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Your year in review - 2021 edition

- Coaster count at start of 2021: 487

- Coaster count at end of 2021: 537

- New coasters ridden in 2021: 50

- New parks visited in 2021: 20

- Park visits (number of days) in 2021: 20

- Best new-to-you coaster: Flying Aces (Ferrari World)

- Best new-to-you non-coaster: Forbidden Journey (IMG Worlds of Adventure)

- Favourite new-to-you park of 2021: Ferrari World

- Best park visit: Wintertraum @ Phantasialand

- Best seasonal event: Wintertraum @ Phantasialand

- Highlight of 2021: Taron night rides during Wintertraum

- Biggest surprise of 2021: Forbidden Journey @ IMG - No idea this existed, wonderful ride.

- Best individual coaster lap: Taron, back left seat at night, no question.

- Best new for 2021 ride: Runaway Train at Winter Wonderland. Brand spanking new out of the factory.

- Proudest accomplishment as an enthusiast: Front row Formula Rossa - Completed

- Best non-park travel moment: Either wandering around the Christmas markets in Cologne with a bratwurst and a mug of mulled cider or flying back from Dubai business class, both utterly amazing in very different ways.

- Most surprising coaster: Mad Pursuit @ Motiongate - An actual good Gerstlauer 😱

- Funniest coaster/park/enthusiast moment: My sisters reaction to Formula Rossa 😂

- Most exciting announcement For 2022: Fønix looks pretty fab, the Intamin @ Asterix is the one though but I think that's 2023.
 
- Coaster count at start of 2021 : 110

- Coaster count at end of 2021 : 164

- New coasters ridden in 2021 : 54

- New parks visited in 2021 : 6

- Park visits (number of days) in 2021 : 24

- Best new-to-you coaster : Ride to Happiness

- Best new-to-you non-coaster : Area 51 (Movie Park Germany)

- Favourite new-to-you park of 2021 : Toverland

- Best park visit : Phantasialand

- Best seasonal event : Halloween in Tripsdrill

- Highlight of 2021 : Efteling in the evening

- Biggest surprise of 2021 : Movie Park Studios Tour

- Best individual coaster lap : Baron 1898 in night

- Best new for 2021 ride : Ride to Happiness

- Proudest accomplishment as an enthusiast : The first big ParkTrip in Germany, Netherlands und Belgium (6 parks, 7 days)

- Best non-park travel moment : Tour de France in Alps

- Most surprising coaster : Ride to Happiness

- Funniest coaster/park/enthusiast moment : Mazes at Tripsdrill on Halloween

- Most exciting announcement For 2022 : Fonix
 
Best moments:

- Being in the queue for Nemesis Inferno with @nadroJ during the 2 minute silence for Prince Phillip. The chain lift still rattling on in the background. "It's what he would have wanted."

- Me, @Slamming Coastercore and @Coop At Phantasialand Wintertraum. Me: "I'm not firing on all cylinders today." Alex: "How many cylinders is one supposed to fire on?" Greig: "Well, they're just shapes at the end of the day." Alex: "I suppose you could say that about anything"

- Meeting someone from ECC at Alton Towers OktoberFest - them being on the train in front of us on The Smiler and reaching out as we dualed - attempting to high five everytime the track crossed paths 😂

- Queuing for Zadra. Stepping into the one spot left for front row. Single rider guy already waiting in station: "are you from CoasterForce?" "Yes!" "This is my first RMC!" Getting to sit next to an enthusiast and witness their first reactions to Zadra, hearing them lose their mind when we hit the Zero G stall was a great moment!

- The gorgeous sunset at Thorpe on Oktoberfest weekend. Me and my goony friends standing in the same spot taking the same photo of Stealth with the pink sky:

Screenshot_20211223-171720_Gallery.jpg

- Running round riding Dalton Terror over and over again on my own at sunset and coming away from Walibi Belgium with a massive drop tower as my new favourite flat ride. Who would have guessed?!

- Crying with laughter the first time I heard the Park Vibes Rumba RAP soundtrack at Thorpe Park. I love it so much!

- Being the most surprised by a coaster I've ever been when riding RTH for the first time.

- No audio, no lights, special night ride on Stealth at the Press Event for Fright Nights. Sitting on the launch track having no idea when the train would go. In fact, that whole Fright Nights press event was awesome. As was Black Mirrors.

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- Every park visit with @Slamming Coastercore ❤ Can't believe I went back to Oakwood twice in one year for you 😉 Thank you for all the many many laughs and memories we've made together at parks this year. And sorry for making you watch so many shows at theme parks 😅
 
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- Coaster count at start of 2021: 166

- Coaster count at end of 2021: 211

- New coasters ridden in 2021: 45

- New parks visited in 2021: 7

- Park visits (number of days) in 2021: 21 (3 x Thorpe Park, 2 x Alton Towers, 2 x Europa Park, 2 x Energylandia, 2 x Phantasialand, Adventure Island, BPB, Drayton, Oakwood, West Midlands Safari Park, Chessie, Legendia, Toverland, Walibi Belgium, Plopsaland)

- Best new-to-you coaster: Zadra

- Best new-to-you non-coaster: Dalton Terror (honourable mentions to Challenge of Tutankhamon & Piraten en Batavia)

- Favourite new-to-you park of 2021: It's a toss-up between Energylandia & Walibi Belgium

- Best park visit: God this one is tough! There have been so many good ones! Objectively it was probably Day 1 of Phantasialand. The park was quiet, it was beautifully dressed up for winter and we got night rides. All firsts at Phanta for me, it did feel really magical that day (also bonus points for the delicious soup at the Hotel Matamba Buffet). The evening at Adventure Island will always have a special place in my heart though.

- Best seasonal event: Wintertraum at Phantasialand

- Highlight of 2021: Getting to experience all these parks with @Serena ❤️ (you're forgiven for the shows ;))

- Biggest surprise of 2021:

Best surprise: A Ride to Happiness. It had loads of positive reviews and whilst I thought it would be good, I’ve never been mad on spinners. Holy **** though, this deserves all the praise it gets. It was infinitely better than expected and I was well and truly blown away. What a ride.

Worst surprise: Legendia as a whole. I’d heard some good things about Legendia before going. I knew it wasn’t going to be a full day park, but I thought Lech would be fun and there might be a couple of rides I hadn’t heard of to fill the rest of the day. I was so so wrong though. This was the bleakest park day I’ve ever had (yes, worst than West Midlands Safari Park). So many of the rides were closed, Lech is the most overrated coaster in existence and the other rides that were open were either broken or poor quality. Just writing this now has motivated me to do a very delayed TR from it. I need to Lech some stuff off my chest haha.

- Best individual coaster lap: First lap on A Ride To Happiness. Not the best ride overall, but definitely my favourite lap for the initial WTF-ness of it all. We were in fits of laughter even after we’d left our seats and walked out the exit!

- Best new for 2021 ride: A Ride To Happiness

- Proudest accomplishment as an enthusiast: Completing the European set of RMC’s. I know there are only 3, but it’s nice to have that ticked off before some nice big trips in the states in 2022. I did also reach 200 in my cred count but I don’t really care (still no whacky worms 😉).

- Best non-park travel moment: Again, it’s really hard to pick this one. Here are the two that are hardest to pick between;
  1. Driving from Europa Park to near Walibi Belgium the sat nav decided to take us through over 3 hours of A-roads in the middle of nowhere with no services at all. Eventually we stopped at an unlit, abandoned petrol station to use the toilet (not that there were any at the abandoned petrol station). Despite the horror film-esque setting; due to the lack of light pollution for miles around the stars above were beyond incredible and it was amazing to take in. A rare moment, but one I’ll remember for a long long time.
  1. Spending the evening sitting in Rynek Główny square in central Krakow, having great food and laughing with @Serena and @Coop; watching the world go by at the end of an amazing long weekend in Poland (Legendia aside).
- Most surprising coaster: Obviously it’s A Ride to Happiness, but some very honourable mentions go to Silver Star and Wodan for being unrecognisable in the best way, compared to my first visit to Europa.

- Funniest coaster/park/enthusiast moment: Any of @Nitefly 's trip reports? @Serena did a great job of summing up some of the other great moments from the year!

- Most exciting announcement For 2022: As Thorpe’s new coaster is still in the consultation phase I won’t count it (not to say that I wasn’t ridiculously excited); so Aireforce One wins by default. That does still look like an outstanding RMC.
 
  1. Driving from Europa Park to near Walibi Belgium the sat nav decided to take us through over 3 hours of A-roads in the middle of nowhere with no services at all. Eventually we stopped at an unlit, abandoned petrol station to use the toilet (not that there were any at the abandoned petrol station). Despite the horror film-esque setting; due to the lack of light pollution for miles around the stars above were beyond incredible and it was amazing to take in. A rare moment, but one I’ll remember for a long long time.

I love that you picked the abandoned petrol station, not the lovely heard of wild boar that trotted out into the road during the drive. We stopped and they all crossed safely 😊
 
- Coaster count at start of 2021: 487

- Coaster count at end of 2021: 609

- New coasters ridden in 2021: 122

- New parks visited in 2021: 19 - Paultons Park, Crealy, Camel Creek, Big Sheep, Milky Way, Wicksteed, Southport Pleasureland, Tibidabo, Ferrari Land, Parque de Attracciones Zaragoza, Parque de Attracciones Monte Igueldo, Klotti, Taunus Wonderland, Freizeitland Geiselwind, Schwaben Park, Skyline Park, Plohn, Belantis, Bakken

- Park visits (number of days) in 2021: 34

- Best new-to-you coaster: Kondaa

- Best new-to-you non-coaster: Fluch des Pharao at Belantis

- Favourite new-to-you park of 2021: Monte Igueldo for its uniqueness!

- Best park visit: First time back to PortAventura in 15 years and staying at Colorado Creek

- Best seasonal event: Halloween Horror Festival at Movie Park Germany

- Highlight of 2021: Road trips in Spain and Germany

- Best individual coaster lap: Lapping Kondaa at the end of the day at Walibi, when it was running so much faster than the morning

- Best new for 2021 ride: Kondaa

- Proudest accomplishment as an enthusiast: getting motivated to run a Half Marathon with an empty day at Towers afterwards!

- Best non-park travel moment: Doing the NC500 road trip in Scotland in July

- Most surprising coaster: Furius Baco - finally got back to PA to ride Baco and it was incredible! The haters are wrong 😂

- Funniest coaster/park/enthusiast moment: getting denied entry to GreenWood Forest in Wales but escorted to the coaster to get the cred!

- Most exciting announcement For 2022: American Dreier Looping at Indiana Beach - IB has been on the bucket list for a while and is on a planned road trip intinerary for June, so this addition makes it more exciting for me!
 
- Coaster count at start of 2021: 212

- Coaster count at end of 2021: 229

- New coasters ridden in 2021: 17

- New parks visited in 2021: 4

- Park visits (number of days) in 2021: Unknown, probably round 20-25?

- Best new-to-you coaster: Storm Chaser

- Best new-to-you non-coaster: Pretty meh line up here...I liked Flight of the Sky Lion at Legoland Windsor, Windmill Towers at Paultons and the log flume at Wicksteed.

- Favourite new-to-you park of 2021: Wicksteed Park

- Best park visit: Probably the best is taking my little brother to Alton Towers, now that he's 1.2m tall and can do bigger rides

- Best seasonal event: Didn't do many, but enjoyed Thorpe's Fright Nights.

- Highlight of 2021: No real highlights tbh. Not to say it was all lowlights, just everything was pretty run of the mill average.

- Biggest surprise of 2021:
Best: Millennium at Fantasy Island being silky smooth
Worst: Odyssey at Fantasy Island being rough as anything in its second half

- Best individual coaster lap: Had a front row ride in the dark on Nemesis Inferno with a Dutch and German friend. Was equally fun seeing their reactions as it was doing the ride.

- Best new for 2021 ride: Probably Storm Chaser out of what I've done.

- Proudest accomplishment as an enthusiast: Riding 3 Wacky Worms in 1 day (this is not something I'm proud of actually, but it's this or nothing)

- Best non-park travel moment: Not all that travel related I guess, but managed to escape a 60 minute escape room in 18 minutes 11 seconds. That was damn impressive.

- Most surprising coaster: Either Millennium or Odyssey at Fantasy. Millennium for how smooth it is, or Odyssey for being an SLC with an acceptable first half

- Funniest coaster/park/enthusiast moment: Solo riding a Wacky Worm 🤷‍♂️

- Most exciting announcement For 2022: Fønix

Pretty drab year tbh. First time not going abroad since 2014. No new rides in the Top 10 (or even Top 10%) since 2014 too. Worst year for adding new creds since 2016.

Hopefully 2022 will be better.
 
- Coaster count at start of 2021: 84

- Coaster count at end of 2021: 117

- New coasters ridden in 2021: 33

- New parks visited in 2021: 9

- Park visits (number of days) in 2021: 16 (not counting funfairs)

- Best new-to-you coaster: Cannonball Express

- Best new-to-you non-coaster: Airborne

- Favourite new-to-you park of 2021: Paultons Park

- Best park visit: Wicksteed Park

- Best seasonal event: Tulley's Shocktober Fest & Thorpe Park's ParkVibes

- Highlight of 2021: The Big Sheep & The Ridge Rider

- Biggest surprise of 2021: The announcement that I was going to a multi-park holiday on the east coast (Hemsby Fun Park, Pleasurewood Hills, Great Yarmouth, Joyland, Pettitts)

- Best individual coaster lap: Front row of Munchen Looping after endlessly bashing it for being dull in 2019, that ride hit like a truck and it was beautiful

- Best new for 2021 ride: Storm Chaser

- Proudest accomplishment as an enthusiast: Getting my #100 on a top ten coaster, solo-tripping Botton's Pleasure Beach & Fantasy Island

- Best non-park travel moment: Adventures in Cornwall

- Most surprising coaster: Odyssey was actually a really good and genuinely enjoyable ride

- Funniest coaster/park/enthusiast moment: Just how tiny the cars of Looping Star @ Clacton Pier were and how faffy the restraints were as a direct result of that

- Most exciting announcement For 2022: Lost Island Iowa

- Spites this year: Cosmic Caterpillar @ The Milky Way (park was closed due to it being a September weekend), Rampage @ The Big Sheep (ride was closed for rain), Rockin Roller @ Botton's Pleasure Beach (every car was individually covered, no chance of that ever opening that day)

- Cancelled trips: Blackheath Breakout Fair (a result of poor planning led to me having no idea what I'm doing), Kettering Feast Fair (wasn't along the route from Wicksteed to Kettering railway station, as a result I was too tired to make any extra effort to go), Slough & Maidenhead RidgeRiding (lack of planning), Camel Creek & Flambards & Crealy (our holiday place was way too far away from any of those parks)

- Epicest Fail: Only going to my extremely local fair once (it's literally fifteen minutes away), not visiting Thorpe during the dead days of summer when there were consistently no queues and I was off work, not knowing that Spinning Racer was leaving Fantasy Island in September (I visited in October), miscounting my coaster count and celebrating my #100 on Family Star when after a recount it was actually Cannonball Express, missing Thorpe Park's Oktoberfest event for the second year in a row.
 
Have had a think about mine now so here it is.

- Coaster count at start of 2021: 612

- Coaster count at end of 2021: 653

- New coasters ridden in 2021: 41

- New parks visited in 2021: 2 proper parks (Tayto Park and Walibi Belgium) plus various small parks/fairs (Southport Pleasureland, Greenwood plus some static and non-static fairs.

- Park visits (number of days) in 2021: This is quite hard to work out as I had a few cred run days or ones where I just did a small fair but I’ve worked out that 29 days of the year had some form of ride in them. Cool!

- Best new-to-you coaster: Ride to Happiness (followed by Cú Chulainn and Kondaa)

- Best new-to-you non-coaster: Joining the Dalton Terror club here. At night, at halloween looking out over Kondaa was pretty cool.

- Favourite new-to-you park of 2021: Walibi Belgium. Had been meaning to go here for absolutely years so it was great to check off something that had been on the bucket list for so long.

- Best park visit: Walibi Belgium day. A combination of Kondaa, the scare mazes, Psyké Underground, Dalton terror, Pulsar (which was my 650th coaster) and finally getting to a new park that had been on my bucket list for so long made for a great time! We packed so much into that day and it was great!

- Best seasonal event: Movie Park’s Halloween never disappoints! The park just has a great vibe at halloween. Notable mention to Alton’s Mardi Gras, Tulleys and Walibi Belgium's Halloween event (which had two of my favourite mazes of the year).

- Highlight of 2021: Squeezing in the last minute Belgium trip at the end of the halloween season and getting on two highly anticipated new creds and finally getting to Walibi Belgium.

- Biggest surprise of 2021: Ride to Happiness. I knew it would be weird but it really was something else! An absolutely insane addition to Europe’s coaster line-up!

- Best individual coaster lap: Hard to pinpoint one but @chainedbanana and I had a particularly great ride on RTH where we just laughed on the brake run for ages. Good times!

- Best new for 2021 ride: Ride to Happiness.

- Proudest accomplishment as an enthusiast: Jellykins! (But also doing some more big drop towers (High Fall, Dalton Terror and Hangover))

- Best non-park travel moment: Getting out of the country 3 times including one new country (Ireland), considering the current climate. Seeing more of the vintage sights in Blackpool was also awesome! Understanding more German in Germany each time I go and managing to bumble my way through various negotiations in French in Belgium and France.

- Most surprising coaster: Ride to Happiness. Just crazy!

- Funniest coaster/park/enthusiast moment: Probably the silly cred runs. The Fantasy Island day was pretty amusing especially when we all piled onto the tiny kiddie cred outside the park and the old man had to push us round it whilst cheering us on! The ridiculous ghost train at Dymchurch. @Mysterious Sue saving the crabs at Knightley's! @Libby_Liz and her food ordering fiascos! 😂

- Most exciting announcement For 2022: Hmm, well it would be good if Dreier Looping actually opened...and Pantheon. Not convinced Tron and Guardians will actually open but rcdb says so, so that as well maybe?
 
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Coaster count at start of 2021: 722

- Coaster count at end of 2021:
770

- New coasters ridden in 2021:
48

- New parks visited in 2021:
5 proper parks, plus some smaller places

- Park visits (number of days) in 2021:
I think 17

- Best new-to-you coaster:
Kondaa

- Best new-to-you non-coaster: Flight of the Skylion

- Favourite new-to-you park of 2021:
Parc Asterix

- Best park visit:
Tayto Park, Cu Chulainn was fab and it was a nice day overall, plus despite going in October it was my first foreign park of the year so nice to actually get abroad!

- Best seasonal event:
Walibi Belgium Halloween, though I was there for rides rather than mazes so just did the scare through zones to get to rides

- Highlight of 2021:
Being able to get over to Belgium to go on 2 of the best newfor 21 coasters.

- Biggest surprise of 2021:
Ride to Happiness. I wasn’t the biggest fan of Time Traveller, so wasn’t particularly hyped for this, but really enjoyed it.

- Best individual coaster lap:
Night Ride of Kondaa

- Best new for 2021 ride:
Kondaa

- Proudest accomplishment as an enthusiast:
getting the people powered cred at Greenwood

- Best non-park travel moment:
seeing my parents for the first time in 18 months after restrictions eased.

- Most surprising coaster:
Goudurix was far less vile than I expected

- Funniest coaster/park/enthusiast moment: going on a run away train outside Fantasy Island with a train full of goons and the ride op was pushing the train round and cheering.

- Most exciting announcement For 2022:
Fonix
 
- Coaster count at start of 2021:
507

- Coaster count at end of 2021:
556

- New coasters ridden in 2021:
49

- New parks visited in 2021:
7

- Park visits (number of days) in 2021:
19

- Best new-to-you coaster:
Zadra... self-explanatory

- Best new-to-you non-coaster:
Symbolica. I don't ride many non-coaster attractions, but it's hard to imagine many topping Symbolica.

- Favourite new-to-you park of 2021:
Energylandia. I expected a permanent carnival and was blown away by the cleanliness, theming, and operations. One of the best days I've ever had at a park.

- Best park visit:
Energylandia. See above.

- Best seasonal event:
SeaWorld Orlando Christmas Celebration

- Highlight of 2021:
Poland as I never expected to even go there in 2021 and taking my daughter on her first roller coaster.

- Biggest surprise of 2021:
Toverland. I had always heard so many incredible things about Efteling, and it was nice and all, but Toverland was the Dutch standout. For a park that has not been at it for that long, I was blown away. The quality of the rides and theming was remarkable.

- Best individual coaster lap:
My last ride on Zadra. It kept getting better and better..

- Best new for 2021 ride:
VelociCoaster by a landslide.

- Proudest accomplishment as an enthusiast:
Riding another coaster that I worked on.

- Best non-park travel moment:
Sharing some amazing Cantillon beers with my good friend in a lambic bar in Milan.

- Most surprising coaster:
Fēnix. I was astounded by the theming and intensity. Easily my favorite B&M wing coaster. What a delight.

- Funniest coaster/park/enthusiast moment:
Riding the wacky worm at Cotaland during the USGP weekend with my friends, one of whom was able to bring a beer onto the coaster with no objection from the staff.

- Most exciting announcement For 2022:
Honestly, the spinning car for Icon. I'm all about spinning cars on extreme coasters.
 
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- Coaster count at start of 2021: 481

- Coaster count at end of 2021: 514

- New coasters ridden in 2021: 33

- New parks visited in 2021: 6 - Scene 75 Columbus, Valleyfair, Craigs Cruisers Mears, Cedar Valley's Wild Frontier Fun Park, Elitch Gardens, Lakeside

- Park visits (number of days) in 2021: 21 - Scene 75 Columbus, Seaworld San Antonio/ZDTs, Valleyfair/Nick Universe, Mt Olympus, Holiday World, Kentucky Kingdom, Kings Island, Hersheypark, Knoebels, Six Flags Great Adventure, Sesame Place/Six Flags America, Kings Dominion, Busch Gardens Williamsburg, Craigs Cruisers Mears, Cedar Valley's Wild Frontier Fun Park, Elitch Gardens/Lakeside, Fun Spot Orlando, Fun Spot Kissimmee, Islands of Adventure, Universal Studios

- Best new-to-you coaster: Velocicoaster, without a doubt

- Best new-to-you non-coaster: Skull Island - I'm drawing a blank on any new non-coasters aside from this one

- Favourite new-to-you park of 2021: Valleyfair. What an unexpected gem of a park!

- Best park visit: I had quite a few great days at a park. Valleyfair, Holiday World, and Universal Orlando all come close, but I think the best visit this year has to go to Six Flags Great Adventure.

- Best seasonal event: Holiwood Nights

- Highlight of 2021: Velocistumble at Universal Orlando. See the proudest accomplishment one for more, but it was the perfect capstone for the year.

- Biggest surprise of 2021: Excalibur at Valleyfair. The only ride I've ridden that's similar is Gemini at Cedar Point - not rough, but not necessarily smooth. I never thought that Excalibur could not only be smooth, but also provide excellent forces throughout the ride. Definitely a shock when we pulled back into the station.

- Best individual coaster lap: Trimless Voyage night ride during HWN. It was my first trimless ride on this monster and the train was doing things that I have never felt the train do before.

- Best new for 2021 ride: Velocicoaster

- Proudest accomplishment as an enthusiast: Having a part in creating Buzzed Bars Coaster Club. We began seriously talking about forming a club back in February with the original idea of launching in the fall. We decided to fast track the launch with the intent of debuting the club at HWN after receiving some excellent feedback and insights from Leah Koch at Holiday World. HWN and KTTK was a huge success - we had about 35 people at each event, which led into our first official event at Kings Dominion and Busch Gardens Williamsburg, totaling similar numbers of attendees. Our next event was a bit of a rainout at Moreys Piers for Coastin' by the Ocean, but the group that attended had a ball of a time. We finished the year with a long weekend at Universal Orlando. Velocistumble ultimately had around 80 people in attendance for riding, tailgating, and just having the time of their lives. I never would have thought that in eight months, we'd have over 100 members, have people attending events from overseas, and have as many people attending events as we've seen. We've been able to bring so many people together to enjoy common interests and numerous members are already planning their own trips with each other. It's exactly what we wanted...just way faster than we expected it to happen. We just dropped our 2022 calendar of events, and we're excited for a year of shenanigans!

- Best non-park travel moment: My wife and I actually finished our honeymoon with Velocistumble, but to pick a moment from our non-coaster travels in Hawaii would be our tour to the summit of Mauna Kea to watch the sunset and stargaze at 14,000 feet. Words can't properly describe the view from up there.

- Most surprising coaster: Excalibur at Valleyfair

- Funniest coaster/park/enthusiast moment: Any time we managed a "CAN I GET AN OH YEAH" at any of our park visits this year - particularly the one where half our group was on Griffon and the other half of us was on the bridge at the bottom of the drop.

- Most exciting announcement For 2022: Arie Force One. This thing is gonna surprise people!
 
This one ought to be easy:

- Coaster count at start of 2021: 41

- Coaster count at end of 2021: 41

- New coasters ridden in 2021: None

- New parks visited in 2021: None

- Park visits (number of days) in 2021: 0

- Best new-to-you coaster: N/A

- Best new-to-you non-coaster: N/A

- Favourite new-to-you park of 2021: N/A

- Best park visit: N/A

- Best seasonal event: N/A

- Highlight of 2021: Finishing my PhD, I guess?

- Biggest surprise of 2021: Park/coaster-wise? None.

- Best individual coaster lap: N/A

- Best new for 2021 ride: N/A

- Proudest accomplishment as an enthusiast: N/A

- Best non-park travel moment: Driving across the incredibly narrow roads along the Hardanger fjord with a friend.

- Most surprising coaster: N/A

- Funniest coaster/park/enthusiast moment: N/A

- Most exciting announcement For 2022: Fønix at Fårup Sommerland, I think. 2022 is a very meagre year for Europe, coaster-wise.
 
Not the best year, unfortunately!

- Coaster count at start of 2021:

134

- Coaster count at end of 2021

138

- New coasters ridden in 2021:

Just 4.

- New parks visited in 2021:

Tivoli Gardens

- Park visits (number of days) in 2021:

Just didn't have the time, so 4.


- Best new-to-you coaster:

Rutchebanen. Loved it.

- Best new-to-you non-coaster:

The inverted magic carpet at Tivoli. Desperate to see Alton bolster it's flats with one.

- Favourite new-to-you park of 2021:

Tivoli, the only new park of the year where several trips failed to get past the planning stage due to restrictions. Great park though.

- Best park visit:

Alton, the first time I felt the magic there in years.

- Best seasonal event:

Tivoli at Christmas. Seriously, it's pure magic.

- Highlight of 2021:

Theme park wise, passing through the gates of Tivoli for the first time.


- Biggest surprise of 2021:

Alton feeling magical again, with great reliability on the day I visited.

- Best individual coaster lap:

Okay, I actually had a lap on Wickerman that proved the hype. I never really rated it that highly before.

- Best new for 2021 ride:

The inverted magic carpet again.

- Proudest accomplishment as an enthusiast:

Actually getting to a new park this year.

- Best non-park travel moment:

2 weeks in Madeira. On one of our first days we did a tour where it was just the two if us and our driver, it was brilliant. And canyoning on the last day.

- Most surprising coaster:

Rutchebanen. I expected a much tamer ride.

- Funniest coaster/park/enthusiast moment:

Nearly losing the car door when we arrive at Blackpool due to high winds, followed by the silent look up at the Big One, then eachother.

It actually did open after lunch.

- Most exciting announcement For 2022:

Drayton Manor doing another beet land. Okay we may lose apocalypse, but it's really positive to see the park isn't going to die.
 
- Coaster count at start of 2021: 180

- Coaster count at end of 2021: 194

- New coasters ridden in 2021: Tad redundant but: 14

- New parks visited in 2021: 1

- Park visits (number of days) in 2021: 6 (in a 3 week span!)

- Best new-to-you coaster: Oof...Lightning Rod or Twisted Timbers. Dont make me choose (well I need to for ratings ugh) I'll say Twisted Timbers for the front row is so unrelenting.

- Best new-to-you non-coaster: Dont think I rode any new non coaster rides

- Favourite new-to-you park of 2021: Well by default: Dollywood as it was the only new park.

- Best park visit: Dollywood! The hype is real. Won't lie, wasn't sure it would live up but it did! Wonderful place.

- Best seasonal event: Only did 1 so by default: Coastermania. It was a blast though as always.

- Highlight of 2021: I'll call it my miracle visit to Kennywood. Was raining the whole drive, with rain like 90% for all day, I allotted a few hours basically just to stop on my way to CP. Thought about bailing but said nah screw it, I'm out here might as well go at least. I **** you not, rain stopped like 15 minutes away, and aside from a small spritz, it held the whole time I was there. No crowds, got everything done quick.

- Biggest surprise of 2021: I wont say Orion was underwhelming because that didn't surprise me XD I think my biggest surprise was that of the classic Kennywood woodies....Jack Rabbit was my favorite of the 3, Thunderbolt was my least.

- Best individual coaster lap: Steel Vengeance, late at night. Hauls ass through parts it just had no right to, add the darkness and trains filled with enthusiasts.
Addition: Most memorable lap: Banshee in pouring rain. It was...an experience!

- Best new for 2021 ride: By a hair, Twisted Timbers. Back was a tad underwhelming (for RMC standards) but front was jaw dropping.

- Proudest accomplishment as an enthusiast: Didn't reach any milestone (200 waits another year) but I guess Lightning Rod was the last coaster on my "to do" list. New ones always pop up but that was the last OG.

- Best non-park travel moment: Southern road trip from NJ to FL and back. Stopped at some new places like Athens, GA and Asheville, NC (which was fantastic, wish I had more time), spent a few days in Tennessee which was wonderful. Chatanooga, Knoxville, The Great Smoky Mountains which was glorious. Was a proper road trip too, I went pretty minimal and I loved it. (I am excluding the 3 parks I did). Sadly I did no other travel due to graduating, moving, starting work but I plan to change this next year :)

- Most surprising coaster: Hmmmm nothing was tooo surprising, I expected LRod, Twisted Timbers to be sick, and Orion to be fine. I guess Steel Curtain? Wasn't sure what I expected but it was a bit of a let down. All that speed, elements just to feel so little.

- Most exciting announcement For 2022: Pantheon is opening! Unless you mean new: Has to be ArieForce One. Such a dope looking ride and for a Fun Spot...wild.

Given the state of the world, I was pretty damn happy. 6 parks, 1 new, some new creds and high quality ones. Huge step from 2020 when I did just Hershey and one new (kinda disappointing) cred....For right or wrong much of the looseness in the US (esp the south and midwest) did make this a pretty "normal" year. I was limited more by lack of $/some life changes. I know many, especially in Europe, were not so lucky. I hope 2022 is better for all.
 
Alright, definitely over now.

- Coaster count at start of 2021: 1031
- Coaster count at end of 2021: 1165
- New coasters ridden in 2021: 134
- New parks visited in 2021: 49
- Park visits (number of days) in 2021: 34
- Best new-to-you coaster: Ride to Happiness
- Best new-to-you non-coaster: Symbolica
- Favourite new-to-you park of 2021: Vulcania
- Best park visit: Walibi Belgium
- Best seasonal event: Pass
- Highlight of 2021: Riding Ride to Happiness
- Biggest surprise of 2021: Getting a new #2 in Ride to Happiness
- Best individual coaster lap: Ride to Happiness (specifically the one where I was painfully folded over the lap bar through the banana roll)
- Best new for 2021 ride: You guessed it, Ride to Happiness
- Proudest accomplishment as an enthusiast: Most new creds in a day I guess, 16 over 6 'parks'
- Best non-park travel moment: Seeing the Millau Viaduct up close and personal was rather awesome
- Most surprising coaster: What's in here
- Funniest coaster/park/enthusiast moment: Vienne Dynamique, all of it
- Most exciting announcement For 2022: I've lost track of what's announced when, but for stuff supposedly opening in 2022 I'm thinking GotG : Cosmic Rewind
 
Hoooooray! CanobieFan's 2021 stats

- Coaster count at start of 2021: 1,045

- Coaster count at end of 2021: 1,062 <3

- New coasters ridden in 2021: 17

- New parks visited in 2021: 6 - Huck Finn's Playland, Legoland New York, Castle Fun Center, Spring Park, Incredible Pizza Company (TN), Ferrari Land

- Park visits (number of days) in 2021: Not counting Orlando (since I cant keep track of weekly visits, haha) 27 <3

- Best new-to-you coaster: VelociCoaster, like there was even a contest.....

- Best new-to-you non-coaster: Sesame Street: Street Mission, at PortAventura for practical reasons... Adirondack Outlaw at Great Escape for riding it in a tropical storm and extreme rain, haha

- Favorite new-to-you park of 2021: Eh, none? 4 were parks with single kiddie coasters, one was the trash that's Legoland NY...and Ferrari Land was the other. MEH

- Best park visit: I mean, does Dollywood *ever* disappoint? And also my long overdue return to PortAventura 14 years later.

- Best seasonal event: I think I only really did the new Howl-O-Scream Orlando, at SeaWorld.

- Highlight of 2021: I mean, I was actually able to pull off an international trip, despite everything going on....so that?

- Biggest surprise of 2021: Planning a weekend trip to Spain like 3 weeks before going?

- Best individual coaster lap: Gotta go with VelociCoaster. I did my best to not know the layout or watch the POV before going and it was just....everything <3

- Best new for 2021 ride: Of the 3 new for 21's I rode....VelociCoaster. (Dragon and Dragon's Apprentice being the other 2, haha)

- Proudest accomplishment as an enthusiast: Not being ashamed to wait 45 minutes for a kiddie coaster that was a new credit for me.

- Best non-park travel moment: I actually did a bunch of this this year with the lack of new stuff going on in the US.

- Most surprising coaster: None, really?

- Funniest coaster/park/enthusiast moment: None?

- Most exciting announcement For 2022: ArieForce One? Maybe any of the Florida things actually opening? Tron, Gwazi, Guardians, Ice Breaker?

Notes + Twitter photo highlights?!
 
I was hoping to get one more cred from the local "Winter Wonderland" but it spited when I visited the other night so this is it for 2021...

- Coaster count at start of 2021: 279

- Coaster count at end of 2021: 295

- New coasters ridden in 2021: 16

- New parks visited in 2021: 2, plus a variety of crappy funfairs (in essence they were all crappy funfairs!)

- Park visits (number of days) in 2021: 7

- Best new-to-you coaster: Storm Chaser (Paultons)

- Best new-to-you non-coaster: Gangsta Granny I suppose

- Favourite new-to-you park of 2021: Erm... Ocean Beach Pleasure Park ? They were all naff really.

- Best park visit: Blackpool Pleasure Beach in December!

- Best seasonal event: Screamfest at the National Forest, or if you want a proper theme park one then Alton Oktoberfest

- Highlight of 2021: Just getting out riding some coasters a bit more frequently than last year

- Biggest surprise of 2021: Alton Towers Oktoberfest on a weekday being fab

- Best individual coaster lap: Final ride of the day on Icon, in the dark, 20 minutes after the park had closed (more on that later)

- Best new for 2021 ride: Storm Chaser

- Proudest accomplishment as an enthusiast: Organising the "Coastal Cred Run o'Shame" :D

- Best non-park travel moment: Spending a lovely week on Scotland's Northern coast with amazingly good weather

- Most surprising coaster: The Shark coaster at New Brighton Funfair - most intense Wacky Worm ever!

- Funniest coaster/park/enthusiast moment: Blackpool Pleasure Beach on 5th December, myself and two friends had a great day and were finishing the evening with a few night rides on Icon. Just as we approached the station for one last ride, an announcement was made that the ride would be closed for cleaning after some poor kid had thrown up all over it! The ride ops didn't close the ride for the day even though it was only ten minutes till closing, and the banter between the riders in the station and the staff was hilarious as they cleaned up all the mess, sent the train round for a couple of test runs to dry it off and eventually reopened. As a result we got the final ride of the night when every other ride in the park had long been closed and got to walk through the park as it stood eerily quiet. A fantastic end to a brilliant day and one I will never forget.

- Most exciting announcement For 2022: I'm unlikely to ride any of them but ArieForce One I guess?
 
2021 was a strange year, but still compared to the pathetic 8 creds that I got in 2020, I'm gonna count this as a success.

Due to working a hell of a lot, most of the new stuff was travelling coasters and wacky worms, but I wasn't being picky. Got on a plane for the first time in 18 months to sweep up all the creds in Ireland I hadn't got, had a couple of great afternoons at Alton Towers and with CF at Thorpe Park, and finished the year off with one of the best new coasters I've done that wasn't an RMC.

Hopefully 2022 will have some more plane rides and new parks involved.

- Coaster count at start of 2021: 1369

- Coaster count at end of 2021: 1405

- New coasters ridden in 2021: 36

- New parks visited in 2021: 7

- Park visits (number of days) in 2021: 10

- Best new-to-you coaster: Ride to Happiness

- Best new-to-you non-coaster: All the ghost trains at Peterborough's funfair.

- Favourite new-to-you park of 2021: Zip World Tower

- Best park visit: Alton Towers

- Best seasonal event: Alton Towers Oktoberfest

- Highlight of 2021: Ride to Happiness

- Biggest surprise of 2021: Ride to Happiness. And the sheer amount of funfairs I went to.

- Best individual coaster lap: 1st lap on Ride to Happiness

- Best new for 2021 ride: Ride to Happiness (bit of a theme here)

- Proudest accomplishment as an enthusiast: Finally getting to 1400.

- Best non-park travel moment: Visiting Father Ted's house.

- Most surprising coaster: Ride to Happiness

- Funniest coaster/park/enthusiast moment: Laughing my head off with some Belgian enthusiasts on ...you guessed it - Ride to Happiness.

- Most exciting announcement For 2022: Tron & Guardians of the Galaxy at WDW.
 
2021 has been a strange year. Sitting here now, as the year comes to an end, it seems weird to remember where we were at the beginning of the year, with the country under strict COVID restrictions.

It’s definitely been the year of the UK. I think just about everyone was excited for Storm Chaser and Tornado Springs at Paultons, so that was always high on the agenda. Beyond that, it’s been a year of terrible creds, epic drives, amazing friends, a great many laughs, and endless Premier Inns.

Paultons was first up, as soon as restrictions started to ease, and overnight stays in hotels were once again permitted. Thorpe got added on the day before, for a bit of extra fun. There’s a trip report thread for this one.

I had a few days off work in June, so snuck in a mid-week trip to Blackpool, making use of an unused ticked from the 2020 season. It was fun enough, and a decent way of getting out of the flat for a few hours.

In July, a bunch of us descended upon Lincolnshire, in baking hot weather, to ride the Maurer spinner at Fantasy Island, and mop up a few other creds in the area. Sue got her 1000th with the Fantasy Island wacky worm, Emily got the coveted Jellikins cred, and those of us who made it had an absolutely epic weekend on the East Coast. This one has a trip report thread, too.

For August, Mat planned a fantastic cred run, starting in Southport, and travelling along the north coast of Wales towards Greenwood and Llandudno. There were loads of parks, and a few new creds, none of which would have been worth the trek on their own. With an amazing group once again, it made for another epic road trip weekend. Once again, there’s a trip report thread to document the madness.

In September, a few of us grabbed some creds along the south coast, along the stretch from Portsmouth to Littlehampton, before grabbing a nice group meal in Brighton. I unfortunately had to bail on the second day, which involved Hastings and Dymchurch, as something upset my stomach overnight, but I managed to make it home on the Sunday, despite the residents of southern England deciding to buy all of the petrol.

October began with a trip to Alton Towers for Scarefest. The park was heaving, but we had an amazing time regardless. The secret was simple; Go with amazing people, take two days so that you’re not under any time pressure, and take your time. It was great to simply hang out with friends for a couple of days, taking in all of the major rides, a good selection of mazes, some lengthy sit-down meals on park, and checking out the gardens when they’re lit up at night.

The end of October meant the first CF Live in nearly two years, at Chessington and Thorpe Park. Again, despite insane crowds, it was great to have the broader group of CFers back together for the first time in ages, see people I’d not seen in ages, and just have a really good laugh. Once again, as an official CF event, there’s a corresponding trip report thread.

I was supposed to be going to Belgium in early November, and was all booked up to travel. Unfortunately, illness struck a couple of days beforehand, and despite a negative COVID test, I had to pull the plug at the last minute. There aren’t any words to describe how gutted I was, and still am about missing out on this one, as it really was on track to be one of the best trips of the year.

Which brings us to the finale, in London, for Hyde Park Winter Wonderland. It was busy, it was expensive, it was bitterly cold, and none of that mattered. The year ended with a great bunch of people, a bunch of new creds, a nice selection of quirky coasters and flat rides, topped off with a really nice group meal and drink afterwards. As far as I’m concerned, that’s as good a way to finish off the 2021 season as any.

I was going to try to throw a photo or two in to summarise each trip, but I found I couldn’t really do justice to any given trip with a single picture. It’s been a year full of countless entertaining little moments, rather than big, defining ones. All of my 2021 photo galleries are available at mouseat.co.uk, so if you’re interested, feel free to browse at your leisure.

On the other hand, if I had to pick one picture to sum up the year, it would probably be this one, taken by a kind stranger on Llandudno Pier:

DSC01722.jpg


It’s the group photo from the Southport and North Wales cred run, and goes to show that whilst official CF events had to be put on hold for most of 2021, the community spirit and friendships that underpin CF are still going strong!

Thank you once again to everyone who helped make 2021 fab! You’re wonderful!

Now for the usual categories:

Coaster count at start of 2021: 482, if I've calculated correctly.

Coaster count at end of 2021: 501.

New coasters ridden in 2021: 19. I'd probably have got an extra 5 (2 in Hastings, 3 in Belgium), had I not been spited by illness. 🤢

New parks visited in 2021: Clarence Pier, and a bunch of even more terrible seaside crap. It's been that sort of a year.

Park visits (number of days) in 2021: I think 14 days involved parks or rides somewhere along the way.

Best new-to-you coaster: Probably Spinning Racer at Fantasy Island. Most of the other stuff I've ridden this year has been bland, off the shelf stuff, or re-rides of stuff I've already done. Storm Chaser is up there, but was a little underwhelming by comparison. If I'd made it to Belgium, I suspect this would have been a very different discussion.

Best new-to-you non-coaster: This is a close one. Probably Mixtape, the Smashing Jump that was operating at Alton this year. It's just a ridiculously silly flat ride, that gives silly, bouncy airtime, and made me laugh for the entire ride cycle. Runner up goes to Snowjet at Hyde Park, and whoever decided to try and make the ride invert.

Favourite new-to-you park of 2021: Probably Clarence Pier. That says a lot about the sorts of new places I've been going to this year.

Best park visit: Probably Fantasy Island in the summer. I never expected to have such an entertaining or hilarious day there, but somehow everything came together, and it was amazing! The Alton Towers Scarefest weekend is probably a very close second.

Best seasonal event: Alton Towers Scarefest. Two chilled days, and four amazing people, getting the absolute best out of the park.

Highlight of 2021: Probably the Lincolnshire coast trip. So many of the trips this year have been amazing, and are in contention, but I think Lincolnshire just edges the others out when it comes to moments of sheer hilarity.

Biggest surprise of 2021: Night rides on Smiler and Wicker Man. I don't usually rate either of them particularly highly, but at Scarefest, both were delivering.

Best individual coaster lap: The Nemesis front row night ride. It never fails.

Best new for 2021 ride: Storm Chaser. Spinning Racer wasn't a new build, so it doesn't count.

Proudest accomplishment as an enthusiast: The amount of trips I've managed under the circumstances in 2021, and finally hitting my 500 coaster milestone at the end of the season.

Best non-park travel moment: The only non-park trip I've done this year was a day trip to the Yorkshire Wildlife Park, near Doncaster. It was a good day out, and a nice excuse to get out of my flat for a while. I highly recommend it, if you're in the area. There have also been plenty of chilled, non-park moments during the coaster trips this year. Some of my favourite moments were on the evenings, having a nice dinner in a pub or restaurant with my fellow goons.

Most surprising coaster: Tidal Wave, at Clarence Pier. Unexpected sideways airtime. If you know, you know.

Funniest coaster/park/enthusiast moment: The powered coaster across the road from Fantasy Island. The one that absolutely can make the circuit when it's full of goons... as long as the ride op is willing to help push it up the hill every lap.

Most exciting announcement for 2022: I don't think there's much I've been paying attention to, and certainly not anything that I expect to ride. Iron Gwazi finally opening may win this one more or less by default.
 
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