With the Lockdown being here on and off for over a year, May 2021 was potentially towards opening up to normality, With theme parks allowed to reopen how were they getting on? how were they dealing with Covid and social distancing procedures with time to adjust? this time we looked at Thorpe Park a place we visited last year during the covid Era, but with it all still feeling fresh and new at the time.

When we visited last year it was very much to see how they had handled and what the experience was like, and you can read it here. For more of a detailed review of the Park, I’ve also done a post here. As a treat we thought it would be good for the kids to have a day out, for months we haven’t gone anywhere, and let’s be honest, for kids, this last year plus hasn’t been the greatest one.

Busy?

Last time out even though at times it felt busy and much of the time with rides etc, and the pure entry to the park was delayed because of social distance and Covid, I understood there were as many people there as they would normally.

This time though I was struck by how busy it was already, the car park was much fuller and the queues and volume of people were far more, I’m not sure if they were still limited on how many people can attend but it didn’t feel they were limited at all, however, it felt slicker upon entering and the queues in the rides felt quicker. Last time I pointed out everything felt slower etc whether they had improved or doing less or whatever? I’m not sure, they seemed to be more slicker in the whole process.

Unfortunately for our visit inside areas and food etc was still limited but this of course was all due to be released soon, as more steps come into place, this would make the experience perhaps alot better but it still doesn’t really detract from the day.

As with all theme parks some rides were on and some were off, but with Covid, nothing was affected out of the norm, due to the number of people there queues times were long, some gapping spaces as requested by signage, etc could suggest it’s not as long as you would think, but it did still take a while to get on rides, but again being one of the biggest theme parks in the country, you would expect that.

Overall

I think overall if you’re wanting for more things to be normal, and in particular, your days out, then we are pretty close, many people didn’t wear masks for most of the day, even n the rides and queues people were not wearing them, and staff did very little to ask, or when they did they didn’t follow up and just let whatever they said to pass. It was busy, so if you’re going to visit on those busy days like holidays or weekends it’s back to normal for you.

The inside areas were closed but no other rides were really affected, the odd closer and new rides being built is just a common occurrence in theme parks, it’s still a good day for the right people, those early teenagers upwards will still love it, even if you have to wait alot.