Coaster Trips: 2015
The first few months of this year were memorable for the opportunity to watch the construction of the Cú Chulainn Coaster at Tayto Park. Five separate trips were made in order to track the build process, and lots of photographs were taken, some of which can be seen at ThemeParks.ie. We were able to ride the finished product for the first time in early June, and it's fair to say that the experience blew me away.
In February we travelled to Australia and New Zealand, planned as a holiday rather than a pure credit run. This trip went almost completely to plan, apart from losing out on a few coasters closed for annual maintenance. Flying Pirouettes is slowly publishing some enormously detailed reports from our trip for those seeking more reading material.
Trip number two was a ten day expedition to Mexico and Costa Rica in late April, another successful routing taking in lots of different coasters, some culture, and the highlight, a tour of the construction site for Zombie Ride at Bosque Magico.
In August, we made a three day trip to the Netherlands and Germany, followed by a fortnight in Italy with the European Coaster Club. That trip had its ups and downs (pun absolutely intended) but we had a good time despite a series of embarrassing planning errors.
We'd originally planned to spend a week in Tunisia in October, but the changing security situation and a government travel warning dropped that off the radar. Instead, we ended up doing a two week trip to Japan, visiting a lot of obscure parks off the usual routings.
09/02: Adventure World Australia
12/02: Uluru
13/02: TreeTop Adventure Park, Scenic World, Luna Park Sydney
14/02: Merimbula's Magic Mountain
15/02: Wonderland Fun Park, Luna Park Melbourne
16/02: Warner Bros. Movie World
17/02: Dreamworld
18/02: Sea World
19/02: Ginger Factory
20/02: Hobbiton Set, Ruakuri Cave, Sky Tower
21/02: Crystal Mountain, Rainbow's End
23/04: Six Flags Mexico, Parque Francisco Villa
24/04: Parque Bicentenario, Parque Infantil Miguel Hidalgo, Feria Nacional de San Marcos
25/04: Parque Quiqueland, Feria Nacional de San Marcos
26/04: Selva Mágica, Parque de la Selva
27/04: Feria de Puebla
28/04: Aztlan Parque Urbano, Perimágico
29/04: Bosque Magico, Parque Plaza Sesamo
01/05: Parque Diversiones, Parque el Agricultor
04/06: Emerald Park
01/08: Hansa Park, Hamburger Summerdom
02/08: Efteling, Park Hilaria
03/08: Toverland
15/08: Movieland Park
16/08: Gardaland
17/08: Zamperla Factory, Osteria Ai Pioppi
18/08: Astoria Village, Paperopolis, Lunapark Igea Marina, Baby Park, Lunapark Bellaria
19/08: Mirabilandia, Lunapark Riccione, Hotel Alcazar
20/08: Fiabilandia, Adventure Park Cimone
21/08: Cavallino Matto
22/08: Cinecittà World, Zoomarine Italy, Fantasiland
23/08: Luna Park Cocco, Oasi Park, Eden Park, Parco Morelli
24/08: MagicLand
25/08: Miragica, Zoosafari Fasanolandia, Gomma Park
26/08: Etnaland
27/08: Etnaland
28/08: Oasi del Bimbo, Liberty City Fun, Arcolandia Pacifico
12/10: Hanayashiki Amusement Park, Tokyo Dome City, Yokohama Cosmoworld, Tokyo Joypolis
13/10: Musashi-No Mura, Tobu Zoo Park, Mori no Yuenchi
14/10: Koriyama Dreamland, Utsunomiya Zoo, Tochinoki Family Land
15/10: Kezouji Park, Shibukawa Skyland, Gunma Safari Park
16/10: Suntopia World
17/10: Tedori Fish Land, Shibamasa World, Wonder Land Awara
18/10: Iwayama Park Land, Hachinohe Park, Fantasy Dome
19/10: Toshimaen
20/10: Space World
21/10: Tokushima Familyland, Brazilian Park Washuzan Highland
22/10: Kobe Fruit and Flower Park, Himeji Central Park
23/10: Nagashima Spa Land
24/10: Toyohashi Non Hoi Park, Kariya-shi Kotsu Jido Yuen, Akashi Park, Suzuka Circuit, Sea Train Land
25/10: Izu Granpal Park, Japan Cycle Sports Center, GrinPa
29/10: Emerald Park
06/12: Hamburger Winterdom
07/12: Europa Park