Photo TR: Thorpe Park

[Garet]

Ok so for my 19th birthday i took 10 of my friends, who barely ever visit theme parks, to see what they thought of Thorpe Park. Wanting to make the trip there fun we were going to do it "Top Gear style" and some of us would take the train while others raced in a car along country roads but that involved getting up early so we opted for a convoy of cars and to keep in contact through walkie talkies. Oh and also never let your mates take water pistols with them, in a traffic jam on the M25 one of our friends ran down the motorway and squirted our other car, people were pointing and staring.

 

Overall a great day out was had, Stealth was shut which was a shame but we had prior knowledge to that when we booked tickets so can't complain, lots of breakdowns throughout the day, about 60% of the ride queues we were in had technical problems but the staff were fantastic and we never got delayed more than 10 minutes apart from a camp-out in X's queue line, and pirates 4D having a broken projector which made everyone blind in one eye (and also making my friends vow to never go on a 3D cinema again)

 

One complaint i do have is, i've never been a fan of the sideshows some fairs have when they are run by outside companies and this day cemented that for me. We won a huge stuffed shark and within 2 minutes of having it m it split all over the floor. I turned back to the man and politely asked him to change it, he told me that it was now my property, said a word i won't repeat on here and when i put my shark down he actually physically threw it in my face. Saying that though, one of the sideshow operators gave us a fantastic time on the sideshows and was one of the biggest laughs on the day.

 

Rant over, time for some photos, it's my 1st attempt at a TR so bear with me.

Thanks everyone for a awesome 19th Birthday

You can't tell from the on-ride photo but here we are actually reciting word for word, the whole 1st series of 24, only took one circuit

Rach gives the rapids a thumbs up, Leggett disapproves and Carl got so bored he went to sleep

More Vortex

Vortex

Dale gives it a thumbs up and Rach gives it a tongue

Is it just me or is Samurai missing something in the middle?

Samurais underside

A pile of dirt. This proves the rumors of B&M's 1st launched flyer coming to Thorpe Park must be true

Tomfoolery while Pirates 4D is broken, seriously though everyone vowed never to go on a 3D cinema again, it gave everyone such bad heads due to the broken projector

What X really looks like inside, a pole and a bit of track

Camping in X's queue line during a break down

Though i'm not perfect myself, this is a very badly timed picture of NI at the top of the loop

Matt had one last chance on my camera, getting a picture of NI in the interlocking wingovers. He blew it

Nemesis Inferno

I did try but Slammer just wasn't being photogenic today

Dale gives Collosus a thumbs up, Carl would but i couldn't fit him in frame

Another from that angle

Collosus from another angle

After this photo Matt was fired from taking pictures

There i made it better

Matts not so brilliantly timed photo

My brilliantly timed photo

Better put up some coaster photos hadn't I

Luke definitely is

Everyone losing their screaming swing virginity

I lied to everyone to get them on it about the restraints, this is them debating how safe a lapbar is

Rush

Meet British Dan, she isn't diabetic but this is her right after saying that Tidal Wave is a unacceptable amount of wetness

Tidal Wave

And I won!!!

Heh though the Derby was a great laugh with all 10 of us going all out

Funny story, this shark broke and then the guy we got it from threw it in my face and swore at me. Actually not that funny a story

Rach is bracing herself, Kerry is excited and Dale doesn't know where he is

Detonator

Stealth...closed, moving on

Unfortunately for Joe the ride operator accidentally had put acid down the flume with him instead of water

Depth Charge

Walking into Thorpe Park, i swear this bridge gets bigger and bigger

OMG we have tickets, us doing our own take on some Americans who flew all the way out to England to see the simpsons movie a day early.

Joes directions turned out rubbish, luckily this guy overheard us on the radio and gave us directions, a big shout out to you Mr lorry driver

Luckily no-one running down the motorway with water pistols at this point

Proper 2-way radios. No expense spared on this trip

Joe in charge of communications and directions. We are screwed

You know your in safe hands, when the driver is wearing sunglasses at 6am

My car leading the way with some very excited passengers

[IceDragon]

Looked like you had fun! Do they actually allow you to take your camera on the Rapids and Log Flume?

 

Shame about Stealth and Pirates not working... What was Pirates actually like with one projector? Sounds like an experience in itself lol

 

They better be getting that launched B&M Flyer or I'll make you eat spongy bees through a bamboo shoot!

[Garet]

Didn't take any pictures on log flume, it was the only ride we didn't go on, as for permission i did ask ride operators on Collosus and Rapids, they were quite tolerant and said it was fine until the rapids left the station, then to put it away which i respected and did. As for Collosus that photo was taken at the very end of the ride when it had come to a complete standstill, i kept the camera secure for the whole actual ride as per instructions.

 

As for pirates 4D with one projector, its awful with the glasses, one goes pitch black so you can't see anything and its just blurry and trying to focus on it gave a very bad headache

[RctInfinity]

I absolutely hate Pirates 4D. I tried it at BGA and the water sprays were intense for me and I dislike feeling things on my legs in those kind of shows.

 

Awesome pictures, though.

[verticalzero]

A Fine Report from TP Land, A good day can be had as long as the Q's are not raging long. You certainly made a massive drive from "down south" to "Surrey" just for the day.

 

The M25 is a nightmare and best to be avoided at all costs, unless the time is 11pm or more, Should be able to do 100mph with no camera's anywhere.

 

So much for TP's "beacon / signature" ride working straight for 1 week before it dies again, TP should contact Cedar Point to see how TTD is run.

 

Why does "Stealth" always have lots of downtime. It's a one trick Donkey ride and TP could of spent the money on a proper Out n Back or Twister steel or woodie.

 

Hopefully with the 2009 "Flyer" TP image can change for the better and become a proper grown up park.

[John Peck]

Wow! Thats a great looking park!

 

Oh yeah... And those girls are super-cute, too!

[Garet]

In TP's defense they gave us advance warning that Stealth was goin to be closed a week in advance, because of essential maintenance.

[piers]

I usually have a lot of fun at Thorpe. I also live in Plymouth so I know what a rubbish drive it is from down here!

Nice photo's though, looks lke you had a good birthday.

[cobra_roll06]

Man, I've not been to Thorpe in years! It's change so much since I was there! Last time I was there they were just starting to construct Colossus!

 

Nice TR by the way!

[Team Thriller]

Almost all of there coasters are top fun. I love it!