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Thorpe Park: General Discussion
- Thread starter Ted
- Start date
Laura
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- blue fire Megacoaster
Everyone could post their rail fares and the prices would be astronomical, so I apologise for making a stupid point. But £4.70 still doesn't seem bad to me. The Cardiff buses have all seen price increases in recent times, and the rail fares keep inching up.
I don't mind paying for the Thorpe bus as, while it IS full of chavs, it's also fairly efficient and goes direct to the park rather than all the faffing about (and 'full to capacity' fiascos) of the Alton bus 'system'.
What's the average taxi fare cost?
I don't mind paying for the Thorpe bus as, while it IS full of chavs, it's also fairly efficient and goes direct to the park rather than all the faffing about (and 'full to capacity' fiascos) of the Alton bus 'system'.
What's the average taxi fare cost?
Ian
TS Team
- Favourite Ride
- Dizz, Bobby’s Yarn Land
I know it's something we've discussed several times before over the years, but I just wanted to bring this up again, as something has set me off as you'll soon find out. So apologies if this comes across as just me having a big old moan and whine.
I was just flicking through TowersStreet Facebook, as I do from time to time, and I just spotted this image we shared, and it made me feel really pretty irritated.
I guess the root of this is simple a question of why does this still exist?
I'm sorry, but I find there to be literally no redeeming features to Thorpe Park's entrance area. It's an eyesore of a structure and plaza, which bares more resemblance to one of China's infamous ghetto park's than a leading UK attraction.
It sends out such a terrible first impression of the park, not helped in any way by the seemingly endless pop-up cattlepen which is slapped in front of the ticketing windows in an attempt to compensate for the fact that there simply isn't enough capacity for the number of visitors Thorpe attracts on a busy day.
Theme parks in the UK generally have a stigma attached to them that they are crowded, busy places, where you will be spending the vast majority of your time waiting in a queue for everything. Whilst this may have been true several years ago the issue is no where near as prominent at our parks as it once was.
Sure, I throughputs aren't the best in the world, and I appreciate that every park has its bad days (Some moreso than others), but surely parks and attractions should be doing their best to dispel this belief? Obviously, we're never going to have successful parks which do not have queues, as it just simply does not happen. Even the beacons of the industry such as Europa Park and The Disney Parks are in no way immune to this. But what really gets my gander up is that Thorpe appears to make no effort in any way to alleviate these problems.
Upon arriving at Thorpe for your first time, as your average guest you park your car on the gravel and walk towards the entrance to purchase a ticket. At this point you should hopefully be in a pretty good mood. You've got a day of leisure time to do as you please, and you're looking forward to having a break from it all for just a few hours. You draw closer to the entrance, come to face the Thorpe Park logo archway and are confronted by this:
Instantly your mood and expectations are lowered. Obviously, it's something pretty opinionated, but for me when I see those cattlepens spilling out all over the place my opinion just hits rock bottom. Instantly, the old generalisation of the theme park is seemingly confirmed. As I've said, queues are inevitable, and there's never going to be a way to completely prevent them, but at least some effort could be made to minimise them and make them more tolerable. I'm sure in the early 90s when the park was still in its forming years the entrance was more than sufficient, with the park receiving only a fraction of the custom it does today. But times change, and so should the park. Features like this should be evolving with the time, and yet they remain stuck in the past.
But the cattlepens are only the tip of the iceberg. You then come to the grimy, ugly buildings and design. The bland, uninspiring blue which the whole area is coated in is so lifeless and boring. Back in the days of Tussauds' Thorpe Park it was a much more refreshing cream and purple scheme. Whilst the awful buildings remained more or less the same it felt a lot more pleasant and inviting than the miserable, soulless blue which now dominates the area.
Then there's the signage on the archway. Whilst I much prefer the current logo design to the Tussauds version the actually design of the signs is, again, dull and grimy. For many years I actually kept wondering why they didn't just jet wash it and freshen it up, before I realised that no, that dirty brown look is actually part of the design! Once again, it makes the whole plaza feel washed out and unloved.
Moving back we come to the main towers, housing the turnstiles. Again, I think that it looked far better in its Tussauds regalia - just - but it's still another a flat, characterless structure which does little more than spoil what is actually a nice view of the park skyline unfolding before you, and the bridge to the island, taking you from the rest of the world to the island. Instead, it sits there, obstructing the park with its towers which have all the charm of the Bates Motel manor.
The sight of the park from the carpark is both impressive and striking, particularly to first time visitors, and it has the ability to really hype you up and get you in the mood for the day ahead. As I've said before, it's something which is very unique to the UK, seeing that impressive collection of tall coasters and flat rides stretching into the sky, and it really does set the adrenalin pumping.
Back to the entrance building though, it's not uncommon for a scrum to result here as hundreds of visitors compact together to filter through the turnstiles and onto the bridge. It's another free-for-all experience which again can lower ones spirits and expectation.
I'll wrap things up now, as I'm conscious that this is just becoming another longwinded complaint about the state of the entrance and impression that Thorpe gives. I just long for them to sort it out once and for all, and breath a new lease of life into the place.
Thorpe Park, in spite of its many flaws, remains one of my favourite parks (Top 5), and I do love the place a great deal. But it really infuriates me that they allow things like the abysmal entrance area, or the state of Colossus' theming to continue, unresolved. I know that ideas and plans have supposedly arisen in the past to deal with the entrance, and yet as each season rolls by it still remains. Times change, and when compared to other parks Thorpe has matured very quickly. Perhaps too quickly.
</moan>
Tl;dr
Thorpe's entrance is vile, and needs sorting!
I was just flicking through TowersStreet Facebook, as I do from time to time, and I just spotted this image we shared, and it made me feel really pretty irritated.
I guess the root of this is simple a question of why does this still exist?
I'm sorry, but I find there to be literally no redeeming features to Thorpe Park's entrance area. It's an eyesore of a structure and plaza, which bares more resemblance to one of China's infamous ghetto park's than a leading UK attraction.
It sends out such a terrible first impression of the park, not helped in any way by the seemingly endless pop-up cattlepen which is slapped in front of the ticketing windows in an attempt to compensate for the fact that there simply isn't enough capacity for the number of visitors Thorpe attracts on a busy day.
Theme parks in the UK generally have a stigma attached to them that they are crowded, busy places, where you will be spending the vast majority of your time waiting in a queue for everything. Whilst this may have been true several years ago the issue is no where near as prominent at our parks as it once was.
Sure, I throughputs aren't the best in the world, and I appreciate that every park has its bad days (Some moreso than others), but surely parks and attractions should be doing their best to dispel this belief? Obviously, we're never going to have successful parks which do not have queues, as it just simply does not happen. Even the beacons of the industry such as Europa Park and The Disney Parks are in no way immune to this. But what really gets my gander up is that Thorpe appears to make no effort in any way to alleviate these problems.
Upon arriving at Thorpe for your first time, as your average guest you park your car on the gravel and walk towards the entrance to purchase a ticket. At this point you should hopefully be in a pretty good mood. You've got a day of leisure time to do as you please, and you're looking forward to having a break from it all for just a few hours. You draw closer to the entrance, come to face the Thorpe Park logo archway and are confronted by this:
Instantly your mood and expectations are lowered. Obviously, it's something pretty opinionated, but for me when I see those cattlepens spilling out all over the place my opinion just hits rock bottom. Instantly, the old generalisation of the theme park is seemingly confirmed. As I've said, queues are inevitable, and there's never going to be a way to completely prevent them, but at least some effort could be made to minimise them and make them more tolerable. I'm sure in the early 90s when the park was still in its forming years the entrance was more than sufficient, with the park receiving only a fraction of the custom it does today. But times change, and so should the park. Features like this should be evolving with the time, and yet they remain stuck in the past.
But the cattlepens are only the tip of the iceberg. You then come to the grimy, ugly buildings and design. The bland, uninspiring blue which the whole area is coated in is so lifeless and boring. Back in the days of Tussauds' Thorpe Park it was a much more refreshing cream and purple scheme. Whilst the awful buildings remained more or less the same it felt a lot more pleasant and inviting than the miserable, soulless blue which now dominates the area.
Then there's the signage on the archway. Whilst I much prefer the current logo design to the Tussauds version the actually design of the signs is, again, dull and grimy. For many years I actually kept wondering why they didn't just jet wash it and freshen it up, before I realised that no, that dirty brown look is actually part of the design! Once again, it makes the whole plaza feel washed out and unloved.
Moving back we come to the main towers, housing the turnstiles. Again, I think that it looked far better in its Tussauds regalia - just - but it's still another a flat, characterless structure which does little more than spoil what is actually a nice view of the park skyline unfolding before you, and the bridge to the island, taking you from the rest of the world to the island. Instead, it sits there, obstructing the park with its towers which have all the charm of the Bates Motel manor.
The sight of the park from the carpark is both impressive and striking, particularly to first time visitors, and it has the ability to really hype you up and get you in the mood for the day ahead. As I've said before, it's something which is very unique to the UK, seeing that impressive collection of tall coasters and flat rides stretching into the sky, and it really does set the adrenalin pumping.
Back to the entrance building though, it's not uncommon for a scrum to result here as hundreds of visitors compact together to filter through the turnstiles and onto the bridge. It's another free-for-all experience which again can lower ones spirits and expectation.
I'll wrap things up now, as I'm conscious that this is just becoming another longwinded complaint about the state of the entrance and impression that Thorpe gives. I just long for them to sort it out once and for all, and breath a new lease of life into the place.
Thorpe Park, in spite of its many flaws, remains one of my favourite parks (Top 5), and I do love the place a great deal. But it really infuriates me that they allow things like the abysmal entrance area, or the state of Colossus' theming to continue, unresolved. I know that ideas and plans have supposedly arisen in the past to deal with the entrance, and yet as each season rolls by it still remains. Times change, and when compared to other parks Thorpe has matured very quickly. Perhaps too quickly.
</moan>
Tl;dr
Thorpe's entrance is vile, and needs sorting!
Rose Of Dawn
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Eejanaika (Fuji-Q Highland)
HaydenCR said:
Strange, it was only £3.50 last Saturday :/
E
electricBlll
I agree it was better then, but even that was a recycling of an older design from "The Great Thorpe Park" era. Back when the entrance plaza was designed, it looked like this:
It's naff that they are still using the old-style structures 20 years on, when they have clearly outlived their purpose (no matter how many coats of paint you apply!), especially now that the trees have gone. However, exactly the same could be said of the amazingly dated ticket plaza at Alton Towers.
The whole entrance area needs a total redesign to cope with the massive numbers and new branding, including the bridge and dome. It's always so difficult to squeeze through the crowds just to get to the park! They'll get round to it sooner or later, hopefully once the permanent hotel is built.
James
TS Founding Member
Alton Towers plaza is the same. Both are ugly and worn out in there own ways. It's like parks (and Merlin) are afraid to invest in the entrance areas. I know it would cost a lot but really carrying on old structures for decades at theme parks is just awful when they look dire now.
It would be nice if Thorpe (and Alton too) could embrace some technologies out there that parks around the world use. Why not start will self-service machines? You would cut a lot of guests queuing with a system where they can simply tap a machine and get the tickets from it. Would safe on staffing costs too!
I think Thorpe will redesign their entrance area soon enough. The hotel and their brand need to be worked out first before looking into areas like this.
It would be nice if Thorpe (and Alton too) could embrace some technologies out there that parks around the world use. Why not start will self-service machines? You would cut a lot of guests queuing with a system where they can simply tap a machine and get the tickets from it. Would safe on staffing costs too!
I think Thorpe will redesign their entrance area soon enough. The hotel and their brand need to be worked out first before looking into areas like this.
They used to have self service machines. They all got vandalised, and even when they did work noone used them, instead queuing for tickets.
London Eye still has self service machines, and they are still ignored in favour of collecting tickets. Just think it's a different type of industry where people prefer print at home or collecting from a person.
London Eye still has self service machines, and they are still ignored in favour of collecting tickets. Just think it's a different type of industry where people prefer print at home or collecting from a person.
Scott
Former TS Team Member
- Favourite Ride
- Nemesis
Ha, barely anything in terms of student concessions here either. Norwich is generally awful for busses!HaydenCR said:
As for the entrance plaza, I totally agree with Ian's sentiments. It. Looks. Awful. What I mainly don't understand is that they have been using those temporary barriers for years and years now, so why haven't they bloody invested in some permanent fencing I don't know. Even some nice wooden queues would make the area a little more appealing.
I do agree though that entrance plazas in the UK are generally very neglected. Particularly when you look at how old Alton and Thorpe's really are. They are both beyond help now - even if they are regularly painted, it stopped masking how outdated they feel a long time ago.
It's strange really as these are the places where guests start their day and new visitors make a first impression. Its blizzard that so little thought and attention is put into them really.
jon81uk
TS Member
James said:
They could push online booking and print at home or collect from self-service machines BUT that would mean getting rid of the 2for1 vouchers!
And Alton Towers plaza is far far better than Thorpe's, at least Towers installed permanent fences for each ticket queue.
CoasterCrazyChris
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Nemesis
They need to bulldoze the lot and start again. It needs more greenery and water features or anything that will make it a pleasant start to the day. And for goodness sake get rid of the portakabins.
It just shows the incompetence of those running British parks like Thorpe that they don't see the importance of creating a good first impression. Never mind the fact it's a 'theme' park.
It just shows the incompetence of those running British parks like Thorpe that they don't see the importance of creating a good first impression. Never mind the fact it's a 'theme' park.
Ian
TS Team
- Favourite Ride
- Dizz, Bobby’s Yarn Land
I would cut Towers Street some slack. Yes it's dated and at the point where it's rather past it's sell by date, but it has decent architectural features, which are still fairly charming in spite of the their age. That's not to say that I don't think it needs work. On the contrary, I'd love to see them completely redo ticketing and the plaza to make them fresher and cope with the queues better.
The difference is that Towers Street was well thought out in the first place, and has a pretty timeless design, which suits the park perfectly, and compliments its surroundings well. At Towers I think you want something which obscures the view into the park, as the rest of the park is hidden anyway. It helps to create that sense of transportation and escapism which is unique to Alton. There the idea works. At Thorpe it does not. Thorpe can still achieve the escapism and transportation effect successfully, without the need for a complex and strategic entrance plaza. Heck, the answer is there on a platter for them; the bridge! Stepping off of the mainland and onto an island away from everyday life.
But also, unlike Towers Street, the entrance in no way compliments the surroundings, and whilst I think many of us acknowledge it looked better in the Great Thorpe Park and Tussauds days, I for one can never imagine a time where it would have looked *good*. It's as if RMC were designing the buildings and said "Ok. Well, you know, we have loads of concrete. We could just make everything look as flat and concrete as possible?". I mean, maybe when Thorpe was still growing in the 90s the idea wasn't as bad. There was no crazy skyline to look at from the car park, so there was probably no harm in the towers being somewhat intrusive, as there was nothing to really obscure. These days though it just seems daft. The fact you see it all and then come to this puny concrete towers which tries to hide it, and fails, not least thanks to Stealth sticking up over it. It's like me trying to hide an elephant by standing in front of it with my arm's out shouting 'NOTHING TO SEE HERE!'. It's simply no longer fit for purpose.
I look at it and think "Uggh!". It's not like it's even a believable structure. I mean, what is it supposed to be? No one can possibly be inside it right? It has no windows for a start! At least with Towers Street there are these little features which, even though we know most of it isn't functional and is just a frontage for the offices and storage behind, you can believe that you know, that could be a bakery, and yeah, maybe that is a bank.
Thorpe's plaza is just so barren and soulless, I'd say it gives Flamingo Land's terrible, as Sam so sweetly put it, windswept Tiananmen Square themed plaza a run for its money. But there is so much wasted potential with it all. Walking over that bridge from the mainland is a very cool concept, but it's completely lost thanks to the terrible execution and the two pig ugly buildings in front and behind you (Though the Dome is certainly the lesser of two evils. At least it's fairly interesting to look at).
I'll never forget leaving Fright Nights preview last year, well past park close, with no one else around, and walking over that bridge in the dark, looking out over the lake, with Lou Reid's Perfect Day playing in the background. It was incredibly, dare I say it, emotional, and it's a memory which has left a very deep impression on me. I think it was probably then when it really hit home just how beautiful and immersive Thorpe has the potential to be.
That bridge and plaza are were every guest begins and end their day. It should be pleasant each and every time you pass through it to both start and end the day on a high, rather than bringing you back to the realisation that you're 'at Thorpe', with all the grace of a brick through a plate glass window. As Chris says above, new structures which do the setting justice, combined with lots of greenery and other natural decorative elements such as water features and rock formations would be ideal. Ensure this is a continuing experience right across the bridge until you enter the Dome, where you enter your first themed section, Port Atlantis (And that's another rant about how wasted the beach and dome are ).
You only get one shot at a first impression, and likewise, your parting will always be one of the freshest memories after your visit. It has to be nothing short of perfect.
I know it seems like I'm harping on, but it is a big deal, and it matters a lot.
The difference is that Towers Street was well thought out in the first place, and has a pretty timeless design, which suits the park perfectly, and compliments its surroundings well. At Towers I think you want something which obscures the view into the park, as the rest of the park is hidden anyway. It helps to create that sense of transportation and escapism which is unique to Alton. There the idea works. At Thorpe it does not. Thorpe can still achieve the escapism and transportation effect successfully, without the need for a complex and strategic entrance plaza. Heck, the answer is there on a platter for them; the bridge! Stepping off of the mainland and onto an island away from everyday life.
But also, unlike Towers Street, the entrance in no way compliments the surroundings, and whilst I think many of us acknowledge it looked better in the Great Thorpe Park and Tussauds days, I for one can never imagine a time where it would have looked *good*. It's as if RMC were designing the buildings and said "Ok. Well, you know, we have loads of concrete. We could just make everything look as flat and concrete as possible?". I mean, maybe when Thorpe was still growing in the 90s the idea wasn't as bad. There was no crazy skyline to look at from the car park, so there was probably no harm in the towers being somewhat intrusive, as there was nothing to really obscure. These days though it just seems daft. The fact you see it all and then come to this puny concrete towers which tries to hide it, and fails, not least thanks to Stealth sticking up over it. It's like me trying to hide an elephant by standing in front of it with my arm's out shouting 'NOTHING TO SEE HERE!'. It's simply no longer fit for purpose.
I look at it and think "Uggh!". It's not like it's even a believable structure. I mean, what is it supposed to be? No one can possibly be inside it right? It has no windows for a start! At least with Towers Street there are these little features which, even though we know most of it isn't functional and is just a frontage for the offices and storage behind, you can believe that you know, that could be a bakery, and yeah, maybe that is a bank.
Thorpe's plaza is just so barren and soulless, I'd say it gives Flamingo Land's terrible, as Sam so sweetly put it, windswept Tiananmen Square themed plaza a run for its money. But there is so much wasted potential with it all. Walking over that bridge from the mainland is a very cool concept, but it's completely lost thanks to the terrible execution and the two pig ugly buildings in front and behind you (Though the Dome is certainly the lesser of two evils. At least it's fairly interesting to look at).
I'll never forget leaving Fright Nights preview last year, well past park close, with no one else around, and walking over that bridge in the dark, looking out over the lake, with Lou Reid's Perfect Day playing in the background. It was incredibly, dare I say it, emotional, and it's a memory which has left a very deep impression on me. I think it was probably then when it really hit home just how beautiful and immersive Thorpe has the potential to be.
That bridge and plaza are were every guest begins and end their day. It should be pleasant each and every time you pass through it to both start and end the day on a high, rather than bringing you back to the realisation that you're 'at Thorpe', with all the grace of a brick through a plate glass window. As Chris says above, new structures which do the setting justice, combined with lots of greenery and other natural decorative elements such as water features and rock formations would be ideal. Ensure this is a continuing experience right across the bridge until you enter the Dome, where you enter your first themed section, Port Atlantis (And that's another rant about how wasted the beach and dome are
). You only get one shot at a first impression, and likewise, your parting will always be one of the freshest memories after your visit. It has to be nothing short of perfect.
I know it seems like I'm harping on, but it is a big deal, and it matters a lot.
jon81uk
TS Member
Ian said:
I think the "Great" Thorpe Park days were all pre-Tussauds. Once Tussauds's bought the park in 1998 they made good additions with Pirates 4D and Tidal Wave but then opted to go down the thrill route (as they already had Chessington down the road). The Lost City rides pushed the thrill ride count and this is when the park really started to change, coupled with the fire destroying wicked witches haunt (I never got to ride it, my first visit was whilst Inferno was being built). The last 12 years has pushed Thorpe into more and more of a thrill destination with mixed success.
On the entrance plaza I think the theory of a single queue for the ticket offices is good, just executed badly and the annual pass portacabin is awful. They could build a permanent queue line or cut down on 2for1 vouchers so less people need to queue on the day or even make 2for1s bookable so people can arrive with printed at home tickets. Build a real building for annual passes and tidy up the turnstile entrances and it wouldn't be an awful entrance.
Inside the dome needs working on too as currently it doesn't feel like it has a purpose.
James said:
Fully agree with this - Thorpe have got a all new online ticketing system for this year which is now in use , from looking at it it looks like your ticket can now be delivered to your mobile phone which is a step in the right direction.
The biggest problem IMO, which has already been stated is how our parks rely on 2 4 1's to be good value and they can only be done by a person.
James
TS Founding Member
One way they could work around 241's is by having codes on the vouchers. Then people can enter the code on websites like Thorpe's and Alton's for the offer - to prevent abuse they could go one step further and have every 241 code on promotional packs with a unique code so not one pack has the same code.
Although it would take some work to do and websites would need to have some work done on booking systems. But it's far from impossible. All they could start with is something like this for the three main parks (Alton, Thorpe and Chessington) and put something on promo packs along the lines of "online code can only be redeemed on selected attraction websites". Would be worth it in helping the individual parks manage predicted guest numbers and in turn will help with queues for tickets on the day.
Merlin do really need to work on getting with the times. It could benefit them in ways too (since they don't seem to actually care about guest experience these days).
Although it would take some work to do and websites would need to have some work done on booking systems. But it's far from impossible. All they could start with is something like this for the three main parks (Alton, Thorpe and Chessington) and put something on promo packs along the lines of "online code can only be redeemed on selected attraction websites". Would be worth it in helping the individual parks manage predicted guest numbers and in turn will help with queues for tickets on the day.
Merlin do really need to work on getting with the times. It could benefit them in ways too (since they don't seem to actually care about guest experience these days).
Ian
TS Team
- Favourite Ride
- Dizz, Bobby’s Yarn Land
E-ticketing and Print@Home are both a great way to go if you ask me, provided that they are properly implemented and promoted to visitors.
I'm always one for new technology though, and I think that the idea of E-ticketing from mobile is a great idea, especially if combined with a powerful app, which could also use utilise it for an overhauled, and more effective Fastrack system. You could even go so far as to implement it for car parking, especially at Thorpe and Chessington where they have barriers which can handle barcodes. It also solves the problem of guests who want one of these ticketing formats which means they don't have to queue at the booths, but don't have access to a printer for Print@Home (Which, somewhat surprisingly, a lot of people do not).
As for Self-Service though Thorpe have already tried this, but it never really took off unfortunately. The machines were either broken, or when they did work nobody seemed to bother with them. Thorpe tends to be the guinea pig for these kind of trails with Merlin, no doubt owing to its smaller size, and the fact it has a considerably newer, purpose built infrastructure backing the park. Had it been a success I don't doubt we would have seen them at either Towers or Chessie by now.
I'm always one for new technology though, and I think that the idea of E-ticketing from mobile is a great idea, especially if combined with a powerful app, which could also use utilise it for an overhauled, and more effective Fastrack system. You could even go so far as to implement it for car parking, especially at Thorpe and Chessington where they have barriers which can handle barcodes. It also solves the problem of guests who want one of these ticketing formats which means they don't have to queue at the booths, but don't have access to a printer for Print@Home (Which, somewhat surprisingly, a lot of people do not).
As for Self-Service though Thorpe have already tried this, but it never really took off unfortunately. The machines were either broken, or when they did work nobody seemed to bother with them. Thorpe tends to be the guinea pig for these kind of trails with Merlin, no doubt owing to its smaller size, and the fact it has a considerably newer, purpose built infrastructure backing the park. Had it been a success I don't doubt we would have seen them at either Towers or Chessie by now.