Thorpe Park 11th July 2021

[Matt N]

Hi guys. We went to Thorpe Park today, and we had a nice day! We left home at about 7:15, and got to Thorpe itself at around 9:20, meaning we were in good time to get into the park for opening time:

One thing I had forgotten before our visit was that Thorpe are currently running an event known as ParkVibes. In terms of how this affects the experience; I honestly didn’t notice a huge amount of difference beyond the decor, the altered ride announcements and a singer outside Nemesis Inferno, but I can tell that Thorpe have clearly put in a lot of effort from what is there; good job, guys! Here’s some photos of the ParkVibes decor:

Before I get onto our first ride, I’d like to bring up something that isn’t necessarily a criticism, but is just an interesting observation I made, and I feel like it would be helpful if I informed you guys about it prior to your own Thorpe visits.

As I mentioned above, we arrived at Thorpe Park around 40 minutes before opening in order to get into the park in good time for some short early morning queues, and I was anticipating something similar to what happens at Alton Towers, where the turnstiles are opened way before 10am so that you can get into your first ride queue before the rides actually open. Thorpe Park does it differently, however; if you arrive before opening, they hold you all within the top area by the Dome, and won’t release you into the main park itself until 10am. This did cause a fair crowd of people to be gathered there by the time opening time was starting to roll around, and personally, I did feel more comfortable wearing a face covering in this close crowding of people, what with COVID being on the rise again. There was also somewhat of a “stampede” of sorts when we eventually were released into the main park. As I say, this isn’t a criticism by any means, as I’m sure there’s a perfectly valid reason why Thorpe does it like they do, but I just felt that I should bring it up so that you guys can plan your Thorpe visits with the knowledge that they release you into the park differently to the likes of Alton Towers.

I’d also just like to give you all a friendly piece of advice that we learned en route to our first ride of the day; don’t walk under Storm Surge to get between Amity & Lost City while a boat is going around, because you could get unwittingly soaked! We learnt that the hard way; when walking under the ride from the toilets in Amity, a boat went directly over our heads, and what felt like a deluge of water splashed out from the channel right on top of us! In terms of wetness, we may as well have boarded a water ride! That was certainly a... surprising start to our day, if nothing else!

After the surprise soaking from Storm Surge, we went to our first ride...
Saw The Ride
Saw was on an advertised 5 minute queue, so we joined it. In actuality, this queue turned out to be closer to 35-40 minutes, but given some of the advertised queues that Saw had been getting later in the day (in excess of an hour), I’ll take that as a relative win! So, how was the ride? Well, we were seated on the front row of the car, and if I’m being honest, it was a bit brutal for my liking. Credit where it’s due, I think Saw is a very well-themed coaster, and I think the layout is pretty good, with some nice airtime moments, but there’s a lot of very jolty moments that really bash you around, and it never fails to leave me with a thumping headache afterwards. I’m sorry to say it, but I’m not really a huge fan of it:

After Saw, we headed to the coaster directly next to it, which had an advertised 25 minute queue...
Colossus
Colossus was on an advertised 25 minute queue, so we decided to join it. I’ve never really liked Colossus much, but I thought it would still be worth a try, as I hadn’t done it for a fair amount of time, and the queue was fairly short compared to some of their other rides. This queue eventually ended up at around 50 minutes, and wasn’t the fastest moving of queues either (I clocked the throughput at 553pph), but Colossus has quite a nice queue and area, in my opinion, so it wasn’t too bad. And besides, the staff all seemed to be trying really hard to keep it moving, so I can’t really ask for much more in that regard! So, how was the ride? Well, I was seated in row 9, and I’m afraid to say I didn’t enjoy it much at all, unfortunately. I’d forgotten quite how cramped the cars & restraints are, and the ride was very rough. Despite the first half being quite good in layout terms, in my opinion, I’m also not a huge lover of the continuous heartline rolls at the end; they made me feel a bit dizzy, and they’re somewhat uncomfortable with Colossus’ restraint system. On the whole, as much as I can see why some like it, Colossus is one of my personal least favourite coasters, due to a combination of the roughness, the somewhat uncomfortable restraints and the mildly unpleasant (in my opinion) ending. It’s a shame, as I think the first half of Colossus could be quite enjoyable with a smoother ride and different trains, and I think it’s a very photogenic ride:

After Colossus, we headed to another coaster on the other end of the park...
Stealth
Stealth was on a 30 minute queue, so we joined it. The Stealth queue ultimately ended up at close to 1 hour, but I was interested to see how Stealth rode, as my last ride was in the front row. So, how was the ride? Well, I was seated in row 7, and it was good fun; I do like Stealth! The launch was excellent, as per usual, and the airtime moment over the top hat was also great, providing a strong burst that seemed to continue for a fair duration! However, it didn’t hit quite like my last ride did, and while I would not call Stealth a rough coaster by any means, I noticed that the ride is getting quite rattly in the ascension and descension parts of the top hat, which did detract somewhat for me. I know a small degree of rattle is to be expected given Stealth’s speed, but it did seem quite bumpy compared to usual today. Still, I do rather enjoy Stealth, and it’s always a rush:

After Stealth, we sat down and ate our lunch in an area overlooking Nemesis Inferno, and after lunch, we were tempted to join the queue for Nemesis Inferno, but it was on an advertised 70 minute queue, so we instead headed to...
The Swarm
The Swarm was on an advertised 20 minute queue, so we thought it would be a good one to join. Interestingly, we got to queue through a section of extension queue I’ve never gotten to queue through before, on the other side of the lift hill, which was cool! In terms of how long the queue turned out to be; the ride did stop for a couple of extended periods, so it turned out to be closer to 45 minutes, but given the stoppages, that can’t really be helped. So, how was the ride? Well, I was sat in the front row, and I’m glad to report that Swarm was running absolutely phenomenally today, and controversially, it was easily the standout ride of the day for me! Swarm may not look like the fastest of coasters from off-ride, but my god, I really felt like we were flying at phenomenal speed on the front row! The ride also had its usual major pluses for me of smoothness as well as just the right balance of thrill/intensity & fun/rerideability, and the first drop & final inline twist were absolutely sublime, as per usual! To top it all off; the restraints, while still not my favourite restraints in the world, seemed less of a bother to me than I’d remembered! The tightening seemed less obtrusive than it did last time, which certainly sweetened the deal a fair amount for me! Overall, my first front row ride on Swarm was absolutely sublime, and easily one of my favourite rides I’ve ever had on it:

After the phenomenal ride on Swarm, we went back to the coaster we’d considered riding earlier…
Nemesis Inferno
When we had gotten off Swarm, Nemesis Inferno had a 75 minute advertised wait time. However, by the time we reached the ride, it had gone down to a much more palatable 30 minutes; always a bonus! It ultimately ended up being around 50 minutes, but the ride did stop for a good 5-10 minutes while we were waiting due to an item needing to be retrieved from the ride area, which can’t really be helped, in fairness. But more importantly; how was the ride? Well, we were seated in row 4, and I have to say, Inferno was running excellently today! The ride was fairly smooth, decently fast throughout and had just the right amount of force, so as much as inverts (or more specifically, rides with little aside from positive g’s) aren’t my absolute favourite type of coaster these days, Inferno was really enjoyable today, and gets a firm thumbs up from me; it was a really excellent ride! Having now ridden the two in short succession of one another, I dare say I actually prefer Inferno to its Alton Towers namesake. As much as the original Nemesis has some moments that are more intense than anything on Inferno, I feel like intensity isn’t everything, and I personally find Inferno maintains a more consistent sense of speed throughout the ride, is smoother, and I generally find it a little bit more fun to ride, personally:

After Nemesis Inferno, we headed back over to Swarm Island for a reride on Swarm. This time, I was seated in row 3, and it was just as phenomenal as earlier! My experience on Swarm today rocketed it back into my 10/10 tier, and it’s made it my favourite Thorpe Park coaster by a greater distance than before, as well as still retaining its place as one of my very favourite UK coasters! In terms of its place within my UK top 3; I’ve decided to tentatively keep it at its current place of UK #3, placing it just behind Icon & Wicker Man amongst UK coasters, as Swarm has less airtime/negative g’s than the coasters above it and the restraints aren’t my favourite, but I’d honestly say the 3 are pretty close to each other, in all honesty, and a particularly good or slightly underwhelming experience on any of them could tip the balance in a different direction.

After our 2nd amazing Swarm ride, it was about 3:30pm, so as my parents were keen to get home in good time for the Euro 2020 final, we agreed to call it quits there:

Overall, we had a very enjoyable day at Thorpe Park! I was very satisfied with our ride count of 6, and as much as I may not have ridden any of Thorpe’s non-coasters like I may have liked to have done, I did get personal satisfaction in another area, because this was actually the first visit where I’ve ever done all 5 of Thorpe’s big coasters in 1 visit! I apologise if I sound a bit moany in some of my reviews of the coasters, but roughness isn’t really my personal cup of tea on a ride, and a couple of Thorpe’s coasters are a bit too rough for my personal taste. On the whole, though, I do have a huge soft spot for Thorpe as a park, and I’d have to say it’s possibly one of my favourite UK parks (if I had to specify, it’s probably 3rd behind Alton & BPB)!

Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed my report! My next trip report will be a 2-in-1, as I’m going on a weekend away for my 18th birthday where I’ll be reporting from my first visit to Legoland Windsor in 4 years and my first visit ever to Paultons Park!

 

[Serena]

Nice report!

The last ride I had on Swarm recently was also absolutely flying through the layout. It was easily the best ride I've had on it! Great to hear it's running so well this season

 

[Matt N]

Nice report!

The last ride I had on Swarm recently was also absolutely flying through the layout. It was easily the best ride I've had on it! Great to hear it's running so well this season

Thanks @Serena!

I’ve always loved Swarm, but on Sunday, something about it seemed to be on a different level to usual! I’ll admit it surprises me how fast the ride feels when you’re on it, as Swarm doesn’t look like an especially fast ride from off-ride! To be honest with you, I think Swarm is one of those coasters I have a tendency to push down my rankings when I’m sat at home and haven’t ridden it in a while, but when I actually reride it, I’m always floored because I remember how much I actually like it!

I’ll admit I always feel strange loving Swarm so much, because I’m one of the few who seemingly does; everyone else I talk to seems decidedly apathetic towards it, and their love usually goes towards Stealth, Inferno or Saw! Then again, the other 2 entries in my UK top 3 are Icon & Wicker Man, which the rest of the community seem mostly apathetic towards… I guess I just have strange opinions!