What do your friends & family think of theme parks?

[Matt N]

Hi guys. While we all (presumably) share a common interest in theme parks on here, not everyone is as interested as us, so naturally, other people might not be that into theme parks. With that in mind, I'd be really interested to know; what do your friends and family think to theme parks? Were theme parks a big thing in your family growing up, or did your family not overly like theme parks, with you getting into the hobby away from your family's guidance? And if your family does like theme parks; what are some of their favourite rides and parks?

For me, my entry into theme park enthusiasm was definitely family-driven. We visited Alton Towers every year when I was young, and seeing The Smiler's late stage of construction and riding it later in 2013 was ultimately what made me become a full-fledged enthusiast when I was 10.

In terms of their favourite parks and rides; my whole family seems to really like Universal Orlando, as well as Animal Kingdom and SeaWorld Orlando, and Alton Towers does seem pretty favoured too (although I think the Towers love is waning for my parents with how much we've done it over the years). And favourite rides-wise:

• My mum doesn't like any especially intense rides, but she interestingly shares a favourite coaster, Mako at SeaWorld, with me. She also rates Wicker Man, Thirteen, Expedition Everest and Big Thunder Mountain, amongst others, highly.
• My dad has a higher intensity tolerance than my mum. His favourite coaster is SheiKra at Busch Gardens, and I know that Grand National, Big One, Megafobia, Swarm, Saw, Nemesis and Oblivion, amongst others, also sit among his favourites.
• My older sister has gone off theme parks in recent years (when asked by my parents if she wanted to visit Alton Towers with us, she gave an incredibly disgusted facial expression, and I don't think they even bothered asking her if she wanted to visit Europa Park with us...), but when she still liked them, The Smiler at Alton Towers was easily her favourite coaster, with Icon, Mako, Galactica, Oblivion and Swarm, amongst others, also sitting among her favourites.

In terms of other family members with notable theme park opinions I can think of:

• My one nan actually doesn't mind theme parks, and she will still ride things below a certain intensity level, although overly thrilling rides, or anything that inverts or spins, are a no-no for her nowadays. I've actually been to a fair few theme parks with her (from memory, she's come to Alton Towers, Oakwood, Legoland Windsor, the two Universal Orlando parks and Disney's Animal Kingdom with us), and her favourite rides include the Mummy at Universal Orlando (although I reckon her interest in Ancient Egypt might play a part in that one), Hippogriff at Universal Orlando, Gringotts at Universal Orlando, Simpsons at Universal Orlando, Expedition Everest at Animal Kingdom and the Dragon at Legoland Windsor, amongst others. I think I discovered her upper limit, however, when we rode back row Megafobia with her. She wouldn't stop moaning about it after we got off, and my mum said she nearly twisted her ankle trying to keep herself in the seat. Nevertheless, she rode Thirteen when we went to Alton Towers, was gutted that Wicker Man was closed, and couldn't stop raving about the Rollercoaster Restaurant and Alton Towers Hotel!
• My grandad (the above nan's husband) has also been to Orlando with us, although he has a distinctly lower ride tolerance than my nan. The only ride I ever remember riding with him was Flight of the Hippogriff at Islands of Adventure, where he let out the world's loudest f-bomb going down the first drop and got rather hastily reprimanded by my nan for doing so (I seem to remember "DON'T SWEAR IN FRONT OF THE CHILDREN!" coming out of her mouth...). I think it's safe to say my grandad isn't a coaster fan...
• My other nan, however, has no taste for theme parks at all. I remember her once saying to me that the lion enclosure at Folly Farm was her "maximum adrenaline limit", and she's never ridden a ride or visited a theme park in her life, as far as I'm aware. I also learnt never to bring up Chessington in front of her, because she gets upset talking about it. She had very happy memories visiting Chessington Zoo when she lived in Kent and thinks that the park's conversion into a theme park was complete sacrilege; she never visited again after seeing "some big aerial thing" being built over the zoo (I assume she was referring to Safari Skyway), and was absolutely horrified when I described to her bit-by-bit what 2010s Chessington was like. She was also horrified when watching the Night at Alton Towers program on Channel 4 last year at what some of the rides at Alton Towers looked like; her first phrase upon seeing me afterwards was "Matthew, those horrible rides at Alton Towers certainly don't look suitable for little boys like you!".
• My other grandad has also never visited a theme park or ridden a ride either, as far as I'm aware, but in spite of this, he had a rather differing opinion to his wife after watching Night at Alton Towers. He thought Alton Towers looked great fun, and that the presenters "were being right babies" (in his words). His exact words were "I don't know why they were so scared. Those rides looked like a piece of cake; that Oblivion one looked amazing, and Rita looked good as well!"
• My 9 year old cousin hit 1.4m in 2020 and took her first trip to Alton Towers last September. My aunt said she initially looked terrified at the size of the coasters, but she seemed to have a fantastic time, from what I can tell! She was very excited to tell me about her trip; her favourite ride was Galactica, which her and her best friend rode 17 times! She even gave me her exhaustive ranking of the big 7 (sans Thirteen, which was closed), which from memory was: Galactica, Smiler, Nemesis, Wicker Man, Rita, Oblivion (Oblivion was "worse than tomatoes", apparently!)

That's all I can think of (although possibly still more than you needed or wanted to know... sorry about that); I hope you find my anecdotes interesting!

But what do your friends & family think to theme parks?

 

[Rob Coasters]

My mum:
-Enjoys theme parks a fair amount. Had a couple few bad rides on some coasters but understands others are good and better. Her #1 is probably Rattlesnake at Chessington.

My dad:
-Enjoys the fact that I have a theme park hobby. Largely prefers the vintage side of rides like Loop-o-Planes, Steam Yachts and brake man woodies. Huge fan of log flumes. His #1 is probably Roller Coaster at Great Yarmouth.

My bro:
Comes on coasters with me occasionally. Generally doesn't like the idea of 'doing one ride immediately after another' with a good break in between rides being the norm. Likes coasters a lot though. His #1 is probably something at Thorpe.

All of my friends have significant interest in parks. One's #1 is Mako at Seaworld Orlando and rode Tonnerre de Zeus when I didn't, something I'm immensely jealous of. But we're even with what I've ridden within the UK.

 

[Christian]

What a detailed description of your family!

When I was a kid I would visit some theme park at least ones a year. Either with my parents, uncle, school, friends or godfather. My parents are both scared of coasters so they never ride. My mum likes parks which have some kind of scenery or something to do that isn't too extreme. She loves parks such as Kolmården, Ferrari World and Phantasialand. My dad mostly doesn't care, he might come to a park but would just read a book and have a couple of beers. He was mostly there to "guard" me than to himself enjoy the park.

Whenever going with my mates some of them love coasters, others not so much and would hold the bags. None of them are true enthusiast but they enjoy the casual ride.

My coaster enthusiasm is something I developed myself without anyone around me being an enthusiast.

 

[CrashCoaster]

Most of my friends and family like rides but I blame my coaster enthusiasm from my dad proposing to my mum at Towers before she fell pregnant with me. Had to be some kind of prophecy carved in stone there.

So as you can imagine, both my parents enjoy rides (my mum less so now with age) but my dad still very much enjoys coasters and has pretty good taste in them. That being said he's by no means a thoosie.

 

[Will]

Few of my friends (the ones outside the enthusiast circle) dislike theme parks - but quickly tired of wanting to do one every month or so with me and certainly wouldn't go away with me to somewhere I was visiting for the sole purpose of going to a park. There's nobody outside of CF that I'd message and say 'fancy a trip to Towers?' these days.

My Mum doesn't like rides at all, my Dad went through a phase of enjoying some, but has a heart problem now AND reached burnout long ago.
Cathy & Richard will take or leave them but probably have an annual park visit (Richard has a surprising knowledge of coasters, but minimal interest in actually riding them - much the same as he is with football!) whereas my youngest brother used to come to Lives with me and can appreciate a good ride, but having ended up in a wheelchair and unable to brace with his legs, I doubt he'll ride anything again after Balder frightened him to death.

Dad had odd taste and loved the Big One - and did crack me up after he rode Vampire and said '...not exactly Nemesis, is it?'
The family, for their credit, have taken me to Thorpe, Linnanmaki, Liseberg etc. and wouldn't have been anywhere near the places without my influence.

 

[Sandman]

Basically none of my immediate family have any interest in theme parks whatsoever.

My parter enjoys parks mainly due to the wider experience on offer.

In terms of rides, the biggest/most extreme coaster she's been on would probably be Nitro at Six Flags Great Adventure.

She's not someone who would go on thrill coasters if she was on her own, but seems to be ok when with myself/friends.

 

[Tonkso]

My mum enjoys parks, and used to love taking me and my sister when we were younger.

My dad enjoyed it because I did.

My sister used to enjoy them, not as much anymore.

My wife absolutely loves them, which is why I married her