Donkeygoat

TOP 5 1. Cedar Point - It is hard to come up with anything that has not been said thousands of times, but unlike many others I actually think this park has a lot of charm and atmosphere. The setting is beautiful and it is compact yet huge, containing some of my favorite coasters. 2. Phantasialand - In my opinion, truly by far the best park in Europe. Everything it does, it does perfect. Best rapids ride (River Quest), best inverted coaster (Black Mamba), best water ride (Chiapas), best multilauncher (Taron), best minetrain (Colorado), and the list goes on. Unlike what many say I would consider this a thrill park rather than a family park, since even the rides that would typically be classed as family rides are way more intense than similar rides, for example Colorado and River Quest. Many of the rides do not really have theming in the same way other parks have, but rather they seemlessly transition into the park theming, which makes for a much more immersive experience. The only problem I have is the fact that some stations/rides are way too loud, with Mystery Castle being so loud that it damaged my hearing for several days (my left ear still feels a bit weird after months, but that could be placebo). 3. Great Adventure - It pains me to put this in third place, and I'm still not sure if I prefer this or Phantasialand. I have always loved coasters since I was a kid, but never dared to ride them. Prior to my visit in 2013 I had only ridden Balder, Kanonen and Lisebergsbanan plus some kiddie coasters. After riding the family coasters at SFGAdv I realised I have had enough of my fears, and forced myself into the seat of Kingda Ka. Before this the scariest ride I had ridden was only 79 feet and 47mph (Kanonen) so when the train entered the station again I could not even move for a while. When I finally managed to get out of the ride my fear of coasters was completely lost. The problem with this park is that it completely lacks the charm of Cedar Point, and the service was definitely not anything to write home about. My worst experience was on Batman, where my restraint was not checked and barely even close to my lap. Safe to say, I was scared for my life the entire ride even though I realise now that it probably was not that dangerous. 4. Europa Park - Another great park that you should visit if you feel like having a true European park experience. Home to great rides and theming, there is something for everybody here. The coaster collection is extensive and filled with innovative ideas, but I think EP badly needs a flagship "#1" attraction, since there is not really anything that will blow you away. I went during Halloween, and apart from the large crowds the park experience was amazing, from the music to the Halloween-only theming. The staff was friendly and the food was great, highly recommended. 5. Alton Towers/PortAventura/Liseberg - I am unable to decide which I like more, but I am going to talk about Liseberg since it is my homepark, and workplace. The ride collection is simply amazing, with there being only one non-kiddie ride that I would not ride during visits (Virvelvinden, because of dizzyness). It is super easy to get to, since it is inside Gothenburg and walking distance from the train station. It pulls off having an awesome kiddie collection while at the same time not feeling like a "family park". The food is some of the best in the industry, but pretty expensive and the lines can get really long, so sometimes it is better to buy food outside of the park. Staff is treated well and we are allowed to interact/joke with the guests on the rides, so if you like that kind of thing you should definitely visit. Why then is it so low on my list. Compared to other parks I feel like the coaster collection falls, even though all of them are great. Balder is probably my favorite ride at the park but I agree to some extent that it is a bit repetitive. Helix is pretty much as good but it is definitely a jack-of-all-trades coaster. Everything it does it does well, but not as well as rides specialized in that element. Lisebergsbanan is also pretty nice, but does not compare to the big boys. Probably the best flat ride collection out of the parks I have been to though. BUCKET LIST 1. Magic Mountain - This has pretty much always been my dream park, since I barely knew about Cedar Point until a year before I went there. The Rollercoaster Tycoon games were my childhood, and when this park came with RCT2 it was love at first sight. Goliath, X, Flashback and Superman were some of the coolest coasters ever back then, and even though my boy Flashback was removed new coasters have been added that just makes me want to go there more. In no particular order: Kings Island - Mystic Timbers looks like it could be one of my favorite coasters, and the collection seems absolutely amazing. Universal Studios Japan - I love flying coasters, and I am pretty positive Flying Dinosaur would be my new #1 coaster if I rode it. The rest of the park seems great too. Carowinds - I badly want to ride Fury 325. Hersheypark - A park that I may actually go to in a year or two if I am lucky, super excited to ride the intamin trio. Energylandia (2018+) - The new coaster, lets just call it "Blue Force" for now, is probably my number one bucket list coaster right now, and I am definitely riding it next year. It just looks so amazing. Ferrari World - I was super close to going there with European Coaster Club, but I decided not to. Flying Aces and Formula Rossa looks spectacular. Dollywood - The park looks amazing, and Lightningrod looks like the best RMC. Thanks for reading my essay and I will be happy for any comments and/or questions that you may have (then I know somebody read it)

Loke is a great ride and a big recommendation. The restraints feel about the same as the restraints on Helix and are therefore very comfortable. The problem with this is that it has a bit less airtime than its predecessor (SpinRock), but I feel like Loke is more about the sense of speed and freedom, both of which it does magnificently. It may not be for the biggest adrenaline junkies out there, but it adds depth to the park by being a ride for adults that doesn't throw you around or go upside down. Also, the fact that it's not super intense in airtime lets UppSwinget keep otherwise lost merit. All in all a great addition to the park!

It's hard enough having coasters as one of my interests, can't imagine how it would be if it was my only. Some tips: 1. Act like you're not "interrested" in coasters, but rather really really like riding them (most people love coasters so they can identify more with you). 2. Talk about the most interesting coasters you've ridden, rather than the best ones (people don't give a damn about the "best" coaster, they wanna see the tallest, fastest and scariest) 3. Drop your "GP"-goggles. If someone isn't into coasters theres no way that they would know everything about them, so theres no reason to correct them about things they say wrong unless in a "did you know..."-way.

I wish Flying coasters became a trend in the west, since the newer ones in Asia to me looks vastly superior to the other ones. Here in Europe we haven't gotten a flying coaster since Air/Galactica which was almost 15 years ago, and it doesn't seem as good as the others. Instead we soon have 5 dive coasters that I'd be more than happy to trade for the two cusom flyers in Japan. Side note, do you think Flying Dinosaur is better than Sky Scrapper? Ride wise, that is (I'm more of a ride guy than a theming guy, but maybe that's because I've never been to Universal or similar...)

Same here! Was a very emotional experience But going there made me think, how on earth are they going to fit Europe's longest dive coaster and a big gyro swing in an already cramped up part of the park? I suppose the station will be at the current Burger King location? Or maybe I'm way off course.

Actually that "artwork" is fake because it is made of wood and it would fall straight down in the loop!

Well that kinda makes me more hopeful, and it's probably still gonna be in my top 5 (as you can maybe tell I've not ridden a lot of coasters, even if I've ridden some of the better ones). Not trying to be rude, but does it really matter?

If you enjoyed Nitro before then you'll probably still enjoy it. It's not like the ride has deteriorated over time (aside from the paint job), it's running as well now as it ever has. Personally I think it's a perfectly middle of the road B&M hyper. It's a fun ride, it won't make any top 10 lists but I'm glad to have it in my home park, especially during Holiday in the Park. The problem being that I rode it when I was like 14 and it was one of my first coasters, and since it was the best experience I've ever had on a coaster back then I feel like my expectations will be way too high. But yeah, if I go in knowing that it may not be as fun as it was in 2013 (I think) I will probably still like it a lot. Thing to note is also that every new hyper I've ridden I've liked less than the previous one, so that could point to me not enjoying them as much, or it's just a coincidence. I hope so.

I've personally never ridden a Gerstlauer so I don't have any prejudice against it but I read in a review that it had side-to-side jolts. Also, would you guys say that you can do Hansa park, Heide park and Phantasialand one day each, or is it worth it to remove one of the parks for another day at one of the remaining ones? Again, we're talking mid-april.

That's awesome! What did you think of Fluch and Kärnan? I've heard Kärnan is rough, is that true?

Thanks for the help, but I still hope the lines for Kärnan and Fluch are short since they are the rides I look most forward to reriding (as long as they're not rough, which I've heard sometimes). So if someone has information about april it's still very much appreciated!

Hey guys, I'm visiting Hansa Park next year and was just curious about how long the lines are usually in the start of the season (mid April). Are the coasters walk-on or do you need to wait? It shouldn't really be a problem since there's only really Kärnan, Fluch, Nessie, Glocke, Hai and possibly some of the water rides that I need to ride and I'm there a whole day but I'm just curious.

Hopefully I'm going to do a Great Adventure > Hersheypark > Knoebels trip either 2018 or 2019. In the start it was just gonna be Six Flags and Hershey but because of the fact that Knoebels is literally right on the way to Ithaca (which is my next destination) and also FREE, it's not going to be hard convincing my family to go there too.

Sounds like an amazing trip! If I were you I'd definitely add Hersheypark to the mix, it's pretty much on the way between Kennywood and Great Adventure and even though I've never been there it looks like one of the best parks in the world. If money is an issue I'd replace it with Darien Lake since that park will pale in comparison to the other parks you're visiting. I know I already posted here but now this year is looking a bit like this: Home country parks: Liseberg and Gröna Lund Trip 1: Hansa Park and Phantasialand Trip 2: Alton Towers and Thorpe Park Trip 3: Djurs Sommerland (and maybe Fårup)