember. The chainsaw person just loved me so much that he chased me back into the maze, thats what it takes to be in the back and have a fear of chainsaws :S!At around 8pm headed to the new DEAD END Terror Zone, which I just found boring and unentertaining, the smoke effect was going off but were where the actors walking so slow that we already were int he next scene and then whoosh were out, too short and just felt like we kept missing it, hopefully ill get to try again as it was nice to see the space used for so decent halloween atmosphere. By 10pm I had done: Asylum, Hell gate, se7en, The Curse, Saw the ride and alive, DEAD END terror zone, Colossus, Stealth, Nemesis, Samurai, Rush and Loggers leap 2 times in a row. I also had a lovely Pizza Hut buffet Most amount I have done in 4 hours!In order of quality:AsylumThe CurseSe7enHellgateDead EndIn order of scares:AsylumSe7enThe CurseHellgateDead EndIn order of enjoyment:The CurseAsylumSe7en Dead EndHellgate

[Marc]

Do you mean every area/ride was playing one playlist rather than the previous individual tracks for each ride?

Yeah, it plays quite a long loop of Saw / other fright night music, it sounds pretty good and most rides hear it with the link.

Got there near to 3; disappointed that slightly that normal music plays before 4. Still in 2 minds about Saw Alive being open all day, but hey-ho - sure it'll prove a good decision on busy times.

Quite interesting, this was a point debated many years go, pre link Fright Night music would be on all the time, many thought it would be better if the music was changed as dusk fell and the mazes opened which has been the case since 2007.

First off was Rush. Fun as ever, but it was taking AGES to unload. Was stuck in the seat for at least 30 seconds before they even bothered to release. Queue was just under 10 mins. Tried Vortex, but after 5 mins and of waiting and the floor not even being lowered, left the queue.

We noticed this too, I think it was more a problem than them not "bothering".. Seemed ok yesterday.

[Dan9]

Quite interesting, this was a point debated many years go, pre link Fright Night music would be on all the time, many thought it would be better if the music was changed as dusk fell and the mazes opened which has been the case since 2007.

I can't remember back to 2007 but I remember it was great last year and I think the year before, I loved the sudden change in atmosphere.

[Tom]

I can't remember back to 2007 but I remember it was great last year and I think the year before, I loved the sudden change in atmosphere.

Fright nights are always amazing. Reply to my text.

[Mark9]

Went with a few from here on Thursday. Another great trip to the park. I arrived around 2:30 and the park was very dead. Walk on rides at night is the way Mark likes it. All rides were on close to max capacity (Tidal Wave was not but it was unnecessary).More importantly.. the mazes.Hellgate was a bit dull this time round. Not enough actors and to dark really. The Curse was impressive with the actors making good use of the layout to scare us. Seven was okay but I always feel so dead to it because of the white tent look. Not even the fake camouflage was on it this year.Assylum is definitly the best as a maze. It's awful in there with the strobes, the mirrors and the endless corridors. The Terror Zone would be better if it wasn't for the fact it's essentially Miss Hippos Fungle Safari and Thorpe Farm signage plastered everywhere. They aren't scary or eerie and just not run down enough to be effective. The old Zodiac pod looked excellent.. particularly with graffiti clearly etched onto it from the days when classic Zodiac ran in 2005. The Flying Fish figure was also very effective. The actors did well with the environment. I think in a few years Terror Zone will be very very good. For now it's a bit to 'cute'

[MikeyT]

Always good to hear trip reports! Keep them coming. This makes me even more jealous that I'm not going this year!

[JoshC.]

I agree about the lack of theming be sad, though the Human BBQ thing (and the cage inside the BBQ ) was very nice - shame it's not on the big signs.Also agree with the music thing. I 'get' the whole idea of it being a 'whole different park after dark' or however it was marketed. But that's just it; that's how it WAS marketed. I'd prefer a whole day of FN music setting the mood rather than a sudden change.Very much disagree with the Terror Zone. I found it very enjoyable, much more maze like than I expected too. Yes, it's short - but it's a walk through. Wouldn't want it any longer to be honest. Smoke machine under Saw Police car was amazing - loved the burning flesh like smell.Glad you had a good trip, even if it wasn't because the park was on top form.

[Ricky]

It amazes me how Thorpe cant please anyone nowadays. You've gone on and on and on about a terror zone you get one and you rip the living s*** out the park. Make your minds up.

[Benin]

It amazes me how Thorpe cant please anyone nowadays. You've gone on and on and on about a terror zone you get one and you rip the living s*** out the park. Make your minds up.

It's all well and good putting things fans want in but if it's not up to a decent standard then why should people not complain?I mean really, did anyone think when the zone got announced Thorpe would be using old stuff for Miss Hippo? I highly doubt it... If a park isn't gonna put a high amount of effort into something, should we go "oh well at least they tried...", or go "well actually it wasn't that good, here's a list of improvements they should do for next year in order to improve the zone and hence the total event..."No-one's exactly ripping the s*** out of the park are they?