Amusement parks

[Katzkatz]

Remember amusement parks (roller coasters and stuff). Okay they still exist in some places, but along with the arcades on the sea front of many British towns they are dying out.

I haven't been to many but I did go to the local one in sunny Margate originally called Bembom Brothers then called Dreamland. They had a loop the loop roller-coaster (called the Shooting Star), a water roller coaster, bumper cars, go karts, an old fashioned wooden roller coaster, a Ferris wheel (it was at the time the largest in Europe), those tea cups thingies on a carousel, a sort of sailing ship that spins around in the air, and a ride which did a straight vertical drop.

Gradually the amusement park got run down over the years. The Looping Star got sold off, the sailing ship ride, and the vertical drop ride went. The Ferris wheel got sold to Mexico, and they tried to sell off the wooden roller coaster, but it had a preservation order slapped on it(they did try to give it some "Jewish lightning though"!).

It used to have an arcade on the front of it, and a cinema, and a bingo hall.

Another reason why the sea front on Margate is so run down, arcades full of fruit machines and no amusement park.

I haven't been to Chessington or Blackpool beach, or Southend's "Adventure Island". I would love to hear anyone's tales of them.

I did go to an amusement park in Belgium when on a family holiday (I think I was 12 at the time). It was massive. It was great fun. I remember the Ferris Wheel, and a "Sailing ship" type ride, but this time it went only half way around, and a flying carpet type ride (You sat in this ride shaped like flying carpet and it went around halfway and went around the opposite direction). I can't remember the name of it, or whether it is still going.

[Antiriad2097]

We still have amusements at Aberdeen beach, though the arcade is a shadow of its former self. The big draw there is probably 10 pin bowling now.

[TwoHeadedBoy]

Pleasure Land in Southport used to be great. They had a hundred-year-old rollercoaster and helter skelter and stuff, as well as the Traumatizer (like Nemesis, only red), a log flume, go-karts, a giant fun house, and loads of other stuff. It got closed down a few years ago, and then for a while there was just the arcade. £5 to get in and then all the machines were on freeplay. Fun?

It got re-opened last year or something, but it's all packaway rides (portable!), and the ancient rollercoaster's been dismantled. The go-karts and the river caves have since burnt down to the ground, very sad. The Traumatizer got moved to Blackpool, painted blue.

And that's the story of Pleasureland.

[Sega2006]

Ive been to a few over the years so heres my opinions.

Aventure Island, southend-on-the-sea: OK but its now a tad kiddie-fied with the walk through pirates exsperiance swapped for a motion cinema aimed at the under 10's, poorly maintained Go-karts are a downer too.

Pleasure beach, Gt Yarmouth: Alright, Im a tad bored of it these days as Ive done pretty much everything there. Smaller than it used to be with some rather awesome rides sadly missing. The 70+ year old coaster is still there but your a tad fudged if your over 6ft and wish to ride it.

Pleasure wood hills, nr Gt Yarmouth: Good for the familiy but a tad exspensive for whats on offer. Circus, Sealion and Parrot shows happen throughout the day along witha few rides. Alchahol served in some areas and there is an arcade witha few good Games.

Pleasure beach, Blackpool: Its been 10 years since I went but from what I remeber it was pretty good with a load of rides, exspensive though.

Chessington: Been a few years since I went, good for the younger people with a zoo for the boring adults to look at

Thorpe park: Bloody good, plenty to do but queues are a nightmare. Collosous goes too slow for my likeing through the barrel roll leaving possible bruised shoulders.

Hope this is a worthy contribution.

[djcarlos]

Alton Towers used to be the king when I were a lad, haven't been for years though. Could've gone a bit Disney.

My most-visited would be Drayton Manor Park & Zooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo. Must have gone their at least three times a year as a lad.

[Sega2006]

I forgot about disney, its basically what all theme parks aim to be like. My Great Uncle went on all the rides in Florida that I went on and he was in his late sixties back then, so that goes to show that all the familiy will enjoy it until you see the bill

[The Hardest of All Freds]

Don't forget Funland, Craggy Island's finest attraction! With the Pool of Terror, the Wheel of Horror, the Spider Baby and the Seat of Death (so called because some fella died on it last year)

This saturday at The Field.

[oldtimer]

That Spider baby was well worth the entrance fee alone !

[supermario]

We still have amusements at Aberdeen beach, though the arcade is a shadow of its former self. The big draw there is probably 10 pin bowling now.

Yeah I used to go there a lot in the late 80's and it was fantastic. Was there a cpl years ago and it was just crap (or maybe I'm getting old).

[forestville]

coney beach in porthcawl south wales is a great place to visit, they have loads of rides and stuff

http://www.coneybeach.com/

[STranger81]

Always been a fan of Alton Towers myself. Great rides and a brilliant all round park. My only gripe is that everyone thinks its fine to get there about 10am when its getting really busy.

I only live about 40 minutes drive away and I INSIST on getting there for 7.30 and queue for the monorail so im in right at the start.

Also went to Drayton Manor back in 2002 with my then girlfriend and a group of people and un beknown to us the CITV White Knuckle tour visiting the place that day. Trivia fact, I was in the queue with Busted for the ghost train!

[David]

Blackpool pleasure beach purely for nostalgia reasons, but THIS place in Belgium is awesome

http://www.bellewaerdepark.be/en/amusem ... aerde-park

went with the school in 1994 or 1995, also went to another couple of parks there too.

Belgium gets a reputation as a boring place but I loved it

[Katzkatz]

Blackpool pleasure beach purely for nostalgia reasons, but THIS place in Belgium is awesome

http://www.bellewaerdepark.be/en/amusem ... aerde-park

went with the school in 1994 or 1995, also went to another couple of parks there too.

Belgium gets a reputation as a boring place but I loved it

Thanks for posting this up David. It was the theme park I visited in Belgium and couldn't remember the name of. Great to see the place is still going!!!

[bonerlaw]

Being a "Norvern Munkey", I went to theme parks like

Camelot,
Lightwater Valley,
Flamingo Land,
Pleasure Island in Cleethorpes,
And, one of my favourite ones from Childhood, the American Adventure! Which sadly closed down a few years ago!

[David]

Blackpool pleasure beach purely for nostalgia reasons, but THIS place in Belgium is awesome

http://www.bellewaerdepark.be/en/amusem ... aerde-park

went with the school in 1994 or 1995, also went to another couple of parks there too.

Belgium gets a reputation as a boring place but I loved it

Thanks for posting this up David. It was the theme park I visited in Belgium and couldn't remember the name of. Great to see the place is still going!!!

Did you go with your school? If you did, you probably went to a couple of others like we did

one was called "Walibi Park" but I can't remember the name of the 3rd

We stayed in a town called Blankenberge, I loved it

It helped that the pubs in the wee town served a bunch of 14 year olds, and the coke machines also sold wee cans of beer