Your most “different” theme park visit?

[Matt N]

Hi guys. To someone who’s not an enthusiast, many of our theme park visits might seem to blend into one another. Many enthusiasts go into every park visit they have with similar aims, and over the years, I’ve certainly had my fair share of non-enthusiasts ask “Isn’t every visit just the same?”, particularly in the context of revisiting parks I’ve visited many times before, such as Alton Towers. I know that enthusiasts live for the finer nuances of what makes each park and each visit to a given park different, but these nuances often aren’t so obvious or appealing for people who aren’t into theme parks like we are, so through a non-enthusiast’s eyes, it’s quite understandable that most visits might seem to blend into one. With this in mind, I’d be interested to know; in your years of theme park visiting, what has been your most “different” theme park visit? Are there any visits that have stood out from others for a particular reason, good or bad? Which visits have differed from your average visit?

I’ll get the ball rolling with my answer.

Personally, I think my two most different park visits (I offer two because they were both “different” for the same reason) are probably still the visits I made to Chessington World of Adventures and Legoland Windsor in August 2013. We went to London for the weekend at the beginning of August, just after my 10th birthday, and our original plan was to go to Chessington and Thorpe Park and get me on some big 1.4m rides as a birthday present. However, that plan was later stymied by the fact that I broke my arm two days before my 10th birthday, so as a result, we traded Thorpe Park for Legoland and had a very “different” visit to both Legoland and Chessington! By virtue of my arm being in plaster, we had very unique visits to both Legoland and Chessington experiencing the very limited range of attractions that people in plaster casts can experience, which included some things I probably wouldn’t have otherwise ridden. At Chessington, I have distinct memories of lapping Flying Jumbos with my older sister for a large part of the day, and I also remember riding things like Safari Skyway and Peeking Heights for the rest of the day, as well as spending lots of time looking around the zoo; the height of thrill rides-wise was probably either Flying Jumbos or Tomb Blaster! At Legoland, we rode Atlantis and the Skyrider (?) monorail, went in the 4D cinema (where my mum desperately tried to put my plastered arm in a plastic bag as soon as she realised there were water effects!), and spent a large part of the day exploring Miniland and looking at the models!

They were certainly two very different theme park days that were quite unlike any I’ve had since! But I’d be interested to know; what have been some of your most “different” theme park visits?

 

[Zeock]

It's not 'different' per se, but at Chessington Howl'o'ween 2017 it was so busy that all the major rides had queues of over 90 minutes almost all day, so I didn't do any of the major rides.

 

[Matt.GC]

Went to Thorpe on Wednesday, and that little girl of mine just can't seem to get to 1.4! There's nothing she won't do and has been staring at these big coasters for a while now, unable to go on them. As soon as she reaches it, I'm chucking her in the car and we'll go everywhere.

But for now, we have make do. I wouldn't normally go to any UK park at this time in the summer holidays due to crowds. I never go on weekends for the same reason. But 6 weeks is a long time, so we thought we'd take her anyway and see what Thorpe really is like for an under 1.4 height child.

It led to a different experience. My favourite coaster there is probably Saw which is currently closed. I despise Colossus with a passion so that was already off the list unless by some miracle it had a 10 min queue. Stealth opened late and stayed over an hour for the whole day and we had limited time to take out as we needed to keep my daughter entertained. So only Inferno and Swarm were actually achieved out of the coasters. Normally, I'd be there on a rainy mid week day without a short child in toe and multiple rides on all the coasters would be a must. But for the first visit ever, we had to entertain ourselves differently without relying on the usual ticklist

This ended with mixed results.

The positives: I enjoyed Inferno more than I thought I would in the absence of Nemesis. Easy to dismiss, but still a great coaster. Swarm is Swarm, graceful, fun and too short. But we did Black Mirror for the first time which was surprisingly much better than I thought it would be. Ghost Train first time as well, which I can only say is very tame and disappointing after hearing the praise. The 13 years and over age suggestion is rediculous, my 9 year old was not phased but did enjoy it, so when looking at it as an older family attraction rather than some terror inducing intense horror fest, it becomes less disappointing and more fun. Little 'un loved Detonator, Quantum, Rush and Tidal Wave. All great attractions that I wouldn't normally do without her. The location of the place also really does have the potential to be something quite special when you soak it in.

The negatives: They really need a top draw 1.2 restriction coaster here. One visit at her current height is enough. Had she been a sissy like some kids her age and had we given in to the "ooh, oogie boogie scary" tripe the park puts out then there wouldn't have been a Ghost Train or Black Mirror on the list. This attitude runs right through Thorpe. Loads of families there actually, but tacky pop tracks played at full volume by the entrance is a horrid way to start your day. Had to do Rumba just to add to the ride count and it's boring, dilapidated and frankly embarrassing. most things about the park scream that families aren't welcome, even the toilets are full of pictures of track suited teenagers on the rides. Putting a 1.4 height restriction on Walking Dead is one of the stupidest decisions the park has ever made. It's a family coaster, so why do this? To a lesser extent, you could extend this to Saw (which was closed) as other Eurofighters like Speed at Oakwood operate fine with a 1.2 restriction. Down the road, an inverting B&M wing rider with identical restraints to the Swarm does as well. When you're not spending your time whoring thrill coasters, you also notice how hanging and cheap the place looks in parts. The tacky dome is now souless, many of the footpaths are patched up ugly tarmac, anything older than Saw is looking faded and worn out and everything newer than the Swarm looks cheap, tacky shoehorned in.

Overall, park that doesn't need to reinvent the wheel to massively improve. I've also realised, with the surprising amount of families there, that they're only an investment or 2 and mindset change away from being a decent older family park that can be distinct enough from Chessington to thrive whilst retaining the market they already have. They just need to stop making stupid decisions year after year.

 

[NuttySquirrel]

I was going to mention a trip to Pleasure Beach on a very badly sprained ankle, but actually it's been a long time since I had a park trip that didn't involve some kind of random injury or mystery illness / fainting episode, so that's now become a bit everyday for this topic!

I had an interesting trip to Legoland Windsor with my 70-yr old parents last year, did the Coastguard boat ride thing with my mum and we got splashed by a plastic elephant. Dad couldn't get the hang of Ninjago *at all*. That day was also memorable because my parents' hotel had caught fire the night before and they didn't actually know if they had any accommodation to go back to! Mum had to take a call from Miniland letting them know they'd be able to stay but without any hot water.

Also going round AT with a uni friend who turned out to be a total wuss, taking him on 'tame' rides like RMT and Hex and watching him turn the air blue was pretty memorable. I don't think @John has ever forgiven him for chickening out of Rita and wasting a free fast pass...

 

[John_P]

Probably Blackgang Chine in 2021.

Visited knowing very little other than they had a coaster Cliffhanger (now at Margate). Arrived for opening and got the coaster, after that it was a great couple of hours exploring the rest of the park and it's many oddities and walk throughs. Realised its a proper hidden gem of a theme park.

 

[Benzin]

Spent my visit at Nigloland with the son of the park owner's family. Essentially walked around the entire backstage area, got free food, lights on ride on Spatial Experience and a tour of the hotel. Also stood idly on the exit platform of Alpina Blitz for a bit whilst ride was running. Could tell some of us were former ride hosts under Merlin as we stood right up against the wall.

Also some hilarious industry stories. And was quite refreshing to hear the tales of someone who's had a big influence on the park's development and their then hopes going forwards. Was a very good day ruined by my friend whoring Alpina Blitz so much he ended up ill.

 

[RicketyCricket]

Alton Towers for the 10k event was different.

I'm overweight, have no running experience and comfort ate a massive kebab in my hotel room the night before Was very nervous pre race but managed to complete it in a decent enough time.

The run was an interesting way to see the park, and was a lot more fun than a treadmill. Was the first time I'd ventured deep into Cbeebies Land and was surprised at how big it is. 5 of the 10k was in the car parks though. Then the rides opened after the race at 12ish.

Was up there on my own and didn't even have a spare change of clothes. Just hobbled around on my own all day and got the coasters done.

Edit: also discovered a bit of the Towers which probably shouldn't have been accessable, but the door was open.

 

[rob666]

Accidentally getting to the Beach an hour before opening on a Sunday morning, getting in through the Ice Arena, then wandering a virtually empty park for an hour on my own, chatting to the seagulls that followed me everywhere I went.

 

[Poisson]

Zatorland, Poland

Entering a park where 0 English was spoken and speaking 0 Polish, I expected it to be a nip in for the +1 and run away. In the end, the +1 never opened, did some of the rides but the dinosaurs were amazing. Life sized animatronics from the very smallest to enormous ones towering over us. A lovely place to be and I'd love to go back. Yes it has a +2 now, but that's secondary. It was also nice to be immersed somewhere where English wasn't a thing.

 

[Dan]

I’d say my first visit to Shanghai Disney. It was still relatively new and in the height of summer. Yes the ride and theming is amazing but the whole vibe of the place did not feel very Disney at all.

There was security everywhere in front of most cast members. I remember counting at least ten security on the Tron fast pass machines shouting at guests and at the fast pass entrances guests were trying to get in early and you had to push your way through as there was at least 30-40 people blocking the entrances waiting for their time to come up. Single rider lines were closed. Then there was the usual guests spitting, urinating in public, making food on the paths, selling fake merchandise in the queue lines. I also had my sun cream confiscated from me when entering as it was in a spray canister that could explode.

I returned in 2019 and it was a much better experience, probably due to my expectations being so low and it being a quieter period

 

[John_P]

Zatorland, Poland

Entering a park where 0 English was spoken and speaking 0 Polish, I expected it to be a nip in for the +1 and run away. In the end, the +1 never opened, did some of the rides but the dinosaurs were amazing. Life sized animatronics from the very smallest to enormous ones towering over us. A lovely place to be and I'd love to go back. Yes it has a +2 now, but that's secondary. It was also nice to be immersed somewhere where English wasn't a thing.

Loved my visit there, and Parc miniature earlier that day. Just two really interesting places, the Dinosaur walk through went on for ages, then the lake with all the Greek myth statues as well.

 

[pluk]

Probably Thorpe Park, a cold and rainy day at the start of the season the year they added the billboard to Swarm. The park wanted promotional photos of the ride for use in marketing.

After park close about 40 of us (from TPM) lapped the ride for a good hour or so, having our photos taken on ride from various points. I don't recall the number of circuits we made but it was relentless, and by the end it was freezing cold, raining sideways and getting dark. Great atmosphere with a load of geeks and that feeling that's always strange of being in an otherwise closed and deserted themepark.

I have a high tollerance to riding rides from years of it, but by the end I was numb, the next day I felt like I had a bad hangover. Great experience though. And a small quite pixilated me has been on the front of the Sun loads of times, you couldn't really tell but I know it's me!

 

[BooMT]

Definitely Thorpe Park in 2018 (Summer). It was absolutely scorching hot, (thick air kinda day) the park kept having power cuts and 4hrs in, all we had done was go from ride queue to ride queue as they kept getting closed, finally got in I'm a Celeb (we thought this would be a safer option than an actual ride) was in for 5 mins and got a full evac due to power loss. Everywhere was selling out of drinks, someone passed out in the SAW queue and after 6hrs, we still hadn't been on anything We were offered a return ticket with a date cap but unfortunately couldn't make it back before the expiry.

Another honorable mention is also TP, June 2014: we went on Loggers Leap, our boat started completely filling up with water then we had a minor collision with another boat just before one of the enclosed lift hills, the ride stopped, had a full evac and the team member took a photo of us in (See attached)

 

[Vandarkian]

The last time I went to Alton Towers a few years ago, I didn't go on any rides.... I just stood waiting for my wife to go on them all.

Don't know why... I'd been looking forward to it, but for some reason...I just couldn't be bothered.

Another odd time, I was at work and my boss came in one morning and said.... anybody want to go to Blackpool Pleasure Beach .... the park is closed and your can spend 2 hours there and go on any ride for free.... strange.