Thorpe Park Opening Weekend with the New Ride Access System

Here at this family loves, we are roller coaster and theme park junkies. So we had to do a trip to Thorpe Park for opening weekend. My son is a RAP holder so we wanted to tell you how we go about our day. To hopefully help you get the best out of the day

Thorpe Park is our local theme park only a 45-minute drive away. We attempt to go as much as we can being Merlin annual pass holders

Setting off bright and early on a Sunday morning, armed with homemade sausage sandwiches and anticipation buzzing in the air, we embarked on our journey to Thorpe Park. With the M25 closing for the first time, we braced ourselves for what could have been a traffic nightmare. But luck was on our side, and we breezed into the park around 9:30 AM.

Equipped with our trusty VW Transporter, our designated hub for the day’s adventures. We were ready to dive into the heart-pounding excitement that awaited us. With my son Max being a Ride Access Pass holder, we were curious to see how the new system would fare this year in managing queue times more efficiently.

Thorpe Park opening weekend here we come

After a swift 5-minute queue to pick up our Ride Access Pass timeout card. We wasted no time in immersing ourselves in the electrifying atmosphere of Thorpe Park. But first, a pit stop at the Dome for a refill cup – a savvy investment for unlimited drinks throughout the day. Also sparing us the burden of lugging around heavy bottles

With Ollie reaching the magical height threshold of 140cm, a whole new realm of coasters awaited his eager embrace. We go straight to our favourite coaster which is The Swarm. It may have a few inversions and look intimidating with that slow twist on the dive drop. However, the vest restraints and the smooth ride made it the perfect ride for Ollie to enjoy his first over 140cm coaster.

The new rap system worked well with a short queue at the ride itself and timed out to match the queue time which was 25 minutes when we joined the queue.

After that, we had a little look around at all the changes for Thorpe Park opening weekend. Lots had taken place over the winter called Project Sparkle. It was lovely to see the park looking fresh.

We use the App to check the queue times and plan our next ride. Making sure we are not timed out for huge amounts of time.

We next headed over to The Walking Dead ride which is a themed roller coaster in the dark with zombies, After a quick video intro in a dark room you head down a series of corridors where you get on a train to escape the walkers. It is dark and you don’t know what to expect. While not as intense as some of the larger coasters it’s good fun.

We left there and headed to Nemesis Inferno. The boys were excited about it as we are heading to Alton Towers at the end of the easter holiday for 3 days.

After we rode Nemesis we had a bit of time to wait before our time out was up. We refilled our drink and browsed the gift shop. Then headed over to the Hyperia site to see how the UK’s tallest and fastest roller coaster was coming along.
It looks incredible and we already have tickets booked for the week it opens.

Next up Saw, I love the theming of this ride the boys didn’t understand a lot of it as they are too young for the film. a big headache later we are off with a 60-minute time out before we can use the RAP queue again.

So off for another drink refill and a walk across the new patio seating area by the water. This is a great place to go for a packed lunch on a nice day if you bring one.

We used the app to have a look at queue times and see vortex, rush and quantum all have 5 and 10-minute queues so we go and join the normal queues on these rides as they are short.

Time out now passed we head over to the detonator, but as we get there Stealth reopens, we quickly head there whilst the queue is only 10 mins.

Next up we tackle the freshly painted bumper cars.

Then after looking at the app again, we let Ollie choose the next ride he wants to do Saw again so we head over there again and get timed out for 60 minutes

Time For Lunch

A brief interlude for a lunchtime retreat back to our trusty van provided not only a welcome respite but a chance to save on costly park meals. Energized and ready for more, we plunged back into the park for round two of adventures.

After lunch, we come back in and go straight on swarm again as the queue is only 35 minutes.

We took a stroll to Colossus to see if it would be opening again today. It was closed most of the morning. With the news it was going to be closed all day, we headed back over to Nemesis for the second ride. That got us timed out for 50 minutes with that.

After we exited we refilled the drinks again and the boys went on the banana boat.

Next to the detonator use the normal queue as it is only 10 minutes. We got right to the front of the queue and then it shut. Just at the same time, we saw Nemesis broken down on the lift hill so had a lucky escape there.

Starting to get a bit tired so we head to Tidal Wave for our last ride of the day. Our theme park bag has full waterproofs for when the weather isn’t at its best.

With each ride, each laugh, and each shared moment, Thorpe Park’s opening weekend proved to be an unforgettable experience. From the heart-pounding rush of Swarm to the refreshing splash of Tidal Wave. We savoured every moment, grateful for the memories we created together.

As the sun slowly heading towards the horizon, casting a golden glow over the park, we bid farewell to Thorpe Park’s opening weekend. Our hearts are full of gratitude and excitement for the season ahead. With Alton Towers and Mardi Gras on the horizon, our theme park adventures are only just beginning.

What we rode at Thorpe Park Opening Weekend

Swarm x 2
Saw x 2
Nemesis x 2
Bumper Cars
Stealth
Rush
Banana Boat
Quantum
Tidal Wave

Totaling 12 rides which was good for Thorpe Park opening weekend. All the staff were amazing. The revamped Ride Access system proved its worth with shorter queues and timed-out slots perfectly synchronized with ride wait times.

Conclusion

Remember to book your RAP in advance which can be done here. Whilst we have managed to secure dates for all our upcoming trips. It is worth noting that there is limited RAP space now. So try and book early and before you book park tickets if you require the use of ride access.

Manage your rides well, try and choose rides with smaller wait times. I you have to go on a longer Rap timeout try and fit it around lunch to kill some time. Also, a key thing we find is ride closures tend to allow you to get on the ride when it reopens with a shorter timeout.