OT - other theme park favourites

[britchic4]

We got Merlin Passes for the first time this year and have already been to Legoland, going to Alton Towers this weekend. Since presumably there are lots of people on this forum who like theme parks, I thought we could collect tips and favourites for all the biggies. I'll start it off.

LEGOLAND: Best tip - get there early! If you are there by 9.15 or so don't bother paying for the priority parking, it will only save you seconds. I know it's supposed to be the best idea to go to the end of the park first where queues are much less but my children just can't walk past the Viking Splash ride without going on it. You do get pretty wet though. Spinning Spiders made me feel very sick and dizzy and I won't go on it again - it's much faster than the teacups at DLRP which don't affect me at all. Dragon's Apprentice is a nice intro to rollercoasters for little ones or wimps like me! Q-Bot really worked for us even though we didn't want most of the big rollercoasters. It was £10 per person per day and we used it on our second day. Great for things like Driving School and Boating School which have big queues.
My children adore the Johnny Thunder show and we usually have to watch it twice, plus we have to go early and sit in the splash zone. They also adore the waterplay in DuploLand.
I have arthritis in both knees and find Legoland hard work (why oh why build a theme park on a big hill?!) so we make sure we get the train back up again.

[cap'njack.]

What a great idea :thumbsup2

The wifey and I were really toying with the idea of the Merlin Passes...especially as we get them at a discount through her employer.

I'm not really a great fan of other theme parks in the UK although it has been years and years since I went to one (Chessington in around 2006 I think)

My other favorate theme park (non-Disney) is Phantasialand (http://www.phantasialand.de/eng/) in Bruhl, Germany. If you are ever in the area it certainly is worth a visit.

[britchic4]

We got the Merlin Passes with Clubcard vouchers, but seeing how valuable they are already we would consider renewing with cash. We LOVED Legoland, and we live near Warwick Castle anyway.

[Rachie B]

Any info / tips on Parc Asterix ? was going to try there when we are in France for Oct half term :)

Thorpe Park

Went here for first time last Sat,really enjoyed it :) ( 4 ad and ch aged 13,7,5.5 and nearly 3)
Good choice of rides ,something for everyone / all ages :goodvibes

Nice waterplay area / splash pool and "beach" so bring swimming stuff / towels for the kids if nice weather :thumbsup2

also there's a "soaking" area for one of the water rides and my 2 got soaked to the skin ! ( we had towel and spare clothes in the car !) ,they had great fun lol

We took a picnic but there are lots of food choices / outlets inc Burger King,Pizza Hut,KFC,nachos,noodle bar etc

prices seemed ok, £4 for hotdog,chips & large drink

[ukstitch]

I love the "other" theme parks and I'm well overdue a visit now - I can't remember my last visit to one of the merlin parks.

I'm a big coaster fan in general so will gladly visit a park given the chance - especially if it's got some new rides.

One little park that I do like visiting (though I don't get there very often) is Drayton Manor. We've often been here as part of a weekend stay in the area involving Drayton Manor, Alton Towers and often the water park that's up that way as well.

It has a few unique rides including a stand-up roller coaster which is quite fun. You can definitely tell that they don't have the same amounts of money that merlin have, but it's still a reasonable day out. Plus, for those people who enjoy teacups, the drunken barrels ride there is amazing (much better than any teacups I've been on). It's like teacups, but the platform the barrels sits on tilts up a little which seems to make them spin very very fast to the point that I was actually dizzy when I was finished :lmao:

[britchic4]

Drayton Manor now has ThomasLand as well which is good for children up to about 7.

[Ware Bears]

This is a great idea. :goodvibes

I'll wait a couple of days for others to add their info/experiences then I'll move it to the Mousecellaneous thread (as per all non-Disney related threads). That way it'll also be easy to find in case anyone wants to add more in the future.

[Rachie B]

I love the "other" theme parks and I'm well overdue a visit now - I can't remember my last visit to one of the merlin parks.

I'm a big coaster fan in general so will gladly visit a park given the chance - especially if it's got some new rides.

One little park that I do like visiting (though I don't get there very often) is Drayton Manor. We've often been here as part of a weekend stay in the area involving Drayton Manor, Alton Towers and often the water park that's up that way as well.

It has a few unique rides including a stand-up roller coaster which is quite fun. You can definitely tell that they don't have the same amounts of money that merlin have, but it's still a reasonable day out. Plus, for those people who enjoy teacups, the drunken barrels ride there is amazing (much better than any teacups I've been on). It's like teacups, but the platform the barrels sits on tilts up a little which seems to make them spin very very fast to the point that I was actually dizzy when I was finished :lmao:

We loved Drayton Manor too
hubby went on that stand up roller coaster,and didn't go on anything else for the rest of the day :rotfl:

he was positively green when he got off ,and then made friends with a toilet :rotfl:

It didn't have Thomas Land when we were there,but enjoyed the zoo bit too :)

[DLPHereWeCome]

We renewed our Merlin Passes last Saturday at Chessington (Thanks Tesco!).

We visit Chesso the most often as it is nearest to us (along with Thorpe Park although we haven't been to TP yet as I think it is aimed at the slightly older kids - may give it a go in the holidays).

Add that to a couple of visits to SeaLife and a day or 2 in London make them well worth it for us.

20% off food/shops also helps!

We quite often make the decision to go to Chessington on a Saturday if it looks overcast or is drizzling with rain as this has been our best experience for walk-on rides as the crowds are minimal. And as it's only about 25mins from us, we can just go for a few hours.

Our tip is to get there for 10am gate opening and run to the Vampire!

[britchic4]

Spent the weekend at Alton Towers with our Merlin Passes and £9 Travelodge rooms (Stafford M6 Travelodge - perfectly nice, but I'll never book a Travelodge on a motorway again as I just didn't think about the logistics of getting there when it's only on one side of the motorway). A very nice, if exhausting weekend.
Loved the monorail to get from the carpark, kids wanted to try all the different designs!
Didn't go on any of the 'big' rides as the children are young and we are not coaster fans. Favourite rides were: Runaway Train, Congo River Rapids, Marauder's Mayhem (if only the teacups at DLRP would go this fast!).
HATED Hex, freaked me out being shut in the room on that awful swing thing at the end. DS hated Duel which we should have realised, but didn't think it would be quite so gruesome inside, thought it would be a bit more cartoon-y. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was quite enjoyable. the children liked the small kiddy stuff in Old MacDonald's Farm.
Found the food and merchandise prices very reasonable, which is refreshing after DLRP. We ate at the Explorers Pizza Pasta place in Katanga Bay, which is obviously run by Pizza Hut. For an unlimited buffet including pizza, pasta, salad and fizzy drinks it was £7.95 per adult £3.95 per child with children under 6 eating free (our DD is 4). We also got a 20% discount with our Merlin Passes so for all 4 of us to be absolutely stuffed it cost just over £15. A bargain i think you'll agree. We also paid £1 for skullcap-type pirate hats and £2 for pirate swords in the sale.
Some rides were a disappointment and obviously the theming is not to DLRP standards by any means. But it was a nice little filler weekend! Next we'd like to try the Alton Towers Hotel and the waterpark if we can get a good price for it.

[scampbunny]

interested in this, as we live between drayton manor & alton towers, but have not done either since having the kids!!!
we do tend to alton towers, as they seem to have better deals, and good to hear bout the pizz\a place free for kids under 6 - that will make it affordable.
all i can say for advice is always search online for deals, espec alton towers - they do a parents n toddlers at both the main park and the water park.... we find the water park great, but not alot for small children - maybe age 6/7 they can go on the slides, so if u do have younger children, ull prob be bored after a few hrs, and also, as it goes outside - the water there is cold (not to be done in march :lmao:)
cant remember much about prices, but the food was very good and prob slightly less than dlrp - thats eating in splash landings and also in alton towers hotel (theming is good in them!)

ok - now i feel i need to go to alton towers.......