I feel as a theme park enthusiast there’ll always be a handful of specific ride types you love the most. Or at least that’s how it is for me & for Ant haha. But I thought today I’d sit & have a chat about 5 ride types I personally adore & why I adore them! As always these are just my preferences and I’d love to hear yours!
Log Flumes:
My preferred log flume are more or less the traditional ones. I do of course, enjoy the more modern water rides like Tidal Wave. But you simply can’t beat a good old traditional one person in front of another log flume. I find the majority of my happiest memories are from a ride on a log flume. I’ve always been very much in love with looking at the water and the sensation of the boat moving alongside it. When theming comes into the equation it just enhances my love a lot more. Of course as many of you guys probably know by now I love Tiger Rock at Chessington with a passion. But I just simply find so much joy & happiness in log flumes, I just wish we didn’t loose so many of them over the last 5 or so years.
Dark Rides:
I’m someone who has to experience every dark on offer at any park I visit. It’s often the first thing I’ll check out on whether I hope to visits website. Of course, I’d visit parks that don’t have them but preferably there’ll be two wherever I go. I’ve always found these ride types to be the middle ground for me so I still have enjoyment whilst always catching a break. I’ve always had this real interest regarding dark rides and how they particularly run & work. I tend to find myself sometimes edging more towards experiencing dark rides to rollercoasters. I feel they take you on an adventure and theming dependent they really get you lost into that world/theme.
Indoor Water Rides:
I know technically this ride types is also a dark ride. But I tend to always think of them more separately. The tracked & trackless dark rides I’ve experienced have always given me a different feeling. My main source of love is for indoor water rides. The likes of Pirates of Caribbean is one of my all time favourites. It’s almost impossible to not feel lost into the story. The likes of Gruffalo works the exact same way. You physically feel your part of the book and that’s clearly what they had aimed for and it definitely works. Part of me becoming an enthusiast was through this passion and interest I felt for Pirates Adventure at Drayton Manor. Since I was a very young child I always wanted to know more. I wanted to know how it looked with the lights on, water drained, how the boat system worked, how the animatronic worked. I turned into a geek from a VERY young age through this love for this one ride. Which that passion I felt has never left me.
Transport Rides:
Even though I dislike monorails quite a lot I do however love a train ride. I feel with transport rides you tend to see areas of the park your visiting from such unique angles. Yes, it makes fab photos but it also sometimes helps notice the little things. Like at Alton Towers you can see how much land is around the park. You can look down and see how beautiful the gardens are. Of course during the construction of Wickerman it was blissful to watch it piece together from almost an aerial view. I just love having the transport rides in place to be able to see these unique views & different angles.
Rollercoasters:
Of course who doesn’t love a rollercoaster when your a theme park enthusiast? There’s so many different types, elements, carriages & themes to explore. The constant knowing there’s more to see when it comes down to rollercoasters is what keeps me keen. It’s like we’re yet to experience a booster bike launch so we’re looking to visit Flamingoland next year (was meant to be this year). But even the same rollercoaster types & models offer different experiences. You rarely get to of the exact same experiences even if the layouts are similar. Thinking of Stealth & Red Force almost the exact same layout besides height but two completely different experiences & feelings. There’s always something different and new to experience with rollercoasters.
What ride types do you particularly enjoy the most?