• ℹ️ Heads up...

    This is a popular topic that is fast moving Guest - before posting, please ensure that you check out the first post in the topic for a quick reminder of guidelines, and importantly a summary of the known facts and information so far. Thanks.

2022 Trip Plans

It's easy enough to forget the Jubilee dates @Matt N as technically the date of the actual coronation has passed and like the queens birthday the celebration in June is held due to the better weather. I imagine the park will be busier because it's a bank holiday and it'll have little to do with it being the celebration of the queens long reign.
 
I was thinking more of going outside of Half Term (with the dates, I’m assuming that Jubilee weekend is at the end of May Half Term), so with the advice of this thread in mind, I had my sights set more on somewhere between 6th & 10th June, when the students should have returned to school, but the school trips shouldn’t have started yet. I’m also out of the woods in terms of uni assignments by that point, as well.
 
I'm doing Hansa Park and Heide Park at the end of April :) I haven't visit Heide Park for ~10 years I think. So I'm looking forward to the new Collossos and Flug der Dämonen. Last time I haven't done Krake because I was scared of it so it's gonna be my first wing coaster and dive coaster.
 
April - Isle of Wight including Blackgang Chine (new to me)
June - Phantasialand (first visit since Fly opened)
July / August - Various park in Dubai and Abu Dhabi (all new)

Hopefully a weekend at Grona Lund at some point this year too. Date for that tbc.
Dreamland Margate the only other new UK park I want to visit at some point this year, probably in summer.
 
This year we’re doing a lot of theme parks; at least by our standards. These are the ones we have planned so far but will hopefully get to all these parks and others more than once this year if we can afford it.

Legoland Windsor - 2 days next week. I’ve not been since I was a kid myself. Not staying in legoland hotels though as the prices are extortionate.

Chessington - 2 days in May. With overnight stay in the hotel which i’m excited about as I’ve never stayed on site before and never been to chessington but from what I’ve read 2 days will probably be necessary if it’s busy.

Drayton Manor at some point during the summer, looking forward to seeing the new areas (I’ve not seen adventure cove in person yet) and going on Apocalypse for probably the last time ever (main reason for visiting won’t lie).

Alton Towers in October for scarefest for the first time. Also contemplating an over night stay at one of the hotels as it will be a special occasion too. I’ll be going to Towers a lot this year, even contemplating a solo trip in a couple of weeks when i’m off work, partner is at work and the kids are away with grandparents, but I’m especially looking forward to scarefest, doing some night rides and maybe a visit to the waterpark.

Thorpe - No date set for this yet but I’ve not been since I was a kid and not experienced any of the coasters there yet, so my partner and I will definitely be making a trip down there on our own at some point hopefully in the next couple of months.
 
Mine have updated ever so slightly once again...
(additions & updates in italics)
Locked In Plans
  • Europa Park (26th-30th April 2022, on park 27th-29th April 2022) - Yes, this is finally locked in! We’re staying in Castillo Alcazar for 4 nights and have 3 days of park tickets to Europa Park, a bucket list park I’ve wanted to visit for a good 7 or 8 years now! I’m absolutely buzzing about it; it’s slightly surreal to think that after years and years of wanting to go, I’m only a little over 10 weeks away from finally stepping into Europa Park, the Golden Ticket Award winner for world’s best theme park and a place that many hold in extremely high regard, and I’m going to be riding coasters like Wodan, Silver Star, Blue Fire, as well as seeing other esteemed rides like Voletarium and Piraten in Batavia, as well as seeing what the park in general has to offer… my, this is so exciting! I know a lot of you are probably quite blasé about a trip to Europa by now, but from my personal perspective, I can’t believe that a trip I’ve dreamed about doing since I was 11 or 12 is finally happening! NHS COVID Pass now obtained, most things sorted, and this trip is now only a week away!
Almost Definite Plans
  • Solo Train Trip to Drayton Manor (9th June 2022) - After my successful pilot of solo theme park visiting at Thorpe last September, I want to take my newfound ability further in 2022 and take the train alone to a theme park in 2022. And where better to begin with that than the easiest park to reach from my location by train; Drayton Manor! I’ve mapped out the route from Wilnecote train station (reachable by direct train from my local train station), and everything looks nice and walkable the entire way, and I’d also like to get back to Drayton even excluding the stuff about my solo park visiting; I haven’t been in 4 years, there’s still some significant(ish) stuff there I haven’t ridden, and I would like to give Apocalypse a good send off before its rumoured removal at the end of 2022! In terms of when I’d like to go; I’ve decided on a weekday in June, as I’m headed to Europa in April, and this is also when I’m off uni and the kids are still in school keeping park crowd levels low, so it’s win-win! I obviously haven’t booked anything or concluded anything for this yet, but I am quite set on doing it at some point in 2022, so I’ll file it under “Almost Definite”! Certainly still on the agenda; I've now set out a more specific date I'd like to do this, as I've been advised not to go on Jubilee weekend due to likely high crowds, but also not after the middle of June, as school trip season begins from then.
  • Alton Towers (12th & 13th June 2022) - My mum found a very good deal on hotel stays including park tickets on Alton Towers' website, so she thought we could book to visit Alton Towers and stay over on a Sunday/Monday in June. The Alton Towers Hotel will be our accommodation of choice for the first time since 2019, and a meal in the Rollercoaster Restaurant is also looking likely. In another interesting element, my nan is coming with us again after enjoying her trip in 2019; she's still somewhat bitter about the fact she was unable to ride Wicker Man on her last visit... will she finally get on it? This is all but confirmed; likely to be booked within the next few days. Will almost certainly be my only 2022 visit to Alton.
Possibilities
  • Brean Theme Park/possibly Weston too (Unknown) - In spite of having been a theme park enthusiast since I was 10, I still haven’t visited my nearest theme park; Brean Theme Park! My dad has said to me that me and him could remedy that at some point in 2022, though, and he also raised the possibility that we could do Funland at the Tropicana as well, so excluding the kiddie creds at either park, as I don’t generally do kiddie creds, this could be a very easy +3! Status of this one is unknown, but it's the sort of thing that could be arranged very little time before. Dad did later rule out doing Weston, though, so it would definitely only be Brean if this was done.
  • Blackpool Pleasure Beach (Unknown) - My parents have said we might be able to get back up to Blackpool for a short break at some point this year, and I’ll admit, I am keen for a revisit, what with new Valhalla and retracked Big One, Grand National and Big Dipper all having happened since my last visit, and I’m gagging to get back on my #2 coaster Icon after 3 years away! To tell you the truth, I was originally planning to do BPB myself on the train in one day, but from the South West, the trip was quite an epic one compared to anything I’ve done before, and practically everyone around me thought it sounded like quite a poor travel-to-park-time ratio (I totted it up to be around 8-9 hours of travelling for around 4-5 hours of park time, with me needing to get up at about 5:30am), so my parents said to me “if you want to go to Blackpool, I’m sure we could go up and stay there at some point this year so you get a full day in the park!”, which sounded like a far more pleasurable, less bold idea to me… Status of this one is unknown. My parents did raise it as a possibility in passing conversation the other day, but certainly not in an overly committal way.
  • Solo visit to Thorpe Park (Unknown weekday in early September) - I could well find myself repeating last September and going on a solo jaunt to Thorpe Park! My parents have expressed desire to return to the pro golf tournament at nearby Wentworth golf course, and they've said they'd be very happy to drop me off at Thorpe Park again, so that seems like a no-brainer to me! I wonder if I'll be able to break my 16-ride record from 2021... Seems quite probable, as my parents have expressed strong desire to return to Wentworth in 2022. Will almost certainly be my only 2022 visit to Thorpe.
Regardless of how this year turns out, it's certainly looking like it'll be my least Merlin-centric (or should I say Alton & Thorpe centric) year in a while... after 2020 and 2021 were phenomenally Merlin-centric, 2022 will be considerably less so, with different places gaining some of the spotlight.
 
I’m not really sure how the rest of my year will play out at this point.

My only semi confirmed trip left in 2022 is a solo venture to Thorpe Park on Saturday 10th September. I haven’t booked any tickets for this yet, but my parents are off to the pro golf tournament at Wentworth on that day, and offered to drop me off there for a solo day similar to what I had last September, so I fully intend to take them up on this offer.

All of my other hypothetical ideas seem to have hit slight stumbling blocks.

I was planning to go to Brean, but their big Pinfari is currently shut for a retheme, so that’s been placed on the back burner.

I was hoping to go to Blackpool, but my parents understandably don’t want to drive all that way, and even though I can easily afford to go on my own and would have no strong objection to going on my own (the idea does make me a tad nervous, but I need to do something like that eventually, and what better time than the present?), my parents won’t let me (or at least, have expressed great anxiety about it) because they think it’s too far and I’m too young and vulnerable to go and stay in Blackpool on my own.
 
Matt mate you're 18 and at Uni.

Forget what your parents think. You certainly aren't too "young and vulnerable" to do anything. Most people your age are out getting steaming in dodgy nightclubs every weekend.
 
D4n said:
Matt mate you're 18 and at Uni.

Forget what your parents think. You certainly aren't too "young and vulnerable" to do anything. Most people your age are out getting steaming in dodgy nightclubs every weekend.
Click to expand...
They certainly seemed anxious about the prospect, as did my Nan, and I get the impression that they only let me go to Drayton Manor alone last month through very gritted teeth, so I think I should stay on their good side.

I won’t lie, I’m a bit anxious about the prospect as well, but I think I need to do something of that vein eventually, and doing a solo overnight trip to somewhere further away within the UK seemed like a logical next step after doing a day trip to Drayton Manor on the train.

Rightly or wrongly, I think my family feels that I’m “a young 19” (I’m autistic, so perhaps not as naturally independent as others my age, and the fact I look somewhat young for my age anyway also doesn’t help there). Even though I’m a fully grown adult attending university, I think they don’t feel comfortable with me being too cocky and doing too much/going too far on my own, and I respect that. I don’t want to push myself too much too soon either.

I’m admittedly not sure what will make me any more capable of doing such a trip in a couple of years’ time, but I think they’d prefer for me to hold off on trips alone that go too much past Gloucestershire (the county I live in) for at least another year.
 
Last edited:
Matt, the sooner you take lessons and pass your test the better. Not just because you’ll be able to easily take yourself to the various parks you’d like to visit but also because it will massively show your parents that you are an independent adult and are perfectly able to go places on your own. Book a hotel, fill up the tank and away you go.
 
Shaggy_Dog_ said:
Matt, the sooner you take lessons and pass your test the better. Not just because you’ll be able to easily take yourself to the various parks you’d like to visit but also because it will massively show your parents that you are an independent adult and are perfectly able to go places on your own. Book a hotel, fill up the tank and away you go.
Click to expand...
I’m taking driving lessons now, so I have definitely thought about driving! I’ve only had 3 lessons so far, though, and I get the impression that my driving instructor and I agree that I could be quite a slow learner, so I’m not banking on being able to drive until at least well into 2023.

Still, getting that ability will at very least allow me to drive myself to the local train station instead of relying on my parents to take me there, which would be something in itself even if I don’t drive long distance (which I currently suspect I might not).
 
At 18 I went with a bunch of idiots off here to Germany and the Netherlands, with the previous year doing solo trips to BPB and Thorpe and doing Towers solo at 16. You'll be fine lad.
 
I get where @Matt N is coming from, as much as I am an adult and can make my own decisions doing trips on my own isnt exactly something my parents want me to do. It’s a mixture of me looking considerably younger than 18, worry and possibly other things. As I (and Matt) are still living with our parents it’s sort of normal to still allow them to contribute to your decisions and to discuss solo ideas with them, they need to know where you are in a way, I think Matt wil understand what I mean? It’s odd as when you turn 18 it’s not as if a switch turns off and your parents dont want to be consultated anymore.
but I know I’ve got to do a solo trip myself and so I think it’s important to sometimes just go for things.
 
Different people mature and develop confidence and independence at their own pace, for a very wide range of reasons.
I was working at ten, and living away from my family by seventeen while doing my a levels. My brother stayed at home until he was in his late twenties.
Both of us did what was right for the individual.
Matt, your parents may be right, and they know you a little better than a bunch of coaster geeks on the internet!
Do what you like at your own pace.
It is a fun distracting hobby, not the ultimate challenge.
 
JAperson said:
I get where @Matt N is coming from, as much as I am an adult and can make my own decisions doing trips on my own isnt exactly something my parents want me to do. It’s a mixture of me looking considerably younger than 18, worry and possibly other things. As I (and Matt) are still living with our parents it’s sort of normal to still allow them to contribute to your decisions and to discuss solo ideas with them, they need to know where you are in a way, I think Matt wil understand what I mean? It’s odd as when you turn 18 it’s not as if a switch turns off and your parents dont want to be consultated anymore.
but I know I’ve got to do a solo trip myself and so I think it’s important to sometimes just go for things.
Click to expand...
I'm 27 and still living at home, and as I am behind in my development my parents do still contribute or influence my decisions. And because I'm the only theme park enthusiast in my family, it's very difficult to get to parks as regular as I would like. I would ask friends but I've not seen most of them for a very long time now, and they are very bad at replying to messages lol.
 
Last edited:
Because of work stuff, I sadly can't go to more big trips (two parks or more) this year. Buuut I'm planing to go to Phantasialand in december during Winterfest. I'm getting quite excited about it, because it will be the first time I can do night rides.

Spontaneous visit sometime this year: my "homepark" is Karl's Erlerbnisdorf Elstal. They have one well themed kiddi coaster. I guess this ride is my most ridden coaster. Other big parks are much further away so that is what I got ^^"
 
Doxical said:
Spontaneous visit sometime this year: my "homepark" is Karl's Erlerbnisdorf Elstal. They have one well themed kiddi coaster. I guess this ride is my most ridden coaster. Other big parks are much further away so that is what I got ^^"
Click to expand...
As the saying goes, it's better than nothing. 🙂
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top