This year, there isn’t as much to be excited about as there was last year in terms of new rides, but there are still plenty of new attractions coming to look forward to!
Valhalla and Enso at Blackpool Pleasure Beach are probably the best that we have this year, with Valhalla being regularly rated as the best dark ride in the world on many lists, so I look forward to experiencing this for the first time!
Enso will see one of Icons trains modified so the rear two seats will spin freely. If Time Traveller and The Ride to Happiness are anything to go by, then I can’t wait to try Icon with spinning seats, Mack seem to build top tier spinning coasters. This is currently the closest we have to a Mack Extreme Spinner in the UK so hopefully it goes down well and we get a ground up thrill machine!
Next would be Farmyard Flier at Paultons Park. We’re heading down there for our first stop of the season in March but the attraction won’t be ready for when we get there which is a shame, but it does also mean another trip to Paultons and I certainly won’t complain at that prospect! I hope as much care has gone into this attraction as the others at Paultons.
Alton Towers are introducing 3 new children’s attraction to CeeBeeBees Land, but I’m certainly not the intended demographic here!
Next up is Drayton Manor. They’ve been teasing a new Viking themed area and a retheme to Buffalo coaster. There aren’t many details on the new attraction(s), but based on the time frame, we can probably rule out a new rollercoaster for now.
Hopefully we’ll see a nicely themed area, with a good replacement for Pandemonium. If Adventure Cove is anything to go by, then we should be in for a real treat here!
This year should hopefully see the opening of Flamingo Land’s new rollercoaster. As yet it hasn’t had an official name released but everyone is calling it ‘Inversion’. I hope they come up with a better name personally but I am looking forward to getting on this for the first time. I’m expecting it to be great as its a near clone of Colossus at Thorpe Park, a ride I’m warming up to. The biggest difference is that it has lapbars instead of over the shoulder restraints which is definitely a plus!
Finally, there are a few smaller additions to the smaller parks such as Adventure Island getting a Tivoli Extreme, Barry Island getting a KMG speed 2, and Great Yarmouth Pleasure Beach getting 2 new rides, Pendulum and a Rockin’ Tug. All of which I hope to get to throughout the year!
I haven’t been to a lot of the smaller parks such as Barry Island and Great Yarmouth Pleasure Beach, so everything they have to offer will be new to me!
I’m hoping to get to many of Thorpe Parks new events such as Mardis gras and Carnival, as well as sampling their Oktoberfest to compare to Alton Towers’ version.
I’d like to see Chessington refine Wilderfest this year and to get back to Alton Towers for their Oktoberfest and newly announced Festival of Thrills!
Our bigger trip this year will be to cover a lot of the Halloween events going on, with the hopes of seeing Paultons, Legoland, Thorpe park and Alton Towers, with potential for Blackpool Pleasure Beach and Chessington if time allows!
I also plan to see Legolands fireworks this year, as well as Alton Towers’ display too!
Finally I hope to get back to Oakwood and ride Megafobia and Speed: No limits to death and visit a few parks in the south west.
A busy year lined up this year, visiting more new parks and seeing new events!
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