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Matt N’s Musings

A blog by Matt N in General

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Entries in this blog

Blackpool Pleasure Beach

Blackpool Pleasure Beach 3rd June 2026

3rd June 2026: Blackpool Pleasure Beach Today, I returned to a UK park I hadn’t yet visited this season; Blackpool Pleasure Beach! I was going to wait until September to visit Blackpool, but with Aviktas having just opened and gained rave reviews and me still being at a loose end, I thought I’d bump my visit forward a little to catch a midweek visit before the school trips and summer crowds start to descend! Aviktas or not, I do always like a visit to Blackpool, not least to get back on Icon, on
Paultons Park

Paultons Park 16th May 2026

16th May 2026: Paultons Park After a quiet day at Thorpe Park on Tuesday, I had a day today that I was sensing would be busier; I attended the opening day of Valgard at Paultons Park! I was excited to see the area and ride Drakon for the first time, and also see an opening day for my first time! We (me, my mum and my dad) left our home at a little before 7:30 this morning, and after a drive where we saw a bizarrely high number of Citroen 2CVs (it seemed like an oddly specific classic car to see
Thorpe Park

Thorpe Park 12th May 2026

12th May 2026: Thorpe Park My period between jobs is rolling on, so with me having secured a permanent role, I thought; why not use the Merlin pass once again and go for a midweek Thorpe Park visit? I know I was only in Thorpe a month or so ago, but I made the spur-of-the-moment trip decision after noticing the quiet crowds last week and I like Thorpe. Sue me! I left home at about 6:30 this morning, arriving at Bristol Parkway just after 7am to take a 7:29 train to Staines, with a change in Rea
Matt N’s Midlands Meander 23rd/24th April 2026

Matt N’s Midlands Meander 23rd/24th April 2026 (Fantasy Island/Alton Towers) - (24th April 2026: Alton Towers)

24th April 2026: Alton Towers I had my second day of the trip today, with a visit to Alton Towers! While it was the less exciting day of the trip in terms of new things and I was last at the park only 4 weeks ago, it has some of my favourite rides in the country, entry is free with my Merlin pass, and I always love a day there, so I frankly thought; why not? Once again, I started my day early, getting up at 6am, getting down to breakfast for 6:30am, and leaving for the railway station at just a
Matt N’s Midlands Meander 23rd/24th April 2026

Matt N’s Midlands Meander 23rd/24th April 2026 (Fantasy Island/Alton Towers) - (23rd April 2026: Fantasy Island)

Prelude After a successful solo trip to Adventure Island and Thorpe Park the other week, I decided to make the most of my time off work before starting my new job and go on another trip away. And given that I only had one real semi-major park left to visit in the UK, I thought; what better park to do than that? So as a result, I strategised quite a spur-of-the-moment trip to the Midlands, consisting of both a first time visit to Fantasy Island in Lincolnshire after talking about going for a coup
Matt N’s Solo South East Jaunt 12th/13th April 2026

Matt N’s Solo South East Jaunt Mk2 12th/13th April 2026 (Adventure Island/Thorpe Park) - (13th April 2026: Thorpe Park)

13th April 2026: Thorpe Park Today, I had my second and final day of the trip, with my first visit of the season to Thorpe Park! New though it may not be, I always love a Thorpe visit, and I couldn’t wait to get back on Hyperia, Stealth and some of my other favourite coasters in the country for my first time in 2026! As always with a hotel stay, I ended up peaking quite early, so I caught an Uber to Thorpe from Staines that got me there at a lovely early 9:10am, meaning that I got through the t
Matt N’s Solo South East Jaunt 12th/13th April 2026

Matt N’s Solo South East Jaunt Mk2 12th/13th April 2026 (Adventure Island/Thorpe Park) - (12th April 2026: Adventure Island)

12th April 2026: Adventure Island With me having worked for the last 6 months and now being out of work for a period, I thought it might be nice to do a park trip. And seeing as I had such a dry year last year in terms of new creds, I thought I’d redo my Solo South East Jaunt from June 2024, but instead combine a Merlin visit on my pass with a new park and do a double bill of Adventure Island and Thorpe Park! I always love a Thorpe visit, but I was also excited to try something new in the UK, wi
Alton Towers

Alton Towers 27th/28th March 2026 (28th March 2026: Alton Towers Day 2)

28th March 2026: Alton Towers Day 2 We (well, I for most of the day) had a second day on park today! Although the plan wasn’t to stay until dark today, I was still looking forward to another day on park getting some more rides in! Now before I get into the meat of today, I should preface that today was also the opening day of Bluey in CBeebies Land, which I hadn’t realised prior to booking. If you’re expecting a review, I’m afraid you will be disappointed; each to their own, but as Alton Towers
Alton Towers

Alton Towers 27th/28th March 2026 (27th March 2026: Alton Towers Day 1)

27th March 2026: Alton Towers Day 1 After what has felt like a pretty long closed season (for me, anyway), March is upon us! And with me having purchased an Essential Merlin Pass back in November, what better way for me to start the season than with a trip to Alton Towers? With Alton After Dark being on for the first 3 weeks of the season and me now having the flexibility to come on a weekday, me and my mum decided to give the event another whirl following our less-than-stellar first go at it in
Thorpe Park

Thorpe Park 20th September 2025

20th September 2025: Thorpe Park Hi guys. Today, I took my first visit to Thorpe Park of the season. While there hasn’t been anything new at Thorpe since my last visit, I was still keen to get back and experience some of my favourites again! I was particularly excited to get back on Hyperia given that I’d only ridden it on one visit last year and it definitely made its mark on me, making its way into my top 10 and christening itself my favourite UK coaster! Also, I was frankly keen to get back t
Alton Towers

Alton Towers 26th/27th July 2025 (27th July 2025: Day 2)

27th July 2025: Alton Towers Day 2 We had our second day in the park today! I was looking forward to getting back into the park and doing some rerides, as well as potentially some things I hadn’t done on the first day!   After breakfast in the Alton Towers Hotel, which I actually thought was perfectly nice given all of the drama around Aramark, I headed into the park on my own and took advantage of a perk that I haven’t seen offered in years… Early Ride Time! I can’t think of the
Alton Towers

Alton Towers 26th/27th July 2025 (26th July 2025: Day 1)

26th July 2025: Alton Towers Day 1 Hi guys. Today was an exciting day; it was the first day of my annual Alton Towers visit for 2025! After a rather light season so far, comprised mainly of my MSc course aside from two visits to Blackpool and Paultons Park, I was looking forward to returning to some more familiar turf and getting on some of my favourite rides in the UK, as well as checking out the new for 2025 addition: Toxicator! As an added bonus, I also have two days on park and an overn
Paultons Park

Paultons Park 5th June 2025

5th June 2025: Paultons Park Hi guys. Today was an exciting day; in the words of our former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, “I went, as we all must, to Peppa Pig World”… yes, I returned to Paultons Park in Hampshire! I hadn’t been to the park since 2021, but I felt that the addition of Ghostly Manor, a unique new interactive dark ride, was the perfect excuse for me to return!   The day started at around 6:45am, with a 30 minute drive across the Welsh border to Severn Tunnel Junction
Blackpool Pleasure Beach

Blackpool Pleasure Beach 30th April 2025

30th April 2025: Blackpool Pleasure Beach Hi guys. I haven’t been the most active on here lately, but I’ve been back on this evening, and I realise that I forgot to upload my trip report from a park visit I did a month ago. So hello again TPM, and apologies for the inactivity!   30th April was an exciting day; my first park visit of 2025 had arrived! And the park in question that started off my year this year was Blackpool Pleasure Beach, “the world’s most ride intensive amusement
PortAventura

Matt N’s Excursion to España 9th-12th September 2024 (PortAventura Overall Review and Trip Summary)

PortAventura: An Overall Review and Trip Summary Right, then; I’ve now landed back in the UK, done all of my post-trip spreadsheet stuff, and just about recovered from the journey home! Spending 4 hours waiting in Barcelona Airport and arriving back in Bristol Airport at 1am to temperatures of 6 degrees when used to (and dressed for) the beautiful climate of Salou was certainly a rude awakening from that trip bubble, but the journey mostly went well, and now I’m back, I’m in the mood to wri
PortAventura

Matt N’s Excursion to España 9th-12th September 2024 (12th September 2024: PortAventura Park Day 3)

12th September 2024: PortAventura Park Day 3 It was our final day in PortAventura Park today before heading home! We weren’t really able to have a full day today, as we had to be out of the park by 3:30pm to catch our shared transfer back to Barcelona Airport to fly home, but we nonetheless headed back into the park to mop up some more goes on some of the best attractions!   I headed into the park early on my own this morning, with my mum and dad joining me later. I headed down to
PortAventura

Matt N’s Excursion to España 9th-12th September 2024 (11th September 2024: PortAventura Park Day 2 and Ferrari Land)

11th September 2024: PortAventura Park Day 2 and Ferrari Land We had our second day today! Today, we headed back into PortAventura Park for another day of fun, and also headed into Ferrari Land to get on Red Force for the first time!   Similarly to yesterday, we entered via the Gold River hotel entrance at a bit before 10am. It looked a little busier here today, and I did have some trepidation about whether it could be busy due to it apparently being a public holiday in Catalonia
PortAventura

Matt N’s Excursion to España 9th-12th September 2024 (10th September 2024: PortAventura Park Day 1)

10th September 2024: PortAventura Park Day 1 Today was the day, folks; our first day inside PortAventura Park! I couldn’t wait to get inside, ride attractions like Shambhala for the first time, and just generally see what the park had to offer for the very first time!   Now before I start this report, I should declare that perhaps controversially, we decided not to buy any form of Express Pass for our visit to the park today. We figured that if it was terrible today, we could alwa
PortAventura

Matt N’s Excursion to España 9th-12th September 2024 (9th September 2024: Travel)

9th September 2024: Travel Hi guys. Today was an exciting day; the start of my big foreign theme park trip for the year. This year, that trip is my first ever trip to PortAventura World in Spain! This will be my first time ever experiencing the likes of Shambhala and Red Force, amongst other major rides, as well as experiencing a pretty major European theme park resort in the form of PortAventura World for the first time and seeing the delights it has to offer through a fresh set of eyes! I
Drayton Manor

Drayton Manor 5th September 2024

5th September 2024: Drayton Manor Hi guys. Today was an exciting day; the day of my solo trip to Drayton Manor! With my last visit being in 2022, I was returning to the park to check out Gold Rush, the final new-for-2024 UK coaster for me to ride, as well as The Wave following the sit-down conversion, and to take in the various other delights of Drayton Manor!   Today started early, with me making the 5 minute drive to my local train station at a bit before 7am to take a 7:24am tr
Thorpe Park

Thorpe Park 18th August 2024

18th August 2024: Thorpe Park Hi guys. Today was an exciting day; the day of my return to Thorpe Park to finally ride Hyperia! I was going to Thorpe today seeking sweet, sweet redemption… I’d already been unsuccessful on a previous attempt to ride Hyperia back in June, with me having to agonisingly watch it test before it reopened 2 days later… that tasted particularly bitter, and to rub salt in the wound, I then watched tons of other people, including my sister who isn’t overly into coaste
Matt N’s Expedition to East Anglia 11th-13th August 2024

Matt N’s Expedition to East Anglia 11th-13th August 2024 (12th August 2024: Pleasurewood Hills)

12th August 2024: Pleasurewood Hills We had our second park day today, visiting the final new park of the trip; Pleasurewood Hills in Lowestoft, Suffolk! I was interested to get into this park and try out attractions such as Cannonball Express, the unique Schwarzkopf, and Wipeout, my first ever Vekoma Boomerang, amongst others!   With our hotel being less than a mile down the road from Pleasurewood Hills, we left at a bit after 9:30am, and after stopping at the nearby Tesco supers
Matt N’s Expedition to East Anglia 11th-13th August 2024

Matt N’s Expedition to East Anglia 11th-13th August 2024 (11th August 2024: Great Yarmouth Pleasure Beach/Joyland)

11th August 2024: Great Yarmouth Pleasure Beach/Joyland Children’s Fun Park Hi guys. Today was an exciting day; today, me, my mum and my dad set off for our trip to East Anglia! I’ve never been to any of the parks in the region, and to be honest, me and my mum had never actually visited East Anglia full stop (unless Watford and Stansted Airport count, being part of what the ONS technically considers “the East of England”…). My dad had been to Great Yarmouth once back in the 1980s, when he s
Alton Towers

Alton Towers 28th July 2024

28th July 2024: Alton Towers Hi guys. Today, I returned to Alton Towers for a revisit after receiving a free return ticket following our weak visit to Alton After Dark back in March. Another visit to Alton Towers is not exactly anything new for me (today was my 43rd day at the park in total and my 3rd day this year), but one aspect was new for me… despite having visited Alton Towers so much over the years, today was my first time ever spending a solo day alone at the park! With my dad atten
Data Analysis

How accurate are advertised ride queue times?: A statistical analysis using data from Alton Towers and the UK Merlin parks

Disclaimer: This is a long, geeky post. If you don't like statistics or maths talk, turn back now! If you'd like a more concise summary, a TL;DR can be found at the bottom. Hi guys. When you go to a park, you will often see advertised queue times all over the place to help you determine how long the ride queues are. But sometimes, you might find that these do not necessarily tell the truth. At times, you might get in a queue with a reasonable advertised time and wait far longer than expecte

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