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Which major theme park have you gone the longest without visiting?

Matt N

CF Legend
Hi guys. Over the years, I’m sure that most of us have visited quite a few different theme parks; each year, I personally visit a mixture of old favourites alongside trying to mix the odd new park or two in there as well to enhance my repertoire and increase my coaster and park counts. Trying to visit new parks can sometimes mean that there isn’t enough time to revisit some previously visited parks, however, and as the years rattle on, a park can sometimes get pushed down and down the list until you realise that you haven’t visited in a number of years. With this in mind, my question for you today is; which major theme park have you gone the longest without visiting? Which major park have you not visited in a ridiculously long time?

For clarity, I say “major” because I’m aware that the hardier credit counters among us will likely have a number of “one-and-done” type parks where the main draw is the +1 from a Wacky Worm, Go-Gator or similar that they visited years ago and will probably never revisit.

I’ll get the ball rolling with my answer.

Personally, the major place I have gone the longest without visiting is Disneyland Paris. I have not been back to Disneyland Park or Walt Disney Studios Park since 27th March 2011. I’m not actually sure why we never went back after our first visit (although I imagine our discovery of Florida in 2012 could have something to do with it), but for whatever reason, I have not been back to DLP since 2011.

Other than the two DLP parks, there is only 1 other park where my last visit was more than 5 years ago, and perhaps surprisingly given my general level of enmeshment with the UK Merlin parks, that is Chessington World of Adventures; my last visit to Chessington was on 26th July 2014. It was actually one of my first ever parks as a young child when I first visited in 2009, with Vampire and Runaway Train (as it was then known) being my 4th and 5th coasters respectively, but I’ve only ever been back twice more, in 2013 and 2014, and I have not visited for close to a decade now. My parents never had much desire to return once my sister and I passed a certain age (I was talking to my dad about parks the other day, just before our visit to Flamingo Land, and he described Chessington as one of only two UK parks he’s ever considered “a bit lame”, with the other being Drayton Manor), and to be honest, the park hasn’t tempted me as much as some others. The addition of Mandrill Mayhem did make it more tempting, however, and I’m revisiting for the first time in close to 10 years next month!

After those two, the park I’ve gone the longest without visiting jumps all the way up to 2019, which I’d still consider relatively recent…

But which major park have you gone the longest without visiting? Which major park have you not visited in a really long time? I’d be really interested to know!
 
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The park that I have gone the longest without ever revisiting is Holiday World in Gran Canaria. I remember going there with my parents the first time we went to Canary Islands in February 2006, riding their Zyklone style coaster and the stand-up Pirate Ship. The old coaster has since been swapped with a new one, but I doubt I'll be returning to Gran Canaria anytime soon, so that credit will remain unticked for time being. It's hardly a major park, as it felt more like a permanent fairground, without any notable fixed attractions in it.

A bigger park that I haven't visited in absolute ages is Movieland Studios in Italy. We used to stop there before heading back home from our stays at Lake Garda in 2002 (when all that there was to the park was a small Rambo show next to the waterpark), 2004 and 2006. Our last visit to the place was a few days before the relocated 1st gen Freefall opened. I've been back to Lake Garda in 2008, 2011 and 2019, but never had time to re-visit Movieland. The park has changed quite dramatically during these years, with an old Schwarzkopf Jet Star coming and going and a bunch of relocated or wacky homebuilt rides opening since. A re-visit is definitely well past due now.

Outside of those '2006 parks', I haven't re-visited Disneyland Paris since February 2009 and then there's a bunch of American parks I only ever visited on my two stateside trips in 2011 (Busch Gardens Tampa, Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, Universal Hollywood and Six Flags Magic Mountain).
 
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I haven't been to Disneyland Paris since 1997. 😎

My next longest gap for a major park would be Liseberg, which I haven't visited since 2017.
 
Have vague memories of going to the original Disneyland and Universal Studios Hollywood in the year 2000, so those would be the oldest.
 
Oakwood 2004.

Was planning to go back there last month but Megafobia hadn't opened yet so I didn't bother.

I'll probably go next year now, once Drenched is open (it was closed in 2004 due to the accident).
 
11 years between Alton Towers visits, 2011-2022.

This year was my first trip to Chessington since 2013, and it'll also be the last until their next major coaster/investment. I was shocked how run down the park feels and how incredibly half arsed the "World of Jumanji" is.

I haven't been to Thorpe Park since 2015. I went at least several times a year from 2005 until then and went on many family trips there starting in the mid 90s, but I got bored of it I guess. What have they added since The Swarm to really draw people back to the park? *tumbleweed* ... It's not that I've been sat with my arms folded sulking that they haven't built a new coaster since 2012. It's just that me and my friends say "oh yeah we'll deffo go back soon" but it just isn't high on our priorities... because it's all the same old same old. So next year the gap ends just shy of a decade.

Now I last went to Paultons in 2006 but I'm not counting that as I'm a "selfish childless millennial" and there's nothing there for me. I have no plans to return unless they build something really unique and outstanding. They're doing well and I love to see it, but at the end of the day the coasters themselves are still a bunch of meh off the shelf experiences. CBA.

Again - I did all the Florida parks in 2008 but it's unlikely I'll be going back anytime soon so I don't want to count them.
 
I've not been to Drayton Manor since about 1996. Can't recall the exact date but we were there with a film crew, and for any young uns on here wondering how different times were, the film crew was because we were being filmed for a documentary about having gay parents. That, apparently, was sufficiently newsworthy for a 1 hour documentary and a spot on This Morning with Richard and Judy together with the absolutely awesome Kathy Burke.

Also I've not been Ocean Park Hong Kong since 2011 by by attendance figures that's definitely a big park! Although that's mainly as I've not been to Honk Kong since 2011 so....
 
Ignoring parks like Legoland that I've been to as a child only or Busch Gardens Tampa which I've only ever been to once ever (2006), I haven't been to Disneyland Paris since 2012. I have been 8 times (1993, 1995, 1997, 2002, 2005, 2007, 2011, 2012), but have had an 11 year gap since my last visit. This is a mix of cost (all but the 2012 trip were with my parents) and just visiting other parks in Europe instead.
 
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