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Thorpe Park: General Discussion

bluesonichd said:
With it being Thorpe. Make sure your number plate is secure
Someone nicks it’s puts it on their car to get out the car park.
o_O
Actually that’s a good idea :D
Free parking
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Or just stop in the layby down the road, put on fake plates, park up, enjoy your day and remove after exiting at same said layby. Nobody is going to be walking round the car park doing license plate checks and the chances of you being stopped on the roundabout outside before you swap them back are slim to none.
 
Would be interesting if they did in the end link cars with passes, as I’ve been to Thorpe and even towers in other peoples cars and used my pass to exit.
 
Found out the other day that the car park is part owned by Runnymede council, which is one of the reasons why when the costs came into practice it shot from £2 to £5 as the council weren't aware initially.

Could be their decision if they still have some ownership of it.
 
The council did initially contact Thorpe requesting them to install barriers to help with traffic outside the park. And then when Thorpe did it the council weren't aware they were charging originally. Whether that did lead to a spike in the cost is unknown, but it's true it all adds up.

The relationship between the park and council has changed in recent years (fair to say they're not as well connected). So I'd be surprised if the council were requesting changes
 
SuperMuscleMan said:
Another reason to stop giving money to m£rlin. Will they allow a grace period for drop offs?
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I've never dropped off at Thorpe, but I'd imagine there is/will be a drop off zone?

The ANPR changes nothing in reality. If you enter the car park then unless you have a Premium MAP or are staying in their hotel then you have to pay to leave. The ANPR should just make it a tiny bit quicker to get cars through the barries, assuming that they have paid.
 
As a teen I used to get dropped off by my dad on his way to work. But if people want to pick up passes etc will they have to pay M£rlin?


Rob said:
I've never dropped off at Thorpe, but I'd imagine there is/will be a drop off zone?

The ANPR changes nothing in reality. If you enter the car park then unless you have a Premium MAP or are staying in their hotel then you have to pay to leave. The ANPR should just make it a tiny bit quicker to get cars through the barries, assuming that they have paid.
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SuperMuscleMan said:
As a teen I used to get dropped off by my dad on his way to work. But if people want to pick up passes etc will they have to pay M£rlin?
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I think if you enter the car park during normal season then you will be expected to pay. But I think if you don't turn in to the car park and drive straight on (where buses/taxis go) then you should be fine for drop-off in the same way taxis do.
But parking up to collect a pass during open season? Who actually does that?
 
SuperMuscleMan said:
As a teen I used to get dropped off by my dad on his way to work. But if people want to pick up passes etc will they have to pay M£rlin?
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I have no idea, but that question is just as valid this year as it has been for the last few years. The ANPR is new, not the barriers that require payment for exit.
 
You just go to drop off if you're doing someone off. Easy. Don't pay.

The big change this will cause, presumably, is that regardless of when you leave, you'll have to pay. Before, if you left early enough (usually before 2pm), the barriers were up and unmanned, meaning you could leave without paying in theory. With ANPR that's unlikely now.
 
Prophecy said:
You just go to drop off if you're doing someone off. Easy. Don't pay.

The big change this will cause, presumably, is that regardless of when you leave, you'll have to pay. Before, if you left early enough (usually before 2pm), the barriers were up and unmanned, meaning you could leave without paying in theory. With ANPR that's unlikely now.
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I'm not so sure; they'll still have to have someone at the barriers to sort out issues, so I imagine they won't bother outside of peak times and leave them up like they used to.
 
We probably won't be seeing any new rides, but expect a new attraction of some form.
 
There might be a free period, it depends where the cameras are positioned. Of course if they're positioned on the road AFTER the drop off point, then everybody will just park in the drop off car park like anybody remotely cheeky has done previously, if it's before then it'll be just a free parking period, say 15 minutes, before charges apply, or something like that.
 
IanSR said:
There might be a free period, it depends where the cameras are positioned. Of course if they're positioned on the road AFTER the drop off point, then everybody will just park in the drop off car park like anybody remotely cheeky has done previously, if it's before then it'll be just a free parking period, say 15 minutes, before charges apply, or something like that.
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I would be almost certain that the cameras are positioned exactly in front of the existing barriers.

My assumption is that the car park barriers will not change, just they will scan numberplates instead of accepting tickets. So when you pay for parking you enter the reg number. Then when exiting you drive up to the barrier, it reads the numberplate and you exit.

The bus/taxi/drop-off area will still be outside of the barrier area.
 
That would make the most sense, same kind of systems that airport parking does, and some shopping centres where you enter your number on the pay Machine rather then have a ticket.

Can only guess they will just add a camera somewhere at entrance to clock you coming in as well.
 
They'll have to otherwise everybody will just park in the drop off carpark and bypass the cameras.
Well I say everybody, but not everybody, you know what I mean lol.
 
IanSR said:
They'll have to otherwise everybody will just park in the drop off carpark and bypass the cameras.
Well I say everybody, but not everybody, you know what I mean lol.
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Then why didn't everyone park in the drop off area for the last few years?

If the barriers remain in the same place as they always have been it shouldn't change anything.
 
jon81uk said:
Then why didn't everyone park in the drop off area for the last few years?
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Because people tend not to take the Michael and often do as they are told, plus unless you either knew the waterski(?) school told it's patrons to park in the drop off carpark, or had done it yourself, you could be forgiven for thinking they had people patrolling the carpark and enforcing the rules, when in fact they didn't.
 
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