Benin Posted November 9, 2010 Report Share Posted November 9, 2010 Maybe you need to think that maybe YOU are meant to be the dead girls and these are lets say zombies to say the least which are obstacles in the graveyard you have to get past? Just a thought maybe.... Not everything is plain obvious!But I'm neither dead nor a girl... So that makes no sense... Wasn' t the zone's actual theme to do with a zombie outbreak?The HHN zones don't really have epically intertwined storylines, just a lot of focus on theming around a specific theme... They could have easily worked well with the ride graveyard theme with some reference to maybe a dead ride op or something silly like that coming back and being angry and bringing back old friends to take the park over...However, if they want to do it again, one path does not a scare zone make... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoshC. Posted November 9, 2010 Report Share Posted November 9, 2010 I too thought it was something along the lines of a virus swept through causing the attack of the undead in a ride graveyard... Nothing about dead girls in purgatory or stuff...To be honest, I think the main downfall of the attraction was the fact it was so maze like. When I thought of a 'scare zone', I thought of just a walkway that had actors in. No 'route' or anything, just a path with actors. However, it was much more maze like, which I think is making people compare it to the mazes more than anything...And the attraction isn't THAT bad. Of course it could be better, but it's another attraction that provides a 'quick scare'. It will probably develop over time too.The whole 'scariest thing in the world' thing doesn't help much either... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cjw Posted November 24, 2010 Report Share Posted November 24, 2010 Girls in purgatory? Where did this come from?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricky Posted November 25, 2010 Report Share Posted November 25, 2010 To be honest, I think the main downfall of the attraction was the fact it was so maze like. When I thought of a 'scare zone', I thought of just a walkway that had actors in. No 'route' or anything, just a path with actors. However, it was much more maze like, which I think is making people compare it to the mazes more than anything...And the attraction isn't THAT bad. Of course it could be better, but it's another attraction that provides a 'quick scare'. It will probably develop over time too.Agreed fully. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheepie Posted March 13, 2011 Report Share Posted March 13, 2011 I thought I'd write a proper trip report after my trip yesterday as I came away with a lot to say about it.The day started appropriately, with a Kirspy Kreme from Tesco in Wimbledon, waiting for Marc to arrive and take us to the park, nom. Marc arrived on time and we were on our way to the park, with various park tunes to get us in the mood. We arrived at the park with about 15 minutes to spare before opening, so we joined the queue waiting to get in. New screens were on the admission kiosks which looked very smart and advertised things like prices and Annual Passes. We were in the park, we wandered about for a while, checked out Storm Surge and the Amity area, before taking our first ride of the day on Detonator. It was a decent ride but no where near as good as it was later in the day once the ride had warmed up. New speakers around the ride were very loud, although sadly the speakers at the top have seen better days.I liked what they had done with the Magastore- it looks so much better. You can tell that there is a section yet to be painted, and a sign frame still attached, but I'm sure that will be completed by Thursday.I was also pleased to see that Tidal's entrance sign was still in good shape and working how it should!Unfortunately, though, this is probably where the positive things to say about the park end. It seems with every step in the right direction they take, the park make several steps backwards in terms of park appearance. You can see, moreso than ever this year, which rides aren't being shown attention and love that they deserve.Inferno's volcano is green this year, it's mouldy and disgusting. You can also see the frame for the volcano underneath the concrete facade in places in the queueline, really bad show. Nothing was on, apart from the queue theme. Even then, that stopped working when the ride broke down and when it restarted, the music didn't come back on either. Complete silence. Sadly, this is the ride I enjoyed the most all day. It may not be as intense as the other coasters, but the amount of enjoyment this ride provides is brilliant. I'm hoping that things such as the tunnel lights and vapour will be switched on by Thursday, but I'm not holding my breath.I was so looking forward to riding Colossus, but sadly, it broke. Twice. Some other time eh? I've always enjoyed Colossus and believe it's one of the few rides at Thorpe that have that "magic". I don't find this ride rough like so many other people do. Perhaps I'm just lucky. It looks as though the Cobra Roll pit was getting ready to be cleaned.However, the ride station was in silence, still. The track looks awful as well. In fact it looks so gross, I'm tempted to show it to these people on Orlando United who have been moaning about the state of the Hulk's track, which was only bad in certain places. On Colossus you can clearly see paint fade and rust appearing all along the route. Please sort it.Saw- The Ride. No interior music, but most of the effects were working on our first ride. Even if they are a bit wtf. You can't see the man in barbed wire in the queue properly now; I'm not sure if he had a light on him before? It's a shame that out of the two effects that I liked: the strobe spikes and the dead bathroom man, the strobe spikes were still not working to their full potential. I seem to remember quite intense strobes on my first ride, which lit them up brilliantly and was a great effect. Now, you'd be forgiven if you missed them. I don't understand all this countdown business either, but they were all counting down if that's what they're just meant to do. :DThe ride is painful. Especially at the front, though once the main drop is out the way I do enjoy the coaster. I think Saw is too intense for me at points though and is breaching on the unenjoyable.Oh and X. Sadly, none of the improvements that are planned for the main season were in place today. The whole queue and ride was in silence, apart from some Fright Night tracks played on some of the brake runs. You really can't polish a turd. Walking through the queue and exit feels no different to me than walking through a council estate at night. Just blow the whole damn thing up already.Whilst I enjoyed the day yesterday with Marc and James, I failed to come off of any of the rides and think "that was amazing, I want to do that again". It was brilliant to get back on some of the coasters after the closed season, but I have no urge to go back there again, and that is no reflection of the company I was with today. I could sit here and write about how it's the small things that make a big difference and just a little attention in places would make the world of difference. Though sadly, the park have ignored a large majority of the small things and over the last few years have become quite major and now probably need quite a lot of money to put right. Things like ride stations can be dusted within 10 minutes with a duster and a stick. These things can be done during the morning checks and would require minimal effort from staff. Small things such as that could have been done over the years, but it is very obvious that they haven't and have now lead to larger, harder problems. James6, Topsyturvy15, Jord and 2 others 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thorpeparkjack Posted March 13, 2011 Report Share Posted March 13, 2011 One word will describe today. Shocking. Over an hour queue for most food outlets, ride breakdowns, fastrack oversell, rides not opening, and just generally awful operations. The way I was delt with at guest services and maybe even the bit of sunshine at the end of the day, may signal for something slightly less disgraceful later in the season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimmyJimmy86 Posted March 13, 2011 Report Share Posted March 13, 2011 Great review sheepie, I can understand where your coming from.. The smallest things wrong with the park are also the biggest in our opinion, GET IT SORTED THORPE !! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whiteknuckle Posted March 13, 2011 Report Share Posted March 13, 2011 Me and Mum went today, mainly to renew / upgrade the passes. Could'nt believe how busy it was, and actually brought fast track for Saw-the ride, Nemesis Inferno and Colossus.Saw station seemed to be running it's usual pretty good service, Colossus was terrible, they were taking ages to dispatch, although I did witness a girl being trained checking the restraints. Nemesis was a bit slow aswell, but the front queue was minimal so we headed for that, and was on in about 5-6 trains time. Nice to see the tunnel so well themed today *cough*.Enjoyed Storm Surge too, even though it must have taken me and Mum about an hour and half to get on, but we had a good laugh with the Hillbilly actors.Ride count.Rush 1Nemesis Inferno 1Colossus 1Saw 1Storm Surge 1Was going to head to Stealth last thing, but had got so fed up with the crowds, including some very lippy pikeys and queue jumpers who got spotted by Storm Surge's ride ops and got chucked off the ride, one turned quite stroppy, gave us a laugh anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricky Posted March 14, 2011 Report Share Posted March 14, 2011 I on the other hand, had quite a fun day. I view it as ' I'm an AP holder I can simply go another day that it willbe quieter. I have been on these rides many times before, so I won't have a moan'' On the other hand my lunch of a packet of cheese and onion crisps filled the corner of my stomach. Nonetheless, I was with some amazing people, and had a fairly decent ride count. Saw - The Ride Colossus Nemesis Inferno Stealth X:/ No Way Out Slammer Rush Vortex Saw Alive This isn't a bad ride count considering there were over 10 thousand people in the park. Just to add quickly, Not sure what happened with Colossus, It took me 20/25 minutes from entering the station to actually get on the ride. The staff where being unbelievably slow! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke_A Posted March 14, 2011 Report Share Posted March 14, 2011 I agree with you Ricky about the Colossus staff being extremely slow, I think they were the worst ride team I experienced all day. However, the Slammer team I think were being really quick at loading and offloading, on my ride, literally as the other guests left the ride, the air gates opened and we were bar checked and waiting for the ride to start, same for rush really. Shame Samurai didn't open, in the morning when I asked a staff member, he said it was due to open later in the day... but it didn't. Don't see why they couldn't turn on the Nemesis lights, they were in the tunnel, just not on and the steam too. But after that 'consideration' official notice on the Facebook page, let's hope they make next years AP day more exclusive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoshC. Posted March 14, 2011 Report Share Posted March 14, 2011 I on the other hand, had quite a fun day. I view it as ' I'm an AP holder I can simply go another day that it willbe quieter. I have been on these rides many times before, so I won't have a moan''This will be my last point on yesterday's events. Not all AP holders regularly go to Thorpe, so I see it as perfectly justifiable that some will moan. But considering everything that happened, that's a good ride count. Staff slowness is something I usually expect at the beginning of the season, but that slow!? A wee bit ridiculous. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AstroDan Posted March 14, 2011 Report Share Posted March 14, 2011 I wish I could say "I can go whenever". But I hadn't been to Thorpe since last May, live in Staffordshire and hardly go to Thorpe Park at all these days as frankly it feels like a chance if you turn up - you just don't know if it's going to work alright. After a 300-mile round trip, around £40 petrol, frankly I wish I had not bothered.I bet a fair few AP holders came some distance after hearing reports in 2010 that Thorpe had improved.I got on:StealthSaw The RideSaw AliveColossusNemesis InfernoX:/NWOStorm SurgeWorst ride count in years at any park. Didn't get on Rush or Samurai (two of my favourite flats in the UK - the latter was closed all day) nor the Rapids which spent much of the day shut. I'd also have gone on Quantum but it was closed, and we didn't have time for Detonator. Slammer is rubbish so didn't bother with it anyway. Even the Banana Boat had a 20 minute wait. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricky Posted March 14, 2011 Report Share Posted March 14, 2011 I was kind of shocked to see how many kids that couldn't do 90% of the attractions at the park yesterday. As AP holders you would expect them to know the park is not child orientated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benin Posted March 14, 2011 Report Share Posted March 14, 2011 Just goes to show that families DO go to Thorpe, no matter what people say... JoshC. and Fred 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AstroDan Posted March 14, 2011 Report Share Posted March 14, 2011 I heard one woman moaning that Octopus Gardens had been shut. As stated though, you'd have thought as AP holders, they'd have known... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benin Posted March 14, 2011 Report Share Posted March 14, 2011 I heard one woman moaning that Octopus Gardens had been shut. As stated though, you'd have thought as AP holders, they'd have known...My mum is an AP holder, and didn't even know Storm Surge existed...So it stands to reason that there will be those who don't know... AstroDan 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark9 Posted March 16, 2011 Report Share Posted March 16, 2011 I was kind of shocked to see how many kids that couldn't do 90% of the attractions at the park yesterday. As AP holders you would expect them to know the park is not child orientated.I thought that, millions of children milling around. I haven't posted a trip report but I will now. wahey After saying all closed season I wouldn't go, my own control gave in and went to Thorpe with Marc, Neilfever, Michaela and Ian.I actually had a really good day and was nice to see Tommy, Dan H, Dan A, Ryan, Kabzy, Adam and anyone else I may have missed. Park was clearly very packed out from the word go. We first went to Stealth and I will always hate their stupid opening loading procedures.. feels so tedious. Went on front row, was the usual horrible sensation that keeps bringing me back.Next was off to Inferno which broke down whilst we were in the queue and broke down shortly after we had ridden. We got a front row seat and the ride is so unenjoyable in the rain. Next we did a few laps off the park because I don't think we could be bothered to go on anything to be honest. All queues were longish, even Rocky Express and Flying Fish. Eventually met with Ian and Michalea and dared to ride the new tube sensation Storm Surge. We moved quite a lot at first, probably because so many people joined and then gave up five minutes later. We queues 2 hours and 20 minutes which is a first for me. We got word that food units in the park were starting to run out of food; as we walked round it became obvious that places which were open were hopelessly packed, at least half an hour queue for things like hot dogs. We decided to give up, leaving Marc in his holy spot and the rest of us went for a pub lunch at the Twynersh. Food in less then ten minutes.Despite only getting on three rides it was a good day and it was almost in spite of the theme park. Management were clearly unprepared, some of the rides had nowhere near the amount of staff they should have had and the rides themselves looked in pretty poor state. But it doesn't matter because this is the pro spin Thorpe Park Mania! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TPGG Posted March 17, 2011 Report Share Posted March 17, 2011 Sounds like a flop day lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoshC. Posted March 19, 2011 Report Share Posted March 19, 2011 So, JoshC. came out of his Thorpe hibernation today. I must say, wat-er day is the best way to describe it! Firstly, an apology about the photos. The date/time is wrong and needs to be sorted, and some are sideways because I haven't bothered to change them yet.So, I arrived by bus just after 8:45 and was greeted by a very empty looking park...I joined the AP queue. Now, I was expecting them to open up the AP office at least half an hour before official opening at 9:30, what with it being first proper weekend and all that. Waited, waited, waited. Nothing. Got me a bit agitated to be honest, and finally doors opened at 9:15. Being second in line, I wasn't too bothered. My brand spanking new AP - and I'm blue! So, it got to 9:25, and my friends from Addlestone had arrived by bike. They planned on arriving for about 9:00, but due to one of them get a puncture on the way, they were held up. Turned out a fifth person was joining us, and he;d been there since 8:45 too! One of them needed to get an AP, so we decided it would be best to leave him to it (the queue was about 30mins at that point, not too bad really) and we'd go inside the park.As per usual, we headed over to Inferno. The majority of extensions were open, which surprised us. Though, did make for some nice photo opportunities...Quite like this photo - definitely one of my better ones! :DWith mist and all, Inferno was definitely great fun and oh how I've missed it. After all that was said and done, we moved onto Storm in a Teacup - first riders of the say too, and met an old friend from secondary school too!Obligatory 'look at the sponsorship!!!' picture.Teacups received a new white paint job, with the Tetley logo on them, and some little cracks. Teapot in the centre is pure white. I personally like it, though Ive heard people criticise it. They have painted over the numbers though - I can't find the epic cup No.2 now! Nevertheless, 2 rides in a row on a decent cup was great fun. Then headed over to Rumba Rapids, no queue, as usual. Got 2 rides on and got quite wet to be honest! Also noticed a friend from college was working on the photo booth - quite awkward actually, she had a different name tag on and I kinda blanked her! XDPadding has been added onto the metal bars at the edge of the seats, comfy.The group was finally reunited just after 10. So, after that, we opted for... Rumba Rapids. After 3 times, quite fair to say I was wet.We checked the iPhone App, turned out Stealth (as we could see), Colossus and Depth Charge were all down. We decided to check out Storm Surge. Queue board said an hour, and the queue was about half full, so we decided to steer clear till later. Zodiac times were had instead. Wandered over to Samurai - favourite ride for the majority of the group (bar me to be honest!). Usual Saw picture taking in Samurai queue. The weather, as you can see, was beautiful!After what was a good cycle on Samurai, we opted to do Loggers Leap - bad singing was involved! Again, got very wet! Turned out to be what a lot of the day involved.After some general wandering round the park and awkward 'what do we do?' moments, we opted for lunch at 12. But oh, what do we have? Well, turned out we all wanted to go somewhere different! So that's what we did. I opted for the new kebab place where the Amity Bugle was (just near Flying Fish). With AP discount, it came to about £4.60 - and included a large drink, kebab in pitta bread, and salad! I thought it was a bargain!The 'Hot, Hot, Hot Inferno Sauce'! I'll tell you one thing - it is blooming hot! The kebab was surprisingly large, and, of course, tasty.After meeting on the grassy bit by Stealth, I noticed a stage - live acts were performing throughout the day. To be honest, they all sounded terrible, glad we missed them! As a side note, the MTDP stated that of the grassy bit just to the left of Stealth, an open air stage was mentioned. I'd guess events like this would occur there!Now, it was time for... Storm Surge. Queue time said 60 minutes, but only a quarter of the queue was full. Review is in the appropriate topic. Anyways, pictures:I quite like how this shower only goes off when a boat is approaching; nice to see Thorpe being water friendly! Splashing downThis has been a JoshC. approved queue line.Gotta love themed signage!If you ignore the ugly people in front... you can see what is 'new' (as in, since AP day) theming - a buoy, a rubber ball and a propeller. Well, it's a nice touch..Bird poo on Storm Surge! Found this amusing.That's where the images end, as my camera ran out of battery. However, after 2 goes on Storm Surge, popped to the Megastore and got the Top Trumps game. We headed over to Rush for a fun ride and that was that really. 12 rides, 9:30-3:30. 10,000 guests were expected, so we thought that was reasonable. Could have probably fitted in more if we were more proactive, but ah well.So yeah, I enjoyed myself - we all did. All rides were operational by the afternoon. Storm Surge and Inferno had slight blips, but they were sorted out quickly as far as I know. Well done Thorpe! Luke_A, Topsyturvy15 and thorpeparkjack 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AstroDan Posted March 19, 2011 Report Share Posted March 19, 2011 Shame they couldn't have the park all open for Annual Pass holders really, nor had effects working on rides like Inferno, given that AP holders are probably the most demanding guests they get in terms of expectation!Glad to see rides have opened now, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NathP Posted March 23, 2011 Report Share Posted March 23, 2011 I went on Monday 21st got there about 9:50am and got a new Standard Annual Pass. They let me have the free parking as I got my Tesco Token before they changed the park perks!I was very impressed with the park. All rides were available (Colossus, NI and Stealth on 1 train) and I did not see a single breakdown all day although I was on Stealth most of the day ;)Queues were walkon to 15 minutes. The 15 minutes being Storm Surge.The park was very clean and it looks like some parts have had a paint job over the closed season. Staff were friendly and helpful!Colossus x1Nemesis Inferno x1Saw x1Rush x1Rumba Rapids x1Storm Surge x1Stealth x21 (3 Front Row ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted March 23, 2011 Report Share Posted March 23, 2011 This has been a JoshC. approved queue line.Don't know if you noticed... but, by your left cheek, there's someone *cough*chav*cough* jumping over the queue-line fence with both butt cheek outlines visible. Just sayin' Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricky Posted March 23, 2011 Report Share Posted March 23, 2011 Really? Looks more like hes jumping out the queue Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Posted March 23, 2011 Report Share Posted March 23, 2011 Going To Thorpe tomorrow wish me luck on not being busy had to much waiting last year ! With the lowest queue being quandrum and that was 60 mins ! will post my opinion on storm surge and overall park view Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted March 24, 2011 Report Share Posted March 24, 2011 Really? Looks more like hes jumping out the queue Check my post again. I didn't say he was queue jumping, I said he was jumping the queue's fence. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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