What UK Parks are "Worth It?"

[Antinos]

Although I certainly intend to hop the pond for some English coasting sooner or later, I don't see that happening for a few more years. Despite that, I am still curious about what a hypothetical English cred run (in the most technical sense) would look like, and with the number of seasoned UK park-goers on the forums, I figure that it'll lead to an interesting discussion.

Obviously, Alton Towers, Pleasure Beach Blackpool, and Thorpe Park are the must visits, but there are certainly more worthwhile parks than just those three. For instance, is it worth a trip down to Paulton's Park, or over to Oakwood or Fantasy Island? Surely Flamingoland and Lightwater Valley make the cut...or do they? Should one even bother stopping at Drayton Manor on the way up to Alton Towers? Let's say you have seven days max for which you're planning a UK cred run (but it could be shorter if preferred):

• Which parks would you visit?
• Which parks would you combine into a single day (Thorpe and Chessington, or Lightwater Valley and Flamingoland)?
• How would you order these parks along the route?
• What methods of transportation would you take to each park? (No need to spell out the entire transit process down to a tee - stating if the park is accessible by train or bus, or if it's easiest to travel by car should suffice)
• What hidden gems would you stop at along the way? (not necessarily limited to coasters - it could be that tiny, unknown family entertainment center with a one-of-a-kind ride or it could be that pub you always stop at after visiting whatever park)

So, with putting on your foreign coaster goon cap while retaining all your current UK park knowledge, let's see what this design by committee cred run looks like!

 

[CanobieFan]

Based on my park visits...

Adventure Island: Con - not really worth it. Pro - Easy to get to on train
Alton Towers: Would do whatever it took to go back a 4th time.... <3
Blackpool Pleasure Beach: Would love to return, two days wasn't enough.
Camelot Theme Park: RIP
Chessington World of Adventures: Would return but didn't regret not making a second visit when I could have.
Coney Beach Pleasure Park: Meh, pass
Drayton Manor: Would return, did it the same day as my second day at Alton. Shockwave's Zero G Roll is fantastic haha
Flamingo Land : changed A LOT since my visit, still wouldn't go out of my way to return (did Lightwater the same day)
Great Yarmouth Pleasure Beach: Fun, old school woodie (and easy to do with Joyland and Pleasurewood same day)
Legoland Windsor: $$$ but it was my first Legoland visit so I enjoyed it. (love LEGO)
Lightwater Valley: I really liked the park, but I don't know if I'd really make a trek back if it wasn't gonna be easy.
Oakwood Theme Park: Loved Speed and Hydro but the rest was pretty...meh. Not really worth the effort.
Pleasurewood Hills: rare Schwarzkopf... and one of the last Huss TriStars <3
South Pier: I mean, its next to Blackpool... and +1
Southport Pleasureland: I don't even know whats going on with this place.... for sure isn't the park I visited in 2005, haha.
Thorpe Park: Six Flags London, ehhh, I've been twice... and the last time it was for free...but honestly outside of getting credits, I don't really like the place :|

If I were returning to the UK I would do my best to do Blackpool and Alton... I'd also like to visit Paultons Park, Fantasy Island (but I'm sure its not worth it!), and Brighton. But I do see the appeal in going to Thrope and if you're gonna be in London, Chessington is fun (Dragon's Fury is awesome <3)

Edit, oh, and I've been to Gulliver's Warrington bit I dont think they let childless adults in anymore, haha

 

[Smithy]

Somewhat agree with what you've already said - the three absolute must-dos are Alton, Thorpe and Blackpool, and in reality you'd probably want a full day at each.

I absolutely would not go out of your way to Oakwood, it's a ballache to get to. You could probably tick off Legoland and Chessington in the same day if you wanted the creds but in truth I wouldn't urge you to squeeze them both in.

Flamingo Land on it's own isn't worth travelling far for, but if you combined it with LWV and The Ultimate for the experience then I'd say it's a shout. I love FL but would never tell someone to go out of their way for it. If you did want a cred run, the east coast (Yarmouth etc...) would be a good run.

 

[GregBoxall]

Alongside the mentioned parks like Towers, Pleasure Beach and Thorpe I'd highly recommend a trip down to Paultons. Its the best UK family park by far and Tornado Springs is looking fantastic. Plus if you've got time in the afternoon you could always head over to Portsmouth for a few Pier creds.

Oakwood is a great little park, but you'll be done in a few hours and there's nothing else in the area.

I'd recommend Flamingo land if you're looking to get as many creds as possible, but if you're not planning on coming back to the UK for a while I'd suggest a second day at Towers.

 

[sarahsmile]

following because going to the UK is hopefully in the nearish future whenever things start to normalize

 

[SilverArrow]

Based on my park visits...

Adventure Island: Con - not really worth it. Pro - Easy to get to on train
Alton Towers: Would do whatever it took to go back a 4th time.... <3
Blackpool Pleasure Beach: Would love to return, two days wasn't enough.
Camelot Theme Park: RIP
Chessington World of Adventures: Would return but didn't regret not making a second visit when I could have.
Coney Beach Pleasure Park: Meh, pass
Drayton Manor: Would return, did it the same day as my second day at Alton. Shockwave's Zero G Roll is fantastic haha
Flamingo Land : changed A LOT since my visit, still wouldn't go out of my way to return (did Lightwater the same day)
Great Yarmouth Pleasure Beach: Fun, old school woodie (and easy to do with Joyland and Pleasurewood same day)
Legoland Windsor: $$$ but it was my first Legoland visit so I enjoyed it. (love LEGO)
Lightwater Valley: I really liked the park, but I don't know if I'd really make a trek back if it wasn't gonna be easy.
Oakwood Theme Park: Loved Speed and Hydro but the rest was pretty...meh. Not really worth the effort.
Pleasurewood Hills: rare Schwarzkopf... and one of the last Huss TriStars <3
South Pier: I mean, its next to Blackpool... and +1
Southport Pleasureland: I don't even know whats going on with this place.... for sure isn't the park I visited in 2005, haha.
Thorpe Park: Six Flags London, ehhh, I've been twice... and the last time it was for free...but honestly outside of getting credits, I don't really like the place :|

If I were returning to the UK I would do my best to do Blackpool and Alton... I'd also like to visit Paultons Park, Fantasy Island (but I'm sure its not worth it!), and Brighton. But I do see the appeal in going to Thrope and if you're gonna be in London, Chessington is fun (Dragon's Fury is awesome <3)

Edit, oh, and I've been to Gulliver's Warrington bit I dont think they let childless adults in anymore, haha

The tristar has gone now, when I rode it last it didn't even rise up! Would be interested to find one to ride. (Also correct about gullivers and the kids.)

 

[Matt N]

I’d say that Oakwood is definitely worth a visit if you’re willing to go a little (OK, quite a bit) out of your way; Megafobia is really good fun, in my opinion, especially if you like woodies! Combined with Speed (not really a fan of it, personally, but the airtime hill’s phenomenal!), I’d say that Oakwood possibly has the most airtime-filled coaster selection in the country! If you don’t mind a rougher ride, then the back row of Megafobia provides some simply phenomenal ejector airtime! However, I admit that there are much easier parks to visit in the country, and it isn’t the easiest to integrate into a linear UK road trip like I imagine you would want to do. It’s not the biggest of parks, and there isn’t a huge amount there, however the Pembrokeshire coastline is a very nice area of the UK, in my opinion, and there is Folly Farm relatively nearby, which does have a zoo and a nice vintage funfair (sans creds, however, so not of any real interest if you’re only seeking coasters). Practicality-wise, however... there are many far easier parks to include, if you ask me.

Flamingo Land and Lightwater Valley might be easy to integrate in when up in the North of the country, just along from Blackpool Pleasure Beach. The Ultimate tends to be one of many people’s favourite coasters in the UK, and it’s incredibly unique, so probably worth a ride if you’re visiting the UK, and Flamingo Land does have quite a few creds, some of which look fairly notable.

Drayton Manor would be a pretty easy park to do en route from Alton Towers to the south of the country, but I wouldn’t say there’s too much there that’s particularly notable. Shockwave is OK, but nothing particularly earth-shattering, in my opinion, and the rest of the coasters are family coasters. I didn’t really get the hype for Apocalypse, personally, but a lot of people do like it and say it’s one of their favourite Intamin drop towers, if you’re into drop towers.

Chessington and Legoland are fairly easy to do if visiting Thorpe Park; they’re all relatively close to one another, and I think they’re easily accessible from the M25, along with Thorpe (the M25 is a large motorway circling London). However, do bear in mind that these are very much theme parks aimed at young families, so neither of them have any huge thrill rides. If you’re looking at it exclusively from a cred standpoint, then neither would probably require a full day unless you visited during a very busy period, but both arguably have a much stronger selection of non-coasters than coasters if you’re seeking a more varied visit.

 

[davidm]

IMHO;
Must do's (in order of priority) ; Blackpool/Alton/Thorpe
Want a bit more? ; Flamingoland (just for cred quantity)/Lightwater Valley (just for t'Ultimate)/Fantasy Island (just for the ridiculous Vekomas)
Getting desperate ; the rest

 

[Fi]

Most/all parks are accessible by public transport but some are much easier by car, and if your renting a car anyway you might as well pick it up at the airport and keep it the whole time.

You’re flying from the US so you’re flight will probably arrive early morning, to London as it has the most options.

Day 1 Legoland and Chessington
Jet lag is a bitch so a nice easy day today - Legoland and Chessie. Legoland first if you fly into Heathrow, Chessie first if you fly into Gatwick. I’ve been to a few Legoland parks and the Windsor one is my 2nd favourite. Has the classic Legoland rides, but feels bigger than say Legoland Florida. If you weren’t obsessed with Lego as a kid you may not enjoy it so much but there’s still 3 creds. You should have enough time to see everything in each park in a half day as long as you don’t faff too much.

Day 2 Thorpe
This place is tiny compared to most US parks, but it has some decent quality rides. It may be a park people love to hate but Stealth, Swarm, Nemesis Inferno, Saw and even Colousus are all decent coasters, and Derren Brown Ghost Train is something different.

The order depends on whether you’re a cred whore or more interested in a nice day. Cred whore order below, if not switch the direction and do Oakwood day 6/7

Day 3 (Oakwood and others)

Oakwood is a 4hr Drive from Thorpe and 4.5hrs from BPB to give some perspective to it being “out of the way”
I visited Oakwood for the first time at the weekend and thought it was a lovely little park and Megafobia is one of the best coasters in the U.K. In normal times it’s often open until 10pm on Saturdays in summer so can end a cred Run day there. If you wanted cred quantity you could start at Brean (4 creds) - Funland (3 creds) - Barry Island (2 creds) - Coney Beach (1-2 creds if you’re lucky) - Oakwood (5 creds). None particularly worthy apart from Megafobia, but it’s a decent quantity in a day. Oakwood has the UKs first Eurofighter too, plus some fun water and flat rides so it’s good for a few hours.

Alternatively loop round the U.K. the other way as see some welsh mountains and the FForest mountain Coaster and/ or Follys Farm on your way to Oakwood.

Day 4 Blackpool
Haven’t been in recent years so can’t comment too much, but it’s a classic amusement park and one of few decent ones in the U.K. so an obvious must do.

Day 5 Flamingoland & Lightwater
The Ultimate is a terrifying experience, starts off more like a train than Coaster but is insane in the 2nd half! so if it’s open it’s worth stopping in for, other than that there’s nothing interesting here so won’t need much time and is nearby to Flamingoland. Haven’t actually been to Flamingolamd myself yet (holding out for the new cred) but it’s got quantity of rides, and you wouldn’t want to miss a Volare!

Day 6 Alton Towers
Some of the UKs best coasters are here so it’s a must do, operations and opening times can be **** so you may need 2 days if you go at a busy time such as August or October. 1 day should be enough for the creds, but some people like 2 days to take it at a more relaxed pace.

Day 7 Alton Towers or Paultons Park
Few options here - either stay the day at Alton, or combine with some Midlands creds, there’s quite a few scattered around about an hour or so Drive from AT, just wacky worms and SBF Visa spinners, though thr SBF visa spinner is in a nice city park with some good non cred attractions so can spend an evening there, this is particularly doable if AT closes at 4pm.
Alternativly if you’ve powered through and done AT in a day then Paultons may be worth a stop to see a nice park.

And that’s you see all the best of the U.K. parks in just a week!

 

[emoo]

Alton Towers can be done by train but far from any station so it's a long bus ride that's not that frequent or convenient. There are many B&Bs nearby if the resort hotels are too pricey but I dont know of a footpath from Alton village to the resort. Not ideal in the cramped unlit windy roads at park close rush hour.

Thorpe Park is close to Staines station and has a good shuttle bus (cash or contactless card).

Blackpool has a few train stations all in walking distance to the Pleasure Beach (and South Pier) but check a map for the closest one on your available train routes.

Surely Flamingoland and Lightwater Valley make the cut...or do they?

Lightwater Valley is worth if for the Ultimate alone, a key UK coaster. The rest of the place missable and less than half a day if you hussle. Flamingo land is close by car so you may as well get easy numbers with the remaining time if driving.

ChessingtonWoA is a 10 minute simple walk from Chessington South train station. Dragons Fury is a noteworthy spinner and Vampire one of the few Arrows we got. Could be a full or half day depending on how you feel about it. Like @Smithy said perhaps go to Legoland Windsor on the same day if you really wanted to add that park too.

Paultons Park is a short taxi ride via either Southampton stations (just agree a price beforehand and don't go by the meter). It's the little park that could, shoots above its weight and appreciated as such. A half day park if you like but not sure what else you would do.

Oakwood is not close to a train station, has no bus link and a long drive from anywhere and not on the way to anywhere else. Not been as a result so perhaps listen to @Matt N and the ECC who have good things to say. Megaphobia is basically Rampage in Alabama so I expect its great, and that may impact your need to go one way or another. You could say you've been deep into Wales ?‍ @Fi does have a good point though.

Shockwave's Zero G Roll is fantastic haha

True, you should at least see if it works out to add Drayton Manor given its somewhat central location. There is West Midland Safari park near by with 3 basic roller coasters if you wanted to add something extra or pad out the day.

If you did want a cred run, the east coast (Yarmouth etc...) would be a good run.

This could also get you the world's largest SLC and an inverted big apple. You need to get up and down the country somehow and better if you do visit FL or LV. Only do this by car though, transport would not be worth the time.

Margate, Brighton Pier and Adventure Island are a few of the smaller parks around the coast with easy train links. All would take up time that could be better spent elsewhere.

You can check train times and prices on loads of websites like Nationalrail.co.uk or Trainline. Google has good info on all public transport links in the country and very reliable although it could involve many different tickets. We have fairly reliable transport here, yes we all have genuine issues at times and moan often but its at least above the world average. There will be a reasonable route for most places in isolation. You can also enjoy a train Wine or Beer which acceptable most places but not the tube. Chaining parks together will be pricey and have many lengthy connections.

Driving will be quicker on all routes and if you can, it's the best option by far. Just don't drive around London sightseeing. No theme parks or main airports are in central London.

UK parks hours are mostly shorter than the US so putting 2 parks into the same day won't always be an option even if they are closer to what you are used to. Most places are seasonal aside special event dates, so don't come in the winter. Avoid weekends and school holidays for the larger parks if you can.

 

[JoshC.]

I was thinking about this when I was on my last road trip, in that the UK doesn't really feel like a great place for a cred run. It's all quiet spread out really, opening hours are hit and miss and the parks which are close together aren't easy to complete in one day imo.

Personally unless I'm doing a city park / just one park abroad, I always prefer to get a car: it just gives you much more control over the trip. And with the UK, Towers isn't the easiest park to get to using public transport, so it's a case of "you may as well".

Thorpe, Alton and Blackpool are the big three to tick off I guess, and you really want to spend a day at each one. You could probably push yourself to a day and a half / two at Towers if there was a special event going on too I guess.

Outside of that, the only other park I personally think that's "worth it" is Paultons. Doesn't have the big thrill rides, sure, but it's got a nice selection of family-thrill rides now and is just a quaint little park really. But if you're only in it for a cred run, it's quick and easy to get the creds, and there's not much else nearby.

Chessington and Legoland are okay for what they are, but getting all their creds in one day is difficult. If you visit them you may as well get a Merlin Annual Pass too to save some money on tickets and whilst in the parks though.

If you wanted to add in extra quantity, then Flamingo and Lightwater are there - but I don't know of many people that have done both in one day? And I think a day at each is a bit of a drag. Drayton also exists too, and I guess if you planned to do a day and a half at Towers, you could do a half-day at Drayton. But that's a bit of a stretch really.

• What hidden gems would you stop at along the way? (not necessarily limited to coasters - it could be that tiny, unknown family entertainment center with a one-of-a-kind ride or it could be that pub you always stop at after visiting whatever park)

This got me thinking, and there's not really any hidden gems I can think of in the UK that I like going to! However, if Halloween events are you thing, then going to the UK at Halloween time is an option. The park's are busier so it makes it harder to get the creds, but many have Halloween events, and there's plenty of non-theme park scream parks around which are evening only events which could be tacked onto a day after a smaller park.

 

[Matt N]

In terms of hidden gems, if you visit Oakwood, I’d say Folly Farm is a hidden gem, personally, and it’s only about 10 minutes away from Oakwood, if that! In terms of what’s there, there’s a really nice vintage funfair with quite a few rides, a small set of go-karts, a ferris wheel, and an ever-expanding zoo section! I know it doesn’t get an awful lot of coverage on here due to lack of creds, but it’s a really nice place, and from having visited for at least 10 years, I’d almost put it in the Paultons category of “budding places in the midst of expansion to keep an eye on”, as they’ve installed a huge amount since I first went, and really smartened up their image somewhat, although their expansion is yet to take them into theme park rides besides a Paratrooper that was put in last year. It is also similar to Paultons in having a 5-star TripAdvisor rating!

The ECC often visit alongside Oakwood when in the area on their Welsh Weekender, so it clearly still interests some enthusiasts!

To be honest, my family often like to visit when we’re in the area (which is quite a lot; the Pembrokeshire coast has always been among our favourite holiday spots!); many of our Pembrokeshire holidays over the years have had a trip to Folly Farm included in them. To put it into perspective, since becoming an enthusiast in 2013, I have had numerous visits to Folly Farm with my family whilst in the Pembrokeshire area, while I was unsuccessful in convincing my family to visit Oakwood until 2019, with my first visit actually being on a school reward trip there in 2016; take from that what you will!

I wrote a trip report from Folly Farm in 2019 if you want to gain more of an idea of what’s there: https://coasterforce.com/forums/threads/folly-farm-pembrokeshire-20th-february-2019.43274/

 

[FarleyFlavors]

If you wanted to add in extra quantity, then Flamingo and Lightwater are there - but I don't know of many people that have done both in one day?

If you're only looking to do a quick cred run (and let's face it, neither park really deserves anything else) they're easily doable on the same day.

Avoid Lightwater Valley on school trip days though - they warn you on their website about this. Me and the missus made that mistake and despite being front of the line to get into the park we were facing a 90+ minute queue for Raptor Attack by the time we got to it before lunchtime.

(Happy ending though. We stopped off at guest services on the way out to ask about buying front-of-line passes only to be told they no longer sold them. But after we confirmed that we weren't at the park with a big bunch of kids, they handed over four of them free of charge!)

On the subject at hand, Megaphobia is fine and all, but the rest of the park really isn't up to much. Google Maps might suggest it's only a four hour drive from Thorpe but the reality is that it'll almost certainly take longer than that with traffic conditions. If you're visiting the UK and on limited time I'd skip it.

On the other hand, I'd definitely recommend Paultons. Not exactly chock-full of thrill rides obviously, but it's absolutely charming.

What hidden gems would you stop at along the way? (not necessarily limited to coasters - it could be that tiny, unknown family entertainment center with a one-of-a-kind ride or it could be that pub you always stop at after visiting whatever park)

Possibly Great Yarmouth for the historic woody, and Tyrolean Tubtwist is not only unique, it's utterly bonkers! Again though, it's a bit of a bitch of a place to get to.

Also, if you're at either Lightwater Valley or Flamingo Land I'd highly recommend a minor detour to the village of Haxby for the wonderful fish and chips at Millers. Awarded best in the country in 2018.

 

[Nitefly]

You’re better off sticking to the three parks you mentioned and then spending the remainder of the time enjoying some other activities / sightseeing.

 

[FistedColossus]

Being brutally honest...

Obviously do Alton Towers, then do Blackpool for the heritage, then hop on a £50 flight to Getmany/Poland/Sweden to ride some proper coasters.

If you want the creds, get down to Thorpe for a few hours but it's not a great day out.

 

[Matt N]

Being brutally honest...

Obviously do Alton Towers, then do Blackpool for the heritage, then hop on a £50 flight to Getmany/Poland/Sweden to ride some proper coasters.

If you want the creds, get down to Thorpe for a few hours but it's not a great day out.

Thorpe’s definitely somewhere worth doing if coming from abroad, in my opinion; the park has got a decent ride selection compared with most other theme parks in this country, and their rides are arguably some of the most high-caliber stuff you’ll find in this country.

 

[Matt N]

Sorry for double posting, but I thought of another potential non-cred place worth doing, that’s quite conveniently located; if you’re into Harry Potter, the Warner Bros. Studio Tour in Leavesden is absolutely fantastic, and really worth a visit! Not too far from Thorpe, either; about 30 mins, according to Maps!

I went in 2017 and absolutely loved it, and it’s apparently the highest rated attraction in the world on TripAdvisor!

 

[nadroJ]

I think Fi has covered off a really great tour of an ideal way to do the UK but wanted to come here to post in favour of Adventure Island. It's a really great, fun park, +5 creds including the awesome Gerst Rage, a fantastic selection of flat rides including the infamous Time Machine as well as some odd and quirky dark rides. Definitely worth the visit in my opinion.

 

[Bentleya]

I think Fi has covered off a really great tour of an ideal way to do the UK but wanted to come here to post in favour of Adventure Island. It's a really great, fun park, +5 creds including the awesome Gerst Rage, a fantastic selection of flat rides including the infamous Time Machine as well as some odd and quirky dark rides. Definitely worth the visit in my opinion.

You can hit Adventure island in the evening in the summer for half price wrist bands after 6pm and pretty much walk on rides.