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Parks to visit in 2009??

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Anonymous

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Hi guys.
I've just joined Coasterforce having been out of the coaster scene for a while.
I've been to all the big parks in the UK years ago when I was really into thrill rides, and then life got in the way...
However I'm looking at visiting some parks again and seeing what's changed! In the last month I've been to Alton Towers and Blackpool Pleasure Beach, and hope to get to a good few more over the summer.
Does anyone have any suggestions as to where is best to visit, as I'm out of touch with any developments of new rides etc!
Thanks
 
I'd second the CF park guides. They'll help you plan trips and list parks that you may not know about. The map on ukrides.info can be quite useful as well, as it'll give you a rough idea of where all these places are relative to each other. Just be warned that it's a bit out of date - some of the parks shown on that map such as Metroland and American Adventure don't exist any more.

A couple of other questions I'd ask:
  • How are you getting to the parks? Are you driving or are you using public transport? From your profile, I assume you're travelling from Glasgow? Some parks are easy to get to, some are a long way to travel, and some are a complete pain in the arse if you're using public transport.
  • When did you last visit the major parks? Which parks did you visit back then? If we've some idea of a time frame, we can suggest parks that have had major new additions in recent years over those that haven't really added a lot.
 
I went to Thorpe Park in march of last year, and before that I hadn't been to a theme park since 2003, when I was at Thorpe, Alton Towers, Port Aventura, Phantasialand, Drayton Manor, Pleasure Beach, Disneyland Paris.

And as for travelling, I drove to Blackpool and Alton Towers this year, would probably fly if going any further, like Thorpe Park is obviously really handy from Heathrow!

The worst bit about trying to get to all these places is getting people to come along who are not gonna chicken out of the big rides at the last minute :lol:
 
It don't matter if you're pals chicken out on rides as long as they come with you. ;)

UK wise,- Aside from Alton and Blackpool, the other worthwhile parks are Thorpe (Surrey)- who have a new coaster this year- SAW: The Ride plus other decent coasters. Fantasy Island in Skegness, admittedly miles off the beaten track but worth it for Jubilee Odyssey a HELL-A scary suspended coaster... and Oakwood theme park in Wales. Oakwood houses the UK's biggest Euro Fighter coaster and Megaphobia- the UK's best woodie.

Europe wise- Check out Portadventura (Spain). In 2007 they got Furius Baco- Europe's fastest coaster (for another 3 months until Ring Racer opens in Germany). Also this year Mirabilandia (Italy's premier theme park) get iSpeed Italy's biggest and fastest coaster, and possibly the worlds best Intamin launch coaster.
 
May i recommend the amazing Coasterforce google map. To plan your trips with and see what theme parks are near you [/salesman]

Yes you may, may I recommend using the url tags correctly to stop the page from stretching viciously? - furie

Click here for the Google link.
 
If you're going all the way down south for Thorpe, Chessington is definitely worth a visit as well, and maybe even Legoland. If you're travelling around by train and staying in hotels that are "on the grid" it can get pretty expensive pretty quickly, so be warned.

Lightwater Valley and Flamingo Land are both probably worth a visit (although being a Yorkshireman I'll admit I'm probably biased). I'd save that trip for later in the season though, as Flamingo Land's new coaster isn't up and running yet and probably won't be for a couple more months. Lightwater hasn't added much in the last decade, but Flamingo Land have been expanding in recent years and have some fun and unique rides.

Drayton Manor probably isn't really worth driving such a long way for, but if you're in the area, I'd look at having a day there. Otherwise, I'd wait it out until the next time they add something significant unless you've a great desire to ride one or more of their attractions.

Camelot is a dump with maybe one or two rides that are passable. Their flagship ride is a fun but fairly bumpy Schwarzkopf coaster. Camelot isn't worth more than a few hours of your time, but seeing as the park has just gone into receivership over the off season, it may not survive beyond this season. This may or may not be a big deal to you.

Oakwood looks like a great little park, but it's miles out of the way in South-West Wales, so it's a pain in the arse to get to.

I think that covers most of the majors.
 
In terms of busy and big parks, Thorpe Park is really good as it has a really good range of coasters (and some interesting flats), and its all in a relatively small area, so you won't waste hours of your day walking between the rides as you would at Alton Towers. Alton is still worth a visit though. Only problem with Thorpe is that you'd be lucky to go on a day when all their rides are open, so it's best to check on the day you want to go by calling them to see what's not gunna be available so you don't drive for hours to find you can't ride SAW like loads of people have! Luckily I rode it on Friday 13th before all of it's down time! If you shop in WHSmiths they're doing 2 for 1 ticket coupons for any of the Merlin parks at the moment so that's worth a shot!

I also really like Oakwood, it's a completely different atmosphere to Thorpe, much more relaxed and less busy. Cheap to get in £16.95, and Megafobia is awesome :--D

So far this year I've done Thorpe x2, Oakwood, Flamingoland and Lightwater Valley.. All of which were great days out!

D
 
DanzibarDrums said:
Only problem with Thorpe is that you'd be lucky to go on a day when all their rides are open, so it's best to check on the day you want to go by calling them to see what's not gunna be available so you don't drive for hours to find you can't ride SAW like loads of people have!
Click to expand...
All the more reason to spend a few days in the area and do all of the Merlin parks if you're travelling a long distance to get there. That at least gives you the option of shifting the days around a bit if one or more of Thorpe's major rides are down.
 
All the more reason to spend a few days in the area and do all of the Merlin parks if you're travelling a long distance to get there
Click to expand...

Would make a good long weekend, Thorpe, Legoland and Chessie - might have to do that this summer!
 
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