Thorpe Park Discussion Thread

Yesterday I visited Thorpe Park to check out Storm Surge. I have to say I am very pleased with the ride, it the most fun I have had on any park investment since Stealth was installed. Granted the ride is not the most pleasant to look at the ride experience certainly makes up for it in just insane amounts of fun and laughs. Below are some pictures of the new ride for you all to look at and for Larry to get just a little bit excited over for a new park index ride.

-Craig

I personally really like this sign!

I spy with my little eye a height change!

Can you guess what it used to be?

"If you are as tall as this bin we have put in front of the height stick you can ride Storm Surge!"

Doesnt it look pretty!

Any pipeworks enthusiasts here?

Twisty spinny, goodness.

This straight is the part that ended up with me having a super spin time!

Good thing there is no leaks here!

Unlike here.

At least the soon to be greenery is getting watered!

Its like Ikea instructions for rides!

If there is ever a fire around lots of water Thorpe Park are well prepared!

Even the guests can help out!

"Reduce, reuse, recycle!"

"Danger, danger, danger, be careful when theres danger!"

It sort of reminds me of that really hairy Umpa Lumpa from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

Megastore also got a mega repaint.

And finally nerds rejoice at this years re-entry hand stamp!

I also was there yesterday!

It's waiting time was 60min + so I didn't test it.

I have been on 3 water slides of such kind and would defenitelly have queued that long for the one at Hansa Park and Parc Asterix but Storm Surge is just too short and not themed at all that it was just not worth waiting.

Thorpe Park to me just got more and more rediculous over the years (too small in size and not enough rides to house this amount of people who daily visit the park)

The only reason to visit Thorpe Park is Colossus.

I have been on 3 water slides of such kind and would defenitelly have queued that long for the one at Hansa Park and Parc Asterix but Storm Surge is just too short and not themed at all that it was just not worth waiting.

Agreed. If this ride is anything like the one's they have at water parks in the US, the dispatching is usually no more than one raft on the slide at a time which results in horribly long wait times - definitely not worth it.

The theming looks great though!

Theming? Sorry mate apart from those 4 pipes between station and canal there's no theming. Those buildings around the ride are toilets and stalls which have been there before!

I also was there yesterday!

It's waiting time was 60min + so I didn't test it.

I have been on 3 water slides of such kind and would defenitelly have queued that long for the one at Hansa Park and Parc Asterix but Storm Surge is just too short and not themed at all that it was just not worth waiting.

 

Thorpe Park to me just got more and more rediculous over the years (too small in size and not enough rides to house this amount of people who daily visit the park)

 

The only reason to visit Thorpe Park is Colossus.

I didn't see the queue get above 50 mins all day long for Storm Surge. I have also been on the one at Asterix and I have to say I had just as much fun on this as I did at the one at Asterix.

The fact that there is not any substantial theming on Storm Surge really doesn't distract from how much fun you can have on the ride. You should as a person who knows the park well not really expect alot from theming in the park, it really has never been their fortay.

I can actually say I had a very good day yesterday at the park, other then a few REALLY bad arrogant staff everything was really good, I didn't even notice any major breakdowns. The only breakdown I experienced was while I was on Storm Surge the ride refused to dispatch but that was fixed within 5 mins.

-Craig

True, I was surprised that I didn't notice any breakdowns on Stealth yesterday. Colossus was down for about 15min around 2ish.

I honestly would have loved to test Storm Surge and regret queuing 45min for X No way out instead haha!

Theming? Sorry mate apart from those 4 pipes between station and canal there's no theming. Those buildings around the ride are toilets and stalls which have been there before!

Ahhhh...my bad! I thought that the buildings off to the right was part of the ride theming as it looked almost Dudley Do-Right-ish.

Went to Thorpe on Thursday, what a great day!!!!

Storm Surge had a 15 minute queue, so had a quick ride, was quite impressed, a good fun ride and didn't get me wet! Always important in English Weather!

Stealth broke down a few times and it looked like they ended up giving up trying to get it to run after about 2:30pm, managed to get 3 rides previous to the breakdown, it looked like it kept tripping something as after 5 minutes and no test runs they started launching again. Was surprised to see Stealth running 1 train operation, I could see that one of the trains was in major rehab, but the other one was just sitting there in the garage looking ready to run, I think Stealth should always be a minimum of 2 train operation, runs a lot smoother this way!

Got 1 ride on Collossus in the afternoon, I am amazed at the slowness of the crew in the station, they were taking about 5 minutes for each train to dispatch, even though they looked like last years crew, it was running pretty fast too, found Saw (see below) to be rougher, which I normally have the opposite opinion!

Managed a quick ride on Saw first thing in the morning, got a lovely headache from it, I can't believe how rough it has got, continual shaking from the car and that lovely double bump at the bottom of the first drop are not good first thing in the morning!

Fake Nemesis - got 2 rides on this both with less than 15 minute wait, still love the B&M, but not as good as Real Nemesis

Managed 10 rides on Detonator, I have a lot of love for the Fabbri drop towers, great airtime, short ride cycle, all in all a great little ride.

Also got 3 rides on Rush with no wait, always been a fan of this, Still get amazed at the screaming that some of the guests do on Rush, as it isn't really a scary ride, just great fun!!!

Vortex was closed in the afternoon, so no rides on that, and Samurai was having some work done.

Overall, with 16 degrees C weather, and bright blue skies, had a great day!

Can't wait for next year though

Is that what they think Americans are like?!

Samurai was having some work done.

Yeah thats a good point, Samurai doesn't look like it will open for some time because it had alot of parts all over the place on the floor and no work being done to it. I could only assume that they are waiting for a part to arrive.

I think the real achievement by the park was having Slammer running all day without fault. As far as im aware its opened up every day this season so far! Im sure that must be a new record.

-Craig

Good to see Srorm Surge running there. It always had the longest line / wait time at Cypress Gardens in Florida. But I must say, it was one of the best "silly" rides. It always made for good laughs and giggles while riding. That final bump/ drop at the end always had someone losing a hat or sunglasses, which made it fun just watching too.

Re entry stamp = THE BEST THING EVER! (LC12 LC12 LC12 LC12 LC12 LC12 LC12 LC12 LC12 LC12 LC12 LC12 LC12 LC12 LC12)

And on a more relevant note, I'm (hopefully) going on the day of the royal wedding (roller coasters or a commercialised wedding between two people who have NO REAL EFFECT on the country? ROLLER COASTERS WIN EVERY TIME!) so I'll give my thoughts then

^ only problem with royal wedding day is that it is a holiday and there may be more people having the same idea as you and it still ends up busy.

I am going on Saturday to Thorpe Park, I cant say I'm really that excited about going to ride Storm Surge(Been on it already anyway, went on it at Cyprus Gardens) but it will be nice to get back to the park after the long winter/off season,more excited about riding Stealth again really

and yeah dont expect Thorpe to be quiet on the day of the Royal Wedding,with it being a bank holiday, it could still be quite busy, I know LOTS of people and friends who dont really care about the royal wedding and wont be watching it, so I suspect lots of other people will feel the same, and will probably want to go out to places to escape it all, Sadly I WONT be watching it, I will be jetting off to Florida that day,what a shame

Planning permission for LC12 has now been granted!

Article from Thorpe Park Mania

LC12 Plans Approved 1/04/2011

THORPE PARK is delighted to announce that on Wednesday 30th March 2011, the Runnymede Borough Council granted full planning consent for the development of the Park’s seventh rollercoaster, with construction due to commence in May 2011.

 

Â

Considered by many as the ‘Rolls Royce’ of the rollercoaster industry, Swiss manufacturer, Bolliger & Mabillard (B&M) has been commissioned to build the 127ft high coaster that is due to open in spring 2012.  The ride, known as a Wing Rider, is a significant overall investment of £20m, and will feature the unique seating arrangement where guests are positioned either side of the track with nothing below or above them, leaving them to feel vulnerable and exposed…heightening the thrill.

 

Â

Project named LC12, the ride will be located on one of the new islands next to the Park’s iconic rollercoaster, Stealth, and will take on a THORPE PARK twist through 4 extreme inversions as riders are dragged on a death-defying flight into apocalyptic devastation.

 

 Â

With some of the theme elements, including crashed aircrafts, having already drawn criticism from the British Airline and Pilot Association (BALPA) who branded it ‘tasteless’ due to the Park’s proximity to Heathrow, Mike Vallis, Divisional Director at THORPE PARK, comments:  “We’re absolutely ecstatic with the decision as we’re incredibly excited about the new ride.  It is something that cannot be found anywhere else in the country and the exceptional theme elements will enhance the experience.  The whole project has been heavily researched and the results showed unequivocal support for the theme of ‘urban devastation’.

 

Â

This new rollercoaster is the first investment of our Medium Term Development plans that were also granted by the Council yesterday and marks a significant stage in moving THORPE PARK towards a short break destination, and ultimately a resort positioning with a hotel proposal also in development

Very excited for this .

^Awesome!

Hope I haven't got the wrong ride but this looks like Saw to me. Its Chris Moyles and Ollie Murs "helping with revision".

Sorry folks I'm too much of a technophobe to be able to embed and it may only be accessible to UK peeps.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00g871m

^Yes thats Saw.

Chris Moyles and Ollie Murs helping with revision? Id be surprised if they knew what the word meant.

-Craig

I'm (hopefully) going on the day of the royal wedding (roller coasters or a commercialised wedding between two people who have NO REAL EFFECT on the country? ROLLER COASTERS WIN EVERY TIME!) so I'll give my thoughts then

Unfortunately I am getting the impression that a majority of the population of the UK feel the same way It's going to be HEAVING at the parks on Wedding day - I'll be there too LOL.

^^ I agree. The irony of it was not lost on me.

http://lc12.net/

^ Nice! I doubt this will be as good as Hershey Park's effort, but fun nonetheless!

I'm going to open the batting and say the the obscured word is "Un"...

^ Nice! I doubt this will be as good as Hershey Park's effort

Maybe not, but it's a B&M Wingrider!!! OMFG i have just realised how lucky i am to live that close to a upcoming wingrider! ;b I'm looking very much forward to this!

Few pics from today..

Loving the tramp!