I have been creating content for you guys for a few years now. I’ve never really sat down & let you guys into my little story of becoming & accepting myself as a theme park enthusiast. So I thought why not begin sharing it now. I hope you enjoy this mini series & if you’ve clicked this thank you for actually wanting to know more about me & us (Ant).
My Childhood & First Theme Park:
My first theme park was in fact Disneyland Paris. I must of been around 4 at the time and just tall enough to experience Big Thunder Mountain. It was my first ever rollercoaster like I’m quite proud of that minus the fact I was terrified. I remember we queued for something like 2 hours it was a horrific wait time anyway I got to the front and needed the toilet. My mum was livid but I sucked it up and continued. I would not say this is where my love for theme parks came from in all honesty. I was quite young & a very poorly child so during this trip I was ill & it wasn’t the best foot to start of on with theme parks.
As a child growing up my mum often took us to theme parks such as Drayton Manor also majority of our holidays consist of a theme park in some way. We used to holiday a lot at Skegness which is home to Fantasy Island, Bottons Pleasure Beach & sadly now closed Pleasure Island was nearby. So I’ve always had rollercoasters & rides in my face throughout growing up. I was always that wimpy child who refused or cried a lot about trying new things especially rides. One of my earliest memories of rollercoasters included Jellykins at Fantasy Island & for some reason I had my favourite diary on board with me & lost it. I was heartbroken.
But where my love for theme parks truly began was at Drayton Manor when I first experienced Pirates Adventure. I remember entering the building & feeling really on edge almost afraid I was going to get frightened. It was all quite dark & mysterious. Sat down in the boat had to be in the middle, I’m still guilty of doing this now. I can remember the thoughts & feeling clear as day if I’m honest. Each scene I was thinking I’d love to see this lights on, water drained and effects of. At that point I can remember thinking to myself I’m really weird & odd. I went home that day and began drawing deigns of what I’d love a boat ride to look like & feature ( the drawings were as crap as an untalented 8 year-olds would be).
I think I’ll leave this post here for today. I don’t want to ramble too much but I’ll be back with part two very soon.
Thank you so much for reading…
