The fact a small park in Germany is no. 3 says much about dedication and creativity. You can have all the money in the world, but it’s hard to beat one that carries more heart than many major players. Love Phantasialand
i have been there some weeks ago, and i also think this is Germany's best park. So i am planning already to return to this park. I also have been in Europa Park during the same Trip, and i got to say, i totally agree with CoasterDash. The Europa Park is lacking in quality of their coasters...Silver Star is not even in my top 10, in fact just barely makes the top 20...Blue Fire and Wodan are both better in my oppinion, but still not top 10 material. And i have ridden "only" 43 coasters so far.
I 100% agree with Islands of Adventure being at the #2 spot. Even though I missed a LOT of major rides, the ones I got to do were so amazing that I called it my favorite theme park anyway. VelociCoaster is truly one of the great defining pieces of art to ever come out of the amusement industry, and is worth a trip for that alone. I can't say enough amazing things about this park, it's just insane. I advise every one of you to make a trip to Orlando and go to Islands of Adventure if you haven't already, it's truly a magical experience, moreso than any of the Walt Disney World parks.
I love the list and especially the whole experience you presented and not just the coasters like 89% of the other channels. I wish more channels were like yours and dang it, I loved the personal touch you added about your own personal experiences. Great job boss!
I feel like Cedar Point this year was harder to enjoy due to some operation issues, but it does still have the best roller coasters for sure and your ranking of it is very fair.
Couldn’t agree more. In addition to TTD, Millie was down pretty much the whole day when I went. Not having two of your top 4 rides (which are also a major part of the skyline and right next to each other) hurts quite a bit. Any other additional operational issues becomes more noticeable and irritable when multiple rides are down. It also forces other lines to become longer.
Great list! While I haven’t been to many theme/amusement parks myself, I’d say my favorite that I have been to is Magic Kingdom at Disney World. Basically the way you felt about Disneyland is how I feel about Magic Kingdom, it’s vibes are immaculate and every ride there is a classic in its own way. I just can’t imagine being at Magic Kingdom and not having a great time.
The day before yesterday I spent my birthday in phantasialand. I can't imagine anything nicer. Especially in the dark with the lighting and so the park is just indescribably beautiful! 🤩😍
You need to visit Alton towers in England my friend. The first B&M Invert in Europe. The Prototype B&M Dive coaster. The Prototype B&M Flying coaster. The Prototype Vertical Free-Fall Drop coaster. The World Record (14) inversion coaster. As well as one of the greatest themed GCI's, a launch coaster, a spinner, a mine train, a Vecoma Mad House dark ride and lots of other family attractions. Set in historic grounds and some immense theming due to the constraints placed on the park.
I live in England and have visited Alton Towers more than any other park, but it wouldn't make my top 10 - probably not even my top 20. A lot of the 'selling points' that you mention here quickly become negatives; the prototype B&M dive coaster = the least interesting B&M dive coaster, the prototype B&M flying coaster = a B&M flyer that hardly does anything compared to modern flyers, the drop-track coaster is a family coaster that really doesn't do a lot else, the launch coaster is a single launch coaster that just meanders round some helixes after the launch. Nemesis and Wicker Man are great rides, there's no arguing that. And the Smiler serves a purpose even if it's a little gimmicky with all the inversions. But beyond these, I feel like the magic that was at the park through the 80s and 90s has diminished a lot since, with Merlin more focused on making money rather than making memories. I'd like to see additions that will last as quality rides, rather than 'firsts' that will simply be a marketing spike in the short term. I'd like to see better operations and more reasonably priced food offerings; they could learn a lot from Europa Park here. There's an awful lot of potential in the park but right now I don't feel like it's being treated in the right way... I hate to say it but that's kinda how I feel about the place right now!
@@edbrown2998 I agree that some of the above mentioned aren't the best that there is, however a lot of these are the first of's and to think they were in the countryside in Stoke/Stafford and not a huge theme park in America is crazy. Now as for the future, I like Merlin's thinking in that they are properly revamping and relaunching older staples. Nemesis is going to be a different colour and there is speculation that it is going to have a slightly different theme/back story and that the station building is going to have some work done. Also Dual is returning to the Haunted House with again a differing darker back story. If this works for the above attractions, I am full of positivity in what this could bring, if this is the way they go in the in between years. If you look at the artists impressions on what some of the attractions should have been (especially Air and Thirteen.) it might mean that some of these prototypes get celebrated and upgraded to again be world class attractions.
@@benjaminclark6757 I really hope they can improve the park. I think they can turn the Haunted House back into something excellent, and I think there are other rides - the rapids ride especially - that could be really improved with a bit of love. I'm not sure about Air / 13 / Rita because the track layouts can't really be changed, but let's see where things go. I do have concerns about the operations though. I went to Gardaland this year - the first time I've been to a Merlin park abroad - and actually hated my experience there. It was the same feeling - they wanted to make money rather than wanting to keep guests happy. Parks like Europa Park and Phantasialand are streets ahead in pairing great attractions with superb operations, food, reasonable prices etc, but maybe Merlin can learn and change... I guess we'll see!
The whole Phantasiland space thing. I've recently been thinking about that a lot. The whole issue that they have with the neighbouring town, nature reservoir and the motorway close by is pretty known by now. But I was wondering, the way that they create these mad immersive areas would they have done that as well to such high detail if they had more space? All of their recent coaster expansions do something truly unique and blend into the environment as much as they do. This obviously ties in with the limitations that they have to cope with. But what if they didn't need to. Would they still deliver such immersive experiences if they had more space to play around with? In saying that, hyper coaster would look totally out of place in the park right now. Would love to see them do something with a woodie even though I doubt that this would pass the noise check.
This is his list : 25 : Six Flags Mexico 24 : Disney California Adventure 23 : Carowinds 22 : Hansa Park 21 : Holiday World 20 : Disney's Hollywood Studios 19 : Disney's Animal Kingdom 18 : Busch Gardens Tampa 17 : Kings Dominion 16 : Canda's Wonderland 15 : Busch Gardens Williamsburg 14 : Knoebels 13 : Hersheypark 12 : Six Flags Magic Mountain 11 : Six Flags Fiesta Texas 10 : Europa Park 9 : Energylandia 8 : Efteling 7 : Kings Island 6 : Silver Dollar City 5 : Dollywood 4 : Cedar Point 3 : Phantasialand 2 : Universal Island's Of Adventure 1 : Disneyland
I'm really happy with phantasialand ranked so high by you. But I'd like to point out the problems I have with it (likely because it's my home park😅) I really hope the management now goes back to building darkrides because that's what the park is really lacking right now(and it's also the thing that made them popular in the past), also I think they should update/refurbish some attractions and areas: maybe update the screen portions of maus au chocolate, update the theming in the whole fantasy area because it's looking a bit cheap at the time and crazy bats isn't fitting at all(but it seems they are putting some work into that part at the moment) and also China town is still cool but it's attractions are more than outdated and are by far the least popular in the park
Great list, your top 5 to 2 are exactly my top 4 parks I've visited, couldn't agree more on that order there.🙌🏼 I haven't visited annaheim yet, but I don't think I would rank it in my top 10, but that's just because I'm not into Disney that much. It still looks great and I'm looking forward to visit it some day. It was definitely great to see so many european parks on your list, that just shows how thankful I can be having these amazing parks so close to me🙌🏼
You NEED to visit the UK, go to Alton Towers, Thorpe Park and Blackpool Pleasure beach. You should also visit Chessington. We have the worlds biggest Legoland. You can miss Drayton Manor, Flamingo land, Gulliver's world, Oakwood and Paulton's Park. But the 3 or 4 I said at the start are go toos. Alton towers has the smiler. The most inverting coaster in the world and also at alton, all of the main rollercoasters have either broke records or been first in Europe or ethen the world (take that cedar point). Thorpe and Alton have amazing coasters and I have no idea how Blackpool fit Icon in. Chessington is a bit like Animal Kingdom. Hope to see you come soon (ideally after Nemesis has it's re-track finished and Hyperia opens)
I agree with islands of adventure, except for the good operations point on specifically hagrids. i can remember standing in the same spot for at least 10 minutes 3 separate times while in line.
Marc: " I haven't been to every every theme park in the world - *_nobody has_* " Richard Bannister: *_laughs in 79 countries, more than 1000 parks and 3044 credits_*
My top 10 as of last year: 1) Cedar Point 2) Islands of Adv 3) Kings Island 4) Hershey Park 5) Magic Mountain 6) Busch Gardens Tampa 7) Carowinds 8) Dollywood 9) Great Adventure 10) Knotts
@@rvkit2873 Great Adventure was my childhood Home Park until the early 2010s. I still adore it, but the park feels rundown and lifeless when I go there now. And whenever Toro is having its issues the lineup suffers a lot for me (not to mention the fact that the ride hasn’t aged well). I can see why he didn’t put it there. I also think replacing Superman, Green Lantern, or both in favor of a more quality attraction could add a bit of buzz to the lineup (or if that Giga ever happens).
@@tay_thrills I don't go to parks for how pretty they look or the food they sell. I go for the rides and I think great adventure has a much better lineup of coasters then a decent amount of the parks on this list. I get why it wasn't on here too but that reasoning doesn't resonate with me at all. With that being said disney wouldn't be in my top 25 so it's all just subjective.
@@rvkit2873 I feel where you’re coming from. I’m somewhere in the middle b/c a park like BGW won’t touch my top 10 since the Ride Lineup is meh to me. But I’ve also grown to appreciate theming/vibes quite a bit, hence why Dollywood and Knotts are so high (both atmospheres resonate with me more than BGW). It also helps that those two parks each have a rides that’s in my top 15 lol
I've only been to parks in the US and I've been to pretty much all the big parks, but this is the year where I'm looking to go international. Here is how I look at the parks I've been to in the US: (Top 25): 1. Cedar Point 2. Dollywood 3. Silver Dollar City 4. Six Flags Magic Mountain 5. Busch Gardens Williamsburg 6. Busch Gardens Tampa 7. Hershey Park 8. Holiday World- 9. Six Flags Fiesta Texas 10. Carowinds 11. Islands of Adventure 12. Kings Dominion 13. Six Flags Great America 14. Knotts Berry Farm 15. Kings Island 16. Six Flags Great Adventure 17. Six Flags Over Georgia 18. Knoebels 19. Sea World Orlando 20. Lagoon 21. Silverwood 22. Kentucky Kingdom 23. Kennywood 24. California Great America 25. Indiana Beach I'm more into thrills, so you won't see Disney parks on my list. But some parks settings are really good and help them up my list.
I live in a dinky little town in Utah and I went to Germany back in August of 2022, Phantasialand has been by far my favorite park. I tried going to walibi Holland but we couldn't figure out how to get there from Amsterdam. Even as a kid I didn't really like the universal and Disney parks, good list though.
I love Knotts, but 2022 in particular has been an awful year for the park. It’s been having these “off-years” far too often in recent memory. You know it’s bad when a platinum passholder visits once in 2022.
I love the Disney parks too! I actually prefer Magic Kingdom to parks like Cedar Point, Magic Mountain, and even Islands of Adventure which many thoosies probably don’t agree on
Wow! Magic Kingdom just barely missed my top 25 but I do love it very much. It’d probably be on my list if I hadn’t grown up and felt so used to Disneyland.
Happy new year! Currently my favorite park is either SFMM or Hersheypark. Im not a big fan of dark rides, so I actually thought Disneyland was kinda boring, but it is definitely well themed.
Nice to see me homepark of the efteling in the Top 10. I defently agree with your assesment of Europapark i had the same feeling about it. Well i'm gonna do a lot parks in the USA the next couple of years since i pretty much done all of the parks i wanna do in mainland Europe so i'm curiuos if i have the same openion as you have about those parks. Probable very close cause you seem to enjoy the same things as i do. At least you got the European parks in the same order as the are on my list.
Havent been to a lot of parks, but have been to a few parks many many times. 1. Islands of adventure / Universal studios orlando - pretty much one park to me they are right next to each other; usually go to both same day 2. Magic kingdom 3. Cedar point 4. Busch gardens tampa 5. Epcot 6. Seaworld orlando (big gap) 7. Animal kingdom (gap) 8. Hollywood studios Park operations/park experience does play a role
Great video as always my man 💪 😎 sending the good vibes from Winnipeg !! Have you ever visited Mount Rushmore? I went as a young kiddo and got to visit Wonderland cave, it was pretty neat! HAPPY NEW YEAR!!🎉
@@CoasterDash thanks buddy! Turns out I’m already subbed! My bad dude I guess I’ve just been getting the coaster channel in my feed, probably a use algorithm and such, I hit the bell tonight so I’ll be sure to keep up to each channel
My list is 1: Cedar Point 2: Islands of Adventure 3: Kings Island 4: kennywood 5: Universal Studios 6: Casino Peir 7: Sluggers and Putters 8: Fun times fun park
For me islands of adventure is easily number one It has Velocicoaster Incredible Hulk coaster Hagrids Amazing adventures of Spider-Man Forbidden journey Jurassic park river adventure Ripsaw falls Bilge rat barges Even Seuss trolley train ride is decent
Hi Marc, been a subscriber/viewer for a while and I am always grateful for your content! Thank you for your ranking of European Coasters!! I have only been to 6 amusement parks outside of the U.S. i went to Tripsdrill, Holiday Park and Europa Park in Germany. In addition, I visited Thorpe Park, Alton Towers and Chessington Worlds of Adventure in the UK. I am starting to research a new European trip (Germany, Holland, the Netherlands and possibly Denmark). How did you plan your routes and travel? I just started to plot parks (thanks for your suggestions) on Google Maps, but am finding the app somewhat limited. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!!! Thanks again! 😍
Thank you very much! I’d be happy to help but in what ways are google maps limited? I use google flights for most of my airfare as it has the best prices between most all airlines. then, you can take a car or use public transit when you get to Europe. we took a car but there will be some expensive toll roads in Denmark. Germany & Netherlands, not so much which is nice. Driving is simple in europe, you drive on the left side just like in the US. as for routes, I’d try your best to split up long drive times with various parks. for example, when hitting Djurs Sommerland & Fårup Sommerland in Denmark, along with Hansa Park in Germany, you’ll need to make a decision on visiting Djurs Sommerland on the way up to Fårup, or on the way down towards Hansa. I’d recommend the ladder since Fårup to Hansa is quite long. :)
@CoasterDash Hello Marc! Wow, I am shocked (in a great way) at your quick and detailed reply!!! Thank you! At this time, I have plotted numerous (8 or 9) locations in GoogMaps (GM) on my desktop computer and shared this map w/myself via text to my phone and to email (for future reference/use)... But, I always have an issue trying to open this map on my phone and/or laptop using GM. Maybe it's just a wifi or data issue? Or maybe it is too much for GM to handle a map w/so much information (aka so many points of interest on one map). Maybe I need to split this map up into separate journeys... traveling from park A to park B, then another map for B to C. And so on? Lastly, I am trying to determine how much I can reasonably do in 2 weeks. I definitely want to go to Phantasialand but am unsure as to whether I should go hit other German Parks while there (was thinking Heide Park and/or Hanza Park maybe... ) in week 1. For Week 2, I am torn between going to the Denmark area or Netherlands and Belgium. DECISIONS DECISIONS!! Thanks again 😍
@@jay-dubb.dubb.68 No problem, I think your idea is absolutely the best move. I’d highly recommend an international data plan with whoever your phone provider is 🙌🏻
Phantasialand is my favorite park overall, followed by Tokyo Disney Sea, Europa, Efteling, and SDC-I actually prefer Kings Island over Cedar Point. I work at WDW and visit DL often, so it’s hard for me to judge those parks-and the rest of the FL parks-so I just leave them out of my rankings.
I love energylandia it is amazing. I wasn't on zadra or hyperion or mayan or speed but abyssus and formula were amazing. I didn't like to much roller coasters bc i live in Prag and in Prag we have only Matějská pouť but this is only with flying atractions like booster, extreme and like this. Only 1 coaster is wild mouse and i don't really like it so i tought all of the roller coasters ar the same. But give the roller coasters chance so i found some of the good theme parks near Czech Republic and i found Energylandia so we went here and it was very very good. (it was my first and only one theme park where i was) sorry for my einglish grammar
Here's my top 10 parks: 1. Phantsialand 2. Busch Gardens Tampa 3. Europa Park 4. Energylandia 5. Universal Islands of Adventure 6. Alton Towers 7. Parc Asterix 8. Walibi Holland 9. Animal Kingdom 10. Wiener Prater
@@Nitzpitz I have visted efteling and though I did really enjoy the others have something special, I take everything into account rollercoaster, dark rides, flat rides and theming. And it is my personal opinion
I like how enthusiasts complain about coasters like Orion while I’m out here in Victoria Australia with gumbuya world being the biggest and only sorta good park in the whole state
At least you can drive to Poland, Germany and the rest of Europe, unfortunately I have to drive 1,400km to to ride our 3-4 good coasters (on the Gold Coast)
Unfortunately, I haven’t been to enough fairs to make a video like that. I will say, the SD County Fair is easily my favorite in america so far. favorite overall is Rheinkirmes in Düsseldorf, Germany. By a long shot.
Definitely agree that Disneyland is number one. While I love coasters and I enjoy my trips to Cedar Point, Hersheypark, Kings Island, Magic Mountain and similar parks, I still like dark rides even more and Disneyland has an unmatched dark ride collection. They also have quite a few water rides, most slow moving but they are still excellent. I only wish Disneyland would fix their Tomorrowland. Magic Kingdom never killed theirs so it's just so much better but Disneyland just destroyed their version in the late 90s and it's never recovered. That said, for two months out of the year I think one park surpasses even Disneyland. Dollywood at Christmas time is just unbeatable. It is the best Christmas festival at any park (sorry SDC and Knotts.) And the shows somehow get even better. I know that's a weird caveat but technically my number one park experience is Dollywood in November/December but Disneyland is the best during the rest of the year. One other caveat, in my opinion EPCOT (when it was EPCOT Center) was the best theme park of all time. I was fortunate enough to visit when Future World was good and The World Showcase didn't include Disney characters. Rides like Horizons, World of Motion and the orginal Journey into Imagination were among the greatest attractions Disney ever built. And The Living Seas was much better before the retheme, as was El Rio del Tiempo and Maelstrom. The original EPCOT Center remains the greatest park experience I've ever had.
How are you able to rank all of these parks? I've only been to a handful of parks, but I can't rank them at all. My n1 and 2 are Europa parks and Phantasialand. I can't choose 😩. Then, it starts to get hard to rank. Probably something like: 3. Efteling 4. Toverland 5. Hansa park 6. Walibi Holland 7. Walibi Belgium 8. Bobbejaanland 9. Plopsaland de Panne 10. Heide park
@@jverlo At the moment its still Zadra. Katun is however my favorite Invert so you got good taste. Doing some parks in the states next year including cedar point so things might change then.
You forgot to mention about the 1 litter beer you can get at Phantasialand for about only 10 Euro which is so damn cheap for beer 💯, for that alone that park is the 🐐
I hope you make it to Six Flags Great America in 2023. I'd be interested to see whether it would make the Top 25 or not. Trust me when I say it's that great.
I think Disneyland would be up there on my list if it was not so horrendously expensive. They charge double of any other park I can think of and they are just not as good as other parks since they only have kids rides.
I agree, the pricing these days are absurd. though, something I always notice, is no one criticizes Universal’s ticket pricing. they’re typically more expensive than disney. 😅
@@CoasterDash I think Universal has better theming and stronger rides so I think yes they are overpriced but Disney represents of image of equality and family and inclusion....but to me it's like how can you say to support everyone and this and that then charge $200 for a one day ticket when you know most families cannot afford that.
I hope Jurassic Park river adventure at island of adventure wil be the same theming and layout as Jurassic World the ride at Universal Studios Hollywood.
Great list my list is 1.Cedar Point 2.Kings dominion (it was 105 degrees so the rides her so warmed up) 3.Kings Island 4.Carowinds 5.Dorney park 6.Michigans adventure I am hoping to go to a PA trip next year to the Waldemeer, Kennywood, Knobeols and Hersheypark
Disneyland is way better than Magic Kingdom and people here in the Midwest and east coast just don’t get it. But if you go you will know the difference. It isn’t even close.
Efteling is just not about thrill rides. If that is what you are looking for, I guess you will be disappointed. And one day is just not enough to vet to know the park well enough.
The fact a small park in Germany is no. 3 says much about dedication and creativity. You can have all the money in the world, but it’s hard to beat one that carries more heart than many major players. Love Phantasialand
Get out of here with this/.. that place is big money
@shawnokeefe1580 maybe big money compared to european non chain parks.
But definitely not against universal Disney or six flags.
i have been there some weeks ago, and i also think this is Germany's best park. So i am planning already to return to this park. I also have been in Europa Park during the same Trip, and i got to say, i totally agree with CoasterDash. The Europa Park is lacking in quality of their coasters...Silver Star is not even in my top 10, in fact just barely makes the top 20...Blue Fire and Wodan are both better in my oppinion, but still not top 10 material. And i have ridden "only" 43 coasters so far.
I 100% agree with Islands of Adventure being at the #2 spot. Even though I missed a LOT of major rides, the ones I got to do were so amazing that I called it my favorite theme park anyway. VelociCoaster is truly one of the great defining pieces of art to ever come out of the amusement industry, and is worth a trip for that alone. I can't say enough amazing things about this park, it's just insane. I advise every one of you to make a trip to Orlando and go to Islands of Adventure if you haven't already, it's truly a magical experience, moreso than any of the Walt Disney World parks.
Phantasialand is my favourite place ever, I even cried when I was leaving it
Mine is Disneyland Paris and I cried leaving it too😢
YES, Phantasialand on No. 3! And yeah, everybody agrees: The place needs to get bigger! Happy new year, Marc!
Thanks for watching! 🇺🇸🇩🇪
No, not everybody. The people living next to the park are bothered by it. They do everything in their power to prevent it from growing.
Islands of adventure is so magical - it’s my favourite park I’ve ever visited
I don’t blame you. the place is perfect.
I love the list and especially the whole experience you presented and not just the coasters like 89% of the other channels. I wish more channels were like yours and dang it, I loved the personal touch you added about your own personal experiences.
Great job boss!
Great list! I’ve enjoyed your year-end videos quite a lot! I feel that it can only be a matter of time before I run into to you at a park somewhere.
Thanks, i’m glad you’re enjoying it!
I feel like Cedar Point this year was harder to enjoy due to some operation issues, but it does still have the best roller coasters for sure and your ranking of it is very fair.
I’m glad I got to visit Cedar Point in 2019 and 2020 when these issues weren’t as apparent
Couldn’t agree more. In addition to TTD, Millie was down pretty much the whole day when I went. Not having two of your top 4 rides (which are also a major part of the skyline and right next to each other) hurts quite a bit.
Any other additional operational issues becomes more noticeable and irritable when multiple rides are down. It also forces other lines to become longer.
I'm super happy with your number one. I am a huge rollercoaster lover but man Disney parks just have this magical feeling that no other park gives me
Really enjoyed these list! Great to see Efteling so high! I love that place soooo so much!
Thanks Villas! Looooved Efteling.
Great list! While I haven’t been to many theme/amusement parks myself, I’d say my favorite that I have been to is Magic Kingdom at Disney World. Basically the way you felt about Disneyland is how I feel about Magic Kingdom, it’s vibes are immaculate and every ride there is a classic in its own way. I just can’t imagine being at Magic Kingdom and not having a great time.
The day before yesterday I spent my birthday in phantasialand. I can't imagine anything nicer. Especially in the dark with the lighting and so the park is just indescribably beautiful! 🤩😍
I like how Efteling tries to be more international, but foreign people still pronounce their rides the Dutch way 😂
"When in Rome do as the Romans do" comes to mind. People will go out of their way to attempted to be culturally appropriate to wherever they are
I love it. The bad Dutch pronunciations make me smile.
@@jotunfalls4026are you dutch because i am
Silver Dollar City has really started to capture my interest recently.
Generally, this is one elite top 10 parks!
only 45 mins from Kings Island and i make the most of it every year!!! happy new year.
Glad to hear that! Thanks for watching and happy new year to your family!
You need to visit Alton towers in England my friend.
The first B&M Invert in Europe.
The Prototype B&M Dive coaster.
The Prototype B&M Flying coaster.
The Prototype Vertical Free-Fall Drop coaster.
The World Record (14) inversion coaster.
As well as one of the greatest themed GCI's, a launch coaster, a spinner, a mine train, a Vecoma Mad House dark ride and lots of other family attractions.
Set in historic grounds and some immense theming due to the constraints placed on the park.
I live in England and have visited Alton Towers more than any other park, but it wouldn't make my top 10 - probably not even my top 20. A lot of the 'selling points' that you mention here quickly become negatives; the prototype B&M dive coaster = the least interesting B&M dive coaster, the prototype B&M flying coaster = a B&M flyer that hardly does anything compared to modern flyers, the drop-track coaster is a family coaster that really doesn't do a lot else, the launch coaster is a single launch coaster that just meanders round some helixes after the launch.
Nemesis and Wicker Man are great rides, there's no arguing that. And the Smiler serves a purpose even if it's a little gimmicky with all the inversions. But beyond these, I feel like the magic that was at the park through the 80s and 90s has diminished a lot since, with Merlin more focused on making money rather than making memories. I'd like to see additions that will last as quality rides, rather than 'firsts' that will simply be a marketing spike in the short term. I'd like to see better operations and more reasonably priced food offerings; they could learn a lot from Europa Park here. There's an awful lot of potential in the park but right now I don't feel like it's being treated in the right way... I hate to say it but that's kinda how I feel about the place right now!
@@edbrown2998 I agree that some of the above mentioned aren't the best that there is, however a lot of these are the first of's and to think they were in the countryside in Stoke/Stafford and not a huge theme park in America is crazy.
Now as for the future, I like Merlin's thinking in that they are properly revamping and relaunching older staples. Nemesis is going to be a different colour and there is speculation that it is going to have a slightly different theme/back story and that the station building is going to have some work done. Also Dual is returning to the Haunted House with again a differing darker back story.
If this works for the above attractions, I am full of positivity in what this could bring, if this is the way they go in the in between years. If you look at the artists impressions on what some of the attractions should have been (especially Air and Thirteen.) it might mean that some of these prototypes get celebrated and upgraded to again be world class attractions.
@@benjaminclark6757 I really hope they can improve the park. I think they can turn the Haunted House back into something excellent, and I think there are other rides - the rapids ride especially - that could be really improved with a bit of love. I'm not sure about Air / 13 / Rita because the track layouts can't really be changed, but let's see where things go.
I do have concerns about the operations though. I went to Gardaland this year - the first time I've been to a Merlin park abroad - and actually hated my experience there. It was the same feeling - they wanted to make money rather than wanting to keep guests happy. Parks like Europa Park and Phantasialand are streets ahead in pairing great attractions with superb operations, food, reasonable prices etc, but maybe Merlin can learn and change... I guess we'll see!
The whole Phantasiland space thing. I've recently been thinking about that a lot. The whole issue that they have with the neighbouring town, nature reservoir and the motorway close by is pretty known by now. But I was wondering, the way that they create these mad immersive areas would they have done that as well to such high detail if they had more space? All of their recent coaster expansions do something truly unique and blend into the environment as much as they do. This obviously ties in with the limitations that they have to cope with. But what if they didn't need to. Would they still deliver such immersive experiences if they had more space to play around with? In saying that, hyper coaster would look totally out of place in the park right now. Would love to see them do something with a woodie even though I doubt that this would pass the noise check.
Disney world as a whole and staying on property would be my number 1. It feels amazing to be in that Disney Bubble!
Wait was great adventure on the list
This is his list :
25 : Six Flags Mexico
24 : Disney California Adventure
23 : Carowinds
22 : Hansa Park
21 : Holiday World
20 : Disney's Hollywood Studios
19 : Disney's Animal Kingdom
18 : Busch Gardens Tampa
17 : Kings Dominion
16 : Canda's Wonderland
15 : Busch Gardens Williamsburg
14 : Knoebels
13 : Hersheypark
12 : Six Flags Magic Mountain
11 : Six Flags Fiesta Texas
10 : Europa Park
9 : Energylandia
8 : Efteling
7 : Kings Island
6 : Silver Dollar City
5 : Dollywood
4 : Cedar Point
3 : Phantasialand
2 : Universal Island's Of Adventure
1 : Disneyland
thank you u still there??
I'm really happy with phantasialand ranked so high by you. But I'd like to point out the problems I have with it (likely because it's my home park😅) I really hope the management now goes back to building darkrides because that's what the park is really lacking right now(and it's also the thing that made them popular in the past), also I think they should update/refurbish some attractions and areas: maybe update the screen portions of maus au chocolate, update the theming in the whole fantasy area because it's looking a bit cheap at the time and crazy bats isn't fitting at all(but it seems they are putting some work into that part at the moment) and also China town is still cool but it's attractions are more than outdated and are by far the least popular in the park
the only problem I have with Maus au chocolat is that my hand is full of blisters afterwards
Great list, your top 5 to 2 are exactly my top 4 parks I've visited, couldn't agree more on that order there.🙌🏼
I haven't visited annaheim yet, but I don't think I would rank it in my top 10, but that's just because I'm not into Disney that much. It still looks great and I'm looking forward to visit it some day. It was definitely great to see so many european parks on your list, that just shows how thankful I can be having these amazing parks so close to me🙌🏼
You NEED to visit the UK, go to Alton Towers, Thorpe Park and Blackpool Pleasure beach. You should also visit Chessington. We have the worlds biggest Legoland. You can miss Drayton Manor, Flamingo land, Gulliver's world, Oakwood and Paulton's Park. But the 3 or 4 I said at the start are go toos. Alton towers has the smiler. The most inverting coaster in the world and also at alton, all of the main rollercoasters have either broke records or been first in Europe or ethen the world (take that cedar point). Thorpe and Alton have amazing coasters and I have no idea how Blackpool fit Icon in. Chessington is a bit like Animal Kingdom. Hope to see you come soon (ideally after Nemesis has it's re-track finished and Hyperia opens)
River Rapids ride, I'd say Thunder Canyon at Dorney takes the cake for getting soaked lol
It's just waterfall after waterfall
We live in Wheeling WV and have been to Kings Island and Cedar Point quite often. They are great day trips!
Great video! I enjoyed watching!
I agree with islands of adventure, except for the good operations point on specifically hagrids. i can remember standing in the same spot for at least 10 minutes 3 separate times while in line.
Marc: " I haven't been to every every theme park in the world - *_nobody has_* "
Richard Bannister: *_laughs in 79 countries, more than 1000 parks and 3044 credits_*
Disneyland is just incredible.
My top 10 as of last year:
1) Cedar Point
2) Islands of Adv
3) Kings Island
4) Hershey Park
5) Magic Mountain
6) Busch Gardens Tampa
7) Carowinds
8) Dollywood
9) Great Adventure
10) Knotts
great adventure not even making it in the list of 25 parks hurt my soul so much
@@rvkit2873 Great Adventure was my childhood Home Park until the early 2010s. I still adore it, but the park feels rundown and lifeless when I go there now. And whenever Toro is having its issues the lineup suffers a lot for me (not to mention the fact that the ride hasn’t aged well). I can see why he didn’t put it there.
I also think replacing Superman, Green Lantern, or both in favor of a more quality attraction could add a bit of buzz to the lineup (or if that Giga ever happens).
@@tay_thrills I don't go to parks for how pretty they look or the food they sell. I go for the rides and I think great adventure has a much better lineup of coasters then a decent amount of the parks on this list. I get why it wasn't on here too but that reasoning doesn't resonate with me at all. With that being said disney wouldn't be in my top 25 so it's all just subjective.
@@rvkit2873 I feel where you’re coming from. I’m somewhere in the middle b/c a park like BGW won’t touch my top 10 since the Ride Lineup is meh to me. But I’ve also grown to appreciate theming/vibes quite a bit, hence why Dollywood and Knotts are so high (both atmospheres resonate with me more than BGW). It also helps that those two parks each have a rides that’s in my top 15 lol
Great list. I went to KI for NYE and it was a blast. Happy New Year CD!
Thanks, happy new years to you as well!
Aww man.. i didn’t see a plopsaland.. but its ur opinion nice work!
I've only been to parks in the US and I've been to pretty much all the big parks, but this is the year where I'm looking to go international. Here is how I look at the parks I've been to in the US: (Top 25):
1. Cedar Point
2. Dollywood
3. Silver Dollar City
4. Six Flags Magic Mountain
5. Busch Gardens Williamsburg
6. Busch Gardens Tampa
7. Hershey Park
8. Holiday World-
9. Six Flags Fiesta Texas
10. Carowinds
11. Islands of Adventure
12. Kings Dominion
13. Six Flags Great America
14. Knotts Berry Farm
15. Kings Island
16. Six Flags Great Adventure
17. Six Flags Over Georgia
18. Knoebels
19. Sea World Orlando
20. Lagoon
21. Silverwood
22. Kentucky Kingdom
23. Kennywood
24. California Great America
25. Indiana Beach
I'm more into thrills, so you won't see Disney parks on my list. But some parks settings are really good and help them up my list.
Nice! Haven’t been to some of these parks but I have been to a lot of them
Nice one
I live in a dinky little town in Utah and I went to Germany back in August of 2022, Phantasialand has been by far my favorite park. I tried going to walibi Holland but we couldn't figure out how to get there from Amsterdam. Even as a kid I didn't really like the universal and Disney parks, good list though.
I love Islands of Adventure and Disneyland. 🤙🏽
phantasialand at no. 3, over cedar point
it makes me proud of my home park and probably for ever no. 1
i am surprised knott's berry farm wasn't here
I love Knotts, but 2022 in particular has been an awful year for the park. It’s been having these “off-years” far too often in recent memory. You know it’s bad when a platinum passholder visits once in 2022.
Happy New Year, Marc!
I absolutely love your vlogs from Europe!
I hope your planning on visiting SE Asia within the next few years!
Thank you! SE Asia would be very cool.
you should go to the uk parks. the three top parks are some of the best.
I love the ways the Dutch rides were pronounced
I love the Disney parks too! I actually prefer Magic Kingdom to parks like Cedar Point, Magic Mountain, and even Islands of Adventure which many thoosies probably don’t agree on
Wow! Magic Kingdom just barely missed my top 25 but I do love it very much. It’d probably be on my list if I hadn’t grown up and felt so used to Disneyland.
i find it criminal that knott's was not on the list at all. i know it comes down to opinion but i feel like it deserves it
Happy new year! Currently my favorite park is either SFMM or Hersheypark. Im not a big fan of dark rides, so I actually thought Disneyland was kinda boring, but it is definitely well themed.
Nice to see me homepark of the efteling in the Top 10. I defently agree with your assesment of Europapark i had the same feeling about it. Well i'm gonna do a lot parks in the USA the next couple of years since i pretty much done all of the parks i wanna do in mainland Europe so i'm curiuos if i have the same openion as you have about those parks. Probable very close cause you seem to enjoy the same things as i do. At least you got the European parks in the same order as the are on my list.
Havent been to a lot of parks, but have been to a few parks many many times.
1. Islands of adventure / Universal studios orlando - pretty much one park to me they are right next to each other; usually go to both same day
2. Magic kingdom
3. Cedar point
4. Busch gardens tampa
5. Epcot
6. Seaworld orlando
(big gap)
7. Animal kingdom
(gap)
8. Hollywood studios
Park operations/park experience does play a role
Great video as always my man 💪 😎 sending the good vibes from Winnipeg !! Have you ever visited Mount Rushmore? I went as a young kiddo and got to visit Wonderland cave, it was pretty neat! HAPPY NEW YEAR!!🎉
Thanks Cory! I haven’t had the chance to visit Mt Rushmore yet but South Dakota is definitely on our radar for TravelDash. 🙌🏻
@@CoasterDash is TravelDash another CZcams channel if yours? If so I’d love to subscribe! 🔥
Yes, here’s a link youtube.com/@TravelDash
@@CoasterDash thanks buddy! Turns out I’m already subbed! My bad dude I guess I’ve just been getting the coaster channel in my feed, probably a use algorithm and such, I hit the bell tonight so I’ll be sure to keep up to each channel
Thank you for the support! It means more than you know
I think, i can be happy with Phantasialand as home park :)
Who wouldn’t? It’s heaven on earth 😍
come to UK next year after project exodus opens at thorpe park
My list is
1: Cedar Point
2: Islands of Adventure
3: Kings Island
4: kennywood
5: Universal Studios
6: Casino Peir
7: Sluggers and Putters
8: Fun times fun park
For me islands of adventure is easily number one
It has
Velocicoaster
Incredible Hulk coaster
Hagrids
Amazing adventures of Spider-Man
Forbidden journey
Jurassic park river adventure
Ripsaw falls
Bilge rat barges
Even Seuss trolley train ride is decent
Hi Marc, been a subscriber/viewer for a while and I am always grateful for your content! Thank you for your ranking of European Coasters!! I have only been to 6 amusement parks outside of the U.S. i went to Tripsdrill, Holiday Park and Europa Park in Germany. In addition, I visited Thorpe Park, Alton Towers and Chessington Worlds of Adventure in the UK.
I am starting to research a new European trip (Germany, Holland, the Netherlands and possibly Denmark).
How did you plan your routes and travel? I just started to plot parks (thanks for your suggestions) on Google Maps, but am finding the app somewhat limited. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!!! Thanks again! 😍
Thank you very much! I’d be happy to help but in what ways are google maps limited? I use google flights for most of my airfare as it has the best prices between most all airlines. then, you can take a car or use public transit when you get to Europe. we took a car but there will be some expensive toll roads in Denmark. Germany & Netherlands, not so much which is nice. Driving is simple in europe, you drive on the left side just like in the US. as for routes, I’d try your best to split up long drive times with various parks. for example, when hitting Djurs Sommerland & Fårup Sommerland in Denmark, along with Hansa Park in Germany, you’ll need to make a decision on visiting Djurs Sommerland on the way up to Fårup, or on the way down towards Hansa. I’d recommend the ladder since Fårup to Hansa is quite long. :)
@CoasterDash Hello Marc! Wow, I am shocked (in a great way) at your quick and detailed reply!!! Thank you!
At this time, I have plotted numerous (8 or 9) locations in GoogMaps (GM) on my desktop computer and shared this map w/myself via text to my phone and to email (for future reference/use)... But, I always have an issue trying to open this map on my phone and/or laptop using GM. Maybe it's just a wifi or data issue?
Or maybe it is too much for GM to handle a map w/so much information (aka so many points of interest on one map).
Maybe I need to split this map up into separate journeys... traveling from park A to park B, then another map for B to C. And so on?
Lastly, I am trying to determine how much I can reasonably do in 2 weeks. I definitely want to go to Phantasialand but am unsure as to whether I should go hit other German Parks while there (was thinking Heide Park and/or Hanza Park maybe... ) in week 1. For Week 2, I am torn between going to the Denmark area or Netherlands and Belgium. DECISIONS DECISIONS!!
Thanks again 😍
@@jay-dubb.dubb.68 No problem, I think your idea is absolutely the best move. I’d highly recommend an international data plan with whoever your phone provider is 🙌🏻
@@CoasterDash Thank you again for all the assistance
Phantasialand is my favorite park overall, followed by Tokyo Disney Sea, Europa, Efteling, and SDC-I actually prefer Kings Island over Cedar Point.
I work at WDW and visit DL often, so it’s hard for me to judge those parks-and the rest of the FL parks-so I just leave them out of my rankings.
How come Lake Compounce isn't listed
I love energylandia it is amazing. I wasn't on zadra or hyperion or mayan or speed but abyssus and formula were amazing. I didn't like to much roller coasters bc i live in Prag and in Prag we have only Matějská pouť but this is only with flying atractions like booster, extreme and like this. Only 1 coaster is wild mouse and i don't really like it so i tought all of the roller coasters ar the same. But give the roller coasters chance so i found some of the good theme parks near Czech Republic and i found Energylandia so we went here and it was very very good. (it was my first and only one theme park where i was) sorry for my einglish grammar
Thanks for watching! Glad you got to visit a park outside of Czechia 🇨🇿🙌🏻
Amazing content!
Here's my top 10 parks:
1. Phantsialand
2. Busch Gardens Tampa
3. Europa Park
4. Energylandia
5. Universal Islands of Adventure
6. Alton Towers
7. Parc Asterix
8. Walibi Holland
9. Animal Kingdom
10. Wiener Prater
Awesome list! Love so many of those places.
No Efteling????? If you havn’t visited, you should. It should be very high on that list. I though number 8 was pretty low
@@Nitzpitz I have visted efteling and though I did really enjoy the others have something special, I take everything into account rollercoaster, dark rides, flat rides and theming. And it is my personal opinion
@@joecandish3923 okay, to each his own. I only visited your numbers 3, 6 and 8. And except for Europa Park they don’t even come close for me.
I like how enthusiasts complain about coasters like Orion while I’m out here in Victoria Australia with gumbuya world being the biggest and only sorta good park in the whole state
I feel for ya 😭
at least you have one ... we don't have any in Czech Republic 🙃
At least you can drive to Poland, Germany and the rest of Europe, unfortunately I have to drive 1,400km to to ride our 3-4 good coasters (on the Gold Coast)
@@tomm7511 Sorry, I always forget how big Australia is 😱 thats insane!
In the future, is there a chance you can do a list of your top fairs in the world? I can see the San Diego County Fair being high on the list!
Unfortunately, I haven’t been to enough fairs to make a video like that. I will say, the SD County Fair is easily my favorite in america so far. favorite overall is Rheinkirmes in Düsseldorf, Germany. By a long shot.
Great top 10, Pretty much agree with it. But where would you place disneyland tokyo you think?
Tokyo Disneyland would be somewhere in the top 10-15 i’m sure. Tokyo DisneySea would probably be top 3.
Definitely agree that Disneyland is number one. While I love coasters and I enjoy my trips to Cedar Point, Hersheypark, Kings Island, Magic Mountain and similar parks, I still like dark rides even more and Disneyland has an unmatched dark ride collection. They also have quite a few water rides, most slow moving but they are still excellent. I only wish Disneyland would fix their Tomorrowland. Magic Kingdom never killed theirs so it's just so much better but Disneyland just destroyed their version in the late 90s and it's never recovered.
That said, for two months out of the year I think one park surpasses even Disneyland. Dollywood at Christmas time is just unbeatable. It is the best Christmas festival at any park (sorry SDC and Knotts.) And the shows somehow get even better. I know that's a weird caveat but technically my number one park experience is Dollywood in November/December but Disneyland is the best during the rest of the year.
One other caveat, in my opinion EPCOT (when it was EPCOT Center) was the best theme park of all time. I was fortunate enough to visit when Future World was good and The World Showcase didn't include Disney characters. Rides like Horizons, World of Motion and the orginal Journey into Imagination were among the greatest attractions Disney ever built. And The Living Seas was much better before the retheme, as was El Rio del Tiempo and Maelstrom. The original EPCOT Center remains the greatest park experience I've ever had.
How are you able to rank all of these parks? I've only been to a handful of parks, but I can't rank them at all.
My n1 and 2 are Europa parks and Phantasialand. I can't choose 😩.
Then, it starts to get hard to rank.
Probably something like:
3. Efteling
4. Toverland
5. Hansa park
6. Walibi Holland
7. Walibi Belgium
8. Bobbejaanland
9. Plopsaland de Panne
10. Heide park
Well thats a very nice list i take it you haven't done spain and italy.
As someone who's taking his car in 2 hours to go to his anual Phantasialand trip, i agree :)
Considering youre name i take it you like a particulair italian park as well?
@@arturobianco848 ah ha no, from switzerland but i loved Katun :) Whats your favourite coaster ?
@@jverlo At the moment its still Zadra. Katun is however my favorite Invert so you got good taste. Doing some parks in the states next year including cedar point so things might change then.
You forgot to mention about the 1 litter beer you can get at Phantasialand for about only 10 Euro which is so damn cheap for beer 💯, for that alone that park is the 🐐
I hope you make it to Six Flags Great America in 2023. I'd be interested to see whether it would make the Top 25 or not. Trust me when I say it's that great.
IoA moving up dang
Happy New Year :)
Thanks, you too 🙌🏻
I think Disneyland would be up there on my list if it was not so horrendously expensive. They charge double of any other park I can think of and they are just not as good as other parks since they only have kids rides.
I agree, the pricing these days are absurd. though, something I always notice, is no one criticizes Universal’s ticket pricing. they’re typically more expensive than disney. 😅
@@CoasterDash I think Universal has better theming and stronger rides so I think yes they are overpriced but Disney represents of image of equality and family and inclusion....but to me it's like how can you say to support everyone and this and that then charge $200 for a one day ticket when you know most families cannot afford that.
Personally I care more about the rides than I do the theming because at the end of the day that's the majority of what I will be doing. Going on rides
I hope Jurassic Park river adventure at island of adventure wil be the same theming and layout as Jurassic World the ride at Universal Studios Hollywood.
Great list my list is
1.Cedar Point
2.Kings dominion (it was 105 degrees so the rides her so warmed up)
3.Kings Island
4.Carowinds
5.Dorney park
6.Michigans adventure
I am hoping to go to a PA trip next year to the Waldemeer, Kennywood, Knobeols and Hersheypark
My No1 is: Phantasialand
Perfectly understandable!
Disneyland is way better than Magic Kingdom and people here in the Midwest and east coast just don’t get it. But if you go you will know the difference. It isn’t even close.
Bro where is Alton towers 😭
Noice
Bro was talking about Disneyland for half the time 💀
'My brother thought Efteling was one of his least favourite parks of the trip' Beware Marc, I think your brother may be a psychopath.
😂
Efteling is just not about thrill rides. If that is what you are looking for, I guess you will be disappointed. And one day is just not enough to vet to know the park well enough.
I don't care for theming as much as most other people do so my list would be different from yours.
How dare you not mention ET at islands of adventure lol
Wrong park. That’s at Universal Studios Florida, the main park.
@@CoasterDash oh you r right my bad
Used the train each day so I got jumbled up between the two
@@CoasterDash I’m ashamed lol
Early comment lol
Both Busch gardens should be higher and Disneyland doesn't belong on the list
disneyland #1....Nope!!
Disney is so overrated. I'd much rather do kings island, Hershey, or cedar than anything Disney has to offer. Heck universal is more fun
First
IOA should not be that high...
It should be even higher, shouldn’t it 😉