Can you do Thorpe Park in one day?

[NikMik]

Hey guys,

 

I am planning to go to TP on mid-May with my parthner. Based on your experience with the park, do you think we could possibly do most of the park in one day (either a Thursday or a Friday)? I was wondering whether we should spend 2 days at TP or 1 day at TP and 1 day at Chessington / Legoland. Really unsure what queue times look like.

 

 

 

[Mattgwise]

Thorpe is a one day park assuming you get there for opening. They have a pretty dire security queue to get in which could ruin your day if not there early (I'd recommend 45 mins before opening). As long as you are in the park within the first 15 minutes of opening you can usually get on 2 or 3 rides in the first hour. Just don't head to Swarm first, that tends to quiet down significantly around 3 to 4pm as most would have done it and tend not to return to the area once done as its a dead end. Even if queues are say 50 mins each doing the above you'd manage to get on all. It's very very rare I've ever done Thorpe on a relatively busy dahly and not got on everything and a couple of rerides in a day. 

[Han30]

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.

[JoshC.]

A weekday visit in mid-May should be quiet enough to get all the rides done. I'd try to go on a Thursday over a Friday just because it should be a bit quieter. 

 

As said above, many people head to Swarm first, but it quietens out later. A good chunk of people also go to Saw/Colossus first. This means Nemesis Inferno and Stealth are usually pretty quiet for the first hour or so.

 

However, Colossus usually gets the longest queues on park out of the major coasters throughout the day (due to low throughput). So if you can get to the park early enough and head to Colossus first, that would be a good way to start the day and minimising your waiting. 

 

As also said above, it's best to get there early. I'd recommend getting there for 9.15-9.30. The park opens up to the Dome and balcony then (so you can pick up a drink or whatever if needed then). Then when the park opens at around 10, you can be one of the first to get through the "rope drop" if you will.

[Matt N]

I'd say Thorpe is definitely a one-day park myself unless you're seeking absolutely copious amounts of re-rides, and even they might be possible in one day if you visit on an off-peak weekday. Even when not quite spending a full day on park on a peak day, I can usually get all 5 of the big coasters done at least. On most days, even peak days, I can often get all 5 coasters done with a reride in on 1 or 2 of them and 1 or 2 filler rides as well.

 

In terms of where to start; I'd recommend the Stealth/Inferno type area. I've tried Swarm, Saw/Colossus and Stealth/Inferno in the past, and Stealth/Inferno is easily the one that has worked best for me, from experience. Those 2 rides were dead, and I got 2x Stealth, 1x Inferno and 1x Detonator in within the first hour.

 

With Saw/Colossus, on the other hand; I joined a 40 minute Saw queue at 10am when I tried it, and Colossus was no shorter.

 

Swarm is often quite busy in the mornings, from my experience, although it also tends to have Thorpe's highest coaster throughput, which helps.

 

I can only speak from my own experiences, however; I don't know whether this varies at all.

[Mark9]

Thorpe is a four hour park.

[NikMik]

Many thanks to everyone answering the question! The suggestion to start with Nemesis / Stealth worked really well, as we got in essentially without queueing. In the end we managed 19 rides (we didn't do dodgems, high striker, the 4D cinema, storm surge and depth charge), including all the major rides. A bit sad we didn't manage to get into storm surge, but 30 minutes of queueing seemed a bit unreasonable for what it offered...!

[coasterverse]

On 5/25/2022 at 9:53 AM, NikMik said:

Many thanks to everyone answering the question! The suggestion to start with Nemesis / Stealth worked really well, as we got in essentially without queueing. In the end we managed 19 rides (we didn't do dodgems, high striker, the 4D cinema, storm surge and depth charge), including all the major rides. A bit sad we didn't manage to get into storm surge, but 30 minutes of queueing seemed a bit unreasonable for what it offered...!

 

I've never understood why Storm Surge always manages to get such an insane queuetime - literally every time I've been it's been 30+ minutes, even on the quiet days!

I've only ridden it once and am in no rush to ride it again... my feet get less wet on Tidal Wave than they do on Storm Surge! 😂

[Cal]

4 hours ago, coasterverse said:

 

I've never understood why Storm Surge always manages to get such an insane queuetime - literally every time I've been it's been 30+ minutes, even on the quiet days!

I've only ridden it once and am in no rush to ride it again... my feet get less wet on Tidal Wave than they do on Storm Surge! 😂

 

Its in the middle of the park and got an awful throughput. I guess its also fairly popular with it being a ride a family/group can all ride together too.

[Han30]

On 5/25/2022 at 9:53 AM, NikMik said:

Many thanks to everyone answering the question! The suggestion to start with Nemesis / Stealth worked really well, as we got in essentially without queueing. In the end we managed 19 rides (we didn't do dodgems, high striker, the 4D cinema, storm surge and depth charge), including all the major rides. A bit sad we didn't manage to get into storm surge, but 30 minutes of queueing seemed a bit unreasonable for what it offered...!

You really haven’t missed out with Storm Surge - it’s pretty naff,  your feet get absolutely drenched,  it takes forever to get to the top - and then you end up bobbing around at the end for what seems like an eternity!