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Your hottest and coldest theme park days

Matt N

Matt N

TS Member
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Mako (SeaWorld Orlando)
Hi guys. As some of you might know, some extreme temperatures are forecast within the next few days here in the UK; there’s talk of 40°C (104°F) being hit for the first time ever in parts of the country. With that in mind, it got me thinking about some of the hottest and coldest days I’ve ever had at theme parks and what they were like. So my question to you today is; what have been some of the hottest and coldest theme park days you’ve ever had? How was it visiting a theme park in those extreme temperatures?

I’ll get the ball rolling with some of my answers…
Hottest
  • Disney’s Hollywood Studios (12th April 2019) - My first ever day at Hollywood Studios was certainly a hot one! I remember highs of 33°C (91.4°F) being hit while we were on park, and walking around the park felt absolutely sweltering!
  • Various theme park days in Orlando during August - By extension, I could cite a number of theme park days we’ve had in Orlando during the month of August as being some of the hottest I’ve ever had. I can’t remember any particular anecdotes off the top of my head, but I’ve certainly been to parks in Central Florida on days where the 100°F (37.8°C) threshold has been hit or exceeded, and it can get quite tough going in those temperatures! I certainly have memories of my family and I hopping between misters and rushing for the nearest air conditioned building on some of those hotter days!
  • Blackpool Pleasure Beach (24th August 2019) - One of the hottest theme park days I’ve had on home soil has to be when I went to Blackpool Pleasure Beach for Late Night Riding 3 years ago! This day was truly sweltering, with temperatures nearing 30°C (86°F); standing in that open air Valhalla queue for 2 hours must surely be one of the hottest moments of my life, and it’s a wonder that I didn’t burn! The ride itself soon put paid to me being hot, as I walked off shivering and feeling like a block of ice, but that open queue was an absolute scorcher!
  • Thorpe Park (6th May 2018) - I remember this May Bank Holiday visit to Thorpe Park being unusually hot for the time of year (over 25°C/77°F), and within the concrete and steel of Thorpe Park, it certainly felt it! This is one of the few theme park visits I remember burning on, and standing in some of those queues was boiling.
  • Europa Park (28th April 2022) - All 3 of my days at Europa Park had pretty nice weather, for the most part, but this one was particularly hot. Temperatures exceeded 25°C (77°F), and standing in some of those queues and walking around some of the pathways was seriously hot; choosing to do all of the park’s water rides on this day was a good call, even if they all had rather long queues as a result of the weather!
  • Oakwood Theme Park (18th July 2016) - My first ever trip to Oakwood was certainly a hot one! I was on a school trip, and I remember many of the queues being absolutely sweltering; I certainly rode Waterfall on this day, and shade was sought at various points!
Coldest
Now I have fewer memorably cold theme park anecdotes, as I seldom go to parks outside of the main season, but I do have a couple I can think of.
  • Hyde Park Winter Wonderland (2nd January 2020) - This must easily be my coldest theme park day ever. With it being January, I certainly remember us all being fairly dressed up and being fairly cold, and I remember feeling particularly cold at the top of HangOver; the host held us up there for ages, and I was absolutely freezing.
  • Oakwood Theme Park (26th May 2019) - My second visit to Oakwood was almost the polar opposite of my first; the weather was rather dreary, with drizzle occasionally arriving throughout the day, and it was really rather cold. We were certainly shivering somewhat in the early part of the day, and it certainly wasn’t the most pleasant day weather-wise.
  • Blackpool Pleasure Beach (14th August 2018) - For an August day, my first ever visit to Blackpool Pleasure Beach was surprisingly really cold! That coastal wind was really quite bracing, and there were points where we were all surprisingly chilly; it was arguably a blessing in disguise that Valhalla was closed on our first visit…
But what have been some of the hottest and coldest theme park days you’ve ever had?
 
I went to Thorpe Park at the very start of April this year. There was a freak cold spell, it snowed, was blowing a gale, and all the coasters stopped running, was not a great day.

I also remember going to Disneyland Paris many years ago I think in February and I recall that being bitterly cold.

Hottest day at a park was probably a Chessington trip during the summer holidays, though to be honest though when you think back to summertime trips as a kid everything seems to be hot in your memory.
 
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Hottest was probably on my first trip to EP in August 2012. We think it reached about 36°C-37°C throughout most of the trip. Spent a good chunk of cash on Mezzo Mix, and a whole load of us spent a fair amount of time on one of the days in the splash zone for Atlantica. Course, I definitely removed my Converse prior to going in there and definitely didn't have a nightmare trying to remove them (and my socks) from my feet shortly afterwards... :p

Coldest was probably FHT at Towers in 2015. Sacked it off part of the way through the afternoon to warm up in Dragon Bar.
 
Plenty of parks in America in high +30s. Took a few days to acclimatise but I was fine after that. One thing I liked were the misters through the queue lines at many parks which took the edge off the heat.

Many a cold day at Europa over New Year (but also some very mild days at the same time of year).

One very cold late April in the UK which meant Alton Towers and Drayton Manor closed due to snow meant we had to make our own entertainment, which involved going to Argos, buying a sledge or 2 and heading off to Cannock Chase for some sledging.

Not theme park, but traveling towards Las Vegas from near San Francisco back in July 2017 traveling over The Sonora Pass. Stopped off near the top at an elevation of just shy of 10,000 feet, and despite being 35c I was standing in what was left of the winter snow. A few hours later stopping at Bodie Ghost Town it was cold and raining and 90 mins later at our evening stop over in Beatty it was 47c, which took your breath away when we stepped out of our nice air conditioned car.

In Las Vegas rides on Stratosphere Tower closed both evenings we were there due to thunder storms. Visiting Hoover Dam and it was scorching hot even mid morning (+40c If I recall) and a few hours later and Grand Canyon it was cold (around 15c, and very windy
 
Last month in Texas it was hitting 40oC so that's the hottest. Was very glad of all the misters/fans etc dotted around the parks. I did sort of get used to it after a few days.

Went to Phantasialand for Wintertraum in January 2019. In the morning it was -5oC so not sure what I was thinking doing the Taron ert in the front row that day. Thought my body was starting to shut down after that.
 
Coldest is either one of the Europa visits at New Year, or a visit to Phantasialand in early January. Brrrr.

Hottest I'd have to say was possibly a day at Cedar Point. The dip in Lake Eerie was well needed.
 
Hottest was probably the day I had at Kings Dominion in 2011. It was mid to high 30s I think, and we greyed out on the likes of Backlot Stunt Coaster because of the heat! Had some hot days in Florida and California also.

Coldest would be at EP over various New Year trips. I remember one year, 2016/17, Blue Fire never even opened because it was so cold. The fog barely lifted for the whole trip either, and I remember driving back to the airport in the snow!
 
I've ridden Inferno in light snow, was cold. I've ridden Rage in very windy sideways snow, that was agony.

Hottest would probably Parc Astrix, a horrible horrible day.
 
Coldest is probably various BPB and Towers trips during February half term, none of which I would attempt now. A nighttime ride on Chiapas at Phantasialand in January that resulted in a sock full of water might have developed into pneumonia had I been staying anywhere but on-site.

Hottest is probably Animal Kingdom, which I recall seems to clock in a few degrees hotter than the other WDW parks and while sporting lots of shade, has incredibly tight pathways for the amount of guests it attracts. The Africa area feels notably scorched. Too much realism for me!
 
Feb HT 2012 at Towers was horrendously cold, it was -10 when I left Sheffield, -8 at Derby and didn't get above -2 all day, if that. Air kept estopping as it thought the train had stalled out on circuit, Marauders wouldn't spin properly due to the ice in the mechanism and there was about 7 rides open in total.

Hottest was Movie Park in 2015 at a sweltering 35 degrees. Was very, very warm indeed on park as it had little shade.
 
Aquatica 2010, 40 degrees. Florida never fails to scorch me!

I have had many a cold day at Towers in the snow (got snowed in during New Year 09/10!), but EP has incredibly low temperatures during winter. During my December 2018 trip it was barely over 0 during the days!
 

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