Matt N
CF Legend
Hi guys. To someone who’s not an enthusiast, many of our theme park visits might seem to blend into one another. Many enthusiasts go into every park visit they have with similar aims, and over the years, I’ve certainly had my fair share of non-enthusiasts ask “Isn’t every visit just the same?”, particularly in the context of revisiting parks I’ve visited many times before, such as Alton Towers. I know that enthusiasts live for the finer nuances of what makes each park and each visit to a given park different, but these nuances often aren’t so obvious or appealing for people who aren’t into theme parks like we are, so through a non-enthusiast’s eyes, it’s quite understandable that most visits might seem to blend into one. With this in mind, I’d be interested to know; in your years of theme park visiting, what has been your most “different” theme park visit? Are there any visits that have stood out from others for a particular reason, good or bad? Which visits have differed from your average visit?
I’ll get the ball rolling with my answer.
Personally, I think my two most different park visits (I offer two because they were both “different” for the same reason) are probably still the visits I made to Chessington World of Adventures and Legoland Windsor in August 2013. We went to London for the weekend at the beginning of August, just after my 10th birthday, and our original plan was to go to Chessington and Thorpe Park and get me on some big 1.4m rides as a birthday present. However, that plan was later stymied by the fact that I broke my arm two days before my 10th birthday, so as a result, we traded Thorpe Park for Legoland and had a very “different” visit to both Legoland and Chessington! By virtue of my arm being in plaster, we had very unique visits to both Legoland and Chessington experiencing the very limited range of attractions that people in plaster casts can experience, which included some things I probably wouldn’t have otherwise ridden. At Chessington, I have distinct memories of lapping Flying Jumbos with my older sister for a large part of the day, and I also remember riding things like Safari Skyway and Peeking Heights for the rest of the day, as well as spending lots of time looking around the zoo; the height of thrill rides-wise was probably either Flying Jumbos or Tomb Blaster! At Legoland, we rode Atlantis and the Skyrider (?) monorail, went in the 4D cinema (where my mum desperately tried to put my plastered arm in a plastic bag as soon as she realised there were water effects!), and spent a large part of the day exploring Miniland and looking at the models!
They were certainly two very different theme park days that were quite unlike any I’ve had since! But I’d be interested to know; what have been some of your most “different” theme park visits?
I’ll get the ball rolling with my answer.
Personally, I think my two most different park visits (I offer two because they were both “different” for the same reason) are probably still the visits I made to Chessington World of Adventures and Legoland Windsor in August 2013. We went to London for the weekend at the beginning of August, just after my 10th birthday, and our original plan was to go to Chessington and Thorpe Park and get me on some big 1.4m rides as a birthday present. However, that plan was later stymied by the fact that I broke my arm two days before my 10th birthday, so as a result, we traded Thorpe Park for Legoland and had a very “different” visit to both Legoland and Chessington! By virtue of my arm being in plaster, we had very unique visits to both Legoland and Chessington experiencing the very limited range of attractions that people in plaster casts can experience, which included some things I probably wouldn’t have otherwise ridden. At Chessington, I have distinct memories of lapping Flying Jumbos with my older sister for a large part of the day, and I also remember riding things like Safari Skyway and Peeking Heights for the rest of the day, as well as spending lots of time looking around the zoo; the height of thrill rides-wise was probably either Flying Jumbos or Tomb Blaster! At Legoland, we rode Atlantis and the Skyrider (?) monorail, went in the 4D cinema (where my mum desperately tried to put my plastered arm in a plastic bag as soon as she realised there were water effects!), and spent a large part of the day exploring Miniland and looking at the models!
They were certainly two very different theme park days that were quite unlike any I’ve had since! But I’d be interested to know; what have been some of your most “different” theme park visits?
