It all started at Butlins

We all know Butlins isn’t known for rollercoasters but the core of my enthusiasm started here… Twice.

I used to take family holidays at the Minehead resort as a child back in the 90s and it’s always been one of my happy places. I love the cheese, the fun fair, the smell, the entertainment and the whole atmosphere is so positive. It’s similar to the love people have for Disney parks.

So how does this relate to Theme Park enthusiasm? Well it started in the mid 90’s and there was a powered Dragon rollercoaster and even though it was small, I was always intimidated by it. I was a pretty cautious child and seeing it whip around the track made me super anxious. Every year or two this ride would be there and I wished I had the balls to ride it. Fast forward to 1998 and my sister persuaded me to take a ride. It was horrible. It used to jolt you into the side of your seat and was incredibly uncomfortable. This (of course) cemented my childhood dislike of rollercoasters. I never took a ride on that coaster ever again.

The year 2000 was the last year I went to Butlins as a child. We started going abroad more often and as the years past I kind of missed the resort. I started going back in 2009 and the coaster was gone. At the time I didn’t give a shit but thinking back, I mean… it was my first and only cred for 20 years.

Fast forward to 2018 and I’m back for the first time with a family of my own and I had a new nemesis in the shape of a huge water slide called the ‘Space Bowl’.

You know I said I was a ‘cautious child’? Yeah, I fucking lied. I’m a cautious adult too and I was tired of it. I subconsciously set up limitations in my head and it makes me pretty boring. Getting the slide cred was the first step I took to break away from the bullshit rules, anxiety and expectations. I took the plunge and had a huge feeling of accomplishment. It was just fantastic.

When we got home I was still psyched so started watching water slide POV videos. During a mini binge I clicked on one of the recommended videos and it was our friends from Theme Park Worldwide and I was hooked.

So there we go….

Thanks for reading my blog.