THORPE PARK Trip Report: 31.8.12

[djtruefitt]

Alton Towers was also very busy yesterday, most big rides had queue times of 50 mins or so, at one point even squirel nutty had a queue time of 50 mins on the boards. But it was only towards the end of the day that queues died down. Towers were also doing their usual trick of selling fast track at the entrance to the mine train, when I asked about it she said it was 45 mins queue for mine train (probably about right) or I could buy a rapids and mine train fast track for only £3.

I guess its because its the end of the summer holidays so all of a sudden everyone is heading to theme parks.

 

[John]

There was simply nowhere to go. No dark rides with minimal queues, no garden areas, no zoo area, no aquarium and no show.

Be fair, there's the Sunken Gardens

Not at the moment - they're currently closed off.

 

[Islander]

Eh, fair enough. Gotta wonder why they're seemingly opening and closing them every other month. Can't be that difficult to make a decision...

 

[AstroDan]

Yes! Sunken Garden is shut off!

Haha!

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[Fredward]

It's a good ride count regardless!

But I suppose someone who has no idea what they are doing would only get on 4 rides.

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[CoasterCrazyChris]

For a while a lack of green space has been a problem at Thorpe Park, particularly since Stealth has been built the park has developed a very claustrophobic feel.

One of the best places to "escape" the crowds for a bit of peace and quiet is the grassy area in Lost City on the edge of the lake in front of Vortex and Zodiac, just next to the Crust snack bar. I would imagine that even this gets busy though on hot summer days.

Other than that and the Sunken Gardens however, I can't really think of anywhere else asides from the odd grassy patch in front of Storm Surge or by Colossus' final turn. The square around the teacups tends to be quiet and there are lots of benches, but it's not the nicest of places.

It's obvious that the park has developed too quickly without enough thought for creating a proper infrastructure that caters for guest needs. There are lots of 'dead spaces' in the park which are unsuitable for new ride development but would makes good social areas. For instance the area from the Boardwalk Games arcade up to Rangers County (in front of the arena) could be redeveloped to create a plaza in the centre of the park with with a landscaped seating area. At the moment it is just lined with rubbish games stalls.

I once remember seeing a plan for Nemesis Inferno (drawn up by John Wardley I think) which showed a plaza area in front of the volcano, alas what we ended up with was simply a large paved area which is good for nothing.

Back to the topic in hand.....I sure hope that the park will quieten down in the next week or so, but you just never know with this place. I think the weather is a big factor.

 

[Benzin]

Removing the beach and Depth Charge would allow Thorpe to have a massive entrance plaza which would make the entry into the park a bit less awful...

There's a lot the park could do with the space, removing the turd rides of NWO and Storm Drain, along with the Arena would allow space for a new coaster and room to spare for more 'relaxation' plazas...

Thorpe is just such a burden when busy literally because there is nowhere to escape, Lego has Miniland, Chessie the zoo and Towers is big enough to get away with it all... They just lack the space (and planning) to get away with it... Let alone the Fastrack situation at the park...

 

[CoasterCrazyChris]

The irony is that just a few decades ago Thorpe Park was winning awards for its pristine landscaping...now you'd be lucky to even find a grass patch.

:L