What's new
FORUMS - COASTERFORCE

This is a sample guest message. Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

Which theme park offers the best value for money?

Matt N

CF Legend
Hi guys. Most enthusiasts probably have a favourite park, and in many cases, it might be a park from the likes of Disney or Universal. These parks arguably have some of the world’s best theming and some of the world’s most envelope-pushing immersive attractions right now, and whether you personally like them or not, they really do offer an experience quite unlike any other parks in the world. But an important point to note is that these parks are expensive. Disney and Universal may offer high-quality experiences, but that is arguably you simply “getting what you pay for” to some extent, with ticket prices and annual pass prices to these parks also being some of the highest on Earth.

Most countries around the world are currently suffering a cost of living crisis, so value for money is arguably getting more important than ever. Visitors want bang for their buck; they want to feel like their hard-earned money is being spent well, and they want to make the most of the money they have. With this in mind, I’d be interested to know; which theme park do we think offers the best value for money? Which park do we think is offering visitors the best bang for their buck? For clarity, I’m not necessarily referring to your “best park” here; I’m asking about the park that you feel offers its guests the best output relative to its price point.

I’ll get the ball rolling with my answer.

People are probably going to come at me for this, as I can sense it being quite a controversial view, but I’d honestly struggle to look much further than PortAventura, based on my experience there last September. Both parks are gorgeously well-themed, and the resort has some absolutely brilliant attractions, including Shambhala, Red Force, Uncharted and Street Mission. The hotel complex we stayed on, Gold River, was also absolutely gorgeous, the food was really nice… and I genuinely have very few complaints about our entire time at PortAventura! Yes, the operations could be faster, but I didn’t think they were nearly as bad as expected and queue lengths were mostly still reasonable. Express also didn’t seem nearly as oversold as I was expecting and there was never a shortage of attractions on a short (less than 20 minutes) queue during my visit. In terms of money, our whole trip was ridiculously cheap compared to what you’d expect for a European park trip; our whole package, including flights, transport to and from the park, hotel stay, park tickets and half board food, cost a bit over £1,000 for 3 adults, and that was with us upgrading to better flight times and slightly nicer rooms in the hotel! We worked out that our buffet meals in the hotel worked out at around £4 per head per night, which was just ridiculously cheap given that the food was actually very nice and very expansive in range, changing every night and offering a pretty wide amount, and drinks were also Wetherspoons-level cheap, which you never complain about!

So based on my personal experience there, I’d honestly struggle to argue against PortAventura for pure value for money. My parents were saying to me the other night that while they loved Europa Park, they’d honestly be more inclined to return to PortAventura purely because Europa Park is so expensive by comparison.

But I’d be interested to know; which theme park do you feel offers the best value for money?
 
I mean, it's a difficult one to answer, as so many parks offer discounts and such so that only a tiny proportion of visitors actually pay the advertised, on-the-gate price. Merlin and Six Flags are big examples here.

Eg, Thorpe's on the day price is £66, but I can find some tickets for £29 through the website. They're usually on quiet days too. And for under 30 quid, you get two 200ft+ coasters, 2 B&Ms and a variety of flats. On a good day, you could argue that's incredible value for money, and certainly a line up on paper that not many parks in Europe can compete with at that price.

Equally, Six Flags Great Adventure, £30 on its cheapest day (rather than advertised £78 on the day). Just a huge variety of coasters, plus some other stuff. If you're after a variety of coasters, you can't argue against that imo, even if there's only a small handful that are actually good.


However, I've thought and I've tried to answer your question. And I can't. I can't go "Yes, this is the best value theme park, for the price and quality it offers". And that main reason is because my favourite parks are priced at a premium, but that premium is worth it. Phantasialand, Asterix, Efteling, Walibi parks. All expensive. But all worth it, for the experience they offer. And they aren't notably more expensive than some other parks. The extra £10 or so you spend on a day ticket to Asterix over Plopsaland (say) makes it SO much more valuable.

So yeah, the best value parks to me are simply my favourites.
 
Since Phantasialand started to be a discount park, it is a very good candidate. Getting into the park for >30€ is tough to beat.

Europa-Park is always in the raffle due to the sheer amount of experiences on offer.
 
Last edited:
I'll say Paultons, just because you can have so many rides. You could probably have 100 if you want. They have so many more rides than they seem to need, which is the complete opposite of the corporate parks.
 
I would say the Walibi parks are a good shout. Entry is usually between 40 and 50 euro, which might not be the cheapest, but I think there is a good balance of quality that goes with that. Add ons like speedy pass don't break the bank either if you get a couple of one shots for 5 - 10 euros.

Another one to mention Is Energylandia, especially when you consider things like food & drink which is usually extortionate at most theme parks.
 
I mean... It used to be an easy answer this, Energylandia... But Poland's economy has changed so much, that they're not really cheap any more. Standard tickets now are up to £40, online and in advance. Food in the park is still cheaper, and so is accommodation. But not nearly as cheap as it was before 2022.

I think the best value I had last year was Phantasialand. We paid £170 each for accomodation in the Charles Lindbergh hotel, 2 days park entry, breakfast, evening meal, and I think there were other perks... (Were we still getting fast tracks for Fly last year? Done the CL so many times now, I can't remember for sure. they all roll into one haha) Which may not seem that cheap when you look at the price alone... But this is Phantasialand, one of the best parks in the world, accomodation, food, and multi day entry for 170!!! An absolute bargain.

BTW This deal is currently on offer for even less... Bag it for just £127!!!!!!!! https://www.phantasialand.de/en/ear...S1YPraKBkqsSdsyeU5XYqhRWz3s9_nFxoCzXIQAvD_BwE

I'm going to throw West Midlands Safari Park in here though. Not as a thrilling day out, if that's all you're after forget it. But as a family day out, you cannot beat that kind of value. We paid £26 for the Safari, the zoo and for ride wristbands, (March deal.) Honestly, the safari alone is worth this, the rest is just added value. The food was good too, in the sit down burger place, these were (decent) pub standard burger meals for £15.
 
Last edited:
Ironically this just popped up in Sky’s app. Not really sure where else to put it, but since it relates to a deal, will drop it incase it’s useful to anybody else with Sky VIP.

IMG_5737.jpeg
 
Phantasialand without a shadow of a doubt. Food is affordable and high quality, the rides are some of the few that compete on both theming and thrills outside of Orlando, and I just got a party of 4 an overnight stay in the Matambda hotel, breakfast, and 2 days on park for £60 each.

No matter which way you cut it, that is an absolutely insane deal, at what is objectively one of the best parks, and my personal favourite park in the world.
 
I'm going to throw West Midlands Safari Park in here though. Not as a thrilling day out, if that's all you're after forget it. But as a family day out, you cannot beat that kind of value. We paid £26 for the Safari, the zoo and for ride wristbands, (March deal.) Honestly, the safari alone is worth this, the rest is just added value. The food was good too, in the sit down burger place, these were (decent) pub standard burger meals for £15.

Yep, some good rides there, including the Vekoma 335m. Out of interest, how was Jungle Jeeps? Looks very good from the POVs.
 
While I'm not too sure on the value for money across the rest of the park, the £50 I paid for Gotham City Escape ERT at Parque Warner was excellent. 1 hour of nonstop rides on GCE allowed us to rack in 14 night rides in an hour, on two train operations, without ever having to get off. Combined with unlimited free photos/onride videos if you desire to leave the train and get it, no preshow, and a free GCE mug, it was excellent value.
 
Greatest guff for any American amusement parks - parking price. Absolutely criminal to have $30-$40 standard pricing, which quickly eats into any cheap ticket cost advantage, especially for Six Flags.

But you want to know a park with $36 admission price and no parking fee? Liseberg. Was definitely an awesome park experience during our visit last year, solid coaster lineup, and a gorgeous interplay of good amusement park experience.
 
I'm going to give a shout out to Tokyo Disney resort - not the cheapest, but cheaper than you expect! I paid £47/$60 for entry to each park which is great value for an 12+ hour park day. While certainly not the best value for coasters, its dark ride package is absolutely STACKED and I consider the dark ride line-up to be substantially better than Walt Disney World's (I haven't been to Anaheim so can't comment).

Although my trip to Japan wasn't all theme parks, it was at least £1000 cheaper than if I had gone to Orlando for 2 weeks from the UK instead .
 
Yep, some good rides there, including the Vekoma 335m. Out of interest, how was Jungle Jeeps? Looks very good from the POVs.
We didn't do it. Sorry. To be honest, we'd mostly gone for the safari, and photography side of things. The wristband was just an added bonus. I got the creds, we also did the disk-o, drop tower, pirate ship, haunted house and then spent the rest of the time doing the zoo bits.
 
I'm a bit partial toward Knoebels.

While the wristband prices have gone up to match the price for most parks around the country, just about everything else in that park is affordable from the food to the souvenirs. Holiday World comes pretty close with their free sunscreen and free soda promotion, but I think the admission price there is a bit higher than Knoebels is.
 
Back
Top