For thrill seekers, Thorpe Park must be the ultimate Theme Park in the UK with an array of adrenalin rides! Choose from Saw Alive, Saw the Ride, Stealth, Nemesis, Colossus & many more. For the low down on all the discounts, deals and top tips to make the most of your day at Thorpe Park, use this insider guide.
Deals
Book online. Before you do anything, check out Thorpe Park’s online offers which generally offers discounted tickets by 20 to 30%. For further details, visit online deals at Thorpe Park.
Vouchers & discounts. Many retailers, discount websites and newspapers run 2 for 1 vouchers or 50% off entrance prices. To keep abreast of these offers, why not sign up to topdogdays . We will then do the the hard work for you and let you know where all the current deals are.
Groups; Thorpe Park is keen to offer substantial discounts to attract a larger parties! A ‘group’ can consist of friends, family members or work mates…in fact anyone that can get 7 or more people together. The bigger the group, the greater the savings! For more information, go to Thorpe Park deals & discounts for groups.
Loyalty cards: both Tesco clubcard reward vouchers & Sainsbury’s nectar card offer deals with Thorpe Park. Tesco clubcard vouchers, in particular, are value for money as your entrance token costs just £10 in vouchers. To get even more for dosh, go for a Merlin Annual Pass for £40.00 in vouchers.
Come back deals
There are usually plenty of offers on to entice you back for a second day, usually between £5 & £15 for a subsequent days. Check out the posters & kiosks by the entrance/exit for up to date offers.
Annual cards
If you intend to visit Thorpe Park more than twice in a twelve month period, an annual pass offers value for money, (depending upon your choice of pass). Further to unlimited access to the park, there are many other additional benefits that tend to be forgotten. These added extras can substantially reduce your spend on each visit.
There are three options available: a Theme Park Annual Pass, a Merlin Annual Pass or a Merlin Premium Pass. When choosing between the Annual Passes, it would be wise to consider your families future plans as well as price. Listed below are some of the main benefits attached to each Annual Pass.
Theme Park Annual Pass;
- Access to Thorpe Park throughout the year, (£5 entrance fee for Fright Nights)
- 20% reduction on all purchases at Thorpe Park outlets, (food, drinks, ice-creams, souvenirs)
- Valid for a full twelve months, (if purchased wisely, this can last you two seasons!)
- Extra 10% off pass prices for students
- Prices start at £73 online
Added benefits for a Merlin Annual Pass;
- Access to all UK Merlin Attractions; Alton Towers, Chessington, Legoland Windsor, London Eye, Madame Tussauds, SeaLife Centres & many more, (some restrictions on use)
- 20% off refreshments & shopping at Alton Towers, Chessington, London Eye, Warwick Castle, Sea Life & the Dungeons.
- Early Ride Time at Alton Towers
- Prices start from £150 although look out for half price deals for this pass
Added benefits for a Merlin Premium Pass;
- Access to all UK Merlin attractions without any restrictions during the season.
- 50% discount at Merlin attractions abroad.
- Priced at £200 per person.
Top Tip; you can upgrade on the day and the price of your admission will be refunded as long as you can produce your original tickets.
When to go to beat the queues
Choose your day carefully, there are particular days & months that historically have been quieter than others;
- Teacher training days are especially quiet if your children are off but the rest of the country is still at school!
- If you don’t have children, avoid the park at peak times during the school holidays. How quiet it can be just after the children have gone back to school.
- Especially quiet times have historically tended to be March/April, (avoid Easter) & September/early October, (avoid Fright Nights.)
- Fridays tend to be busier than any other weekday.
How to Beat the Queues
It may seem obvious but to make the most of your day, get there early!! Ensure you have checked out what time the park opens on your day, (sometimes it is 9.30am), and aim to be there 40 minutes before that! That gives you time to park up, purchase your tickets and join the queue for the park to open. There is a preferential entry gate for annual pass holders that is marginally quicker.
Keep an eye out for any rides that are not operating that day which will be displayed on information boards around the park – no point running for rides that won’t be running at all!
RUN straight for Saw as the queues for this build throughout the day. The first 60/90 minutes of the day is the best time to get round the main attraction rides before the queues start to build.
Make use of the electronic boards located around the park for accurate queue times.
Take a sandwich and have an early/late lunch -this way not only do you avoid the food queues but manage to take advantage of shorter queue times!
Not many people realise that it is the ride queue that closes at the stipulated closing time not the actual ride! As the park begins to empty, it gives you a chance at the main rides with generally shorter queue times.
Consider Fastrack tickets for the most popular rides – a selected solo fastrack for say Stealth, (one of the slowest capacity queues) & Saw, the Ride, (one of the most popular) allows you to concentrate on the other main attractions and slot fastracks in when the park is busy. Be aware that fastrack tickets at Thorpe Park sell out fast!
Have a break
Picnics are welcome at Thorpe Park and this is an easy way to make some savings whilst also avoiding lengthy queues for lunch! There are lockers available throughout the park for £1, (non refundable).
There are a number of picnic spots around the park; try around the lakeside between Zodiac & Colossus or use the tables in the main dome area in wetter weather.
Places to Eat
Pizza Hut: try the buffet deal for about £8 adults & £4.50 children under 12. This is an all you can eat offer with unlimited pizza, pasta, salad & drink refills.
Jumin Juices: located by the Octopus Garden, they offer a selection of healthy smoothies with prices around £2.50, (it’s just a shame they also sell bulk discount donuts as well!) Alternatively, try a soft drink refill for around £5 that you can refill as often as you like. Remember to use your Annual Pass to receive your 20% discount too!
The Glass House Restaurant: keep a look out for deals on food & drink at this one. Also offers a selection of healthy kids meals devised by Annabel Carmel for about £4.25 a meal.
Invest in an Ultimate Fastrack Ticket for £60 per person that allows you unlimited fastrack entrance to most of the main rides at the park.
Tidal Wave
For a full soaking, try Tidal Wave which is one for all the family! If this isn’t for you, why not make use of the water guns located nearby where for £1 parents have a chance to get their own back!
Brought the kids but not interested yourself?
Unlike Alton Towers, if you are not keen on rides, there is precious little to amuse you here! Try the sunken garden by Stealth or hide away in the Glass House restuarant which at least is spacious and holds array of comfortable seating! If you can avoid the park completely, try Chertsy close by for a leisurely lunch or a spot of shopping.
Not the best of the Merlin Theme Parks for little ones as Thorpe Park appears to be targeting the thrill seeker rather than the young family. However, there are a selection of rides for young children particularily in the summer when the water park area is open. Beware that the little rides often have maximum height requirements, which can cause problems for families with more than one child!
Free child ID wristbands; Available from Guest Services for that extra piece of mind. They provide secure wrist bands that has your mobile number on the band. If child is lost, a member of staff will contact you on the number given.
Parent Queue Share Passes: If you have a child under 1.4m you can have a queue share pass, free of charge from guest services. This allows the first parent to queue and ride with the subsequent parent using the fast track entrance. This works particularly well in groups of adults and children as you can still enjoy the thrill of the rides together.
Baby changing facilities & strollers; toilets and baby change facilities are clearly marked on the park map so you can manage your comfort breaks accordingly. Strollers are available for hire from Guest Services should you wish to leave your own at home.
Want to treat the kids without spending a fortune: try the sweet sherbet sticks available from the gift shops. With three sizes to choose from, the children have fun selecting & topping up different flavoured sherbets in one tube.
Historically, parking was free of charge although this is about to change with the introducution of a £2 parking charge. Parking remains free of charge for annual pass holders & blue badge holders.
Although there is no hotel on site, Thorpe Park has linked in with some nearby hotels. For more details, go to Thorpe Park breaks.
For something different try out Saw Alive Horror Maze complete with live actors for ultimate scare tactics and pungent smells to boot – not for the faint hearted!
USB wrist band
Thorpe Park has introduced new USB wristbands that allows you to download photos as you wish. Once your have purchased the USB wristband and first photo for £10, subsequent photos will cost you £5 and will hold up to 40 photos at a time!
Passholders get an even better deal; the initial puchase is just £5. For subsequent photos, why not purchase a 4 photo deal for £16 which you can use to buy successive photos on the USB wristband. This not only saves you a £1 a download, it is valid all season so you can space out your photographic memories!
