22-Aug-2014

Travel Diaries: Thorpe Park

Yesterday we spent a day in Thorpe Park. It was much anticipated and we were at the park (after 90minutes of driving) just as they started admissions. We expected less people to be there so early and therefore not to have to queue for the rides. Well, we were very much mistaken.

After a short discussion we decided we'll try our chances with the rides we want to try the most - the thrill rollercoasters. After all, we didn't go all the way there to ride with the kids, right?

First stop (and a 2h queue) was SAW- The Ride. It's inspired by the movie with the same name and it's "thing" is the absolute 100 degrees drop. Other than that the ride is pretty basic and it ends so fast that you might regret waiting for 2 hours for mere 25 seconds.

Saw - The Ride

Next up was The Swarm. Here the idea is for a post-apocalyptic world, where everything is destroyed. The queue line around  burned down cars, the ruins of houses and other niceties. On top of that, screens are showing a mock news report about some very strange and very scary even that happened, imagine that, in Thorpe Park. The ride itself it's nothing memorable, to be honest. Few loops and this is it. However, there is an option to ride backwards and this seemed like the better way to take the ride. Maybe next time, if there is next time.

The Swarm

The third ride on our list was Nemesis Inferno. Dedicated to an erupted volcano scenario, the whole experience was decided in dark red and black. Very pleasing to the eye, however the ride wasn't all that exciting at all. The only thing that I can call slightly thrilling on this rollercoaster was the part where one's riding head down.This was good. The rest was ... meh.

Nemesis Inferno

After a short lunch break - there is an abundance of fast-food places to choose from, we went forward with our plan of trying all of the so-called thrilling rides. Next on our list was Colossus - a classic rollercoaster, the first in the world with 10 loops. No specific theme here, just plenty of green around it, and the glory of being the first 10 loop rollercoaster. Nothing surprising, nothing thrilling, just some mild headache as a result of so much looping around.

Colossus

And last but not least from our list of thrilling rides was Stealth, Thorpe's star. They like to say that people come to the park just to ride on it, and this might actually be true. The scenario around this ride is 1950's car race and it's all very nicely mock-vintage, almost as you are on the set of Grease special edition. It's promoted as having the combined power of two F1 cars and that it accelerates to 130 km/h in less than 3 seconds. Sounds pretty impressive on paper but in reality is very fast start and then very boring other 20 seconds until the end of the ride. However the fast start is actually pretty decent, you feel like you are getting thrown forward by some supreme force and that gives you the chills. This is actually the only ride that managed to excite us all so much that we were willing to go for a second run.

Stealth

We also tried few of the other rides, among which a water one, Loggers Leap, that got us all profoundly wet, and Vortex and Zodiac, both of which combine two types of spinning in order to make their mess up with the riders heads. Not specifically impressive but I guess it will make children feel quite funny. And by the time we were done with thees three extra rides, it was time for us to leave since the park was closing in 15 minutes.

Overall, I was disappointed with the park. Taking in account we paid 26 GBP each for the day there, I expected a lot more. I expected more interesting rides and less children-orientated fun rides. Oh, and if children running everywhere without any idea what boundaries is, is not your idea of fun, that do not go, you'll only get frustrated. Also, if queuing for 2 hours for a 20 seconds ride doesn't sound like something you can do, again, do not go, you'll have a terrible day. But hey, if this feels like your idea of fun, then why not?

I just know that I'm not going back soon. Or ever,

You can't get lost if you don't know where you're going...