StealthFan Posted March 14, 2009 Share Posted March 14, 2009 Okay today was park opening day at Thorpe Park. As i'm sure you know me and a few other TPR members headed down to Media Day on Thursday and sadly the ride was closed. The park very gladly gave us 10 Ultimate Fastracks as compensation which helped us greatly in the task of riding Saw. Saw The Ride was in operation today for an entire ONE AND A HALF HOURS!, yes thats right 90 whole minutes. But all was not lost because Thorpe Parks kind compensation gift which allowed us to ride Saw twice. Over all I rate Saw as a great ride, if a bit short. I will not spoil anything from the inside for you. But I will say brace yourself for the airtime hill because that packs an almighty punch! Okay now I think its time to move onto pictures! (Update 17-03-08 VIDEO) [coastertube]http://www.themeparkreview.com/coastertube/play.php?vid=Opening_Day__Final__8n67[/coastertube] Which led us to the end of our fantastic day at Thorpe Park even with so many rides down, the park was still full of energy and everyone had a great time. Everyone head down to ride Saw when its being more reliable because it is a great ride. Which led us to the final fastrack of the day, Rush! And the most amazing comment by Trev after Non German Tom turned up. Trev "Whys he called Non German Tom?" Me, Steve and Rob all in sync "Because hes not German!" To feel the CYCLONIC forces at work! Near the end of the day as wristbands united we headed over to Vortex..... After such an epic thrill we need to calm down, so we headed over to "keep those fins inside the fish" and sing happy birthday to another 2 people" Featuring Single Rider! After another Colossus failure it was time for us all to experiance TARMAC THE RIDE! As everyone tried (and failed) to get on Colossus for the 2nd time I became the "Bag Lady" again! The Time Voyagers crew! "Yes we do we are British" Cup of Tea anyone? SMOOTHNESS! EXCITEMENT! Time for Nemesis Inferno! Samurai porn for all you Fanboys! This is as close as I will get to riding a mighty warrior thank you! Time for Samurai "The MIGHTY Warrior" "No one loves me!" See!!! Fancy a bum? (Btw for the record he bent over just as I went to take the picture and I didnt notice, but i know some people will like this photo) Slammer was closed, but it was being worked on! How about the train? Nope thats closed aswell. Next up was Loggers Leap, well it was going to be until we noticed a key part of the ride missing! But we soon forgot about her when we got on Rocky and the ride op was playing Simon Says while the ride was running, and also making us all sing happy birthday to a girl riding called Charlotte! Obviousally Will and Steven found something more interesting then Simon says, but Steve and Rob were super excited! Sadley with the Carousel closed we had to head over to The Rocky Express we had to pay out last respects to Miss Hippo, who will be leaving the park this year. Chief Ranger's Carousel was sadley down due to it missing a few key parts. Which was one hell of an experiance. If you ever go there on a busy day, forget all morals and push and shove everyone and anyone, even little kids if need to the side otherwise it will all be gone by the time you get there! BUFFET!! So as we are headin over to our eating establishment we come across lonley little Stealthy who is sick and not working. So we did the right thing and headed over to the........ Which Rob took abit too literally! Deciding it was time to go and eat we all headed over to the "Poop Deck" before heading on to our reasturant destination. After riding X: No Way Out or X No Way Out we felt suitably stupider so we stood around and waited for Will and Steven (Btw Jeff does it count as 2 credits because it has 2 different names?) Or X: No Way Out! What one is it? Im confused (And this is before ive been on the ride!) X NO WAY OUT! Once I took this photo and the car made it back to the station it broke down, so everyone left the queue. And we went over to the best ride in the park! "Excuse me I think youve got a bit of drool there, do you want to get it?" While they rode I went off to take some photos of Colossus Saw then decided it was time that the game should take a break so the ride was closed down. So the rest of the crew went to ride Colossus, well they thought they were going to! Oh dear seems you havent got a leg to stand on. Dont put you hand in here its full of hypodermic needle pens! "OOOOOOOOOOOOH YOUR SEX IS ON FIRE!" Next to Saw they do have little shows to keep you entertained, and as you can tell they are BREATH TAKING! Will and Steven enjoyed it so much they rode it 4 times in the 90 mins, while I took photos and videos! The next few photos of Saw will not have captions so fan boys can relive themselves without my comments ruining the view for them! And im happy to report that not only does the ride KICK arse, but the blades also spin! Yea Saw was operating for the day! Well 90 mins of it. People queueing! Saws Open! Lets run and join the fastrack queue on the right! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robbalvey Posted March 14, 2009 Share Posted March 14, 2009 Below are a few photos from the media day event that Craig posted in case you missed them.... The spinning blades of DOOM And seemed to run smooth. The ride was testing and looked very good. Its the ride sign! What more do you want? Dave is happy we can get close too see Saw. Over all a good time was spent at Thorpe Park even with Saw down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HEADCHEEZ Posted March 14, 2009 Share Posted March 14, 2009 It's pronounced "X Colin Backslash No Way Out." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troll Posted March 14, 2009 Share Posted March 14, 2009 It's pronounced "X Colin Backslash No Way Out." Who's Colin??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Speeddeamon128 Posted March 14, 2009 Share Posted March 14, 2009 Nice pis! At least you got to ride saw in the short time that it was working. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davethefish Posted March 14, 2009 Share Posted March 14, 2009 I would've liked to go, but its just a pain to get to! plus, mothers day and other commitments stop me going to any park openings this year! Jealous.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Griffonluv Posted March 14, 2009 Share Posted March 14, 2009 Saw really looks like a good ride. How does the ride quality (smoothness, layout, overall experience) compare with other eurofighters? Is it just me or does it seem like the whole park wasn't ready for today? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
max harvey Posted March 15, 2009 Share Posted March 15, 2009 SAW was amazing! I loved it. The drop inside the building is really forceful and you get a lot of airtime on the airtime hill and the drop off the mcbr Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Posted March 15, 2009 Share Posted March 15, 2009 Thorpe Park REALLY REALLY REALLY sucked balls today. Saw - Closed after 90 mins Stealth - Closed Slammer - Closed Colossus/Inferno - Started off Closed Log Flume - Closed as far as I know, I never actually made it round there. Rapids - Closed, oh wait it's opening at 12... no it's now 2... we've actually filled up the channel now but we filled it too high and now it's too dangerous to ride... What the fuck? This left everything with lovely queues and eff all to ride. Both inferno and colossus (in my mind) are crap so I decided not to queue... My ride count for today was.. Flying Fish x2 Rush X:\ Teacups. GREAT for paying £26 into a park which can't even open it's main attractions on time and keep them running!! Guest services got an extreme earful off so many people today that Thorpe started issuing "come back for free tickets" to everyone who paid to get into the park. Through I now own a free ticket to Thorpe Park AND Alton Towers (Score). I live in Manchester and since I wasn't likely to visit thorpe again got a ticket to Alton. Then just picked up a free ticket for Thorpe on the way out. If I hadn't had an excellent group of friends today I would have actually gone mad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StealthFan Posted March 15, 2009 Author Share Posted March 15, 2009 ^ To be fair even though the rides were down the staff were still very friendly and were always up for a chat. Yes alot of people were dissapointed about Saw closing down, but you used to get the same thing when Stealth was down. The park did their best to open Saw up again because there was 3 mechanics working on it since it broke down, until park closing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thrillerman1 Posted March 15, 2009 Share Posted March 15, 2009 My goodness...I really do love British people. Good to see friends from over the pond. Awesome TR Craig! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedSpecial Posted March 15, 2009 Share Posted March 15, 2009 It'll be interesting to see how Flamingo Land with their opening of Flamingo's Mumbo Jumbo S&S El Loco coaster compares to the Saw eurofighter launch? Saw has received a lot of coverage on the BBC for the last few days as the 'first' beyond vertical drop coaster. Thorpe publicity department have obviously been working overtime. I would have been unhappy if I'd travelled to Thorpe Park to find so many rides closed. I am however hoping to get the chance at sometime to experience the new ride. I remember visiting Scarefest at Alton to find Rita closed and had a sulk on all day. Just out of interest what would you say is the best eurofighter currently in use today? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveC Posted March 15, 2009 Share Posted March 15, 2009 ^^^though also to be fair we had an EXTREME advantage (thanks Robb) with the ultimate fastpasses. This got us on everything-coasterwise- that was officially meant to be up on the day and multiple opportunities on Saw which would have been impossible within the 90 minute operation. All in all a top day for our group, which we know and are grateful that we got privileged up! On the subject of Saw, I don't want to expand any spoilers by much but I will say this. Two cars are dispatched from the station at the same time. Aim to get on the second one which is held back 60 seconds once you are in the ride proper. All I will say on this is 'better visuals ' Enjoy it when you get the chance everyone - and thanks again to the TPR top man, and everyone in the group for a good laugh. Finally - thanks Thorpe Security for doing your job and escorting out the park the Chav line jumpers, always good to see the system works. (note to self: an ultimate fastpass is official line jumping and affords massive bragging rights without worry) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bootharawwwrrr Posted March 15, 2009 Share Posted March 15, 2009 Time for me to add my trip report! (Incase you didn't already know, I'm Will from yesterday!) Yesterday I went to Thorpe Park's opening day for 2009. I went with my friend Steven, but also met up with Craig and various other members of Theme Park Review throughout the day, those blokes were extremely welcoming and generally very funny and awesome! Thanks to Theme Park Review me and my friend were able to obtain FREE Unlimited Fast Track, which we NEEDED, due to how busy the park was and how many rides were down. Although the atmosphere around the park due to down time was pretty poor, the day was still one of my best ever trips to Thorpe Park, due to meeting with Theme Park Review members, riding Saw 4 times and getting on loads of rides! Ride Count: 19 Saw: The Ride - 4 - This coaster is better than I expected and I expected alot, amazing! Colossus - 1 - Although we were in the back seats and may have got headaches, this coaster is still great fun! Detonator - 1 - New restraints, new floor, same amazingly tense feeling and great free fall sensation! Nemesis Inferno - 1 - Got to do it in the back seats, very forceful and a great sense of speed! Rush - 3 - Great fun, love sticking my legs out, makes so much more fun! Samurai - 2 - Few subtle changes, same amazing ride! Vortex - 4 - For the first 3 rides it didn't do much for me, but on the last ride of the day, got a great swing and loved it! X:\ No Way Out - 1 - Just like Thrill Chill, almost pitch black inside! Storm In A Teacup - 1 - Me and Steven + Ben and Steve(from TPR) in the same cup = a mind bendingly dizzy ride! Rocky Express - 1 - So funny, couldn't stop laughing!!! Good Points!! : -SAW: THE RIDE! (area theming wise) -My friend is awesome as always! -SAW: THE RIDE! (inside warehouse wise) -Getting to meet Craig in person! -SAW: THE RIDE! (ride wise) -The staff were friendly and kind, something I never doubted they would be. -SAW: THE RIDE! (audio and visual wise) -FREE UNLIMITED FAST TRACK, can I say more! -SAW: THE RIDE! (atmosphere wise) -Meeting some great people from Theme Park Review! -SAW: THE RIDE! (it was just THAT good wise!) -Weather was very nice! -SAW: THE RIDE! (the merchandise in the shop, is very cool wise) -Pizza hut for lunch, pure bliss! -SAW: THE RIDE! (do you get the point now, I REALLY liked it!) -The security around the park did a great job of controlling trouble makers! Bad Points : -Travel there and back, due to trains, was pretty terrible -Major rides were closed all day -Downtime around the park was pretty poor -Saw closing after less than 2 hours operation -Due to downtime the atmosphere around the park was quite negative I would like to say a huge thank you to Craig and all Theme Park Review members who I met with, thank you so much for the Fast Track and for being so welcoming! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Posted March 15, 2009 Share Posted March 15, 2009 ^ To be fair even though the rides were down the staff were still very friendly and were always up for a chat. Yes alot of people were dissapointed about Saw closing down, but you used to get the same thing when Stealth was down. The park did their best to open Saw up again because there was 3 mechanics working on it since it broke down, until park closing. True. Seeing as you guys had that ultimate fastpass thing I can see why you thought the day wasn't that bad. But what about the people that don't know about Guest Services? I heard loads of people on the way out saying they wouldn't come back for ages. As for Saw breaking down.. The people who were stuck in the queueline got exit passes for it... Yeah great idea giving 2 hours worth of people exit passes... So that makes a 2 hour exit pass queue.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveC Posted March 15, 2009 Share Posted March 15, 2009 Ed - I totally appreciate how miffed you must have been and how smug we must seem with the pass thing. Shame we didn't run into you during the day as I know Craig still had spares. We ran into Tom but only as he was leaving at the end of the day. Agreed it was a MASSIVE screw up on a scale that I think even Thorpe would be struggling to believe but they did make at least TWO, (that I heard) very specific and also very audible public announcements about a free entry pass for EVERYONE in the park that day, valid for any day this season and how to go about getting it. (Okay I know that may not make much sense to season pass holders, but I'm not so I win again ) When we picked up ours the line for the free pass was at least 30 minutes LOL. I read a comment relating to park operations concerning electrical power issues, and I believe this must have been a factor yesterday also because in all honesty, even with a poor maintenance record, nothing will (I hope) ever beat the scale of failure on, frankly, everything that was meant to move but somehow didn't. Kudos to you for your Alton pass pick up- sell your Thorpe one for a tenner on e-bay or something similar and get some good out of the bad. You will laugh about this in say, the year 2017, I promise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
max harvey Posted March 15, 2009 Share Posted March 15, 2009 The ride staff on nemesis were saying about the free tickets quite often in the station Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StealthFan Posted March 15, 2009 Author Share Posted March 15, 2009 Will just sent me the ORP of Saw and my heads gone all shiny in it! From left to right: Will, Steven, Ben and Craig (Me) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoasterNERD502 Posted March 15, 2009 Share Posted March 15, 2009 Thorpe Park has to have the best flats ever! I never noticed until now lol. Saw looks awesome as usual! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob.Lloyd Posted March 15, 2009 Share Posted March 15, 2009 Fab trip report Craig! Did feel sorry for Thorpe on their first day of the season with everything breaking down at some point during the day. It must have been the delayed effect of Friday the 13th Looking forward to riding Saw again soon, fingers crossed the technical faults are sorted out by then. Reminder to self: turn red eye setting on!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StealthFan Posted March 15, 2009 Author Share Posted March 15, 2009 That photo is great just like X is. The red eye adds to the effect of what X NWO causes to people who ride! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stealth Assassin Posted March 15, 2009 Share Posted March 15, 2009 Looks like you guys had a great day even with all the down time and with the ultimate fastrack got to ride Saw many times (more than i can say for thursday). I hope to get there to ride it soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DBru Posted March 16, 2009 Share Posted March 16, 2009 ^Sorry for getting off topic, but could you please tell me what coaster that is in your avatar? Now back on topic... **SPOILER QUESTION** How does the 'blood-spraying' effect work? Is a red liquid actually sprayed on riders, is it simulated, or is it just a mist flying up at you? Seems interesting, nonetheless... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robbalvey Posted March 16, 2009 Share Posted March 16, 2009 ^ It's The Ultimate...back on topic please! --Robb Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shockwave Posted March 16, 2009 Share Posted March 16, 2009 Great photos, was nice to bump into Robin, Steve and meet new folks that day. I was one of the many poor sods who missed out on Saw that day, but I'll be back when they've sorted the problems with the ride with some free entry and free fastpasses to hand. I'm also gonna have to say that I'm disappointed in the way that Thorpe Park have handled things. I can't help but think that they really didn't have a Plan B after Saw broke down. With Stealth off limits, no Slammer, Colossus intermittent and Nemesis Inferno only running one train until the afternoon, one has to question the logic of opening the ride before what the park denote as the main season has officially begun. The Friday 13th date was a fantastic PR tool, but on this occasion it has all backfired spectacularly. Anyway, rant over. Hopefully I'll get to meet up with those of you that I did meet again, possibly at Thorpe Park with an open Saw ride! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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