Thorpe Park: A review

I was lucky enough to visit thrill-seekers heaven, Thorpe Park last weekend and I must say I was pleasantly surprised. Not just by the park itself and the rides available but also by my own resolve in handling the rides and getting through them with nothing worse than a rather hoarse throat!

Spectacular rides are abound here. I managed to ride all of them with the exception of the gargantuan Stealth as it had broken down by the time I had plucked up the courage to sit in one of its imposing carriages.

We started off easy, (or so I thought), with the 50ft drop of Detonator. Rising slowly into the air you begin to sense that this ride is not to be taken lightly. Once at the top of the vertical drop, a countdown commences before the platform on which you are sitting freefalls to the ground, taking your breath away and bouncing your eyeballs to the back of your head before coming to a sharp stop. It's over before you know it and an excellent way to start the day.

Next up was Nemesis Inferno. A free-standing roller-coaster that mixes twisting inversions with near misses and sheer drops. I really didn't think I would muster the courage for this one but the queue was so short that I didn't even have time to jump the railings. This was the biggest roller-coaster I had ever been on and really shook me up to the extent that I had my eyes closed for much of it! By the time I had begun to enjoy it, the ride was coming to a close and it had well and truly beaten me.

Despite my nervous disposition after Nemesis, I decided that I had actually enjoyed it in a strange kind of way. I think this was perhaps due to the fact that I felt a sense of achievement in being able to say that I had actually ridden such a beast of a ride! Collossus was our next port of call boasting an impressively nauseating 10 looped inversions. From the start, this ride did not let up. A long, drawn-out incline was followed by a banked drop down to the left that left one's stomach at the top of the slope. Then came the loops! Certainly not for the faint of heart you find yourself completely disorientated as you attempt to follow the route of your carriage along the track. The crown for best ride of the day went to Collossus with ease after this amazing ride.

Next up were the comparatively tame rides of Rush, Samurai and Quantum - all good in there own right, but not a patch on the big boys.

After getting completely drenched on Tidal Wave we finished the day on Saw (based on the movie of the same name if you didn't know). After a 90 minute queue that only worked to heighten the anticipation further, we entered Saw's inner sanctum. Flashing imagery, murderous noises and moody ride attendants all block your path before you finally board this hell-ride. There's no going back from here and after a short yet nonetheless thrilling journey out into the stark light and cold of the outdoors you begin a vertical climb up to the top of an inverted drop staring at nothing but the clouds. Once at the top the ride really begins. The drop was the single most stomach-churning feature of the whole day and from there on in I could barely keep my eyes open due to the fear as I was thrown around my seat for the next minute! This ride easily took the crown from Collossus due to the sheer terror that it imparted on me before and during the ride.

All-in-all Thorpe park offers one of the best days out in the whole of the U.K and offers great value for money if you book your trip with accommodation. Our tickets along with two nights of decent Travelodge sleeping were just £80 each!

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