Typing this here because of Twitter’s lack of characters.
This is going to be a bit of a hefty one. It’s not a big deal to others but I’ve been using Twitter as a way to escape boredom and maybe find somewhere I belong for the past year and a half and it’s got to the point where I can’t rely on it.

Ive had some great memories and times. Meeting a lot of enthusiasts at Blackpool in February to creating content and going to parks I never would have attempted a few years ago were huge highlights for me but I don’t feel like I fit in.

I know I can be a pain in the arse sometimes and on occasion be an annoyance but overall I just wanted to be a part of something fun.

I think real life has contributed to this feeling too. I can’t really go to parks much due to work and the impact of Covid so being a part of a community when I can’t physically go makes me feel like a bit of a fraud.

I don’t want this sounding all “Boo hoo” because I’m fine. I just wanted to draw a line in the sand and say “Thank You” to those who gave me the time of day to interact with you and made me feel welcome. I’m a pretty awkward guy so kudos.

I’ll still upload on my main YouTube channel (It’s not theme park based but I’ll upload every few weeks/months) but I’m going to delete my Twitter page.

No drama, just wanted to say Thank you to all that gave me the time of day.

 

Things are pretty stressful at the moment and well… I’ve not been in the right frame of mind for a few days. No matter how many times you tell yourself things are fine, there’s always that feeling that something is about to go wrong.
Anxiety has been a part of me my whole life and it can be really overwhelming sometimes.

Anxiety can take different forms and can vary for everyone. Maybe you feel anxious with social situations, maybe it’s about acceptance but for me, it’s a general feeling of worry, nerves, frustration and it doesn’t take much to feel mentally overloaded.

Steps can be made to reduce stress, Anxiety and Depression but it alas depends on your situation. Maybe a walk in the park can make you feel better, or exercise. Maybe medication is the best way. If you’re feeling like you’re struggling, it’s okay to ask for help.

I have tried all the techniques over the years and nothing has worked so far.  Even a small amount of stress can trigger an attack right now so I’m going to take it easy for a bit.
I’ll still be active online but please bear with me if I take a while to reply/or don’t reply to messages/comments. My motivation is at a pretty low point so please don’t get offended if I seem quiet. I still appreciate anyone to takes the time to interact with me.

So it’s currently the Tuesday after Blackpool opening and well….. It really was a WOW Weekend.
The dust has finally settled and the hangover’s have finally gone (hopefully) but that weekend was something special. I met a lot of fantastic people and had the best time.
Big shout out to Lizzie and Nikki from TrickTrak, Isaac, Adam, Rich and Chris for being the best company I could ask for throughout the weekend and everyone else for being cool as fuck and so lovey.

Friday was worth the 6 hour coach journey alone. Drinks at the Velvet Coater was absolute carnage. They even had Koppaberg Strawberry and Lime in Draught for £2.49. Absolute bargain. I said “This is so fucking weird” About 100 times throughout the night. It was surreal seeing everyone I’ve only ever seen on screen and it was bloody brilliant.

After spending most of Saturday morning throwing up and coping through hangover anxiety, I headed for Pleasure beach with the gang. Storm Dennis was on the horizon but that wasn’t going to stop Pleasure Beach putting on an amazing day. The operations were fantastic, the staff were on top form, nearly everything was open and the company was brilliant. We had multiple rides on Nick Streak, a fun ride on Blue Flyer, a fantastic, misty ride on Icon, a slightly rough ride on Big Dipper and a hilarious ride on Wallace and Gromit.
We ended the day with a walkthrough of Pasaje Del Terror. What a brilliant place. The actors were on top form and the scares were so real.

Saturday night was fantastic but sober. Nikki and Adam weren’t around on Friday night so having them out on Saturday was so freaking wholesome. The whole vibe was chilled and Lizzie even shared out her metal straws. 😉

Sunday morning was bittersweet. Had a lovely breakfast at spoons with everyone then a second free half day at the park (They operated the rainy day guarantee).

The park was a lot more chilled but operations were less on point. We waited nearly an hour for Icon which was running on one train and no mist but bloody hell, it was hauling around the track. So much fun.

After a cheeky ride on River Caves it was time to go home. I honestly nearly cried. To have such a legendary weekend come to an end was really depressing. I’m going to miss the gang a hell of a lot and they really made the weekend for me. I haven’t laughed this much in a long time and I’m so excited for the next meet up.

Opening weekend was a solid 10/10

 

Much Love

Luke

Hey duckfaces. It’s me, Luke and I’m back for 2020. Okay, I don’t have a hell of a lot to talk about but 2020 is looking to be a pretty great year for UK theme parks.

Firstly the inclusion of Tornado Springs at Paultons Park. I’m incredibly excited about this because it’s easily one of the most cared about parks in the U.K and I honestly see it being a premier park in the near future. The additions since Peppa Pig World have been absolutely incredible and I’m not lying when I say it’s all high quality. If the theming and rides are up to almost Kingdom standard, I’ll be happy. Also, Storm Chaser looks insane.
Im not 100% sure when I’m going to return but it’s definitely on my list.

Secondly I want to give a mention to the 10 inversion beast at Flamingo Land. Duuuuuude that thing looks great, despite it being a Colossus clone. Don’t worry, there’s some subtle changes, such as lap bars and a different first drop so hopefully the reviews aren’t bad. I won’t be visiting the park in 2020 so we will keep that mention brief.

Legoland has a new Duplo kiddie coaster installed but well…. I’ve seen the pictures and it’s not a coaster worth mentioning.

Lastly, we have The World of David Walliams and the Gangster Granny dark ride. Okay, I’m not that psyched about the area but I’m definitely intrigued by the ride. It’s going to be a tracked dark ride with rotating and tilting cars which manoeuvre into scenes from the book. I’ve never read the book myself but it has to be a good edition to the park so I’m very intrigued.

Lastly, I’m going to talk about my own 2020 plans. Like 2019, I don’t plan on doing that many trips. Yeah, yeah I know I’m not a real enthusiast but I have work and family commitments so it’s not going to be full on action packed but i am doing Blackpool Pleasure Beach for my first ever opening day event and I’m going to be partying with the TrickTrak family and The Drop so yeah, it’s going to be messy. Following on, I’m doing Alton Towers a few times and my first ever trip to Thorpe Park. Oooooof, noice. I’m sure we will fit another park in there somewhere but it’s looking to be a great season and I’m 100% hyping the TrickTrak podcast right now. We have so much content coming and other little bits so come and listen to us on YouTube and Spotify, like the Twitter page and join the Unreliable Attractions Discord. I’m pretty sure we will do a proper meet up at some point.

Much Love…

Luke

Here it is, my last blog of 2019 and I just wanted to say Thank You to anyone who decided to give this or any of my other posts a read this year. It genuinely means a lot that you can spare a few minutes of your time for me.

Now that it’s the end of the year, I wanted to tell you all about my recent trip to Butlins, Minehead. This place has always felt extremely special to me and it has definitely come full circle. My parents used to take me and my sister to Butlin’s most years in the 1990’s-early 2000’s and we made so many brilliant memories so now i get to take my own children and help create memories for them.

This year we got an amazing deal and headed to the Somerset holiday park for their Christmas Fantasy weekend.
This time around we booked a standard room as well… low on money but to our delight we got a free upgrade to a Silver room when we checked in. This gave me a sigh of relief as the standard rooms look very old and tired and we have always gone for the silver accommodation in the past.

Day 1 was pretty standard. We Checked in, Parked up, went to our room, unpacked, had a quick look around and headed out for dinner. This ritual took place at The Diner restaurant situated near the Customer Service office. This was easily the best meal I’ve had in a long time. It was a huge beef hotdog topped off with pulled beef and skin on fries as a side. Wow, this was nice. At £9.95 It was an absolute bargain too. That’s the thing with Butlins, they don’t rip you off at the food outlets or shops and it’s all standard pricing.
After our meal, we watched the ‘Secret Cinema’ which is a silent cinema experience situated in the Skyline pavilion. The film was Toy Story 4 and I have to admit it’s a great idea but my headphones were slightly snapped and there were latency issues but I suppose thousands of people use it every week and it will have issues. We then headed back to the room ready for day 2.

Day 2. We spent a huge chunk of the morning still in bed as quite frankly, we couldn’t be arsed to get up but our first plan was to see Santa at the specially made grotto. This was such a ball ache. We queued for nearly an hour despite having an allocated time slot but I honestly can’t fault the Redcoats as they tried their best to talk to the children and keep them entertained whilst the adults all started pulling their hair out. The meet was brief but all the kids got a chocolate selection box which was a nice thought. After this event, we packed our bags and went swimming. The Splash Waterworld is such an amazing pool with wave machines, flumes, a baby/toddler area, hot tub and rapids. It was such a fun session (big up the Blue Comet slide) but it had a couple of downsides. The changing rooms absolutely hummed of piss with dirty nappies and rubbish littered all over the place. They honestly don’t get cleaned enough as the same rubbish was there when we finished our 2hr session. Another bad point was the pool temperature. It was pretty cold. More like room temperature water.

On to the evening and it was a quiet one. We played some machines, had a Burger King, went to the evening fun fair and it started chucking it down with rain so we had an early night.

Day 3. We started the day off at the fun fair, with rides on the Rockin’ Tug, the Waltzer, The dodgems and the Carousel. I love this vintage fun fair. I’m sure they need a few more rides but it is a great way to break up the day.
After lunch (chips and curry sauce), we played on more machines and queued for the Sleeping Beauty Panto. The problem with this was that they over allocated seats and the very helpful member of staff told us pretty bluntly that we weren’t guaranteed seats because of how far back we were in the queue. Luckily my kids preferred to go swimming again so we left the queue and had another 2hr splash session.
Our evening was a bit disappointing. Center Stage had another performance of Sleeping Beauty (we only had tickets for the afternoon performance) so we had to try our luck in Reds. Unfortunately it was absolutely rammed and we had no choice but to sit on the floor. The kids enjoyed the tots disco and it didn’t bother them much but not once did any staff help us get seats or offer any kind of advice so we headed back to the room early.

Day 4. We packed our bags and went home.

Overall we did have lots of fun but it’s the first time I’ve ever left feeling underwhelmed. It’s still a great place for families but they really do oversell for the event. Butlins is always a busy place but this time it was way too busy.

 

Thank you for reading and being a part of this blog. It’s been a fantastic year and I wish you all a happy Christmas and New Year.

Ill see you all on the build up to the 2020 theme park season.

Luke x

Here we are at the rear end of 2019 and everything has gone quiet. The season is over, the mornings are dark, Christmas decorations are going up and it’s too cold to explore. Even this blog has gone into semi hibernation for the winter but it’s not over yet. Me and my family might be heading to Westonbirt Arboretum for their Enchanted Christmas event on Friday. Not 100% happening but last year was incredible. It’s a nature trail with one of the most beautiful lighting packages I’ve ever seen. If you’re local, I highly recommend. It’s £15 a ticket but it’s worth every penny.
We are also heading back to Butlins, Minehead next weekend for their ‘Christmas Fantasy’ event. No doubt I’ll be chain riding the Rockin Tug and Waltzer during the day. There’s the Sleeping Beauty pantomime, Animal Antics show and tonnes of things to do throughout the weekend.

After these events, I’ll be taking a step back until the season approaches. Obviously it’s pointless blogging if there’s nothing to blog about. 😉

Its not over for me though as I’m one of the hosts of TrikTrack, a brand new theme park based podcast. Join me, Callum, Nikki from ‘Lush Velvet Coasters’ and Lizzie from ‘Off the Rails’ for an hour of swearing, coasters and attractions. Check out Trick Trak on YouTube.

That’s it until my Butlins blog so I’ll see you then.

Cheers for reading.

Luke

I/we now have our own Discord and are taking a relaxed approach to censorship. The only rules are ‘Don’t cause drama (debates are fine)’, ‘No racist/sexist behaviour’ and ‘Don’t be an arsehole.’
Swear, post memes, let us know how you feel, have a laugh and join the conversation. We already have a great group involved and you are more than welcome to join and get to know everyone. Here’s the link: https://discord.gg/vHsyUKZ

We always get top 10 lists so here’s my bottom 3 coasters.

3. Wacky Worm, Funland at Weston Super Mare.

It’s not a horrendous coaster but maybe a bit boring. This SBF coaster is your typical Wacky Worm featuring crappy art and a layout I could easily nap through. It was extremely smooth though. I wouldn’t ride it again but it’s just a bit plain.

2. Crocodile Coaster, Oakwood Theme Park.

This coaster is even more boring than Wacky Worm. It literally has a C shaped layout with no drops and no speed. Adding to this, the train rocks when you board. It feels unsafe but rides okay. This ride wouldn’t thrill anybody at all and really shouldn’t even exist. This coaster has had a past life at Camelot theme park as ‘Junior Dragon Coaster’.

1. DRAGON, Butlins, Minehead (No longer operating)

This is the ride that made me scared of rollercoasters for over 20 years. It wasn’t big or bad but this Zamperla powered coaster was extremely rough. It used to jolt at its highest point and was extremely uncomfortable. I literally have nothing nice to say about this ride except it was my first ever coaster credit. It was a standard Zamperla dragon coaster and thankfully left the park back in the early 2000s.

What is your bottom 3 coasters?

It’s pretty much over so here’s the top 5 moments that had enthusiasts saying WTF?

5- WICKER MAN CLOSED FOR OVER A WEEK!

During summer, Wicker Man was closed for maintenance for over a week and people were pissed off. It was all standard practice and the ride resumed after an approx 10 days.

4. AMANDA THOMPSON WISHING EVERYONE A “HAPPY VALENTINES DAY” ON THE 16th FEBRUARY.

We all make mistakes.

3. “THAT” FACE FOK VIDEO.
It certainly caused a stir throughout the community.

2. THEME PARK WORLDWIDE USA STRATA TRIP.

This was such a bold move but as the trip went on, fatigue set in and the happy vloggers started to get critical towards some of the US parks. The videos are still enjoyable though.

1. BLACKPOOL OPENING WEEKEND!

Everything broke down, people were disappointed and it was a complete mess.

Thanks for reading this quick run through.

BONUS WTF MOMENT!!!

Theme Park Review went on a massive blocking spree for literally no reason.

Where the hell did all that time go?
Okay, a few parks are still open for a couple of weeks but some have started closing for winter. I have officially had my last trip of the season and it’s time to reflect.

So, I started the season with 4 coaster credits and pretty low expectations but it was my first full season as a theme park fan and it has seriously been one of the best years I’ve ever had.
Along the way I’ve met some incredible people in person and online and it’s honestly given me so much more life. This was exactly what I needed to build my own personal confidence and reduce anxiety.

Heading into the season I was absolutely terrified. Im talking extremely scared of facing rollercoasters, big rides, meeting people etc but knew I had to push through and have that sense of achievement.
I honestly feel so proud of myself for breaking through something I would have never considered a couple of years ago.

My trips to Alton Towers have definitely been a highlight. I took my first ever trip there back in April and it was so good I’ve been back multiple times since. I also took trips to Oakwood and Paultons Park which are absolutely fantastic theme parks. It’s not only been Theme Parks though. In 2019 I’ve been lucky to have also visited Monkey World, Slimbridge Wetlands, The Wild Place Project, Folly Farm and Weston Super Mare Funland. The whole year has been a completely different experience for me and it’s been fantastic seeing all of these brilliant attractions.

Its not just about the days out.
Thank you all for reading this blog, watching the videos and interacting with me on Twitter. It really means a lot that you don’t tell me to “piss off.” and I appreciate all of you who take the time to talk to me.

This blog will probably only be a seasonal one so the only one I have planned until next year will be a review of my time at Butlins, Minehead in December.
So until then, stay safe and keep on thrillaxing.

Luke.