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Favourite Theme Park

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Butts

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On Tuesday I went to Alton Towers for the first time in 27 years, I could not remember much about the previous visit.

Arriving early my son and I did the biggies before the park got to busy. It was changeable weather and perhaps not really busy (longest wait time I saw was 60 mins)

What really struck me was the brevity of the ride and size of most of the roller coasters.

Had I not been to Universal , Disney, Busch Gardens etc perhaps I would have thought differently.

The best rides I thought were Air, Nemesis and Rita Queen of Speed.

However when you consider the size of Kraken at Seaworld , Mantu at Seaworld and say the Hulk at Universal they seem like kiddies rides in some respects. Even the Pepsi Max at Blackpool is bigger than anything at Alton Towers.

I think Busch Gardens is top of the pops though with its eclectic mix of rides :p
 
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chris89

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For me a mix between Alton Towers and Thorpe Park.

Fav' rides from both of them though are.

Oblivion
Nemesis and Nemesis Inferno
Tidial Wave
Runaway mine train
Colossus
X No way out

Sadly gone rides
Black Hole
Corkscrew

Chris
 

D841 Roebuck

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Peasholme Park at Scarborough for me!

The naval reenactment on the lake beats any rollercoaster imho, and the miniature railway is pleasant.
 

Max

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Europa Park near Freiburg in Germany. Fantastic theming of many of the European countries and brilliant rides. Personally preferred it to Disneyland, although it's probably not a thrill-seekers paradise!
 

NY Yankee

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I'm scared of roller coasters. I've been to Disney in Florida when I was an infant. Besides that, I've only been to Rye Playland, Six Flags Great Adventure, and Coney Island. Has anyone been to Eurodisney? If so, how was it?
 

LE Greys

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Either the NRM or Didcot Railway Centre :D (they're themed, have rides and the NRM has a big wheel ;) ).
 

4SRKT

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Keighley. The whole town is like a theme park of life in the 1980s.


 

Yew

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Generally Its because alton towers has a height limit, oftem making use of hills to provide the elevation instead of ungainly scaffolding. however nemesis is still regarded as one of the worlds great rollercoasters, better than the egyptian themed coaster in busch gardens, that is based off the same components. Personally I think a well designed wooden coaster would be a good next ride for Alton towers, as The one at Busch is the best coaster I have ever been on.

My only gripe with Alton Towers is recently coasters have been a bit 'gimmicky' First vertical drop, first funny riding position (air, although its a decent coaster in its own right) and the dfrop that is in thirteen. They should get back to basics and have all their good themeing onto a well designed standard roller coaster.
 

Mike395

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Ah, home! :P (I'm a bit of a theme park enthusiast!)

I agree with Max - Europa Park is so much better than anything the UK has to offer - although for the thrill seekers, Phantasialand (another major European theme park) is arguably a better bet.

Within the UK, it's a toss-up between Alton Towers and Thorpe Park for me - Alton pips it slightly I think though due to the epic scenery! Nothing beats walking down Towers Street with the Towers themselves across the lake from you at the start of the day :D.
 

Butts

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Generally Its because alton towers has a height limit, oftem making use of hills to provide the elevation instead of ungainly scaffolding. however nemesis is still regarded as one of the worlds great rollercoasters, better than the egyptian themed coaster in busch gardens, that is based off the same components. Personally I think a well designed wooden coaster would be a good next ride for Alton towers, as The one at Busch is the best coaster I have ever been on.

My only gripe with Alton Towers is recently coasters have been a bit 'gimmicky' First vertical drop, first funny riding position (air, although its a decent coaster in its own right) and the dfrop that is in thirteen. They should get back to basics and have all their good themeing onto a well designed standard roller coaster.

Nemesis is OK but I could mention Kraken, Montu (the one you alluded to), Duelling Dragons just to name a few that eclipse it quite comfortably.

Agree about the "Dual Woodie" at BG - that shakes you up big time :p
 

Heinz57

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Yeah Alton Towers is ok. But its not my favorite.

I'm not realy sure what my favorite is. The Disney parks in Florida are great, the Tower of Terror at the Disney MGM park over there is increadible. Universal Studios is quite good too.

Back over here I quite enjoyed Lightwater Valley when I went. Back in the day American Adventure used to be pretty good, before its demise, selling of the big rides to become a kids park and then ultimatly its closure.

Actualy, yeah. I think the old American Adventure would actualy be my favorite. Even though its closed. I used to go there loads (because I only live 5 mins away*) and enjoyed it every time.

*You used to beable to see The Missile and Skycoaster from our estate when they were there. On a good summers day you could sometimes hear the rides in the distance. When they had the November fireworks we used to watch them for free from the upstairs of our house :p
 

Techniquest

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Thorpe Park for me, just love it there. Used to go 2 or 3 times a year, sadly that's not an option now I work weekends. Haven't been since 2010 either, and this year I was going to do all of Alton Towers, Blackpool Pleasure Beach, Thorpe Park and Drayton Manor, but the weather's so poor that's not been an option :(

My choice of best one may change after visits to the above, as I was too little when I went to Drayton Manor last to do the good stuff, never been to Blackpool Pleasure Beach and was too scared to do stuff like Oblivion when I was still a youngster going to Alton Towers :(
 

Butts

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Yeah Alton Towers is ok. But its not my favorite.

I'm not realy sure what my favorite is. The Disney parks in Florida are great, the Tower of Terror at the Disney MGM park over there is increadible. Universal Studios is quite good too.

Back over here I quite enjoyed Lightwater Valley when I went. Back in the day American Adventure used to be pretty good, before its demise, selling of the big rides to become a kids park and then ultimatly its closure.

Actualy, yeah. I think the old American Adventure would actualy be my favorite. Even though its closed. I used to go there loads (because I only live 5 mins away*) and enjoyed it every time.

*You used to beable to see The Missile and Skycoaster from our estate when they were there. On a good summers day you could sometimes hear the rides in the distance. When they had the November fireworks we used to watch them for free from the upstairs of our house :p

I remember the old "missile" at AAP - that was quite high tech fifteen years ago, and all the cowboy stuff :p
 

gswindale

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I was always too scared to go on The Missile at American Adventure (or the exact same ride at West Mids Safari Park).
 

Clip

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I loved the missile last time I was there. Been a while since Ive been to a theme park over here but have always preferred Alton Towers to Thorpe park though I am planning on doing both this year.

Want to get over to Europe for a couple too in the future - went to Eftling years ago which is in the Netherlands and was an odd sort of fantasy land place that only the Europeans could come up with and had some great rides too!

Went to Dreamworld in the Gold coast too but none when I was in Orlando as only there for 3 days and done Wet n Wild! I love water parks. Wet n wild on the gold coast was brilliant fun in near 40 degree sunshine :)
 

OuterDistant

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Eeh, can't believe it's 10 years since I worked at Alton Towers :(

Had a go of Air before it officially opened - scared the crap out of me. With your weight going "forwards" that thing is just wrong, wrong, wrong
 

Butts

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I was always too scared to go on The Missile at American Adventure (or the exact same ride at West Mids Safari Park).

Flipping heck.......I don't think you'd like Busch Gardens very much :lol:
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Eeh, can't believe it's 10 years since I worked at Alton Towers :(

Had a go of Air before it officially opened - scared the crap out of me. With your weight going "forwards" that thing is just wrong, wrong, wrong

You want to check out it's very bigger brother Mantu at Seaworld Florida :idea:
 

Yew

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Nemesis is OK but I could mention Kraken, Montu (the one you alluded to), Duelling Dragons just to name a few that eclipse it quite comfortably.

Agree about the "Dual Woodie" at BG - that shakes you up big time :p


Really? I found kraken, montu and Dueling dragons didnt seem as good as nemesis. If you look at the Mitch Hawker Polls, nemesis ranks higher than any of them.

However I feel further testing is needed, maybe a fortnight in orlando is needed xD. (I also want to try the coasters at fantasy island in skegness, Odyssey has one of the highest loops in the world)
 

Butts

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Really? I found kraken, montu and Dueling dragons didnt seem as good as nemesis. If you look at the Mitch Hawker Polls, nemesis ranks higher than any of them.

However I feel further testing is needed, maybe a fortnight in orlando is needed xD. (I also want to try the coasters at fantasy island in skegness, Odyssey has one of the highest loops in the world)

Well I'm suprised at the Poll Result - the American ones seem much bigger particularly Kraken with a much bigger "drop". With DD you have the near miss with Fire and Ice and can cut from one to the other internally.

Whats top in the poll Ferrari World Dubai - that new place ?
 
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