Thorpe Park soon - any top + covid tips?

[TomNooksbuddy]

Going soon, and staying in the Shark cabins. Very excited but a bit apprehensive about what to expect. The app isn't in the app store and the map is rubbish quality.

Is there anything to do that's not a ride?
Is there anything to do in the evening now?

So Far I have:
Arrive early (am for 10am open?)
Go on popular rides first
Take snacks and try to avoid eating at lunch time
Take wet weather gear for the wet rides.
Have booked the Infinity bar for dinner.

errr

How old are your DC. We booked to stay in the cabins, but ended up leaving.

They are ship container style accommodation placed on top of each other. There is no windows or natural ventilation. The top bunks are very close to the ceiling. I found it incredibly claustrophobic.

It probably didn't help that it had been an incredibly wet day. We were all soaked and there was no where to hang and dry out coats ready for the next day.

It was the first year they had opened and I felt they were not advertised in a way that truly reflected what you were getting.

Goodness that doesn't sound good !

Kids are 11 and 14. I've looked at the photos and have been clear to to them what they look like. Urgh maybe we should have booked a hotel close by instead.

Black Mirror and the Ghost train have to be booked there on the day. They didn't make it clear where to book and all booked slots were gone by 11am. Also, only existing groups of 4 can go on the Ghost train - so you can't go on as a 3 nor find a random person - same for one of the water rides which takes 4 in a boat.

Also - print a map off as they seem to only have about 2 not covered by Covid posters. You can use your phone on the app and it will tell you how to get there.

I was there last week, the app should be in the app store.

I wasn't overly impressed to be honest, other than rides and extremely expensive side shows, there was nothing else to do.

@TomNooksbuddy if you look at the reviews for the hotel they are mixed. I think if you go with the knowledge they are very small and it's just a space to sleep, it'll be ok.

My DC, similar age to yours at the time loved the park. So I'm sure you'll have a lovely time.

Also my now ex was a total grump, which didn't help my experience.

When people enter a theme park, they usually head either left or right. Left would bring you to Colossus and right would bring you to The Swarm. People tend to head straight to The Swarm. Our advice is to head to the back of the park when you enter. Saw – The Ride and Nemesis Inferno usually have short wait times early in the day.
You can get your first rides on these two coasters knocked out early, and then enjoy The Swarm later in the day when the queue dies down. It’s a good idea to work your way back to the front of the park as the day goes on, as you’ll be working against the crowd. People begin to move towards the back around lunch time, so this is a good time to head to Colossus, The Walking Dead and Ghost Train.
Thorpe Park has a bunch of water rides. There’s also a full beach you can go and relax on called Amity Beach. My advice is to bring spare clothes in case you get soaked. Flip flops are also a good idea, as you can change into them before getting on the water rides. It’s not a good idea to wear flip flops all day, as you’ll be doing a lot of walking. But you don’t want to be walking around in wet shoes all day either.
Lockers in Thorpe Park cost just £2 for the day, and are quite big. You can store your spare clothes and flip flops there so you don’t have to lug them around with you all day. Bags aren’t allowed on any rides, but there is storage at each one for you to leave bags. Note that £2 is required every time you reopen the locker, so it might be a good idea to spread out how often you need to open it. Perhaps get the water rides done all at one time and tie it in with a snack break at the end.
If the park closes at a given time, this does not mean that everything stops operating then. It means that the queues close at that time. So if the park is closing at 7pm on the day you visit, you can jump into a queue right at 7pm and no matter how long the line is, you’ll get on the ride.

Great tips - thank you !

So in conclusion:
The shark cabin is a container so small.

Black Mirror and the Ghost train have to be booked there on the day. They didn't make it clear where to book and all booked slots were gone by 11am. And we are three so maybe can't go on them. RUBBISH !

Print a map off - theirs are covered

The app is working. will check

When people enter a theme park, they usually head either left or right. Left would bring you to Colossus and right would bring you to The Swarm. People tend to head straight to The Swarm. Our advice is to head to the back of the park when you enter. Saw – The Ride and Nemesis Inferno usually have short wait times early in the day.

Work your way back to the front of the park as the day goes on, as you’ll be working against the crowd.

People begin to move towards the back around lunch time, so this is a good time to head to Colossus, The Walking Dead and Ghost Train.

Thorpe Park has a bunch of water rides.

There’s also a full beach you can go and relax on called Amity Beach.

Spare clothes in case you get soaked.

Flip flops are also a good idea, as you can change into them before getting on the water rides. It’s not a good idea to wear flip flops all day, as you’ll be doing a lot of walking. But you don’t want to be walking around in wet shoes all day either.

Lockers in Thorpe Park cost just £2 for the day, and are quite big. But £2 a time.

You can store your spare clothes and flip flops there so you don’t have to lug them around with you all day.

Bags aren’t allowed on any rides, but there is storage at each one for you to leave bags.

Perhaps get the water rides done all at one time and tie it in with a snack break at the end.

If the park closes at a given time, this does not mean that everything stops operating then. It means that the queues close at that time. So if the park is closing at 7pm on the day you visit, you can jump into a queue right at 7pm and no matter how long the line is, you’ll get on the ride.

I am taking DS and his friend in. Acoull eo weeks, looked at the shak cabins but went for a hotel instead, thanks for the top tips

Another question- if you can’t have bags on the ride with you, do you just leave them on the side? With phones in and stuff?

We went last summer. If it's anything like that then arrive far earlier than the park opening because they have long long queues due to bag checks (it was just after that stabbing there) and temperature checks. Don't take anything metal - I had a fork I'd taken for my DC lunch confiscated other than that it was as normal, use the app to work out queue times.

Wear comfy shoes, it's not a fashion parade, made that mistake at Disneyland Paris! For some stupid reason I've agreed to take all the kids to Thorpe park so reading with interest - luckily they are adults and thus we are transport and a wallet only

I went for the first time in nearly ten years last September. We had a damn good fun day. Yes the scenery lots a little tired but the rides are awesome.

Always start with colossus, saw or stealth. The rider throughput on these rides are much slower than nemesis or swarm. Dont underestimate the little cluster of flat rides around vortex. They were some of my favourites in the end.

As the grownup my old bones 😖🙄🤣 I wished i had an ibuprofen with me as I was flagging by early/mid afternoon. (To be fair it was a quiet day, we had managed all the big rides twice and swarm 3 times)

Actually I was pleasingly surprised by the food. We ate lunchat the burrito place which was light and filling so spot on. The Amity doughnut bites were so surprisingly gorgeous we went back and grabbed a second .

Covid wise I felt very comfortable. We ate outside, they were good at enforcing mask and were regularly cleaning the rides. We hand sanitized on and off the rides.

We went not expecting much, Alton towers is far more beautiful and Chessington has the animals which I love, but actually both DD and I had an absolute blast and didnt stop smiling all day.

Don’t stay in the shark hotel. My son’s bed had bedbugs and the bites are horrid. Also very small and wifi rubbish.

Take sunscreen, we got very burnt in the queues as there is no shelter.

We went to Thorpe Park today.

It was packed - but mainly teenagers. Our children are primary school age so we didn't go on the big rollercoasters and so didn't have to queue long for the rides. The gentler rides are a good opportunity to break up the day.

We arrived at 10am and it took us 45 minutes to get in. There were only 4-5 people on bag checks. I'd arrive for 9:45 at the latest. When we got into the park, some of the bigger rides hadn't opened by that point.

We got a locker in the Dome, which was £1 each time you opened it, but we only opened it once, so £2. There are lockers throughout the park, so I'd chose one more centrally located. Quite a few of the wet rides are near Amity beach, so I'd get a locker there.

We took a change of clothes, but you only really get properly wet on Tidal Wave. The other rides, is more a light splash. Next time, I'd take a plastic fold up Mac for Tidal wave, but wouldn't bother with a change of clothes.

Amity beach is only open on weekends and school holidays, so we couldn't go today (DD would have loved it).

We downloaded the Thorpe Park app and queue times were pretty accurate. It's worth keeping an eye on the queue times, as they can change quickly. Storm surge had a wait time of 30 mins, but as we were slowly walking over, it shots up to 70 mins, so we didn't bother. A while later, it went back down to 30mins so we hotfooted it over and got on within 30 mins.

Don't forget your face masks - some lads ahead of us in the queue waited 40 mins for a ride, to be told they couldn't go on without masks, so had to leave the front of the queue. They were told to buy masks and they return to the front of the queue.

Good thread

@Kapalika

Don’t stay in the shark hotel. My son’s bed had bedbugs and the bites are horrid. Also very small and wifi rubbish.

Oh no we are staying in the shark hotel!

Beg bugs!!!!!!

How is it cii oh his safe? Are they letting less people in?

Covid

Covid measures, I saw

Capacity - I read somewhere that you have to buy tickets in advance and there are limited numbers. It was really busy today, so I would hate to see what it was like at maximum capacity. But, it's outdoors and so you can maintain a reasonable distance.

Rides - some of the indoor rides are closed. Other rides running at 3/4 capacity to allow for social distancing. So, on the flying fish rollercoaster, the staff kept a 1 row distance between groups. Adults are expected to wear masks on rides. We saw a couple of lads refused entry to a ride because they didn't have any masks.

Hand gel - lots of gel available throughout the park, particularly at ride entrances.

Queues - there are social distance markers on the ground but nobody followed them. I'll admit, we didn't. Most people didn't wear their masks in queues for rides either.

Cleaning - one ride we went on closed for 5 mins for it to be cleaned. It involved a teenager spraying something on the safety bar of the ride and rubbing a wipe on the safety barriers. Not convinced it was a thorough enough clean, but there are no easy solutions.

Temperature checks on the way in before you join the queue.

Thanks all for these great tips. We’ve been watching Brooklyn 99 and I might create a Santiago style binder.

@Caramellatteplease

On this one- is the saw ride ‘scary’? What’s the difference or is it super obvious once you are there ?

Always start with colossus, saw or stealth.

Bags - yes, if you can't take them on, there is normally a box to put them in.

I don't find Saw scary, as such, just painful - I found I couldn't brace my head against the backrest properly, so my head got thrown around a lot more than it does on most big rides. So I tend not to bother with it now. I prefer Swarm, but my kids both prefer Saw!

@PatriciaHolm

Bags - yes, if you can't take them on, there is normally a box to put them in.

I don't find Saw scary, as such, just painful - I found I couldn't brace my head against the backrest properly, so my head got thrown around a lot more than it does on most big rides. So I tend not to bother with it now. I prefer Swarm, but my kids both prefer Saw!

Ooo ok. would a scarf help do you think?

Am short and often have issues with headrests. I guess a scarf might fly off !

Saw is a scary rollercoaster but it's not horror movie scary like the film. It is themed to the movie, but personally, not being a horror movie fan, I find the theming very forgettable. If you are worried there are you tube videos of the queueline that are worth checking out.

I'm not quite sure what you were asking so I answered your question anyway

Saw, colossus and stealth are all slow to load, slow to unload and are limited in the number of riders (especially with social distancing limiting Thorpes ability to fill trains). Stealth stops for checks fairly regularly (and both stealth and colossas are problematic in windy weather). Nemesis and Swarm are (actually significantly better quality rollercoasters) that have a reasonable load capacity, quicker train turnaround and swarm can also load more flexibly to take into account covid restrictions. Especially if they run multiple trains. Therefore Nemesis and swarm will cope better with larger numbers whereas the queuelines for the other three will increase more rapidly. Unless I've got a newbie I want to ease into larger rollercoasters gently, I'd always get saw, colossus and stealth done first. If you've got a newbie and you're feeling kind, you go Nemesis. I'm not that kind.

Its fairly obvious, colossus and saw are near each other in the far left corner, stealth is in the far right, nemesis is between the two and swarm is closest to the entrance on the right. Thorpe really isnt big. The app has a good map and is good for keeping track of queue times.

Something to remember though is that while the park is at full capacity, it wont necessarily feel that way because rides, attractions and queuelines are also limited capacity. When we went in September they couldn't load different household groups together, so for example a 4 seat across in saw or Nemesis had to run half empty if there was only 2 in a group.

Yes I am a totally theme park nerd.

We have an awesome digital photo of the exact moment DD once lost my scarf on a (surprisingly tame) rollercoaster. Her hand had shot up to her neck, the scarf was mid air and she was looking at me either in horror at the ride or the scarf, I'm not sure which!. It was 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 if I hadn't been quite so fond of the scarf!!!

If you wear a scarf tie it tight!