Theme Park Thoughts

10/08/2019

The blog (and so this page) have had crickets chirping for a while now, but you can find me and my Thoughts over on Twitter. https://twitter.com/themingthoughts

14/03/2017

The Evolution of B&M's Dive Coaster - http://themeparkthoughtsblog.blogspot.co.uk/2017/03/the-evolution-of-b-dive-coasters.html

13/03/2017

New post coming soon!

07/12/2016

NEW POST! Intimidator 305 at Kings Dominion - Review http://themeparkthoughtsblog.blogspot.co.uk/2016/12/intimidator-305-at-kings-dominion-review_7.html

21/10/2016

New post!

Mourning for Air When you take the monorail from Alton’s carpark to the entrance, the aqua blue track of the original B&M flying coaster ...

17/10/2016

Working on a review of Galactica which has turned into more of an explanation of why Air was important... I've always felt quite alone in my appreciation of Air, any other fans out there?

04/10/2016

My review of Derren Brown's Ghost Train is now live. It's long, it's harsh and as usual, I realised a some things as I was writing... http://themeparkthoughtsblog.blogspot.co.uk/2016/10/derren-browns-ghost-train-at-thorpe.html

Founded Pessimism Ok, feel free to skip this these first few paragraphs to the Expectations heading if you’re just interested in my criti...

04/10/2016

Should have a review of Derren Brown's Ghost Train live tonight. Stay tuned.

30/07/2016

VR is anti theme park... and some thoughts on Derren Brown's Ghost Train http://themeparkthoughtsblog.blogspot.co.uk

A creative, theoretical and critical exploration of amusement parks, rides and themed environment design.

25/07/2016

Almost there on the VR post... Stay tuned.

12/07/2016

I have begun writing about VR in preparation to try out Derren Brown's Ghost Train next week and hopefully have the post up within a reasonable timeframe afterwards. No promises, obviously! ;)

24/06/2016

Thinking about a post on Intimidator 305... A major polarising coaster seems an interesting choice. I feel there is plenty to discuss and that I have now ridden it enough to judge it fairly.

What are people's thoughts on I305? Love it, hate it? Why?

14/06/2016

Theme Park Thoughts is now on Twitter! Follow there for some... Concise comments to accompany the blog!

The latest Tweets from Theme Park Thoughts (). More concise comments from Theme Park Thoughts

28/05/2016

This way for a long overdue Nemesis 21st birthday celebration... A review of the UK's most famous roller coaster. Sit back, it's fright time! http://themeparkthoughtsblog.blogspot.co.uk/2016/05/nemesis-at-alton-towers-review.html

24/05/2016

Nobody knows where it came from. Nobody knows what it wants. There are theories, and then... There is The Legend.

14/05/2016

Finally, a new post! Somewhat delayed past the point of still being relevant, but here's my thoughts on Banksy's Dismaland and of theme parks as art. As always, share your own thoughts in the comments! http://themeparkthoughtsblog.blogspot.co.uk/2016/05/banksys-dismaland-and-theme-parks-as.html

21/09/2015

Check out this screenshot of the kind of search keywords that land on my blog... Bit of a grim obsession there. I like to think that people agree with the review - that Skyrush feels like its trying to kill you, conclude it MUST have and go Googling. ;)

23/08/2015

"[Dismaland is] a theme park whose big theme is theme parks should have bigger themes." Guess Banksy doesn't know about Disney's Animal Kingdom.

03/07/2015

Back in 2012, I got to ride Verbolten quite a lot around the time of it's opening. Felt like I knew it like the back of my hand. I had the chance to ride it again this week and I still find it just as fun! Check out my detailed review from 2012.

http://themeparkthoughtsblog.blogspot.com/2012/08/verbolten-at-busch-gardens-williamsburg.html

22/05/2015

One of the hits to the Theme Park Thoughts blog came from the Google search "I'm going to Thorpe park and I'm scared I'll die".

Whilst hilarious, we really do need to ask why someone would go to a theme park if they thought it was truly unsafe?

I suppose the obvious answer is, "they don't actually think it's unsafe".

But this is all still very important - remember how Merlin claimed their research shows the British public see wooden coasters as unsafe?

The relationship between guests and the perception of amusement ride safety is clearly complex, but I would argue that much of the negativity is less negative than attractions operators fear. It's less a genuine concern of guests and more a popular culture fascination with stories of entertainment gone wrong. In fact, the vast majority of narrative based attractions literally tell that compelling story.

16/03/2015

Hello, welcome and a big thank you to the recent influx of likes! :)

24/02/2015

New post!

A discussion about Dinoland USA at Disney's Animal Kingdom.

As always, comments encouraged! Would love to hear your thoughts.

http://themeparkthoughtsblog.blogspot.co.uk/2015/02/audience-misinterpretation-of.html

18/02/2015

Narrative as a potential hindrance to thematic creativity?

http://www.coasterforce.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=29&t=38731&start=0

08/01/2015

Hello guys! Sorry for the lack of updates over the past, what... Year? But I wanted to share this amazing project a friend is working on... A documentary about British dark rides! Here's the trailer for Better Luck Next Time.

Thirty years ago, something strange happened in Britain...

17/09/2014

"Looking at some recent projects, one can thus ask the following question: is the roller coaster no more than just a means of transport, a ride system option, instead of a performance machine?"

http://www.tejix.com/en/PaperCoasterTheming.html

Investing in a roller coaster is a guaranteed way for an amusement park operator to take advantage of a great commercial visibility. As a matter of fact, these rides don't lack assets in attracting a large number of visitors, even in a difficult economic environment.

12/08/2014

And now for my analysis, inspired by Theme Park Tourist's post.

Share your thoughts in the comments! :D

http://themeparkthoughtsblog.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/park-map-design.html

In an analysis of Thorpe's map on CoasterForce, Serena Cavalera makes an interesting point "It could be said that the maps depiction of wild, young crowds encourages regressive behaviour – reassuring visitors that it’s ok to act like a child for the day within the confined of the group." I'd go even…