A thread for theme park enthusiasts, ideally non UK

[ZenNudist]

Would anyone be up for a thread to share our destination theme park experiences?

Anyone else really keen on theme park centred trips?

I have been taking my family (11 and 14yo boys plus me and DH) on theme park holidays every year since 2022. Our local (good) park (from north west) is Alton towers but we've now done (in order):
Universal/Disney Orlando
Phantasialand Germany
Europapark Germany
Efteling Netherlands

We also visted Siam Park In Tenerife which might top Volcano bay for waterpark experience. I feel like waterparks need their own separate discussion. I love Sandcastle in Blackpool (my closest one). We enjoyed the alton towers one but its quite small . I love love Rutlantica at europapark but it is not up there with siam park or Volcano bay. Rutlantica looks amazing and I liked the paying bands for buying food and drink and we had our own area to relax in.

I'm weighing up my options for next year. DH wants to go back to Orlando to see the new Universal park. I want to go to Portaventurer in Spain or maybe Energylandia near Krakow. I'm up for Liseberg in gothenburg but waiting for their water park to open. If there was a good theme park in Belgium I might go there and team with visits to Antwerp Ghent and Durbuy.

If no one else joins in i might bump by posting my thoughts on Efteling... 😀

Joining this thread for my DCs, who love a theme park! My recommendations are a bit tamer than most - we struggled with Alton Towers due to the appallingly managed traffic on the approach and the crowds.

Our favourite in the U.K. so far has been Paultons, which will be pretty tame but has never been that crowded outside of Peppa Pig World and has pretty manageable queue times.

We’ve also done Duinrell in the Netherlands. This is ideal for anyone whose child struggles with queuing - I don’t think we ever had to wait more than 5 minutes or so even in July. We stayed on site for the week, which would be a great location even if you weren’t so bothered about rides (and the water park, indoor and outdoor pools). Such a great holiday. The rides won’t match Efteling but for younger children or those who need a calmer experience, it’s brilliant.

We’re heading back to Europa for the second year in a row and I started a thread last year on here about it which got some excellent advice. It’s just fabulous. We’re driving from Calais (about six hours) but the nearest airport is Basel or Freiburg, or you could get the train to Strasbourg with onwards public transport.

Futuroscope near Poitiers is bonkers and worth a visit but it going in the summer worth buying a fast pass as the queues for some things were silly.

We actually enjoyed a day at Plopsaland de Pane in Belgium enormously (we avoided the badly-reviewed waterpark). Dd says the Ride to Happiness was the most thrilling rides she has ever done, and worth it for that alone. Loads for our little boy to do there too. Certainly exceeded expectations (which were not very high admittedly).

My favourites have been EuropaPark, then Efteling, Disney Paris. Legoland UK holds a special place in my heart as dd1 and I used to go there very regularly when we lived in that area - it was basically playground.

I haven’t done many US parks - I didn’t enjoy Florida’s Disneyworld as much as I hoped - Animal Kingdom was the highlight. Just so expensive and crowded, a poor comparison with EuropaPark in August. But I did like Busch Gardens near Washington.

Siam Park was fun, and the Tropical Islands resort near Berlin (not a theme park really but still sits in that space in my brain).

Im excited to find this thread and some parks I’ve not heard of! Thank you!

@ThisCatCanHop paultons is fabulous - my dh and ds went there on Inset day recently and did soooooo many rides. I would choose it over Thorpe or Chessington any day of the week.

@Kentmumof4 you get a Deutsche Bahn train to Brühl Station, or get a local commuter train to Brühl Mitte Station. Then there is a Phantasialand Shuttle Bus every 30 mins to the park, 5eur per person return.

@Radyward Tivoli is both old and comparatively small, but Copenhagen itself is well worth a weekend anyway.

If Ryanair are still flying to Aarhus in Denmark next summer (for some reason they've closed the very popular STN-Billund route) you could spend a long weekend on Jutland and visit Djurs Sommerland, which is just 10 minutes from Aarhus Airport, Tivoli Friheden in the centre of Aarhus (small but great atmosphere on a summer weekend evening) and of course the original Legoland at Billund.

Can't see that it's been mentioned, but our favourite has been Canada's wonderland in Toronto. So many rides at all levels and barely any queues. We've also done lots of the other mentioned (Gardaland and Eftling most recently). AlsoToverland is just wonderful, not many big rides but so much variety.

Was also going to mention Heide park.

Also driving distance from Center Parcs if looking for somewhere to stay

Emerald Park (formerly Tayto Park), is the only theme park in Ireland. Could be done as a day trip

Movieland and CanevaWorld are brilliant at Lake Garda. Obviously Siam Park tops the waterpark list but Lake Garda is excellent for theme parks.

For the pp who said it’s always too hot for Gardaland, go in the morning and get on the first rides (they open the park sections in stages, 10am/11am etc). Then go to the Legoland waterpark there from 2-5pm then back out to ride until 11pm!

Just read all 3 pages and surprised no one has mentioned Parque Warner in Madrid, especially as it has one of the more recognisable IPs.
Why isn’t is more popular?

or any of the Dubai/Abu Dhabi parks

Liseberg in Gothenburg Sweden.