Category: Thorpe Park

Thorpe Park in Staines, Surrey near the English capital is one of the largest theme parks in the country. Founded in 1979, the theme park is currently operated by the Merlin Entertainments Group. On the Island like no other visitors can expect an extraordinary number of thrill-packed roller coasters and attractions. Its festival ambience is aimed primarily at a younger audience or families with older children, thus setting it apart from the nearby amusement parks Chessington World of Adventures and Legoland Windsor.

Fun Fact #1: Tussauds composed an elaborate soundtrack for Thorpe Park, which was adapted to the course of the day. Unfortunately this was replaced by a new soundtrack from IMAscore.

Fun Fact #2: For many years, the Colossus roller coaster held the record for the roller coaster with the most inversions, before it was superseded by The Smiler roller coaster in the sister park Alton Towers.

Slammer and other devices

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Preface

Somehow everything went wrong that day, in the night there were two fire alarms, one at 2 am, the other at 5 am, the trip to London Victoria had a delay of 20 minutes due to the traffic situation and then I also bought the wrong ticket at the vending machine and in Thorpe Park there was nothing going as usual. In fact, this statement might sound negative, but in the case of Thorpe Park it is to be understood positively. Except for X, which is supposed to open sometime during spring, everything – even Slammer – was running, although thanks to the temperatures most of the rides didn’t start until noon. The rush that day, although the weather was better than it had been for weeks, was kept within limits.

Thorpe Park

The real reason to go in the park was not to ride The Swarm backwards, or to finally ride something after a long time, but of a different nature. It was rather a meeting with two people, who had their start for a small England tour in the park. While Jan knew the park from his previous stays in Great Britain, Patrick visited a new park and therefore it was refreshing to get his impressions of the park.

Stealth

Because of the long coach ride, the following train ride and the short night, I had to take something to wake up, therefore the launch coaster Stealth, which was in test runs at the moment, was the perfect choice. Shortly after, people were already riding and the initially long queue became shorter and shorter, so that even the first row was taken along, despite the one train in service. It’s quite something. when you have a free view of the top hat, which is erected in front of you.

The launch dragged off quite neatly and the top of the main element of the layout let you glide out of your seat before heading for the bottom. The braking on the hill is a lot softer than in the back rows and even this element, which could have been a straight line, is not really disturbing anymore. If you sit in the back of the train, the airtime during the top hat is completely missing, but the drop from the quite airy height is a bit more intense.

Slammer

While there is a chance of about 75% for Stealth, there is only a chance of 2:4 for Slammer. These numbers are not verifiable at all, but they are covered by our experience. Slammer, as we know, is not a ride that runs absolutely reliable when it is running and so it can happen that the whole soundtrack – which by the way is the same as the Colossus roller coaster – has been played once, so a time span of 10 minutes has been reached. Since Slammer has a huge capacity anyway, you will never have to wait too long on empty days. There is no question that one should wait for a ride on the meanwhile unique ride.

What S&S Power, now S&S Worldwide, had in mind for the Sky Swat Slammer can hardly be described because of the megalomania. But the fact that the Slammer was advertised as a family ride contradicts all logic – just like the classic funfair ride Devil Rock. The ride is insane, especially since you accelerate upside down to the high speed of the ride and also brake later on in the same manner. The ride over the top is much more fun than the ride down, which is also true for The Swarm.

The Swarm

The Bollinger and Mabillard Wing Coaster has received two significant changes this year, both of which have an impact on the ride. The first novelty you will encounter, should there be no train on the track, is the new billboard, which will benefit the weaker left side of the train. The second novelty you will encounter at the entrance, where the cue for the first row has now given way to the cue for the last two rows, which have been going backwards since the start of the season.

These changes have a reason, of course, because compared to individual opinions, The Swarm has not been the success Merlin had hoped for. Furthermore, without the changes to X:\ No Way Out, there would be no novelty to offer in a park which has been able to present a novelty every year.

Without the newly installed billboard, one notices very little or even nothing of the alleged close calls. The ride itself creeps partly through the elements, but towards the end of the ride it can still feel stronger centrifugal forces and thus be enjoyed. While the already solid ride on the right side is only caught once by the new design element, the left side is also positively affected by a broken corner of the right side before the last turn. In fact, the ride on both sides has become more even, whereas the ride over the top in the first inversion is still much stronger.

Experiencing this element backwards is one of the strangest experiences on a roller coaster and is also the prelude to a funny ride. In fact, it’s hard to classify the experience somehow, which is why the ride forward should be preferred, because you don’t really experience any of the theme and the supposedly existing close calls. When you get on the last row you can clearly see the track, but the second last row is also fine, as the view is not that important. The last two inversions surprise you in a positive way, the rest is just fun. It is therefore a significantly different riding experience and can hardly be compared to the original ride on The Swarm. Whether this change is needed is written in the stars, but it is something different and for me it is the highlight of Thorpe Park at the moment.

Tidal Wave

A ride on the probably most beautiful Shoot the Chutes of the company O.D.Hopkins, which meanwhile belongs to WhiteWaterWest, can be one of the probably most idiotic actions you can do during a park visit in the rather cold spring temperatures of this year. Of course, this train of thought only came to mind during the ascent of the lift to Tidal Wave. Unfortunately, the following visit to the Pizza Hut Buffet was not enough to dry us again.

Colossus

After this break, Colossus was running with manned cars, which is why there was a longer queue at the ride and you had to walk through the extended queue area. The ride in the front row is still very much fun on Colossus and leaves you halfway untouched in the first three inversions. The four Heartlinerolls were run through at a remarkable speed and the last roll is still a lot of pleasure.

Interestingly enough, the station finally gave a live demonstration of how cue jumpers are handled. As known, the pushing forward in all explanations belongs to something that is only very unwillingly seen in the United Kingdom, that is why the penalties are quite high; thus, at Thorpe Park, one is thrown out of the park without any chance of a refund of the entrance fee. This was explained afterwards also again by the staff of the ride, whereupon this got applause.

Saw – the Ride

Where Saw – the Ride could show a long queue in the first hours, this was hardly present towards the end of the opening hours. The first part of the ride offers the well-known riding fun, but the second part of the ride turns out to be much more positive than in the last years. Luckily, we further race down the track and are torn out of our seats during the camelback, before we rush towards the Dive Loop after the block brake. The smoothness of the ride, which had been constantly smashing against the stirrups before, has been improved to such an extent that this no longer happens. There is a strange jerking in the vertical direction, but it’s not that bad.

Closing Words

With a few rides on Nemesis Inferno, which had transported the blood into our legs in a wonderful way, the visiting day came to an end. Traditionally, there was no crowd in the last hour before closing time. However, if you arrive by the Thorpe Park Express Bus from Staines, you should not leave the park before closing time. By the time the bus finally got going, half an hour had been passed so that some possible train connections and the coach back to Portsmouth were missed. Well, the rides on Slammer were worth it!

What is your opinion about Slammer at Thorpe Park? Just write it in the comment field below the report or visit our social media channels:

TKathke March 27, 2013 April 30, 2023 Thorpe Park

Nemesis Inferno in the rain

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Preface

If you can’t think of anything better on a Sunday than to drive to Thorpe Park and skilfully ignore any weather forecast and let yourself be dazzled by the sunshine on Saturday, it can happen that the English weather shows its supposedly typical side and thus makes for a very wet visit. What do you do for a ride on Nemesis Inferno…

The Island like no other

When you enter Thorpe Park, you still have that unique feeling of being immersed in a completely different world – something that amusement parks usually don’t manage to do. However, since this year, the view from the bridge is a bit clouded, because while the left side shows an idyllic panorama, the view on the right side is no longer dominated by Tidal Wave and Stealth, but disturbed by the rather unfavorable angle on The Swarm.

Storm Surge

Although it had been raining all the time, the novelty from last year was particularly popular. The queue of the Storm Surge round boat slide was well filled until the afternoon, which is certainly not only due to the low capacity of the installation. The ride in the smaller version of the Spinning Rapids Ride by WhiteWaterWest is gentle and, due to the tight curve radii and the resulting frequency of the brake mats, hardly gives you a noticeable spin – as you can experience for example in the Rio Dorado of Hansa Park. As with other installations of this type, the ride only gets you wet with a lot of luck, if only there weren’t the water jets and water cannons at the end of the ride. While the former helped the guests to cool down in the Cypress Gardens amusement park in Florida, this is of course not enough in the comparatively cold Surrey. Therefore some water cannons were provided for the park guests, which have a rather high range. If one should not be shot straight frontally with these, the degree of wetness is quite pleasant. The circumstance that the never visited toddler area of Thorpe Park was torn down was welcome.

Tidal Wave

Probably the most popular attraction of the day is located only a few meters away from Storm Surge’s entrance, a prankster who thinks of the indoor roller coaster X:\ No Way Out. Of course it’s the great Shoot the Chutes ride Tidal Wave by O.D. Hopkins, which now even soaks its already superficially soaked passengers’ underwear. The results showed after the ride in the full body dryers confirm this thesis clearly.

X:\ No Way Out

The Vekoma Enigma roller coaster X:\ No Way Out had a breakdown in the early morning, but since the guests of Thorpe Park were left waiting in the rain in front of the ride, instead of waiting in the anyway way too long covered queue, more and more people joined the line, which is a rather rare sight on a roller coaster like X:\ No Way Out. The world’s longest and probably only backwards running dark roller coaster is an often underestimated roller coaster, which may be due to the family-friendly ride of the ride. Unfortunately, since the installation of a light effect above one of the block areas it is much too bright to use the darkness of the hall as an advantage. Now, the ride still goes haphazardly through the hall, but instead you can see the track next to you and which one you have already completed. The computer virus theme is still very odd, but it’s what makes this roller coaster so special; however, it would be immensely helpful to introduce a soundtrack within the whole layout.

Nemesis Inferno

Not far from the brilliantly staged fishing village of Amity Cove, things are a little more tropical, or rather more fiery. Inside a volcano is the station to Nemesis Inferno, the younger brother of the roller coaster Nemesis from the sister park Alton Towers. Luckily, both coasters are completely different and share the same type of ride, apart from the preference for more special layouts. After the first drop on Nemesis Inferno, you complete a swinging S-curve combination through a tunnel, usually in combination with a fog effect, before hooking into the lift. This is followed by the steep curve drop with looping and zero-g roll following, which are very intensively ridden. A curve follows before you see yourself upside down again in a corkscrew. Untypical for this type of track, another curve is followed by the second part of the Interlocking Corkscrew, which pulls you along nicely at the back of the train. Further curves and a helix follow until you are standing happily in the brakes of Nemesis Inferno.

It is the one big difference that makes Nemesis Inferno better than the first Inverted Coaster on European soil. Here you don’t get the feeling that the track could have been even longer, here you don’t do two slower turns that both end in an inversion and here you don’t advertise to be the most intense coaster in the world, which wasn’t the case at the opening. Nemesis is a good ride with a huge fan community, a unique layout that makes good use of the limitations of the environment, only the experience in all its attributed intensity is not as satisfying as it is on Nemesis Inferno.

Detonator

Thematically to the Inverted Coaster Nemesis Inferno belongs in close proximity the Fabbri Mega Drop Detonator, which does not have the traditional arrangement of the seats, but has designed them in a circular pattern. The ride in a Fabbri tower is outstanding, because a spring is tensioned when the car is lifted, whereupon noticeably higher negative G-forces are generated when releasing the Detonator. Strangely enough the deceleration was unexpectedly smooth.

Slammer and Samurai

Another interesting ride in the area around the Inverted Coaster Nemesis Inferno is the S&S Power Sky Swat Slammer. As luck would have it, the ride is currently closed and will probably not open again until Halloween. Since this was also announced on the website, the loss of a ride is not as shocking as it was in May 2010; if you have already enjoyed a Sky Swat ride once, you would like to repeat it. A few metres further on, one could see the Mondial Top Scan Samurai partly dismantled lying around in the way, practically set in a way that it was also not possible to make a trip in the railway of Thorpe Park. According to speculations, the ride is supposed to be renovated and repainted.

Saw – The Ride

Saw – The Ride has turned to the good again after its disastrous second year, at least as far as the speed of the ride and the condition of the stirrups are concerned. The cars, completely intact, are once again racing down the track, so that the inequalities during the ride are hardly noticeable. The biggest crime at the roller coaster still remains, the fast-pass queue still exists and generally makes the waiting time in the stand-by line feel a lot slower. It’s more convenient if a queue is moving and doesn’t stand still for minutes just because the other side is currently being let into the building. In this respect and for the sake of the ambience, which was destroyed by the division in front of and on the stairs, one wishes the old system back.

Colossus

The 10 inversions roller coaster Colossus, which besides its name also shares the soundtrack with Colossos from Heide-Park, is a prime example for the design of a roller coaster, because the way the paths run here, especially the queue, is simply breathtakingly beautiful; as long as you can see over the blue painted tunnels. The ride in the ride built by Intamin is also very borderline in the first three inversions, everything that follows from the two wonderful corkscrews, over the four consecutive heartlinerolls to the final, but directionally reversed roll, is just lovely or, as with the last roll, just outstanding. What Intamin has created with this inversion is simply perfect.

Flying Fish

On the way to the novelty of the year you will pass a powered coaster by the manufacturer Mack Rides called Flying Fish. Previously located in a cul-de-sac, visitors willing to ride now frequently pass by, but this does not mean that the queue gets packed – the train only runs more often. Due to the wide wagons, Flying Fish offers an unusual and strange riding experience on a powered coaster of this kind. Although one also has the feeling in the normal trains to hit the supports as soon as one raises the arms, it seems to be more distinctive in this train.

The Swarm

Strangely enough, the close calls at the Bollinger and Mabillard roller coaster next door don’t create this feeling and in general it is hard to say if and where it triggers feelings at all. The left side of the train experiences a very weak ride at The Swarm, while the passengers on the right side experience a very solid roller coaster ride. Above all, it is a much more impressive experience to ride over the top than underneath to experience the first inversion and simultaneous first drop. The following inversions are all more intense on the right side and even the Inclined Loop is much more fun due to the inner radius.

Hardly any other roller coaster made the classification as difficult as The Swarm. While the left side is even weaker, the right side with the ride experience is very nice, but nothing more. It complements the portfolio of Thorpe Park and makes sure that a few more people come to this part of the park, also the park doesn’t seem so small anymore due to the expansion.

Rumba Rapids

Due to the rather bad weather, most of the rides were left behind, also the Intamin Accelerator roller coaster Stealth was closed. But since the ride programs at all flat rides are hardly worth mentioning, which by the way also applies to the oversized compressed air swing Rush from S&S Power, this is not necessarily a tragedy. Apart from Storm Surge and the Rumba Rapids, a rafting ride with a level of wetness where you get off drier than you got on at the end of the ride, no water ride was visited. Regarding the Rumba Rapids, it should be mentioned that the installation not only has potential, but also convinces with the existing soundtrack. Although this facility is as wet as most other European rafting rides, it is nicely laid out.

Conclusion Thorpe Park

Thorpe Park is quite a nice amusement park. The park’s clientele is generally young, so there are some families to be found around here, but without small children – they are better off within 15 miles of the amusement parks Chessington World of Adventures and Legoland Windsor anyway. Its reputation as a thrill capital naturally attracts a group of visitors that don’t like to be seen in a park, but in general all visitors were able to behave themselves. The oh-so “grubby” park map with its hidden details is not as disgusting as many people think – it rather reminds of some of the details you can find in the Miniatur Wunderland. Of course, one can argue about the style and maybe a serious appearance would be better, but that’s just the way it is in Great Britain.

What is your opinion about Nemesis Inferno at Thorpe Park? Just write it in the comment field below the report or visit our social media channels:

TKathke September 23, 2012 April 30, 2023 Thorpe Park

In Honour of O.D. Hopkins

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Preface

After Stefan unfortunately couldn’t come with us to England last year due to a small fracture and we received a ticket for this season through the Guest Relations, we went to the English island once again, where we not only encountered minimal waiting times at Pentecost, but also the best weather to celebrate O.D. Hopkins masterpiece Tidal Wave extensively.

Tour of the park

X:\No Way Out

The beginning of the visit was the magnificent and completely screwed up indoor roller coaster X:\No Way Out made by Vekoma. For many roller coaster fans of the world this ride is wrongly considered one of the worst steel roller coasters par excellence, but the ride only does what it was designed for. The strange lifthill passages, the reversing train, as well as the computer virus that the ride reflects story-wise, make the ride something very special.

Tidal Wave

In the immediate vicinity is Tidal Wave, a masterpiece of a spillwater from O.D. Hopkins. Tidal Wave scores with its enormous wave and the resulting high – but pleasant – degree of wetness. Unfortunately, the founder of the spillwater manufacturer O.D. Hopkins died shortly before our visit, so some laps on Tidal Wave were made in his memory.

Nemesis Inferno

Because Stealth was not running for a while the nearby Inverter of the park was visited. Nemesis Inferno is the bigger brother of its sister ride Nemesis from Alton Towers and has an equally good and fun layout.

Of particular importance is the start of this layout, where after a downhill bend you pass through a fog-filled tunnel before the train enters the lift. After having climbed it, a curvy descent follows in order to be released in a powerful loop. Typical for the manufacturer now follows a wonderfully intense Zero-G Roll, which then releases you into the interlocking corkscrews. After the last curves are completed, the short ride is unfortunately over again.

Detonator

Thematically, Nemesis Inferno forms a fiery unit with the Fabbri Freefall Tower Detonator. While the inverter is completely dedicated to the volcano, Detonator is already a little bit aside at the foot of it. The fall from the only 40m high tower lets nearly every other tower look old, because here you are not only dropped, but shot down by a preloaded spring.

Saw Alive

As Saw – The ride was out of service and there were high queues at the Maze Saw Alive, as well as at the neighboring multi-inversion coaster Colossus, the Canadian area was examined more closely. Unfortunately there seemed to be a lot of downtimes in general, so it was no surprise that the huge S&S Power Sky Swat Slammer didn’t ride.

Logger’s Leap

However, the neighbouring log flume Logger’s Leap sent one boat after the other down its double slope, so a ride on the ride was targeted. The small boat tour starts quite nasty with a shot in the dark before it gets quite strangely closer and closer to the big shot. Once up it goes immediately downhill and this luckily with a pronounced airtime on the second gradient. Unfortunately the level of wetness is limited, but the ride on the log flume is always a pleasure. Besides there is also Tidal Wave to get you wet.

Stealth

Since Stealth was back on the road again, we went to the Amity Cove area again to be transported to the sky with the appropriate music playing. Stealth offers quite a short ride time, but you can rarely be faster in 60m height and back again, especially since the launch just rocks. Unfortunately, the ride doesn’t end after the Top Hat, rather on a hill where you get to know the shoulder restraints in an unpleasant way. At least the whole package is convincing, especially since the trains here are a bit bigger than on Desert Race and Rita.

Flying Fish

A little bit hidden and since the Swarm probably also more popular, you can enjoy the probably coolest powered coaster by Mack Rides. The Flying Fish does not only greet its passengers with the word Dude but can also show a quite interesting train. Unfortunately, another train rarely seems to be a good choice for a powered coaster of this model, especially since the whole thing can turn out quite painful like in the travelling version Feuer und Eis (fire and ice); over here, the train seems a bit too wide. This is evident in the ride, but the unharmonious transitions are hardly disturbing, as the train itself is equipped with the latest generation of seats and restraints.

Saw – The Ride

Because Saw – The Ride finally started to run again, we had to dare a ride there as well. Unfortunately, the course already showed significant losses in the second year, which was mainly due to the additional queue for the fast pass owners.

After finally being cleared, the car is starting to move. The first part can still be seen as brilliant, but unfortunately the outer part of the ride seems to have taken a turn for the worse. The first change you notice is the lower speed, as there is no longer the almost indescribable rush and the resulting forces. The second change is the rather ungentle approach with its passengers; the ride was suprisingly rough.

Samurai

More or less next door and unfortunately a little bit inappropriately designed for this area is the Top Scan Samurai by Mondial. This ride, that is very popular especially in the United Kingdom, is very convincing – at least if the rotation of the gondola also allows some rollovers. But the constant shifting of the legs to the right is not very pleasant in the long run.

Colossus

Also the world’s first 10 inversions roller coaster Colossus wanted to be ridden. The very photogenic ride, which by the way has the same epic soundtrack as its namesake from Heide-Park in Lower Saxony, continues to convince, provided you have completed the first three inversions. What the looping and the following cobra roll do to you isn’t that nice, but what follows is basically just great. The two corkscrews are passed with a wonderful speed before the four Heartlinerolls are started. These are slightly monotonous but are – at least in Europe – a unique experience and the prelude to the best inversion of a roller coaster par excellence, the final fifth Heartlineroll in the opposite direction. The roll is something special and rides wonderfully harmonious; a basically unique feeling.

Rush, Quantum, Vortex and Zodiac

In the same area there are still some rides, like the boring S&S swing Rush, where with a bit of luck a giant dragonfly is slapped in your face, which can be considered a highlight during the short ride program. The flying carpet Quantum and also the neighboring Afterburner Vortex show hardly any ride characteristics worth mentioning except for their manufacturers. The HUSS Enterprise Zodiac is a very interesting ride, not only because of its short ride program, like all rides in this area, but also because of its safety belt to attach the grid to the nacelle.

Rumba Rapids

The park’s Intamin Rafting ride is not really worth mentioning, because Rumba Rapids clearly gives away a lot of potential. The course itself features a wonderful wave pool that could flood the boats nicely. As always on European rapid rides, one remains dust-dry.