Trip Planning: Information, advice and questions!

[Matt N]

Yes from everything i've heard on here doesn't sound like it would be enjoyable for my son or my aging spine!

Arthur looks like his almost perfect ride, a suspended coaster with dark ride elements... just needs a launch.

Does your son not enjoy rough rides, then?

What sort of things does he like? Granted, I last visited in 2022, but I could try and steer you towards some things I’d recommend based on the things I did.

 

[Skyscraper]

Yes from everything i've heard on here doesn't sound like it would be enjoyable for my son or my aging spine!

Arthur looks like his almost perfect ride, a suspended coaster with dark ride elements... just needs a launch.

He'll love Blue Fire then, butter smooth, ultra fun and has a launch! With Voltron I'd recommend making sure he has an inside seat as they're more enjoyable, although your spine might not appreciate the outside seats either. Plus, if your spine is that bad I would not recommend Euro Mir.

I echo what @Matt N says though, we're perfectly placed to offer tailored advice

 

[Bowser]

Does your son not enjoy rough rides, then?

What sort of things does he like? Granted, I last visited in 2022, but I could try and steer you towards some things I’d recommend based on the things I did.

Well tbh i like them a lot less and i'm usually his designated companion. Depends on the type of rough i suppose, we'd certainly give it a go.

His favourite rides so far are:

- Vampire and Gruffalo at Chessington
- Hyperia and Rush at Thorpe Park
- Lego 4D Cinema and Sky Lion at Legoland
- WickerMan and Thirteen at AT
- Ride To Happines, Anubis and Heidi at Plopsaland
- Baron 1898, Joris and Vogel Rok at Efteling
- Space Mountain, Avengers Assemble and Star Tours at DLP
- Taron, Mystery Castle and Winja at Phantasialand

Oh and to perhaps counter what i've just said he loves Rage at Southend Adventure Island.... though sometimes he gets upset, which i can only put down to head banging but can't be sure.

He'll love Blue Fire then, butter smooth, ultra fun and has a launch! With Voltron I'd recommend making sure he has an inside seat as they're more enjoyable, although your spine might not appreciate the outside seats either. Plus, if your spine is that bad I would not recommend Euro Mir.

I echo what @Matt N says though, we're perfectly placed to offer tailored advice

Thanks! Yes Blue Fire looks right up his street and glad to hear it's smooth! Re Voltron i've already made a note of that from the various comments since it opened, fingers crossed we don't get the infamous "bad train".

 

[Skyscraper]

Well tbh i like them a lot less and i'm usually his designated companion. Depends on the type of rough i suppose, we'd certainly give it a go.

His favourite rides so far are:

- Vampire and Gruffalo at Chessington
- Hyperia and Rush at Thorpe Park
- Lego 4D Cinema and Sky Lion at Legoland
- WickerMan and Thirteen at AT
- Ride To Happines, Anubis and Heidi at Plopsaland
- Baron 1898, Joris and Vogel Rok at Efteling
- Space Mountain, Avengers Assemble and Star Tours at DLP
- Taron, Mystery Castle and Winja at Phantasialand

Oh and to perhaps counter what i've just said he loves Rage at Southend Adventure Island.... though sometimes he gets upset, which i can only put down to head banging but can't be sure.



Thanks! Yes Blue Fire looks right up his street and glad to hear it's smooth! Re Voltron i've already made a note of that from the various comments since it opened, fingers crossed we don't get the infamous "bad train".

Is he particular about where he sits in coasters? Just bear in mind that it's impossible to choose your row on both Voltron on Arthur, although I don't know what the process is for guests loading from the exit.

 

[Poisson]

Arthur is barely a coaster, then again he enjoys Baron so coasters that do nothing might be fine.

 

[Matt N]

Euro Mir isn’t so much head bashing as leg bashing. The ride only has lap bars, so it doesn’t bash your head in the way that, say, Rage might, but it will give your legs and knees quite a good bashing!

If he likes Hyperia and has reached 1.4m by the time you go (correct me if I’m wrong, but I seem to remember you saying that your son’s height/slow growth was proving an issue for some parks?), I’d certainly recommend giving Silver Star a go. It’s big, fast, relatively smooth and has lots of lovely floater and ejector airtime; I loved it, and on my pre-Voltron visit, it was my favourite coaster in the park!

If he likes Wicker Man and Heidi, Wodan is also absolutely brilliant! It’s unbelievably fast like few other coasters I’ve been on, and has some really fun quick airtime pops, but is also very smooth by woodie standards!

If he likes dark coasters like Vogel Rok and the DLP rides, I’d give CanCan Coaster a firm recommendation. It’s great fun, very smooth, and the theming and music make it a real laugh!

If he likes dark rides, I’d definitely recommend Piraten in Batavia and Voletarium. Piraten in Batavia is a gorgeous boat ride (even though I haven’t ridden it, I’d imagine it’s much the same sort of thing as Pirates at DLP… if anything, I thought Batavia was better than the Florida version of POTC!), and Voletarium is much the same style of ride as Flight of the Sky Lion. I don’t favour Voletarium’s film quite as much as Sky Lion’s myself, but it’s still a great ride and I think that depends on personal preference as much as anything; Voletarium is more Soarin-style, if you’ve ever visited Epcot or California Adventure, whereas Sky Lion is more like Flight of Passage.

 

[Skyscraper]

Arthur is barely a coaster, then again he enjoys Baron so coasters that do nothing might be fine.

They might not do anything for you, but for an autistic child they could be the most important rides in the park. We need to think about suggestions from his point of view, as he sees things differently to us.

Euro Mir isn’t so much head bashing as leg bashing. The ride only has lap bars, so it doesn’t bash your head in the way that, say, Rage might, but it will give your legs and knees quite a good bashing!

If he likes Hyperia and has reached 1.4m by the time you go (correct me if I’m wrong, but I seem to remember you saying that your son’s height/slow growth was proving an issue for some parks?), I’d certainly recommend giving Silver Star a go. It’s big, fast, relatively smooth and has lots of lovely floater and ejector airtime; I loved it, and on my pre-Voltron visit, it was my favourite coaster in the park!

If he likes Wicker Man and Heidi, Wodan is also absolutely brilliant! It’s unbelievably fast like few other coasters I’ve been on, and has some really fun quick airtime pops, but is also very smooth by woodie standards!

If he likes dark coasters like Vogel Rok and the DLP rides, I’d give CanCan Coaster a firm recommendation. It’s great fun, very smooth, and the theming and music make it a real laugh!

If he likes dark rides, I’d definitely recommend Piraten in Batavia and Voletarium. Piraten in Batavia is a gorgeous boat ride (even though I haven’t ridden it, I’d imagine it’s much the same sort of thing as Pirates at DLP… if anything, I thought Batavia was better than the Florida version of POTC!), and Voletarium is much the same style of ride as Flight of the Sky Lion. I don’t favour Voletarium’s film quite as much as Sky Lion’s myself, but it’s still a great ride and I think that depends on personal preference as much as anything; Voletarium is more Soarin-style, if you’ve ever visited Epcot or California Adventure, whereas Sky Lion is more like Flight of Passage.

I second all those recommendations! I'd add Snorri Touren as well, it's a cute little dark ride with a fun theme.

 

[Bowser]

Is he particular about where he sits in coasters? Just bear in mind that it's impossible to choose your row on both Voltron on Arthur, although I don't know what the process is for guests loading from the exit.

No he's fine to go where i tell him. He does prefer to sit in the row that we first go in if we do a re-ride but it's not a deal breaker. I think that's more of a Merlin habit where we usually get put in the same row for things. He was very confused by the dual loading station for Space Mountain!

Euro Mir isn’t so much head bashing as leg bashing. The ride only has lap bars, so it doesn’t bash your head in the way that, say, Rage might, but it will give your legs and knees quite a good bashing!

Ah ok perhaps that would be so bad then and i can cushion him like i do on most lap bar coasters.

Alas he definitely won't be 1.4m by the time we visit (i presume his favourites at AT and Thorpe will change when that day comes, please pray for my health when he discovers Saw and Colossus).

Good to hear Can Can is smooth too! I think that, Blue Fire, Wodan and Arthur will be the favourites but he does surprise me sometimes, wasn't expecting Winja at Phantasialand to be a favourite. Europa does look like a park where he will have a lot of favourites though which is great, it's nice not to have anxiety of his only rides being closed that we sometimes get elsewhere.

Agree on Voletarium versus Sky Lion, i think the fantasy visuals are a big part of his enjoyment compared to real life footage but we'll see.

Dark Rides are very hit and miss for him, it's difficult to tell what will resonate. He wasn't fussed with Pirates at Disneyland or any of the Fantasyland rides except Peter Pan which i assume is due to the flight aspect but he does generally love being in the dark. Sometimes we'll do 5 laps on Spooksville at Adventure Island and others we won't go on at all.