General Discussion

Disclaimer: I apologise in advance, as this post is quite long. There is a TL;DR at the bottom for those who would like one. Hi guys. As many of you probably know, Duel, Alton Towers’ interactive haunted house-style dark ride, recently closed for a retheme and is reopening in 2023. Speculation is rife throughout the UK enthusiast community about what this retheme could entail and what it might be like, but one thing I’ve noticed is that there are a considerable number of people who wish for the park to go down the nostalgia route. These people are clamouring for the ride to be returned brick by brick to exactly how it was when it first opened in 1992, as though the 2…

Hi guys. As of late, I've noticed that roller coaster names seem to have become a lot more divisive than they used to be. From tongue twisters like Hagrid's Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure to nods to modern slang like Sik, enthusiasts are increasingly beginning to question some of the decision making that goes into naming roller coasters at times. So the question I ask you today is; if the names that parks are churning out are sub-par, then what unused roller coaster names do you feel would be better? What are some of your favourite potential roller coaster names that haven't been used? What names do you think would sound really cool if applied to a ride? …

Hi guys. With the recent announcement that Duel at Alton Towers is closing on 6th September, and the ever snowballing rumours about it being rethemed, a lot of discussion has taken place recently about Merlin and dark rides. And rightly or wrongly, Merlin appears to have somewhat of a poor reputation among enthusiasts when it comes to dark rides; most of the ground-up dark rides and dark ride rethemes they’ve done have not been particularly well received at all. So with that in mind, I’d be keen to know; of all the dark ride projects Merlin have undertaken, which is your favourite? I’m including both ground-up dark rides and rethemes here. Personally, I don’t …

Hi Guys! Next week I’m off to Florida for a couple of weeks and will be doing all of the theme parks (Disney, Universal, Busch Gardens, etc.). I’ve not been before so very excited but wondered if anyone has any quick tips or things to be aware of? Done a lot of research but just realised that here is probably one of the best places to ask!

Hi guys. Merlin Entertainments, the owner of the 4 biggest theme parks in the UK, has two Resort Theme Parks in the London area; Thorpe Park and Chessington. In spite of these parks’ identical owner and close proximity to one another, they are very different theme parks; Thorpe Park is aimed at thrillseekers, and has one of the UK’s biggest selections of thrill coasters and thrilling flat rides, while Chessington is aimed at younger families and has a zoo and various family-orientated rides. With that in mind, I’d be keen to know; which of these two theme parks do you prefer? Now I know you probably all think I’ve lost my marbles a bit here. I can imagine you …

Hi guys. Whenever the topic of records and stats comes up in discussion, I’ve noticed that enthusiasts often like to trot out the age-old mantra of “size isn’t everything”, “it’s not the size that matters, it’s what you do with it” or something of that general ilk. But one does have to ask whether this saying always holds true. So my question to you today is; do you think this saying holds true in every instance? Can a ride ever benefit from being bigger? Can a smaller ride ever be held back by the fact that it isn’t bigger? Personally, I’ll admit that I’m not sure that the adage of “size isn’t everything” is necessarily true in every instance, and I can raise…

Hi guys. I don’t know about any of you, but as a theme park enthusiast, I find that every theme park day is pleasurable in its own way. However, the pleasurability of these days does vary, so with that in mind; I’d be intrigued to know; what have been some of your most and least pleasurable theme park days? These don’t necessarily have to equate with your most and least favourite parks; you might have had a terrible day at a park you love, and equally, you might have had a great day at a park you don’t rate that highly! I’ll get the ball rolling with some of mine… Most Pleasurable Europa Park (29th April 2022) - I loved all 3 days at E…

Hi guys. In recent memory, two (as far as I'm aware) theme parks have won the Golden Ticket Award for Best Theme Park in the World. They're two pretty different theme parks, but they share the award in common, and they are Europa Park in Germany and Cedar Point in the USA (or Ohio, to be more precise). So my question to you today is; which of these two GTA winners do you prefer? I obviously can't pass judgement, having never visited Cedar Point. For what it's worth, though, I have visited Europa Park, and I have to say that I think the park is more than deserving of its high reputation; it's unbelievably versatile! You have awesome coasters (for me at least; S…

Hi guys. Often when at a theme park, you'll find an attraction you really like and want to reride it. Sometimes, you might even be inclined to ride it over and over. You might ride it as many times as you can hack, or as many times as you're able to queue for it for. So my question to you today is; what is the highest number of rides you've ever had on one attraction in a single day? I'll get the ball rolling with my answer. My current record is 6 rides on Silver Star at Europa Park, and this was set very recently, on 29th April 2022. For some idea of previous record holders, here's my top 3: Silver Star at Europa Park - 6 rides…

Hi guys. I was curious to know; have any of you ever had any theme park related dreams? I only ask because I had a very weird theme park dream last night that I couldn’t not share… Basically, it revolved around my first day at Europa Park, which is coming up in real life in 6 days’ time. And it was one of those dreams where every little thing was stopping me from getting into the park and riding any rides… but far from a regular one. Buckle up, because this dream is weird… Things got off to a good start after a wonderful sleep in Hotel Castillo Alcazar (actually, I’m not sure what hotel it even was… it certainly didn’t look like Castillo Al…

Hi guys. In a Thorpe Park trip report thread I was just reading over on CoasterForce, Serena from CoasterForce made this really interesting post: “Okay, I'll bite. Families with young children who go to Thorpe Park simply don't do their research. It's not the parks fault if they have a disappointing day. It's like going to a vegan restaurant and moaning there's no meat options. If you look at their marketing, Thorpe don't bill themselves as a family park. It's almost always groups of young adults / teens in their photos. That's their target demographic, clearly. When talking about "what is there to do for families…

Hi guys. I was reading a Merlin-bashing thread over on CoasterForce earlier, and I noticed a really interesting series of posts that a poster made in that particular thread talking about their recent trip to Alton Towers, in which they made numerous comments inferring that Alton Towers is not an especially relaxed park visit for them: The full series of posts I'm referring to begins here: https://coasterforce.com/forums/threads/wtf-merlin.38748/post-1132260 Their post really inspired me, and it got me thinking about some of the more relaxed and more stressful theme parks I've ever been to. So with that in mind, my question to you today is; what are …

Disclaimer: This post is extremely long, and if you don't like data analysis and geeky maths talk, I'd suggest you run for the hills and don't look back, because this post has quite a bit of it! Hi guys. There are a lot of theme parks in Europe, as well as a lot of roller coasters. So naturally, people (myself included) tend to ask questions like “which park has Europe’s best roller coaster lineup?” or “which parks are quality-over-quantity and which parks are quantity-over-quality?”, amongst others. As such, while it’s not really a discussion thread as such, I thought it might be fun to try to take a quantitative look into some of these questions and try to answer t…

Hi guys. If you do coaster counting, one means that many enthusiasts tend to resort to in order to up their coaster count is riding kiddie coasters. One thing I’ve noticed over the years is that enthusiasts tend to have different mentalities towards riding kiddie coasters and the level of care they have about getting kiddie coaster credits. Some have the mentality of “cred’s a cred”, and will travel very long distances to get the latest big apple or go-gator added to RCDB, while others tend to confine their kiddie coaster riding to when they’re available in larger parks, or even don’t ride kiddie coasters at all in some cases. So my question to you today is; what’s your m…

Hi guys. As technology advances, screens are growing ever more present within dark rides. Initially, it was Universal and Disney who pioneered the use of screens on rides, but regional parks eventually cottoned on, and most new dark rides built nowadays have some form of screen within them. However, screens are somewhat of a contentious topic among enthusiasts, with many complaining that their use has killed creativity within dark rides. So my question to you today is; how do you feel about screens on dark rides? Do you hate them? Do you not mind them? Do you like them? Or are you undecided? Or does it depend on the context? Personally, I don't mind screens at…

Hi guys. Europa Park and Phantasialand are Germany’s biggest, and arguably most revered, theme parks, and both of them get a high amount of praise from enthusiasts. But I’d be intrigued to know; which of the two do you personally prefer? I’ve visited neither, although I am rectifying that in April with my first visit to Europa Park, which I’m very excited about! But which park do you prefer? A similar thread done on another forum I’m on is currently seeing Phantasialand emerge victorious, but I’m intrigued to see how things play out on here!

Hi guys. You may remember the other day that I created a thread about parks you like more than most and parks you like less than most, and as a follow-up to that one, I thought it might also be fun to tackle that topic from the perspective of roller coasters; so, what are some roller coasters you like more than most and roller coasters you like less than most? I’ll get the ball rolling with some of my choices for each category… I could pull up quite a few nominees in both categories for this, but to keep it fairly short, I’ll stick to 5 coasters for each category. Coasters you like more than most Wicker Man, Alton Towers - To most, this is seemingl…

Hi guys. Often, parks will have a large-scale consensus opinion that most enthusiasts seem to have about them, and in many cases, you might conform to that opinion. However, there might sometimes be cases where you think differently to the hive mentality. For instance, there might be that highly rated park you don't get the hype for, or that panned park that you don't get the hate for. So my question to you today is; what are some parks you like more than most and parks you like less than most? I'll get the ball rolling with my answers: Parks I like more than most Thorpe Park - Thorpe Park is the unloved step-child of the major UK parks, and it's almo…

Hi guys. Disney and Universal are arguably the two biggest names in the theme park industry, and their brand of park is quite a different product to any others on Earth. While many parks seem to have the big coasters as their main selling point, the big 2 aim for a more holistic experience, with the coasters often being sidelined in favour of a greater emphasis on different elements, such as dark rides, shows, and immersive themed environments. As such, these premium parks often don’t tend to build especially extreme coasters, particularly in the case of Disney and particularly in more recent years. Don’t get me wrong, the big players have built thrill rides, but they oft…

Hi guys. The new year is upon us (happy 2022, everybody!), and as the new year is ushered in, rides around the world are getting another year older. And to be truthful, the ages certain rides are hitting… scares me a little. The Smiler, a ride I remember riding in its opening year? 9 years old! The Swarm, a ride I remember feeling incredibly cutting edge and modern when I first rode it? Hitting double digits this year, at 10 years old! But that’s besides the point. The new year being upon us got me thinking; when I first got into theme parks, rides of certain ages seemed old, yet rides that are the same age now still seem pretty new to me. For instance,…

Hi guys. Many parks across the world aspire for unique attractions in order to stand out from the competition; even close to home at the Merlin parks, the aspiration for uniqueness is a key pillar of the creative process. I don’t know about you, but I think Merlin are one of the most innovative companies out there. They don’t stay within the mould when designing attractions; they think outside the box, and nearly everything they build is very much outside the norm for a ride of its type. But my question to you today is; how important is uniqueness, in your view? How important do you think it is for parks to shun cliches & norms and think outside the box? I…

Hi guys. Size is often used as a marketing tool by parks, but many enthusiasts (myself included) believe that size isn't everything. For my money, it's not the size that matters, it's what you do with it. So my question to you today is; are there some coasters that work against that traditional assumption that "bigger is better"? Can you think of small coasters that you think make the most of the size that they have, and also some larger coasters that you think squander their size somewhat? I'll get the ball rolling with my suggestions. For a smaller coaster that makes smashing use of its size, I'm going to nominate Mine Blower at Fun Spot Kissimme…

Hi guys. With Omicron sending countries into lockdown, closing parks in some places and wrecking people’s theme park travel plans, I thought we could do with a little positivity around here this evening! So why don’t we take a journey into a land of dreams? Let’s go to one where COVID preferably doesn’t exist and you have an unlimited pot of money and an unlimited amount of land with which to build your dream theme park. Planning restrictions are also non-existent, so height and noise restrictions are no object either! So my question to you this evening is; if you were given the chance to build the theme park of your dreams, what rides would you put into it? And if you wa…

Hi guys. Ever since Disneyland first opened in 1955, the idea of "magic" has been a cornerstone of much of the theme park industry, and over the years, theme parks have become almost intrinsically linked with the concept of "magic", particularly in the case of parks that err more on the family-friendly and/or heavily-themed sides. Nowadays, "magic" is quite possibly one of the biggest marketing clichés in the theme park industry; many, many theme parks use magic as a key selling device within their advertising and propaganda. Building upon this, my question to you today is; what are some of the most magical theme park moments you've ever experienced? What are some of thos…

Better park?