Hello lovelies! I am aware that many of you enjoy roller-coasters and theme parks after a thread I made a couple of months ago so I thought why not make an article out of my own experiences?!
Recently I went to Thorpe Park, a theme park which is located near Chertsey in the United Kingdom that is operated and owned by Merlin Entertainments. Thorpe Park is bursting at the seems with coasters, flat rides and even water slides! They even have a shark themed hotel on site, which if you stay at you will receive a free unlimited fast pass for the first hour of which the park is opening. This fast pass allows you to skip the line of all the rides on site which allows you to get more done in your day. You can also buy one of these passes for the day but that bumps the price up quite a bit.
My boyfriend and I were at the park for two days at the beginning of June and stayed overnight at the park. We decided to go at this time as most English schools are still on so the park was overall much quieter, making waiting times considerably shorter. The longest we waited for a ride was actually 45 minutes and that was for the parks new Walking Dead ride!
This article is only going to look at a handful of rides that I went on, as well as videos for you to watch. Only one of these videos is my own, the rest I had to find on youtube!
Nemesis Inferno
Nemesis Inferno is probably the tamest of the 'Thrill Rides' at the Thorpe Park and is a good first time 'big' coaster for people wanting to start the day off easy. With the loop and speed giving a great sense of thrill and enjoyment.
The only downside is that the right shut down frequently over the two days I was there because of problems with several attempts to load a second train onto the track.
Unfortunately I only got to ride it once out of the two days I was there, which was pretty disappointing but these things happen! So if you end up going to the park I highly recommend trying to get to Nemesis early on as the lines get quite long.
The Swarm
This ride is tied for having the best theme work in the park, with the train running through billboard signs with holes cut out and narrowly missing collapsing buildings.
The ride itself is a steel winged coaster where two people sit either side of the track itself which is bloody terrifying if you are afraid of heights but during the ride makes you feel like you are flying the entire way.
Surprisingly the best part of the ride is the start, just after the incline as the track turns, inverting you, so that you are hanging upside down at the highest point of the ride. Something you should definitely try and experience from the outside front seat!
I honestly don't have a bad thing to say about this ride other than it was absolutely incredible. Although after riding it 3 times in a row in the space of twenty minutes I may have passed out, which my boyfriend found absolutely hilarious.
Stealth
Stealth stands at an intimidating height of 62 metres and looms over the park with an intimidating menace. Screams from the ride can be heard from far and people begging partners not to force them on.
It is an accelerator coaster, which has a max speed of 130 km/h. Regardless of how scary this ride may appear, it's ride time is only around 15 seconds and is over in a flash.
The first day at the park I was far too scared to step foot onto this beast however, with my unlimited fast track wristband on the second day my partner decided to drag me almost straight onto it! As someone who is afraid of heights it is fair to say I screamed my voice away but regardless I ended up going on for a second time almost straight away!
Colossus
Colossus was the first ride I went on upon arriving at Thorpe Park and was one of the ones I was most excited for. As soon as the gates opened my boyfriend and I ran to the other end of the park to get on. We ended up being the first lot to ride Colossus that day!
The ride has more loops and rolls than you'd think was wise for a person to endure but it was incredibly fun! With your head feeling like it was narrowly missing the track or passersby during the two corkscrews.
Going into this ride I expected to love it as I am a huge fan of getting ridiculously dizzy on rides however it seemed to be missing the speed aspect that I also adore and just didn't quite get the adrenaline rush I had hoped for.
Another problem with the coaster is that the wait time during the rest of the day was the longest in the entire park at well over an hour, which I felt was not worth it to ride again.
Saw - TheRide
Last, but certainly not least, is Saw - The Ride. This was one of the rides I was most excited about but equally nervous about riding. As you can probably guess from the name, the ride is themed off of the Saw movie franchise and the indoor waiting area is incredible to look at.
Each train contains a total of eight people, four in the front and another four in the back. Two trains are set off at once down a dark corridor, the second stops beside Jigsaw on a bike and listens to some cynical laughing, while the first train goes on to begin the ride. The beginning includes a plunging indoor drop, in the dark, before an corkscrew turn over a 'dead body' (aka a mannequin) on the ground which is spirting 'blood' (water) up at you as you fly upside down over it.
That is only the start, once you emerge into the outdoors you are faced with a menacing vertical incline of 30 metres before a 100 degree drop which causes you to narrowly miss rotating saws!
Overall this ride experience was by far the best rollercoaster I have ever been on and could not recommend it more to you all!