Theme Park Regrets

[Eggroll]

Hi everyone, as I've grown into becoming a fan of roller coasters, I've been thinking about some regrets I've had over the years in terms of my previous theme park attendance or lack thereof in some cases and was wondering if all of you guys have any theme park regrets from your time in the hobby over the years. I have 2 big ones personally.

The first one being not visiting any parks while I was attending university in England. As someone who lives in the United States, I hugely regret not taking advantage of living in England for 4 years and not visiting any parks in not only England but Europe as a whole. Any time I thought about planning a trip I told myself I was too busy, or I'd get a group together and go later to make the trip more fun and it never ended up happening. Now if I wanna go to any of these parks it'll be a much more costly endeavor. Parks like Alton Towers and Efteling are on my bucket list and I regret not taking the opportunity to make those trips a reality.

My other big regret is not giving roller coasters a chance sooner. Ever since I was a kid I was extremely scared of roller coasters due to a bad experience I had as a kid at a travelling carnival. This caused me to miss out on some local coasters I'll never get a chance to ride, like Canobie Corkscrew at Canobie Lake Park and Goliath at Six Flags New England, and missing out on all the Disneyland credits on my one trip I took there. I also think this was a big part in why I didn't go to parks in England, as I didn't think I'td be worth going if I didn't want to ride coasters. Luckily I've seen the light and can begin my coaster journey, even if it's a little later than most.

What are your guys' theme park or roller coaster regrets?

 

[Rob Coasters]

Everyone has that "ride that got away" so I have some other stuff.

Not spending a second day at Canada's Wonderland
It would have absolutely broken the bank, but I feel like I did not spend enough time at Canada's Wonderland to get all the worth I could out of that park. I guess I had my reasons (such as some very massive anxiety over the whole Canada thing), but damn it would have been nice to get a few more rides on their attractions.

Not getting a disability card sooner for discounted park entry
I am eligible for some forms of Disability Card which would land me some appreciable discounts at certain parks. I've had a certain avoidance towards that sort of paperwork, and it looks like I'm eating dust when I look at what I could have saved. I guess the old saying goes: "the best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago, the second best time is right now".

Not taking Europa Park slower in November 2024
I took my parents to Europa Park for my birthday weekend in 2024 which was incredibly stressful for me as the extensive list of rides made it so that I was in panic mode for pretty much the entirety of the trip, which brought the mood down significantly and has now indirectly made me fairly avoidant on going back to Europa as a whole because it brings back those memories. My parents suffered as a direct result to the point where it all became more of a burden and a chore rather than a fun couple of days out, with me needing to spend some time on my own as well. I forgot just how physically and somewhat mentally exhausting Europa Park was for me back on my first visit in August of that year, and the chaos of having to try and fit in "as much s**t in as possible" made it for a visit where I severely regret the way that I acted. I hope to redeem myself by bringing them to Efteling which is a park where I can more reliably enjoy myself while having the time of my life as a tour guide.

I think I have had a general sense of being a little too controlling in the past over what we did/didn't do. I have to remember these days that the people I take will probably never have a reason to go back to those parks again, whereas I'll probably return in the next year or so. I think that's my single biggest regret, not allowing the others to have more say in what rides we did. Because I'm going to be back - they might not. At least I've noticed this now, so just have to put this plan into action.