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Universal Studios / Islands of Adventure - Orlando Florida, USA
I'm a massive theme park fan and Universal Studios tops the list for me. I've been to the one in LA and Singapore but the Orlando one is the best, cheekily because it has it's sister theme park next door, Islands of Adventure, which boasts six themed 'islands' built around a central lagoon.
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The flagship attraction is now the Wizarding World of Harry Potter which takes theme park rides to another level. Just when I thought Spiderman and Transformers couldn't get any better, Harry Potter comes along! Universal has managed to masterfully create some great thrill experiences, rides and shows based around some of the worlds best loved entertainment franchises such as Jurassic Park, The Simpsons and The Mummy.
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To top this, Universal also has Halloween Horror Nights which has been running for over two decades in the run up to Halloween each year. They close the park around 6pm each night to reopen an hour later where the whole place is turned into a scare-fest of horror mazes, shows, fright zones and more!
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I love the Disney parks but Universal just pips them to the top spot for me.
Disney's Animal Kingdom - Orlando Florida, USA
This has to be my favourite Disney theme park and I guess you could call it a zoological one. The park is dedicated and themed entirely around the natural environment and animal conservation and it has been accredited by the World Association of Zoos & Aquariums.
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The park is centred around the 'Tree of life', a 145ft tall boab tree that has pictures of animals carved in to it's trunk. The exhibits are carefully crafted to reflect the natural habitat and the animals do have loads of space. The safari ride is immense and you actually forget that you are not on the plains of Africa and in the middle of Florida!
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As well as the zoological side, there are several thrill rides with a number of different twists. My two favourites being the Kali River Rapids where you get absolutely drenched wherever you sit, and Expedition Everest which is a roller coaster with a twist. I won't spoil it but it's pretty cool!
Phantasialand - Bruhl, Germany
This is my favourite theme park in Europe, so much so that I've been three times! The park is located between Cologne and Bonn by the town of Bruhl in the west of Germany. I caught the train from Cologne central station to Bruhl Mitte which takes about an hour. From here you can either get a taxi the short distance to the park entrance or jump on one of the shuttle buses that the park provides.
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When I first went here when I was a kid with the family, it was much more geared towards families. Over the years, more and more thrill rides have been added that it now is a world class attraction on the same level as those in Florida. You've got several themed 'lands' with coasters, water rides, drop rides in the dark and everything else you would expect. They have recently opened a new themed world called 'Klugheim' which has two new coasters and breaks six world records! Talking of records, it also has one of the worlds longest underground rides and water rides!
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I tied my long weekend in with a visit to Cologne too which is a good city to explore for a few days, particularly in the spring/summer months.
Busch Gardens - Tampa, Florida, USA
Set on the west coast of Florida in Tampa an hour away from Orlando, Busch Gardens is an African themed park similar to Disney's Animal Kingdom. There are several thrill rollercoasters, multiple water rides and other tamer attractions interspersed throughout lush African and desert terrain with lots of animal exhibits.
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Busch Gardens is a world-class zoological park with more than 2000 animals that brings you up and close and personal to many endangered and exotic animals in their replicated habitats. For the best animal sightings, go to their habitats early, when it's cooler. You can experience up-close animal encounters on the Serengeti Plain, a 65-acre free-roaming habitat, home to reticulated giraffes, Grevy's zebras, white rhinos, bongos, impalas, and more. Myombe Reserve allows you to view lowland gorillas and chimpanzees in a lush, tropical-rain-forest.
If you want to beat the crowds, start in the back of the park and work your way around clockwise! Check out the short video below of Sheikra, one of the thrill rides at the park. This has been designed around a bird of prey that hovers then drops to get it's meal, not once, but twice!
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Sheikra video clip.
Alton Towers - Staffordshire, UK
Located in the county of Staffordshire in the north of England, Alton Towers is set in the picturesque grounds of the mansion that gives the park it's name. It has 12 themed 'lands' that have a wide variety of attractions from state of the art rollercoasters to water rides and more family orientated attractions. It has the worlds first rollercoaster based around virtual reality called 'Galactica' where riders put on a cutting edge headset before being launched! There are loads of thrill rides at this park from the stomach churning to the scary and everything in between.
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Alton Towers can be a pain to get to as it's not in a town or part of a major city, it's literally in the countryside and can get busy with traffic. However, go early or stay in the cool Alton Towers hotel which has themed rooms such as the 'chocolate room' where there is chocolate hidden all over the place! You also have access to the waterpark next door so it's worth making a few days of it here!
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www.altontowers.com
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