Thorpe Park: General Discussion

[GaryH]

£59.99 ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha

For Thorpe Park - even more ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha

I know exactly why they have done this as well - because last year couldnt cope on peak days with the park having to close its doors midway through the day. No doubt this incredible price increase is to put people off visiting on peak days this year.

 

[jon81uk]

I know exactly why they have done this as well - because last year couldnt cope on peak days with the park having to close its doors midway through the day. No doubt this incredible price increase is to put people off visiting on peak days this year.

Although it is still only £5 more than last year if booked online, but that also means they know how many guests to expect

 

[DiogoJ42]

It's almost as if they don't want guests.

 

[GaryH]

They dont want guests to turn up on the day no.

 

[nadroJ]

It does make sense in theory, doesn't make it any less ridiculous.

The sad thing is is that this hits those who don't have the foresight to look ahead and book online, and prefer to go the old school route and just turn up. They really need to plug the 'book online and save a ton' angle hard otherwise they're just going to upset people.

 

[Rob]

You could equally say the above about PortAventura in the summer. They open for 14 hours, have parades, shows and a fireworks display and generally much shorter queues than Disney. Yet they charge less than Disney or Thorpe Park, and are still disliked by a lot of enthusiasts oddly enough.

I shouldn't feed the troll but I am going to anyway. Some negative discussion around certain aspects of a theme park does not equate to enthusiasts disliking said theme park.

Anyway, I see the logic behind Thorpe's pricing structure. I still think it is pure madness though.

 

[thefatone]

It does make sense in theory, doesn't make it any less ridiculous.

The sad thing is is that this hits those who don't have the foresight to look ahead and book online, and prefer to go the old school route and just turn up. They really need to plug the 'book online and save a ton' angle hard otherwise they're just going to upset people.

You can turn up on the day, and pay on your mobile (online) to get the online rate however. Won't suit everyone, but can help some.

 

[jon81uk]

You can turn up on the day, and pay on your mobile (online) to get the online rate however. Won't suit everyone, but can help some.

Nope, advance rate requires booking at least a day in advance, same as Towers.

Best bet if you are turning up on the day is to buy some Kellogs cereal on the way (or other product offering a discount).

 

[Enter Valhalla]

I shouldn't feed the troll but I am going to anyway. Some negative discussion around certain aspects of a theme park does not equate to enthusiasts disliking said theme park.

How on earth am I being a troll in any way? I was merely responding to the post which said that Disney are the only park who can justify charging a lot due to their long opening hours and end of day fireworks, something which PortAventura also do, together with loads of other entertainment making it much better value for money than Thorpe park especially as he price is lower.

There are some members of this forum who disagree with virtually all the positive comments regarding PortAventura and I would say that this does equate to disliking it. Even when PortAventura are making positive improvements the same people continue to criticise them, which they wouldn't do if other parks were doing the same.

In response to the original comment, I would actually say that there's a fair few parks other than Disney who have long opening hours and nightly fireworks yet charge a lot less than £60. Disney can get away with charging so much because they are an internationally known brand and they operate the world's most famous theme parks. There's no way Thorpe should be charging that much, nor should any other parks for that matter, even ones which do run 14 hour days and nightly fireworks.

 

[thefatone]

Nope, advance rate requires booking at least a day in advance, same as Towers.

Nah they changed that last year with their new Accesso Passport system - you could book tickets on the day at the online rate, and enter using the barcode on your mobile. Unless they've changed that this year, but I can't find any wording stating that on the website.

In other news, thorpe haven't scrapped their Concessions rate at all - it still exists on the day, albeit a tiny discount (as stated on this page: https://www.thorpepark.com/tickets-passes/ticket-information/tickets/1-day-ticket/):

• Children under 1m enter the Park for free. Children under the age of 12, and Seniors over the age of 65 can purchase a ticket at the gate for the discounted price of £44.99 offpeak and £54.99 peak.

 

[Rob]

Thorpe have posted their 2015 map to Facebook:

Every coaster still looks like Stealth!

 

[Alastair]

They open for 14 hours, have parades, shows and a fireworks display and generally much shorter queues than Disney.

Much shorter queues than Disney? I went to DCA last year at the height of summer; the queue for California Screamin' was never longer than 10 minutes, and I went on it several times and queued for less than 5. The previous year I visited PA where the queue for Furius Baco was 2 hours with a full fastrack queue taking up the front seats and most of the train of every other train. PortAventura is not even worthy of being mentioned in the same sentence as Disney.

 

[Enter Valhalla]

But you could equally compare it to my experience of DLP during french school holidays where all the queues were over 90 mins for the major rides and very few smaller rides had queues of under 30 mins, including Pinnocchio where the batcher wasn't bothering to find groups of two to fill up the back rows and on Crush's Coaster where rather than calling for groups of two, two single riders were being let on a time causing a lengthy main queue and most major rides running out of fast passes by 11am.

This isn't a criticism of Disney and, as I said above, PA generally have shorter queues, not always. You seem to be basing your opinion just on your experience of California Adventure, a park which has never been as successful as planned. There are numerous other Disney parks out there and, from my experience PA usually have shorter queues. I'm not debating their poor operations. If you read what I originally said, all I am saying is that there are numerous parks out there which have long opening hours and nightly fireworks, not just Disney, even Oakwood do in the summer!!

 

[AstroDan]

I have seen queues of 150 minutes on Furius Baco.

The throughput is woeful.

Along with Tonnerre de Zeus at Asterix, it's one of the longest I've seen.

 

[Alastair]

But you could equally compare it to my experience of DLP during french school holidays where all the queues were over 90 mins for the major rides and very few smaller rides had queues of under 30 mins, including Pinnocchio where the batcher wasn't bothering to find groups of two to fill up the back rows and on Crush's Coaster where rather than calling for groups of two, two single riders were being let on a time causing a lengthy main queue and most major rides running out of fast passes by 11am.

This isn't a criticism of Disney and, as I said above, PA generally have shorter queues, not always. You seem to be basing your opinion just on your experience of California Adventure, a park which has never been as successful as planned. There are numerous other Disney parks out there and, from my experience PA usually have shorter queues. I'm not debating their poor operations. If you read what I originally said, all I am saying is that there are numerous parks out there which have long opening hours and nightly fireworks, not just Disney, even Oakwood do in the summer!!

Well, if your only experience has been at DLP then I can see your point. It's widely recognised as by far the worst Disney park in operation. I'm fairly lucky to have visited every Disney park in America and the longest I queued was just over an hour for Radiator Springs Racers at DCA (the most expensive ride ever built, so I felt it was justified). Doesn't quite cut it when you're queuing double that length for something as vile as Baco.

 

[Benzin]

Thorpe's current map design is still quite frankly, one of the worst in UK history...

 

[jon81uk]

Nah they changed that last year with their new Accesso Passport system - you could book tickets on the day at the online rate, and enter using the barcode on your mobile. Unless they've changed that this year, but I can't find any wording stating that on the website.

Last year I remember if you checked the calender for bookings they were cheaper if booking more than 2 days in advance. I'm sure of it. Can't test it yet this year as all bookings are more than a week in advance!

 

[Benzin]

Also, I'm a Celeb has Fastrack... That'll be fun for everyone then...

 

[Ted]

Thorpe have posted their 2015 map to Facebook:

Every coaster still looks like Stealth!

Pizza hut has gone...*squats into corner and cries* Well at least KFC is still there.

I don't mind the design of the map too much, but the giant coaster thing really annoys me. It makes everything else on the map look so tiny!

 

[Enter Valhalla]

Well, if your only experience has been at DLP then I can see your point. It's widely recognised as by far the worst Disney park in operation. I'm fairly lucky to have visited every Disney park in America and the longest I queued was just over an hour for Radiator Springs Racers at DCA (the most expensive ride ever built, so I felt it was justified). Doesn't quite cut it when you're queuing double that length for something as vile as Baco.

As riveting as it is hearing about your worldly travels I would point out that Paris is not my only experience of a Disney park and that I have encountered long queues at Epcot and Hollywood Studios too. I don't really see what point you're trying to make. I'm not saying that PA never gets long queues but having visited both PA and disney parks during both peak and off peak periods, Disney queue times are in most cases the longest. Obviously there are exceptions- Baco's massive morning queues and Tomorrowland PeopleMover being constantly walk on, but I am generalising like I always said. I do feel that my one sentence about PA queue times has really touched a nerve with some people which was never my intention.