A Lark in the Park

Having went to Thorpe Park yesterday thought I would write an op on it. So sit back and relax as I take you on a journey through the park.

Once parked you head to the paying in kiosks where the queues can get quite large (as they were yesterday). There are a few amenities at this first entrance, such as; toilets, toilets for the disabled, baby changing facilities a water fountain, telephones and cash machines. Once paid you are ready to descend on the park itself. To do this you have to take your newly acquired tickets and feed them one at a time into a turnstile entrance (of which there are a fair number). If you have a pram or pushchair they let you in through a gate at the side of the turnstiles.
Having got through the entrance you then head over a bridge to the first main area of the park: Atlantis.

In this area you will find more toilets including those with disabled access, baby changing and nursing mother’s rooms and more telephones. You will also find here a locker facility for you to lock away any valuables, bags etc (we actually used two lockers because we had taken our own food [this equated to two cool bags plus another fairly large bag and a pushchair to carry it on] so needed more space). You can see by the amount of stuff we had that the lockers are of a reasonable size. The key for the locker is fixed to a wrist band (rather like a watch strap) for ease of carrying and less chance of mislaying your key. (I thought that was a good idea).
Also in this area is the Treasure Trove Shop where you can buy all your souvenirs and also hire if required a wheelchair or buggy (although they only have a limited supply, so it’s best to take your own, but if for some reason you’ve forgotten it then the facility is there.) on a first come first served basis. For this they charge a maximum of £10 and require a deposit of £30 which is refundable.
They also have numerous sweet and ice cream shops, a café which we thought was rather pricey (£1.40 for a cup of tea) and a licensed bar, which also sells hot food and caters for vegetarians.

At the risk of boring you all to death, there are another eight areas that I would like to give you an insight to, they are:

So in no particular order, here’s a run down of what to expect at these different locations.

This is the beach area with splash pool, swimming pool (although they are both laid out like the beach and the ocean rather than an actual pool) and plenty of sand, but no seaweed or pebbles and gravel. The larger of the two pools has three winding slides of various heights. They have climbing frames for the younger children here which they call “sea snakes and ladders”. The parks biggest slide “Depth charge” is also situated in this area. And there is also a shop to buy cameras, films and gifts. A water fountain is to be found here too.

Here we have the farm railway station and the waterbus to model world. (We didn’t get to go on these, so can’t say much about them). There’s the farm gift shop, and the farm café which is called (and I like this name for a café) “Pot Bellies”.

If you want to get extremely wet, then this is the area for you because it houses the parks wettest ride “Tidal Wave”. If you have ever been on logger’s leap then you will have an idea what this ride is all about, except it’s on a larger scale. The boat holds a fair amount of people sat in rows (about 4 to a row). Once in the boat it trundles around and then up and up and up until it reaches the top of the platform as it were, rounds the bend at the top and then all you can see is this almighty drop. At the bottom, the track that the boat sits on is slightly under the water level. So down you go until you hit the bottom; SPLASH!!!!. Now this is no ordinary little splash. (loggers leap,—kids stuff).
The people in the boat get drenched, the people waiting to get on the boat get drenched and anybody within 50 yards of the line of the boat gets drenched. There were people (kids and adults alike) standing the other side of the barriers a fair old distance from the place of impact purposely waiting to get soaked. And get soaked they did. You want wet? This is the ride for you.
They also have a couple of places to get food (one being KFC), the Thorpe Park Mega Store (more souvenirs etc) and an arcade in this location of the park. You can also get temporary airbrushed tattoos around here too.

This is where you will find “Nemisis Inferno” (another one I didn’t get time to go on…grrr.). For those who don’t know, this is like a roller coaster that you sit underneath on. That is to say, instead of sitting in a car type thing you are sat in a seat underneath the running rails, legs dangling (make sure your laces are done up tight). It works in the same way as a roller coaster but with you in a different position.
You have also got “Rumba Rapids” (sponsored by Ribena) which is basically a ride in a round boat (housing eight people) down some slightly choppy waters, with water being sprayed at you from the sides. This is a good ride for anyone who can’t go on the really fast rides due to back or heart problems.
Model world is here too, as is the waterbus to take you to the farm. There is also a teacup ride, another shop and various eating and drinking places including Burger King. And the Pirate 4-d cinema is here too.
The other rides at this part of the park are; Flying Fish and Detonator. Detonator is the one where you all sit basically around a tower, you are then sent up to the top of this tower and then allowed to plummet back down to earth at a rather quickened speed (not after your lunch please!).
The picnic area is also in this location but I have to say I wasn’t impressed with it. It was basically a grassed area with a few monuments etc dotted around. It had plenty of seats (well, benches) dotted around the outside of the space but only had two (yes! two) tables. So we all had to sit on the floor to spread out our food.

In this area you can buy donuts or visit the Bush B.B.Q & Bar which caters for vegetarians and also accepts credit cards. You can join Miss Hippo’s Fungle Safari or ride on the Chief Rangers Carousel. If that’s not enough for you then you can take in a show performed by the Thorpe Park Rangers themselves (great for the kids). You also get Spiderman shows in the arena, if and when they are showing. (Check on the day for times).

If the amount of water on “Tidal Wave” is too much for you but you still like water rides, then this is where you will find “Loggers Leap”. I’m sure most people have been on such a ride before but if not it is basically a scaled down version of “Tidal Wave”. You have the Canada Creek Railway Station, another Burger King plus other eating places (they must think people go there to eat) and the old time portrait studio (which I didn’t manage to get to).

This is where you will find “Colossus”, the roller coaster that everyone goes to Thorpe Park to try out. If you have just eaten, then don’t go on it. You also have “X-No Way Out”. This is an interesting ride in as much as it is basically a roller coaster which is indoors, in the dark and it goes backwards. Personally I didn’t find it to be particularly fast or frightening. A friend’s wife on the other hand felt physically sick when she came of it. This is one you will have to try for yourselves.
You’ve guessed it, there are numerous places to buy food and drink at this location too. Other rides at this particular location of the park include; “Vortex”, which is a swinging pendulum affair on which you are sat at the bottom. The bottom (the area you’re sat in) rotates as the pendulum swings. (quite high in fact, [high enough for you to be almost upside down and because you are rotating too can end up coming back the other way face down], another one you shouldn’t go on with a full stomach), “Quantum”, which is meant to represent a flying carpet and “Eclipse” which (next to the London eye) is probably the slowest big wheel I’ve ever been on.

This is the kiddies area with rides like; “Ollie Octopus, Slippery Serpent and Swinging Seashells. You can also buy donuts here (if you still happen to be hungry after all the other food places.

There are plenty of toilets, water fountains and baby changing rooms dotted around the park and with the amount of food places (providing you don’t take your own food like we did) will ensure that you don’t go hungry or thirsty. Telephones are easy to come by too.

Some of the rides take your photo whilst you’re on there. These rides are:

Standard Costs
****************

• Adult (12 years or over)…………£23
• Child (11 years or under)………..£17.50
• Under 4 years……………………free
• Family ticket (two adults + two children)…£65 (we were paying for eight and as such bought two family tickets)

www.thorpepark.com

The system for queuing was a little confusing as they had what looked like more than one entrance to the big rides. It turned out that some were for spectators who wanted to take photos and then there were the exits. It took a little while to be sure which was which and by the amount of people going in via the exit paths, we weren’t the only ones that were confused.
As for the amount of time spent queuing, well it’s a theme park. You expect to have to queue for the rides. Although, some of the more popular rides (colossus, tidal wave, nemesis and detonator etc) had waiting times up to 75 minutes, which is why we didn’t manage to get on all the rides.

When we went, the park opened at 10am and closed at 6pm. That said, people were still in the shop etc at 7pm.

A great day out for all the family to enjoy. Something there for everyone. Maybe a little pricey but then there aren’t many theme parks that aren’t. If I had one criticism it would be that they are not open long enough. I think they should open earlier in the morning and close later in the evening to give people a chance to get all the way round without rushing.
Overall thought: Excellent day out.