teamtickleguy
2nd Level Orange Feather
- Joined
- Aug 26, 2004
- Messages
- 2,495
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- 38
I was just wondering if anyone had any interesting or amusing thoughts and experiences relating to these sorts of places.
Theme parks have been in the UK press a lot recently, due to some awful accidents, banning of selfie sticks, newly opened parks, parks for sale and I was just having a think and a look through old photos.
Do you have a favourite venue? favourite ride? terrifying experience? memorable date with a love interest? rediscovered your youth by taking your kids/nieces/nephews to a fair?
Has anyone been to Dollywood? Neverland Ranch?
I was a late blossomer when it comes to theme park rides, I didn't really go for anything too daunting until I was almost out of my teens.
I quite like photography of active theme parks and rides in action, but also of the many abandoned theme parks that seem to litter various countries, not just the UK. A famous one in UK (Dreamland, at Margate) has recently reopened.
I think you can fully appreciate the structures of the rides when they are not obscured by lighting or people etc, plus there's a natural eeriness to an abandoned theme park - the silence and stillness of what was once a hub of activity.
There is also a semi-spoof theme park called Dismaland ('dismal land'), a project from the artist Banksy situated at a dis-used lido, which is a fully functioning theme park, but aimed squarely against all that is capitalist about them parks and only open for a short period of time - I unfortunately haven't been able to go.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-34347681
I spend quite a bit of time over the Summer at vintage shows, which usually include a vintage funfair - the rides are often rickety, powered by steam and accompanied by vintage music played by fairground organs, or by the music from the era of Glenn Miller, Buddy Holly - the atmosphere at night is fantastic and once you're done with the rides you can have a beer and keep warm by the steam engines until the organs play the National Anthem at midnight.
Rides such as the Cakewalk, the Big Wheel, the giant Swingboats the old fashioned Helter Skelter, the Wall of Death - they are all quite frightening by way of their age and the way you feel so exposed on them.
You can't hook a goldfish anymore though.
When it comes to modern rides I do love the rollercoasters, being twisted and dropped and thrown upside down, but what I DON'T like is being spun around in one direction whilst the ride is going in the other direction - things like the Twister or the Waltzer or the children's Teacups have previously made me very sick!
The shade of green my face goes has become infamous in my family and frequently is a talking point at family gatherings.
I always enjoy the water rides, log flumes etc
My single most terrifying experience was with a friend at a water park in Torremolinos - the vertical slide shown in one of the attached photos - what made it so terrifying was how exposed we felt at the top - it was so high, by the time we had climbed all the way up we were really cold and nobody else seemed to be going on the slide - there was no attendant at the top. You couldn't hear anything at all from down below, there wasn't even the sound or sight or rushing water. It was almost as though the ride was shut and it felt a bit like an abandoned ride, like I described earlier.
You also couldn't see anything over the edge, the drop was completely vertical, it felt as though you were jumping off into nothing and if you got it wrong you could easily leave the slide and fall. I was so anxious that I made my friend (who is usually the more cautious of the two of us) go first. The slide was one hell of an experience, I felt incredible having made it to the bottom unharmed, but it was not the sort of thing we wanted to go straight back on again!!
I did once get tickled on a Ghost Train as well, but that's another story...
Cheers
TTG
Theme parks have been in the UK press a lot recently, due to some awful accidents, banning of selfie sticks, newly opened parks, parks for sale and I was just having a think and a look through old photos.
Do you have a favourite venue? favourite ride? terrifying experience? memorable date with a love interest? rediscovered your youth by taking your kids/nieces/nephews to a fair?
Has anyone been to Dollywood? Neverland Ranch?
I was a late blossomer when it comes to theme park rides, I didn't really go for anything too daunting until I was almost out of my teens.
I quite like photography of active theme parks and rides in action, but also of the many abandoned theme parks that seem to litter various countries, not just the UK. A famous one in UK (Dreamland, at Margate) has recently reopened.
I think you can fully appreciate the structures of the rides when they are not obscured by lighting or people etc, plus there's a natural eeriness to an abandoned theme park - the silence and stillness of what was once a hub of activity.
There is also a semi-spoof theme park called Dismaland ('dismal land'), a project from the artist Banksy situated at a dis-used lido, which is a fully functioning theme park, but aimed squarely against all that is capitalist about them parks and only open for a short period of time - I unfortunately haven't been able to go.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-34347681
I spend quite a bit of time over the Summer at vintage shows, which usually include a vintage funfair - the rides are often rickety, powered by steam and accompanied by vintage music played by fairground organs, or by the music from the era of Glenn Miller, Buddy Holly - the atmosphere at night is fantastic and once you're done with the rides you can have a beer and keep warm by the steam engines until the organs play the National Anthem at midnight.
Rides such as the Cakewalk, the Big Wheel, the giant Swingboats the old fashioned Helter Skelter, the Wall of Death - they are all quite frightening by way of their age and the way you feel so exposed on them.
You can't hook a goldfish anymore though.
When it comes to modern rides I do love the rollercoasters, being twisted and dropped and thrown upside down, but what I DON'T like is being spun around in one direction whilst the ride is going in the other direction - things like the Twister or the Waltzer or the children's Teacups have previously made me very sick!
The shade of green my face goes has become infamous in my family and frequently is a talking point at family gatherings.
I always enjoy the water rides, log flumes etc
My single most terrifying experience was with a friend at a water park in Torremolinos - the vertical slide shown in one of the attached photos - what made it so terrifying was how exposed we felt at the top - it was so high, by the time we had climbed all the way up we were really cold and nobody else seemed to be going on the slide - there was no attendant at the top. You couldn't hear anything at all from down below, there wasn't even the sound or sight or rushing water. It was almost as though the ride was shut and it felt a bit like an abandoned ride, like I described earlier.
You also couldn't see anything over the edge, the drop was completely vertical, it felt as though you were jumping off into nothing and if you got it wrong you could easily leave the slide and fall. I was so anxious that I made my friend (who is usually the more cautious of the two of us) go first. The slide was one hell of an experience, I felt incredible having made it to the bottom unharmed, but it was not the sort of thing we wanted to go straight back on again!!
I did once get tickled on a Ghost Train as well, but that's another story...
Cheers
TTG
