Thrills, Laughs & Spills

[Jammy3112]

Thorpe Park - Thursday 13th September 2012

'Cast' -

James (Me) - Loves theme parks, and will grab at any and every opportunity to get some ride time!

Giordan - My closest friend, loves the Disney theme parks and skipped college for this trip!

Ash - Giordan's brother. Fellow Queens Park Rangers supporter, and all round good guy.

Emily - Ash's girlfriend. Serial on-ride screamer!

This was my first trip to Thorpe Park since July, and my first trip for sometime going with friends. Usually, my trips to theme parks are with family! I managed to save up the tokens that were in The Sun recently, and was given this date to go in return. Any chance to go to a theme park, I'm there!

I stayed over at Ash's house so that it was easier for transportation purposes, however, that might have been a bad idea. We were due to get up at 7am so we had time to get ready and set off for Thorpe Park, except we managed to stay up until 2am watching American Pie: The Reunion. Needless to say, our 7am wake up was delayed slightly. We managed to leave the house after a brief hysteria, and were on the road by 7:45. Stopping off at a McDonalds for breakfast, we made a brief game plan for tackling Thorpe Park. I for one prefer to have some sort of loose structure to the day to ensure we don't spend half of it wondering aimlessly around the park!

Having filled our stomachs and finally woken up, we set off on our 1 1/2 hour road trip to Thorpe Park. It was quite a straightforward journey, with hardly any traffic so all the signs were there for a great day! That was until we decided to turn the sat-nav on to guide us through Staines. It took us on a lovely scenic tour around the outside of the park, before eventually guiding us into the main entrance!

By the time we arrived at the turnstiles, it was 10am exactly and so we were pretty much straight in. Thankfully, the crowds weren't too big at this point, and so we decided to head for Swarm as we knew the crowds would flock to the newest of the attractions. Most of the rides were still being tested as I could see all the empty trains being run around the tracks. Swarm however was ready and waiting.

As we had guessed, most people had gravitated towards Swarm and so there was a small queue. However, within 5-10mins we were on our way up the lift hill. Thankfully for me, we were sat on the right hand side of the Swarm. I love this side as going over the turn before dive drop makes it seem like you have further to fall! Coming out of the dive we went into the zero-G roll. Suddenly, there was a burst of heat out of nowhere! I had completely forgotten that the fire effect had been installed, and our ride was the first of the day to have the effect. The rest of the ride was just a blur of track and next thing I know, we were pulling into the station. The last time I rode Swarm, it was in the rain & lighting, so this time the blurriness was from my watering eyes.

This was the first time that the others had ridden Swarm, and so they spent the next few minutes raving about how great the ride was and how we had to go on it again before we left. It was like listening to a bunch of excited school kids! (Although I couldn't agree with them more!)

Part of our plan for tackling the park was to move anti-clockwise from Swarm. So obviously our next stop was Stealth!

As we headed through Amity Cove, Giordan decided that he wasn't ready for a ride like Stealth, and so opted to be bag holder. For some reason Stealth wasn't all that popular at 10.30, so Ash, Emily & I managed to get on within 5 minutes. We all queued for front row seats as we'd never done the front row before! As the lone rider, I was paired with another lone rider in the queue. He was very chatty and explained that he had come from France to experience the UK and was loving Thorpe Park. He told me he was very nervous about this ride, something one of the staff over heard as they were checking our restraints. The staff member then proceeded to point down the track and say -

"This right here, is the best view in the entire park...But soon enough you will hate it and wish you'd never sat front seat!"

I couldn't help but laugh as the staff member walked off leaving the French man in a state of complete shock! As the lights counted down until our imminent launch, all I could hear from my left was "Uh-oh, uh-oh, uh-oh", then suddenly "Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaa sheeeeeeet". Strangely, this had to be the best ride on Stealth I've experienced. I don't know if it was the screaming French man, or the fact that it was the only time I've been on it in bright sunshine, but it was just a great ride.

The next stop on our trip was the consistently great Nemesis Inferno -

It was now near 11am, and so the masses had slowly begun to come into the park. This was probably the first of the 'big' queues we would have to wait in today. However, the sun was out and so there wasn't much moaning at the queue time of 40mins as we could saviour this unusually good British weather! Eventually we made it into the loading area, and we decided to hit up the front seats again. I must admit, I'm not usually a front seat person, but thought why not go for it?!

As we sat down, pulled down our restraints and plugged in the belts, a slightly nervous looking female attendant looked at Giordan's restraint and said "You erm...might wanna plug the belt in sir". We all looked over and realised that Giordan had managed the near impossible task of catching the belt on his way into his seat, and thus sitting on it! Obviously, it would have been highly embarrassing for the attendant to attempt retrieving the belt!

Having had a good laugh, we set off on the ride, and all I can say is I forgot just how many times that thing banks and loops! I don't think my body was properly prepared. I was in no way dizzy, but my legs decided to act like jelly, and the moment I stood up, I was walking in six directions at once!

This momentary lapse in the ability to walk (something I've managed to do successfully for numerous years!) became our signal to go for lunch...

Pizza Hut Buffet it was! In all my trips to Thorpe Park, I have never once visited the Pizza Hut Buffet. All I can say is...How in the world do they keep on top of getting the pizzas out?! Full credit to the chefs and waiters in there for doing what must be the most intense job in the park! For £8.99, I can't complain either. I'm pretty sure I ate and drunk my monies worth of pizza and Pepsi.

Feeling stuffed and slightly sick, we decided to have a wander around the park and see what was going on. Looking at the information boards, most of the bigger rides had queues of 60-90 minutes. SAW was currently broken and all the flat rides were busy as usual with 40-60 minute queues.

Feeling better for walking our lunch off a bit, we decided to head for the only ride without a queue - Rumba Rapids. On our way through the queue, we were joined by a miniature member of the Thorpe Park family. The member we have now dubbed as Rob, The Rumba Rapids Duck!

Unfortunately, he left us before we got on the revolving platform, and so we boarded our boat without him. Although not the wettest of rides, we managed to have quite a bit of fun on it! Going into the tunnel, the entire thing just became a giant game of musical chairs as we tried to anticipate which side would get the waterfall! Sadly though, other than that, Rumba Rapids doesn't have much else going for it, and so we just had a casual cruise down the river in the sun.

We headed over to Saw to see if was back in operation as we hadn't seen a car go round for some time. Upon arriving at the entry gate, we saw people moving through the queue and decided to go for it, despite the rather sudden change in weather from sunny and warm to cloudy and cold. Walking through the queue line, we looked at the lift hill to see people taking what was the first ride of the day on SAW.

Thankfully we had arrived as it was re-opened, because 5 minutes later, whilst waiting to enter the warehouse, we looked back and the queue and saw it backed up all the way to the queue entrance! About 5 minutes later, we handed our bags over and were loaded into the cars. This has to be one of my favourite rides in the park (after Swarm!) purely because of how smooth I find it. So many great elements in it and SAW is a great theme for any ride! Despite the 'scary' theme, we managed to pose for the photo, pulling off a "Hear no evil, Speak no evil, See no evil & WTF" look. This got quite a few laughs from the staff at the photo booth, and other riders who were with us.

Our next stop had to be the classic 10 x loop - Colossus!

I remember this being the first ride I went on after Thorpe Park was taken over by Tussauds Group, and also the very first ride I bought merchandise from! Who remembers the 10 x loop t-shirts?! The queue was about 60 minutes but we were in no rush and so were more than happy to wait, as yet again, the weather had changed and the sun decided to make a re-appearance. I could tell everyone was starting to flag a bit by now as there was less talking going on between the four of us, and Emily spend most of the queue time sat on the floor!

Eventually we got on, and were going up the lift hill. I know that Colossus isn't really the smoothest of rides anymore, but I think we must have gotten lucky as I wasn't thrown about like the past few times I've been on it. I can't get enough of the airtime element before diving under the shop and into the cobra roll! Possibly the best part of the ride for me. I started to remember everything I love about this ride as we went round. That was until the corkscrews. I have never felt so uncomfortable in my life whilst on a ride. In all honesty though, this was probably more down to the piercing cramp I received in both my thighs as we banked into the corkscrews!

Having recovered from my moment of near death cramp, we decided we had time for one more ride. Without even so much as a breath being taken, we all gravitated back over to The Swarm.

(Possibly the best slogan out of all the Thorpe Park condoms!!! Yes, they do Thorpe Park condoms!)

This time, we all made sure we enjoyed Swarm to the fullest by pulling stupid poses for the camera, and generally having a good laugh! Swarm for me has to be one of the best themed rides in the UK.

We decided that as it was near closing time, we would have a sit down and grab an ice-cream, do some shopping etc. In the end, I went all out and bought myself a black Swarm hoodie, a Swarm resin statue, SAW playing cards, some doughnuts and and ice cream. I went and stood on the path right next to Tidal Wave whilst eating my doughnuts and ice cream and was quite shocked how clean Tidal Waves water was. I never really look at the water around Tidal Wave, but the last time I did a few years ago, it wasn't too clean.

This has to be my Picture Of The Day:

Eventually, it was time to leave, but it was quite whole heartedly agreed, that this day was one we'd always remember.

Ride Count:

The Swarm x 2

Stealth x 1

Nemesis Inferno x 1

Rumba Rapids x 1

SAW x 1

Colossus x 1

Ratings & Thoughts:

The Swarm - 9/10

Possibly the best ride in the park. Great themeing from the surrounding area right down to the alien themed trains. Fireball effect definitely added to the experience. Unfortunately, the length of ride isn't the longest, but a great ride for the short amount of ride time.

Stealth - 10/10

Ride of the day. Short queue, front seats made experience better, and of course, the token French guy! Had we gone on this later in the day, then the rating would have been less.

Nemesis Inferno - 8/10

Always a classic, and always love a good inverted coaster. Queue was long (although expected, and enabled us to enjoy the sun!), smooth as usual, strangely gave me jelly legs.

Rumba Rapids - 4/10

The only exciting part of this ride was musical chairs. A very short ride, that doesn't get you very wet. Possibly needs a clearer theme and a hell of a lot more themeing if wanting to engage more riders!

SAW: The Ride - 9/10

Broken down most of the day. However, straight on and always enjoyed how smooth this ride is. Made even better by the ride photo and the fact the attendants love a good laugh!

Colossus - 8/10

Always a classic and has a place in my heart. Smoothest ride I've ever had on it, and despite the cramp, enjoyed it. I do feel that it has started to become a bit neglected and looks like it could do with a repaint in the off season.

Thank you to all who have read my very first trip report!!! Hope you all enjoyed and look forward to hearing what you have to say