FIVE Childhood Theme Park Memories I’ll NEVER Forget!

FIVE Childhood Theme Park Memories I’ll NEVER Forget!

FIVE childhood theme park memories I’ll NEVER forget! What are yours? Can you recall them?

In today’s blog I thought it would be fun to sit down and try something a little different as I take a look back & share the top 5 theme park related memories from my life so far!

Now, I’m sure looking back there will be loads of memories you treasure from your family outings. Visiting the seaside as a family for the first time, getting on your first MAJOR ride or simply visiting your first ever theme park, but how many of those memories can you INSTANTLY recall in vivid detail without any effort?

Of course, I have those too, but given just how much of my life I have spent visiting theme parks, there are certainly a small selection which stand out the most, and some are memories I’ll treasure forever!

So, in no particular order, here are my TOP 5 memories from my theme park adventures over the years.

Nearly Flooding A Disneyland Paris Hotel Room!

No matter how many times I look back at this (and trust me, I was absolutely mortified at the time) this particular memory never ceases to make me chuckle to myself every time I think of it.

The following took place during a year 10 school visit (aka my last visit) to Disneyland Paris. I know right? Disneyland with school? How lucky was I?!

After arriving at the hotel for the night (the western themed one if I recall correctly, Hotel Cheyenne?) me and my two friends settled into our shared hotel room for the night.

As you’d expect none of us managed ANY sleep in the night that followed due to excitement and as a result we found ourselves riding specific rides (mainly Hyperspace Mountain) the following day just to keep ourselves awake and functioning (functioning being the key word here).

After what ended up feeling like a long day we all made it back to the hotel and I retreated to the hotel room for a bath and a ‘lie down’ (HUGE mistake)!

Now, firstly never pull an all nighter then proceed to start a bath running and have a lie down WHILE the bath runs (you can probably see where this is going right?).

Yeah, what subsequently followed was me falling asleep, locking my friends out of the hotel room and damn near flooding the entire room (I’m not certain on specifics here due to just how tired I really was), but according to my friend when he eventually did manage to get back into the room I then proceeded to reportedly get up, sleep walk and attempt to steal his alarm clock? Why an alarm clock you ask? Not a clue!!

Needless to say as a result of all this I was NOT very popular with the teaching staff joining us on this trip at all!

Disneyland Paris’ Hotel Cheyenne played host to one of my most comedic moments from visiting theme parks over the years.

The Ultimate Middle School Send Off!

The next treasured theme park memory comes from one of my favourite childhood theme parks, Lightwater Valley (well before it’s dying days in Brighton Pier Groups incapable hands).

Many of you will probably remember the year that middle schools became a redundant educational step here in the UK, I know I certainly do.

Why? Well, on the final day of term (and last day of operation as a functioning middle school) our headteacher at the time decided rather than enduring a somber occasion within school itself, she would mark the school’s closure by shutting up shop and instead taking the WHOLE school to Lightwater Valley for the day.

The day that followed was filled with lots of laughs, innocent childhood mischief and plenty of long standing memories I still cherish to this day.

The one part of the day that sticks out most in my head though is the moment the whole school congregated on the grassy area behind The Ultimate’s station building for a group photo.

To capture the moment, a photographer from our local news paper (also the father of one of the students) donned a harness and scaled The Ultimate’s first lift hill in order to get EVERYONE in the shot!

I still have a copy of that photo to this day, but the one thing that always makes me laugh is the kid at the front flipping off the photographer (see if you can spot him below! And yes, he did get in a LOT of trouble, as you’d expect!).

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My First Time A Ride ACTUALLY Scared Me!

I’m sure looking back, there’s always that ONE theme park memory you have where you rode something you would NEVER set foot back on again, no matter how much your friends tried to persuade you.

Well, I’m certainly no exception. The first time (and last might I add) I rode this particular (now defunct) ride, I knew straight away this was something I would NEVER ride again!!

Those of you who managed to visit Flamingo Land Resort near Malton, North Yorkshire during the 90’s may recall a certain ride named Terroriser (and yes, it did exactly what it said on the tin).

This gigantic, rotating, inverting gyro swing (of sorts) spun you around in circles while rotating a full 360 degrees.

What’s more, the ride operator at the time seemed to take great pleasure in holding those riding upside down for prolonged periods of time.

Well, as you can expect after some persuasion from my piers at the time I decided to scale this terrifying looking ride. I strapped myself in and the ride began, however I VERY quickly realised this was a HUGE mistake!!

The ride began it’s cycle and the first few rotations actually seemed quite fun, then…. that all changed.

The operator stopped us at the top, and proceeded to hold us all upside down for some time, however as he did so my restraint made a funny clicking sound and felt as though it had suddenly become much looser than it actually should’ve been.

I spent the rest of the ride in a sheer state of panic convinced the restraint was about to pop open at any point and send me plummeting to my death!

Of course, it didn’t, but I’ve never felt so petrified in my entire life and as a result I always gave Terroriser a very wide birth in all future visits.

The ride that put the fear of god into me – Terroriser at Flamingo Land Resort near Malton, North Yorkshire (now defunct and no longer onsite).

Eating The Ultimate Lunch With My Father.

The next theme park memory believe it or not doesn’t actually take place within a theme park, but rather on the outskirts of one.

Growing up, my father used to work for North Yorkshire County Council as a traffic management consultant. This meant that he was responsible for any and all traffic or road related planning applications put forward to North Yorkshire County Council.

Now, back in the 90’s the council ran ‘bring your sons and daughters to work’ days meaning that on occasion I would accompany my dad to work and spend the day traveling around with him from meeting to meeting out on the road.

As a result of this there was a certain spot on an old service road running close to The Ultimate at Lightwater Valley where me and my dad would park the car and sit eating sandwiches while watching the Ultimate make it’s way along the top of the second lift hill and descend down into the trees.

Me and my dad spent many a lunch time during these days sitting watching the train go around while munching through our lunch (mine was a sausage and cheese sandwich – yes, my dad thought I was weird and to be fair, he wasn’t wrong lol! I still eat them now haha).

Since growing up I have never managed to locate this road on any maps but still to this day have vivid memories of sitting there eating lunch and watching the train go around (no, I definitely haven’t dream’t or imagined this)!

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Growing up I remember sitting eating lunch with my dad while watching the train make it’s way around the top of the second drop on The Ultimate at Lightwater Valley.

My FIRST EVER Roller Coaster Ride!

The last memory which sticks out particularly well in my memory was my first ever roller coaster ride. Now up until recently I was always convinced Ladybird at Lightwater Valley had been my first coaster, but as it turns out I was wrong.

Zipper Dipper (aka. Blue Flyer) at Blackpool Pleasure Beach was ACTUALLY my first ever experience of a roller coaster.

Every summer me and my brother would be sent by my parents to stay with my grandparents in Preston, and subsequently this usually resulted in an annual visit to Blackpool Pleasure Beach.

Now as much as we’d love getting on Gold Mine, Ghost Train and the monorail, we’d always make a beeline for Beaver Creek (now known as Nickelodeon Land) first to grab a ride on Zipper Dipper, but to this day, I still remember the first time I rode this little wooden coaster.

I can still recall getting on with my Grandad and being mesmerised as we made our way around the track ducking and diving before shooting through the little tunnel towards the end of the ride.

Now, at the time of riding this I must’ve been around 6 years old, and to this day I still remember gripping onto the safety bar for dear life thinking I was going to fly out while my Grandad laughed heartily holding onto me as he did so.

Of course, after my first ride I became hooked and persisted to drag my grandparents (and parents) on this EVERY TIME I visited Blackpool Pleasure Beach up until I was old enough to get on the bigger coasters.

Zipper Dipper (now known as Blue Flyer) was my FIRST real experience of a roller coaster and became the reason for my current theme park obsession!

Of course, there are also many other theme park related memories from over the years which stick out pretty well in my memory, but these FIVE are by far the ones that stand out the most.

Other include riding The Ultimate for the first time at Lightwater Valley (yes, I have quite a few Ultimate related memories lol), riding the Blackpool Pleasure Beach Monorail for the first time and of course, my first ever experience of an inverting roller coaster – Magnum Force (aka. Drier Looping) when it operated at Flamingo Land Resort (can you tell I’m from Yorkshire? haha).

Regardless, it’s these FIVE memories which have helped me continue my theme park obsession and as a result, give birth to Theme Park Insanity back in July of 2019.

Which theme park memories stick out most for you? Why not share them with me in the comments below?

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