Gazza
Giga Poster
Even though Blackpool was the park I visited after Alton (Linky), I'm going to shortcut straight to Thorpe since it seems to be the most discussed on here.
I won't bother with photos...We've seen them all before, and It'll take me an age to get through all this.
Anyway, I was staying across the road from St Pancras station. I had arrived back from Blackpool the night before, so I was a bit tired when I got up at 7 am.
I wandered over to Euston, got on the underground (Which was surprisingly uncrowded for a weekday morning) and got off at Waterloo. A nice train trip brought me to Staines (Doesn't the automated voice sound so smug and snobby on Southwest Trains?)
Once I got to Staines I had some spare time till the bus, so after a Maccas Bacon Roll it was off to the park in a bus filled with kids...ugh.
I must have arrived at the park quite early since there were only two other kids at the annual pass entrance. So after a bit of a wait (I like how they pre scan your pass and stamp your hand to save time) the gates finally opened. I had originally intended to adopt A-Kids strategy of going to Nemesis and Stealth first, but it dawned on me that I was at the front, and the run to Saw wasn't that far, so I could save myself 4 GBP by just going in the bull rush there first. I know it is a bit lame to jog to rides, but I had heard of Thorpes reputation for queues, so I did it anyway.
Kids must be unfit, since everyone else seemed to get puffed out by the Colossus entrance. Once I walked through the maze of switchbacks for Saw it turned out I had to wait at the bottom of the stairs for more people to turn up. A few minutes later and it was up to the station. I was suprised at how short the inside queue area was, and that it didn't have much in the way of traps except for that awesome air blast effect.
In the station I got first car front row. The indoor part of the ride has come cool tricks, but I was disappointd the body under the heartline roll didn't squirt.
The vertical lift was really cool (One element I like on coasters) The drop looks beyond vertical, but doesn't feel like it when you go down. The rest of the ride was 'fun' but it was very short, and didn't really do much (Well the ride as a whole didn't do much)
In terms of roughness, I honestly couldn't spot it....I don't even recall the bump at the bottom of the drop :?
It's not a crap ride, but it did lack the wow factor for me.
The theming was pretty good however, and looked 'complete'.
*PS I haven't seen the Saw films, so there were probably subtle details in the theming I didn't get.
Next I headed to Colossus quickly since that apparently gets bad queues.
This was another surprising ride, I was expecting something awful and horribly rough, but the ride was alright actually. It was rough (and made bad noises), but still nowhere near as bad as an SLC, and the design of the restraints meant no ear bashing...It was quite easy to ride defensively, so I had fun.
But damn the trains are awkward to get into in the 2nd row of seats (I sat 1st car)
A fun layout, nice bit of air on the hill. I liked the cobra roll and the consecutive heartline rolls, and the corkscrews seemed to have the same sort of 'snap' as a B&M, which I also liked. The theming was quite nice on this one too.
If I am going to be critical of the ride, its the utter lack of pacing compared to the other (B&M) multi loopers I have ridden. On the others the ride feels like it is done in fast foward, this one felt like it was labouring to make it through each element, particularly at the end.
Slammer was open, so I quickly rode it there and then. After the ops buggered about being slow with the previous batch of riders it was onto the ride. Very cool actually, a unique sensation, and a cycle just the right length so you could get the feeling, but not get sick. The sound effects when it was rising were a nice touch too.
Too bad it is unreliable ride type, it would be cool to see more of these scattered around.
Next it was around to Inferno, which was still a walk on. I got onto the front row.
A great coaster, and the best in the park. Good speed throughout and
typical B&M Class.
I particularly liked Zero G Roll (But getting the middle back seat to get it to work properly is not that easy for a single rider...Only managed once) and the interlocking corkscrews.
The greenery around the ride is very nice, but the tunnel at the start seems a bit dumb though. I mean if it actually looked like a lava tube inside with rock walls, and had smoke working in there then it would be good, but there wasn't, so it was like going through a warehouse.
In that Alton Nemesis v Thorpe Nemesis debate, the Alton version of this ride is the clear winner, the Thorpe one didn't have the crazy intensity compared to Altons and the layout is a bit less creative. Plus I am a bit of a sucker for the terrain around the Alton version.
After a re ride, I went over to Stealth...My decision not to come here first turned out to be the right one because it had still not opened. So it was over to Rush. A short wait later and I was on.
Great airtime through out, and geez it is tall! But the ride cycle seems very short, which is a shame because it is a great sensation that you could enjoy for a while.
As a side note, I was surprised to see Eucalyptus Trees growing around the ride...took me back to Australia for a second.
Next up I did X: No Way Out. To me it felt like a ride that you could do a lot with, but instead it was just blank walls and darkness, with the odd coloured light thrown in. The coaster felt like a backwards rollerskater, and it was funny in the brakes when it rolled fowards a little bit.
Personally I think they should completely change the concept of the ride.
Its a pyramid, so you could link it in properly with the lost city, and make a temple front at the entrance. Inside it's just a blank canvas to do something like revenge of the mummy. Use the moments when it stops to have special effects. Do this in a year when they aren't investing in a full blown new attraction, and suddenly they would have another decent ride in the lineup.
So I guess that sums it up, a blank canvas.
I went back to see if Stealth was ready. It wasn't so I got an early lunch at Pizza Hut.....OK, but the the choice was a bit limited... All the Pizzas were sort of light on toppings (Eg Cheese only, peperoni and cheese only, beef onion and capsicum only etc) None of my favourites like Supreme or BBQ meat lovers or BBQ Chicken. Hadn't those bread sticks before, and they were good.
I don't like fizzy drinks, so I had to have this orange cordial stuff which tasted like detergent.
The place seemed to lack a dessert bar too.
Stealth still wasn't open, so I went on flying fish. Good for a kids ride I guess.
After that Stealth was open.
After 10 minutes in the single rider line I was on. As usual with these rides, an awesome launch, great views, good drop, and a good couple of moments of airtime. I guess as everyone says, it's just way to short...Seems like a bit of a 'ridiculous contraption', this huge thing that launches people to high speed, and then slows them seconds later. I am a big fan of the 'feeling of speed' on fast rides, so It would have been great if it had kept going and done some stuff at speed like hills and g force turns with the speed the trains had. The twist up the vertical was a bit jarring too.
I did think the theming was quite nice and captured the quirks of the era nicley, and was a genuine effort to match the themed area (Unlike Rita, which looked plain bizzare)
It's interesting the way UK parks market their rides, and when you think about it, its quite smart...Give a ride an edgy, easy to market name like stealth to attract the audience, but in the park itself theme the ride to fit in with the park to make the ride more effective, but not actually relate it to the name.
So I can rank some Accelerators now:
-Superman Escape
-Xcellerator
-Rita
-Stealth
Thats not to say any of them or bad or anything though, since Accelerators are a ride type I like.
After a re ride I went off to see the rest of the place, by now the lines were getting really long (Eg 80 mins for Inferno) so I wandered around and took photos for a bit, and then went on Depth Charge. A wait of about 20 minutes, made worse by a couple of French boys that insisted on standing way too close (That is actually endemic at the UK parks, what is the go with kids standing so close to you in the queue? Bloody annoying and unnecessary) Pretty average water slide though, but I had never been on one of these dry waterslides that are popular in Europe, so I had to give it a go. If anything it was a good spot to take photos from.
I think after that I re rode stealth since the single rider line works really well on that ride.
I headed over to the Canada Creek railway, and did a lap to get some pics of the fume. I then got my poncho on and went on the flume itself.
Quite a nice looking ride, the drop in the dark was fun, and the double dip final splashdown was quite exciting. I thought the Canada quiz questions in the queue were a nice touch.
I think after that I went on the rapids, very short, and like the Alton ones, still quite dry (Even with those new fountains). Its funny how the Ribena branding has just been peeled off, but it's still quite obvious.
Oh, did I mention at this point that during the day I had wanted to go back to Saw, but it was broken for much of it, with a car halfway up the lift and workmen at the bottom inside the track.
So I could sort of see the capacity and reliability problems the park faces. I think they do really need to go back to basics for their next ride. Forget the gimmicks like Stealth and Saw, a safe option like the oft discussed floorless, or wooden coaster would both be perfect for the place....Reliable and high capacity, and still quite marketable (Well, they could build anything and it seems like it would draw massive crowds!) If the place gets the good attendance it does then this should be no problem.
Anyway, at this point I did more rerides on Inferno and Stealth since the school group crowds had started to thin. I looked at the queue boards, and Saw was open again! With a 20 min wait or so, but it was getting very close to the end of the day, so getting a reride on Saw and Colossus was going to be a challenge.
I got on Saw again, this time back car, back seat. The jigsaw on the trike looked well done. I don't recall stopping in the building though.
Anyway, in the back the ride is much better...more airtime basically.
After that I had to hoof it to Colossus...the queue was shut, and the sign said fastrack people should go to the shop. I went there to try my luck, and a throng of people were there, and the station was empty. Even though I had no pass I got in without the operator even checking. Win.
I think I was about mid train, anyway, the ride was still fun, but hilariously we stacked outside the station with the empty train ahead. But it began to rain and the ops tortured us by not bringing us in.
With the day done it was time to head back in to London.
Overall, the park was pretty good...The theming was better than I thought it would be, and as usual with the UK parks, superb landscaping and greenery.
The rides were all quite good, a nice balanced line up I hope to see them continue to grow.
Though the whole neptunes kingdom area near the entrance looks quite crap, and should probably be scrapped..Its just some poor kids rides, an unused swimming area, and some average water slides. Raze the lot I say.
That would actually be on main criticism, the place has the worst entry sequence to any theme park I have been to. From the ticketing area with temporary everything, to the blah looking brick turnstile area, to the peeling 80s dome, to the lifeless Neptunes kingdom area.
Fortunately, I managed to all I wanted to in one day instead of the two I allowed. In short, it meant the second day I was there (The Friday) was a very short day indeed, and since it is on the same line as Windsor, I could actually go to Legoland (Hadn't planned to)
Actually, I'll say how that went down.
On the friday, I turned up early again, and went to Saw first again, I could see cars going, but it was closed apparently, So I did Colossus a couple of times..An announcement was played that Saw wouldn't be opening till later in the day. I did about 4 rides on Inferno, and then headed to Stealth...Which was also closed.
With that I gave up and headed off to Legoland, with perhaps less than an hour spent in the park.
Thorpes reputation for poor reliability didn't disappoint in this case (Well, I guess it did disappoint actually :lol: )
So yeah, to sum up, decent park with some great rides, but sort it out a bit.
I won't bother with photos...We've seen them all before, and It'll take me an age to get through all this.
Anyway, I was staying across the road from St Pancras station. I had arrived back from Blackpool the night before, so I was a bit tired when I got up at 7 am.
I wandered over to Euston, got on the underground (Which was surprisingly uncrowded for a weekday morning) and got off at Waterloo. A nice train trip brought me to Staines (Doesn't the automated voice sound so smug and snobby on Southwest Trains?)
Once I got to Staines I had some spare time till the bus, so after a Maccas Bacon Roll it was off to the park in a bus filled with kids...ugh.
I must have arrived at the park quite early since there were only two other kids at the annual pass entrance. So after a bit of a wait (I like how they pre scan your pass and stamp your hand to save time) the gates finally opened. I had originally intended to adopt A-Kids strategy of going to Nemesis and Stealth first, but it dawned on me that I was at the front, and the run to Saw wasn't that far, so I could save myself 4 GBP by just going in the bull rush there first. I know it is a bit lame to jog to rides, but I had heard of Thorpes reputation for queues, so I did it anyway.
Kids must be unfit, since everyone else seemed to get puffed out by the Colossus entrance. Once I walked through the maze of switchbacks for Saw it turned out I had to wait at the bottom of the stairs for more people to turn up. A few minutes later and it was up to the station. I was suprised at how short the inside queue area was, and that it didn't have much in the way of traps except for that awesome air blast effect.
In the station I got first car front row. The indoor part of the ride has come cool tricks, but I was disappointd the body under the heartline roll didn't squirt.
The vertical lift was really cool (One element I like on coasters) The drop looks beyond vertical, but doesn't feel like it when you go down. The rest of the ride was 'fun' but it was very short, and didn't really do much (Well the ride as a whole didn't do much)
In terms of roughness, I honestly couldn't spot it....I don't even recall the bump at the bottom of the drop :?
It's not a crap ride, but it did lack the wow factor for me.
The theming was pretty good however, and looked 'complete'.
*PS I haven't seen the Saw films, so there were probably subtle details in the theming I didn't get.
Next I headed to Colossus quickly since that apparently gets bad queues.
This was another surprising ride, I was expecting something awful and horribly rough, but the ride was alright actually. It was rough (and made bad noises), but still nowhere near as bad as an SLC, and the design of the restraints meant no ear bashing...It was quite easy to ride defensively, so I had fun.
But damn the trains are awkward to get into in the 2nd row of seats (I sat 1st car)
A fun layout, nice bit of air on the hill. I liked the cobra roll and the consecutive heartline rolls, and the corkscrews seemed to have the same sort of 'snap' as a B&M, which I also liked. The theming was quite nice on this one too.
If I am going to be critical of the ride, its the utter lack of pacing compared to the other (B&M) multi loopers I have ridden. On the others the ride feels like it is done in fast foward, this one felt like it was labouring to make it through each element, particularly at the end.
Slammer was open, so I quickly rode it there and then. After the ops buggered about being slow with the previous batch of riders it was onto the ride. Very cool actually, a unique sensation, and a cycle just the right length so you could get the feeling, but not get sick. The sound effects when it was rising were a nice touch too.
Too bad it is unreliable ride type, it would be cool to see more of these scattered around.
Next it was around to Inferno, which was still a walk on. I got onto the front row.
A great coaster, and the best in the park. Good speed throughout and
typical B&M Class.
I particularly liked Zero G Roll (But getting the middle back seat to get it to work properly is not that easy for a single rider...Only managed once) and the interlocking corkscrews.
The greenery around the ride is very nice, but the tunnel at the start seems a bit dumb though. I mean if it actually looked like a lava tube inside with rock walls, and had smoke working in there then it would be good, but there wasn't, so it was like going through a warehouse.
In that Alton Nemesis v Thorpe Nemesis debate, the Alton version of this ride is the clear winner, the Thorpe one didn't have the crazy intensity compared to Altons and the layout is a bit less creative. Plus I am a bit of a sucker for the terrain around the Alton version.
After a re ride, I went over to Stealth...My decision not to come here first turned out to be the right one because it had still not opened. So it was over to Rush. A short wait later and I was on.
Great airtime through out, and geez it is tall! But the ride cycle seems very short, which is a shame because it is a great sensation that you could enjoy for a while.
As a side note, I was surprised to see Eucalyptus Trees growing around the ride...took me back to Australia for a second.
Next up I did X: No Way Out. To me it felt like a ride that you could do a lot with, but instead it was just blank walls and darkness, with the odd coloured light thrown in. The coaster felt like a backwards rollerskater, and it was funny in the brakes when it rolled fowards a little bit.
Personally I think they should completely change the concept of the ride.
Its a pyramid, so you could link it in properly with the lost city, and make a temple front at the entrance. Inside it's just a blank canvas to do something like revenge of the mummy. Use the moments when it stops to have special effects. Do this in a year when they aren't investing in a full blown new attraction, and suddenly they would have another decent ride in the lineup.
So I guess that sums it up, a blank canvas.
I went back to see if Stealth was ready. It wasn't so I got an early lunch at Pizza Hut.....OK, but the the choice was a bit limited... All the Pizzas were sort of light on toppings (Eg Cheese only, peperoni and cheese only, beef onion and capsicum only etc) None of my favourites like Supreme or BBQ meat lovers or BBQ Chicken. Hadn't those bread sticks before, and they were good.
I don't like fizzy drinks, so I had to have this orange cordial stuff which tasted like detergent.
The place seemed to lack a dessert bar too.
Stealth still wasn't open, so I went on flying fish. Good for a kids ride I guess.
After that Stealth was open.
After 10 minutes in the single rider line I was on. As usual with these rides, an awesome launch, great views, good drop, and a good couple of moments of airtime. I guess as everyone says, it's just way to short...Seems like a bit of a 'ridiculous contraption', this huge thing that launches people to high speed, and then slows them seconds later. I am a big fan of the 'feeling of speed' on fast rides, so It would have been great if it had kept going and done some stuff at speed like hills and g force turns with the speed the trains had. The twist up the vertical was a bit jarring too.
I did think the theming was quite nice and captured the quirks of the era nicley, and was a genuine effort to match the themed area (Unlike Rita, which looked plain bizzare)
It's interesting the way UK parks market their rides, and when you think about it, its quite smart...Give a ride an edgy, easy to market name like stealth to attract the audience, but in the park itself theme the ride to fit in with the park to make the ride more effective, but not actually relate it to the name.
So I can rank some Accelerators now:
-Superman Escape
-Xcellerator
-Rita
-Stealth
Thats not to say any of them or bad or anything though, since Accelerators are a ride type I like.
After a re ride I went off to see the rest of the place, by now the lines were getting really long (Eg 80 mins for Inferno) so I wandered around and took photos for a bit, and then went on Depth Charge. A wait of about 20 minutes, made worse by a couple of French boys that insisted on standing way too close (That is actually endemic at the UK parks, what is the go with kids standing so close to you in the queue? Bloody annoying and unnecessary) Pretty average water slide though, but I had never been on one of these dry waterslides that are popular in Europe, so I had to give it a go. If anything it was a good spot to take photos from.
I think after that I re rode stealth since the single rider line works really well on that ride.
I headed over to the Canada Creek railway, and did a lap to get some pics of the fume. I then got my poncho on and went on the flume itself.
Quite a nice looking ride, the drop in the dark was fun, and the double dip final splashdown was quite exciting. I thought the Canada quiz questions in the queue were a nice touch.
I think after that I went on the rapids, very short, and like the Alton ones, still quite dry (Even with those new fountains). Its funny how the Ribena branding has just been peeled off, but it's still quite obvious.
Oh, did I mention at this point that during the day I had wanted to go back to Saw, but it was broken for much of it, with a car halfway up the lift and workmen at the bottom inside the track.
So I could sort of see the capacity and reliability problems the park faces. I think they do really need to go back to basics for their next ride. Forget the gimmicks like Stealth and Saw, a safe option like the oft discussed floorless, or wooden coaster would both be perfect for the place....Reliable and high capacity, and still quite marketable (Well, they could build anything and it seems like it would draw massive crowds!) If the place gets the good attendance it does then this should be no problem.
Anyway, at this point I did more rerides on Inferno and Stealth since the school group crowds had started to thin. I looked at the queue boards, and Saw was open again! With a 20 min wait or so, but it was getting very close to the end of the day, so getting a reride on Saw and Colossus was going to be a challenge.
I got on Saw again, this time back car, back seat. The jigsaw on the trike looked well done. I don't recall stopping in the building though.
Anyway, in the back the ride is much better...more airtime basically.
After that I had to hoof it to Colossus...the queue was shut, and the sign said fastrack people should go to the shop. I went there to try my luck, and a throng of people were there, and the station was empty. Even though I had no pass I got in without the operator even checking. Win.
I think I was about mid train, anyway, the ride was still fun, but hilariously we stacked outside the station with the empty train ahead. But it began to rain and the ops tortured us by not bringing us in.
With the day done it was time to head back in to London.
Overall, the park was pretty good...The theming was better than I thought it would be, and as usual with the UK parks, superb landscaping and greenery.
The rides were all quite good, a nice balanced line up I hope to see them continue to grow.
Though the whole neptunes kingdom area near the entrance looks quite crap, and should probably be scrapped..Its just some poor kids rides, an unused swimming area, and some average water slides. Raze the lot I say.
That would actually be on main criticism, the place has the worst entry sequence to any theme park I have been to. From the ticketing area with temporary everything, to the blah looking brick turnstile area, to the peeling 80s dome, to the lifeless Neptunes kingdom area.
Fortunately, I managed to all I wanted to in one day instead of the two I allowed. In short, it meant the second day I was there (The Friday) was a very short day indeed, and since it is on the same line as Windsor, I could actually go to Legoland (Hadn't planned to)
Actually, I'll say how that went down.
On the friday, I turned up early again, and went to Saw first again, I could see cars going, but it was closed apparently, So I did Colossus a couple of times..An announcement was played that Saw wouldn't be opening till later in the day. I did about 4 rides on Inferno, and then headed to Stealth...Which was also closed.
With that I gave up and headed off to Legoland, with perhaps less than an hour spent in the park.
Thorpes reputation for poor reliability didn't disappoint in this case (Well, I guess it did disappoint actually :lol: )
So yeah, to sum up, decent park with some great rides, but sort it out a bit.
