Thorpe Park Review

Overall Rating

Overall I would not recommend Thorpe Park for families with children under 12 or to put it another way if you or the kids don't like thrill rides don't bother. Go to Legoland instead!

We went on a Sunday in the middle of the summer holidays and the weather was really perfect so the park was busy and it did feel cramped in some parts particularly around the smaller kid's rides in Octopus Garden.

Other comments about the wasps are spot on, there is a very real problem that the owners should sort out. I have never seen such a high concentration in a park - every bin covered in the things.

After going on a few of the smaller rides we went to Octopus Garden and things started to go downhill. Firstly it felt chaotic; because it is the only place for younger kids it was very cramped. There were loads of people and small children. Then there was no discernable queuing system on any of the rides so parents tended to shove their kid in the line and let them push to the front. Some of the staff did spot this and move kids to the back but it is tough when there are 30 small kids all piling round the entry gate. A simple rope system would have sorted this.

Then there is the height thing. I would put my 8 year old daughter at about 1.35 meters. (This was evident when she stood next to one of the measures outside No Way Out and was not 1.4) however she was not allowed onto any of the rides in the Octopus Garden. This really upset her and her 3 year old brother who had to go on the rides by himself so subsequently only went on a couple as he wanted his sister to go with him. Where these parks move from mediocre to great is in their interpretation of the rules. A bit of flexibility goes a long way. There would have been no harm letting our daughter on the rides along with the other 3-4 slightly taller kids (girls). The fact is the big kids (boys) had no interest in these rides so it was only 7-9yr old girls. Why would you have a Min height of 1.4 for bigger rides and a max of 1.3 for smaller rides. I can do the maths there and work out you are excluding a lot of kids.

When we finished our lunch Neptune's Beach had just opened and this rescued the day pretty much. The Sun was coming out proper and we bagged a couple of seats and let the kids play. We had the foresight to bring their swimmers so they were in heaven. The Britney impersonator with the dodgy wig was a bit odd but apart from that it was great. We spent the best part of two hours there. One small gripe, again about the jobsworth staff. Our son was wearing swimming shorts and his t-shirt as the sun was hot and we didn't want him getting burnt. One girl kept saying he couldn't lie down in the water with his t-shirt on. She first told my daughter, then my wife and then me. The logic seemed to be that the t-shirt would destroy the chlorine balance of the pool and so everyone would need to be evacuated (her words) Suffice to say we ignored her as did about 30 other people happily playing in the 30 CM deep water fully clothed.

So in conclusion we are a family that isn't keen on the thrill rides and went to Thorpe Park on the back of our Merlin passes so on this basis would we go back? No. Would we recommend it to friends? No. With Windsor so close why would you bother? If you have youngish kids then go to Legoland. Chessington is also much much better then Thorpe Park. If you love 'coasters and don't mind queuing with wasps for a few hours at a time then you'll love it otherwise avoid.

Members' Comments onGuest's Review

• AdaMax on 19th Aug 2009

  very good review... very helpful.. thanks.