Posted
on July 26, 2010, 3:45 pm,
by Theme Park Videos,
under Theme Park Rides.
My friends have just been to Thorpe Park in the UK for a birthday day out and had a fantastic time. I haven’t been there in years so I searched out a recent video to show you the theme park rides on offer there for 2010.
Thorpe Park was always considered a bit tame compared to Alton Towers but it has improved over the years. Not sure it qualifies as the “Thrill Capital” as stated at the beginning of the video but it definitely has a good selection of exciting looking theme park rides.
Posted
on July 23, 2010, 9:34 pm,
by Theme Park Videos,
under Theme Park Rides.
There are many cool theme park rides around the world so it is hard to focus on just one or two. Here are just some of the ones I’d like to ride in the near future.
Firstly, the Wizarding World of Harry Potter has finally opened and as a huge Harry Potter fan I’d love to go and take in the whole experience, but I’m especially looking forward to trying the Dragon Challenge (definitely the Chinese Fireball for me) and the Forbidden Journey (the theme park’s signature ride, although it looks more like an “event”):
Another cool ride I would love to try out is one I wrote about in this post on new theme park rides – Intimidator at Carowinds:
Inspired by NASCAR’s Dale Earnhardt, the ride has some really steep drops and reaches some impressive speeds. Unfortunately, I’m unlikely to make it to North/South Carolina anytime soon.
Posted
on July 8, 2010, 8:57 pm,
by Theme Park Videos,
under Theme Park Rides.
Camelot is a Theme Park in North West of England. Naturally, with a name like that, it is based around the legend of King Arthur, and the Camelot theme park rides generally follow this theme too.
Camelot is a fun family day out but it is unlikely to satisfy roller coaster enthusiasts. Knightmare is the most intense of the rides and does offer a good thrill, hitting an impressive 5Gs at times.
Apart from Knightmare, there’s Whirlwind, Excalibur, The Log Flume, and a bunch of more child friendly rides, but they’re all standard fare.
By all means take the kids and have a family day out – you’ll have fun – but don’t expect a day of thrills from the rides.
Posted
on June 28, 2010, 10:00 pm,
by Theme Park Videos,
under Theme Park Rides.
Sometimes old theme park rides can be the most enjoyable (and scary). Wooden roller coasters have a unique sound that clunks and rattles and leaves you feeling less than comfortable about the safety of the ride.
Of course, any roller coaster operating today (even after decades) is subject to the same strict regulations, but it’s the impression of being less safe that adds to the thrill.
Old theme park rides move differently from their more modern counterparts too. Both will jolt you around but in modern roller coasters that’s usually due to the sheer acrobatics of the ride moving through loops and twists. On older rides the jolts are perhaps more predictable for the rider but are like driving an older car where you feel every bump in the road!
Posted
on June 21, 2010, 4:11 pm,
by Theme Park Videos,
under Theme Park Rides.
Port Aventura in Salou, Spain (about an hour out of Barcelona is one of Europe’s premier theme parks and a “must visit” for any European theme park fan. The most thrilling of the Port Aventura theme park rides include Furius Baco (0 to 135 kmph in 3 seconds), Stampida, and Dragon Khan (8 loops at 110 kmph).
This pov video shows Dragon Khan in action [warning: the girl has a high pitched scream - you might want to turn the volume down a bit]:
The rides at Port Aventura are classed as children’s, soft, moderate and high, with the 3 mentioned earlier all fitting into the final category along with Hurakan Condor – a free fall ride that drops you almost 100m.
Posted
on June 20, 2010, 11:39 am,
by Theme Park Videos,
under Roller Coaster Videos.
If you’ve been browsing Youtube for videos of theme park rides, you may be wondering what roller coaster videos pov means. POV stands for point of view i.e. you are seeing what the rider is seeing and, in my opionion, the best videos of rides are those taken from a pov perspective.
It can be really tempting to take videos of your face (and those of your friends) when you are on a roller coaster – and for you and your friends they will probably be really amusing videos. But if you plan on showing these videos to others and sharing them on YouTube then most people will not want to watch strangers screaming and pulling faces for 3 minutes.
The pov video gives the viewer a really good feel of the ride and how exciting it is. It doesn’t quite match actually being on the ride but it is the best alternative to being there.
Take a look at this short pov video of the Top Thrill Dragster ride at Cedar Point – isn’t this much more exciting that watching the riders faces?
June 12, 2010 – Discussion of whether you should sneak your camera onto roller coasters when you’re not allowed. Funny, just submitted an article to Ezine Articles which includes my thoughts on this (incidentally – don’t believe you should)
Posted
on June 12, 2010, 3:47 pm,
by Theme Park Videos,
under Theme Park Rides.
There are too many extreme theme park rides to name in this one post but I was looking at some videos from Cedar Point in Ohio and realized they have a high proportion of truly extreme rides including Maverick, Top Thrill Dragster and Millennium Force.
This video shows Maverick which launches at 70mph, has a vertical drop of 95 degrees and includes a twisted horseshoe roll:
Millennium Force at Cedar Point is possibly even more extreme with a 93mph, 80 degree drop and reaching heights of 320mph – not one for those of you who hate heights:
Regardless of which one is the scariest (let me know which you prefer) a trip to Cedar Point based in Sandusky, Ohio, is worth a trip for any roller coaster or theme park enthusiast with its range of excellent rides.
There are some cool iPhone apps available and this one caught my eye as perfect for lovers of theme parks. It’s the Walt Disney World iPhone App (not an official Disney app) from Undercover Tourist and gives you all the information you’ll need when visiting Walt Disney World in Orlando, including:
wait times for rides
interactive maps
opening hours
parade times
Traffic Light System to choose the best park and ride with the lowest crowds
