General Discussion

We've been through a period where very few rides at Thorpe Park and Chessington have been removed. From the list of rides in the poll, please select all the rides you have been fortunate to ride before their closures. I have kept this as Chessington and Thorpe Park as there are too many rides at Blackpool and Alton Towers that have been removed.

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…

Dear All, This is a really random question, but I was wondering if anyone knows of any resources for Theme Park "Floor Plans" or "Ride Layouts". I must admit, I just love looking at these sorts of details when it comes to the theme park experience, and was hoping to find somewhere that shows the Merlin Parks, and maybe a few other places like PortAventura, Efteling etc. I found this account on Flikr that has loads of Walt Disney World, and they are fascinating! - https://www.flickr.com/photos/63631877@N00/albums/ Any others that you know of would be great to see! Thanks, Jammy3112

There are loads of theme park competitions out there, so I thought it would be great if we could have a thread just for them. Post the name, link, terms and conditions, as well as expiry date for any you find.

If anyone shouts at me this was JoshC.'s idea to put it here. If you shout you get no sweets!! Long story short, for my Media BTEC I'm doing a documentary on Theme Parks! Specific topic? Not too sure yet, that's where you come in *opens arms* It would be an absolute honour to have input from big fans of theme parks! I want to do interviews etc, also get footage from other parks that you've been to. Expiriences and what not. Forum discussion groups is the main aspect of resources for this topic and you're all lovely *bats eyelashes* so help is much needed. it's in general as it's not specific to one park or attraction as such, was thinking about doing them on ride accid…

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!

Although I have an annual pass, I was just having a look at the merlin theme park's prices. Is it just me or are they ridiculously overpriced excluding 2 for 1 vouchers! Also do you think parks in the UK should have longer hours and be open till midnight like Disneyland is? Thanks guys...

Seeing as it sparked some debate over in the rant thread, I've decided to make a topic about it. Feel free to rant, rave, whatever you want to discuss about the UK Theme Park Industry. _____________________________________Theme Park related rant/ thoughts follow:Right now, the UK theme park industry is making me feel sick. I feel like I've lost a lot of my passion for it over the last month. It's easy to target Merlin, but this is a much wider issue really, it's the whole country. I've become fed up with the budget tight and half- hearted attitudes of the theme park that the country has to offer.I do think our theme parks have the potential to be some of the best in Europ…

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.

I couldnt find a topic about the newly released theme park simulation game so I created one. The game is £22.99 and is now available on Steam. It looks fantastic and like it will replace RCT on my hard drive. Thoughts?

Today at school I had to do some research for graphics and one of the links I ended up on was this: http://www.kdt2.com/ Of course, me being me I explored the site and found some of the amazing projects in the theme park world that they had worked on. From theming right through to special effects there are some greatly recognizable projects. I then had a free lesson and with nothing else to do decided to research some more of these design/theming websites that have worked on theme park projects outside of the Merlin Studios we all know. Firstly I came across: http://www.primeplay.com/ Very interesting to see all the different types of design for a generic indoor pla…

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. …

the idea is every wednesday night I post 10 questions, you guys answer them.then on the following tuseday I see who did the best and the results are given out on wednesday!this weeks questions will be easy ones.1.what was intamins first ever rollercoaster?2.what is B&M's most popular type of rollercoaster?3.how much did expedition everest at Disneys Animal Kingdom cost in dollars?4.the tallest coaster in the world was once in england, what was this coaster?5.who currently owns the most rollercoasters in one themepark in the world?6.which state is sixflagsmagic mountin in?7.there are two S&S el loco coasters one in england and one in?8.what is the tallest non launc…

As a themepark enthusiast, I thoroughly enjoy visiting themepark and attractions and trying out new rides and experiences. However there are many themeparks and attractions out there that I dream of visiting and have yet to visit. So the question is, which ten themeparks and/or attractions in the world would you like to visit that you haven't seen yet and why? For me, the list has to be 10/ Gardaland, Merlin international sister park which has the exciting looking Raptor 9/ Heide Park, I like the look of all those rides plus Kraken too 8/ Disney Land Paris, looks amazing and magical with exciting rides plus the nearest big park to uk 7/ Knotts Berry Farm, lots o…

Ok there are plenty of jokes to be had with this one, but I’ve got a few observations of things that have quietly disappeared from theme parks over the last decade or so. Park branded Ponchos This is a weird one for me. Seemingly overnight about 10 years ago these all just vanished out of thin air. These used to be everywhere. On all the water rides there would always be people wearing them, and when it rained there were ponchos galore! Although I know it was a waste of plastic, I almost miss seeing these. I remember being in Florida years ago and spotting countless UK park ponchos around. The iconic “don’t wet yourself” Thorpe ones were ev…

Yeah this exists on TowersTimes but also I don't care. Not sure if this goes here or nonsense, but stuff you overhear at parks. On Monorail: *Points at Galactica* "That's Air!" *Points at Nemesis* "Oh wait no, that's Air." I wonder if this guy had any trouble finding the entrance for Air. Worst thing is he was at least 18 and was taking some people there for the first time. He also claimed a boy fell out of Nemesis. Later that day on death tra- skyride: (Let's call him Bob) "Oh that's the log flume! Is it open, I couldn't find it on the map..." (Someone else in his group) "Does it f... look like it's open" About one of …

Just downloaded the THORPE PARK app for Andorid, it has been a long time coming... Overall opinion, this is a very good app, lots packed into and it has been well worth the wait. I like the options to show you the way to places and you can take the challenge of certain rides. Suggestions for improvements are: IT says you need to be 140 cm to ride X On Wet Wet Wet, if you are less than 0 cm tall, you must be accompanying children? A find my car locator would be nice What are the opinions of others and is the IOS version giving the same functionality or do the features differ?

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 …

Decided to make a sporcle quiz of rides in Thorpe Park.It isn't as easy as it seems (unless you have a map in front of you) as the kiddy rides are tough.Try ithttp://www.sporcle.com/games/EddyX/thorpepark

Unfortunately in the world of themepark saw we receive many new/updated attractions every year, we also see many close & disappear. What's everyone's top 10 attractions in the uk/world they sadly never got to try but would most want to ride/experience. Mine are (uk only) 10/ vampire- pre 2001 bat trains Chessington 9/ Trauma Towers Blackpool 8/ Runaway Coaster Rotunda 7/ Magic Mountain Blackpool 6/ Noah's Ark Blackpool 5/ Magnum force Flamingo 4/ Knightmare Camelot (assuming it doesn't run again in the uk) 3/ Toyland Tours Alton Towers 2/ Corkscrew Alton Towers 1/ Black Hole Alton Towers Rides I've ridden but miss the most Phantom Phantasia, nutty…

I was thinking of all the rides I've been on in the last year... and thought I'd put them in an easy to read list... you can do the same if you wish. 1.Nemesis (1994)- Probably the biggest and most successful rollercoaster we will ever see in this country. It defies description and following the B&M rule its the fastest its ever been, cutting through its pit in less then 60 seconds. If you think Inferno is a decent ride, I hope you go to Alton to be blown away. A true raw adrenaline experience. 2.Dragons Fury (2004) Ten years later Tussauds struck gold with this Maurer Sohne spinning coaster. Despite troubles with reliability this is a proper family coaster prov…

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…

I just found some footage shot by CoasterForce of the "World's Oldest Operating Steel Coaster" and wow, it even further proves the point that an attraction doesn't have to have a 'highest' or 'fastest' or 'loopiest' record attached to it for it to be a good ride. I just thought that there should be a topic where people could share rides like these that are brilliant but not massive or well known attractions. Enjoy

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…

Better park?