Edward M
Strata Poster
This is my first Trip Report so be warned.
The day started out with a walk to Vauxhall from my apartment followed by a train to Staines. The train was nice, but the bus afterward had these annoying kids on it. I had to get used to that though because the park was full of them. I arrived at 9:15 to a surprisingly big crowd of loud kids. They all sang to the pop songs that were blasting out of the speakers. It was very irritating. At 9:30, the gates opened, and I rushed to Saw. I had decided to go to Saw instead of Swarm because everybody had went to Swarm when I got in the park, and it had already built up a 45 minute line within minutes. When I went to Saw, I saw it was closed (of course). They were testing it and said to come back soon. I went to Colossus and saw it was closed. I asked when it would be open. They said it wouldn't be soon. It appeared no coasters were open nearby. I saw that they had just opened Samurai. I hoped on the first ride of the day. It is probably my personal favorite flat ride.
Samurai- Quite the ride! It is very quick with fast motions and just a good mood. It was one of the best flats I've ridden and I would like to ride it again. Wish this type of ride was at more parks. 8.5/10
After riding Samurai I looked at Saw, it was testing with workers which is always a good sign. I looked at Colossus and asked a worker again when it would open. They said probably not all morning. I was disappointed as Colossus was one ride I was looking the most forward to. I looked at X. Closed. Didn't care and never went back. I decided to go to Rush as it was the only other ride open in the area. I walked to Rush, and saw a short queue. It was an average S&S Swing.
Rush- It was exactly like every S&S Swing I've been on. Fast and airtime-filled. The only S&S Swing that impressed immensely was Skyhawk as it was the first I had been on and the highest I have ever been on. 8/10.
After Rush, I looked over at Saw climbing the lift. When it went over the hill, I saw passengers. I rushed toward Saw. I saw a 10 minute wait. I went in the queue to a bigger crowd than expected. It was nothing too bad but it was certainly more than 10 minutes, around 25 actually. The theme of Saw was strange, it was great and terrible at the same time. The budget was cheap outside with dolls inside of small traps. It was cheap yes but very effective. It gave off an eery feel that matched the movies and the ride itself. I liked the outside queue, but there was no shade. Luckily, it was a cold and cloudy day. It would be very annoying if it were hotter. I went into the station. There were a lot of steps to the ride. I was disappointed to not see a pre show as it would fit the ride's theme but oh well. There was a kind of pre show where Jigsaw talks to you on a screen, but I wanted more. I made it up the tons of stairs to the station which was well themed. It matched the film's with a decent budget. I was lucky enough to get a first row view. I was so excited to ride it as it was built up well in the queue. It was less than I had expected.
Saw: The Ride- the ride starts out with an impressive dark ride portion. Jigsaw rode by at one point but it wasn't a very good scare. After a few turns came the highlight of the ride, the first drop inside. That drop is the best thing about the coaster without a doubt. Then came a few turns and a disappointing twist that looked better on video then came the lift. I love vertical lifts personally especially on one of my favorite roller coasters of all time Mystery Mine. After the lift came a good drop then a decent inversion, after that was a blur of headbanging. It had been very good until that point, but the finale was just plain rough. It was also very short. When I hit the brake run, I said to myself, "that's it?". It wasn't as good as Mystery Mine at Dollywood which was longer and had a smoother ride and better theming and layout. It certainly was less than expected but it is still a good ride. I don't mind a bit of headbanging as long as has a decent layout to follow it up and Saw had that. Saw is worth a ride, and I would wait a 30 minute wait for it. 7.5/10
After a ride on Saw, I checked Colossus. Still closed. I moved on to a different area, Amity. Amity is not as good as in Universal Orlando and is also out of place. It really had no reason to be there, but it had a very good ride in it, Nemesis Inferno. Nemesis Inferno was a ride I wasn't looking forward to. I had heard it all "It makes you sick" "The layout is terrible" "it is boring". I was expecting a bad ride. What I got was one of my favorite inverts.
Nemesis Inferno- The regular queue had no wait so I went on the front. It took over 20 minutes, but it was worth it. The ride starts out with a small drop into a volcano. Oops, I mean a blob of concrete with one red light. Seriously! This is the most disappointing theming I have ever seen. Couldn't they do anything to spice it up. Maybe a fire waterfall of paint the tunnel red. Anything? Oh well, the ride itself is actually very good. After the quickest lift I've ever seen on on an invert. It drops on a pretty pond which provide a good footchopper followed by a regular B&M loop and Zero-G Roll. That is followed by some very intense turns and two fantastic corkscrews. It has some great footchoppers! I had a blast on the ride! It was quite the surprise. I feel if I had ridden in the back I wouldn't have liked it as much. All in all a great B&M invert. My second favorite behind Batman: The Ride. It was almost my favorite B&M Invert but Batman's very intense beginning then disappointing finale is better than Nemesis Inferno's very disappointing beginning followed by very intense finale. 9/10.
After Nemesis Inferno, I went to Stealth. I saw a 65 minute wait. I walked back to Nemesis Inferno to get a Fastrack for Stealth and Swarm (45 minute wait). It was closed, but the man in the shop next door was very helpful and showed me the way to the other Fastrack station. I put down £9 which was just enough when I saw Pole Position on Stealth. I felt a 50 pence in my pocket and got it out. I got a ticket to Swarm and Stealth. I went to Swarm and saw that it was now 20 minutes. I felt ripped off but I still had the ticket. I got in the Fastrack queue and saw all the dirty faces staring at me. I was directed to the left side and saw that the shortest wait was for the front row. I dashed to get it. While I waited to get on, I observed how well themed the area and trains were. My comparisons to Wild Eagle immediately began. I like Wild Eagle's theme of adventure but Swarm's alien theme was much cooler as were the trains. My train arrived.
The Swarm- the ride started with the lift, and I was getting very excited. I slowly went into the twist. The drop was terrifying and fantastic. At the bottom was a great headchopper with a plane then came the best part of the ride. Footchopper city. If I listed all the footchoppers, it would take up a whole page. They were everywhere. Swarm is a fantastic ride that would be in my top 10 if were it not for the layout. The inversions were not very good. They had lots of force but not much else. I prefer Swarm to Wild Eagle for lots of reasons. #1 being that it used the fact that it was a Wing coaster to its advantage. I felt that with Wild Eagle you could put just about any car on there and it would be the same. It didn't take advantage of being a Wing Coaster. I must say though, Wild Eagle did have superior inversions and layout. I just prefer Swarm. 9.5/10
I then made my way to Stealth which was now at a 75 minute wait because of the one train operation and slow workers. I was lucky to have Fastrack, but the front row had a very long line. It would take about 8 trains to get on. Luckily, there was a single rider there also so I only had to wait for 3 trains. It took about 20 minutes because of the terrible operations. I was lucky enough to get on and wow.
Stealth- one word to describe this ride: rush. This is the best ride in Thorpe Park. The launch is unbelievable. It is so quick! You are going 80 in no time! Quite the rush! At the top, I got some great ejector airtime. As I went back down Stealth did what Kingda Ka never thought to. Give the hill a reason! The hill actually had floater airtime. This ride is unbelievable. You might be wondering if I loved it so much, why isn't it in my top 10? Well, it was maybe a bit too quick. While the launch was the over in no time, so was the ride. It was so quick I didn't have much time to take it in. While I like it better than Kingda Ka, I still like TTD the best. TTD perfected the way to make your accelerator. Have an unbelievable launch that is short but not too short then put you far into the sky and hold there. Afterwards, go down at 270 degree spiral to the bottom all in perfect time. Stealth felt was too fast, and Kingda Ka felt too slow. TTD reigns supreme in the accelerator category, but that doesn't make Stealth any less fantastic. 9.5/10.
Right when Stealth hit the brake run, it started to sprinkle. I was so lucky because it shut down a few minutes later. I saw that Colossus had opened and had a 40 minute wait. It was only £3 Fastrack and I was right beside the booth so I got one. I went to Colossus exit and saw the Fastrack line which was surprisingly big. I got in line and saw it wasn't moving. The rain was starting to get harder. To make matters worse, some bratty 10 year olds came and tried to go inside the exit of the ride assuming Fastrack labeled line was for... I don't know. I told them that it was the Fastrack line and they told me it wasn't. Finally, the attendant told them it actually was and to get in line. They were very annoyed. They kept saying "This isn't the Fastrack! This is the Slowtrack!" Over and over. Of course, there was the mother standing there not shutting her kids up. The line wasn't budging. Finally I saw an open spot and yelled "I'm a Single Rider!". They escorted me to the seat. I got onto Colossus after a nonmoving 15 minute wait then I got one of the worst and roughest rides I've ever been on.
Colossus- While Saw was rough, it had lots of redeeming factors. Colossus had nothing of the type. It had stone restraints and a bland layout. The drop started off with a bang (literally). The loop was the worst ever as my neck started to hurt thanks to extreme headbanging. The airtime hill gave little airtime then the cobra roll had only a few light bangs followed by huge bangs on the corkscrews. Then came the heartline rolls. The only good things on the ride. As gimmicky as they are, they provide good hangtime with mild headbanging. However, the last heartline roll really bangs your side hard. All in all, it sucked. 6.5/10
I walked back to the entrance in lighter rain when I saw Flying Fish. I went ahead and Credit Whored it.
Flying Fish- kids ride, slow and dull. 3/10.
I left the park and went to the bus station in the cold rain. I waited for 30 minutes then got on the bus to the station. It was a long journey back, but I got home.
Thorpe Park gave me no top 10 rides to but two fantastic top 20s, two good 30s, and two bottom 10ers. I must say, I liked Thorpe Park. It has nice workers and pretty good operations on most rides. While I would have liked to go to Alton Towers, Thorpe Park was a great park and a fantastic time. If I'm ever in England riding coasters, I'll stop by again gladly. It was a very pretty park and I had nothing to complain about while walking out (except for the cold rain). I want to end my report with a question, What's with all the hate? What's really that bad about Thorpe Park? Thorpe Park is much better than most Six Flags and other seasonal parks so where does it come from? It is sometimes called the worst park in the world by some and I see nothing in the park that could make someone hate it that much. Tell your opinion of the park and why you like or hate it.
The day started out with a walk to Vauxhall from my apartment followed by a train to Staines. The train was nice, but the bus afterward had these annoying kids on it. I had to get used to that though because the park was full of them. I arrived at 9:15 to a surprisingly big crowd of loud kids. They all sang to the pop songs that were blasting out of the speakers. It was very irritating. At 9:30, the gates opened, and I rushed to Saw. I had decided to go to Saw instead of Swarm because everybody had went to Swarm when I got in the park, and it had already built up a 45 minute line within minutes. When I went to Saw, I saw it was closed (of course). They were testing it and said to come back soon. I went to Colossus and saw it was closed. I asked when it would be open. They said it wouldn't be soon. It appeared no coasters were open nearby. I saw that they had just opened Samurai. I hoped on the first ride of the day. It is probably my personal favorite flat ride.
Samurai- Quite the ride! It is very quick with fast motions and just a good mood. It was one of the best flats I've ridden and I would like to ride it again. Wish this type of ride was at more parks. 8.5/10
After riding Samurai I looked at Saw, it was testing with workers which is always a good sign. I looked at Colossus and asked a worker again when it would open. They said probably not all morning. I was disappointed as Colossus was one ride I was looking the most forward to. I looked at X. Closed. Didn't care and never went back. I decided to go to Rush as it was the only other ride open in the area. I walked to Rush, and saw a short queue. It was an average S&S Swing.
Rush- It was exactly like every S&S Swing I've been on. Fast and airtime-filled. The only S&S Swing that impressed immensely was Skyhawk as it was the first I had been on and the highest I have ever been on. 8/10.
After Rush, I looked over at Saw climbing the lift. When it went over the hill, I saw passengers. I rushed toward Saw. I saw a 10 minute wait. I went in the queue to a bigger crowd than expected. It was nothing too bad but it was certainly more than 10 minutes, around 25 actually. The theme of Saw was strange, it was great and terrible at the same time. The budget was cheap outside with dolls inside of small traps. It was cheap yes but very effective. It gave off an eery feel that matched the movies and the ride itself. I liked the outside queue, but there was no shade. Luckily, it was a cold and cloudy day. It would be very annoying if it were hotter. I went into the station. There were a lot of steps to the ride. I was disappointed to not see a pre show as it would fit the ride's theme but oh well. There was a kind of pre show where Jigsaw talks to you on a screen, but I wanted more. I made it up the tons of stairs to the station which was well themed. It matched the film's with a decent budget. I was lucky enough to get a first row view. I was so excited to ride it as it was built up well in the queue. It was less than I had expected.
Saw: The Ride- the ride starts out with an impressive dark ride portion. Jigsaw rode by at one point but it wasn't a very good scare. After a few turns came the highlight of the ride, the first drop inside. That drop is the best thing about the coaster without a doubt. Then came a few turns and a disappointing twist that looked better on video then came the lift. I love vertical lifts personally especially on one of my favorite roller coasters of all time Mystery Mine. After the lift came a good drop then a decent inversion, after that was a blur of headbanging. It had been very good until that point, but the finale was just plain rough. It was also very short. When I hit the brake run, I said to myself, "that's it?". It wasn't as good as Mystery Mine at Dollywood which was longer and had a smoother ride and better theming and layout. It certainly was less than expected but it is still a good ride. I don't mind a bit of headbanging as long as has a decent layout to follow it up and Saw had that. Saw is worth a ride, and I would wait a 30 minute wait for it. 7.5/10
After a ride on Saw, I checked Colossus. Still closed. I moved on to a different area, Amity. Amity is not as good as in Universal Orlando and is also out of place. It really had no reason to be there, but it had a very good ride in it, Nemesis Inferno. Nemesis Inferno was a ride I wasn't looking forward to. I had heard it all "It makes you sick" "The layout is terrible" "it is boring". I was expecting a bad ride. What I got was one of my favorite inverts.
Nemesis Inferno- The regular queue had no wait so I went on the front. It took over 20 minutes, but it was worth it. The ride starts out with a small drop into a volcano. Oops, I mean a blob of concrete with one red light. Seriously! This is the most disappointing theming I have ever seen. Couldn't they do anything to spice it up. Maybe a fire waterfall of paint the tunnel red. Anything? Oh well, the ride itself is actually very good. After the quickest lift I've ever seen on on an invert. It drops on a pretty pond which provide a good footchopper followed by a regular B&M loop and Zero-G Roll. That is followed by some very intense turns and two fantastic corkscrews. It has some great footchoppers! I had a blast on the ride! It was quite the surprise. I feel if I had ridden in the back I wouldn't have liked it as much. All in all a great B&M invert. My second favorite behind Batman: The Ride. It was almost my favorite B&M Invert but Batman's very intense beginning then disappointing finale is better than Nemesis Inferno's very disappointing beginning followed by very intense finale. 9/10.
After Nemesis Inferno, I went to Stealth. I saw a 65 minute wait. I walked back to Nemesis Inferno to get a Fastrack for Stealth and Swarm (45 minute wait). It was closed, but the man in the shop next door was very helpful and showed me the way to the other Fastrack station. I put down £9 which was just enough when I saw Pole Position on Stealth. I felt a 50 pence in my pocket and got it out. I got a ticket to Swarm and Stealth. I went to Swarm and saw that it was now 20 minutes. I felt ripped off but I still had the ticket. I got in the Fastrack queue and saw all the dirty faces staring at me. I was directed to the left side and saw that the shortest wait was for the front row. I dashed to get it. While I waited to get on, I observed how well themed the area and trains were. My comparisons to Wild Eagle immediately began. I like Wild Eagle's theme of adventure but Swarm's alien theme was much cooler as were the trains. My train arrived.
The Swarm- the ride started with the lift, and I was getting very excited. I slowly went into the twist. The drop was terrifying and fantastic. At the bottom was a great headchopper with a plane then came the best part of the ride. Footchopper city. If I listed all the footchoppers, it would take up a whole page. They were everywhere. Swarm is a fantastic ride that would be in my top 10 if were it not for the layout. The inversions were not very good. They had lots of force but not much else. I prefer Swarm to Wild Eagle for lots of reasons. #1 being that it used the fact that it was a Wing coaster to its advantage. I felt that with Wild Eagle you could put just about any car on there and it would be the same. It didn't take advantage of being a Wing Coaster. I must say though, Wild Eagle did have superior inversions and layout. I just prefer Swarm. 9.5/10
I then made my way to Stealth which was now at a 75 minute wait because of the one train operation and slow workers. I was lucky to have Fastrack, but the front row had a very long line. It would take about 8 trains to get on. Luckily, there was a single rider there also so I only had to wait for 3 trains. It took about 20 minutes because of the terrible operations. I was lucky enough to get on and wow.
Stealth- one word to describe this ride: rush. This is the best ride in Thorpe Park. The launch is unbelievable. It is so quick! You are going 80 in no time! Quite the rush! At the top, I got some great ejector airtime. As I went back down Stealth did what Kingda Ka never thought to. Give the hill a reason! The hill actually had floater airtime. This ride is unbelievable. You might be wondering if I loved it so much, why isn't it in my top 10? Well, it was maybe a bit too quick. While the launch was the over in no time, so was the ride. It was so quick I didn't have much time to take it in. While I like it better than Kingda Ka, I still like TTD the best. TTD perfected the way to make your accelerator. Have an unbelievable launch that is short but not too short then put you far into the sky and hold there. Afterwards, go down at 270 degree spiral to the bottom all in perfect time. Stealth felt was too fast, and Kingda Ka felt too slow. TTD reigns supreme in the accelerator category, but that doesn't make Stealth any less fantastic. 9.5/10.
Right when Stealth hit the brake run, it started to sprinkle. I was so lucky because it shut down a few minutes later. I saw that Colossus had opened and had a 40 minute wait. It was only £3 Fastrack and I was right beside the booth so I got one. I went to Colossus exit and saw the Fastrack line which was surprisingly big. I got in line and saw it wasn't moving. The rain was starting to get harder. To make matters worse, some bratty 10 year olds came and tried to go inside the exit of the ride assuming Fastrack labeled line was for... I don't know. I told them that it was the Fastrack line and they told me it wasn't. Finally, the attendant told them it actually was and to get in line. They were very annoyed. They kept saying "This isn't the Fastrack! This is the Slowtrack!" Over and over. Of course, there was the mother standing there not shutting her kids up. The line wasn't budging. Finally I saw an open spot and yelled "I'm a Single Rider!". They escorted me to the seat. I got onto Colossus after a nonmoving 15 minute wait then I got one of the worst and roughest rides I've ever been on.
Colossus- While Saw was rough, it had lots of redeeming factors. Colossus had nothing of the type. It had stone restraints and a bland layout. The drop started off with a bang (literally). The loop was the worst ever as my neck started to hurt thanks to extreme headbanging. The airtime hill gave little airtime then the cobra roll had only a few light bangs followed by huge bangs on the corkscrews. Then came the heartline rolls. The only good things on the ride. As gimmicky as they are, they provide good hangtime with mild headbanging. However, the last heartline roll really bangs your side hard. All in all, it sucked. 6.5/10
I walked back to the entrance in lighter rain when I saw Flying Fish. I went ahead and Credit Whored it.
Flying Fish- kids ride, slow and dull. 3/10.
I left the park and went to the bus station in the cold rain. I waited for 30 minutes then got on the bus to the station. It was a long journey back, but I got home.
Thorpe Park gave me no top 10 rides to but two fantastic top 20s, two good 30s, and two bottom 10ers. I must say, I liked Thorpe Park. It has nice workers and pretty good operations on most rides. While I would have liked to go to Alton Towers, Thorpe Park was a great park and a fantastic time. If I'm ever in England riding coasters, I'll stop by again gladly. It was a very pretty park and I had nothing to complain about while walking out (except for the cold rain). I want to end my report with a question, What's with all the hate? What's really that bad about Thorpe Park? Thorpe Park is much better than most Six Flags and other seasonal parks so where does it come from? It is sometimes called the worst park in the world by some and I see nothing in the park that could make someone hate it that much. Tell your opinion of the park and why you like or hate it.
