Ride Access Pass and Disabled Access - 2024 Discussion

[TPick]

Might be a bit late if your visit is today, but:

Hyperia no longer has a one ride restriction correct?

Yes, this is correct.

Where is the best place to collect your timecard from? Especially in light of: Please note that, due to high volumes of school trips, the Accessibility Kiosk will be closed until July 22nd. Instead, a Timecard station will be operating from underneath the park's Welcome Arch from 9:15am. Ride Access Pass collection is also available from Guest Services in the lower dome as normal.

We usually collect after the bag search part, there is a pop up off to the right. Hasn't been overly busy collecting, but we haven't visited for a few weeks though so may be different now.

 

[Rowe]

We are attempting Thorpe Park for the first time! I expect it's going to be grotesquely busy but we'll see. Couple of questions:

- Hyperia no longer has a one ride restriction correct?
- Where is the best place to collect your timecard from? Especially in light of: Please note that, due to high volumes of school trips, the Accessibility Kiosk will be closed until July 22nd. Instead, a Timecard station will be operating from underneath the park's Welcome Arch from 9:15am. Ride Access Pass collection is also available from Guest Services in the lower dome as normal.

As Benzin and TPick have already answered your questions, please allow me to add extra pointers.

• Show the RAP card at the park entrance to use the designated Access/Hotel left lane. Dear god, please don't go into the right lane. Don't don't don't.
• The Dome is loud with an unpleasant echo. If the side gate on the left is open, do use it as a shortcut.
• If you're arriving when the park opens and comfortable getting the coaster count started, go do Colossus, Saw, Inferno and Stealth in that order.
• All the major coasters are loud here, so I highly recommend wearing earplugs/ear defenders on all. Saw and The Walking Dead are the most stressful in being rife with harsh sounds and lights, the latter having two looooooong corridors you have to walk to/from the station. The Swarm also has a piercing alien screech and a station flyover.
• Ghost Train is also stressful as it involves a lot of loud sound and light effects, moving around, staff trying to spook everyone and, somehow, an even worse plot than the two Derren Brown iterations preceding it.
• Quiet space wise, there is a quiet room by Guest Services in the lower dome. There's also the path between Tacotaria Express and Saw with picnic benches and a lovely lake view (plus the Thorpe Belle still in Saw Alive garb ). The Sunken Gardens by Stealth, featuring the Princess Di memorial boat, is nicer and shaded with the lovely Stealth soundscape in the near distance. There are grass areas by the Lost City flat rides and near The Swarm but they're very popular spots and don't have much seating or shade.
• If you're eating on park, VIBES Bar & Kitchen is a decent table service spot. Service could be better but the food is good and it's never been packed when I've gone on busy weekend days, so it effectively doubles as a quiet space. I just wish they'd play something on the TV that isn't just the Big Easy Boulevard video, good grief.
• KFC and Burger King are good quick fixes but, even if you don't eat at either, do pop in when they're quiet and check out the theming. Burger King by Stealth is themed to a '50s diner and KFC by Tidal Wave has a giant shark stuck in the facade!

Good luck for your first visit, I sincerely hope nowt major is closed

 

[rob666]

... The Sunken Gardens by Stealth, featuring the Princess Di memorial boat, is nicer and shaded with the lovely Stealth soundscape in the near distance. ...

Fluked a complete solo ert on all the benches ...with fasttrack...in the sunken garden on my last visit.
Nearly beat the first (and front seat) ride on Hyperia for top experience.

 

[Skyscraper]

Show the RAP card at the park entrance to use the designated Access/Hotel left lane. Dear god, please don't go into the right lane. Don't don't don't

To add to this, just be aware that sometimes the access lane for security might not be open. My friend found it closed on a visit a few weeks back.

 

[Rowe]

To add to this, just be aware that sometimes the access lane for security might not be open. My friend found it closed on a visit a few weeks back.

That's very disappointing. I can understand that being the case when the security lanes are very quiet but only if they've moved the barriers to accommodate for ease of entry. Visitors shouldn't have to slalom around a massive, empty security lane for 5 minutes just to get in!

 

[John]

They do sometimes close some of the extended queues at security, note that at quiet times the left (accessible) lane is not necessary quicker!

 

[Bowser]

Quite the eventful but great day.

When we arrived, there was a temporary booth at the entrance which was handy. As mentioned above, we headed to the dreaded right hand lane but a member of staff kindly directed us to the left hand one. Tbh there weren't a lot of people anyway as we arrived about 11am but good to know for future visits.

Hyperia didn't open till about 1pm. We were sitting outside coincidentally when a test train went round and within about 5 minutes there was a queue from the closed entrance to the Ghost Train. It was still another hour till it actually opened. I went to the gate just prior to this and asked if we'd be able to access the RAP queue if we sat nearby when it opened but they said no we'd have to join the main queue and then filter to the relevant gate. I kind of get it but still a bit rubbish as obviously we couldn't do that.

RAP timeouts were rather inaccurate. Rush we got given an advertised 40 min but this didn't take into account the 10-15 minutes we'd already been waiting. Not a big deal so didn't say anything but then when we eventually did go on Hyperia, we were given an advertised 135 minutes despite waiting almost 30 (the queue was to the entrance) which i thought was very poor. I didn't actually notice till we got off unfortunately.

They were absolutely smashing the ops on Hyperia though and really getting through the RAP queue so was impressed with that. Also had some schadenfreude of seeing people misusing the system (namely using someone else's card and not having the ID) spending 25 minutes queueing only to be told they couldn't go on. Well done to the staff for standing their ground there.

Not all disabilities are visible etc but i couldn't see a single person in that 25 minute queue who i could identify as the RAP holder.

Oh and as recommended previously my son tried the LOOP ear defenders today somebody here suggested. Naturally they fell out on the first drop of Hyperia so back to square one.