Like so many of you, I don’t get to Parks often and the reason’s are time and money. Both are such a pain in the arse, especially when I feel the boredom blues so I’ve decided to write this blog on how to keep costs down when you are at Theme/Amusement Parks. Some of it may seem a bit stingy but it’s meant to help you either spend less or help less fortunate people afford a day out.

Before we go into it, I obviously can’t suggest ways to find time for trips as it’s different for everyone. I’m personally limited in time because I have a daughter at school and I work nearly every weekend so it’s a bit on the awkward side.

So…

 

TICKETS

These are the main expense for many of you and I admit, they are pretty expensive at some parks, especially if you want to go more than one day. One thing that I highly recommend is entering park competitions on Twitter/Facebook. Obviously there’s not much chance of winning free tickets but last year I won tickets to Drayton Manor on my first go. The odds aren’t great but it’s a nice surprise if you do win. The next is Sun Savers Superdays. I really don’t like buying that paper (I don’t like their values) but every once in a while they have a promotion where you collect 9 tokens and get 2 free tickets. Overall it costs you about a fiver and at Alton Towers you can upgrade to a season pass for an extra £23. That really is a bargain. Finally I recommend 2for1 promotions on cereal boxes etc. Check online for promotions but you do save around £13 for 2 tickets.

Don’t forget season passes can save you money if you plan on taking more than one trip. They are all different prices but check your favourite park’s website to see if it’s worth the money.

FOOD/DRINK

It’s all pretty expensive to be honest and Blackpool don’t let you take your own food in so I suggest searching for vouchers and deals or find somewhere outside the park. For other Theme Park’s I recommend taking your own pack lunch or purchase children’s meals. I had a kids meal at The Burger Kitchen, Alton Towers and it really was a pretty decent portion considering it was for kids.

 

PROMOTIONS!

Always check the Hot UK Deals app or website for the latest deals. People usually post as soon as a decent promotion gets announced so you can stay up to date. The deals can be on cereal boxes, in newspapers, for Tesco clubcard Holders and more.

Hopefully I’ve helped slightly. I know people can struggle getting to Theme Park’s so let me know if this blog has helped you out.

 

 

 

The Swarm, Icon, The Smiler, Stealth etc. All of these are thrill coasters and get all the credit from the coaster community so why don’t family coasters get the same recognition? I mean, you have Wicker Man but despite the 1.2 height restriction, the whole backstory and pre show aren’t really child friendly and it’s actually kind of intense.

Here in the UK we have some amazing family rides such as Nickelodeon Streak at Blackpool Pleasure Beach, Flight of the Pterosaur at Paultons Park and Octonauts at Alton Towers. The question I want to know is ‘Why are they consistently ignored?’ Okay, okay I know they don’t have the same level of thrill or inversions but they are a lot of fun. My current favourite is Troublesome Trucks at Drayton Manor because it’s straight to the point enjoyable, plus that downward helix at the start is brilliant. I know it’s not a long ride (though it does go through 2 laps) but it is themed brilliantly and caters for nearly all the family. Even Accelerator (Vekoma family boomerang) is fun.

Theres also a bunch of powered family coasters around the UK such as the Runaway Mine Train at Alton Towers and that is a fantastic ride. My only problem with that ride is the classic lap bar which I found to be a little uncomfortable compared to newer restraints.

I love thrilling rides but there’s something about family coasters i gravitate to. They aren’t overly forceful, too fast or too high and I’ll be honest, I’m a little afraid of heights. Family coasters offer to a broader age range which caters for those that are anxious about huge rides or aren’t tall enough.

With the huge choice of family coasters across the UK I find some of them incredibly underrated. Even Bolliger and Mabillard have constructed an inverted family coaster and I would personally love to see one installed at a UK Park. Either Thorpe Park or Alton Towers could construct one using the Nemesis brand. It could even follow on from the Nemesis Sub Terra storyline with the coaster as the child of Nemesis….maybe. Just a thought.

To conclude… Family coasters need love too.

It’s officially the best water ride in the world, despite getting guests ‘piss wet’. Did you know it has a world record too? It’s not well documented but it holds the record for most break downs in a single day.

The exact number of breakdown times is 130 during opening weekend. Overuse of the E-stop button caused the system to malfunction and trap guests on the lift hill.

This problem is ongoing.

 

 

 

DISCLAIMER: This isn’t true and is completely made up. Sorry about the messiness of the post. I’m running out of ideas. 😂

Im pretty new to the community and I’ll bring you up to date on my new found love for Theme Parks.

It all started out of the blue. Back last year I was in a bit of a personal rut and feeling like my life lacked adventure anymore with no real hobby and the whole work/take care of my family/sleep/eat/repeat thing happening every day along with my friends being an hour away in the town I grew up. (I moved from Wales to Gloucestershire 3 years ago and STILL haven’t made any new friends). Don’t get me wrong, I had nothing to complain about but I needed something to unwind. At 29 years of age I spent a huge chunk of my life in bands, playing gigs, going to gigs etc but it all gradually came to a halt. I’d always been scared of rollercoasters, big rides and thrills because it was never anything I thought I could do. Going back to last year, me and my family took a short break away to Butlins in Minehead and during our time at the Splash Waterworld pool I plucked up enough courage to ride the Space Bowl flume. It was my very first flume slide as I always felt intimidated by the sheer size of the thing. As soon as I exited the mini pool that riders drop into I felt a huge sense of personal achievement.

Over the week that followed I watched POV water slide videos on YouTube and still had that great buzz since facing a life long fear. Naturally water slide videos resulted in me checking out rollercoaster POV’s and vlogs which got me interested in Theme Park’s. I also found interest in the physics aspect of rollercoasters and learned a lot such as manufacturers, types of inversion, coaster types and kept up to date with coaster news. I’d already been to PortAventura as a child and Oakwood to see Mcfly in 2008 but only ever did a selection of rides like Tutuki Splash and the Grand Canyon Rapids. As time went on I started getting the theme park bug and wanted to face my coaster fear. Luckily I won a family day pass to Drayton Manor. My first coaster there was Accelerator (I did do a shitty Zamperla Dragon about 20 years ago but can’t remember much about it) and it really was thrilling for my first ‘proper’ rollercoaster, though a family ride. I took my daughter on and had a great time. We didn’t do Shockwave as I looked at it and said “fuck that” due to it being pretty high up but after rides on Buffalo and Troublesome Trucks it slowly boosted my confidence.

Since then I have been to Alton Towers and been on most of the coasters. I’ve still got to get a Smiler and Galactica credit but I’ll be back in July. My first ride on Wicker Man was the real test and I admit, I was slightly shitting myself. After the amazing queue and pre show the nerves really did kick in. I was still unsure if I was going to enjoy it and I was asked to sit in row 12 which is the back row. Obviously I was sceptical and it was made worse that I was a single rider (my wife was looking after the kids) and had to brave it alone. Well… it was fantastic. It was fast, frantic and the perfect amount of thrill. After that, I knew I could go further. A few coasters and flat rides later I arrived at Nemesis. Okay, this was the big one. Billed as “The world’s most intense ride experience” I knew that if I got through that, I could do anything. After about 20 minutes of persuasion from my wife, I got onboard. Climbing up the lift hill was scary and the rest was an incredible adrenaline filled blur. Yes, I came off a bit pale as I felt kind of violated due to forces I’ve never felt before (plus I’ve never inverted before) but it was all over. In one year I learned to face fear head on and embrace things I was always intimidated by and even started a coaster blog (this one). Now in 2019 and a year older I mainly follow vlogs on YouTube to pass the time and travel to parks every once in a while with my family. I’m still not a hardened adrenaline junkie but enjoy keeping up to date with attractions and goings on with the community. So yeah, I’ll introduce myself as I do keep my identity a bit under wraps on here. I’m Luke and I’m not as much of a pussy anymore.

Cheers for reading this nearly 800 word mess. Haha.

Stay happy.

Luke x

2018 marked a fantastic year for the Theme Park community as 2 flagship coasters were introduced in the UK. Icon at Blackpool Pleasure Beach and Wicker Man at Alton Towers are both fantastic additions and are what the park’s needed.

It was the first time since 1994 the two park’s went head to head with brand new coasters. The Pepsi Max Big One and Nemesis were constructed along with Shockwave at Drayton Manor (I cant see them adding a new coaster any time soon). Over the years, Bepsi Max and Nemi gained legendary coaster status and will hopefully remain at their homes for many years to come.

As for the future, when will we see a huge coaster investment? Well, Paultons Park are heavily rumoured to be constructing a Mack Rides spinning coaster (possibly the extreme inverting coaster) for 2020 but where desperately needs a new coaster?

Chessington and Legoland have made huge investments in dark rides recently with The Gruffalo, Room on the Broom and the new Lego Vekoma Madhouse. Maybe this means a coaster in the not too distant future? Even Thorpe Park have Derren Brown’s Ghost Train and haven’t seen a new coaster for a number of years.

I know people want an RMC but with the huge selection of rides, why? I’ve never taken a ride on an RMC but I’ve heard their lap bars hurt and that’s enough for me to not be excited. There is a rejuvenated love for wooden coasters and GCI are at the top of their game right now so I honestly think a large GCI (Bigger than Wicker Man) would do wonders for the park. Don’t forget the lack of family coasters at Thorpe Park. A Vekoma or B&M suspended family coaster would be great and could even use the Nemesis brand.

At smaller parks though Paultons Park have been consistently fantastic over the past few years. Peppa Pig World is such a success that the park can afford to expand and compete with the big boys of the industry. Lost Kingdon was a huge expansion in 2016 along with 2 family coasters, exceptional theming and great operations. With the new Mack coaster coming next year, I honestly see Paultons being the place to be very soon.

As for Drayton Manor, I’m not sure if they can afford a new coaster, especially with G-Force still standing. It is a great park but it really needs something new to bring people back. With Flamingo Land, I think dismantling Hero would be a good idea.

A new coaster is always something enthusiasts get excited about but will we have another huge coaster in the next few years? Let me know in the comments.

 

x

So my blog and Twitter pages have gone through a small name change. The original concept of the blog was a news parody but as with all things, the ideas dried out quickly. Instead, there will be a mixture of fake news blogs and real opinions focusing in the UK Theme Park’s and the community.

The page has gotten nearly 140 follows in around 6 weeks and I’m extremely grateful to anyone who has read any of these blogs so thank you very much. I want the blogs to be a bit more personal and to share more of my own opinions regarding developments, current coaster news (real and fake), memes and also non coaster stuff as it’s rare I get to Theme Parks (too busy, poor and my closest park is a 90 minute drive).

So um.. yeah, welcome. 👍🏻

Frontier are at the top of their game (no pun intended) at the moment with their work on fantastic games such as Rollercoaster Tycoon 3 and Planet Coaster.

As reported a few days ago, they are releasing Planet Zoo which has received a mostly positive reaction but their most anticipated release is Planet Dog Turd that will be released on high end gaming PC’s only.

The game will feature designing your own dog dirt with the ability to add items such as glitter, cigarette butts and flags.

Unfortunately it’s only scheduled for release in the United States but expect a European release in 2021.

 

 

 

Disclaimer: This is fake news and Planet Dog Poo isn’t coming out. I’m just salty because I can’t afford a decent PC to play Planet Coaster. 😂

We don’t throw shade here as this is an all round blog suitable for any enthusiast but one thing that I personally hate is vanity vlogging. I understand people like to share experiences on YouTube and I enjoy watching but there’s a few Vloggers out there who kind of irritate me. 99% of content creators are great and it’s bloody good to see them have fun but the ones that get on my tiddies are vanity Vloggers.

These are the ones who seem to always showcase the amount of money they have spent on their expensive getaways to Disney/Universal/SeaWorld Parks 6 times a year. I love the small time creators that vlog at these places every once in a while but there’s the ones that never seem to work and don’t get the views to pay for the holiday.

Examples of videos… “Eating at Disney’s most expensive restaurant”, “Look at all this fucking Disney Merch”, “We drank caviar cocktails at Universal”.

We aren’t throwing shade at a particular channel but how to hell do you afford it and get time off? It’s purely to push wealth and vanity in the faces of the working class.

Im a bit salty because I can only afford a couple of UK Theme Park trips a year. 😂

Did you know Justin Bieber’s music has been used for torture in the past? Well it’s all coming to Thorpe Park this Halloween with the ‘Justin Bieber Torture Chamber’ maze.

The attraction is sure to bring in thousands to the island like no other.

The rumours suggest participants will be made to sit in an empty room whilst Justin Bieber music plays through loud speakers.

This will surely cause many guests to run out screaming.

 

 

DISCLAIMER: This is fake news and is 100% not happening.

Here at Unreliable Coaster News UK we care about mental health a lot and we know that Theme Parks can be visited to escape real life, just like Concerts, The pub, cinemas, the gym or wherever you like to go to unwind.

I, like many adults have experienced depression and anxiety over the last two decades and always looked for ways to ease it. Around 10 years ago i decided to go on adventures in the search for true happiness, although back then I wasn’t into coasters or Theme Parks. In fact, the only rollercoaster I’d been on at that point was a Zamperla Dragon coaster at Butlins Minehead when I was about 10. My drug of choice was music festivals and lots of beer. I used to round up mates and have a laugh at Reading Festival every year, seeing acts like Foo Fighters, Arctic Monkeys, Prodigy, Eminem, Biffy Clyro and Green Day.

After a few years my friends started to settle down and have kids so I was kinda left on my own. In 2014 I met my future wife and we even did a couple of festivals together. These were an escape from work, home, bills and pretty much any stress. I’ve been to at least 1 outdoor gig every year since 2009 and this was a huge way to let out steam. The problem was it was over so quickly.

Theme Parks came into the equation much later than most enthusiasts. It was  just over a year ago I found Sir Shawn Sandbrooke on YouTube and from that moment I was hooked. How the hell did I go 29 years being scared and ignorant to such amazing places?

When I finally got to a park last year it was magical. Coasters still intimidated me but it gave me a sense of accomplishment, being able to plough through the anxiety and just face my fear. These parks really are places you can relax, let off steam, forget your troubles and just have fun.

Its always great having an outlet for channeling negative thoughts/feelings and I know many of you feel the same.

 

LB X