Thorpe Park April 2016 TR + Behind the scenes tour!

[Henry M]

Hey all,

So I went to Thorpe Park on the 12 of April and was amazed at how good the park was! This was by far the best trip to a UK theme park I have ever done. And I live in the UK! I did not go alone, I went with a GP friend, who yes, did say some GP things, but no too many. I went on a behind the scenes tour of Stealth, but somehow also got a tour of The Swarm as well for no extra cost!

 

The Tour(s):

So, I will start off with talking about the behind the scenes tour that I went on. Basically, at 10:45, you get kitted up (by that I mean high-viz jacket and boots) then the tour began. Firstly, we got lead over through the dome, then onto the balcony looking over the park. It was at this point the "VIP host" told us about some interesting things about the parks history. For example, my favorite fact was that Chessington World of Adventures was meant to be the thrill capital and the main thrill seekers park. In fact, Colossus was going to be built at Chessington. This really surprised me, I mean, look at the park now, and what it could have become. However, like Alton Towers, the height restraint on the rides meant that coasters had to be below the tree line. So they then looked at the planning restrictions in the Thorpe Park area and saw they could place it there instead. There is where it all began.

After the history of the park, we headed over to the reason why I was doing the tour. Stealth. We got shown around some areas you normally cannot go and again learned many things. For example, a fact about Stealth is that it was actually called 'The Edge'. You can still see some signage for 'The Edge' if you know where to look (and we did!). I have a picture of it later on. Also Stealth was only one half of the roller coaster designed to be placed at Thorpe Park. So all you who complain that the ride is too short, there is a reason for that. The ride was supposed to do the launch then the stealth top hat, then get launched again and go through the set of track, now known as Rita. Yes, I did not hear badly, Stealth was only half the designed ride. All the track pieced were made for this mega coaster, but then they realized it would be VERY expensive to have two launches, so with some clever engineering, they split the ride, and Thorpe Park got Stealth, and Alton Towers got the other half, Rita. It is a shame, because this would have been amazing it it had been built and would make Stealth seem more substantial than LAUNCH, AIRTIME, done. Because there was not an engineer on stealth at the time, we could not go inside the launch house, or the maintenance bay. It was for this reason we got to also do a backstage tour of The Swarm. I will talk more about it with the pictures.

Although not really needed on the day which I went, after the tour of each of the rides, we got a ride on the front row. Now, this may seem like a really good thing to do, however going in front of people who had queued and getting evil looks is bad enough. HOWEVER IT IS MADE DO MUCH WORSE BY WEARING A HIGH-VIZ JACKET!!!! Never the less we felt slightly smug as we got escorted onto the ride. It was a very good bonus after seeing what goes into operating one of these rides, then experiencing it first hand

 

The Rides and Park:

I was very lucky on the day that I went. The weather forecast said it would rain all day, up until 9 pm the night before. It must have driven many people away, because the park was very quiet, and almost all the rides and coasters were walk on all day, even though the sun was shining (I even had to look on Google maps to see if I was actually still in England it was so nice!) Also you must bear in mind that this was during the school holidays.

First I got my annual pass from the annual pass building which took five minutes, and it opened 15 minutes before the park, so I could get to the gate before it opened even though I needed to get a pass. After that me and my friend ran to Colossus to get on it front row. This was before I knew it would be walk on all day. From there on in the rides kept piling on. Mostly I was very impressed. The rides were running very well, and the staff were friendly. I think the best way to show the park is through pictures, so I will hand it over to them!

 

Score Card:

Colossus

Nemesis Inferno

Stealth

The Swarm

Slammer

Saw: The Ride

Flying Fish

Tide Wave

Detonator (x2)

The Swarm

X

Saw: The Ride

Rush

Rumba River Rapids

Colossus

Stealth

The Swarm

Total of 18 rides. Bering in mid the park was open from 10-5 only, and it was school holidays, and almost everything was on one train operation, and we spent one and a half hours doing the tour, this is not bad!

First we went to Colossus, to the front row.

It was really good. I love Colossus on the front. It is smooth, intense exiting, twisty and really fun. Some say it is outdated, but when you ride it at the front, it is a really good ride which can easily rival modern coasters.

Due to Saw and Slammer being closed in the morning, I went to check out on of my least popular big rides here, Nemesis Inferno.

I was very surprised. Normally I hate my ride on Nemesis Inferno, however this year it was running really well. I rode it in the back row, and there were no chinks in the track like normal, the transitions were good and it was very forceful. I have been on it many times, but it has never impressed me before, but it ran really well.

This pretty much sums up the queues for the day. Small if you want front row, none if you don.t care.

So, after that, we went to get kitted up (by that I mean high-viz jacket and boots) and headed out to do the tour of stealth. Sadly there was not an engineer on Stealth, which meant we could not go into certain areas. To compensate for this we also went behind the scenes of the Swarm.

It was nice to see the smoke and fire effects working for another year.

We were told all about the ride, even including things like hand signals in the station. Also, we got told about the roll back code. Code Bronze is where the ride fails to connect up with the catch car, so is not launched out of the station. Code Silver is a roll back where it does not have enough power or the weight distribution is incorrect. This means the ride does not make it all the way around and goes backwards. Code Gold is when the train stalls at the top of the top hat.

Through the trees!

Me and my friend outside the back of stealth.

We also got a quick peak into the control panel (from outside).

Then it was for our escorted ride on Stealth front row. I really like Stealth, but it is short. The more I ride it, the more I want out of it.

After that we were lucky enough to have a backstage tour of The Swarm as well. Have a guess as to what this is before you scroll down.

These are the wing chassis for the swarm, which were used on the backwards trains. Backwards was stopped due to two reasons. The one Thorpe Park are telling people, that you could not see all the near misses, but also due to safety reasons, if the two trains were to collide (Cough*Smiler*Cough)

When we went behind the ride we got a really good view of Stealth and The Swarm.

You get some serious hang time in the front here.

Now into the engineering bay.

We got talked around the area and the ride.

This is the underneath of the train when it is in the maintenance area.

The Alien

This picture does not show how big the wheels actually were.

Us next to the swarm. The tour was seriously really interesting and fun, even for my GP fiend on the left. Our VIP host was a really nice guy. Thanks David!

Testing dummies for the testing dummy enthusiasts out there.

Then we got escorted onto the front of The Swarm. This time a little more discreetly.

On the side of the shop, there are some facts about the Swarm. I never noticed these before, but they are a nice touch.

The Swarm

Project LC12 (which stands for Large Coaster 2012)

Completed: March 2012

Max Height: 40m

Max Capacity: 28 rides

Now onto the Parks very well themed Gerstlauer Eurofighter coaster Saw.

I mean, the more you look around you, the better the theming seems.

Some looks tacky...

The ride was better than it was last year, and we both enjoyed it. I did not tell my friend about the inside section, but he got quite the fright. This ride has the biggest throughput on the day, with four sets of two trains (8 carts/trains in total). This meant we walked on it twice. The second half is a little rough now, but there are some good forces, and even a little airtime.

But some is disturbing!

More scenery. I mean on a quiet day like when I went it really feels like you are exploring through this where house.

Don't look up!

Hey Nemesis Inferno! Most roller coasters were only running one train, but it did not matter.

We then tried out I'm a Celebrity Maze.

It was actually really fun and worked well.

This had the longest queue as expected, but it was expected due to the low throughput. I would only do this once, although it was fun.

Not open yet, but I will be there in June. It does look like a nice facade.

However the queue does not look exiting at all. But if you look closely, you will see something going on inside. Now, they went inside, and I don't know if they are first riders or what. They were having pictures taken of them and I was told by a staff member it was for advertisements. Who knows really (except those people who were in there!)

Thorpe Junction.

The shop was open, which was strange.

It was a very good shop though with some interesting things inside.

I wonder if there are some clue in there?

Mind what gap?!? This suspense is killing me!!

What does Maestro even mean!

This was cool though. It rotated and levitated.

I have waited so long for this ride to be open, and it was good. This is not for the weak stomachs, but boy oh boy is it good. If you ever get the chance ride this one of a kind ride. It is one of the most intense rides out there and the forces are like nothing else. I would wait a while to go on this ride.

Well, I would ... but I did not need to!

Not the most comfortable restraints, but they do suit the ride.

Next we went on X, which had the longest roller coaster queue.

3.

We had to wait, yes WAIT 5 whole minutes before we got on!

Stealth being ... Stealthy. It is Stealth's 10th birthday this year.

Not today, maybe another time. I just did not fancy it.

Pardon the pun ... This made me laugh far more than it should have done. My friend did not understand the joke.

I understand what was going through the designers head when they made half the X then a mirror, but it does not work.

I saw saw.

We went on rush, and I was very disappointed. Whatever Thorpe Park did over winter has not worked. Normally Rush is really thrilling and exiting and powerful. However it was sort of 'meh'. I even went on the further arm, because it was swinging higher than the other. I was not the only one who noticed this.

If you look, the other arm did not even reach vertical. This was probably my highest disappointment. If the queues are long (as they can get in summer on Rush) don't ride if this issue has not been sorted.

We then went to have another ride on the Swarm.

However, we stopped off at Tidal wave.

This is where you contemplate your decision to ride.

This is where you regret your decision to ride. Well at least I can dry off on the Swarm.

Water effects not working, but an awesome ride. So close to the water.

If you are on the left you get more near misses.

The whole area has a really good atmosphere.

You have to have a ride on flying fish!

Nice little ride.

Then we went on this small but powerful drop tower.

A nice view of Nemesis Inferno form the queue line.

A free falling gondola. This ride really packs a punch, and they sent our ride around twice which was fun. They also now have a new soundtrack to fit in the with the angry birds area now. I find it annoying.

Braved the back, and broke our back.

Now, by this point the ride was almost walk on, except for the front row, so we braved the back.

After some more tame rides, we wanted to go on a proper roller coaster. So, naturally we headed over to Colossus.

This is a serious problem which the park must address. It ruins a really good ride, and both me and my fired came off with a headache.

I loved my first ride, but anywhere but the front row is terrible due to the roughness of it.

Another ride on Saw, why not?

You do come close to those blades.

Vertical lift hills are great, because it is such a strange feeling.

Ummm ... Not much i can say about this, but I am not sure about how guest services at Thorpe park treat the disabled.

Closed, but not forever.

Next time maybe.

Ranger Country was not looking good.

Deserted and silent.

Seriously, it was creepy

I end on this sad note, however after my camera ran out of charge, there was a 'spewnami'. With 45 minutes of opening left, Slammer, Stealth and Nemesis Inferno closed, all due to people being sick on them. Now, this may seem bad, however, it cleared the park. Within 15 minutes, the rides were back up and running again. This was great because the park was practically deserted. Even more so than it was before! We got on some more rides, ended on the Swarm, then went home. This was a great day. My top tip for going to Thorpe Park, is go in Easter.

Edited April 13, 2016 by Henry M

[Henry M]

Sorry if it is too long, but I wanted to get everything in.

[Henry M]

Oh yes, and here is the picture showing the stealth signage with the Edge logo behind it.

Look closely and you can see the words Edge behind the words Stealth.

[FKA 'Playa]

Nice TR! I only had a single day to enjoy the park while in the UK. Missed riding X, which I regret. That and not ordering a jacket potato with tuna, baked beans AND slaw--since none of those items belong atop a potato in the first place. At least if you ask a Yank.

[Comeagain?]

What are the cables hanging from the top hat on Stealth?

[Henry M]

What are the cables hanging from the top hat on Stealth?

Well, as I went on the tour, I can tell you that! They are used when inspecting the ride, you will see on larger 'top hat' rides for example Kingda Ka, there are ladders, but Stealth does not have one, so instead they use a cable. Also they use it along side the Cherie picker to move the train once a code gold happens.

[Henry M]

Missed riding X, which I regret.

 

You missed nothing. It was not anything special. Close your eyes next time you are on a vekoma roller skater and that is practially the experience you get on X!

[FKA 'Playa]

You're probably right BUT I'm not sure when I'll ever get to Thorpe Park again.

[RyanTPM]

Thanks for that review, looks like you had a good time and very nice to see behind the scenes. I agree with what you said about SAW, it is very well themed and probably my second favorite coaster on park, Stealth being first. DBGT looks great too, looking forward to seeing what it's all about when i visit in June too!

[Henry M]

^Your welcome and if you get to DBGT before me, please don't tell me about what is in it. I want to try to keep it a surprise. It is going to be very hard though!

[cfc]

I haven't bee to Thorpe Park in, well, a decade, but I liked Nemesis Inferno (didn't care for Colossus). I would like to visit the park again. Thanks for the up-close look.

[PixelRush]

Can you explain the "X:\ This Way Out" pun please :3

 

Edit: my guess is that it contradicts the phrase "no way out"... am I right?

[cfc]

Can you explain the "X:\ This Way Out" pun please :3

 

Edit: my guess is that it contradicts the phrase "no way out"... am I right?

 

[Henry M]

Can you explain the "X:\ This Way Out" pun please :3

 

Edit: my guess is that it contradicts the phrase "no way out"... am I right?

 

Yes, it used to be called X:\ No Way Out, but as a little pun and a reminder as to when the ride went backwards, they have added that in new for this year, to say where the exit is.

[Pirate]

Are the front two seats on Colossal Pain the only smooth seats?

[Henry M]

Are the front two seats on Colossal Pain the only smooth seats?

 

Sorry, it is not even the front two. The second seat is not as bad as the rest, but never would I call it smooth. If you want a really enjoyable ride (and I mean seriously it could be an awesome roller coaster) then sit on the front row. It is worth queuing the extra hour or so for the front.

[LDedios432]

WOW! What a great TR and tour! I posted on the Alton Towers thread that I have an opportunity to visit Thorpe or Alton this summer, but I'm restricted on time, and flying into Heathrow. I received lots of suggestions, and it seems like a lot of folks were saying that because of my time constraints, that it would make more sense to just go to Thorpe instead of Alton. These pics are great and Thorpe Park seems really fun. I'm still undecided as of now..but this is making me want to check out Thorpe even more!

[Pirate]

WOW! What a great TR and tour! I posted on the Alton Towers thread that I have an opportunity to visit Thorpe or Alton this summer, but I'm restricted on time, and flying into Heathrow. I received lots of suggestions, and it seems like a lot of folks were saying that because of my time constraints, that it would make more sense to just go to Thorpe instead of Alton. These pics are great and Thorpe Park seems really fun. I'm still undecided as of now..but this is making me want to check out Thorpe even more!

 

When you're there, ride Slammer. It's barely open but when it is open, people have said it's an amazing experience.

[Henry M]

^ It sure is an incredible experience. It is one of the few rides around which actually makes you fear for your life and the negative G you pull on the reverse rotation is extreme.

And secondly:

"Stealth and Rita were originally going to be together, they loved each other so much. But when things happened, they split up and went far, far away from one another, never planning to meet again." - Nobody

 

Did you get that from me per chance? It was very early on in their relationship to be fair, but it is still sad.

[Pirate]

^ It sure is an incredible experience. It is one of the few rides around which actually makes you fear for your life and the negative G you pull on the reverse rotation is extreme.

And secondly:

"Stealth and Rita were originally going to be together, they loved each other so much. But when things happened, they split up and went far, far away from one another, never planning to meet again." - Nobody

 

Did you get that from me per chance? It was very early on in their relationship to be fair, but it is still sad.

 

Yes, I got that from you.

[Henry M]

I haven't bee to Thorpe Park in, well, a decade, but I liked Nemesis Inferno (didn't care for Colossus). I would like to visit the park again. Thanks for the up-close look.

You really should make another visit, a lot has changed in ten years, and the park now has some coasters which are descent.

[Henry M]

Just wandering if the TPR park archive is still adding new TR's to it's collection, and how do you get TR's in there if it is?

[Henry M]

Hi, I am creating a mini TR from my one hour twenty minute visit to Thorpe Park today. It was very good. And fast. Need to sleep now.

Welcome to the island!

More to come soon.

[LeoBruz199]

Rita x Stealth. Still a better love story than Twilight.

 

Why won't I just let this meme die?

[Henry M]

So, today I arrived at Thorpe Park at 3:40pm, and the park closed at 5pm. I had 80 minutes to get on every ride in the park. My challenge to myself was "Round the Island in Half an Hour!" Sadly, even with next to zero queues and running between rides, I failed. However, I did do round the island in 45 minutes, including two rides on Stealth. Basically a success. You don't recognize the size of the park until you are running from ride to ride. In other news, the park is functioning as well as it usually does and there is no news to update on, except for a few small details. A very good day at a very good park. That is me done for my home park this year.

After the first 45 minutes I slowed down to a jog and rode some of the other rides. Rush is better than it was last year (see old TR) and Vortex kicked A$$ as my final ride of the day. Some great force, and it swung very high. It almost felt like a German fun fair version of the ride and had violent airtime. Awesome! I took another ride was on Colossus front row as well, as there was no queue. It is such a shame how good a ride it is in the front. Seriously world class. Shame it is so rough on even numbered rows.

 

I did not get may pictures because I was riding like mad, but here are some I took.

Saw: The Ride is a fun Gerstlaurer Eurofighter, with some very good themeing. The straights are smooth, but brace on a corner or else you will get beaten up!

This picture worked surprisingly well in my opinion.

Here is the drop for all Eurofigher fans out there.

Samurai was annoying. It was open, but they had to get 15 people on board to cycle the ride. As I was the only person there and I had such short time, I sadly skipped it.

Nemesis Inferno, to me, seems to get better with every ride. I used to hate it to hell, but every time I ride it it surprises me with more force than I expect. Compared to the Swarm, this thing is super intense. In reality it is not, but I was going to skip this, and am glad I did not. Highlight is the zero G roll.

No drop tower for me, but normally I would. Very forceful.

GO! GO! GO! Stealth is a great ride, if short. It gives possibly the best airtime of any coaster in the UK Merlin parks and its launch sure packs a punch, not to mention it goes 80mph! Both times I rode back row, and the airtime being pulled over the top of the twisting drop was immense. This gets me exciter for Expedition Ge-Forces first drop, which should be even better.

See the air time before the ride even gets to the top.

Yes, it is short, but it is a massive rush and is worth it when it is walk on.

Swarm. Meh. Enjoy the pictures.

It is fun, but it is an over and done ride. First drop is good, and helix by the water is fun but overall very underwhelming.

Nice themeing though. This year they added a good effect around this head chopper. As the train passes a loud sound effect as it you hit the side plays, and it was effective enough to make me jump and other people scream. Success. I hope it stays.

It is not a BAD ride. I am just being honest when I say it is pretty dull. I used to be in my top ten, but I am not sure any more. Unlike Nemesis Inferno, this ride keeps getting worse every time I ride it.

I wanted a good picture of Colossus, but it was a one train every five minutes thing, and by the point I got the camera pointing in his direction, the ride had closed for the day. The cobra roll is very forceful and disorientating and the consecutive twists is a nice element.

Finally, Vortex.

Getting higher.

Running very well. Another one I almost missed but am glad I did not.

Nice ride. Good old KMG.

The Rush(ian) dog standing tall. Why is there a dog? WHYYY!!

See, better than last year.

Rush's controls. I asked before doing this, but i find it interesting.

Closed. Slightly too early.

Still closed.

DBGTROTD! I may or may not come back to ride this. Not sure if I can be bothered this year.

Bye Swarm

Through the trees!

Floaty wet water ride.

Spinny wet water ride

Wet wet water ride and great ride in the background.

The dome has had some significant improvements this year. The new IMAScore audio really lightens the place up and there are new/refurbished eating and drinking areas.

Nah, but I am glad I came.

A very nice view.

Zoom on saw.

 

Thanks for reading. Any good or bad feedback welcome (as long as it is constructive not just insulting ). Next TR will be from Germany! See you then.