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General

Europa Park

Matt N’s Europa Park Initiation 26th-30th April 2022 (26th April 2022: Travel)

26th April 2022 (Travel) Hi guys. Today was a very exciting day; the start of my first ever trip to Europa Park! This might possibly be my most significant theme park trip in some time, and it’s quite a significant change in tune compared to the bulk of my recent trips, with a number of new experiences in store for me; my first time travelling abroad post-COVID, my first time at Europa Park, my first time in Germany full stop… I could go on, as there are so many firsts for me this trip! So
Hansa Park Trip Report

Storm Clouds Over Hamburg - Day 2, Hansa Park

Lo and behold, Day 2 of 2 is here! After staying the night in Lubeck (in what was apparently a non-smoking hotel, but in a room which smelt strongly of cigarette smoke), I was energised for another day. The weather was cold and windy, but no rain. The journey from my hotel to Hansa Park was much simpler than the previous day: a direct train from Lubeck to Sierksdorf, and then a walk to the park. The walk was again very straightforward - pretty much a straight path which takes about 10-15 m
Heide Park Trip Report

Storm Clouds Over Hamburg - Day 1, Heide Park

Rewinding just over two years ago, I and a few friends had booked a trip out to Hamburg, which would include one and a half days at Heide Park - plus a stay in their hotel - and a day at Hansa Park. It would coincide with two of our birthdays too. What better way than to spend a birthday at a new park?   At the time, this Covid-19 thing had just turned up on the British doorstep, and concerns were growing. But the idea of a lockdown was a far away thought. Obviously, come March, that a
Remembering series

Remembering 'Brave it Alone' in Cabin in the Woods at Thorpe Park

As we approach the start of the 2022 season, I thought I'd do a few blog post ramblings on some nostalgic Thorpe memories I have.   I started off with Dr Pepper Sun Scream, now it's time for Brave it Alone back when it opened in 2013...   I have hazy memories about this, but recently I found an old post I made after I experienced it and thought I'd spruce it up a bit and share!   - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -   We did Cabin in the Woods way bac
Disney

GOAT - Rise of the Resistance

Back in 2010 the first Harry Potter attraction opened at Universal Orlando and a single ride changed themed attractions forever. No longer were theme park fans really satisfied with cookie cutter themes with a hint of a story, immersion was now the name of the game. The area of Hogsmeade increased Islands of Adventure's attendance by 1.5 million guests, an astounding figure by any standard. Since the Harry Potter franchise has given birth to two further expansions and is now home in California a
Remembering series

Remembering Sun Scream at Thorpe Park

As we approach the start of the 2022 season, I thought I'd do a few blog post ramblings on some nostalgic Thorpe memories I have.   Let's start off with Dr Pepper Sun Scream!     Launching way back in 2009 when Saw opened, Sun Scream ran every year for many summers at the park, bringing live music, silent discos, stunt displays, beatboxing, sideshows and festival vibes.   In reality, Sun Scream wasn't much in terms of an event, starting off as simply a st
Theme Parks

Am I getting too old for theme parks? 🤔

This is something that's been playing on my mind for the past 3 years or so.   Whenever I visit a theme park these days, there's usually one or two moments throughout the day where I feel like the odd one out.  At 30 years of age, I feel old.   I look round me when stood in a queue, and most of the other guests are teenagers or adults with kids.  Yes, there are a few couples or older groups etc who visit, but they're a rare sight.   Usually the feeling passes after

Seven Rides That Summarise 2020

This year May not be over yet but it has been one long roller coaster ride and sadly not an enjoyable one other . As this horrible time remains  dominated by a  never ending pandemic, here’s some rides that may be a reminder and summarisation of how 2020 is going. Hold on tight and remain seated, you are in for a very bumpy ride! 1/ Meanstreak- Cedar Point  Tall, long and dominating. The whole presence of this attraction should deliver something great to live up to it’s name. Sadly 

Chocolate, Cologne, and Taron II

After a boozy evening sailing down the rhine the night before, it was finally time to visit Phantasialand. A park I have heard so much about. Now Phantasialand seems to really draw very different reactions from people, some people think its the best park in the world. Some people think its great with flaws, and then you have those who think it is shockingly over-rated. Anyways, once into the park. Something really made me think, I knew this would be a paragraph-worthy rant, so lets jump in.

Chocolate, Cologne, and Taron

This trip has been in the making since the beginning of this year. Long before lockdown, long before any of the crazy crap went down. If I'm being honest, I was sceptical about this trip for months. With covid being such a heavy force, I did not believe I would make it to Germany. Even over the past few weeks, so many countries have been thrown on and off the quarantine list, I was scared about Germany being thrown on last minute. I got very lucky that it wasn't.   Friday the 28th of A

Rage Against The Time Machine

It has been five years since I last visited this quirky little place and quite a lot has changed for better and worse. With a horrible virus still at large and more countries on the quarantine list, I probably won’t be going abroad for a while so staycation it is. But is it all worth it? New for 2019 the park added Axis, a flat ride which is like an afterburner but goes over the top (360) giving an intense but unique experience. It’s easily the best flat ride and probably one of the be
Coaster review

Zadra - A review (UPDATED!!)

So I was recently lucky enough to head across to Poland to visit Energylandia In Zator. The main reason to visit the park ofcourse was the hotly anticipated new for 2019 RMC Hybrid Zadra. So for this write up, I will be sharing my full thoughts on this well received in the coaster community coaster and where it matches up to my top coasters.   A brief history and background!!   Zadra is Rocky Mountain Constructions second “hyper hybrid" ibox track coaster with the first being

A Fantasy Island Like No Other 

2020, it’s been one crazy roller coaster ride and sadly one that hasn’t been particularly enjoyable. It has been rougher than a ride on Saw or Gouderix.   With a massive pandemic halting life as we know it, everything has been challenging in general, let alone theme parks. Skip ahead to now and with parks cautiously reopening I would finally get to visit a one again, this time a new one.  Fantasy Island in Ingoldmells near Skegness is an amusement located adjacent to a large op

Premiere Soquet Grilling - Day 5, Dennlys Parc (The End)

And Day 5 brings an end to the trip, where we spend a few hours at Dennlys Parc, which is about an hour from Calais...   Covid MeasuresFace coverings on rides if you're over the age of 11. Some queues had social distancing markers I think, and people kept at a sensible enough distance. The visit was the day after face coverings has become compulsory in shops again across the whole of France, so I expect that the idea of social distancing might have been on people's minds a bit if it was

Soquet Premiere Grilling - Day 4, Parc Asterix

And now the big one, Day 4 - Parc Asterix! And this was, in fact, my first visit to Asterix.I'll start as ever with the Covid measuresFace coverings were obligatory on all rides and in queue lines. There were hand sanitising points at the end of every queue (just before you board the ride), as well as at ride exits and dotted around the park. There were social distancing markers in queues, but no one really followed them much tbh. However, park security had a major presence in queue lines, regul

Premiere Soquet Grilling - Day 3, Parc Saint Paul & Jardin d'Acclimatation

"Day 3? What happened to Day 2 though Josh? Have I missed a magnificent report of a wonderfully obscure French park that most people don't care about?" I hear no one ask.  Well, it's been edited into my previous blog entry, to save me hogging all the blog entry space     When this trip was planned, it was prior to the Formule incident at Parc Saint Paul. For those who don't know: a woman fell out of one of their roller coasters (Formule1), dying. The ride has a poor history, also

Premiere Soquet Grilling - Days 1-2, Parc du Bocasse & Festyland

With the 'new normal' in full swing and parks open again, I'd been itching for a European trip again. With my Heide/Hansa trip back in April cancelled, and my June Europa trip delayed before I booked, the Covid situation had dented some big plans for new parks for me.However, wanting to remain cautious, I didn't want to swing into big parks, and risk not visiting them in case something happened (having to self-isolate, a park randomly closing, etc). So something I bit smaller was needed. Back in

5 Rides Which Deserve a Bit More Attention

It's been a long while since I've done a proper blog post, but I've dusted off my keyboard to do one I'd been thinking about for a while..   Over the past couple of years, there's some rides I've done which are a ton of fun, but don't really seem to get the attention they deserve. Mostly for reasons that they're rides in parks that aren't high up people's lists, or there's better rides at those parks. So I figured I'd just throw a little list out there.   This isn't going to

Thorpe Park Fright Nights Review 2019

So I had this review all edited and ready back in October, though I forgot about it for some reason. So better late than never?   So I have been visiting Fright Nights since 2012, I very vividly remember walking into the white marquee which housed The Curse as a scared 10 year old. I remember the heavy smoke and the abundance of actor holes allowing for a ton of jump scares, it was scary but 10 year old me craved that fear and ever since I have been back nearly every year. Sa

Current Thorpe Park Attractions Ranked Worst To Best

Some love it, others love to hate it. That’s Thorpe Park! Home to numerous attractions, some are delightful, others are worse than that Hunchback Of Notre Dame sequel and a few are just alright.    Here’s my honest and “potentially” spoiler inducing opinions on the Island’s current offering.   27/ Wet Wet Wet  Literally says what it does on the tin. You go down a slide and then get wet, wet, wet. Mind blown, who would’ve thought it! Next you’ll tell me it’s only intended for k

The Top Ten Most Weird Scare Attractions

Scare attractions are usually very formulaic, a bunch of corridors with actors in them, a chainsaw finale, a strobe maze. Though there is some attractions that I have been through that are just plain weird. Today I'm gonna be counting down the top 10 most weird mazes I have experienced. Now I have not been to every event, so this won't be include every weird maze out there sadly, but if you do have any mazes you think are bloody strange leave em in the comments.   Here is a few mazes t

Top 10 Mario Platformers

I was originally going to put this in the video games topic but ended up writing a larger amount than expected so I decided to put it here instead.   During lockdown, alongside doing a few trombone videos on Facebook, since I am a huge fan of Mario platformers, I decided to reflect on the ones I have played and form a top 10 of my favourite ones. By the way I haven't played Super Mario Sunshine yet so you will not see that on this list, I hope to play that when/if they release the supp

Ten Defunct Attractions I Wished to have  Experienced

In a (usually) ever moving world, parks change and update. Whether that be building attractions themed to blockbuster movies, the latest children’s book or original ideas. whilst new attractions rise, old ones will naturally and unfortunately fall. Due to age, redevelopment or reasons unknown. On the ever-growing list, here’s 10 attractions I wished to have experienced.   1/ Pirate Adventure- Drayton Manor Theme Park Operated 1990-2015 I have quite a soft spot f

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