Have you ever been alone in a theme park? I was alone at the Adventuredome Las Vegas in early September. I got "zen" rides on both of their coasters and the X-Scream at the stratosphere. I was also alone near Bizzaro at Great Adventure and got a "zen" ride at about 10:15 in the morning. I remember Universal Studios Florida in 2008 next to the just closed Back to the Future ride seeming empty. At Legoland Florida in late August 2012 the park was almost empty. And the day before Animal Kingdom while a hurricane was passing. Everything was a walk on.
Discuss
I have never been alone in a theme park- when you live in So Cal that just doesn't happen.
However, I've been on an empty train when riding Scream! at Six Flags Magic Mountain.
When I was working at Universal Creative, it was after hours and my friend Marissa and I were walking through the park. And it seemed like we were the only two people around. At the time, the t-rex photo op was located at USF. And it was night time -- dark. And it was just the two of us. So we came up on the t-rex. And we stopped. And I said, "Go up and pet it on the nose." And she looked at me and said, "Hell no! YOU go up and pet it on the nose."
So we just kept walking.
Truly alone, as in you're the only person in the whole park? No. However, I did once visit Knott's Berry Farm on a day where there were more employees than guests, and I've attended events with only 50 or so people. In addition, I have had the opportunity to do some solo rides during regular operating hours, including (but not limited to):
-Riptide (Knott's Berry Farm): This one was somewhat disappointing since the ride barely flipped.
-Superman: Escape from Krypton (Six Flags Magic Mountain): Went here first thing in the morning on a dead day. On the way, people told me it was closed but that ended up being incorrect.
-Indiana Jones Adventure (Disneyland): I once got a jeep to myself on this ride at the end of a quiet day. That was really, really fun.
-Pirates of the Caribbean (Disneyland): Got a private boat here early in the morning.
-It's a Small World (Disneyland): See above (but late at night).
-Splash Mountain (Disneyland): See above.
-Snow White's Scary Adventures (Disneyland): Personally, I don't make a note of solo rides when vehicles only seat a few guests. However, I once rode this during a parade during the low season and I was the only person on the entire ride. How do I know? They had to cycle empty cars through just so I could get off at the end (plus I asked).
I've also occasionally gone to a ride with no line and had to wait until enough people showed up to run the ride (common on roller coasters running only one train).
Alone on a Tom Sawyer Island raft, taking it around the glass-calm Rivers of America at dawn for a show check, followed by walking the empty island by myself. Bliss... until the alligator showed up.
Ah, Florida.
Never truly alone in terms of being the only person at a theme park but alone on Bizarro at Great Adventure. The ride had been down all day and I happened to notice that it had begun operation so I went to the loading station and took a seat in the back row. I wondered whether the ride ops would actually dispatch the train with only me on it but sure enough, they did. Being the only person on a roller coaster felt unusual to say the least.
On Labor Day last year there were so few people in the park that my companion and I managed 18 rides in the space of several hours. We probably could have done 30 but what would have been the point? We weren't trying to set a world record.
During my trip to Disneyland, the park didn't close til 1:00 am during a moderately sized crowd season and my family went back to the hotel early. I got solo rides on Splash Mountain and Winnie the Pooh. I would have also gotten a cabin to myself on Star Tours if normal operating procedures had taken place. However, there were a few people in there beforehand and they were given the opportunity for a re-ride. Being the only person in the lines did feel a little spooky, but it was fun. I did take advantage of the opportunity to get some great solo shots of me and the castle at night.
@Bobbie Butterfield
I think because Bizzaro is in the far far back of the park, it is never a super popular ride. You can see it from El Toro, Zoomarngaro, and if you don't blink, Kingda Ka. If it was over by the Chiller, I think it would be a lot more popular because it would be near Dark Night and Batman.
Go to any Southern California park on a rainy day. Hardly anyone shows up. Disneyland might be the exception. Haven't been raining much here so this is hard to test. It was quite rainy many years ago.
Perhaps you missed my article a few years ago (Jan 2014) titled - Alone in a Theme park.
Use the TPI search to find it..
@Jaden Cohen
Good point about Bizarro's location. I think that b/c it's so far back in the park, some people fail to notice it. When going up the lift hill on El Toro I always look to the right to see what's happening with Bizarro. I agree that with a better location it would be more popular. It's probably the best floorless I've ridden, after Superman:Krypton Coaster at SFFT.
I've once been separated with my group at Universal Studios. Conveniently, that was when my cell phone decided to stop working. And one time, I was alone in the Shark exhibit at SeaWorld, at 10 pm because I wanted to see the 10:30 Shamu show before I left. I'm never doing that again
I've never been fully alone in an area of a park, or a park itself, but I have been when a park was at bare minimum of guests and it was fantastic. I really enjoyed the experience of minimal human interaction while riding what I wanted with no wait. I may just be a very anti social person now that I think about it..
Managed to get on Phantom Manor by myself on my last visit to Disneyland Paris, on the last ride of the day. I turned up just as they were about to close - the CMs were surprised to see me outside the door, but happily sent me through and really played the part. Knowing I was the only one in there was a genuinely spooky, memorable experience.
I've always dreamed about that when I was younger, but now I kind feels that it's creepy. I don't know why but it feels that way. However, I would wish to get a theme park exclusively open with a few close friends. That would be amazing.
Back in 2004 my wife and I were in Islands of Adventure and had spent the better part of the day there. The park was shutting down and preparing for Halloween Horror Nights. We are Annual Passholders and also held tickets for HHN. There were park employees around but did not see any other guests (at least where we were) and we were permitted to stay inside IOA as they prepped the streets for HHN.
Also, we did a behind the scenes Segway tour "Around the World at EPCOT". We were on the first tour which started around 7:30 a.m. and was approx. 10 people and a couple of Cast members. After brief instruction we rode Segway's from Spaceship Earth all around the World Showcase with only Cast members in the park. We had our picture taken in World Showcase while on our Segway's looking across the lake with Spaceship Earth in the background. By the time we got back to Innoventions the park had opened and had to work our way around the crowds back to our starting point. It's almost surreal being inside the parks with no guests or only a few others, but a very unique experience on both occasions.
This discussion has been archived and is no longer accepting responses.
Also, happy Back to the Future Day!