General Discussion

Vekoma madhouses are a well loved ride type for UK enthusiasts, because, yknow, Hex exists. Arguably the best example of its kind. And in the UK we're treated to 2 other pretty decent ones too. But is it actually your favourite? And how would you rank the others you've ridden, be they Vekoma or from another manufacturer? [Basically I'm just trying to come up with some sort of thread to kill closed season/covid blues which isn't that ride game... ] Here's mine... 1. Hex, Alton Towers I'll be honest, I'm not as fond of this as many others (not even my favourite dark ride at Towers...), but it's still the best. 2. Le Palais …

Couldn’t find a suitable place to put this so I thought I’d make a new thread. If you have any recommendations or links to shows/documentaries on theme parks, post them here! I wanted to recommend the documentary series ‘The Imagineering Story’ on Disney+. It’s a really incredible series covering all sorts like the history and design of the parks, how they created Disneyland in California and the park in China, developing rides and animatronics, behind the scenes for several rides and all sorts really.

So, 2020. It goes without saying that this was a tough year for everyone; with everything else going on in the world, theme park visits feel like a pretty unimportant thing to talk about, but with everything else being so awful, they provided a much needed escape for those whom felt comfortable to and/or were able to visit. It has been a very different year, and with that in mind, theme park visit lists will look very different this year. With this in mind, did you manage to visit any parks this year, and if so, which ones? I took the opportunity of a "step-back" from normal times to re-visit and support some of the independent parks in the UK. …

Easy thread for today. What rides have you been stuck on and what rides have you been evacuated from? For example I was stuck on Inferno's break run for twenty minutes once. So.. *coughs* - Icon. Stuck on the break run in the pouring rain for ten minutes. Got given a poncho. Nice. - Detonator. Stuck at the top for fifteen minutes. Had to be winched slowly down. We ate cookies that I had in my pocket. Got comped a free ticket to come back. Cheers Thorpe. - Dragon Falls. Boat stopped at the bottom of lift one. Got an exit pass. - Stealth. Kind of launched but then slowed immediately and stopped on the launch track. Eventually made it back to the…

What do you mean we don't have an Intamin thread?! Oh well, here goes... Intamin last year announced several new ride types to their offering. They've now uploaded some videos... Ultra Splash: A take on Mack's PowerSplash (aka Pulsar) model Giga Splash A take on Mack's SuperSplash model (see SuperSplash at Plopsaland) Vertical LSM coaster: A take on Premier's Sky Rocket II model Hot Racer: A take on RMC's single rail (Raptor) concept. Unlike RMC Raptors, a specific focus on launches (something RMC have said they wish to avoid with the Raptors altogether)…

So due to boredom I have decided to make a thread to rank the Merlin Parks. This will be by recent investments and just how each park fall in the hierarchy. I think this will be a lot harder than Cedar Fair and Six Flags as Merlin is pretty even with their parks tbh. I'm gonna be ranking all of the abroad parks but I will lump the Legoland's into one category because ranking them individually would take a while. A Tier: Alton Towers Easily the most loved Merlin Park. When this park receives a coaster, its usually very high quality and unique. They usually have good in between years to boot, with constant money being thrown into their hotels, t…

My first official Pandemic topic, here's the scenario. I'm an American visiting Europe for the first time. Recommend me twenty rollercoasters in Europe that I absolutely have to ride. Money and time are no object. Go.

There's no way around it - coronavirus is going to affect our daily lives in one way or another. And with open season just around the corner, it remains to be seen how parks around the UK and the rest of the western wordl will cope and what measures they'll put in place, as well as how long it will be before Chinese parks (which have been closed for weeks already) begin to reopen. I figured it would be interesting to have a thread to track what's going on, and people's reactions... Merlin Parks The current stance across Merlin's UK parks and attractions is pretty simple: if you feel unwell don't come. If you have coronavirus-like symptoms when at the park…

I saw this topic in Coaster Force and though this could prove interesting. ‐----- For me the 2010s mean quite a few things depending upon which country or continent or even park I look at.Europe:The Good:I am extremely pleased that parks are developing more coasters which are focused on providing thrills rather than trying to break records or out-do other parks. Rides like the Smiler and Formula Rossa appear to outliers, and I'm pleased to see rides like Taron, Lost Gravity, Baron 1898, Wicker Man etc. being opened.Generally mainland Europe's parks have been doing well with some of my favourite major parks expanding with an array of different ride …

It's closed season again, which parks did you visit in 2019 and how many times? If you are visiting any parks over the winter these can be added in as and when! I'll start; Blackpool Pleasure Beach x8 Thorpe Park x5 Cedar Point x3 Phantasialand x2 Liseberg x2 Alton Towers x2 Kennywood x1 Six Flags Great Adventure x1 Coney Island x1 Kings Island x1 Toverland x1 Efteling x1 Walibi Holland x1 Duinrell x1 Oakwood 1 Tusenfryd x1 Quite a busy year for visiting parks abroad, less UK visits but still a few.

S&S have just announced a new coaster concept in time for IAAPA with footage of a working prototype ~ AXIS

Not sure why I felt the need to post this tbh. The thought suddenly hit me. I lurk a here lot for some bizarre reason but the last time I actually visited a theme park was ~5 years ago, that being Thorpe Park. I have not visited Chessington for almost 10 years and Alton in over a decade. I live a bus ride away from london winter wonder land but can never be bothered to visit. I got into theme parks around 15 years ago. As a child, my parents would take me at least once a year to one of the tussauds parks and enjoyed those times very much. Nowadays, with the rising admission prices and crucially, what you get for that price. I just cannot justify going to …

I'm currently writing an extended project regarding the future of roller coasters - and I need a bit of help! My dissertation discusses whether or not there will be a place for roller coasters in the leisure industries of the future - and I require some primary data from which I can draw a conclusion. Hence, I would be delighted if you took a minute out of your day to fill in this short survey: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfSNAgCTe2izI_j_HA691SdR1xNQJ2s5XyaVR3fx3t5oXpZPA/viewform?usp=sf_link I need as many responses as possible - so please forward this link to anyone else you know who would be happy to complete it! …

Hi guys, I'm Ellie and I'm an undergraduate student in my final year of study at Edinburgh Napier University. As part of my final year I need to write a dissertation and mines is focusing on challenges facing the UK theme park industry either currently or in the near future. As a result of this I'm undertaking primary research in terms of a survey in order to gain perspective on how UK theme park visitors perceive their visits. I need as many responses as possible and hence, would like to ask you all to take a couple of minutes to participate.The survey can be found here: https://survey.napier.ac.uk/n/zz4p6.aspx Any response is greatly appreciated.Thanks in advance!

We've had top 10 coaster counts, we've had park counts, but what about your top 10 roller coaster manufacturers? I'll start with my current list, bearing in mind I haven’t yet visited many non-UK parks and am yet to ride an RMC (hence me not being able to judge them); 5. Intamin - They've produced some shockers and I'm not generally a huge fan of the UK collection we have, but they've also brought us some incredible rides such as Taron, and I'm sure with various ventures this year I'll get to ride some of their better rides. 4. Mack Rides - Their rich family values and innovative technology make them a special company, who have produced…

https://www.redbubble.com/people/themeparkmerchh/works/35938809-repaint-Colossus?asc=u&p=classic-tee&rel=carousel this wins hands down!

Genuinely thought we had a Vekoma thread somewhere, but clearly not.. But it's fine, we need one... During this week's IAAPA, Vekoma are revealing 4 new generations of some of their coasters. Flying coaster is one of them (see Phantasialand), another one is the upgraded version of their SLC... Called the Suspended Thrill Coaster (STC), the new off-the-shelf model features two inversions and a significantly different layout. The last "new" SLC is set to open in China sometime over the next year or so I believe. After that, the STC takes over as the only off-the-shelf suspended model Vekoma will sell. Given that Ma…

It's that time of year again, the nights are drawing in earlier, it's cold outside and the closed season is upon us. Which theme parks did you visit in 2018, and how many times? I finally managed to get to some abroad parks, as well as having some enjoyable visits to UK parks. I'll start with my count below (referring to the number of days spent at each park); Blackpool Pleasure Beach x18 Thorpe Park x5 Alton Towers x4 Liseberg x3 Phantasialand x2 Chessington x2 Toverland x1 Efteling x1 Oakwood x1 Lightwater Valley x1 Dreamland x1 Brean Theme Park x1 Funland Weston Super Mare …

Looking to get out to some european parks soon and wonder what are the cheapest parks to get out to? can aynone speak from expirence? I'm not looking for like 5* trips, either, thanks!

Welcome to a bit of self congratulation. I'm going to be 30 in two months and this birthday represents 20 years of being into rollercoasters and theme parks. Instead of getting smashed and wondering where my life went wrong like a lot of thirty year olds normally do, I'll be out celebrating at Heide Park and finishing my B&M collection (before Fenix and Valkyire open, those rascals). Everyone loves lists right, so I decided to put together my top 100 rollercoasters and talk about them in a sentence or two. I hit 250 last year at Walygator and am currently on 253. Unfortunately this was a little too early to include Oblivion: The Black Hole or Icon but does include the…

Starting a conversation for the best ride documentaries you’ve seen. Great to discover new info on rides you even think you already know and great to watch when there’s nothing on tv! I’ll start off with this Documentary on probably the greatest Huss Top Spin ever built:

Welcome to the new Theme Park Memes Topic! Where you can post all your favourite Theme Park Memes and show them off to the community and make your own memes ect.. I thought why not make a topic on theme park memes as I have seen some out there and thought it would be fun to see all of them here and new ones!. Post your memes or jokes on Theme Parks below!! Have a Thrilling & Memeful day!

So there's no denying that some are cred chasers. So here's the cred thread. Talk about any cred aims here and stuff. I'll start by asking, whats your coaster credit that you think no one else will have? Mine are Gebirgsbahn(12) and Grand Canyon Bahn(13) which burnt down at Phantasialand in 2001. I rode them in 2000 on a school trip. (RCDB) Burn baby burn.

It's that depressing time of the year again, winter is here, closed season is upon us... but with 2018 just around the corner, at least there's a lot to look forward to! Which theme parks did you visit in 2017, and how many times? Still no abroad parks for me, but that will be rectified next year! I did however reach my 100th coaster, the Rittisberg Coaster in Austria; https://rcdb.com/13066.htm I'll start with: Blackpool Pleasure Beach: 28 Thorpe Park: 6 Alton Towers: 2 Oakwood: 2 Fantasy Island: 1 Paultons Park: 1 Adventure Island: 1 Dreamland Margate: 1 Legoland 1 Bottons Pleasure Beac…

It was rather interesting to see your replies to favourite Coaster drops so I'm back to ask about the other way of kicking coasters into gear (or keeping them rolling). What is your favourite Coaster launch section? I reluctantly have to award this one to Taron's second launch section. The sound, the sudden and intense kick of acceleration and the way the train shakes like it's falling apart, it's fantastic. I can't really think of any runners up at the moment, however I'll be riding Dodonpa and at least 1 of the Chinese S&S launchers next year so I hope that will change things. Over to you!