Thorpe Park v. Alton Towers!

Sharon87

georgiac wrote: »

Thant sounds goood, we usually take a picnic and eat in the queue!

Pretty uncouth, but means the time goes quicker and we don't have an hour of the day in a restaurant.

But may be tempted at those prices.

I remember in the saw queue one sunny day they were selling drinks and sweets/crisps to the people waiting inthe queue.

Also in Stealth queue we were playing volleyball with a beach ball until it nearly went on the track and we were all told to stop it...

There's plenty to do in a queue. Take photos in the Colossus queue, got a few good ones there, same with Nemesis Inferno. Eating or just recovering from eating is good to do, in a longer queue anyway.

If anyone goes to Chessington and goes into the restaurant based in the holiday inn, I'll recommend getting the chicken wings, there are loads and the sauce is gorgeous! The staff were also really friendly and we got to see some a horny zebra trying to have at it with another one whilst we ate! Maybe face the kids away from that though lol. :rotfl:

Poly,put_the_kettle_on

I spent 3 and a half days last week at the towers- maximum queue time was 20 mins. My feet, however...ouch. We went to Chessie as a last minute thing a couple of days ago- queue times were far, far longer- we waited an hour and a half just for Tomb Blaster!

AT is by far my fave, but I'm biased as I grew up nearby. Whilst AT has the grandiose parkland setting, TP is a mass of steel & concrete. However, it is very compact, and does have some of the best thrill rides. Saw is excellent for the theming and build up. Stealth is intimidating. Collosus is good fun (sit at the back!) Nothing beats Air at AT though in my opinion for sheer hands down fun.

Chessie is well themed, very compact, and it's nice to be able to escape the crowds into the zoo/safari area. Oh, if you have small ones make sure you do hocus pocus hall- it's how I'd imagine a bad trip would be!

Have fun!

Shadow_Jam

I'm a little late to the discussion but thought I would add my points.

Thorpe park imo is better. Because it is more compact, it has the advantage that it is much easier to use the display boards showing queue time, to decide what to go on, and then get there. I paid good attention to the boards last time I went and never queued for more than 20 minutes. Some rides regularly show 1 hour + times, but if you check back after each ride, there are good times. I find at Alton towers, its a bit far apart to do this, and the times aren't that accurate by the time you get across the park.

Food options are probably better at Thorpe. I haven't been to Alton in a couple of years, so things may have changed, but if you want more than a hotdog, Thorpe park has the edge. In particular it has a Pizza Hut which works out very good, with buffet and refill drinks for somewhere in the region of £7.50.

I think for repeat visits Thope is better as well. Due to the plot of land, it is changing and expanding, whilst Alton towers is largely the same, without much changing. This hasn't actually worked well for Thorpe park, as going back 10, or even 5 years, they didn't have a lot of the good rides that they do now, so people often think of it is a "kids" park. In fact several of the good rides were taken from Chessington, (causing Chessington in turn to become less suitable for adults).

mum26

Alton Towers has a pizza pasta buffet restaurant, a mexican place, hot dogs, fish and chips, various ice cream / pancake / doughnut / waffle stalls, burger king, KFC, woodcutter's inn (steaks, chicken, enourmous burgers etc) to name a few

Tom_G

In a nutshell, Thorpe Park is smaller, has more extreme/thrilling rides and is aimed at the teenage and young adult market.

Alton Towers is a much more family-orientated park, although it has rides as extreme, if not more intense, than Thorpe - just fewer in number. It is a very large park and MUCH walking is required.

Food/drink prices compare similarly because they are both operated by Merlin Entertainments. The major difference is the car park - Alton Towers charge £6, Thorpe Park £2.

georgiac

Many thanks everyone for taking the trouble to reply.

We visited TP last week during the heat wave Easter break.

Firstly, we found the place easy to navigate, obvioulsy more compact and clean.

The rides were great, at least the few we managed to ride.

The queues were horrendous - due to the holidays and the weather, but worse than we are used to at AT.

It seemed to us that Merlin are more keen to flog fastpasses than put the rides to their maximum capacity.

Despite this we thoroughly enjoyed the place and the children can't wait to go back when it is a little quieter.

Being cheapskates / tight northerners / moneysavers we took a picnic and ate in the queues so can't comment about the food prices.

Tom_G

^ Unfortunately you are right about Merlin, they are hellbent on selling Fastracks and charging for car parking. I'd recommend Thorpe during a term-time weekday if you can get the kids there somehow. If not, a weekend during March or September/Oct/Nov should be quieter.

Be warned, as next year they are opening an £18m rollercoaster which will see the place flooded even more. Unfortunately it is just too small a place!