This week I was thrilled to learn that Mums do travel is on the Travel shortlist for the 2013 BritMums BiB awards for parent bloggers. If you voted for me, thank you very much and if you feel like voting for me (or any of the other shortlisted blogs) to get through to the final stage, that would be splendid. Voting closes on May 12th and finalists will be announced on May 22nd. You can vote by clicking here.
So, we’ve been invited to visit Thorpe Park soon in order for me to write a review. As a family we don’t have much theme park experience. We had a great day at Eurodisney about five years ago when my husband was working in Paris and a couple of fun visits to LEGOLAND Windsor since then. I have two strong memories from the Disney trip. The first is of the kids loving the Dumbo ride, which carries you gently up and down and round and round in a Dumbo the flying elephant two-seater. The second is of their Dad persuading us all to join him on the traumatising Thunder Mountain ride, which I found horribly terrifying. Besides spotting the amazing LEGO models of life-size wild animals around the park, the LEGOLAND highlight was the Viking river splash, where you’re swept along in a round boat and you get a bit splashed and wet when people fire water pistols at you.
So now that I’ve agreed to review Thorpe Park and have started looking at what’s on offer, I’m not sure how our day there will pan out. The rides all look pretty scary to me, and I don’t like being scared (although I know that lots of people enjoy it). On the website, which uses a lot of capitalisation, I learn that Thorpe Park, aka THE NATION’S THRILL CAPITAL, has rides such as THE SWARM (‘This year is more exciting than ever, THE SWARM has mutated so you can brave it backwards, plus there’s an awesome new near-miss’), Nemesis Inferno (‘We’ve flipped the rollercoaster on its head with its mad inverted Hell ride into the fiery pit of a volcano!’) and SAW- THE RIDE: THE WORLD’S MOST TERRIFYING COASTER.
Hmmm. I never knew that coasters could be terrifying, and there don’t seem to be any cartoon flying elephant rides in there at all. I haven’t seen Saw, nor do I want to. The only horror film I’ve ever experienced is Psycho, which a teacher made us watch at school when I was sixteen and has left me with an aversion to shower curtains. I don’t understand why anyone would choose to go on a ride backwards. So our trip to Thorpe Park will be interesting. I hope there are some rides which are just fun and not scary. I’ll let you know how it all goes.
Family travel lowdown: If you’re planning a trip to Thorpe Park, there are some ways to save money on your tickets. You can save 30% if you book seven days or more before you go, which means adult tickets cost from £30.24, under-12s from £23.52. If you’re travelling by train you can get online discounts with South West Trains. You can also buy a bottle of Frijj or go to this page for 2-for-1 entry. Our tickets will be provided free of charge for review purposes.
Thanks for the post. I think you are right – all the website language is not very enticing for families hence starting this campaign to get you guys back! As Caroline says there are some great rides for more junior thrill seekers. Hope you enjoy it!
The website is a bit daunting but I’m looking forward to it now I’ve read Caroline’s post!
You will be fine. I went last weekend with my brood, we started on all the tame rides. Hop over to my Lunchbox World blog if you want reassuring, as we are newbies to theme parks too! Our oldest had only ever been to Legoland once! There’s no pressure though, so don’t feel you’ve got to do the scary ones! We loved all the water based rides, but each to their own! Can’t wait to hear what you think! Will hop back once you’ve written yours up!
That’s reassuring, thank you, and I’ll have a look at your post too.
Aw you’ll be fine, and your children will be in 7th heaven!
I think we’ll all have a great time – hopefully!