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Google seems to claim Alton Towers is 910 acres versus Europa park 230 acres but hard to know what is included in each (and haven't been to the latter so have no first hand experience). Looking at the satellite maps Alton looks bigger to me but not 3 times the size. We walked the long way...

Storm Chaser at Paultons for me. An absurdly intense ride for a 1M height restriction (especially considering the comparable Dragon's Fury at Chessington is 1.2M)

Went to Alton Towers yesterday for the first time in about 15 years and forgot how massive it is (didn't help the SkyRide was closed) though it's so beautiful we didn't mind. But it got me thinking, which theme park is the biggest in the world? I had a search but feel like some of those which...

Very informative, thanks both!

Sorry for two tangents in the same day but i was looking at videos of the original Dragster where it got stuck at the top and wondered what happens with Stealth at Thorpe Park in that situation as there doesn't seem to be any maintenance access? Or is that not possible (and no rollbacks either)?

Wasn't sure if this deserved it's own thread or not but this seemed a somewhat relevant place to post that Magnum XL 200 at Cedar just got stuck at the top (video in second link): https://www.npr.org/2023/08/04/1192116484/cedar-point-roller-coaster-stops-rescue...

That's pretty clever then!

Went to Paulton's yesterday, they are building a new zoo area next to the Water Ride as well. Wasn't much to see in terms of the ride, there was a vague set of flags marking what could be a track but could easily be something else. Doesn't look like a particularly large area either but could...

What's the purpose of the spike and track switch at the end of this ride? I haven't ridden it so probably missing something but seems superfluous? Or is it to surprise people who don't know it's coming?

I'm with you 100% there. And the current summer of non stop rain only highlights that! Presumably Dark Rides are generally more expensive/space consuming? Times like this you really notice how places like Disneyland or even Efteleing are virtually weather proof compared to the UK parks.

Is this for the Water ride or additional?

I suppose in the transient social media era there's not much point going heavy on the marketing until the ride is almost open, which is almost a year away? Be pretty cool that you can presumably see it from the M25 etc though, that'll be good hype for plenty of people!

I was looking for their profit figures and came across what looks like a post you made elsewhere! Year ending April 1999 (i.e. 1998 season): Loss of £1,349,000 Year ending April 2000 (i.e. 1999 season): Loss of £744,000 Year ending April 2001 (i.e. 2000 season): Profit of £1,527,000 Year ending...

Yeah i get that. In a way it's kind of the worst of both worlds rather than the best. I do still think there's a different psychological mentality for customers when a theme park is located in the middle of an urban area as opposed to the isolated nature of other UK theme parks. It reduces it...

What do you think the difference is with BPB and places like Fantasy Island in Skegness and Adventure Island in Southend that seem to successfully run the free entry systems? They both still stay open till around 10pm on Peak days too (presumably facilitated by the free entry system). I live...

Yeah, it's easily the most "polished" theme park in the UK. A Dark Ride would be perfect (the general lack of big Dark Rides in the UK compared to other countries still baffles me).

Does the park never stay open in the evening anymore? I've not been for about 25 years now and was hoping to take my family one day. Really fond memories of staying up late and seeing all the rides and lights operating in the dark, the atmosphere used to feel amazing.

Personally it's very annoying. Having a disabled child, planning a theme park trip can be challenging at the best of times and gauging what queue times will be like is part of the process so it's disappointing to have that taken away (or attempted to). Seems slightly duplicitous too, what...

Weird timing as i was there on Sunday and wondered if my phone had messed up since. You can partially bypass it if you go to the map and click on rides or enter a single letter as a search and they'll all come up (if they contain said letter) EDIT: Actually just click attractions top left and...

Finally got to ride Mandrill today.... must say it was absolutely brilliant! We were in the backwards facing row, not sure where that ranks in people's opinion but we loved it. Probably the smoothest rollercoaster i've been on in the UK too.