Theme Parks

krudler wrote: »

Agree on Universal being better than Disney, was in Orlando a few years ago and spent most of the week between the Universal parks and Sea World, didnt bother with Disneyworld, which is more for kids really. I'd like to see the Harry Potter part as it was being built when I was last there. Loved the Spider-Man and Mummy rollercoasters.

you know the pic they take of you near the end of the ride? we came out of the Mummy one and were looking at the screen to find ourselves, and the guy behind us was on his phone! we were laughing about it and he was standing next to us saying his girlfriend had dropped her phone on the ride the previous time around and he was ringing it to see if it was there, seriously? you think you'd hear a phone ringing underneath a rollercoaster going around 50mph in the dark?[/QUOTE

I forgot SeaWorld. I LOVED it. Got completely soaked and had so much fun

krudler wrote: »

I much prefer rollercoasters to stuff like waltzers, can't stand Funderland type rides, being spun around on the spot isn't my idea of fun. anyone in Disneyland ever go on the Finding Nemo rollercoaster? went on it thinking of this will be grand, its for kids like, my arse it is, you go sideways down a huge incline in a car thats made like a giant turtle shell that spins on it own axis, the kid in the car we were in was in hysterics afterwards :pac:

Yea it's a grand enough little coaster ain't it

I love theme parks! Alton towered twice, disneyland Paris three times, universal studios salou, Sea world San Diego , and the best one, six flags LA. 10 Roller coasters in 6 hours, it was rough going!

I wanna go Harry Potter land nao!

Alton Towers is awesome. Might try to plan a try there this year now I think of it.

krudler wrote: »

Definitely, we only went on it because we wanted to see everything and the line wasn't that long as it was still early, the inside of it is cool, and I jumped when the shark popped out of the wall cos it was on my side lol the Aerosmith coaster is great, love the feeling of going from 0-60 in a split second. Did you go on the Tower of Terror? that was fantastic, the effect like you're flying through the Twilight Zone was really well done.

It's a few years since we were there. The Tower of Terror was under construction at the time . Heard it's good though.

Nobody has mentioned Gardaland in Italy yet. Good combination of rollercoasters and water rides and the queues aren't too bad.

Been to Disneyworld, Busch Gardens, Sea World and Universial Studios in Florida. Sea World was most disappointing as most of the shows were cancelled due to severe thunderstorms.

They were all amazing Disneyworld is more for kids but there's some adult things too, we went to a Luau Hawaiian food, dancers, still have my lei

As a member of the Roller Coaster Club of Great Britain and the European Coaster Club I spend quite a lot of time in Theme Parks. There are hundreds of parks worldwide worth visiting, and I'm slowly trying to visit each one!

In the UK, Alton Towers is probably the park that will most please the masses. It has plenty of good rides, one of the best steel roller-coasters anywhere in the world in Nemesis, and some rides that really pushed the boundaries of coaster design when they were built like Oblivion and Air. For kids and younger guests there is plenty to see and do also. The park itself is built on the grounds of an old stately mansion so it looks better than 99% of theme parks in the world. Also they've just put in the last piece of their brand new coaster, The Smiler, which should open in May sometime. It will hold the record for the most inversions on a coaster so if you haven't been to Alton Towers in a while, or ever, then it might be worth a visit this year.

Thorpe Park is another park under the Merlin umbrella (who own Alton Towers, Chessington, Legoland, The London Eye and Dungeons among others) but it is more aimed at the teenage market. You'll find plenty of extreme rides but the park itself isn't the nicest place to visit at times.

Most coaster enthusiasts prefer wooden coasters to their steel counterparts and I'm no different, so both Oakwood and Blackpool Pleasure Beach are worth a visit. The main selling point for Oakwood is Megafobia, one of the best wooden coasters in Europe. Ride it on a wet day (which can be quite common in South Wales!) and it is an amazing ride. They also have Speed which is decent, a few other nice rides, and a brand new area of the park is opening this year which will improve it immensely. Blackpool Pleasure Beach holds the record for the most wooden roller-coasters in a single park, having five in total. Most of those rides are classics, and while they've seen better days they're still great fun. The Wild Mouse is definitely my favourite. Strangely, given its location and climate, Blackpool also has one of the best water rides in the world in Valhalla. This ride will take you through extreme cold and heat with fire effects and animatronics throughout. It features three splashdown drops, one of which is backwards, and comes with the warning "You will get wet. You may get soaked!" which is completely true! The park is also home to dozens of unique rides so well worth a visit.

For younger kids Drayton Manor and Chessington are popular, with Thomas Land being in the former and the latter having a zoo, a safari ride, and some gentler rides. Legoland is aimed at very young kids but still a nice place to visit.

Florida is a popular destination for Irish people, it seems many of the posters on this thread have been there. It isn't the greatest place in the world for coasters however. If you're interested in coasters then Busch Gardens, Universal Islands of Adventure and Seaworld are the best to go for. If you're going for someplace that's well themed and has great attractions, rather than coasters, then Universal Studios and Disneyworld are what you're looking for. However Disneyworld is so big now that you'd almost need two weeks to see it all. As it tries to appeal to the whole family you will find a lot of attractions that won't be to your taste. Still, it still has that Disney Magic, and the Tower of Terror is worth it alone for me.

Elsewhere in the US there are hundreds of parks to choose from, and many of them have wooden coasters, which you don't find so much in Europe. If coasters are what you're after then both Cedar Point and Six Flags Magic Mountain is what you're looking for, with around 18 coasters each in both I believe. Dollywood and Knoebells are great parks to experience well run and homely parks. I try to avoid Six Flags parks in the main as their customer service leaves a lot to be desired, however they do have some good, if repetitive, coasters.

In Europe the easiest parks to get to are probably Gardaland in Italy and Port Aventura in Salou, Spain. Both are excellent parks and well worth visiting. If you can at all get to Europa Park in Germany. It's a park hardly anyone in Ireland has heard of, but it is only second to Disney in terms of size worldwide, and it has a huge array of rides, themed lands, excellent food and best of all it's run with German efficiency!

There are loads of other parks spread out throughout Europe too, especially in Scandinavia, and most are worth a visit if you happen to be nearby.

If anyone is interested in theme parks and would like to visit a few more then it might be worth joining either the RCCGB or the ECC . Membership of either club gets you discounts on most of the UK theme parks and then either the US or European parks depending on which club you join. They also run trips to the major UK parks each year, as well as a USA Trip with the RCCGB and European trips with the ECC. On the club trips the big perks are ERS, Exclusive Ride Sessions where the club rents out a coaster or two for an hour where only club members, and not the general public, can ride. For example the RCCGB do a two day trip in November taking in both Alton Towers and Drayton Manor. On that we get an hour each on four separate rides, as well as early entry to the parks. So you can ride most of the major rides before lunchtime, something you'd never get to do as a normal visitor.

Anyway I'll shut up now!

Mahoosive fan of Theme Parks, but never have the money to go anywhere. Splashed on a 10 night holiday in Orlando in Sept '09 after the schools went back. Got the flexi-ticket, so got SeaWorld, Universal Studios & Island of Adventure, Aquatica, Busch Gardens and Wet n Wild.

SeaWorld was amazing, literally spent 10 to 11.30pm in there on the second day. Legs were in bits, and scalded alive, but brilliant day. Still not enough time in the day to do everything, and the then missus was a mad animal fan, so done all the animal shows. Manta and Kracken were brilliant, with Manta just tipping it for being better, just because you felt like Superman!

Univeral Studios was equally brilliant, Duelling Dragons (now the Triwizard Tournament Dragon Challenge) was pretty cool, and was savage to see the other coaster coming towards you. Hulk was alright, the fast start was good but the rest was only ok. The Rip-Ride-Rockit was cool, picking your own song to play as it zoomed in and out of buildings was nice. Special mention to the Simpsons ride, was very, very well done for a stationary "coaster".

Island of Adventure was more water based, but still had some savage rides in it. Loved Popeyes one, got soaked! Initially wondering why there was a section in the middle of the giant ring for you to put your valuables in to stop them getting wet! Also another mention for the Spiderman ride, while old it was still pretty good (overshadowed by the Simpsons ride, as it's really the same thing).

Aquatica was excellent, made me fall in love with Water Parks, and each tube/slide was brilliant in its own right, one of them even has an underwater section where, with the right timing, you see dolphins outside!

Wet n Wild seemed good, but she was on the blob so didn't get to experience it properly.

And my favourite, Busch Gardens. Half Theme Park, half Zoo. Some great coasters in it, SheiKra has 2 savage drops (one was 110 degrees, but now it's only 90?). Gwazi is an old school wooden coaster, and was the scariest of the lot, if only because you felt like ti was going to fall apart and was crazy loud! Kumba was great fun, and you get 3 seconds of weightlessness in it which was savage. Any my favourite of the whole holiday: Montu - savage fast, legs dangling, loads of loops, just a savage coaster. Went on it thrice!

If i ever win the lotto, i'm going on a worldwide Theme/Water Park tour!