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Your 2025 in review

Rob Coasters

Rob Coasters

Rob Poster
As the 2025 season comes to a close and most of us are starting to finish up our ventures until 2026 (unless a few of you have Christmas plans), let's look back and summarise how this year has treated us coaster-wise.

Statistics
Start of year credit count: 396
End of year credit count: 501 (currently on 500, but Ice Mountain at Hyde Park Winter Wonderland will be my final credit of the year)
New credits gained: 104
Start of year park count: 102
End of year park count: 119
New parks visited: 17
Entries in the Top 10: 3 (Wildfire, Alpenfury, Leviathan)

Best and Worst
Best new coaster: Wildfire, Kolmarden
Best new park: Canada's Wonderland, Canada
Best new dark ride: Danse Macabre, Efteling
Best new water ride: Excalibur, Movie Park Germany
Best new flat ride: Swingi, Linnanmaki
Biggest positive surprise: The ZacSpins, Grona Lund & Linnanmaki
Biggest disappointment: Schwur des Karnan, Hansa Park
Most disappointing closure: I have been extremely lucky this year, but NYC Transformer, Movie Park Germany
Favourite coaster ride: Rain ride in the front on Taron, Phantasialand
Favourite park day of 2025: Honestly - Thorpe Park Passholder Day. All rides walk-on with great company cannot be beaten !
Biggest enthusiast achievement: Solo Canada
Best travel story: Accidentally bribing Polish passport control by not realising that cash had fallen into my passport (they were both stored in the same pocket). She handed it back to me with an extremely confused and slightly annoyed face, but thankfully was let through after making myself look very stupid by removing the cash and attempting to explain what had happened. "It just fell in!" If this was the wrong country, or if the cash value was more than £3.70, I could have been detained!

Non-Coaster
Best new city/country/state: Tromso (city), Czechia (country), N/A (state)
Something I am never doing again: Sleeping rough on the streets in winter because we didn't want to pay for a hotel
My most important travel advice for the future: Buy an eSIM before travelling abroad
Best non-coaster moment: Seeing the Northern Lights & going to Niagara Falls
"I was not expecting to go HERE this year": Czechia

Other
Most northerly new place: Tromso, Norway
Most easterly new place: Helsinki, Finland
Most southerly new place: Genoa, Italy
Most westerly new place: Toronto, Canada

The Future
One coaster I want to ride for the first time in 2026: Flash Coaster, Aquashow Family Park
One park I want to visit for the first time in 2026: Sea World Abu Dhabi
One place I want to visit for the first time in 2026: Slovenia
 
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Might as well do mine as I'm done with coastering for the year as well.

Statistics
Start of year credit count: 411
End of year credit count: 432
New credits gained: 21
Start of year park count: 87
End of year park count: 93
New parks visited: 6
Entries in the Top 10: 0

Best and Worst
Best new coaster: Wiener Looping, Wiener Prater
Best new park: Freizeitpark Ruhpolding (yeah, not much but that place was quite a blast)
Best new dark ride: Crazy Professor, Conny-Land
Best new water ride: Biberburg, Familypark
Best new flat ride: Laser Dancer, Wiener Prater
Biggest positive surprise: Bah, haven't done a whole lot that would surprise me this year
Biggest disappointment: Cobra in Conny-Land being rough and headache inducing
Most disappointing closure: No real spites, though it sucked that Kitt Superjet was closed when I went to Movieland this year
Favourite coaster ride: Katun at the end of the day with the fireworks going off over the lake
Favourite park day of 2025: The rainy day at the ECC trip. It's weird, but both Fantasiana and Ruhpolding were tons of fun to explore and discover all of the silly things they had on offer
Biggest enthusiast achievement: Doing my first ECC trip - not much, but it's something
Best travel story: Chatting with and meeting random people I sat next to on the busses and trains to and from that said ECC trip

Non-Coaster
Best new city/country/state: Milano (city), Cyprus (country, pretty much by default, though I did really enjoy it)
Something I am never doing again: Not getting at least a couchette on the overnight train
Best non-coaster moment: Playing Pokemon GO all around Milano, catching the opera in the Verona Arena, exploring every bit of the mountain in San Marino, crossing the border into the Turkish Northern Cyprus
"I was not expecting to go HERE this year": Back to Liechtenstein - was a bit of a spur of the moment idea

Other
Most northerly new place: Ruhpolding, Germany
Most easterly new place: Ayia Napa, Cyprus
Most southerly new place: Paphos, Cyprus
Most westerly new place: Milano, Italy

The Future
One coaster I want to ride for the first time in 2026: Taiga, Linnanmäki
One park I want to visit for the first time in 2026: Tokyo DisneySea
One place I want to visit for the first time in 2026: Yeah, I think Japan is something that I'm really setting my sights on for next year

Yeah, haven't done a ton of travelling this year, though there are some major trip plans already brewing for the next, so hopefully I can make a lot of them a reality.

Rob Coasters said:
One place I want to visit for the first time in 2026: Slovenia
Click to expand...
Drop me a PM if you do get over here ;)
 
I don't think I can do all the stats in as much detail, so if no one minds, I will just sum it up a bit differently. I rode rides at six different parks this year:

  • Clarence Pier
  • Robin Hill
  • Blackgang Chine
  • Clacton Pier
  • Bekonscot Model Village
  • Legoland Windsor

I started the year with my trip to Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight, which turned out to be a perfect holiday. Clarence Pier (+3 creds) was very good, especially the Mad Mouse (Zyklon) coaster and Gallopers.

One of the places I most wanted to go back to was Robin Hill. Whilst I can't honestly claim it was the best park I did this year, it was the best day out. I particularly liked Crocodile Creek and the Toboggan... There was just magic in the air that day.

Blackgang Chine is one of my most beloved places of all time, and I enjoyed it more as a theme park than I expected. The best rides were Snakes & Ladders, Jolly Robin and Waterforce.

I'm afraid I didn't really enjoy my trip to Clacton Pier (+1 cred). The less said about that the better, really.

However, I did have a couple of fantastic trips to Felixstowe. Whilst I didn't actually ride anything (they do have two rides), I was pleased to finally track down their big wheel; and a look round Manning's is good if you have an interest in defunct amusement parks. Whilst I had to use my imagination regarding the old coasters, there is a surprising amount of the old "Butlins" left to see.

The year was salvaged by an October trip to Windsor, where the same good fortune and magic as the Isle of Wight seemed to return to me.
The only ride at Bekonscot Model Village, is of course the train, but it's a clever little miniature railway.

The main event, though, was of course Legoland Windsor (+5 creds). Minifigure Speedway is probably the best coaster I rode this year, Deep Sea Adventure the best dark ride, and Flight of the Sky Lion was just an amazing new experience for me.

Non-coaster wise, I did return to the New Forest this year, but put the TR in @Matt N's thread, as I gave Paultons a miss this time (no Cobra)! The best off-topic things were all to do with the Isle of Wight - the ferry ride over, Appley Tower, Model Village Godshill (that's a good one) and Shanklin Chine. The crowning moment, perhaps though, was when I reached the summit of St Catherine's Oratory. It has been a tough few years, and sitting by the trig point, looking towards Freshwater Bay, I literally felt I was at the top of the world (or the island, at least!)

Overall, it has been a truly great year that I hope I can one day recreate something as good.

https://flic.kr/p/2r6mUg4
 
Statistics
Start of year credit count: 300
End of year credit count: 525 (with plans to get a +8 at Six Flags Qiddiya and a few extra little creds in Riyadh, but you never know)
New credits gained: 225 so far
Start of year park count: 66
End of year park count: 125
New parks visited: 59
Entries in the Top 10: 3 (Dinoconda, Voltron, Iron Gwazi)

Best and Worst
Best new coaster: Dinoconda, China Dinosaurs Park
Best new park: Silver Dollar City, USA
Best new dark ride: Monsters Unchained, Epic Universe
Best new water ride: Mystic River Falls, Silver Dollar City
Best new flat ride: Apocalypto, Energylandia
Biggest positive surprise: Beyond The Cloud, Suzhou Forest World or Iron Rattler, Six Flags Fiesta Texas
Biggest disappointment: Flying Aces, Ferrari World
Most disappointing closure: Mission Ferrari, Ferrari World
Favourite coaster ride: Iron Gwazi night ride with a load of friends
Favourite park day of 2025: Silver Dollar City 9:30am to midnight day in August
Biggest enthusiast achievement: Shanghai-area parks
Best travel story: Flying home from the UAE, getting the train from London straight to Leeds for a family event, having one day at home after, then flying to South Korea the next day

Non-Coaster
Best new city/country/state: Gothenburg, China, Texas or Oklahoma
Something I am never doing again: Sleeping rough on the streets in winter because we didn't want to pay for a hotel
My most important travel advice for the future: Get good noise cancelling headphones & a neck pillow and you can sleep on any flight
Best non-coaster moment: Exploring a random Oklahoma state park at sunset then finding a year-old train derailment in the dark
"I was not expecting to go HERE this year": UAE, South Korea, Japan again, China

Other
Most northerly new place: Gothenburg, Sweden
Most easterly new place: Gyeongju, South Korea
Most southerly new place: Abu Dhabi, UAE
Most westerly new place: San Antonio, Texas

The Future
One coaster I want to ride for the first time in 2026: Phoenix, Knoebels
One park I want to visit for the first time in 2026: Phantasialand
One place I want to visit for the first time in 2026: Mongolia
 
I'd like to do mine slightly differently to the format that seems to have been adopted by you guys above.
I didn't think 2025 would be a particularly big year for me. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't huge by any means, but still, I was expecting to do maybe 4 or 5 parks at most. In fact, in The 2025 Trip Plans thread, I said this:

toofpikk said:
I'm trying to move this year so no chance of a big trip in the same vain as last year. I do already have a trip to Phantasialand, and a trip to Energylandia booked, and my partner wants me to visit their family in Hong Kong which would mean I may be able to do Disneyland & Ocean park. I also want to get to Alton Towers this year too.

Not a huge year by any means, but not particularly quiet either.
Click to expand...

I did manage to finally move out of my family home (woohoo!) and that has killed my disposable income, as I predicted. But I also managed to have a much busier year then I could've ever predicted.

I also finally formalised my theme park review archive, which means it's all nice and ordered and in one easy reviewable place.



Statistics
New credits gained: 27
New parks visited: 5
Entries in the Top 10: 1 (Zadra) (Shambhala just misses out at No.11)

Best and Worst
Best new coaster: Zadra, Energylandia
Best new park: Hong Kong Disneyland
Best new dark ride: Mystic Manor, HKD
Biggest positive surprise: How pleasant Le Pal is
Favourite ride: Taking my partner on Chiapas (my all time favourite ride) for the first time
Biggest enthusiast achievement: BTS tour of Mahuka with the layout designer / FINALLY getting on Mystic Manor despite very nearly being spited.

Non-Coaster
Something I am never doing again: La Rambla at 3AM
My most important travel advice for the future: Accept it's gonna break the bank and just make the most of it
Best non-coaster moment: Watching my team win the rugby union with my best mates, and then celebrating by drinking 14 Guinness that afternoon / moving into my own place with my partner.

The Future
One coaster I want to ride for the first time in 2026: Voltron/Hyperia
 
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Skipped/merged some categories where I don't have enough candidates to give a significant answer.

Statistics
Start/end/new creds: 130/152/22 (unless I go get some more at Hyde Park, but meh)
Start/end/new parks: 27/30/3
Entries in the Top 10: 2 (Voltron, Silver Star)

Best and Worst
Best new coaster: Voltron, Europa Park
Best new park: Europa Park
Best new dark ride: Danse Macabre, Efteling
Biggest positive surprise: Danse Macabre, Efteling
Favourite coaster ride: Front right on Voltron
Favourite park day of 2025: Europa day 1
Biggest enthusiast achievement: Attended a CF Live
Best travel story: Multi-country pub crawl home from Europa


General Summary
This was my second full year of "actually trying" when it comes to coasters/travel, though I've been interested for far longer.

Been a really varied year in which other, more convenient, hobbies competed strongly for time and money I had originally expected to spend coastering. The 22 new creds against 81 - and counting - new bands seen live says it all really (in my defence, living near a major city it's very easy to rack up gigs with very little planning - I'll have to do a summary post in that thread). That said, I think the quality of this year's travel has been some of my highest so far, with international park trips to tick off Efteling and Europa Park, as well as a non-coaster trip to Prague with some good friends all being fantastic.

Being my first full season with a car, I'd half expected to spend my summer racing around various unvisited parks of the UK, but it turns out being able to drive somewhere in 4 hours rather than use public transport in 6 doesn't make overnighting somewhere you weren't that interested in to begin with much more appealing (looking at you, Skegness!) But I did enjoy getting back to Towers, not least for my first CF Live and first in-person enthusiast event of any kind, and enjoyed the flexibility of being able to visit local parks with much less planning.

I don't have specific parks or destinations in mind for next year, but would like to think I'll get to see another couple of new bits of Europe and will probably make it a mission to get to at least one signficiant new park/creddy region of the UK; Great Yarmouth probably has the best creds:effort ratio from where I live so maybe that. Definitely want to get to another meetup too.
 
nowhere near as interesting as some other people but ah well. incredibly average year for me, was hoping i would hit 100, but guess i have to do that next year

Statistics
Start of year credit count: 70
End of year credit count: 91
New credits gained: 21
Start of year park count: 12
End of year park count: 16
New parks visited: 4
Entries in the Top 10: Toutatis (3)

Best and Worst
Best new coaster: Toutatis
Best new park: Parc Asterix
Best new dark ride: Cosmicar, Monte Igluedo
Best new water ride: Valhalla, Blackpool Pleasure Beach
Best new flat ride: Mathew's Skyfall, Traveling (Ridden at Hull Fair)
Biggest positive surprise: Revolution, Blackpool Pleasure Beach
Biggest disappointment: Big Dipper, Blackpool Pleasure Beach
Biggest enthusiast achievement: First proper solo park visit (Blackpool)

Non-Coaster
Best new city: San Sebastian, Spain
Best non-coaster moment: Docking into Bilbao and seeing Spain for the first time

The Future
One coaster I want to ride for the first time in 2026: Red Force/Shambala
One place I want to visit for the first time in 2026: Andorra
 
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Statistics
Start of year credit count: 951
End of year credit count: 976
New credits gained: 25
Start of year park count: 230
End of year park count: 232
New parks visited: 2
Entries in the Top 10: 3 (Luna, Zokkon, Panic Coaster)

Best and Worst
Best new coaster: Luna, Yomiyuriland
Best new park: Parque Espana, Japan
Best new dark ride: Beauty & The Beast, Tokyo Disneyland
Best new water ride: Anna & Elsa's Frozen Journey, Tokyo DisneySeas
Best new flat ride: Ferris Wheel, Tokyo Dome City (Karaoke FTW)
Biggest positive surprise: Hakugei at Nagashima Spa Land
Biggest disappointment: Rapunzel's Lantern Festival/ Yoshi's Adventure
Most disappointing closure: All American Triple Loop at Indiana Beach/ Thunder Dolphin, Regina 2
Favorite coaster ride: Luna at Yomiyuriland
Favorite park day of 2025: N/A
Biggest enthusiast achievement: Solo Canada-- Fitting on Steel Dragon 2000, Riding the 4 coasters I couldn't at Fuji-Q, Trying Coke Plus
Best travel story: Finding Snacks for my friend in Japan when she couldn't

Non-Coaster
Best new city/country/state: N/A
Something I am never doing again: Going to Japan in August
My most important travel advice for the future: Take Gummy SleepMed
Best non-coaster moment: Getting to make people laugh on a live podcast/ 400th Movie Review Spectacular
"I was not expecting to go HERE this year": N/A

The Future
One coaster I want to ride for the first time in 2026: Iron Gwazi; HM- Sirens Curse
One park I want to visit for the first time in 2026: Frontier City; HM- Wild Waves/Universal Studios Hollywood
One Show I want to see for the first time in 2026: Waterworld (I've seen in in Japan and was confused; So hopefully an English version will make sense to me)
One place I want to visit for the first time in 2026: Oklahoma
One ride I want to ride for the first time in 2026: Mario Kart Bowser's Challenge, The Secret Life of Pets Off the Leash, Knott's Berry Tales: Return to the Forest
 
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Why are some of you sleeping on the street? C'mon now.

Statistics
Start of year credit count: 250
End of year credit count: 309 (+1 Planning to ride the Alpine Coaster near Edinburgh over Christmas holidays)
New credits gained: 59 so far
New parks visited: 7
Entries in the Top 10: 2 (Steel Vengeance, Skyrush)

Best and Worst
Best new coaster: Steel Vengeance, Cedar Point
Best new park: Cedar Point
Biggest positive surprise: Candymonium, Hersheypark
Biggest disappointment: Maverick, Cedar Point
Most disappointing closure: I booked my US trip before Kingda Ka closed, so that.
Favourite coaster ride: My night ride on Steel Vengeance or front row on Millennium Force.
Favourite park day of 2025: 2nd day at Cedar Point
Biggest enthusiast achievement: Solo USA Trip (without a car)
Best travel story: The time I thought I was going to be murdered in the back of a taxi.

Non-Coaster
Best new city/country/state: Denmark
Something I am never doing again: Flying to Spain and end up in a small town without any cash.
My most important travel advice for the future: Don't over do it with the itinerary.
Best non-coaster moment: Exploring Copenhagen and New York
"I was not expecting to go HERE this year": Plopsaland De Panne.

Other
Most northerly new place: Copenhagen, Denmark
Most easterly new place: ^
Most southerly new place: Pinto, Spain
Most westerly new place: Sandusky, Ohio, US

The Future
One coaster I want to ride for the first time in 2026: VelociCoaster, Islands of Adventure
One park I want to visit for the first time in 2026: Epic Universe
One place I want to visit for the first time in 2026: Maybe Norway (don't think it will happen though)
 
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Can't imagine I'll get any more creds this year, so here goes. Gonna cut out some of the categories that I don't have answers to.

Statistics
Start of year credit count: 886
End of year credit count: 947
New credits gained: 61
Start of year park count: 205
End of year park count: 225
New parks visited: 20
Entries in the Top 10: 2 (ArieForce One, Taiga)

Best and Worst
Best new coaster: AireForce One, Fun Spot America Atlanta
Best new park: Linnanmäki
Biggest positive surprise: Tornado, Särkänniemi Amusement Park (it's not complete trash!)
Biggest disappointment: Schwur des Karnan, Hansa Park
Most disappointing closure: Not hugely disappointed, principally as I knew it was coming, but was disappointed not to get to ride Rampage at Alabama Adventure.
Biggest enthusiast achievement: 900th cred

Non-Coaster
Best new city/country/state: Tampere (city), Finland (country), Mississippi (state)
Something I am never doing again: Going too budget on motels.
My most important travel advice for the future: As above, don't be a tight-arse.
Best non-coaster moment:Several sunrise hikes, three day kayaking trip on the Wye with my friends, some heavy duty DIY in a French chateau, Cappadocia.

Other
Most northerly new place: Alahärmä, Finland
Most easterly new place: Kayseri, Türkiye
Most southerly new place: Panama Beach City, Florida, USA
Most westerly new place:Biloxi, Mississippi, USA

The Future
One coaster I want to ride for the first time in 2026: Falcons Flight, Six Flags Qiddiya City (if I can make this work!)
One park I want to visit for the first time in 2026: Wonderland Amusement Park (if I can make this work!)
Goal for 2026 enthusiasm: 1000th cred! (would align nicely with 20 years on CF too!)
One place I want to visit for the first time in 2026: Not sure yet... few ideas brewing for non-park trips...
 
Been loving the answers so far! I have to say I wasn't expecting responses to literally all of my categories, I just listed off as many as I could think of, but I have been thoroughly enjoying reading through everyone's crazy years.
I have changed my best travel story to "don't accidentally bribe Polish passport control by not realising that cash had fallen in".

James F said:
Why are some of you sleeping on the street? C'mon now.
Click to expand...
New Year's Eve 2024 saw me and my travel friend @kristalic in Belgium, getting us back on Kondaa and kristalic getting their 300th credit in a random funfair in Dunkirk too. The main reason to visit was Plopsaland Belgium's 1am closure, theoretically getting us rides on RtH at well past midnight to start off 2025 with a bang. The plan was then to get a tram down to Oostende at around 1:30am and camp at the station for around two hours for a train down to Brussels at 4:45am where we could get our transport home for an extremely early flight back home from Charleroi.

There was no transport of any kind down to Brussels until the aforementioned Oostende train at 4:45am which we could get down to from De Panne by tram. Our thought process was "if we got a hotel we would only be spending about three hours there before we have to check back out which means they have to be open 24 hours and all of them cost at least 100 euro a night so why bother, we can camp out at the station for two hours and everything will be fine". There were no 24 hour McDonald's restaurants that we could stay in either.

Unfortunately these two hours of waiting at Oostende could be described as not much more than "hell". With no shelter, and our three layers of clothing very evidently proving to ourselves that we were still significantly underdressed for the winter weather, and with nowhere warm to hide except for a drab bike shed, we were fighting against the elements for what felt like an indefinite amount of time. It was unapologetically, miserable.

Just pay for the damn hotel even if you're not gonna be there for more than three hours.

And here's the funny part - Plopsaland's rides closed at 10:30pm, a fact we didn't know, and the rest of the park was the entrance area throwing a pretty lacklustre party until 1am where we just sat in a now-demolished cafe charging our phones. Had we known that we wouldn't actually be riding the coasters at midnight, we would never have gone in the first place!
 
Statistics
Start of year credit count:81
End of year credit count: 105 (unless I take out a second mortgage to go to Hyde Park)
New creds gained: 24

Entries in the Top 10: Top 10 is still vague for me, but both Taron and Na Fianna Force would be in there, Taron in the top 5 for sure

Best and Worst
Best new coaster:Taron, Phantasialand
Best new park: Phantasialand and it's not even close
Biggest positive surprise: Hard to say, Colorado Adventure surprised me a bit but I had also heard it was crazy in the back row so yeah. I didn't have too many surprises this year
Biggest disappointment: Chu Chulainn - I enjoyed it but it was very rough and had endgame pacing problems
Most disappointing closure: Odyssey after driving 4 ****ing hours to Fantasy Island. Also worth mentioning missing out on the CF Live in Belgium due to flight cancellations, but Ride to Happiness didn't open for them anyway!
Biggest enthusiast achievement: 100th cred at Na Fianna Force, especially because Storm Amy nearly ruined the whole thing
Favourite park day of 2025: Both of my Phantasialand days were banging despite how busy the park was, but the CF Live at Alton Towers and the family trip to Legoland Windsor were also really fun
Best non-coaster moment: Wasn't really one moment, but moving to Shropshire was pretty good and went much smoother than house moves tend to go apart from some unexpected costs
Best travel story: While chilling in Dublin, I randomly discovered on Google maps there was a Leprechaun Museum so I went on a whim. But it wasn't really a leprechaun museum, it was more like a guided tour of different rooms with a very enthusiastic lady telling folklore stories. Even the guy at the counter where I paid warned me I would either love it or hate it so I just YOLO'd it. Also only one of the four stories had anything to do with leprechauns and I was by far the youngest person in the 6 or so group.

The Future
One coaster I want to ride for the first time in 2026: Any RMC - looking at Wailibi Holland most likely
One park I want to visit for the first time in 2026: Again, thinking of at least Efteling and Wailibi Holland, also want to tick off Paulton's next year when the eurofighter opens as I've been holding off on that
Goal for 2026 enthusiasm: Get more coasters in of course, I would like to make coaster friends as well. Too bad I've just moved to a county with no coasters
One place I want to visit for the first time in 2026: As above, currently thinking of the Netherlands but I would imagine there's at least one more abroad trip

This is the most new creds I've got in a year, which is no mean feat when I moved house as well. I would say a lot of those credits felt like filler and that I didn't do a huge amount of the "good stuff", partly due to this.
 
I’ve had a very quiet year by my recent standards due to a Master’s dissertation eating up pretty much the whole summer, particularly in terms of travel and new things, but I quite like this new format of year in review posts, so I’ll give it a go!

Statistics
Start of year credit count: 134
End of year credit count: 137
New credits gained: 3 (-20 on last year)
Start of year park count: 29
End of year park count: 29
New parks visited: 0 (-5 on last year)
Entries in the Top 10: 0 (-2 on last year)

Best and Worst
Best new coaster: Farmyard Flyer at Paultons Park (#113/137)
Best new park: N/A
Best new dark ride: Either Ghostly Manor at Paultons Park or one of Ghost Train and Alice in Wonderland at Blackpool Pleasure Beach… I’m not sure which I’d pick!
Best new water ride: N/A
Best new flat ride: Windmill Towers at Paultons Park
Biggest positive surprise: Not new, but I was pleasantly surprised by how much I still liked Icon upon returning to Blackpool after 6 years!
Biggest disappointment: Toxicator at Alton Towers
Most disappointing closure: Both Grand National and Nickelodeon Streak were closed when I went to Blackpool in April
Favourite coaster ride: Probably either of the two I had on Hyperia at Thorpe Park in September. That thing is sublime!
Favourite park day of 2025: I’d honestly say that either Blackpool in April or the Saturday of my July Alton Towers trip would win this.
Biggest enthusiast achievement: I’m quite proud of my general efficiency of coaster riding this year. I had my second highest coaster ride count ever despite only having 5 theme park days in 2025, and I managed by far my most ride-heavy day with 51 total rides at Paultons Park in June!
Best travel story: I actually can’t think of any overly interesting ones on the theme park side of things…

Non-Coaster
Best new city/country/state: If it counts, I went to Scotland for the first time in June!
Something I am never doing again: Driving back from Scotland at peak time… that journey back was a dreadful 9 hours!
My most important travel advice for the future: If driving somewhere, try and plan your timings better. Or fly, if it’s a really long way!
Best non-coaster moment: Going on a Loch Tay river safari that ended as a speedboat ride was pretty awesome!
"I was not expecting to go HERE this year": I can’t really think of anywhere that would fit the bill.

Other
Most northerly new place: Blair Atholl, Scotland
Most easterly new place: Falkirk, Scotland
Most southerly new place: Falkirk, Scotland
Most westerly new place: Luss, Scotland

The Future
One coaster I want to ride for the first time in 2026: Toutatis
One park I want to visit for the first time in 2026: Parc Asterix
One place I want to visit for the first time in 2026: I’m not sure I currently have any new countries in mind, but I would like to go back to France for my first time since 2011!

So yes, it definitely hasn’t been my most interesting year theme park or travel-wise, and I guess it shows how easy it is for life to get in the way of theme parking and travel. Nonetheless, I have still had some enjoyable moments this year, and I hope to hit the hobby harder again next year!
 
This year I still lived with my parents, but I'm in the process of moving out (if everything goes to plan)! Due to a) Having a lot more money as I'm living with my parents and b) Because of my annual leave resets at each financial year; I've spent 5 weeks abroad this calendar year, which is a world record for me! 😳 So I've got a lot of amazing experiences to look back on.

Statistics
New credits gained: 48
New parks visited: 11 (+4 re-visits)
Entries in the Top 10: 4 (#3 Batman Gotham City Escape, #8 Toutatis, #9 Hyperia, #10 Hakugei)

Best and Worst
Best new park: Tokyo DisneySea
Best new dark ride: Tokyo Indiana Jones
Best new water ride: Tokyo Pirates of the Caribbean (Though I did the superior Pirates in Paris this year too)
Best new flat ride: Paris/Tokyo Tower of Terror
Most disappointing closure: Eejanaika - ngl it was arguably my most anticipated coaster on the planet...
Favourite park day of 2025: Tokyo Disneyland
Biggest disappointment: Donkey Kong roller coaster 😢So sad! - I love Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong. At least there is themed food🐵
Best travel story: Well not the best but, a random man wanted to have s*x with me in Disneyland Paris and that kinda ruined my day. 🙄
Notable theme park moments:
  • TDS Peter Pan - I was positvely suprised by this ride.
  • All the sweet treats at Tokyo Disney (Green Alien Mochi ❤️)
  • TDS Indiana Jones being my #1 Dark Ride
  • The big centipede in Journey To The Centre of the Earth
  • The theming at TDS
  • The trackless dark rides at Tokyo Disneyland
  • Monsters Inc being low key amazing
  • Getting on a Ultra-Twister
  • Getting no my first giga coaster & longest coaster in the world!
  • 3 of the coasters of USJ wow-ing me.
  • Why the hell is Fujiyama so good!?
  • Getting on Thunder Dolphin, which has obsessed me back when I was a child browsing rcdb.
  • Finally getting on Hyperia and it exceeding expectations
  • Toutatis swing launches
  • DLP Pirates of the Caribbean
  • First evacuation (DLP BTM!)
  • PortAventura's beautiful theme park environment
  • Getting back rown on Shambhala, front row on Red Force and Baco
  • Parque Warner Madrid coaster line-up rivalling PortAventura's
  • The assortment of different airtime on Batman Gothem City Escape + the hangtime being the best bit!

Non-Coaster
Something I am never doing again: Stressed out in the mosh pit just to get close to see Mona Lisa. Avoid!
My most important travel advice for the future: After Tokyo & Paris, I decided I needed to stop being greedy with the over-the-top intineries and have more time to rest. I put this plan into my last holiday and it worked wonders! Also, always consider fast track!
"I was not expecting to go HERE this year": Madrid & Toledo
Notable non-coaster travel moments:
  • Being in mainland China
  • Being obessed with the Tokyo Metro stop jingles
  • Japanese convenience stores
  • Seeing Mount Fuji
  • Walking through snowy forests and seeing the mischievous snow monkeys
  • Staying in a Ryokan
  • Visiting Shirakawa-Go when it was still fairly snowy
  • Crazy deer at Nara
  • Escaping the Kyoto crowds and hiking Mount Kurama
  • Shinkansen felt like a luxury experience
  • Finally seeing my all my favourite artworks in one place at Musée de l'Orangerie
  • Paris Opera House
  • Eiffel Tower sparkling at night
  • Versailles gardens
  • Impressionist paintings in Musée d'Orsay
  • Monstserrat
  • Entering La Sagrada Familia + other Gaudi architecture
  • Enjoying Madrid more than I expected & loads of amazing art
  • Toledo catherdral being suprisingly great

The Future
One park I want to visit for the first time in 2026: Vienna Prater
Goal for 2026 enthusiasm: Visit some UK theme parks
I'm not sure how much money I'll have next year for holidays, but I've done some budgeting and I think it will be a lot less than this year going forward. Also due to my experiences these last few years I've decided just to spend more money per holiday - Just staying in slightly nicer hotels, more convinient locations, more convinient flight times, even if it means going away less. Vienna is the only abroad thing that's decided for next year.
 
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2025 was a quieter year for me - only 26 new creds, which is my smallest gain since 2021 (when I didn't travel abroad due to all the Covid rules). At the same time, I revisited quite a few parks I hadn't in a long time, which means that really it was a similar level of busy-ness, but it just doesn't really show through.

Anyways...

Statistics
Start of year credit count: 408
End of year credit count: 434
New credits gained: 26
Start of year park count: 77
End of year park count: 81
New parks visited: 4
Entries in the Top 10%: 1 (Kondaa - #11)

Favourites and Disappointments
Favourite new coaster: Kondaa, Walibi Belgium
Favourite new park: Movieland Italy
Favourite new dark ride: Danse Macabre, Efteling
Biggest positive surprise: How much I enjoyed Movieland
Favourite park day of 2025: Walibi Holland for Halloween Fright Nights
Worst new coaster: Blue Tornado, Gardaland
Biggest disappointment: YoY


The Future
One coaster I want to ride for the first time in 2026: Falcons Flight, Six Flags Qiddiya City
One park I want to visit for the first time in 2026: Six Flags Qiddiya City
One place I want to visit for the first time in 2026: Austria
 
Mine is going to much smaller than most people's, but here goes!

Statistics
Start of year credit count: 100
End of year credit count: 111
New credits gained: 11
Start of year park count: 22
End of year park count: 24
New parks visited: 2
Entries in the Top 10: Kondaa (2)

Best and Worst
Best new coaster: Kondaa
Best new park: Walibi Belgium
Best new dark ride: Danse Macabre, Efteling
Best new water ride: Pulsar, Walibi Belgium
Best new flat ride: Danse Macabre, Efteling (Sort of counts)
Biggest positive surprise: Revolution, Blackpool Pleasure Beach
Biggest disappointment: Booster Bike, Toverland
Biggest enthusiast achievement: Doing 2 new parks 2 days in a row

Non-Coaster
Best new city: Palma, Majorca (note: only new city)
Best non-coaster moment: Visiting Bordeaux with my family

The Future
One coaster I want to ride for the first time in 2026: Toutatis or Voltron
One place I want to visit for the first time in 2026: Dubrovnik
 
I won't fill the whole thing in but living in a new country with time on my hands I have added 40 credits to go to 115, with 4 new parks. I have enjoyed it and enjoyed reading the forum. I'll struggle to do similar next year as I have ticked off the big parks within 2 hours. My daughter still doesn't like roller coasters and my partner who used to love them too now gets a bad shoulder from them so unlikely to get a trip further afield. I might just be able to get to Toverland and back in a school day so I guess I'll make that the aim.

New +40
Total 115
Best New Park Efteling
Best New Coaster Fury at Bobbejaanland
Best New Dark Ride Danse Macabre
Plans Next Year Toverland if I'm lucky!
 
Very big year for me and I now feel I can class myself as a proper enthusiast! Booked my biggest trip ever, going interrailing round Europe for 3 weeks with my friends after we all finished our A-levels.

Statistics
Start of year credit count: 23
End of year credit count: 100
New credits gained: 77
Start of year park count: 4
End of year park count: 13
New parks visited: 9
Entries in the Top 10: 8 (RtH, Voltron, Untamed, Kondaa, Toutatis, F.L.Y., Mahuka, Silver Star)

Best and Worst
Best new coaster: Ride to Happiness, Plopsaland Belgium
Best new park: Europa Park, Germany
Best new dark ride: Danse Macabre, Efteling
Best new water ride: Chiapas, Phantasialand
Best new flat ride: Talocan, Phantasialand
Biggest positive surprise: All of Walibi Rhone Alpes
Biggest disappointment: YOY, Walibi Holland
Most disappointing closure: Speed of Sound, Walibi Holland
Favourite coaster ride: Silver Star back row at park close
Favourite park day of 2025: Europa Park Day 2
Biggest enthusiast achievement: First solo park (Movie Park Germany)
Best travel story: Falling asleep on the train back from Movie Park Germany alone and missing my stop...

Non-Coaster
Best new city/country: Amsterdam/Germany
Something I am never doing again: Booking a 6am train because it saved me literally £4
My most important travel advice for the future: German trains are always late, don't count on making every connection
Best non-coaster moment: Going travelling for the first time with my mates

The Future
One coaster I want to ride for the first time in 2026: Zadra, Energylandia
One park I want to visit for the first time in 2026: Liseberg
One place I want to visit for the first time in 2026: Anywhere in Scandinavia
 
Statistics
Start of year credit count: 200
End of year credit count: 232
New credits gained: 32
Start of year park count: 27
End of year park count: 38
New parks visited: 5
Entries in the Top 10: 0 - weep.

Best and Worst
Best new coaster: Mahuka, Walibi Rhone Alps
Best new park: Walibi Rhone Alps - surprisingly beautiful and well run.
Best new water ride: Excalibur, Movie Park Germany
Best new flat ride: Danse Macabre, Efteling
Biggest positive surprise: Yukon Quad, Le Pal - what a stonking family coaster.
Biggest disappointment: Haunting, Drayton Manor - meh.
Most disappointing closure: None- hurrah.
Favourite coaster ride: First ride on Yukon Quad, Le Pal. Did not expect it to haul ass quite like that.
Favourite park day of 2025: Walibi Rhone Alps, 37 degrees but had a great day on park and met some fellow enthusiasts.
Biggest enthusiast achievement: Finally loving a historic woodie (Coney Island Cyclone)

Non-Coaster
Best new city/country: Hermanus, South Africa
My most important travel advice for the future: Make sure BA have taken payment for your flights to you don't get stranded in Africa.
Best non-coaster moment: The Wine tram in Franschhoek, South Africa. Stunning.

The Future
One coaster I want to ride for the first time in 2026: VelociCoaster - Flights booked for October.
One park I want to visit for the first time in 2026: Epic Universe
One place I want to visit for the first time in 2026: Thailand - Celebrating husband's 40th in March.
 
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