Coaster reviews

Nice surprise! Location Layout

Having read lots of reviews saying how rough this ride was, I was pleasantly surprised to find it nowhere near as uncomfortable as expected, and as such enjoyed it rather a lot. I've ridden so many worse coasters than this!

Pace Fun Rattle Lap Bar

Unique in the UK, good fun layout taken at a breakneck pace. However, the restraints can be uncomfortable, particularly when sharing a car, and the ride track can be rattly and rough.

Comfort Fun Smoothness Inversions

Every time I've ridden this I've had a massive grin on my face. It's just such an enjoyable ride. My only real criticism is that a lot of the ride is spent meandering left and right, and it would have been nice to have either more airtime or another inversion.

First Drop Inversions

I think the only negative thing I can say about this ride is that you have to climb a lot of stairs to reach the station! Once on the train, the drops are forceful and the inversion is enjoyable forward and even more fun backwards, if only for the novelty factor.

Airtimes First Drop Location Rattle

I always enjoy a ride on The Big One. As its name suggests you can see it from miles around, and the first drop is very impressive. While it's a little rattly I don't find it particularly rough, and it's a good long track, with the nice surprise of an extra section around the back of the park.

Airtimes Layout Rattle Discomfort

Good layout spoilt by a very uncomfortable ride. The airtime hills would be a lot more fun if you weren't hit in the stomach by the lap bar by the car throwing you around.

Location Headbanging Discomfort Tear it down!

It's a Vekoma SLC, and it comes with all the associated rough riding and headbanging. Not recommended.

Theming Fun Duration Discomfort

Good fun family powered coaster, which winds around the Katanga Canyon area, and has good interactions with the adjacent rapids ride (it's customary to wave to any rapids boats you pass in the tunnel section). It can throw you around on some of the faster sections but it's still an enjoyable ride.

Comfort Fun Harness Theming Dead spots Intensity

Galactica (née Air) is a perfectly decent flying coaster, though it lacks the intensity of other similar rides I've experienced. The new portal is a welcome addition to an otherwise underwhelmingly-themed ride. The short-lived experiment with VR was a capacity disaster but they seem to be able to maintain a decent dispatch speed without it. While the layout is perfectly fine, there's very few memorable moments.

Inversions Location Intensity Too short

Still my favourite coaster in the UK. It packs a punch from the moment you come off the lift hill and doesn't let up until you hit the brakes. The vertical loop is a particular highlight. Ride it in the front row for the best view - it can be a little rough at the back but it's aged very well. The theming is still excellent even though the rivers no longer run red. Capacity is good, even on a busy day the queue moves well.

Airtimes Theming Fun Dead spots Layout

Beautiful theming and a fast, exciting ride, though with a few dead spots where it just seems to be trundling along waiting for the next drop. A worthy addition to the park.

First Drop Capacity Intensity Too short

Does what it does excellently. The slow, steep lift hill builds anticipation, there's a great view across the valley from the top. Then you're held at the top, over the misty hole. The drop is fast and intense, and much longer than it looks. After that, a small airtime hill, and the ride is over. It may be short but it packs a punch. On busy days running two stations the capacity is excellent. Only downside (other than the length) is that on quieter days, running a single station, the operations can be slow and you can end up sat on the brake run for quite a lot longer than the actual ride!

Airtimes Theming Inversions Rattle Headbanging Harness

A visually impressive ride, that's a lot of fun to ride. There's a hell of a lot of track squeezed in to a very small footprint, and the layout is well-paced. Depending on where you sit within the train it can be a rough ride, however. Inversion number 12 (near the shop) has always been badly profiled and tends to slam you uncomfortably into the restraints.

Launch Rattle Headbanging Too short

Not a patch on Stealth. The launch isn't quite as intense (though still fun), and the rough ride through the corners can cause headbanging. It feels like it needs some sort of signature element, but instead it just goes round in circles for a while and ends unspectacularly.

Airtimes Capacity Nice surprise! Too short Intensity

A good family coaster with a twist. The fun in this comes from watching other riders who don't know what's about to happen. The outdoor section could do with being slightly more intense but it's a nice jaunt through the woods. The surprise section is fun and well-paced.

Pace Fun Capacity Discomfort Reliability

Fun spinning coaster. The horseshoe element in particular is very enjoyable, but the block brakes are violent and at the first sign of rain capacity is severely limited as they will only part-load cars. Most times I've ridden this coaster, the car doesn't spin much until the final helix, which is disappointing.

Fun Capacity

A good fun junior/family coaster, smooth and enjoyable. Original Ben 10 theming was well done, generic theming not so good but the ride itself is worth doing.

First Drop Inversions Rattle Headbanging

Getting rougher with age but still fun. Unique in the UK as a standup coaster. A fun layout squeezed in to a small space, just try not to bang your head.

Fun Layout Capacity Dead spots

Better than Spinball Whizzer at Alton Towers - a longer and more fun layout, and always an enjoyable ride so long as your car spins well. The main downside to the ride is that capacity is poor and queues can be long.

Fun Layout Theming Capacity

A decent length, fun ride, though a shadow of its former self, particularly in terms of its once-elaborate theming. Capacity also seems poor, it develops long queues even on relatively quiet days.

Intensity Capacity Discomfort Layout

This ride can really hurt. All the brakes are sharp and throw you around. Although some of the drops are fun, I find this more painful than fun. It can also develop quite a long queue due to poor throughput.

Theming Capacity Discomfort

An improvement on X - the new Walking Dead theming makes the ride a lot more interesting. The trains aren't the most comfortable - on several drops you're thrown into the sides of the car, but it's nice to see the return of some of the lift hill effects from the original X:\No Way Out ride. They could do a lot more with the winding entrance and exit paths, and the 2-per-row rule makes loading a lot more convoluted than it needs to be.

Airtimes Theming Layout Capacity Harness Discomfort

With different trains this would be a 4* ride, but the current bulky restraints and terrible Intamin trains really spoil the ride. The layout's good and the way you can walk through the middle of the ride area makes it an immersive experience, but it's rough to ride and the corkscrews in particular can have some violent headbanging. The offload platform in the station, especially where the baggage hold is, is too narrow and causes delays in loading and dispatch, plus on off-peak days the park commonly run this coaster with a single train, leading to longer queues than necessary. If you sit in the back row of a car, getting in and out involves significant amounts of contortion - good luck if you're over 6ft tall!

Theming Inversions Intensity Headbanging

Seems to be quite a marmite ride. Personally I'm a fan - the capacity is good (when Thorpe's operations allow!), the layout is interesting with a nice indoor section with hidden surprises, and an intense outdoor section. The theming around the area is also pretty immersive. As with many Eurofighters with the overhead restraints, there can be a bit of headbanging - I find the worst part for this is the final turn into the station brake run.

Theming Inversions Pace Too short

While not as good as its big brother at Alton Towers, Nemesis Inferno still manages to be a punchy and enjoyable ride with nice inversions. As with most B&M inverts, it's smooth and comfortable to ride with no headbanging. The jungle theming works well, but stops abruptly when you exit the ride and end up on a gantry next to a service road - did the money run out during construction?

Theming Pace Smoothness Too short

For some reason a lot of people seem to think this ride is forceless. I always find it rather intense, especially the first drop and zero-g roll. It's nicely paced and keeps the elements coming, makes good use of the space and the inline twist over the station is a nice touch. The downsides: it feels too short - you hit the brakes wishing there was more to it. And the station is gradually getting more and more dilapidated as the years go by - already a lot of the original wooden beams are missing revealing the metal supports.

Airtimes First Drop Launch Discomfort

Does what it does well. Good powerful launch, height and drop with plenty of airtime over the top especially if you sit at the back. Only real downside is the transition from the launch into the uphill - the forces can be uncomfortable if you're leaning forward.