Latest news with #Thorpe Park
Daily Mail
05-08-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
I 'fat tested' the rides at UK's most popular theme park - there were so many seats I couldn't fit in
A group of women 'fat tested' the rides at Thorpe Park to see if they could fit comfortably in them all. Jo and Nat, known as @ on TikTok, shared their experience of testing the attractions at the popular theme park alongside some friends. First up was Rush, a giant swing ride that goes up to 75ft high at 50mph, and the video showed the pair being flung into the air. 'Never ever, ever again,' Nat commented afterwards. 'I must say, getting into the moulded seat you have to really get your bum back, it was quite tight,' Jo explained. Nat felt it wasn't 'the most comfortable' ride because of the seats being 'hard plastic'. However, overall they felt 'very secure' and were happy with the good amount of 'air time'. Zodiac was next to be put to the test. The ride spins 60ft high and has no restraints holding passengers down. 'Apparently gravity will keep us in when we go upside down,' Jo said. Nat quipped: 'Will we defy gravity?' After the ride, the pair shared their verdicts and Nat described it as 'brilliant'. Jo added: 'What a fantastic ride, you don't have anything holding you in.' Nat interjected: 'Absolutely nothing, you are sat practically on the floor of a cage with nothing, just hold on.' Jo joked: '... gravity keeps you in, and if it kept us whoppers in, it'll keep you in as well.' Vortex, a swinging pendulum ride, was next, and Nat hopped into the tester seat outside of the ride to see if she would be able to comfortably fit. She described it as 'very narrow at the thigh' and no green light appeared above the seat meaning she would be unable to ride. Jo also didn't pass the test, and neither did her friend Yvette, though their pal Susan managed to sit in the set fine. The friends then tested Quantum, a flying carpet, family ride, which secures riders with a lap bar. Nat commented: 'It's very comfortable, easy to access.' Family roller coaster, Flying Fish was also a success but The Swarm's tester seat proved to be too small for Jo and Nat, meaning they couldn't go on the winged roller coaster. In a second video, the group of women tackled Hyperia, the tallest and fastest roller coaster in the UK. Neither Nat or Jo were able to pass the seat test, while their friends Yvette and Susan did. Despite not being allowed to ride, they commented how impressed they were with the accessibility information board nearby Hyperia. Colossus, a 10-looped roller coaster, was up next, and Jo demonstrated herself attempting to fit in the test seat. She said: 'I'm not going to fit, but in the interest of transparency, showing you how much space I've got left from the seat belt.' 'I would say, if you're up to about a size 18 you could do Colossus,' Jo shared. The group of friends then attempted to test out Samurai, a spinning mechanical arm that flies 60ft high. A sign next to the seat said: 'Guests must be properly secured in the ride seat, which may not be possible for those with chest measurements approaching 51 inches.' 'My chest measurement is 63 inches, so there's absolutely no way I can even try it,' Jo commented. She then tested exactly where the harness needed to go down to be able to ride, and was surprised that the gap was quite small. 'If you're over a size 18, you're not going to fit on this,' she said. SAW - The Ride, based on the film of the same name, also wasn't a success for either Nat, Jo or Yvette, though Susan did fit. Though they were able to enjoy The Walking Dead ride, Jo shared: 'The only thing I will say is you have to have two people per cart so me and Nat were really really squashed in together, she had to have her arm around me for the whole ride which I'm sure she enjoyed.' Roller coaster Nemesis Inferno was next, and everyone was able to fit in the tester seat. 'If you are in a larger body, ask for row four and five because they have two seats on there that have double seat belts and they are are a bit more generous,' Nat explained afterwards. 'So I sat in one of those, Jo sat in front, Susan was okay in the normal buckle next to me but there are options if you are bigger bodies.' Drop ride Detonator proved to be a success for Yvette, but Jo and Nat couldn't pass the three safety clicks needed to fit into the seats. Meanwhile, roller coaster Stealth's tester seat was a struggle for three out of the four. Nat shared her overall verdict and said: 'I think the rides are really good but I wouldn't say it's completely accessible for a plus size body. 'I would say accessibility for disabilities is brilliant, though we did seem to ride more thrilling rides at Alton Towers.' It comes after Blackpool Pleasure Beach unveiled footage of its newest ride - which promises to be the 'tallest of its kind' in the UK and transform the resort's famous coastline. The park released the first CGI video of Aviktas, a brand-new £8.72m pendulum ride set to open in 2026. Riders will fly on the towering 138ft gyro swing, alongside the popular Big One roller coaster and parallel to the coast, which is displayed in new footage created by the park's creative team. The ride will be the 'tallest of its kind' in the UK, surpassing the current leader, Drayton Manor's Maelstrom, which reaches approximately 74 feet in height.
The Independent
02-08-2025
- Entertainment
- The Independent
Thrill-seeker to attempt to ride 120 rollercoasters in UK in just over two weeks
A thrill-seeking man is to begin an attempt to ride every rollercoaster in the UK in little over two weeks. Dean Stokes, 36, believes he will become the first person to achieve the feat if he can succeed in riding 120 coasters across 32 theme parks in 16 days, starting in Brighton and ending at Thorpe Park. Mr Stokes worked for five years at Google before leaving the corporate ladder to set up his own business delivering technology training, having grown tired of being unable to try new things. The former UK head of Google for Education decided to set up his own YouTube channel as part of his new work and has already seen his videos about his planned adventure viewed hundreds of thousands of times across social media platforms. Mr Stokes, from Brighton, in East Sussex, told his former Google colleague Simon Fasolo, 44, about his plan to travel the UK in pursuit of the aim. And Mr Fasolo, from Perth, Australia, decided it would be a great way to explore the country – despite hating rollercoasters himself and refusing to join his friend on the rides. The two will begin at Brighton Palace Pier, home to the Crazy Mouse and Turbo rollercoasters, and, according to the route map on the website, hope to have conquered four parks and eight rides in total by the end of the first day. Mr Stokes said: 'I've ridden over 100 rollercoasters in around 25 different theme parks across 10 different countries. 'But I still haven't actually ridden loads of rollercoasters in the UK, so I just thought, why not? ' One of the reasons I left the corporate world was to have a bit more variety in the work that I do and so starting the YouTube channel on the tech side was part of that. 'And I just thought, if I was going to make a channel that was completely different to that, what would it be? And it would probably be rollercoasters and theme parks because I'm a big fan. 'I've included every rollercoaster that's classed as a thrill or extreme rollercoaster, to avoid family and children's rides. But we plan to do all of them consecutively. 'As far as I know, I think I'll be the first person to do it – the only person mad enough to do it.' Mr Stokes said he is open to ideas or suggestions from his followers on social media of tasks within the challenge. The duo have booked around half of the hotels, and plan to travel in a hire car, but delays and unforeseen issues could lead to a stressful journey. He said: 'I think it's going to be quite a lot of stress at points, but I'm looking forward to it overall. 'On social media, I realised it was really resonating with people. 'I think people want to go out and have fun and I think that often we are too scared to get out and just do the things that we love, especially as adults. 'There's this whole community out there that loves theme parks, whether they're proper enthusiasts or just people that like going in the summer with their family, and they are now really excited to follow my progress.' He added: 'Someone commented and said it is the UK theme park enthusiast's dream. It might be difficult, so I'll have to decide whether it feels like a dream at the end of it or not. There are theme parks the two plan to visit across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, and they are planning on driving to Dublin for an extra set of rides in the Republic of Ireland. Mr Stokes is excited to support many of the amusement parks which are run as independent businesses, as well as visiting historic seaside resorts, such as Great Yarmouth Pleasure Beach, which is over a hundred years old. He has asked for permission to film for his YouTube, TikTok and Facebook, and a number of the theme parks have even offered him free tickets. Mr Stokes said: 'A lot of the parks have come back to me and are really on board with the whole idea. 'I need the good summer weather to continue, as I've only packed shorts and T-shirts, and one jacket. But if it all goes to plan, it should be a great trip 'And I'm already looking for inspiration for my next challenge once it's complete – I think the natural next step would be to choose another country and do the same. 'Germany has loads of world world-class theme parks, so we could go and do it there. 'But maybe it could be a country that I've never been to. I know Japan has a few theme parks that'd be cool to get around. But I'll do well to finish this challenge first.'
