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Where is your local park and how often do you visit?

Matt N

Matt N

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Hi guys. With all of us being into theme parks, I’m sure most of us know where our nearest theme park is, or our “local park” so to speak. Whether you visit it often or it’s somewhere you don’t really pay much attention to, we all have one. With this in mind, I’d be really interested to know; where is your local park and how often do you visit? Do you pay a lot of attention to your home park, or is it somewhere that you largely ignore?

Personally, I live in Gloucestershire, so I’m in the no man’s land of major theme parks better known as the South West of England. As such, my answer might be a tad more complicated than for those of you who are lucky enough to have a major park close by!

My answer honestly depends on how you classify “local park”:
  • If you’re going with “the operating place closest to my home that has an RCDB file”, then the honour goes to Symonds Yat Leisure Park in Whitchurch, Herefordshire, which apparently once housed a Zamperla Powered Coaster (https://rcdb.com/6389.htm). This park is just 10 miles due north of my house as the crow flies, and I can reach it in a 15 mile, or just over 30 minute, drive. I’ve never been, and I honestly debate whether it’s still “operating” in the sense that RCDB thinks it is seeing as it’s now mostly a caravan park, although there is still a hedge maze and butterfly house around there. Incidentally, I passed near this park a lot in my driving lessons, as Whitchurch was just off the dual carriageway used by my test centre, and I even did a parallel park in a lay-by very close to it in one of my driving tests!
  • If you’re going with “the operating park closest to my home with somewhat of a selection of permanent rides”, then I’d probably give that honour to Brean Theme Park in Somerset (https://rcdb.com/4862.htm), which is 34 miles due southwest of my house as the crow flies, and I can reach it in a 52 mile, or roughly 1 hour, drive. I’ve only been to Brean once, and it took me until last year to get there. I wouldn’t call it an overly major park, and I wouldn’t say that any of the rides are the sort of thing you’d want to go to for anything other than to tick off the creds, if I’m being honest; all 3 of the credits were one-and-dones, for me, and now I’ve ticked them off, I don’t feel any desire to revisit Brean unless they build a new ride of some note.
  • If you’re going with “the semi-major operating park closest to my home”, I’d probably give the honour to Drayton Manor in Tamworth, Staffordshire (https://rcdb.com/4803.htm), which is 73 miles due northeast of my house as the crow flies, and I can reach it in a 93 mile, or roughly 1h 45m, drive. Paultons Park in Romsey, Hampshire (https://rcdb.com/4819.htm) is 5 miles closer as the crow flies, but awkward road layouts mean that it takes 116 miles, and a good 2 hours, to drive to. Drayton was actually the first park I ever visited back in 2008, but only I’ve been to Drayton on three separate occasions altogether, in 2008, 2018 and 2022 respectively. A fourth visit is planned for later this year to go and check out Gold Rush. Drayton isn’t a bad park by any means, and I do always enjoy my visits there, but it’s not somewhere I feel massively compelled to return to regularly in the absence of new major investment as it’s increasingly not overly targeted towards my demographic. The park is certainly prospering at the moment, however, and I look forward to seeing what its future holds!
It’s interesting to me that my “local” parks are not places I’ve visited all that much. Drayton is my most visited of the lot, but even that doesn’t stack up very highly in the visit count compared to other parks I’ve been to; my most visited UK park by some margin is Alton Towers, which I’ve spent 43 days in cumulatively and is not exactly local, at a good 2.5 hour, 120 mile drive away!

But I’d be really interested to know; where is your local park, and how often do you visit?
 
Going off of amusement/theme parks and not somewhere that happens to have a coaster (Knowsley Safari Park)

The nearest parks to me are;

Gullivers Warrington - visited last year to ride Antelope having not visited since I was a child

New Brighton Funfair - visited last year for again the first time in years

Southport Pleasure Land - have visited 3 times since 2019, no current plans to visit again unless they suddenly build anything of note.

Blackpool Pleasure Beach - visited twice this year (poor for me), have had a season pass since 2009 (except in 2016+17).

So it's the 4th nearest park to me which is the one I'd class as my 'home' park. But then for the others one is a park aimed at children and the other two are basically a random assortment of rides you'd find at travelling fairs.
 
Ever visited a park so much your phone has reclassified it as your home? Happened to a colleague of mine. Admittedly they were working from park at the time. Still, it brought a whole new meaning to the term home park.

My own local park is Legoland, but that was by intent. It's more interesting to consider my local park growing up, because I didn't really have one. Every park was about 1:30 to 2 hours away. I guess if I had to class a group as local it'd be Great Yarmouth and Pleasurewood Hills.
But if the Universal Park had been around then that would have been my local park. In some crazy alternative timeline, in which Universal didn't invest in Port Aventura but instead built the UK park in the 90s my life would have turned out completely different!
 
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My local park is Ocean Beach in South Shields. It’s only a 10 mile drive from where I live in (or a 45 minute journey on the Metro with an extra 15 minutes walking at each end) but to be honest I don’t really think of it as a home park as it doesn’t really have its own unique signature rides to note. It’s fine for a quick blast on some flats occasionally but I don’t feel compelled to visit too often.

Going further then Lightwater Valley would in theory be my home park at 76 miles and a 90 minute drive but I’m not going to count that as a home park since it’s been kiddified. So I’ll reluctantly take Flamingo Land as my home park at an 85 mile drive of 2hrs.

However though my historic and emotional true home park was Chessie as I’m from South London. I first visited the park as a small child when it was just a zoo before Tussaud’s and Wardley transformed it and I can remember vividly going in to the big top and also climbing on the dinosaur statues. I’ll never forget my first visit after it had become World Of Adventures and riding on the train and Safari Skyway between the different areas thinking that this was the most incredible thing I’d ever experienced in my life at that point.
 
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Currently it's Towers, at 16 miles away. Given poor roads that's still a 30+ min drive though, hence I don't visit as often as perhaps you'd imagine at such proximity. Maybe once every couple of months (I will tend to visit events more consciously though!).
 
My local park is Dreamland Margate, and I usually go once a year.
 
I guess Gulliver's in Warrington would be closest, but that's not a thing really. No kids in toe, no go...
Not been to the Scouse Riviera of New Brighton for years, but I have been to Adventure Land there in the past when I was a wee nipper. That's 20 minutes away driving.

Alton Towers is 60 miles by shortest route, and takes around 75 minutes usually. I go reasonably often. Maybe once a month or so, maybe more. Blackpool is 70 miles and takes about same time if the M6 behaves. Used to play Knightmare spotting after passing Charnock Richard Services. Sadly not been a thing now for a few years. Usually Blackpool is a once a year visit. 2 max if I'm feeling generous and quite fancy throwing some blank cheques at Mandy so she can pay the gas bill.

Southport could be considered pretty close, but not been for years, last time being just a couple of months before Mandy sent in the bulldozers. Often felt an arduous trip by train as it called at all stops, but always and still is stupidly cheap for off peak travel from where I live.
 
Thorpe is my local, about a 25 min drive, but legoland is the closest to me, at around a 15 minute drive.

Alton was my local from 2020 - July this year, while I was at the uni of sheffield, but have now graduated so back down south.

I only tend to visit my 'local' like twice a year, but when I was a kid/teen I'd go like 10+ times a year
 
For me Drayton is closer than Alton Towers by around 10 miles and 20 minutes, however I’ve probably been twice/three times ever and have always regarded Alton Towers as my ‘home’ park. It was where we went every year as a family, and now I’m older it offers much more than Drayton. I need to go back there soon though.
 
Gulliver's Valley is in walking distance. Only been once for the creds.

Gulliver's Matlock not been in about 20 years.

Clifton Park doesn't have much.

Towers is what I consider my local park that I actually go to. Visit 12-15 times a year.
 
My closest park is Paultons - even then, it's just under 2hrs away (but we're moving a bit closer soon)! I like to get there a few times a year if I can, usually with the kids around Spring, June and then Christmas. It's likely I'd go more often with addition of new thrill rides 😊
 
NuttySquirrel said:
Brean "Theme Park" is technically my local park.

Been once, and that was enough.
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As a fellow South West dweller, you pretty much took the words right out of my mouth!

Brean was perfectly all right for an hour's flying visit to nab the +3, but now I've been and ridden the creds, I have no intention of returning any time soon, despite it only being an hour's drive away from my house and technically my nearest theme park.
 
Matt N said:
As a fellow South West dweller, you pretty much took the words right out of my mouth!

Brean was perfectly all right for an hour's flying visit to nab the +3, but now I've been and ridden the creds, I have no intention of returning any time soon, despite it only being an hour's drive away from my house and technically my nearest theme park.
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Only +3? Have you not got the Runaway Train yet? 😂
 
Leigh said:
Only +3? Have you not got the Runaway Train yet? 😂
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I haven't been since they built the Runaway Train, and as I don't generally do kiddie coasters, I did not ride the Wacky Worm on my visit either.

From the pictures I've seen, Runaway Train looks like even more of a kiddie coaster than the Wacky Worm...
 
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