Thorpe park

[Kingoftheroad]

Planning on visiting Thorpe park this weekend.

I'm from another country and haven't been before. Can anyone tell me what it's like, is it worth going ?

YABVVVU

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If you like rides it's worth going?? I really like the super tall coaster, but I forgot the name of it.

You will have an hour long wait per ride if not longer.

How old are your children?

I went last week - it has a lot of roller coasters so good for older children / teens or adults. There wasn't as much for younger ones and I thought the park was a bit run down.
I thought chessington was better at least for children my age.

At Thorpe park you can buy queue jump passes - definitely buy some of those.

Thorpe park is ok for older kids
Chessington is better for younger ones
Legoland is good for all ages
Alton towers couldn't say as it's been years since I've been

BUT if you are going to any of these go to a local supermarket and buy a promotional pack of cereal or cereal bars. They have a voucher on them called grown ups go free.
Basically you buy a kids (or adults) ticket and get an adults ticket free.

Google Kellogg's promotions and it will tell you about it.
Also if you are a group of 2 adults 2 kids of any multiple go through in pairs so you can use multiple vouchers.

grownupsgofree.kelloggs.co.uk/faq.html

Take plenty of water and a hat. Standing on the concrete in the sun in the queues is really hot. If you own teenage thrill seekers they will be beside themselves,

Legoland is awful. Full of wasps and staff who don't give a shit. One of them let my niece aged 2 on a ride last year, said they would do up the belt then started the ride without doing it up. I had to get them to stop the ride or she would have fallen off. I complained and will never go back there again. It's the worst of all.

It depends on what you're looking for. Cheating ton is better for younger children, Thorpe park is great for older people and those who love rides. Alton towers is brilliant, the best I think.
They cost more, but I'd advise getting fast passes, as the queues can be bad.

Totally depends what you are looking for. Do you like theme parks? Do you have children with you? How old are they?

Drayton Manor has Thomas Land which is super for small children.

Look out for deals - maybe Tesco vouchers?? Or book on the internet in advance. Really expensive if you just turn up and pay on the door. But in terms of how busy it is - better to go on an inset day really.

Personally I would avoid it like the plague in the school holidays at a weekend, particularly if the weather is good. Much better to go in term time, on a week day ideally and when it's a bit rainy. Queues will be far shorter.

If you go during peak times then expect to buy a few fastracks for the rides otherwise you'll spend the day standing in queues.

Also better to book online than use the 241 vouchers - the price is about the same but you'll get an actual ticket so you can scan straight through the barriers rather than standing in the walk up queue - which can take up to an hour when it's busy. Never pay full price!

It's a good day out if you enjoy coasters and theme park rides. It's not like Disney with lots of theming and characters, it's all about big rides. But it's good fun if you enjoy that sort of thing.

Thank you all very much for the great advice. I'll book online and get express passes. All adults so think this will be perfect, thanks again.

Also - sign of the times but they have a big security check at the entrance. Took us at least 20 mins to get through that so factor that in as well.

Bag search etc

hello thanks for the tip will leave my bag at home

It is very noisy, awful music played constantly at top volume, full of teens, not much choice for food/drink. Expensive to park.

I would get there early as you queue to buy tickets then queue to get in. If you can leave a packed tea in your car to eat that can be worth doing. If you stay until the end of the day it will get quiet again.

I live nearby and go semi-regularly.

Definitely do not pay on the gate prices ever, there's always deals online/on food packets etc so save yourself some money.

Get there before opening time (20 mins or so) so that you have time to park and walk up to the gate as it opens. The car park is pretty close to the entrance so no space is more than a 10 minute walk from the gate. Get on any open rides while its quieter and you won't need a fast pass.

Go to poundland or any other cheap shop before you go and buy 2 for a £1 ponchos for your group. Do not go on Tidal Wave without one, you get soaked through to your knickers. Great ride though.

Brace your head back when on Nemesis, you can get bumped around a bit. The corkscrew loops are worth it though.

Detonator is much more thrilling than it looks and normally doesn't have too long a queue even when it's busy.

If people are queuing up outside of X and being held back by a member of staff, it usually means the queue inside is fairly short. They cheekily leave the queue time as 40 minutes or so at the end of the day but it is normally much quicker as its quieter (queue) inside (not quiet music wise, it's like a rave in there).

You can rent a locker, non-refundable , I think £1 if you want to leave bag/water/lunch for the morning save carrying it around. Lockers are near Storm Surge and customer services.

I will come back if I think of anything else.

Triple recommend the poncho for tidal wave and would consider spares in the locker as sometimes the seats and footwells mean you are wet before the ride starts!

It's actually a really small park in terms of size, as ever start at the big rides you want to go on farthest away from the entrance as soon as you get there and work forwards.