All filler - no killer. Well rounded parks with poor headline attractions.

[jasone]

I will get hate for this.

Europa Park - Coaster wise there is nothing really good and nothing I would necessarily want to go back for. The best attraction here is Piraten in Batavia, followed by Wodan and Eurosat. The park is absolutely lovely but there are countless parks with much better coasters and rides.

I agree with you here. Maybe it’s harsh to call their coasters filler, as they are good rides. But for it to be constantly voted number 1 theme park in the world, they don’t have that one stand out coaster. If it was my home park I’d be happy to visit regularly. But it’s an expensive trip to make and for me they don’t yet have the jewel in their crown that makes it worth the trip back. If I compare it to making the trip to phantasialand, I’d gladly make that trip just for Taron. When you add FLY in the mix, well… need I say more.

Obviously this is subject to change with the new Big Dipper being built at Europa..

 

[Heth]

Lots of takes here I definitely don't agree with lol.

I think Europa Park, Efteling and Universal all have top tier rides. Maybe for hard-core coaster enthusiasts used to Cedar Park they lack that high intensity thrill, but I would argue that they all have great top tier rides for their contexts (coasters or dark rides).

 

[Serena]

Lots of takes here I definitely don't agree with lol.

I think Europa Park, Efteling and Universal all have top tier rides. Maybe for hard-core coaster enthusiasts used to Cedar Park they lack that high intensity thrill, but I would argue that they all have great top tier rides for their contexts (coasters or dark rides).

Same.

It seems to come down to what people value in a ride. If you want mega forceful thrills, you're not going to get that on a ride at Efteling. But that by no means makes their rides filler. In terms of theme, story, detail and atmosphere, many Efteling rides are of the absolute highest caliber. To me, a killer stand-out, headline ride doesn't have to be blow-your-socks off intense. I would say Joris and Baron are easily 2 killer standout attractions.

But I've said it once, so I'll say it again:
Efteling is for theme park enthusiasts, not rollercoaster enthusiasts.

Also, Silver Star and Wodan are awesome killer headline attractions in my opinion. I would love to have either one of them in any UK park.

For me, an all-filler park has got to be Chessington. On paper, they have a nice selection of dark rides, coasters, flat rides...but they're all really underwhelming, even for family-friendly rides.

Also, Plohn. A nice selection of rides, but when it comes to headliners El Toro and Dynamite are totally average.

I've saved the most controversial opinion til last...Dollywood. Lightning Rod should be the headliner here, but it was running like a slug when I went, and I can only go off that disappointing experience.

With the big RMC not delivering the thrills, you quickly realise how the other rides at Dollywood are all kinda "meh." (Note: the drop tower wasn't open, I'm pretty sure that would have been my favourite ride in the park if it was) But yeah, nothing stood out for me in that park. Mystery Mine was so disappointing and I barely remember any of the other rides.


Also, I'm intregued...what ride would people say is the headline attraction at Alton Towers nowadays? To me, it's Oblivion. And I presume others would say Nemesis...? Kinda interesting if they've still not managed to best their old B+Ms...

 

[StevenX]

I was on the verge of saying Dollywood too. I last visited pre-Lightning Rod, but I was very disappointed with the park. Mystery Mine was fine, Wild Eagle is extremely dull. Firechaser Express was my favourite thing there.

 

[Matt N]

Sorry to bump the thread, but with the recent announcement of the new coaster, I have another suggestion for this category... I'd personally suggest that Drayton Manor is a park that is well rounded overall, but lacks a true "killer instinct" headline attraction-wise.

On my last visit there in June 2022, I was able to experience the park on a quiet day, which I think offered an interesting insight into both the breadth of its filler lineup and the rerideability of its headline lineup. Based on the breadth and variety of its filler lineup, I think you could make a strong case for Drayton Manor being one of the most well-rounded parks in the country, particularly if you have more of an appetite for flat rides than I do... but I do feel that it lacks a really rerideable headline attraction. And now that Apocalypse, which was my favourite ride at Drayton Manor by a fair margin and the one that I felt was the most rerideable, is gone, that will become only more evident in 2023, in my view.

I think that coasters in particular are a relative weakness of Drayton Manor's. I wouldn't say that any of their coasters are massively standout or rerideable; my favourite on park was Accelerator, but that only sits at a 6/10 for me on the grand scale of everything I've ridden, and while it's a perfectly fun family coaster, it's not something I'd be clamouring for rerides on in a park with stronger headline coasters.

I do hope that the new coaster for 2024 changes that. I don't even think that anything overly thrilling or intense would be needed to fill that void for me; there are plenty of family thrill coasters well within Drayton Manor's present remit that would make for an excellent headline coaster, in my view!

 

[Sandman]

Another for me would be Tivoli Gardens.

Gorgeous park, wonderful ambience.

Plenty of reasonable flats and a few average creds. Rutschebanen is fab to me, but it's not a killer coaster by a long shot.

 

[Munchy Road Hippopotamus]

Parc Astérix. Hopefully Toutatis will fix this, but right now it is still definitely more of a vibes and theming focused park than a big coaster park. Arguably the best ride there is Défi de César.

Regarding Efteling, the clear headline attraction there is Symbolica, it is a dark ride focused park after all. Having said this, vliegende hollander is one of the best dark rides i've ever been on and definitely deserves star status IMO.

How very dare you! I went to Parc Asterix and only rode a Carousel and watched the Dolphin show and had the time of my life. I did get to visit the Gaulish Village and Asterix and Obelix though.

Oh did I mention that I am a massive Asterix fan and may be a little biased. Must visit again and try to get on some rides.

 

[Inverting_Thrills]

Pre Iron Gwazi BGT: Don't get me wrong, they had good rides but none of the others really stand out. In my opinion the second best in the park is Cheetah Hunt and it would be a stretch to call an Intamin family blitz a stand out. Many are going to disagree with me here as most would put Montu as #2 but I didn't really find it all that impressive.

Valleyfair: I've never been to the park but it's hard to argue on the contrary. The line-up looks to have some good rides, especially for an Arrow fan boy such as my self, but a polarizing Morgan hyper and a Arrow Special Systems coaster are enough to carry the park.



A brief defense of Six Flags Great America: Now there is some bias here as Sfgam is my homepark but I personally would consider Goliath an elite ride between it's incredible inversions, ridiculously strong airtime, and fantastic laterals on the overbank. The ride may be short but it's far too often overlooked. Raging Bull also gets an honorable mention from me.

A brief defense of Universal Studios Orlando: HRRR is absolutely an elite ride in my opinion. The ride has fantastic ejector airtime paired with great moments of some of the strongest positives I've experienced. The music is also a pretty fun feature.

 

[Gazza]

Pre Iron Gwazi BGT: Don't get me wrong, they had good rides but none of the others really stand out. In my opinion the second best in the park is Cheetah Hunt and it would be a stretch to call an Intamin family blitz a stand out. Many are going to disagree with me here as most would put Montu as #2 but I didn't really find it all that impressive.

IDK, I visted BGT for the first time before they even had Cheetah Hunt and thought it was an awesome park.

3 B&Ms, one of them being the legendary Kumba. Nice Schwarzkopf and some other rides.
I've always felt BGT was an elite tier park over the years.

After all, the topic title is "Well rounded parks with poor headline attractions." It would be difficult to argue that BGT has ever had poor headliners.

 

[emoo]

Movieland Park Italy has an invertigo boomerang as it largest actual coaster. I went mostly to try the 1st gen intimin drop tower expecting to be in and out in a few hours. I knew it has some odd stuff that looked 'okay' but stayed the whole day re-riding its strange track rides & experiences. The rough quirky edges left a great impression its hard to explain. Plus deck chairs & long cocktails.

Spoiler: The cherry on top was the show at the end of the day

The damsel in distress is almost saved then dies

A grand coaster may not even make sense here but could lure more people already considering Gardaland who can then grow a soft spot for its infamy.

 

[chainedbanana]

Europa park is the Mecca of these - Blue fire and silver star etc - I REALLY enjoy riding them every time, but they aren't getting in any favourite lists. Wodan I'd argue is the headliner and 'above' average & one of my fav woodies in Europe.
But despite that - its still my fav park ever!

Heide park is another Mecca of this type of ride, although Krake and colossos are higher end of the lot.

Tripsdrill

Bellewarde

Skyline park - lol

Blackpool pleasure beach....Sorry!

Paultons I'd argue is another UK park with a line up that fits this category.

 

[Archie]

I'd probably go for Disneyland Paris. I know they have some big and decent coasters like Hyperspace Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain, but I just don't feel like any rides there have that spark and character. Well themed and great experiences but I just don't get the same spark as something like The Smiler or Stealth.

 

[Inverting_Thrills]

I'd probably go for Disneyland Paris. I know they have some big and decent coasters like Hyperspace Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain, but I just don't feel like any rides there have that spark and character. Well themed and great experiences but I just don't get the same spark as something like The Smiler or Stealth.

Honestly I think the same can go for any Disney park aside from maybe Epcot or Animal Kingdom

 

[Nicky Borrill]

I'd agree with Europa and Efteling. Both have enjoyable coasters, Europa more so than Efteling, but nothing stand out.

They do both have absoloutely loads of good quality, well rounded, attractions in general. And their top tier coasters could improve the lineups of many parks in Europe. But for their size, and mass appeal, they just don't have that one world class coaster. That one coaster that is going to make almost any top 50 around the world.

They don't have that Taron, that Helix, that Ride to Happiness, that Zadra or that Nemesis... But if I'm honest, and take off my selfish hat for a moment, I'm not sure they need it either.

 

[Tonkso]

I kind of disagree with Disneyland Paris to be honest, their Big Thunder is an exceptional family coaster. It's long, ridiculously high capacity in terms of riders per hour, at the top end of thrill levels for its target audience and has one of the best settings of any coaster ever on its own little island accessed via tunnel.