When I was younger (god even writing that makes me feel old!) I loved roller coasters, the bigger and faster the better, while everyone else went green I was laughing and screaming! Then I grew up and had to be more sensible especially after having my boys, over the years we have been to all the usual places with them but for some reason we never visited Thorpe Park. Until my other half announced that his firm had decided to hold a family day for the entire workforce at this place. So never being one to look a gift horse in the mouth the boys and I jumped at the chance!

HERE COMES THE HISTORY BIT!

Feel free to skip this!
The site was originally a quarry and was owned by a company called Ready mix cement in the 1970's, they decided to fill it in and build a leisure park. After quite a few years and arguments with the local residents they decided to fill it with water and make Thorpe park an island.

The park finally opened in 1979 and was more educational than thrilling, the Tussauds group bought the park in 1998 to add to their collection of other attractions including the London dungeons, Madame Tussauds and Chessington world of adventures to name but a few.

WHERE IS IT?

The park is in Surrey, the full address is:
Thorpe Park
Staines road
Chertsey
Surrey
KT16 8PN

If you are driving you go on the M25 and come off at either junction 11 or 13 then follow the signs via A320 to Thorpe park. It is quite well sign posted and our sat nav seemed to know the way quite well (for once!). Once there car parking is free and there were plenty of attendants on hand to show you where to park. The car park is huge to the point where we had no idea where we parked and spent 10 minutes looking for the car when we left!

There is also a train service to Staines from Waterloo station, Reading and Guildford and are quite regular especially during peak times in the season.

There is also a coach service running from Victoria Station and some bus routes.

The season runs from March to the beginning of November, opening times vary so it is best to check before you go, the best place to check is online.

HOW MUCH WILL THIS SET ME BACK?

Now for me this bit didn't apply because my other half's firm paid but I didn't think the review would be complete without putting this bit in, I also thought it would be good to see if I felt the park would justify the price.

These are on the day prices:
Children under 1 metre go free
1 metre to 11 years £20
12+ years £32
Family of 4 £88
Family of 5 £105
Disabled/helper £16
Senior £20

It is cheaper to book on line through the Thorpe park website, you can also special offer tickets from a few places including supermarkets when they run a promotion.

You also get the opportunity to buy fast track tickets for the more popular rides; these are basically queue jump tickets, which means you get closer to the front and get on the ride quicker.

Extreme
(Colossus, Nemesis Inferno, X:\No Way Out, Tidal Wave or Loggers Leap) £9

Adrenaline
(Rush, Samurai, Slammer, Vortex) £7

Stealth £4

Ultimate
(Unlimited Fastrack rides all day!) £50

You can get these on line and I did see people queuing up to buy them on the day, personally I do think these prices are expensive especially after paying the entry price. But I suppose it depends on how desperate you want to avoid the queues. We were actually given quite a few tickets that we could use once on any ride!

PARK LAYOUT

When we arrived and the other half had signed us all in we were given a wristband, entrance ticket and a park map. Initially when looking at the map I thought the park looked quite big but once you get your bearings it is actually quite compact and it is not easy to get lost. You use the ticket to get through the electronic turnstiles, which both my boys managed to get stuck in!

The park is set out in different named places but looking at the map there doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to the different places it looks like they started to put the rides in certain themed places and then lost interest and just put them wherever they could fit them!
When you are walking around you would hardly realize that you have left one place and are in another, the only place that is evident is Amity cove and that is because of the loud pretend American radio playing that constantly tells you where you are!

THE BEST BIT, THE RIDES!

All the rides have a display time telling you how long the queue waiting time is, this is usually found above the entrance.

I shall split this bit into sections and try to give my opinion of the rides we went on:

ROLLERCOASTERS

Colossus:
We had already agreed that I would try the big roller coasters first and this was the first one I went on, I have to say that with it's 5 corkscrew turns I was completely satisfied and really enjoyed it. As it was early I only had to wait about 15minutes to get on this one.

Nemesis inferno:
I used a fast track ticket for this one, as the queue waiting time was 90mins! This was the first time I had used a ticket and really felt guilty as I saw the hoards of people waiting in the normal queue. The waiting time for me was about 10 mins, the ride itself was great and had the extra kick of having your feet dangling as you corkscrew. There is also a red volcano that you go through which is pretty good but the ride is over very quick and I wouldn't have been so pleased if I had had to wait for the full 90 mins! Because of the dangling feet you can't wear high heels or flip flops on this ride.

Stealth:
I had problems with this ride we tried to go on it about 3 times and twice we queued up and waited for to be told that it had broken down and they were waiting for a mechanic. Finally on the last attempt we made it! This ride was opened in 2006 and given extra power this year, it is 250ft high and accelerates from 0-80mph in 2 seconds. After the disappointments I hoped this ride was worth it, when we got back for the final time the queue was again 90 mins waiting time so we used another fast track ticket and only waited 20mins and yes it was worth it, anyone that loves speed will love this ride you haven't really got time to be scared as it is over very quick but it is one I could go on again and again.

X:/No way out:
Again with the problems, we actually got to the front of this ride when it broke down and after waiting for 15 mins we were informed that it wouldn't be fixed before the park closed.
Apparently this is a rollercoaster in the dark that goes backwards.

Flying fish:
This is a more tame roller coaster and my boys decided to try this one as they were not up to the bigger ones, It is more of a simple roller coaster with twists and turns and I must admit it was a bit tame for me but the boys loved it and went on it about 3 times!

THRILL RIDES

These are the smaller rides but just as exciting as the bigger ones!

Detonator:
This takes you up 100ft in the air and then down you come very fast and leave you stomach at the top! I loved this one and the waiting time when I went on was about 20mins so it wasn't to bad.

Quantum:
Well it looks good but it was closed when we were there! But for those who are lucky enough to actually get on it looks something like a magic carpet that spins you around.

Rush:
This is a giant swing ride, I know that doesn't sound very thrilling but it really is! It goes very fast and made me feel a bit sick but I would go on it again.

Vortex:
This is like a huge pendulum with a big circle you have lots of seats that fit 4 people, this then spins, lurches and throws you around but it is a great ride and certainly gets your adrenalin pumping.

Samurai & slammer were also both closed so sorry can't give an opinion.

WATER RIDES

Ok by some strange coincidence I wore a white t-shirt the day we went and it was not seen as fitting for the other half's girlfriend to be flashing her boobs amongst his work mates so I got out of these rides but the boys went on all of them!

Tidal wave:
By miles they're favourite and they went on this twice, you climb up 85ft in you're log and then come full pelt down and get absolutely soaked! On the outskirts of the ride there is also a splash zone where nutters, sorry people can stand and get wet.
The waiting times for this ride were very long and again they used the fast track tickets.

Loggers leap:
This is also a log flume with a more traditional feel, you sit in a long log with people in a row and go down 2 drops and around some twists and turns. You don't get as wet as tidal wave but wet enough.

Rumba rapids:
They didn't get too wet on this ride but it did break down and they had to wait 20 mins before it got going again by the time they had fixed the ride the waiting time was 90 mins! Lucky my lot were near the front.
The ride itself has round seats and as the name suggests you go through rapids and get splashed, it was the gentler of the water rides but the boys enjoyed it

Around the water rides there are big heaters that you stand in to dry off these cost £2 a go so we only used them once just before we went home, they are good and you do dry off a bit but not fully.

KIDS RIDES

Mr monkeys banana ride:
This is one of those swinging ship rides but it doesn't go right over it just swings from side to side, we all enjoyed this one and it was fun to see the boys faces as they left their stomachs at the top of the swing!

Storm in a teacup:
These are spinning teacups similar to the old waltzer and believe or not I can't go on them as they make me feel really sick but again I can say they were a winner with my 2.

Depth charge:
A big slide with about 3 bumps that you go down on a sort of mat surfboard thing, they really enjoyed this but the queue can get really long.

There are also a few younger children rides including a safari ride, carousel and the octopus garden that has a lot of little ones rides.

All rides have a height chart before you go on you tell you if you are tall enough to go on. Also a lot of the big rides have a photo bit where they take a picture of you at your most scared! You can view these after the ride and have the option to buy them or have them printed on things such as mouse mats.

All around the park you will find fairground games to part you with your hard earned cash, the prizes look impressive great big teddies but I found it funny that none of these seem to break down or be closed!

FEEDING TIME

Now we were lucky enough to have lunch laid on for us in the Lake view venue and I can say for a corporate lunch it was really good.
Inside the park there are plenty of places to eat all around the park and there seemed to be a lot of American diner themed restaurants. From what I could see they serve all the usual things you would expect in this type of place and the prices also seemed to be a bit pricy but to be honest I would expect that. You can buy the drinks that you pay one price for and then refill as much as you want.

STAFF

The staff did seem to be on the young side and didn't really fill you with confidence especially on the more scarier rides, also when the rides broke down they didn't seem to know what to do or say. I found the staff in the place we had our lunch really nice and helpful but out in the park a lot of them seemed bored and unhelpful for example when we couldn't get on the No way out rollercoaster we had used our remaining fast track tickets but when we came out and asked for them to be returned we were told that we would have to go to customer services and queue up to complain now if I had paid for that fast track ticket I would of created merry hell but to be honest at the time I couldn't be bothered to get into an argument and spoil the day for us.

TOILETS & SHOPS

There were enough loos around and they were relatively clean, there was also disabled access and help points for help, as for shops well there were quite a few selling the usual rubbish that the kids really must have and will be broken by the time you get home!

MY OVERALL IMPRESSION

Ok yes we really enjoyed our day but then we didn't have to pay for it, if I had had to pay I would have been less happy. The price is very steep for a family of 4 and I would of waited until I got a promotional voucher I also wouldn't of paid out for fast track tickets either which meant I wouldn't of gone on any of the big rides because I am not queuing for 90 mins for them. I would also of taken my own food and drinks, as the prices did seem a bit steep. As for the actual park I found it looked a bit dirty and unkempt in places and was in need of a good clean. The staff need to inform the people more about problems with rides and not just stand there staring at them. I was also disappointed about the amount of rides that were out of order on the day, even though there was plenty to keep us occupied I would of liked to of gone on a few of the ones that were broken.

My boys thoroughly enjoyed themselves and I do feel they had enough to occupy them; there was a good mix of rides so they got to go on plenty. We got home and they were tired and happy my favourite time, I wouldn't go out of my way to go again but on the whole I did enjoy the experience and it was nice to feel like a kid again!