Traveling the Globe for the Best Coasters and Theme Parks
The pandemic has been a blow for everyone. Horrorland, Spain’s main scream park, was ready to open but had to cancel their 2020 edition a week before opening due to then-new restrictions. Now they raised like a phoenix, and the team is back for another year of screams and scares!
Continue reading “Horrorland Preview 2021”
We’ve wanted to write a Flying Coaster Top 5 for years now, but a certain Dutch prototype project in Germany made us take pause. Now that we have F.L.Y. under our belts, we ask ourselves: how does Vekoma’s flying coaster reset stack up against the flying coasters of the preceding 20 years?
Continue reading “The Top 5 Flying Coasters”
Shortly before most borders (and theme parks) closed, Alex and I traveled to Disneyland Paris for a few days at one of our favorite parks. At the time we did not realize we’d cancel our next several international trips. This summer we finally were able to leave the US again, and the first park we visited was Disneyland Paris of course. Let’s take a look at the French Disney destination, without the usual crowd!
Continue reading “Disneyland Paris: Our Last International Park Before – and Our First International Park Since – the Pandemic Started.”
The UK’s got several famous coaster-parks, perhaps the favorite among enthusiasts is Alton Towers. Let’s see how this landmark-turned-theme park destination holds up in this Coaster Kings Crown Ratings.
Continue reading “Alton Towers – Crown Rating”
We ventured back to what’s perhaps Germany’s most impressive theme park: Phantasialand. Home to highly-detailed multi-level themed worlds in a rather small concise park. Let’s take a tour around Phantasialand and see how our impressions have changed since our previous visits.
Continue reading “Best of the Best at Phantasialand”
Welcome to Bellewaerde! Opened in 1954, this quaint Companies des Alpes park started as a zoo – it still hosts many exotic animals to this day.
Continue reading “Bellewaerde: Belgium’s Oldest Park”
Just outside of Paris is one of Europe’s biggest regional parks: Parc Astérix! While the destination comes from an ambition to build a major park in Paris before Disney could come in and do it, the 1989 theme park is very much different than Disney and offers some fun alternative themes and experiences. Do you still want to go for a resort visit? Parc Astérix has you covered with several onsite resort hotels!
Continue reading “Paris’ Regional Destination: Parc Astérix!”
Located near the dunes of the North Sea in Belgium is Plopsaland De Panne, a theme park resort that’s home to an indoor water park, a resort hotel, a theme park, and as of 2021: one of the World’s most notable coasters. Let’s take a closer look at all that this resort has to offer!
Continue reading “Plopsaland De Panne and The Ride to Happiness by Tomorrowland!”
Last week we visited Bobbejaanland in Belgium, a park with a fun collection of classics and modern thrill rides. Like many European parks, Bobbejaanland has a well-rounded lineup offering standout attractions in each category. Let’s take a look at what this charming Belgian park has to offer!
Continue reading “Bobbejaanland”
This week’s Crown Rating discusses our first European park of the series – none other than a World of Wonders (Wereld Vol Wonderen in Dutch): Efteling! Efteling is known for its dedication to storytelling in their fairytale forest, which has since extended to the park’s notable dark rides and coasters.
Continue reading “Efteling – Crown Rating”
While certainly a crowd pleaser, enthusiasts don’t seem to talk about these coaster as much as I’d like. What was once a product I had lukewarm interest in has turned into one of my favorite coaster types out there: the B&M Wing Coaster. Today, I am putting the Wing Coaster in the spotlight.
Continue reading “For the Love of Wing Coasters”
The second major new coaster in Belgium soft-opened last week: The Ride to Happiness by Tomorrowland. This Xtreme Spinning coaster by Mack now accepts riders for the first time in Europe. What can you expect from this Tomorrowland coaster?
Continue reading “The Ride To Happiness by Tomorrowland – July 2021”
Today, with the eighth article, our Spanish Theme Park History series comes to an end. During five months we’ve dived into the history of thirteen Spanish amusement and theme parks, some of which no longer exist, and some others are still operating and receiving guests nowadays. We’ve traveled in time through 168 years in theme park history, starting in 1853, to our days in 2021. In this last article of the series, we’ll focus on four different theme parks: Siam Park, Ferrari Land, Horrorland, and Puy du Fou. It has been a pleasure to travel in the Spanish Theme Park History with all of you!
Continue reading “Spanish Theme Park History – Part 8: Siam Park, Ferrari Land, Horrorland & Puy du Fou”
It’s safe to say that 2021 is a huge year for the UK theme park industry. There have been new additions across the UK such as The World of David Walliams, Croc Drop and of course Tornado Springs (read our article here). However, one of the most exciting additions will open this Saturday (29th May) at Legoland Windsor Resort. We were so lucky to be able to explore LEGO Mythica before it opened to the public and would love to share a first look with you. Warning: this article contains spoilers!
Continue reading “Mythica- Legoland Windsor: A first look”
Today we’ll continue our series about the Spanish Theme Park History with the seventh article. Every two weeks we’re publishing one of eight articles about the history of thirteen Spanish amusement and theme parks. Some of them no longer exist, but some others are still operating and receiving guests nowadays. In this series, we travel in time through 168 years in theme park history, starting in 1853, to our days in 2021. In this article we’ll focus on Parque Warner, the second-largest Spanish theme park.
Continue reading “Spanish Theme Park History – Part 7: Parque Warner”
This week we got the chance to visit what is my childhood theme park, where my love of all things thrilling began, Paultons Park. I can’t even begin to tell you how excited we were to be back at the park after nearly 15 years and to experience Tornado Springs. In this update I will take an in depth look at this latest expansion and what else you can get up to throughout the park.
Continue reading “Paultons Park, UK – Park Visit April 2021”
After visiting Kondaa, we couldn’t resist paying a visit to the other big coaster coming in 2021. The Ride To Happiness by Tomorrowland construction continues at Plopsaland De Panne. And yes, we saw it testing!
Continue reading “The Ride To Happiness Update – Plopsaland De Panne – May 2021”
The theme park season in Belgium officially begun May 8th! Definitely one to remember as we got to ride the amazing new Intamin coaster: Kondaa. Let’s spill the tea on this brand new coaster for Walibi Belgium, unlike anything you’ve seen in the park before.
Continue reading “Kondaa – Walibi Belgium – May 2021”
Today we’ll continue our series about the Spanish Theme Park History with the sixth article. Every two weeks we’re publishing one of eight articles about the history of thirteen Spanish amusement and theme parks. Some of them no longer exist, but some others are still operating and receiving guests nowadays. In this series, we travel in time through 168 years in theme park history, starting in 1853, to our days in 2021. In this article we’ll focus on Isla Mágica and Terra Mítica.
Continue reading “Spanish Theme Park History – Part 6: Isla Mágica & Terra Mítica”
After a little break, today we’ll continue our series about the Spanish Theme Park History with the fifth article. Every two weeks we’re publishing one of eight articles about the history of thirteen Spanish amusement and theme parks. Some of them no longer exist, but some others are still operating and receiving guests nowadays. In this series, we travel in time through 168 years in theme park history, starting in 1853, to our days in 2021. In this article we’ll focus on PortAventura, the very first theme park of Spain and the only Universal park that has ever existed in Europe.
Continue reading “Spanish Theme Park History – Part 5: PortAventura”