Public transport to Thorpe park- a cheaper way?

susancs

Amethyst_ice wrote: »

I looked at oyster but it still confuses me. Lots of my friends have moved down to london and say its not worth it.

With our plans we are planning on zipping around zone 1 a lot, doesnt oyster deduct for each time its scanned?

Ive tried to understand it but it really confuses me! x

if the off peak cap is £5.60 anyway isnt it going to work the same as me getting a travelcard (that we were planning on getting all our cars when we arrive from a booth and i think i can get 1/3 off with my railcard?)

You scan Oyster at the start and end of each journey, so on your Thorpe Park day Paddington to Waterloo on the tube would be one journey, if you look at the fare link it shows in zone one this is £1.80 either peak or off peak. So you could do a peak/off peak journey return for £3.60, but TC would be £7.20 peak or £5.60 off peak. it caps at the peak rate so say after thorpe Park you decided you wanted to do 10 more journeys in zone 1 off peak it would stop charging any more at £5.60. It gives you greater flexibility than a Travelcard if you do less journeys it charges less and stops charging when the daily TC rate is reached. Likewise on buses one journey is £1.20 but oyster caps if you only used buses at £3.90, so you could travel around on buses all day for £3.90 with Oyster. You just top up money are you think it is needed.

Amethyst_ice

we have decided to go to heathrow, bus from heathrow to staines and then another bus.

with a travelcard that would be £7.60 plus £3 so seems the best.

not too comfortable with teh oyster lol it sounds easy but when we visit london we usually zip around loads on tube so we would get the same journeys from a travelcard.

thanks everyone, you are all fab!!

just double check the bus FROM heathrow to staines would be covered by travel card yes?

we are going to buy our travel cards on the 1st day to save queing..also do i get 16-25 railcard discount on travelcards? x

wealdroam

Amethyst_ice wrote: »

just double check the bus FROM heathrow to staines would be covered by travel card yes?

Re-read post #4.

pompeyrich

You can get a discount with your YP railcard but there is a minimum fare of £12 before 10 a.m. If you were prepared to wait until 10 then a 1-6 travelcard can be bought for £5 from a national rail station.You could buy your travelcard from your local station before you leave.

Given that the journey via Heathrow is probably going to take a couple of hours, if you are going this weds 20th Thorpe Park shuts at 5 so not much of a day there, if it's the 27th then it shuts at 10 so not such a problem.

Bongedone

wealdroam wrote: »

Or an offpeak zone 1-6 oyster single at £2.40 will get you to Felpham.
Offpeak day return Felpham to Staines = £4.10.
Then bus, as above = £3 return.

Total return for each person = £11.90.

Exactly the same route as previous post.
Buy Felpham/Staines ticket at Paddington or Waterloo, then no need to get off the train at Felpham.

Feltham not Felpham. I only just realised Oyster pay as you go was so cheap to Feltham. You could not use it before.

I went to Thorpe Park a few weeks ago on a Wednesday. It was excellent as the queue's where virtually none existent.

Tip: Go around the park anti clockwise. The only queue we encountered was at the 1st big ride clockwise when we entered. No such queue's anywhere else.

susancs

It is usually best to arrive at Thorpe Park for when it opens as you can get more done, especially if it is closing early at 5pm. You would be best to travel peak times, looking on the journey planner your best bet would be to get the 7.46am district line tube from Paddington, change at Earls Court onto the piccadilly, to heathrow terminals 1-3 stop, (takes about 1 hour) walk to bus station to get the 8.50am 441 bus to Staines bus station, arrives 9.30am and then get the 9.34am shuttle bus no 950 to TP. You would get there for 9.42am approx and be amongst the first into the park at 10am, when you should run to the rides you really want to go on first before the queues get big.

Amethyst_ice

we only went to the park in august...we wern't expecting to be allocated sun tickets (the token collecting thing) so soon and these were the best we were swapped. We got around most the rides 1st time (in the rain!) so not too bothered about getting there as park opens , we hope to arrive around 11/11.30 am. we would rather save some pennies to spend on a nice meal out in london

thanks again i just like to double check everything people have said in posts

baz016

The 441 isn't a London bus so a travelcard may not be accepted on the service. I know when I previously tried to use an oyster card on that bus they wouldn't let me.

The 203 is a London bus though (so will accept oyster or travelcards) and it's pretty quick to Staines as it goes straight along the A30 dual carriageway for quite a bit of it's route. You don't have to get off at Hounslow West though to catch it as you can also catch it from Hatton Cross (the stop before Heathrow on the Piccadilly line). Enjoy your day at Thorpe Park!

Amethyst_ice

hey guys, we ended up getting a train to hounslow west, then bus to staines and the thorpe park bus. On the way back we got bus to hatton and got back much quicker

got on all the big rides even though we got there at 1pm..we were quite happy by 4pm and left got few bruises from saw mind! Stomach sufficiently churned lol

also impressed my travel card was £5 every day all zones- meant i could take the bf to upton park to see west ham stadium hehe

thanks everyone for all your help xxxxx

CMarshall_2

Hi, i am due to go to thorpe park this week and i live near blackhorse station,

can i use my oyster card for the whole journey to thorpe park? or do i have to buy a travel card?

it would be very helpful if you could give me this info and the prices if you can.

Many thanks.