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European theme parks on your own

I'm sure alot have, but how many of you have been to theme parks in Europe on your own?

Lately I have had this urge to go to europa park on my own for a long weekend. My wife is not really big into theme parks and I doubt none of my friends would be interested if I suggested going to a theme park in Germany.

I'm just interested in people's thoughts about your experiences of doing it alone?

Thanks

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In Europe? No, and I'd hate to do any by myself. I hate doing UK parks by myself so I can't imagine travelling that distance by myself for a park. As a general rule, going to Theme Parks are a lot more fun with friends and/or family, so I'd have to go with them, or not at all.

That's not counting just "popping in" to your local park for an hour or two (like I've done with Thorpe and Chessie) however, that's different. Or a scenario like @Robert Jones mentioned when he was in France for the Euros.
 
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I've done Alton Towers a few times on my own but only for a few hours as I have headed north to meet friends. I've found on quiet days when all rides are walk on it isn't really an issue. I've spent that time talking to staff and exploring areas that I wouldn't normally do with friends as we are rushing to the next thrill. It's ok for a couple of hours tops but the lack of any kind of atmosphere always hit me hard. Having people to riff with when you come of the ride really makes it fun.

I was in France for the football in the summer and struggled to convince anyone to do Parc Asterix with me so I went anyway. I'll be honest as much as I enjoyed the day I did miss having some to chat to in the queues especially when they were near to an hour wait. I then spent most of my time on my phone to fill the void and towards the end of the day I spent more and more time on my phone and less time looking around and taking things in. It's crazy that in a park full of people I have never felt so alone. I was forced to share the rapids with a French family and I felt like I was intruding on their fun.

Is it not possible to join one of the TS meets at the park?
 
I found Towers on my own relaxing in Final Year and was often popping up on my own. However, there are rides that I don't do when on my own. It's good at the beginning of the year when the towers are open and I had the chance to look around the park and gardens at my own rate.
 
Had an excellent afternoon on my own yesterday at the Towers,
repeat rode all the big coasters in about three hours,
the best way to chill and relax.
Had about twenty years practice going on my own though!
Once or twice a year with my wife, same again with mates, and again with family, then every other week or so I enjoy my coastering solo.
Soul food and good exercise, all at the same time.
 
I haven't been to a European themepark on my own but I did go to Venice on my own for 3 days, it was lovely.

I was planning to go to Gardaland for one of the days I was there, but it was closed. :(
 
I went to DLP on a school trip last year and went round alone for the majority of the day on one of the busiest days of the year. Overall, it was fine. Got plenty of rides on space mountain using the SRQ, and managed to go into the geekier areas of the park that I wouldn't have convinced friends to go into.

It was fine until I joined what turned out to be an hour queue for BTM, which moved at no pace at all. Being in France, I couldn't use my phone so the hour really dragged. Also, knowing zero French (strange considering the trip was for my gcse French class, any surprise I failed?) I couldn't get anything to eat as I couldn't see what places sold.

At 4pm though, we had to check in with the teachers to say that we were alright. Even though I was perfectly capable of going round alone, the teachers insisted that I stayed with them for the rest of the day. Luckily, they bought fast passes earlier (which had sold out by mid day), and one of my teachers didn't want to go on BTM so she gave me her fast pass.


Sorry, that turned into more of a trip report than I intended, but i have a free session at school right now so I'm incredibly bored. In summary, I wouldn't spend more than a day at any park alone as it really is the company that creates any atmosphere. I enjoyed DLP (other than the French person who repeatedly hit me with a push chair when I couldn't move put of their way) but I wouldn't do it again.
 
Not in Europe but I've been to two parks in China by myself. I was there on an internship with two others from my uni course. We'd already visited Happy Valley Shenzhen and the plan was to visit Knight Valley and Chimelong Paradise together. However, they ended up spending most of their money on a night out which saw them living off instant noodles for the rest of the trip. I wasn't going to miss out on a chance to visit those parks so I went alone.

Knight Valley was a bit of a surreal experience. It's a strange park anyway but being alone made it all the stranger. Because it was an unfamiliar park in an unfamiliar culture and I was by myself, it felt more like I was observing the park rather than enjoying it on the level I normally would. There were obviously upsides. There was no lengthy deliberation over what to do next and I could ride Mountain Flyer as many times as I wanted. But overall, I missed the social aspect of visiting parks. I ended up leaving early because I'd gotten everything done so quickly.

At Chimelong, I was lucky. I ran into someone else visiting the park alone in the queue for Dive Coaster. They were from Portugal visiting relatives. We chatted and ended up going round the rest of the park together. I enjoyed the day much more. It felt like a proper theme park trip and not a weird first-person documentary. Plus I made a new friend, so that's good too.

What I took from this is that theme parks are nowhere near as fun if you're alone. The social side is a huge part of the experience and I don't think I would plan to visit an international park by myself.
 
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Personally I think I would really enjoy doing a theme park alone but i'm not old enough for that yet! Sounds perfect to me!
 
I'd say it depends on the person. Back in 2012 I made a solo trip to Tripsdrill by myself (although my parents were just down the road at Stuttgart). It was an odd experience, especially give I didn't have a smart phone. Personally I took it as an adventure so I have really fond memories of the trip but it's not something I'd recommend to anyone. At the time I was mostly living alone so it didn't phase me.

At Chimelong, I was lucky. I ran into someone else visiting the park alone in the queue for Dive Coaster. They were from Portugal visiting relatives. We chatted and ended up going round the rest of the park together. I enjoyed the day much more. It felt like a proper theme park trip and not a weird first-person documentary. Plus I made a new friend, so that's good too.
I had a very similar story the day after Thirteen opened. Hearing some of the reviews the day before I made a spur of the moment trip. The bus didn't turn up but I met a lovely couple who I paired up with to share a taxi. Ended up spending the whole day with them.
 
I've done Chessie on my a few times in the past...

I found that you can take in a lot more of the theming and smaller details when your on your own with no distractions.
 
I visited America in 2012 and met up with a friend who was living over in Canada at the time. But I went to Cedar Point on my own for a few days in the middle of it, thought I'd never get a better opportunity to get the park so why not? Probably a bit odd thinking about the fact I was the only person I knew in the state at the time but I was glad I went.
 
This topic caught my eye. I think I'd personally struggle to do an entire theme park alone and would have the checking my mobile phone issue as well. I usually visit places with my wife and she flat out refuses to do water rides. Not wanting to miss the fun, I do these single rider! I can relate to one of the above posters as in PortAventura they put me in a row with a Spanish family and I felt kind of awkward and intrusive, thankfully it was a short ride though...

Another thing we usually do if queues are that bad is single rider queues and split up to get in the ride quicker. I did this at Chessington for Dragons Fury and got put with three kids who out loud said "some weirdo is sat with you". I turned it around and made them laugh by saying "the weirdo can hear you" and then being really enthusiastic on the ride, but I can see how you might feel really uncomfortable if you're not sat with somebody you know.
 
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