European Trip 2019 Planning

[Freak]

Disclaimer: If this isn’t the appropriate forum for this, apologies. Feel free to move it to the right place.

So my folks are going to France, Switzerland, and Rome for two weeks next Summer (June). Since I will be around that area, I plan on visiting the UK for a week (maybe ten days) before meeting up with them in France and visit DLP during the four days we’re staying in France. I want to visit one of my good friends who lives close to London and wants to show me around Thorpe Park.

Now I’m hoping to fly in close to Blackpool, visit the park, go to Alton, then go to London. Anybody have any helpful tips for those of you who are familiar with the country/parks about what I should hit up first at those parks? Best mode of transportation? I do consider myself a credit whore as I’m a big coaster enthusiast. Icon and the Smiler are the ones I really look forward to riding.

 

[ThemeCrafter264]

I'm from the UK so I can probably answer the majority of questions about uk parks. For Thorpe, the best order is colossus, saw, inferno, stealth, dbgt and swarm. For Alton, (wicker man if you have ert), smiler, 13, rita, galatica, nemesis and oblivion. Hope that helps.

 

[Freak]

I'm from the UK so I can probably answer the majority of questions about uk parks. For Thorpe, the best order is colossus, saw, inferno, stealth, dbgt and swarm. For Alton, (wicker man if you have ert), smiler, 13, rita, galatica, nemesis and oblivion. Hope that helps.

Anything helps! Thanks for the feedback! I was wondering what the best order would be for those parks.

Is there a railway that can get me from BPB to Alton to London? I can rally don’t want to drive in the UK.

 

[ThemeCrafter264]

I'd say drive especially for Alton towers because it's in the middle of nowhere, no public transport available. Check opening times as UK parks are closed on certain weekdays. As a warning, parks may be busy due to school trips in june, even if you visit on a weekday.

 

[Adz]

I'd say drive especially for Alton towers because it's in the middle of nowhere, no public transport available. Check opening times as UK parks are closed on certain weekdays. As a warning, parks may be busy due to school trips in june, even if you visit on a weekday.

Not necessarily. There is public transport (buses) available from Stoke which is very easy to access by train from Blackpool (one change at Manchester), and Stoke is also on the mainline down to London.

Driving is easiest of course but it can be done via train and bus.

 

[Mad Dog]

When I drove in England, I looked like the tourists (Chevy Chase) in European Vacation. And that was before the movie was made. Roundabouts. Other side of the road. Other side of the car. Clutches, no Automatics. I know I probably really ruined a couple of cars drive systems....But it was fun, in a kind of perverse way.

 

[Adz]

Furthermore. There’s not really an order to do things at Blackpool, Icon probably has the highest throughput of anything in the park so doesn’t often generate a huge queue. The Big One is prone to closures due to wind so worth jumping on as soon as it opens.

I wouldn’t underestimate Valhalla either. It’s conpletely inappropriate for this country and wetter than Bilge Rat Barges. Possibly the countries most themed ‘dark’ ride too.

Alton Towers is a hot mess in terms of park operations and until the new season begins it’ll be hard to tell an order to do things as they might stagger the openings. Generally Rita and Smiler will be the most unmanageable with queues, Wicker Man is also new so will hold a queue pretty much all day. I wouldn’t go to it first as unless you hold an Annual Pass and get ERT it will already have a large queue prior to opening.

Thorpe Park is usually pretty manageable. Colossus and Derren Brown’s Ghost Train being those with the biggest queues. The latter tends not to open until mid day. Colossus is a dumpster fire and often on one train so worth a sprint to it first just to avoid a 90 minute wait. The Swarm doesn’t get a queue at all as it’s out of the way so save that until later in the day.

I hope that helps!

 

[Freak]

Nice! Thanks for the feedback guys! Helps a ton! I was mainly worried about getting to Alton and what order to do the rides. Again, thanks!

I guess driving would be the best, but being from LA, I think I would be too scared to drive where the roads are the opposite.

 

[Freak]

Well, I booked all of my plane tickets, train tickets, and lodging for the trip! All set! The parks I'm going to hit up in the UK are (In order) Blackpool, Alton, Thorpe and maaaaaybe Chessington. I'm going to spend two days at Blackpool and Alton and one at Thorpe. Any tips I should know to do everything I want to do comfortably? Single Rider? Bad Ops? Most popular ride? Bare in mind I do consider myself a "credit whore" and love to take in theming.

I will say the only rides I don't care much to go on for trips are the typical flat rides (Pirate Ship, Swing ride, etc.) or Darren Brown's Ghost Train.

 

[Adz]

As above really. Alton Towers is having a very quiet season so far so hopefully won’t be too busy for you. They have also reintroduced Single Rider Queues on a couple of attractions, including The Smiler.

Their new attraction is an upcharge “Dungeons” which is a pretty well done experience for only £5 if booked in advance. (£7.50 on the day)

Wicker Man and Smiler still hold the longest queues along with Rita due to its lower capacity.

Thorpe Park and Blackpool Pleasure Beach aren’t too hard to get everything done without much effort. I would highly suggest making the effort to ride Derren Browns Ghost Train if you get the opportunity and the queue isn’t unmanageable. There is truly nothing else like it in the world.