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Pleasurewood Hills
vs
Thorpe Park

On a typical day Pleasurewood Hills queues less: about 8 minutes a ride against 24 at Thorpe Park, a difference of roughly 16 minutes on every queue you join.

01 · On a typical day

What you would normally queue.

Averages across recent weeks, so one broken ride or one wet Tuesday cannot decide it. This is the comparison to plan a trip on; the live figures below are the one to act on today.

Pleasurewood Hills and Thorpe Park compared on their typical recorded queue times
TypicallyPleasurewood HillsUnited KingdomThorpe ParkUnited Kingdom
Average wait per ride 8 min (best of the two)24 min
Rides with recorded waits 24 (best of the two)21
Longest typical queue Water Fun Factory23 minHyperia54 min
Shortest typical queue Woody's Wheel5 minVortex6 min
Average ride uptime Share of opening hours a ride is running93% (best of the two)85%

Averaged across every ride at each park with recorded waits. A ride that never opened is left out, so a park is not flattered by counting a shut ride as a queue of zero.

02 · Right now

Both parks, this minute.

Live queue times at both parks. These fill in as soon as the page loads, and keep updating while you are here.

Pleasurewood Hills and Thorpe Park compared on live queue times
Right nowPleasurewood HillsUnited KingdomThorpe ParkUnited Kingdom
Average wait right now --
Rides open --
Opening hours today --
Longest queue --
Shortest queue --

These keep refreshing while this page is open. A closed park posts no waits, so its rows read as dashes rather than zeroes.

Verdict, on a typical day On a typical day Pleasurewood Hills queues less: about 8 minutes a ride against 24 at Thorpe Park, a difference of roughly 16 minutes on every queue you join.

03 · Choosing

Which one is your day out.

Every line here is earned by one of the figures above - nothing is a generic sentence with a park name dropped into it.

Pick Pleasurewood Hills if…

  • You want shorter queues: Pleasurewood Hills averages 8 minutes a ride against 24 at Thorpe Park
  • You want more to do: 24 rides here have recorded wait data against 21 at Thorpe Park
  • You would rather not find rides shut: Pleasurewood Hills's rides run 93% of opening hours against 85% at Thorpe Park
  • Water Fun Factory is on your list - it is Pleasurewood Hills's longest typical queue at about 23 minutes, so it is the one to do first
  • You want Pleasurewood Hills's own character - the rides, theming and atmosphere described below

Pick Thorpe Park if…

  • You will accept a longer queue - 24 minutes a ride here against 8 at Pleasurewood Hills - for what Thorpe Park has that Pleasurewood Hills does not
  • Hyperia is on your list - it is Thorpe Park's longest typical queue at about 54 minutes, so it is the one to do first
  • You want Thorpe Park's own character - the rides, theming and atmosphere described below

04 · The parks

What each one is.

Pleasurewood Hills

Pleasurewood Hills is a family theme park in Lowestoft, Suffolk, on the Norfolk-Suffolk border. It's a small but well-regarded regional park with a mix of family and thrill rides: Wipeout boomerang coaster, Marble Madness indoor spinning coaster, Rage double-launch coaster, and a large Pirate Ship swing ride. The park sits on 50 acres of mixed woodland and open field.

Pleasurewood Hills' season runs roughly Easter to late October, with school holidays and UK summer weekends driving peak crowds. Weekdays in May, June and September are usually very relaxed. Check live queue times for Rage and Wipeout on arrival, and use our crowd calendar to pick a quieter day - the park pairs well with a Suffolk or Norfolk coastal holiday.

Pleasurewood Hills live queue times

Thorpe Park

Thorpe Park is the UK's premier thrill-ride destination, sitting on a lake-filled 500-acre site in Chertsey, Surrey. Owned by Merlin Entertainments, the park is built around adrenaline: Stealth rockets from 0 to 80 mph in under two seconds, Hyperia stands as Britain's tallest and fastest rollercoaster at 236 feet, and Nemesis Inferno, Saw and Colossus round out one of the most coaster-heavy line-ups in Europe.

Queue times at Thorpe Park swing dramatically with the seasons - quiet in spring and on weekdays, extremely busy during Fright Nights in October and summer weekends. Check live queue times before your ride priorities, and use the crowd calendar to pick a midweek visit if you want to hit every major coaster in a single day.

Thorpe Park live queue times

05 · Questions

Pleasurewood Hills or Thorpe Park?

Which is better, Pleasurewood Hills or Thorpe Park?

If you are judging on queues, Pleasurewood Hills: it averages about 8 minutes a ride on a typical day against 24 at Thorpe Park, roughly 16 minutes back on every queue you join. Pleasurewood Hills has 24 rides with recorded waits against 21 at Thorpe Park. Pleasurewood Hills also runs its rides more reliably - 93% of opening hours against 85%.

Which has shorter queues, Pleasurewood Hills or Thorpe Park?

Pleasurewood Hills, by about 16 minutes a ride. On a typical day Pleasurewood Hills averages 8 minutes against 24 at Thorpe Park. Queues still move hour by hour, and a midweek day outside school holidays beats the gap at either park. See Pleasurewood Hills best time to visit and Thorpe Park best time to visit to pick a quiet day.

Can I visit Pleasurewood Hills and Thorpe Park in the same trip?

Yes - both parks are in United Kingdom, so a two-park trip is realistic over a long weekend. Split the days so you start at whichever opens earliest and drive to the other in the evening.

How many rides does each park have?

See the tables above for ride counts - or jump to Pleasurewood Hills and Thorpe Park for the full ride lists.

Is Pleasurewood Hills bigger than Thorpe Park?

By rides we track waits for, Pleasurewood Hills is the bigger day out: 24 rides against 21. Acreage matters less than how many you can actually get on, which comes down to queues and opening hours - and on those Pleasurewood Hills is the quicker park.

Then pick
the quiet day.

Both parks have a crowd calendar with six weeks of forecast and the best day left to go.

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