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Favourite theme parks and why?

Bowser

Bowser

TS Member
I often see discussions and lists on best rides and coasters but I don’t recall seeing the actual parks named!

1. Disneyland Paris: The gold standard. Wonderful theming, excellent rides, perfection all round really.. and for us the best RAP system too which makes the visit a pure delight compared to any other park.

2. Efteling: As close to Disney as I’ve ever seen and in some ways even better due to the all original IP which gives it such a unique charm. Great rides and ops seal the deal.

3. Universal Studios Osaka: Not without its flaws, namely the horrendous queues but world class theming and some of the best rides I’ve ever experienced.

4. Plopsaland De Panne: The on site water park and its charming theming is a big part of the high ranking for me but also a trio of fantastic coasters and again whimsical theming.

5. Paultons Park: Arguably the nicest park in the UK due to its high quality presentation and excellent ride availability/queue times. Missing some big rides to be a true contender currently.

I’d put the Merlin UK portfolio all as equal runners up as they share a lot of the same positives and negatives. Some excellent rides and legacy theming combined with generally poor availability.
 
I don't think I could rank parks like that - most of them have something unique about them that means a simple list is too difficult to do.

For me, I have a list of places I want to return.

1. Efteling - we loved it, we only got one ride on Danse Macabre, and I found it a very relaxing place to wander about.

2. Liseberg - I went without the Chimp, so need to return to show her what a lovely place it is and for her to meet the green bunnies (she'll not be fussed by bunnies, she's 14, but I loved them 🤣)

3. Florida - I last went before universal had any coasters, so would like to return, however it's way out of my budget at the moment.

4. EP - will return at some point once there's been enough change since this year to make it worth while.

5. DLP - same as EP. EDIT: I mean, same category. I don't think DLP is the same as EP, the coasters at EP are much better IMO.

I'm afraid I've now been spoiled by European parks and don't really rate our own stuff any more. It's fine... But it's not great. Thorpe is the best of a bad bunch. (I realise I've now become one of those people 😬)
 
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My Top 5 Parks in the World with my number 0 park

0. Alton Towers I have a lot ot heart with this park the park I have been the most times and the park that made me into an enthusiast its not perfect but I always have a good time here number 0 is unranked

1. Phantasialand easily most immersive theme park the rides are absolutely stunning with F.L.Y, Taron and Black Mamba with similar restrictions to the likes of Alton Towers absolutely allows for more creative rides to be constructed.

2. Europa Park stunning park every themed land is done with such detail makes you think you are visiting that specific country now this ranking might be skewed as have not done Voltron or New Alpenexpress these 2 rides could push it to the top.

3. Disneyland Aniheim might not have the most thrilling rides but has bucket loads of charm. In my opinion best Space Mountain Music. Rise of the Resistance my number 1 Dark Ride. And so many other awesome Dark Rides it's a really special park.

4. Universal Islands of Adventure
Stunning Park love the Lagoon setting with Velocicoaster and Hulk but this park really shines in its coaster Velocicoaster and Hagrids both amazing rides. Incredible Hulk is a classic. And all of the Dark Rides are great I can't praise this park enough for what it has done.

5. Warner Bros World Abu Dhabi all about the Dark Rides this park each is done to perfection Batman Knight Flight stunning, Tom and Jerry Cheese Twist Spin. And many other the lands make you feel like your in the realm of Warner Bros.

Have done more parks than this however this is just my top 5 with a number 0 ranking.
 
Alix said:
I'm afraid I've now been spoiled by European parks and don't really rate our own stuff any more.
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I’m the same. I know a bit of it is more frequent visits make you notice the flaws but I still think objectively they’re a higher standard.

I expect Plopsa would be the first to show flaws if I went regularly but equally they seem to be making far more improvements than their UK counterparts.

Once we visit Phantasialand and Europa I expect the Brits will be fully relegated.
 
I find it harder to rank parks than coasters, as they are a lot more situational, but I think my top 5 would be something akin to the following:
  1. Europa Park - It’s just a brilliant all-rounder, really, isn’t it? For starters, I can never moan about a park that put two of its coasters into my top 10 and 10/10 tier; Silver Star and Wodan are both spectacular rides! Blue Fire, while not quite as impressive, is also decent, and there are a number of fun filler coasters below that. But I don’t think Europa is primarily a coaster park, really. It also has strong rides in a number of other categories; Piraten in Batavia and Voletarium are both excellent dark rides, and I seem to remember Fjord Rafting being pretty good fun as water rides go! The sheer quantity of things to do is quite unlike any other park I’ve been to; you could spend days here and still discover something new every day! Not to mention that the theming is gorgeous throughout and the general environment of the park is very pleasant to walk around and just exist in. Between the ride lineup, the theming, the stellar operations and so many other pleasant aspects, I absolutely loved my trip to Europa Park and would definitely call it my favourite theme park overall. There’s a lot to like about an all-rounder, and I think Europa is a brilliant all-rounder; what’s not to love about a park where you can both experience one of the best headline coaster duos around (of what I’ve ridden, at least) and bask in gloriously pleasant themed environments?
  2. Islands of Adventure - I’m a big Universal Orlando fan, and I’ve always loved this park ever since I first went back in 2012. But I think my most recent visit in 2023 elevated it even further; I always said that coasters were a relative weakness of Islands of Adventure in the past, but the addition of VelociCoaster and Hagrid’s has given them an absolutely world class headlining duo! Both rides are sublime and went straight into my top 10 and 10/10 tier; VelociCoaster in particular is absolutely astounding, and in strong contention for being one of my very top coasters ever (I have it at #2 formally, but I’m never certain that it isn’t my #1… it really is that good!). The park now has at least one world-class ride in every category, in my view; even before the two coasters, Spider-Man and Kong are world-class dark rides and Jurassic Park is a world-class water ride! The theming in this park is also spectacular, and some of the best you’ll find anywhere, in my view; every land in this park is ornately detailed and lovely to walk around! Like Europa Park, I think Islands of Adventure is an excellent all-rounder that does just about everything very well, with great rides, great theming and great operations, and to be honest, I think there are a few things it arguably does better than Europa Park. The thing that would instinctively put it a tad lower would be that I don’t find the park quite as relaxing to walk around and that it’s less expansive… but the raw firing on all cylinders quality of its ride lineup as well as the utterly world-class theming could cancel that out and put IOA on a level par with EP. It may be #2 formally, but I sometimes think it could very easily be #1 for me on a different day!
  3. Universal Studios Florida - While it’s not quite on the level of Islands of Adventure for me, I still absolutely love USF! There are some great rides in this park; Mummy, Transformers and Gringotts are all brilliant, and there is lots to do here! More than anything else, though, I’m a big fan of the theming and atmosphere in this park. While not quite as lavish as IOA next door, I do think that the theming throughout USF is lovely; Diagon Alley is the star of the show, but Springfield is also awesome, and I also really like the theming of some of the Hollywood streets as well! One thing I would say about it over IOA next door is that I think it’s perhaps more relaxing to wander around; like Europa, I think it’s got a very nice, relaxed vibe!
  4. PortAventura Park - This one might be a surprise, but I absolutely loved PortAventura when I went there last year! The theming and general atmosphere of the park is gorgeous, and it’s lovely to walk around! The rides are also no slouches either; while I don’t think the coaster lineup overall is as strong as that of some parks I’ve been to, Shambhala is spectacular (my current #1 coaster!), Uncharted is also decent, and there are also some cool non-coasters as well. Street Mission was a surprisingly excellent dark ride, and both the water rides I did were also pretty good! While the operations get a lot of hate, I also personally didn’t think they were half as bad as I expected. Don’t get me wrong, the ride throughputs are not fast, but I didn’t find them astoundingly slow either. Everything ran multiple trains most of the time, Express didn’t seem oversold, and single rider queues and batching also seemed well handled. I had a brilliant time here, and I can’t wait to go back at some point in the future!
  5. Alton Towers - Alton Towers is the one park I’ve always been visiting regularly since I was a young child, and it will always hold a special place in my heart for that reason alone. But even putting sentimentality aside, I would still definitely call it my favourite UK park. It’s probably one of the best parks I’ve been to for roller coasters; the strength of the lineup is quite something! Wicker Man, Oblivion and Nemesis are a brilliant top 3, and you also have Thirteen and Rita in my upper quartile as well; I can’t put my nose up too much at that! While I don’t think the park’s area theming is quite as consistently strong as that of some parks abroad, I also think Alton Towers has pockets of really nice theming in places; the likes of Wicker Man, Curse and the newly regenerated Forbidden Valley are very good indeed! I would perhaps say that individual ride theming is stronger than area theming at Alton Towers; there are some well themed individual rides at Alton. In general, I do also find Alton a nice park to walk around; the spaciousness makes it quite a relaxing park to negotiate, I feel, and it is generally a nice environment. Contrary to popular belief, I also generally find the operations to be quite good; the park is maybe a bit less consistent than some of those higher up, but I think part of that for me might be down to how much I’ve been over the years. With it being by far my most visited park, I think I’ve seen its highs and lows far more than any other park. I do think the park gets excessive criticism at times, and I think the perceived decline is overstated. My most recent visit was broadly excellent; I always like the rides, and things mostly seemed clean and well operated, with queues that weren’t excessive.
Lurking just outside the top 5, I think I’d probably put Busch Gardens Tampa in at #6 (while the operations aren’t great and the theming maybe isn’t as consistently strong as some, it might be the best park I’ve visited for thrills, which is hard to argue with!) and Thorpe Park in at #7 (while I don’t think it’s quite as nice to walk around as Alton, it has similarly great rides and pockets of very good theming in places. I also generally find operations decent, and I never fail to have a good day!).

I do find parks harder to rank than coasters, though. I think they’re far more situational and far more variable.
 
Matt N said:
I find it harder to rank parks than coasters, as they are a lot more situational, but I think my top 5 would be something akin to the following:
  1. Europa Park - It’s just a brilliant all-rounder, really, isn’t it? For starters, I can never moan about a park that put two of its coasters into my top 10 and 10/10 tier; Silver Star and Wodan are both spectacular rides! Blue Fire, while not quite as impressive, is also decent, and there are a number of fun filler coasters below that. But I don’t think Europa is primarily a coaster park, really. It also has strong rides in a number of other categories; Piraten in Batavia and Voletarium are both excellent dark rides, and I seem to remember Fjord Rafting being pretty good fun as water rides go! The sheer quantity of things to do is quite unlike any other park I’ve been to; you could spend days here and still discover something new every day! Not to mention that the theming is gorgeous throughout and the general environment of the park is very pleasant to walk around and just exist in. Between the ride lineup, the theming, the stellar operations and so many other pleasant aspects, I absolutely loved my trip to Europa Park and would definitely call it my favourite theme park overall. There’s a lot to like about an all-rounder, and I think Europa is a brilliant all-rounder; what’s not to love about a park where you can both experience one of the best headline coaster duos around (of what I’ve ridden, at least) and bask in gloriously pleasant themed environments?
  2. Islands of Adventure - I’m a big Universal Orlando fan, and I’ve always loved this park ever since I first went back in 2012. But I think my most recent visit in 2023 elevated it even further; I always said that coasters were a relative weakness of Islands of Adventure in the past, but the addition of VelociCoaster and Hagrid’s has given them an absolutely world class headlining duo! Both rides are sublime and went straight into my top 10 and 10/10 tier; VelociCoaster in particular is absolutely astounding, and in strong contention for being one of my very top coasters ever (I have it at #2 formally, but I’m never certain that it isn’t my #1… it really is that good!). The park now has at least one world-class ride in every category, in my view; even before the two coasters, Spider-Man and Kong are world-class dark rides and Jurassic Park is a world-class water ride! The theming in this park is also spectacular, and some of the best you’ll find anywhere, in my view; every land in this park is ornately detailed and lovely to walk around! Like Europa Park, I think Islands of Adventure is an excellent all-rounder that does just about everything very well, with great rides, great theming and great operations, and to be honest, I think there are a few things it arguably does better than Europa Park. The thing that would instinctively put it a tad lower would be that I don’t find the park quite as relaxing to walk around and that it’s less expansive… but the raw firing on all cylinders quality of its ride lineup as well as the utterly world-class theming could cancel that out and put IOA on a level par with EP. It may be #2 formally, but I sometimes think it could very easily be #1 for me on a different day!
  3. Universal Studios Florida - While it’s not quite on the level of Islands of Adventure for me, I still absolutely love USF! There are some great rides in this park; Mummy, Transformers and Gringotts are all brilliant, and there is lots to do here! More than anything else, though, I’m a big fan of the theming and atmosphere in this park. While not quite as lavish as IOA next door, I do think that the theming throughout USF is lovely; Diagon Alley is the star of the show, but Springfield is also awesome, and I also really like the theming of some of the Hollywood streets as well! One thing I would say about it over IOA next door is that I think it’s perhaps more relaxing to wander around; like Europa, I think it’s got a very nice, relaxed vibe!
  4. PortAventura Park - This one might be a surprise, but I absolutely loved PortAventura when I went there last year! The theming and general atmosphere of the park is gorgeous, and it’s lovely to walk around! The rides are also no slouches either; while I don’t think the coaster lineup overall is as strong as that of some parks I’ve been to, Shambhala is spectacular (my current #1 coaster!), Uncharted is also decent, and there are also some cool non-coasters as well. Street Mission was a surprisingly excellent dark ride, and both the water rides I did were also pretty good! While the operations get a lot of hate, I also personally didn’t think they were half as bad as I expected. Don’t get me wrong, the ride throughputs are not fast, but I didn’t find them astoundingly slow either. Everything ran multiple trains most of the time, Express didn’t seem oversold, and single rider queues and batching also seemed well handled. I had a brilliant time here, and I can’t wait to go back at some point in the future!
  5. Alton Towers - Alton Towers is the one park I’ve always been visiting regularly since I was a young child, and it will always hold a special place in my heart for that reason alone. But even putting sentimentality aside, I would still definitely call it my favourite UK park. It’s probably one of the best parks I’ve been to for roller coasters; the strength of the lineup is quite something! Wicker Man, Oblivion and Nemesis are a brilliant top 3, and you also have Thirteen and Rita in my upper quartile as well; I can’t put my nose up too much at that! While I don’t think the park’s area theming is quite as consistently strong as that of some parks abroad, I also think Alton Towers has pockets of really nice theming in places; the likes of Wicker Man, Curse and the newly regenerated Forbidden Valley are very good indeed! I would perhaps say that individual ride theming is stronger than area theming at Alton Towers; there are some well themed individual rides at Alton. In general, I do also find Alton a nice park to walk around; the spaciousness makes it quite a relaxing park to negotiate, I feel, and it is generally a nice environment. Contrary to popular belief, I also generally find the operations to be quite good; the park is maybe a bit less consistent than some of those higher up, but I think part of that for me might be down to how much I’ve been over the years. With it being by far my most visited park, I think I’ve seen its highs and lows far more than any other park. I do think the park gets excessive criticism at times, and I think the perceived decline is overstated. My most recent visit was broadly excellent; I always like the rides, and things mostly seemed clean and well operated, with queues that weren’t excessive.
Lurking just outside the top 5, I think I’d probably put Busch Gardens Tampa in at #6 (while the operations aren’t great and the theming maybe isn’t as consistently strong as some, it might be the best park I’ve visited for thrills, which is hard to argue with!) and Thorpe Park in at #7 (while I don’t think it’s quite as nice to walk around as Alton, it has similarly great rides and pockets of very good theming in places. I also generally find operations decent, and I never fail to have a good day!).

I do find parks harder to rank than coasters, though. I think they’re far more situational and far more variable.
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Matt N said:
I find it harder to rank parks than coasters, as they are a lot more situational, but I think my top 5 would be something akin to the following:
  1. Europa Park - It’s just a brilliant all-rounder, really, isn’t it? For starters, I can never moan about a park that put two of its coasters into my top 10 and 10/10 tier; Silver Star and Wodan are both spectacular rides! Blue Fire, while not quite as impressive, is also decent, and there are a number of fun filler coasters below that. But I don’t think Europa is primarily a coaster park, really. It also has strong rides in a number of other categories; Piraten in Batavia and Voletarium are both excellent dark rides, and I seem to remember Fjord Rafting being pretty good fun as water rides go! The sheer quantity of things to do is quite unlike any other park I’ve been to; you could spend days here and still discover something new every day! Not to mention that the theming is gorgeous throughout and the general environment of the park is very pleasant to walk around and just exist in. Between the ride lineup, the theming, the stellar operations and so many other pleasant aspects, I absolutely loved my trip to Europa Park and would definitely call it my favourite theme park overall. There’s a lot to like about an all-rounder, and I think Europa is a brilliant all-rounder; what’s not to love about a park where you can both experience one of the best headline coaster duos around (of what I’ve ridden, at least) and bask in gloriously pleasant themed environments?
  2. Islands of Adventure - I’m a big Universal Orlando fan, and I’ve always loved this park ever since I first went back in 2012. But I think my most recent visit in 2023 elevated it even further; I always said that coasters were a relative weakness of Islands of Adventure in the past, but the addition of VelociCoaster and Hagrid’s has given them an absolutely world class headlining duo! Both rides are sublime and went straight into my top 10 and 10/10 tier; VelociCoaster in particular is absolutely astounding, and in strong contention for being one of my very top coasters ever (I have it at #2 formally, but I’m never certain that it isn’t my #1… it really is that good!). The park now has at least one world-class ride in every category, in my view; even before the two coasters, Spider-Man and Kong are world-class dark rides and Jurassic Park is a world-class water ride! The theming in this park is also spectacular, and some of the best you’ll find anywhere, in my view; every land in this park is ornately detailed and lovely to walk around! Like Europa Park, I think Islands of Adventure is an excellent all-rounder that does just about everything very well, with great rides, great theming and great operations, and to be honest, I think there are a few things it arguably does better than Europa Park. The thing that would instinctively put it a tad lower would be that I don’t find the park quite as relaxing to walk around and that it’s less expansive… but the raw firing on all cylinders quality of its ride lineup as well as the utterly world-class theming could cancel that out and put IOA on a level par with EP. It may be #2 formally, but I sometimes think it could very easily be #1 for me on a different day!
  3. Universal Studios Florida - While it’s not quite on the level of Islands of Adventure for me, I still absolutely love USF! There are some great rides in this park; Mummy, Transformers and Gringotts are all brilliant, and there is lots to do here! More than anything else, though, I’m a big fan of the theming and atmosphere in this park. While not quite as lavish as IOA next door, I do think that the theming throughout USF is lovely; Diagon Alley is the star of the show, but Springfield is also awesome, and I also really like the theming of some of the Hollywood streets as well! One thing I would say about it over IOA next door is that I think it’s perhaps more relaxing to wander around; like Europa, I think it’s got a very nice, relaxed vibe!
  4. PortAventura Park - This one might be a surprise, but I absolutely loved PortAventura when I went there last year! The theming and general atmosphere of the park is gorgeous, and it’s lovely to walk around! The rides are also no slouches either; while I don’t think the coaster lineup overall is as strong as that of some parks I’ve been to, Shambhala is spectacular (my current #1 coaster!), Uncharted is also decent, and there are also some cool non-coasters as well. Street Mission was a surprisingly excellent dark ride, and both the water rides I did were also pretty good! While the operations get a lot of hate, I also personally didn’t think they were half as bad as I expected. Don’t get me wrong, the ride throughputs are not fast, but I didn’t find them astoundingly slow either. Everything ran multiple trains most of the time, Express didn’t seem oversold, and single rider queues and batching also seemed well handled. I had a brilliant time here, and I can’t wait to go back at some point in the future!
  5. Alton Towers - Alton Towers is the one park I’ve always been visiting regularly since I was a young child, and it will always hold a special place in my heart for that reason alone. But even putting sentimentality aside, I would still definitely call it my favourite UK park. It’s probably one of the best parks I’ve been to for roller coasters; the strength of the lineup is quite something! Wicker Man, Oblivion and Nemesis are a brilliant top 3, and you also have Thirteen and Rita in my upper quartile as well; I can’t put my nose up too much at that! While I don’t think the park’s area theming is quite as consistently strong as that of some parks abroad, I also think Alton Towers has pockets of really nice theming in places; the likes of Wicker Man, Curse and the newly regenerated Forbidden Valley are very good indeed! I would perhaps say that individual ride theming is stronger than area theming at Alton Towers; there are some well themed individual rides at Alton. In general, I do also find Alton a nice park to walk around; the spaciousness makes it quite a relaxing park to negotiate, I feel, and it is generally a nice environment. Contrary to popular belief, I also generally find the operations to be quite good; the park is maybe a bit less consistent than some of those higher up, but I think part of that for me might be down to how much I’ve been over the years. With it being by far my most visited park, I think I’ve seen its highs and lows far more than any other park. I do think the park gets excessive criticism at times, and I think the perceived decline is overstated. My most recent visit was broadly excellent; I always like the rides, and things mostly seemed clean and well operated, with queues that weren’t excessive.
Lurking just outside the top 5, I think I’d probably put Busch Gardens Tampa in at #6 (while the operations aren’t great and the theming maybe isn’t as consistently strong as some, it might be the best park I’ve visited for thrills, which is hard to argue with!) and Thorpe Park in at #7 (while I don’t think it’s quite as nice to walk around as Alton, it has similarly great rides and pockets of very good theming in places. I also generally find operations decent, and I never fail to have a good day!).

I do find parks harder to rank than coasters, though. I think they’re far more situational and far more variable.
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There is no such thing as a bad park all have there pros and cons.

Like Barry Island Pleasure Park poor looking park amazing Flat Rides
 
Hid said:
There is no such thing as a bad park all have there pros and cons.

Like Barry Island Pleasure Park poor looking park amazing Flat Rides
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I think it does depend on what you personally value, though.

Barry having great flat rides, for example, probably wouldn’t do a lot for me as someone who isn’t generally a big fan of flat rides.
 
Hid said:
There is no such thing as a bad park all have there pros and cons.
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If a park has more cons than pros i think it's fair to deem it bad. You can have a bad meal and still find merit in it, watch a bad movie, play a bad video game etc. As @Matt N says, it's subjective, what you find bad others may not but i'm sure some people will have visited parks they deem bad.

Though arguably if enough people found a theme park to be bad it would cease to exist so you may be correct on a technicality!
 
Hid said:
No matter what park always try to have a good day even if it doesn't go to plan
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This is always the best way to approach life.

But I think it's fair to say that if you've put more effort into having a good day than the park itself, then what you have experienced is a bad park.

It is ok recognise when things are not up to scratch, this is the only way things improve.
 
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