THORPE PARK Resort #MyFirstCoaster Day reviewer thread NOW CLOSED

[AngelieMumsnet]

This is a thread for the 50 Mumsnetters who attended the #MyFirstCoaster at THORPE PARK Resort. Thanks for going, and we hope that you and your family had great day!

Here's what THORPE PARK Resort say: "We see so many excited kids every year who have just reached 1.4m and are now tall enough to have the ride of their lives. At THORPE PARK Resort we're championing this achievement with our #MyFirstCoaster day, and celebrating the moment these kids experience a whole new world of thrills!"

Below are some questions for you to answer, but do feel free to add any other comments you or your family may have.

Please remember to also write a review of your day on the MN review area here

• Who was in your group and how old are the children?
• Have you been to THORPE PARK Resort before, if so, when?
• What was your, and your family's, overall experience of #MyFirstCoaster Day?
• What were your/your DCs highlights of the day?
• Overall, would you recommend THORPE PARK Resort to your friends and family if it came up in conversation? If so, why? If not, why not?

Please also upload any photos of your family enjoying their day out THORPE PARK Resort to this thread. Please note photos may be used by THORPE PARK Resort on Facebook, their website and possibly on other marketing material.

Thanks,
MNHQ

I can't wait for tomorrow and I have 3 hugely over-excited children who haven't stopped talking about Thorpe Park all week.

They have watched every available video on You tube, printed off a map and planned the order of their rides!

If Thorpe Park manages to live up to their expectations then they will have had a bloody brilliant day...No pressure then Thorpe Park

See you all tomorrow.

Oh my goodness we are excited. I have one who is over 140cm and one under so it's going to be interesting to balance both their expectations. The under 140cm rides look fab too. Thank you MN for this opportunity.

I have very excited children here waiting to leave. DD is sure she will be braver than her big brother who went for the first time last year. We have another littler one in tow too who is already talking about when she is big enough for the big rides! Looking forward to a fun family day. Thank you Mumsnet!

Marking my place for later
Sun is shining, so it should be a good day .

Just packing up our bags - we only live about 20 mins away, so hoping to get there before the crowds. We haven't told the kids where they're going - we'll see what they say when we rock up! Like others I have one under the 140cm (complete wuss) and a under 140 daredevil so will be interesting balencing them out! Thanks the opportunity, mn & Thorpe park :-)

Just back home, completely exhausted and bloody hell did it get cold when the clouds came over....I will leave my full review tomorrow when I have properly recovered.

Hello Mumsnet, this is LizzieVereker's DS. I am eight. I had a brilliant brilliant time with my Mum and brother at Thorpe Park today. I went on some big rides, the best one was X. I loved the doughnuts. Thank you very very much for inviting my family, I had a great day.

Hello Mumsnet, this is Mum of the above very happy, tired boy. It was a great day out, DS aged 8 and DS aged 15 loved it. The queues were small, it was a bit chilly, but the staff were lovely and so friendly. Thank you so much for the tickets, we are really grateful. (Wrings out socks from ill-advised choice of last ride - Depth Charge )

Just back. All tired and frrrrrozen!!
So we were 2 adults and 2 DCs (9 & 7).
Last time I went to TP was 25 years ago!
Overall thoughts:
Pros - easy to drive to and park. Relatively small theme park, easily covered in one day.
Pleasant, hard working staff
Lots of choice for food and not too extortionately priced

Cons - not enough rides for the the numbers of people admitted. Considering we visited on a freezing day in March, we still had to queue for at least 45 minutes on the thrill rides. Lord only knows what the queues are like at the height of the season! DCs got bored quite quickly of waiting and we even gave up on some.
Not enough to do for very small children. My DD was petrified by just the noise of some of the rides and wouldn't even get on the Flying Fish coaster. Could do with some VERY gentle rides for tinies.

Highlights - Stealth, the ride that just suddenly drops(sorry can't remeber name), dinghy/raft ride, Angry Birds 4D movie.

Not sure I'd recommend the park to friends with young children, too much hanging around, not enough of a variety of rides. Thanks for the tickets though!'

Here is DS, about to get wet!

I haven't been to Thorpe Park since I was a little girl about 30 years ago(!) and boy things had changed. It was completely unrecognisable to me so it was as if it was a brand new place. I went with my husband and 3 children aged 13,10 and 7. My youngest is disabled so we had a bit of a unique experience. My first thoughts were that the park looked really run down. From a distance the rides looked a bit dishevelled and grey. Everything looks as though it's in need of a good paint job. It doesn't have that same kind of lustre that both Chessington and Legoland have when you arrive. Nevertheless once we were inside it got better.

I was really shocked how small Thorpe Park is. But quality over quantities the rides were fab. We never made it onto any of the stealthy rides because the kids were too scared. Our favourite rides were the Angry Birds 4D and the Flying Fish. Loads of rides were closed including the I'm Celebrity maze which was a real disappointment. The queues for the thrill rides were around 45 mins long and there were no queues for the kids rides. We loved the Swarm ride even though we didn't go on it, the area was amazing and they had clearly done a great job and making it look like an authentic apocalypse.

Very happy with the food choices too. It's nice to go to a theme park for a change and spend a few quid in KFC or Burger King where you know what to expect and get value for money. Normally restaurants in theme parks are a total rip off.

My main concern with Thorpe Park is that it's full of teenagers and youths. If they are trying to be a more family friendly resort it's not working yet. It does not have a family feel about it. There is no kiddy area and all the kids rides are mixed in with adult rides. The youths are offputting especially in the eating areas. Thorpe Park is somewhere to go with your mates when you're at school not with your young family.

I would go again and I would recommend it. But it has a long way to go before being family friendly. I'd prefer Chessington or Legoland as a day out.

Who was in your group and how old are the children?
Conventional family unit (mum, dad, DS (14) and DD (9).

Have you been to THORPE PARK Resort before, if so, when
No never. For some reason I'd always thought it was in deepest Surrey, somewhere near Guildford?? Only really know about it from the famouse Diana, Prince William and Prince Harry visit (and the iconic water slide photo). Had no idea it's so close to Legoland either!

What was your, and your family's, overall experience of #MyFirstCoaster Day
Had it happened a few days ago it would have been lovely but it was difficult to really appreciate a theme park on what was such a damp and chilly day - it was bitterly cold and too much so really to be enjoyable being outside for most of the time.

Queueing times were pleasantly short which is great with impatient teen/tween in tow (but that was probably down to the weather conditions and the park not being over busy!).

The tip to go to Guest Services to get DD measured and confirmed as being the prerequisite 140cm height for getting a thrill seeker wrist band, was good but we ended up stuck in a queue behind loads of people activating their Merlin Passes for seemingly the first time. Particularly not impressed that a family queue-jumped from the other end of the office and had their DD measured with no wait at all and ahead of us [hmmm to manners!]. The idea of the thrill-seeker wrist band was great but not entirely reliable. DD was challenged before going on Vortex and remeasured because the staff didn't believe the 'wrist-band' evidence. And curiously a boy who was doutlessly smaller was not challenged to reconfirm his height in the same way!

Difficult to get the full measure of any attraction on a first visit and particularly a theme park that we knew next to nothing about.

Two of the thrill seeker rides were out of action (Nemesis Inferno and Samurai) - a great pity because they were the ones DW and the DCs would have been most likely to choose to go on, so it was rather disappointing not to try out some of the 'big, scary' ones. It seemed a big leap, with a 9 year old only just over 140 cm (by 1cm - phew!), from the rides at Chessington to the signicantly more daunting ones at Thorpe Park (although she is more of a thrill-seeker than her big bro'!). Actually a huge leap for DS and DW too. DW is game for anything, although she does it out of maternal duty rather than the love of adrenalin pumping rides, but even she turned a whiter shade of pale watching Stealth, Swarm", Saw and Colossus*.

Having said that though, the DCs managed Zodiac without parental supervision and loved it so much they did it twice! DW and DD also went on Vortex which DD loved more than her mummy (who came off head spinnning*

The ride we liked the most as a family was X because it was an unknown quantity but the clubby vibe, music and lights-wise added a different and very much enjoyed (by all of us) dimension.

It was very mid-teen - early twentysomething dominated today. 'Packs' of teenage boys acting in a semi-feral, silly way and lots of posturing going on twixt groups of girls and the similarly aged boys. Not sure whether this reflects the norm or whether it was skewed by what evidently was a four-coach-strong group of teens who left at the same time as we did.

I wasn't overkeen on anyof the rides apart from the two water ones we went on (not keen on heights). Shame it was so cold as you don't mind getting wet when it's a nice hot day. I wasn't pleased with being charged £1.60 at the cashpoint inside when the one outside the entrance was free. I wasn't planning on using cash but for some reason (not made manifest anywhere) the debit machines at Burger King weren't working so had to go to get cash (otherwise we'd have been very hungry bunnies). Is there anyway to get a refund on this???

What were your/your DCs highlights of the day
My highlight was getting out of the cold into the warmth of Fin's Bar!

DD and DS just enjoyed the thrill of the new and making the step up to a much more grown-up (ie. teenage) oriented theme park than they've experienced before. DS left planning his next trip this summer.

We all liked X and but for the fact that it was seemingly the ride with the longest queue of the day, we would have done the ride more than once.

Overall, would you recommend THORPE PARK Resort to your friends and family if it came up in conversation? If so, why? If not, why not?

I would recommend it to people who liked theme park, although it's aimed, IMHO, at families with older children or for independent teenagers to visit with their friends.

From our side of London, by public transport it took us just under two hours to get there (and a slightly quicker journey back as train times were on our side), which I think is too long and makes for an exhausting day out in travel terms. We were lucky that we did lot of rides because it wasn't ultra busy. If you went in high season, you'd probably be lucky to do half the number in the time we had there, which would make it less worth the hassle of the long travel time.

We also felt that it's a very exposed site which didn't work terribly well on a chilly day and equally wouldn't be good on a very hot summer's day.

However, we did very much appreciate the chance to try out #MyFirstCoasterDay and to visit Thorpe Park. It was great for DD to finally reach the 140cm height milestone which has been frustratingly just beyond her (until now), and has kept her from enjoying previous theme park visits as much as her taller DB and her cousins. It gave us a good day out (although not very cheap even with free entry, with travel costs of £35 and lunch of £25) and the DCs are certainly very keen to go again (although we much less so).

A question. Would it not be possible to have an entry point price for accompanying parents (who may actually not want to go on the rides with their DCs but want to be around for transport and parental support duties)? It seemed to me that there were quite a few parents hanging out in Fin's Bar looking rather bored but availing themselves of the warmth and free WiFi and possibly the odd or two. I would rather resent paying full entry price and then only being there for moral support!

• Who was in your group and how old are the children?

In my family group was myself my daughter 21,son,12,son 8 all very excited about the day

• Have you been to THORPE PARK Resort before, if so, when?

i have not been for about 7 years but my older children have been

• What was your, and your family's, overall experience of #MyFirstCoaster Day?

we had a very good day although it was very cold and some of the rides were closed.I was suprised that there was quite a few rides that my son 8 could go on he is just tall enough for detonator which he loved. He also loved the dodgems and had quite a few goes whilst son 12 was on bigger rides that he can now do as he is just tall enough with his older sister.

• What were your/your DCs highlights of the day?

best part of the day had to be tidal wave even though they ended up soaking wet . son 12 said his favourite was Swarm and mine was Flying fish because we all went on it as a family and we didnt get wet!

• Overall, would you recommend THORPE PARK Resort to your friends and family if it came up in conversation? If so, why? If not, why not?

i would recommend it we all really enjoyed it and it is good for all ages maybe not so good for under 8 unless the water parts are open on warm days. food was not too expensive had kfc and eldest had fish and chips The only negative is £5 parking charge which i did not mind today as we had complimentary tickets but if i had paid full price to get in all adds to the cost of the day. Thank you very much for choosing us kids are exhausted but we all had a great time

• Who was in your group and how old are the children?

Me, my boys age 9 and 6 and my Mum/Nanna (age 54 lol!)

• Have you been to THORPE PARK Resort before, if so, when?

Yes for my eldest sons 8th birthday August 2013

• What was your, and your family's, overall experience of #MyFirstCoaster Day?

Bad start with a 90 minute wait for stealth.. Advertised as 45 minutes. And all the time my Mum was waiting with my too small 6yr old (he's just 1.2 height!) so a very long wait for us all. Even more frustrating as when we were 15 from the front, they decided to delay the ride to add in another train-surely this could have been done before the ride opened as it then had to be tested a few times!!! Other than that a fairly good day, we did get slightly 'ripped' off when buying some fast track tickets as they had a special on-buy one get one for £1, but we didn't see this offer until our last set, it wasn't offered/sold to us so could have saved us a fair bit of money. It was a very cold day, but bonus as we got to go in all the wet rides without big queues! KFC tills were causing chaos/huge queues but have to praise staff as they certainly work hard in there! Didn't however get to have our free picture as had decided to have it on a ride my youngest could come on and typically the camera wasn't working!

• What were your/your DCs highlights of the day?

All the water rides definitely-getting soaked!!

• Overall, would you recommend THORPE PARK Resort to your friends and family if it came up in conversation? If so, why? If not, why not?

Not for children under 1.4 as it's very limited for what they can go on! But yes otherwise, however I do think for the amount of queuing you have to do it is quite expensive for entry.

Oh what a day out!! had a great time :)

Roadside directions and signs were excellent and the parking was very organised and roomy.
We were very impressed by the clean and tidy park; no litter lying around and plentiful and exceptionally clean toilets. The downside of the toilets were the freezing cold hand driers that didn't dry your hands because there was no warmth to them.

I invited a friend and her 7yo along (who was not quite tall enough for the my first coaster experience), myself and my 8yo Dd who is 143cm, so well qualified and happy!

None of us had been to TP before.

Had a great day out! really enjoyed the experience, but some of the rides had 90 minute waiting time which was just too much. We had decided to go onto Swarm, but just couldn't wait for 90 minutes with friends there that couldn't join in, so we chose Nemesis Inferno which had a 40 minute wait, but it moved along very quickly, so wasn't too bad. The photo though was far from flattering!

Have to say that our best bit of all had to be the Angry Birds Movie! that was brilliant and had us laughing and squealing throughout . The kids loved the bumper cars and the Flying Fish too!

I would not recommend TP to friends with young children because there wasn't enough for the younger kids to do.

I would recommend it to friends with Dc's aged 9/10 and above as I think there was enough to keep them entertained and they would be slightly less irritated by the lengthy queuing times. It would definitely be good for teens and above!

Can't seem to tx photos from my phone atm, so will attempt over the next day or two.

Thanks for the tickets and great day out!! :)

• Who was in your group and how old are the children?

DS aged 12 (disabled), DD 10 and her friend, also aged 10. This is the first visit to a theme park where DD was finally tall enough for the big rides plus two adults.

• Have you been to THORPE PARK Resort before, if so, when?

Yes, but years ago and DD was too small for most of the rides

• What was your, and your family's, overall experience of #MyFirstCoaster Day?

The two girls had an amazing day, they were just so positive about everything and encouraged each other to be brave and try every ride. I must commend Thorpe Park on the ride exit pass system, without it our day would just not have been possible as the queues were just so long, DS was having anxiety attacks just looking at the board announcing the wait times. But we were able to carefully manage our time, spreading the big rides out by riding smaller rides in between and so the time restrictions were fine. Guest Services were very kind and amended DS's wrist band to allow all the children to ride together with one adult, so we took it in turns to accompany them. We had lunch - roast meat on a baguette just outside the Swarm area - and the food was tasty and fairly reasonably priced at around £5.50 per person for a hot meal. We brought our own drinks and snack though.

• What were your/your DCs highlights of the day?

I think Swarm was the highlight. We managed, by swapping adults and timing things right to have the children ride three times and they loved it each time. The area is brilliantly designed and the ride is just incredible. They also loved Colossus and Saw and of course, Nemesis the Inferno. X went down very well too, although DS declared it tame.

• Overall, would you recommend THORPE PARK Resort to your friends and family if it came up in conversation? If so, why? If not, why not?

Yes, but only if their children are over the 140cm mark. There is very little for smaller children and as parents you would be spending hours hanging around with younger ones while the older ones queued or went on rides.

Thank you for the tickets, we really had an amazing day and for both girls it was a wonderful introduction to proper, grown up rollercoasters and they were extremely proud of themselves

Who was in your group and how old are the children?

DS1(13) DS2(12) and DD(11) and me.

Have you been to THORPE PARK Resort before, if so, when?

I had been once pre-DC. Despite having had Merlin Passes in previous years and living 15 minutes away we have chosen LEGOLAND and Chessington World of Adventures instead.

What was your, and your family's, overall experience of #MyFirstCoaster Day?

The idea was to go early and leave at lunchtime as we had plans for the afternoon. The sunshine promised a great morning but it soon clouded over and was rather chilly, which put us off queuing. Not helped by DS1 being reluctant to go on anything vaguely thrilling, it was too cold to hang around waiting for us. We did coax him onto Storm Surge as we left the park, though.

I agree that all the staff were fantastic, smiling, helpful and enthusiastic. DD was thrilled to be measured at 1.41m and given a wristband, which she shoved under the nose of anyone who approached her with a measuring stick! Would definitely recommend going to Guest Services on arrival to save any hassle, especially if the DC intend to ride without an adult.

As DS1 summed it up, for a group of coaster-refuseniks we had a surprisingly good time on the tamer attractions and watching the thrill-seekers!

What were your/your DCs highlights of the day?

My favourite was Detonator, where you are dropped form a great height! DS1's favourite was Tetley Tea Cups Storm Surge. DS2's was Angry Bird 4D movie. DD's was the X sound and light coaster. We liked the themed areas too.

Overall, would you recommend THORPE PARK Resort to your friends and family if it came up in conversation? If so, why? If not, why not?

I would recommend it to go anytime for a family if all the DC were 1.4m and wanting to ride the coasters, or for teens going on their own with friends. Having seen it for myself I would be happy for my DC to do this.

If taking younger DC as well, go in the summer when the 'beach' is open, so the LOs can play whilst the older ones do the rides.

For younger families, there's not enough there to justify the entrance fee, and Chessington is by far the better venue for mixed groups.

I think the MyFirstCoaster is a great idea to encourage families like ours that have outgrown Chessington but are put off trying Thorpe Park by the teen-orientated thrill-seeking vibe. Overall we had a good time and at least some of us will return.

Thanks to all involved in organising the event

BluddyMoFo we spotted you in your onesies!

MoFo - we also saw you in your onesies

Hi mumsnet, thank you for the tickets.
myself, partner and ds7 went.
first impressions were very good, very happy and helpful staff and very clean. It was very cold, more so for me as I was in my wheelchair, although I went to the 4d angry birds show which was great apart from the selfish lady who refused to move from the seats allowing my ds and partner to be with me and before anyone jumps on me they were designated for the disabled and their companions.
We ate at the pizza buffet place and it was great value for money and made ds feel grown up choosing his own food.
ds said that his favourite ride was depth charge and went on repeatedly which was great for us as he was shattered by the time we got home.
If I was asked whether o would recommend thorpe park I would say yes but for the older ones, all the staff bent over backwards to help us and definitely value for money. Even though I couldn't go on any rides I had a great time watching my ds enjoying his first experience of a theme park and my partner enjoyed himself too and I just have to slip in that he has proposed to me today so what a fab weekend, thanks mumsnet. x

Congratulations Adizzylass!

Zaira's #MyFirstCoaster Experience

Wow, what a day we had! I didn't expect to laugh so much witnessing my 8yr old daughter Zaira experiencing roller coasters and 'big rides' for the first time. I am so thankful I was there to see it and her reactions.

Unfortunately Zaira's friend and her mum could not make it at the last minute but we still went and her daddy and her 14yr old uncle tagged along for the day.

Both daddy and I have been to Thorpe Park numerous times and my little brother (Zaira's uncle) has been once before when he was a little younger so had not experienced most of the big attraction rides such as 'Saw' or 'Swarm' which meant he was extremely excited. This was to be Zaira's first visit to Thorpe Park. I did not tell Zaira where we were taking her so the suspense kept her guessing the whole journey. Needless to say, as we approached Thorpe Park an excited squeal revealed Zaira had guessed where her surprise day trip was taking place!

We thoroughly enjoyed the #MyFirstCoaster day at Thorpe Park. I would definitely recommend taking younger children early in the season to avoid long queues. I love the fact that there are smaller roller coasters for new thrill seekers such as 'X' and 'Flying Fish' and smaller rides such as 'Banana Boat' to ease younger riders in which leaves the bigger rides to experience as they grow. The staff are very helpful and friendly as well as reassuring to younger guests. There are a variety of food outlets as well as arcade games and even a 4d Angry Birds show for when you need a little rest from all of the adrenaline rushes.

My daughter's highlight of the day was without a doubt #MyFirstCoaster time on the 'X' ride. She really did face her fears and felt like she had accomplished something.

I would hands down recommend Thorpe Park to family, friends & anyone who would listen for all of the reasons above and more!!

Overall, would you recommend THORPE PARK Resort to your friends and family if it came up in conversation? If so, why? If not, why not? ?

Who was in your group and how old are the children?? ?Have you been to THORPE PARK Resort before, if so, when?No

What was your, and your family's, overall experience of #MyFirstCoaster Day?

We travelled in from Clapham junction, which was only a 23-minute train journey to Staines and then took the shuttle bus which took about 15-20 minutes and cost £3.75 return for an adult and about £2.75 for a child. I checked the price of a taxi was £10 one way so this was definitely the better option!

Unfortunately it was a freezing cold day even though we were dressed up in all our winter gear! The park is very exposed and going on the rides which are quite high up (the water slide rides) was reminiscent of being in Canada! That being said, I think there were some benefits to it being so cold. There were on 5-minute queues for the water rides and also the rides for younger children were very quick and we went on several more than once because of the lack of queuing! Unfortunately, this did not extend to the bigger, terrifying rides. We queued for Stealth and it took 90 minutes! What we also found frustrating was that for many rides people with a fast track pass could bypass the queues and jump right to the front. I understand that £80 this gives them the privilege to do so but it is nevertheless frustrating for everyone else. Due to the excessive line ups (and my son and I almost going into cardiac arrest with on Stealth) we decided to stick to the rides which were suitable for my younger son and we were happy!

One thing that I was not impressed with was my son being measured several times even though he had previously gone on the same ride! Staff seemed to be overly cautious and vigilant! There seemed to be no consistency in this! Although the park was quite small then I expected, the rides were quite good-especially the water rides although I don’t think I would return unless it was a hot day in which case I think it would be brilliant but probably over crowded. One thing that we all really enjoyed was the angry bird 4d experience. It was a movie that had special effects that directly impacted the audience. It was really new and fresh and I have never seen anything like this before.

??What were your/your DCs highlights of the day?

Watching my youngest son going on his first roller coaster and loving it! He is a real daredevil!

??Overall, would you recommend THORPE PARK Resort to your friends and family if it came up in conversation? If so, why? If not, why not? ??

Personally, I would recommend this to people who have kids over the height of 1.4 because there is not that much to do for the little ones. Also, I would warn them that the rides are not for the faint hearted! We really enjoyed our day out and I feel that we got to do more than most because the queues for the younger children were minimal due to the weather conditions. As it was out visit to a UK theme park we are very grateful for the opportunity to visit and will return once my younger one is 1.4. Interestingly the park was mainly teenagers and their groups of friends-I definitely felt my age!

Name changed so I can try & post a photo in a bit. Buddymofo -we saw you & your dd too, and it made us all smile - you looked fab! And congrats adizzylass, what lovely news!

• Who was in your group and how old are the children?

Me, Dh, ds (11) and dd (8)

• Have you been to THORPE PARK Resort before, if so, when?

No, never

• What was your, and your family's, overall experience of #MyFirstCoaster Day?

Overall, much better than we would have expected. We were there from 10:15-5:45, and hardly stopped at all, but everyone had a great time. The DCs haven't stopped talking about it, and have been planning their next trip! Even though we only went on one big ride, we really enjoyed watching them all - the parks is well laid out to make the most of the views of the rollercoasters, which is fun in itself. The view coming onto the island is very cool!
It was cold - and as a fan of water rides, my bum was wet through most of the day, and took over an hour to warm up when we got home ( we did try the speed dry things, but they hardly touched the edges!) dd had waterproof trews, and that was defn a good plan!

• What were your/your DCs highlights of the day?

Ds- nemesis inferno and x. He didn't go on inferno until 5:15, having been working up to the idea all day, and it really was a great first grown up roller coaster - smooth, exciting but not too scary, and no big build up of atmosphere/tension in the queue, which would have put him off. And, as we were going on so late, only a 5-10 min queue, so no time to decide to back out!
Dd - quantum (which she went on 7 times - cast iron stomach!) and x.
Me & Dh- nemesis, x, and depth charge. The latter was great as it was a ride we could really all enjoy as a family, and was a lovely level of thrill for all of us. We also like the practicalities - staff were friendly and helpful, park was reasonably small and easy to navigate, and queues for the family rides were generally very short (x was the exception, but queue was well managed). I also really liked how well groups were accommodated so that you didn't feel any pressure to split up as a family to fit onto spaces in the ride - again, the staff managed this well.
I was also impressed that the food options were standard BK type places - it felt less of a rip off than theme park food usually does (legoland, I'm looking at you...). We took a picnic but if I went again, I'd defn buy the food.

We counted up and think we went on 27 rides (many being multiples of the same ride) which felt like a pretty good result.

Cons: there were a lot of rides either out of action, or where the rides closed for part of the day - nemesis, x, the big rubber ring one all got closed at various points in the day, and we went on tidal wave & got stuck as the ride glitched - which meant we were sitting, soaking, strapped in for 10-15 mins or so. The staff were really, really great & helpful, but it didn't feel like a one off! Lots of the rides also didn't have the cameras working all the time - it was a challenge to get our free photo! If I'd have paid full price, I'd have been frustrated I think.

• Overall, would you recommend THORPE PARK Resort to your friends and family if it came up in conversation? If so, why? If not, why not?

Yes and no. There was more for the under 1.4 than I expected and , at least this early in the year, the lack of queues for these rides means you can really make the most of them. But I wouldn't recommend TP for kids under 1.4 at the entrance price - you'd feel like you were paying for rides you couldn't go on. That said, dd is desperate to go back once she hits 1.4m now, and I did think there was more for young pre-teens than I would have expected - I would previously have thought of it for 14/16+ and I would certainly think 11/12+ now. Unlike some other posters, I didn't feel the teenage groups were a problem - we were next to one enthusiastic swearer at one point, but otherwise they all seemed polite, happy groups. As someone else said, I'd be happy for the DCs to go unaccompanied when they're a bit older. It felt very safe and well controlled.

From all of us, a big thank you for the tickets. It's something we wouldn't have considered for our two at this age, and has really changed our mind. We did post on Twitter, but I don't think I signed up for doing anything on fb - if I did, feel free to give me a prod

Thanks Mumsnet for the tickets! Here is my review of our day trip....

Who was in your group and how old are the children?
I went with my two (dd8 and ds5) and a friend with dd 8.

Have you been to THORPE PARK Resort before, if so, when?
No never before.

What was your, and your family's, overall experience of #MyFirstCoaster Day?
We had a good time overall and we're grateful for the experience. My kids were really excited about the rides. However... As other pp have said, the weather and queues certainly didn't make our experience very pleasant, unfortunately.
When we arrived, there were no queues for the rides and that was great but after having our (packed) lunch there were longer queues and also a couple of problems with some rides that were rather annoying. Firstly the raft ride got stuck (we weren't on it thankfully) but had queued to the point of entry - so disappointing for the kids. Then staff were adding a second boat to the tidal wave ride but failed to mention that it would take 10 further minutes - again at the front of the queue with 3 impatient and irritated kids! That ride made us completely wet, which wasn't great as it was already very cold and the heater thing didn't really warm us up!

What were your/your DCs highlights of the day?
My children and their friend really enjoyed the flying fish ride. They also got a great photo souvenir from there. They all enjoyed the X ride although I felt it was too short a ride. They all enjoyed the angry birds 4d experience, which I thought was well done.

Overall, would you recommend THORPE PARK Resort to your friends and family if it came up in conversation? If so, why? If not, why not?

I would honestly recommend it to families with older children: Tweens or teens. Particularly recommend it for groups of teens on a day out as they can enjoy the fun, and bigger rollercoasters. The rides for