Welcome to Theme Park Insider! Join the community or log in
Theme Park Insider
Facebook Twitter Pinterest YouTube

Parks in Europe?

Alton Towers: Anyone been to any of the parks in the UK? Alton Towers etc.?

From amy lockland
Posted May 27, 2009 at 8:06 PM
I am planning my honeymoon and I think I have settled on 2 weeks in Europe. My motto has always been "I am not getting on a plane unless there is a roller coaster at the other end!" That being the case..... has anyone been to any of the parks in the UK? Alton Towers etc.? Are they worth visiting?


Comments in chronological order. Most recent at the bottom. Scroll down to respond.

From Nick Markham
Posted May 27, 2009 at 8:06 PM
Haven't been over the pond yet, but I do specialize in theme park vacations and so am very fond of the parks in Europe! So lets see what I can do. First, because you seem to be a coaster lover, I would take a look at RCDB and use the park search to look for great coaster parks in Europe.

As far as the UK goes, Thorpe Park and Alton Tower should blow you away. Their coasters are quite unique, and many of them are built to work with their suroundings (ex. Air, Nemesis, etc.) Both have an amazing blend of thrilling coasters.

You should also make a trip over to Germany if you would like theme. They have Europa Park, an amazing park which is strangely similar to EPCOT as well as Movie Park Germany with its theming equivalent to Universal.

I strongly suggest making your way down to Paris for some Disney as they feature some of the best Disney Coasters. Space Mountain Mission: 2 is the only Space Mountain with inversions, Crush's Coaster is pretty neat, and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad is definitely one of the best of the clones.

And lastly, you absolutly must go down to Spain for Port Aventura. It features amazing coasters and, being a former Universal park, great theming. Some of the highlights include Dragon Khan, arguably the best floorless coaster on Earth, and Furious Baco, a coaster that is pretty neat for being so flat (though it is somewhat off the ground, has three inversions, and oh, did a mention a launch of 80 mph!)

I am very jealous of your trip but hope you have a great time. Since your trip is 2 weeks long, you will definitely be able to enjoy these parks while still relaxing and mabye visiting Big Ben or the Eiffel Tower! Hope this is helpful!

From Michael Owen
Posted May 28, 2009 at 1:25 PM
I've been to a number of the big UK Parks, Disneyland Paris and Phatasialand in Germany. They are all very good parks/resorts.

Alton Towers is the standard-setter as far as UK parks go, there's nothing better in Britain. Other UK parks worth a mention are Thorpe Park, Drayton Manor, Blackpool Pleasure Beach and Legoland Windsor.

There's also a small park in the North East of England called Flamingo Land (My local park) which is about to open a new S&S El Loco with the worlds steepest drop in July.

This discussion has been archived, and is not accepting additional responses.