Big Easy Bumpers

Classic dodgem cars in a New Orleans-themed setting - a crowd favourite for groups and families.

Is Big Easy Bumpers open today?

Yes — Big Easy Bumpers is open right now, with a 10-minute queue (as of 20:02 UK time).

Typically 8 minutes at this hour over the last 28 days, ranging from about 5 minutes at its quietest to 16 at its busiest — that is busier than usual for this hour. Compare with every other ride →

About Big Easy Bumpers

Big Easy Bumpers is Thorpe Park's dodgem attraction, themed around New Orleans and jazz culture. The ride arena features the standard dodgem format: electric cars on a conductive floor, riders steering into and away from each other for a fixed session length. The theming is more involved than a standard fairground dodgem setup, with decorative set dressing in the arena and on the surrounding structure.

Dodgem cars are one of the most universally accessible theme park attractions - a low 1.1m height requirement to ride as a passenger, fun across all age groups, and appealing to visitors who aren't interested in the intense rides elsewhere. Big Easy Bumpers fills this role at Thorpe Park.

What to Expect

Each session lasts a few minutes. Riders who meet the minimum height to drive solo get their own car; younger children can ride as passengers with an adult driver. The session ends when the power cuts and cars coast to a stop. Queue times here are driven primarily by the fixed session format - the floor resets and loads in batches, so the wait can feel choppy.

This is not a thrill ride in any meaningful sense. It is a fun, social, low-intensity attraction that works well as a break between the more demanding rides in the park.

Tips for Big Easy Bumpers

• Good rest stop. After a morning of coasters, Big Easy Bumpers is a natural break - low intensity, enjoyable for groups, and covered so it works in any weather.
• Children under 1.3m can still ride. As passengers from 1.1m with an adult driver. A useful option for families with a mix of heights who want to do something together.
• Sessions load in batches. You'll wait for a full session to end before loading, which means the queue can pause for several minutes at a time. Don't be misled by a short visible queue - you may still wait 10–15 minutes.
• Groups are more fun. Dodgems are social by nature. With a group of friends or family, the experience is significantly more entertaining than riding as strangers.

When to Ride Big Easy Bumpers

Dodgem queues move in whole-session blocks - everyone unloads, everyone loads, repeat - so the wait is simply the number of sessions ahead of you. At quiet times that is zero; on school-holiday afternoons perhaps two or three, call it 15 minutes. The floor takes a fixed number of cars per session, so larger groups may get split across two sessions at busy times.

Like the rest of the family cluster it peaks midday and empties by late afternoon. If the session you are watching looks full of confident teenage drivers, younger children may prefer to wait one round for a calmer floor - the character of each session really is set by whoever happens to be driving.

Good to Know Before You Queue

These are proper bumper cars in a New Orleans-themed corner of the park, and the rules of engagement are eternal: pick a target, commit, apologise afterwards. Solo drivers need to be 1.3m or taller; children from 1.1m ride as passengers with an adult driving, which for many is their favourite arrangement anyway - all of the collision, none of the responsibility.

A word of tactical advice honed over generations: hug the outside for speed, cut the middle only to ambush, and never stop moving or you become the ambush. It is also one of the best rides in the park for mixed-age groups, since a grandparent and a six-year-old can share a car and a nineteen-year-old can hunt them both. Sessions are short enough that "one more go" is usually feasible - check what the rest of the park is doing on the live board before agreeing to it.

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