A Day Out at Thorpe Park

Okay so I don't do big rides, or crowds, or pretty appalling fast-food chains. I'm a bit of a snob I confess and would rather take a trip to Shaw's Corner followed by a pub lunch somewhere out in the Hertfordshire countryside. But occasionally I have to bite the bullet, slap on the suncream and head, along with about 30,000 other people, to a British theme park. This is because I have teenagers and so does my sister and we love them so very much that we have to bribe them into wanting a day out with us by choosing the sort of day out they will first and foremost love and we can just about bear.

Well yesterday was one such day, so off the 8 of us trotted to Thorpe Park and I must confess I learnt a few things.

1) I learnt that my sister is a closet adrenalin junkie and will go on all the REALLY big and fast rides putting me to shame.

2) Even my cynicism was left at the entrance gate and the first time I heard the menacing music played out over the loud speakers I felt a thrill of excitement.

3) I really, really love big splashy water rides where you get absolutely soaked.

4) You should always go for the trusted brands in terms of fast-food in these places. I opted for fish and chips- absolutely disgusting and partially cooked (they were cold in the middle- yuck). My girls chose Burger King which is standard fare but at least you know what your getting.

5) My husband is also a closet adrenalin junkie and joins my sister in putting me to shame.

6) Thank God for my brother-in-law who is a big wimp like me and is happy to hold the bags and sunglasses while the others go on the white-knuckle rides.

7) You do need to get there at 9.30am to beat the big queues - my sister insisted, I resisted, thankfully she won and we got to go on rides before the queues became 60mins long.

8) Ben and Jerry's makes a perfect substitute to lunch when you've been badly let down by the fish and chips.

Here is a taste of what I am proud to say my sister, husband and the teenagers took on....

Colossus - one of the Top 10 roller-coasters in the world apparently.

The infamous Saw.

And this was my favourite ride - Logger's Leap

And here, dear friends, is the state of me afterwards...

And Thorpe Park itself? Good points are they have a wide selection of fast, scary rides and because it's smaller than Alton Towers there's not so much walking to do. For families with small children there is very little - I'd go up the road to Legoland at Windsor. It was a bit grubby and careworn which considering it's the start, and not the end, of the season is pretty poor, and the food selection is also poor. It is really easy to get to being just off the M25 and near to Staines station (there's a shuttle bus apparently). Above all, if you like theme parks, it's FUN!