Saw: n. Tool having a thin metal blade with a sharp, toothed edge.

In Short:

SAW - The Ride is arguably Thorpe's best themed ride, and is the first to be themed around a horror movie, offering riders an immersive ride experience.

Statistics:

Opened: 2009
Manufacturer: Gerstlauer
Area: Canada Creek
Ride Type: Eurofighter Roller Coaster
On Ride Photo: Yes (+ Ride DVD!)
Official Rating: Extreme Thrills

Photos:

Video:

See SAW - The Ride in action: TTP Park Video can be found in Downloads.

TTP Review:

SAW - The Ride is the world's first ride themed to a horror movie, and when it opened, boasted the steepest drop on a Coaster of 100°. It is located next to Samurai, and sits on reclaimed land in its own area in the Park. With a height of 100ft, an unnerving indoor section, and 3 inversions throughout the ride, SAW is certainly one of the Park's big boys.

Let's talk about the actual 'Coaster first. Gerstlauer Eurofighters are peppy, reliable rides which are characterised by their beyond-vertical drops. There are only 8 passengers per car; riders sit in 2 rows of 4, which allows the car to make quite tight changes of direction. After riding, it is fair to say that SAW is one of the best examples of a Eurofighter. Although it is slightly short, it is fast paced and varied throughout. It is certainly as intense as the others - at points riders are put through 4.7G; more than any other 'Coaster at Thorpe!

The ride begins in the SAW warehouse, where riders see a Jigsaw puppet trundling along on a tricycle. The car then picks up pace, and hurtles towards a pair of swinging axes and metal spikes! This is one of the best parts of ride; guests lift off their seats as the car dives down to escape. However, Jigsaw has more traps in store: riders are then shot at by guns and bows, which is a pretty noisy experience! The car continues, and riders next see a rotting dead body on the floor. The train enters a zero-G roll, so guests are hung upside down to get a better view of the corpse, and the body charmingly squirts blood up at the unsuspecting riders.

After this ordeal, the car shuttles out of the warehouse, and riders' eyes have just enough time to adjust to the daylight before they are confronted with a video message from Jigsaw, and the car begins the ascent up to 100ft. This is where the real ride begins. Unlike Oblivion at Alton Towers, SAW cars do not wait at the top before they hurtle down to the ground - and going down the drop, it really does seem as if you are about to get impaled on the spinning blades below! The train narrowly misses, and runs straight into the immelman loop, before careering around the rest of the twisted track. Particular highlights in the end section of the ride include the snappy dive loop, which really disorientates, and the airtime hill, which provides another float-out-of-your-seat sensation.

Thorpe Park have clearly done a very good job with SAW. They have worked closely with Twisted Pictures and Lionsgate to produce an authentic ride; some of the detail in the theming of this attraction is quite stunning. This has been a long time coming! Finally, after (arguably) 6 years of generic, blandly themed rides, Thorpe give us a truly immersive ride experience. Is it, as the marketing hype would have you believe, "the world's most terrifying Roller Coaster"? Well, possibly not, but it is certainly a quality attraction, and a terrific addition to Thorpe's ever-growing 'Coaster lineup. If Merlin are going to continue to install attractions as impressive as this one, then Thorpe Park has a bright future indeed.

Positives:

• The best theming in the Park really adds to an already impressive 'Coaster.
• Great headchopper effects on both the inside and outside drops.
• Front row on the second train gives the best ride.

Negatives:

• Voice of Jigsaw isn't the same as the movies.
• Ride does not have a distinctive soundtrack in the same way that say, Colossus, does.

Your Reviews:

"The best ride ever! The adrenaline rush at the drop and throughout the ride is amazing! 10/10!"
Matt, Kent, UK.

"Going on SAW - The Ride is probably the best thing I've ever done, the theming inside is incredible, and scary too!"
Jamal, Reading, UK.

"This ride is amazing; I'm going back to ride it again very soon!"
Regan, Somerset, UK.

"One of the best parts of the ride for me was surprisingly the first drop, thought it was a bit better than the main drop, but they were both very thrilling. I also loved the amount of airtime on the ride such as the main air time hill and the drop just before the dive loop going off the MCBR, which to me was a more intense weightless feeing than the main air time hill. Both drops had a nice pop of air. And the dive loop was a great ending to the ride. Pulled a lot of forces and made me stick into my seat. Top ride :)"
Freddy, Maidenhead, UK.

"Brilliant! If Colossus has the most inversions, then Saw has the BEST inversions! Terrifying but awesome! The theming is ace."
Tommy Murray, Bracknell, UK.

"A very well built ride in my opinion. Theming inside is fantastic, although I thought the outside queue was extremely boring. Great ride though, well done Thorpe Park!"
Matthew, Watford, UK.

"The buzz from SAW - The Ride is utterly amazing, it in a totally different league to everything else at Thorpe. One of the best rollerocasters ever - everything is perfectly executed."
Daniel, Basingstoke, UK.

"I've been on the ride now 7 times, and I've gotta say it's great fun inside and out :) It would be better if there were actors inside all the time, though. 8/10. "
Alex Doughty, Boston, UK.

"Amazing ride. Theming is unbelieveable and the shotgun in the queue line scared the crap outta me! The ride itself is good. I think the first drop indoors is the best bit. But it is very rough and bangs your head in parts."
Ed, UK.

"SAW - The Ride was literally immense. The two drops were simply amazing and the adrenaline rushes were great. The ride is well worth the wait. The shotguns and the videos of Jigsaw were also quite frightening... for some! 10/10!"
Matt G, Kent, UK.

"I thought there were good and bad things about Saw. Firstly, the queue is very dull and could have been livened up a bit more with something more themed to the movie. You have to wait to get inside the warehouse till you start seeing Billy the Puppet and Shotguns hanging from the ceiling... However, once you get in the car, BE PREPARED. It starts off in the dark with Billy talking to you on his tricycle, then there is a big drop which feels bigger than the outside drop, and it's in the dark. Overall a very good ride, I just feel like the Saw theme isnt 'out there' enough, they could have done more...."
Stuart K, Bristol, UK.

"The scariest part of SAW was probably the shotguns in the queue! It's really loud and sudden! I loved the theming in the tunnel and I didn't expect to get squirted with 'blood'! A brilliant ride! 10/10 for me!"
Richard, Kent, UK.

"A superb ride, the theming was great. I loved the cop car outside the ride, with blood splattered everywhere, but I didnt get the idea of the mannequins hanging from the ceiling. I think it could have been scarier."
Jamie, Warwick, UK.

"An amazing ride. VERY well themed, and the inside was awesome. Could have had more traps though and been longer. Other than that, it was amazing."
Robert, Hertford, UK.

"The queue was a bit long but it was definitely worth the wait for this amazing Roller Coaster. It's a great ride with lots of cool inversions and the vertical drop is the best! It's one of the best rides I've ever been on!"
Jamie, London, UK.

"An awsome indoor queue line, and I liked the TVs with Billy on them too. An awesome ride - 10/10 for me!"
Mark, Kent, UK.