London- Feburary

[Comet]

Ok, so I need some help concerning a trip to London.

I get off from school from February 16th-24th, and I'm gonna be in London for 5 of those days.
It's not gonna be anytime soon that I'm in England again, so I was wondering if there was any type of amusement park visit I could squeeze in. Thorpe and Chessington would've probably been the most ideal, but they don't open until March (according to their websites).

I did however notice that Alton Towers has some half term thing or something like that going on while I'm there. So my main questions would be what rides are open during that time, and is there any way to get to the park from London, do everything possible at the park, then make it back to London in one day's time.

Any help or even other park options would be great.

-Comet

[GeorgeBC]

Thorpe Park and Alton Towers will be open but with very limited ride availability, so either Alton or Thorpe are a possibility, you can find Alton's list of rides that will be open during the half term below, as for Thorpe Park, nothing has been announced yet so it will be a case of waiting closer to the time.


* Air
* Nemesis
* Haunted Hollow
* Spinball Whizzer
* The Blade
* Squirrel Nutty
* Riverbank Eye-Spy
* The Beastie
* Berry Bish Bash
* Doodle Doo Derby
* Old Macdonald’s Tractor Ride and Singing Barn
* Duel – The Haunted House Strikes Back
* There’s Something in the Dung Heap adventure playground Not a very good ride selection as you can see, so the only option is to wait and see what Thorpe Park announce...You have Adventure Island (Just outside of London) which will be open but the only good coaster is Rage (Although there is a vast flat ride selection), so your better off with Thorpe or Alton, even if rides will be limited, at least you could get your Nemesis credit.

Edit: Pleasure Beach Blackpool will be open also on select dates during your visit, so that's another possibility although it's a good 5 hour drive from London, which might not be what you ideally want.

[Comet]

Thanks a lot man...especially for pointing out that Adventure Island is nearby, and open!
That should be an easy thing to do for an afternoon.

But yeah, Alton Towers chances are looking pretty glum now, although if Thorpe's selection is even less I might as well go for Nemesis, Air, and Spinball Whizzer.

[Jake]

I would say that Alton Towers is worth the visit merely because Nemesis is there! I would not miss out on the chance to ride that if the opportunity presents itself.

[Dan]

Alton's Air and Nemesis are worth visiting more than all of Thorpe. The rides, plus the great theme (on Nemesis at least), make it worth while. Also, Thorpe is just a normal chain style park, whereas Alton has its unique height restriction, and is also a very unusual park...lot's of open space. It's worth the visit.

[Comet]

I understand that Alton would probably be better then Thorpe no matter what Thorpe opens....but...
Outside of driving, is there any other convenient way to get to Alton.

[Maxamillious]

^ It’s England mate! (Ha, I’ve always wanted to say that) There are subways, railways and buses everywhere. George will have to tell you the whereabouts of the subway, train and bus stations as it’s been to long since my last visit to remember, but I’m certain that you can find a quick and easy way to get there. :)

[RollermanDan]

The British Rail system is AMAZING!!! I absolutely love it because of it's simplicity. If you go to the Kings Cross station, you can purchase a rail ticket that will take you up to Derby and from there you hop on a bus that takes you directly to Alton Towers (1 hour ride on the train, 1 hour on the bus). Correct me if I'm wrong George. Thorpe is another easy one to get to by going to the Waterloo station and taking the train to Staines (30 min ride) from there you hop on a bus and it's like 15 min through the town and it takes you right to the entrance.

Here's more info from Thorpe Park:
http://www.thorpepark.co.uk/planning_your_visit/how_to_get_here.asp?css=2

[Comet]

Thanks for the help guys, I really appreciate it.

My mom who will be coming has trouble with buses, cabs, etc...unless she's driving. So more then 20 minutes wouldn't be too ideal.
Thorpe seems pretty simple though, 15 minutes on a bus isn't too bad.

[Dan]

My mom who will be coming has trouble with buses, cabs, etc...unless she's driving. So more then 20 minutes wouldn't be too ideal.
Thorpe seems pretty simple though, 15 minutes on a bus isn't too bad.
Just, tell her you'll take care of it. Believe me, the system in England is great. Everything is really organized and easy to follow.

[Comet]

Oh, my bad, she gets sick.
Sorry about that.

[Dan]

Ah..never mind that then.

If she doesn't mind driving, it's not too bad of a drive, depending on where you're located. Are you staying in London?

[Comet]

Yes, we are staying in London.
Generally, how long of a drive would it be around?

[Dan]

I'd say 3-4 hours based on my drive from an hour out of London by train, but George can probably give you a better number.

[sirloin]

Now how far is Alton Towers from Manchester? I'm trying to see if I can't swing a trip to Europe this summer, and I'm trying to see if Manchester is a more convenient airport to fly into.

[Dan]

According to Google Maps, you're better off flying into Manchester.

[GeorgeBC]

Now how far is Alton Towers from Manchester? I'm trying to see if I can't swing a trip to Europe this summer, and I'm trying to see if Manchester is a more convenient airport to fly into.

Manchester would be more ideal, it's around 40 minutes from Alton Towers driving distance (Not too sure on trains), which is a lot better than 3 hours driving distance from London, so if you want to hit up Alton, Manchester is ideally the better place to go.

As for Comet's questions, the Thorpe Express is a 15 minute bus journey from Staines, once you get to London Waterloo (Which has various underground lines running to it, just look up a London Underground map for all the details) it's a mere 30 minute train journey to Staines, so it's not a bad trip.

Alton Towers on the other hand is a lot longer, there are various routes you can take for it via train, one is going from London Euston to Stoke on Trent, from there you can get a Taxi or Bus (Bus times might be different during that time of year, as it will be off peak, so some of the all inclusive train and coach deals might not be running), either way you can get a Taxi which will be a 15-20 minute journey to Alton, might be a bit pricey though.

If your driving, Alton Towers varies depending on traffic but I've managed to get from East London to Alton Towers in 2 hours 20 minutes before, so your looking at about 3 hours maximum unless you hit really bad traffic. Then as for Thorpe by driving, you'll need to head to Staines, hit up on the M25 and you should be there within 30 minutes to an hour depending on what part of London your staying in.

But like Dan said, Thorpe's availability will be very limited and it's probably better to take Nemesis and Air over all of Thorpe's rides anyday...

[TPDan]

Its slightly unfortunate your going on Febrauary really, Thorpe is so much better when its open in March/April with more rides. Everytime people go in february for the first time they seem to take the park for a joke when it has a lot of rides down. At least they might be more prepared this year for February openings. Same with Alton, Oblivion is fantastic, so its a bummer youll miss that. Youd also miss out on Rita, Corkscrew (but thats not so much of a miss ;)), Hex, Spinball Whizzer and all the other flat rides and water rides. At Thorpe you'd miss out there water rides and some fantastic flat rides too, which would be really frustrating.

Im not trying to put you off going, just preparing you if the reliability is really bad and you miss out on some things, as the reactions of last year at thorpe in february where very bad. It would be great to see more people visit these 2 parks, so I do still want you to go, but if its possible, try to postpone it to March IF you can. Its just so much better when they're both open. Just a little advice, but I do hope you go and enjoy it :).

[Comet]

I know what you mean, but I'll take whatever I can get.
I don't think there's any chance of us changing it to March, but if it somehow happens, that'll be great.

I wouldn't really go in expecting much though, even a few rides on some completely new coasters would be great after four months of the off season here.

[GeorgeBC]

Just to update you, the ride line up for the Half Term at Thorpe Park has been confirmed:


Stealth
Zodiac
Nemesis Inferno
X:/No Way Out
Colossus
Slammer
Rush
VortexWhatever park you decide to go to, have fun.