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Help an American visit Thorpe Park

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dstack701

Roller Poster
I've been a LONG time lurker but forgot my old screen name so created this one

Need some help from some locals.....Last time I was in London was 8 years ago.

I will be heading to London the first week of July and would like to visit Thorpe Park. We get into Heathrow on Tuesday, July 3rd in the morning. I'm planning on going straight from the airport to Thorpe for a few hours then to my sisters place near Paddington Station. I figured this would save time and money being that the airport is so close to Thorpe.

So I would like to know what's the best thing to do.

(1)Best way to get from Heathrow to Thorpe Park? Taxi seemed expensive. so I guess train/bus?
(2)Best way to get from Thorpe Park to Paddington Station? Like what trains to take?
(3)Where to purchase tickets?
.......Purchase online 7 days prior and I save 40%
.......Purchase the entry ticket and bus/train ticket deal on Thorpe's website....not sure what exactly I still need to get if I go that route.

There is just two of us going and it HAS to be that day or not at all. Any thoughts guys?

Thanks
 
Don't know whether this is relevant but a while ago the shop WHSmiths (a newsagent that sells papers, magazines, drinks, sweets and other cheap buyable things) were handing out 2 for 1 merlin park vouchers with any purchase which would save you more than 40% if you were to get your hands on one. They'll be one at heathrow.

Cannot say for certain if they're still giving them out and obviously it's a bit more risky to rely on that rather than booking in advance, but it's useful to know anyway. :)

Don't know much about the train connections into london but if you're taking the train, make sure you go to Staines rather than Chertsey as the Thorpe Park express buses only go from Staines. Made that mistake once and wasted time walking to the park.
 
Go to Heathrow Terminal 5.
Go to Bus stop 9 and get the 71 bus towards Slough.
Get off the Bus at Staines Bus Station. (Ask the driver to let you know when you get there. The bus pulls into an area where other buses are probably waiting, and there's an indoor mall right there.)
Here you have a choice of buses, but ideally get the 750 "Thorpe Park Express", which takes you inside the park and doesn't make any other stops. Ask for a return ticket.

Going back...

Get the Thorpe Park Express from inside the parking lot, it'll take you all the way to Stains Train Station. It's the second and final stop.
From there you take a train to Waterloo, it's the final stop.
Then you take the Underground on the Bakerloo Line (the brown one) Northbound to Paddington.

It's all fairly easy... Except that first bus, because taking buses in places you don't recognise is something not even us locals particular enjoy. But the driver should help you. The only woe you're going to have is with tickets, probably going to cost you quite a lot, don't be surprised. Also, you'll need cash for the buses.

Re Thorpe Tickets... the best bet is to find bogofs, but you don't exactly have the time to acquire any. So if it's save 40% online, I'd go for it, that's cheaper than I'd expect.

Hope this helps.
 
Joey said:
The only woe you're going to have is with tickets, probably going to cost you quite a lot, don't be surprised. Also, you'll need cash for the buses.
Click to expand...

All excellent information. Any guess as to how much you think that will all cost?

And should I get the deal Thorpe is offering on their website with the combined entry and bus tickets?

Thanks again everyone.
 
Joey said:
Go to Heathrow Terminal 5.

Going back...

Get the Thorpe Park Express from inside the parking lot, it'll take you all the way to Stains Train Station. It's the second and final stop.
From there you take a train to Waterloo, it's the final stop.
Then you take the Underground on the Bakerloo Line (the brown one) Northbound to Paddington.
Click to expand...

or - it would be quicker if you got the 71 bus back to heathrow, and then the heathrow connect train from there (A single on the heathrow connect is 9 pounds and takes just under 30 mins to paddington, the heathrow express is quicker, but costs a ludicrous 18 pounds)
 
I don't know about what Caffine Demon offered above, cuz I've never done it. It might well be better.

The bus from Heathrow to Staines is outside London, so they don't conform to the prices I know. The Thorpe Park Express (750) is £3 return. The train to Waterloo... I'm going to guess it's about £6. And then the tube is like £4.something I think.

I dunno about tickets because I never have to deal with them. How much is the combined ticket? Cuz that bus is only £3 return, I can't imagine it's cheaper than the 40% discount you mentioned? Check that the 40% discount is valid when you want to go. I'd be surprised if it is in July.
 
Thanks guys. Well I missed the deadline to get the discount by booking in advance because I was having issues booking tickets online. So I finally called Thorpe Park's booking line and the very nice person on the other end was able to match the price of the discounted rate and even beat it. So happy that got taken care of.

Now I need to get my travel plans set......I would like to take the Heathrow Connect and I can get a cheaper rate by purchasing a round trip ticket. Which I would need for the flight back home. So I guess I'll just need to take bus 71 and the Thorpe Park Express bus 750 to get to the back, but what about getting back to the airport to take the Heathrow Connect.....Is that the same bus numbers...750 to 71?
 
I don't know if it will work for Staines buses but you can get an all day rover ticket for London. Basically unlimited travel and buses, trains and tube all around London for £13. If you're a child (U16) than it's even better at only £1.
 
All I know is it's unlimited travel in the centre of London and it got me in from Maidenhead into London on the train.
 
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