Fazl's Thorpe Park Review

When thoughts drop on Thorpe Park, every single person thinks of one word. Fun. However, when me and my I.C.T (Information Communication Technology) class visited one of the most dramatic and action-packed theme parks in the United Kingdom, we didn’t just have fun, we had a close look into the world of I.C.T in theme parks which grabbed our attention and just made us shout one word. Wow!

During a nice working day, our coach arrived at the adventurous park one and a half hour later. 10:30am, the time was after starting the journey at 9:00am. The eye-catching tourism attractions such as: London Eye, Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament waved at us while we were sitting in the coach, and I therefore knew an exploratory day was heading our way. Once our eyes caught sight of the Thorpe Park logo and the rides’ billboards, we all screamed in excitement as if we were to enter Heaven. The nervousness of exams was a complete irony of this. A mixture of butterflies in my tummy and goose bumps in my body enlightened my tired (of the journey) mood into enthusiasm. Our teacher instructed us, and we made no mistake following it. Our bags had to be taken along with any valuables and on we marched to leave the coach and be welcomed into this thrilling new world...

As our teacher waited in a queue of approximately thirty visitors, we were all, also waiting in impatience. Some students talking to their friends, whereas others were running around. I was left standing jumping up and down in exhilaration, relying on my teacher to receive the tickets fast. Later, once we all gathered around the teacher with the tickets, she gave each individual one ticket and a map to share between one group. “You all have time for one ride, then you must come here and wait to go into the workshop”, she told us all, directing her fingers at the meeting point (which was near the ‘Crash Pad’).

The time by now was 10:45am and we had time till 11:15am to experience one ride of our choice. As we all ran off to our destinations, me and my three friends were seeking for a warm-up. Not too soft, neither too harsh. Vortex was one of the closest and impressing rides that was awaiting our entrance...

Their turn finished; our turn was next. Me and one of my friend rushed to the seats targeting the middle section. This meant that the two other members of our group had to sit on the side. After a check of the seat security we were all ready for our warm-up, perhaps feeling a bit too nervous. With a slow start, Vortex had begun to go extreme and swing us. It came down again. Then went up. First five feet, then ten feet, then twenty feet. Up to sixty six feet high it went! My heart pumping, beating faster than the speed of a cheetah. My blood boiling in nervousness. Everybody screaming like a manic puppet being dropped off a mountain. Was this a warm-up, or was this a punishment by God?

So next, what happens when you are half tensed, half excited and in the middle of an unfamiliar place? You get lost! Me and my group where now victimised by this trap. With the time being 11:10am, we had only five minutes to re-unite with our class and enter the workshop. It seemed impossible! And in fact, it was. After a few minutes, we gave up trying to find our way ourselves and therefore me and one of my friend continuously questioned every worker asking them for a solution to our problem. With this, one of our friend even got lost trying to find his way!

Approximately 11:35am, we managed to find the workshop and entered silently as we saw a worker explaining Thorpe Park and how it is closely-related to I.C.T. I managed to learn many things. Did you know that the thriller ride Stealth was once rolled back due to unrecognising customer weight? Quiet risk-taking. Well guess what, Thorpe Park is raising thoughts to actually making Stealth do this. Imagine a ride with the speed of eighty miles per hour (under two seconds) rolling back like fire!

As well as this, we were also taught that Thorpe Park now advertises themselves more on social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter rather than on television. This is because it is much more expensive (around one million pounds) to advertise on T.V, whereas IM (instant messaging) sites are much more appealing to the target audience (which are teenagers and adults) and cheaper.

 Additionally, the ticket scanning machine scans a customer’s age, name, gender and most importantly the place they bought the ticket from. This is because when comparing these data types on a graph, it could be a real help to compare it to the previous and (later on) the next year to see if the business has dropped or increased since the time. The workshop really helped me and other students understand how I.C.T plays a key role in the whole business of theme parks. In this case; Thorpe Park. 

Later, when we were dismissed from an extremely helpful workshop, all the students rushed out to be thrilled more of this extravagant and courageous beauty. Me and my friends gained plenty of confidence and therefore ran off to Saw the Ride. With immensity and self-reliance I walked out of the ride screaming “That was nothing. Not enough to scare me!”. Carrying this egotism with me, my group of friends seized all of the thrilling, enthralling, nail-biting rides. Colossus, Nemesis Inferno and Swarm. I had the same thoughts on all of them that I had on Saw the Ride earlier on. However, they were much more enjoyable and unforgettable.

After realising that we were superciliousness with the previous rides, we picked our head up, had a nice swallow, and looked up at the frightening Stealth. We stood in the fifteen minutes queue waiting anxiously, but also convinced. As our turn came next, one of my friend sat next to me in row four, while my other two friends took a seat behind me. My heart was dropping, looking at the height, laughing with a devil smile right in front of my face. “Okay its time...”, I stare at my friend and whisper...

Three, two, one. Nothing. A little longer wait... Go!!! With a flying start my eyes were shutting, I forced them to open and challenge this man-beater. We all flew two hundred and five feet up in the air! For less than a second, I was imagining the ride rolling back again but no! It raced forward; I look down at the world which I am now standing on. My breath chocked back into my throat as the speed of the rollercoaster pushed my soul against my body. Down we came with courageous speed, fire in our eyes. In a blink of an eye, it’s all done. Wow! I have now lived the fearful Stealth!  

Thirty minutes before our exit, I persuaded my friends to experience the Tidal Wave. But before this, we were welcomed into the dark, fancy lighting yard of No Way out. 4:25pm, we came out all soaked. Thanks to Tidal Wave. After drying ourselves for a good five minutes, we rushed back to the exit and waited for other students. Now, it was time to go home and make this reality-turned dream into history. “Thank you very much Miss”, I showed appreciation politely with pleasure.