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Thorpe Park

Chertsey, United Kingdom

“Heaven for thrill seekers”

London is an ideal destination to spend a few days off. There’s much to see, much to do and there are plenty of cool bars to have a drink in the evening. Cool, that’s what I like. Yet, seeing the London Eye and getting tipsy in Soho weren’t our main goals during this visit. We actually crossed the Channel to add some brand new roller coasters to our counter. London is a perfect base for an amusement park trip. Chessington World of Adventures, Legoland Windsor and Thorpe Park are all located within manageable distance from the British capital. Today, we’re heading to Thorpe Park, a.k.a. the most thrilling island in the United Kingdom.

ROLLER COASTERS

Mack Rides delivered two of Europe’s most iconic new coasters for the 2024 season. I’m talking about Voltron at Europa-Park and Hyperia at Thorpe Park. Hyperia now counts as the UK’s tallest roller coaster. Interestingly, very few coaster enthusiasts actually talk about that record. They actually seem to be more interested in Hyperia’s unique layout and unusual elements. The first descent, for example, counts as one of the craziest first drops in roller coaster history. The 180° twist is insane (especially for riders in the back of the train) and it generates very powerful airtime. Another unforgettable element is the outward banked hill, which is immediately followed by a downward twist. It all reminds me of RMC’s signature elements, but Mack manages to execute these elements just as well. So, despite its slight rattle, Hyperia is an incredible coaster. My only complaint is about the ride’s length. Counting from the top of the lift hill, it takes less than forty seconds to reach the final brake run. And although a lot of spectacular things happen during that limited ride time, I can’t help but think that Hyperia didn’t use its full potential. This also applies to the theming, by the way: Thorpe Park provided a photogenic archway at the entrance and the soundtrack is pretty epic, but that’s it. The queue provides no protection against the elements and the ride itself sits on a barren patch of land.

Another signature roller coaster is Stealth, an Accelerator manufactured by Intamin. It reaches its top speed of 130 km/h in less than two seconds, which means that Stealth offers the most forceful roller coaster acceleration on the planet. After the launch, trains climb a 60-metre tall top hat, before plummeting down vertically. This all sounds very impressive, but this literally is the whole experience. The train reaches the final brakes after a mere ten seconds of ride time. Although Stealth delivers an incredible thrill, I think it’s a shame that the park didn’t choose a more elaborate layout.

Thorpe Park’s roller coasters usually have short layouts or creepy theming. Actually, three of the coasters are themed to mysterious, dark creatures. The first one is called The Swarm and it’s a B&M Wing Coaster in a post-apocalyptic setting. The area is dominated by a crashed plane, destroyed billboards, a broken fire truck and a burnt down church, which also serves as the station. The trains were designed as flying aliens and those guys seem to be responsible for this mess. Thorpe Park did a great job with the theming of The Swarm, but it isn’t just a beautiful coaster to look at. It also delivers pure coaster joy. Wing Coasters have never disappointed me. They usually aren’t the biggest thrill machines, but they provide great fun. That’s not any different here. The Swarm is wonderfully smooth, it contains a number of brilliant near misses and it’s just long enough.

The second creepy roller coaster is called Saw – The Ride. We’re talking about a Gerstlauer Euro-Fighter, which isn’t exactly my favourite roller coaster type. I don’t like the uncomfortable shoulder restraints and these rides are often quite brutal. The word ‘brutal’ is actually an understatement when talking about Saw. This is undoubtedly the most intense Euro-Fighter I’ve ever done. It really seems as if Thorpe Park has put the ride in a fast-forward mode. The lift hill is incredibly fast and the mid course brakes are completely switched off today. The result is an insanely intense ride full of heavy g-forces and ejector airtime. Seriously… this can’t be the speed this ride was designed for?! Anyway… I’d like to compliment Thorpe Park for the theming in the indoor part of this attraction. The dark ride features some very surprising effects.

The third and final creepy coaster is The Walking Death – The Ride. It reuses the layout of a meaningless coaster called X:\ No Way Out, which was operational until 2012. This was an indoor coaster that treated us to a backward ride through total darkness. Nowadays, trains are moving forward and a considerable amount of theming has been added. The result is pretty okay: the coaster is enjoyable and its creepy zombie atmosphere works well. Don’t expect any high-speed thrills (it’s just a simple family coaster) but The Walking Dead is an entertaining ride for in between.

In 2002, Thorpe Park managed to obtain the record of most inversions in one roller coaster thanks to the opening of Colossus. This was Intamin’s first 10-Inversion Coaster and honestly… I don’t like these rides. The biggest issue is the layout, which is very unbalanced. The second half of Colossus consists of five consecutive heartline rolls. That’s not just extremely disorienting, but also quite boring. I think that’s a shame, especially since Colossus’ first part is pretty okay. It should be noted that the ride has gotten considerably rougher over the past few years, so I wouldn’t consider it as a must do.

If you’re planning to get a coaster bingo, you’ll have to ride eight coasters. The park’s least fascinating credit is Flying Fish, a small-scale Powered Coaster built by Mack Rides. And then there’s Nemesis Inferno, a stunningly beautiful B&M inverted coaster. Its burgundy-coloured tracks wind through the tropical vegetation and the volcano (in which the station is integrated) looks fantastic. And the ride itself? Believe me… it’s brilliant. Nemesis Inferno may not be exceptionally tall, fast or long, but it contains everything you’d expect from a good inverted coaster. The inversions are intense, the curves are very powerful and it’s incredibly smooth. I’d almost commit a crime to get such a perfect roller coaster in Belgium.

WATER RIDES

Despite their rather chilly climate, the British have a bizarre preference for water rides. Local parks know this. That’s why the United Kingdom is filled with soaking water rides. Thorpe Park’s main draw for water lovers is Tidal Wave. This shoot-the-chute is 26 metres tall and it creates, as its name suggests, a huge wave. I’m definitely not interested in riding it, though. Despite the fact that we visited the park with a pleasant temperature of 23°C, I really save such rides for the hottest days of summer. For the same reason, I skip Rumba Rapids and a water slide called Storm Surge.

OTHER EXPERIENCES

Thorpe Park is the UK’s ultimate thrill destination, so this park has obviously some flat rides on offer. I like to watch the Flying Carpet, the Afterburner, the Enterprise and the TopScan called Samurai, but that’s it. The only flat ride I’d ride, is Rush. This is a so-called Screaming Swing. This giant swinging ride pleasantly surprised me at Dollywood, Liseberg and Cedar Point and that’s not any different here at Thorpe Park. This modernised version of a classic swinging ship is really enjoyable.

You won’t find any classic dark rides at Thorpe Park, but they have Ghost Train instead. It originally opened as Derren Brown’s Ghost Train (including VR goggles), but it was re-imagined to an interactive walk-through experience without virtual reality in 2023. The previous version pleasantly surprised me during my 2019 visit, but the current version is so-so. Some of the original special effects were abandoned and Ghost Train now relies heavily on the acting skills of its live performers. And with all due respect, it seems as if they aren’t doing much more than yelling and walking like a zombie. Ghost Train is a unique attraction with great possibilities, but the current version isn’t using its full potential.

WORTH A VISIT?

Thorpe Park is London’s ultimate thrill destination and it lives up to that name. Families with young children have few reasons to come here, because this park is mainly focused on inversions, speed and creepy rides. Such thrill parks are generally not my thing. I love dark rides, I appreciate a well-themed family roller coaster and I consider atmosphere more important than record-breaking statistics. However, Thorpe Park pleasantly surprised me during this visit. The park isn’t just the European version of Six Flags. Staff members are very friendly, the park is spotlessly clean and the overall ride capacity is very high. Every roller coaster operated at maximum capacity, which resulted in manageable queues. Overall, there’s a very positive vibe in this park.

What’s your favourite ride on the island? Do you agree that Hyperia should have been longer? What would be the perfect addition to Thorpe Park? Share your thoughts in the comments section at the bottom of this page.

This article reflects my personal experience at Thorpe Park during a visit in August 2024.