Think I’ve turned into a theme park enthusiast !

[LardLizard]

Just love them, and watching theme park videos on you tube of theme parks all over the world like in Japan and hong kong and China and just really want to visit them all

🤓🤓turning into a nerd

DS does this with water slides!
He has a list of all the water parks he wants to visit all over the world too!

Does he ? How old is he ?

He could be my little buddy
Also love water parks

Did you take him to one somewhere that got him hooked ?

I’m the opposite. Loved theme parks when I was young but value my life too much to get on one of those contraptions now. The last time I went on an upside down ride I was absolutely petrified and learned I have developed a fear of heights from somewhere.

I love theme parks too and I very regularly dream that I'm on my favourite rides, one roller coaster in particular. I am 42.

I was heartened to read that one of my favourite singers celebrated his recent 50th birthday by going on a shedload of roller coasters.

You are not alone!!!

Beeblot who was that then ?

Just thinking of ways to get more cash to visit more places !

@LardLizard it was John Grant (American singer-songwriter). I was quite pleased that it is obviously still okay to do this sort of thing at 50!

I just daydream about theme parks all the time - I'm so sad! I love Disney as well as parks with more thrill rides. I think it is the escapism. A couple of years ago my nephew turned 11 and we went to Thorpe Park for his birthday - I asked if my sister needed a "responsible adult" to help ! It was absolutely brilliant because they've got a friend who's an engineer that works there...he took us around all the big rides in his lunch hour and we got to jump the queue!

I am yearning to go to Florida again ....

I love them, we’ve just got back from 2 days at Alton Towers and had an awesome time!

2 days at Alton Towers would be fab! I have not been there for years. We live closer to Thorpe Park but I think Alton Towers is probably better.

Oh I’ll check him out on you tube.

Yes I love Disney too as well big thrill rides
I think you are onto something there regarding the escapism aspect of it
It’s al the theming and even all the gardens and flowers I love too

We always go to the big U.K. parks every year at least once
But now we are yearning to go further a field
Like thinking of going to Germany to see some of the great parks there

I love being able to jump the que it’s so good
We’ve only ever done that when we’ve paid for it though but it’s well well worth it IMO

I also love alton towers and prob think that is the best park here in the U.K. but also love Thorpe and Blackpool not the place lol but the theme park and also the water park is good there

I keep watching a channel on you tube where they do all over the world vlogging
It’s so good

PoptartPoptart has he been to Wicksteed Park in Kettering Northampton. It has the first Water Shute built in the UK (possibly world?). Built in 1924 and has listed heritage status. It isn't very high tech. Essentially a boat that goes down a steep slope into the lake and then the boat is dragged back up again by a large chain. Basic but always a long queue!

After going to Disney last year we've discovered our whole family loves them! A family member works for Merlin and gives us passes I hope she never leaves

High tech Water Shute at Wicksteed Park

You need to go to Europa Park in Germany, it is absolutely fantastic!

Wicky's Water Shute in the olden days (ie 1920's)

@LardLizard - he’s 13.
He first got hooked on water slides when we went to Center Parcs Woburn a few years ago.
Then we did Florida - Typhoon Lagoon, Blizzard Beach, Aquatica, Volcano Bay.
We’ve also been to a few Splashworld hotels - this year we went to Crete and the hotel had a waterpark on site. We had a day at Water City which he loved too.
I’ve got my eye on Tropical Islands in Krausnick (just outside Berlin) as it looks fab!
@bookmum08 - we haven’t been there, to be honest he prefers water slides where he is actually in the water!

I think that’s what I enjoy about it, it’s something we all enjoy together, which is Great
Oh pop tart
I love blizzard beach and typhoon lagoon
Really would love to go back there someday
Not been to aquatica or volcano bay yet though
Which splash hotels did you like the best ?

Have you looked at portaventura
Think he would enjoy that well both of you

Funny that photo of wickstead
Didn’t know hat was the first ever one

Have looked at Europa-Park Park and if you look on sky scanner you can get flights for about 20 quid return in September
But no good for us as. Back at school

There looks like there’s a few great ones in Germany

The Splashworld hotel in Menorca had the best waterpark. The accommodation was average but the slides were ace!
Water City waterpark in Crete was great - loads of different slides and because we got there early we pretty much had it all to ourselves for the first hour. It’s up in the mountains so you walk up a long slope to get onto the slides rather than loads of steps, and all the slides are really long.
The best water slide however has to be the Aqua Coaster at Volcano Bay in Florida... check it out on YouTube- it’s absolutely amazing!

@PoptartPoptart - I am itching to go to Volcano Bay. What's it like? I really like the look of the aqua coaster. We were in Florida in 2016 when they were building it.

I've not been to Blizzard Beach, but I really liked Typhoon Lagoon. DD enjoyed it a lot too and was only just over 4.5 at the time. We were at Disneyland Paris recently and she was such a daredevil, on the RC Racer and Crush's Coaster and Tower of Terror age 5.5!

I've been watching videos of the new coaster in development at Universal's Islands of Adventure in Florida. It's a Harry Potter one.

The German parks sound like a lot of fun. There is a park near Toronto called Paramount Canada's Wonderland, which I really liked. Islands of Adventure is a real favourite of mine. I will never forget the thrill of going on the Hulk for the first time!

@LardLizard, I really like the flowers at Disney too.

Volcano Bay has some amazing slides but in high season it gets very busy and their tapu tapu virtual queuing system is pretty useless. Out of season when the parks are quieter is much more enjoyable. If you do go in Summer be sure to get there as soon as it opens, dump your stuff on a sunbed and head straight for the biggest slides. You can probably get on 5 or 6 pretty quickly before the queues start to form. If you stay all day it starts to quieten down about 6pm (opens till 8pm) so you can have another go in all the best slides.
Aquatica was brilliant too - lots of space and the queues were never too long, even in high season. Their ‘fast’ rapid lazy river was the most fun I’ve ever had - the DC literally spent hours going round and round.
I can’t wait to go back!

I just had an email for Atlantis in Dubai, 30 percent off the rooms atm as a birthday promotion
So it works out to about 1200 for a family rooom for a week and free water park which seems pretty good deal