Richard Bannister

This year our travel started with a relaxing five day trip to Dubai in mid-January, during which we visited four brand new parks as well as a good number of small family entertainment centers. The opportunity to recharge proved timely as I flew on from there to Asia for an exhausting week-long business trip culminating in team-building exercises in Bali.

In February we made our first visit to Morocco, calling in at all of the known coasters. It turned out that one had been removed three years earlier and a second only opened during the summer months, but aside from that the trip proved a successful one.

Our first and only new wood coaster of the year came at the end of April with a weekend trip to Plopsaland De Panne. We did consider a trip to the United States to pick up a few more, but decided that we'd rather explore new countries instead. With that in mind we booked a three day trip to Bulgaria in June, and though the coasters were pretty weak we nevertheless had a great time. Later that month we attended the media day for the new flume at Tayto Park and made two short visits to mainland Europe.

Our most adventurous trip yet came in July with a week-long exploration of Belarus and the Ukraine with our friends Bruno and Anita. Rather than concentrate on the capitals as previous enthusiasts had done we hired a car and headed off the beaten track, notably to the city of Chernvitsi where we enjoyed our first Analog Hoverla. We also made a visit to the exclusion zone surrounding the Chernobyl Nuclear Plant.

A weekend with the European Coaster Club in mid-July was followed by two trips to France: a weekend with friends, followed by a four day excursion complete with ridiculously stupid drive to the Luna Parks on the south coast of the country. We arrived into our hotel at almost 3:00am after virtually an entire day on the road, though on the positive side we did get to enjoy several new coasters for our trouble.

Our longest trip for the year was a two week expedition to some of the smaller parks in Japan. Our itinerary included just about all the parks I'd yet to visit, leaving me with a grand total of seven credits to pick up on my next trip. I connected this to a business trip to Singapore, then stopped in Spain on the way home for Ferrari Land.

09/01: IMG Worlds of Adventure, Global Village
10/01: Motiongate
11/01: Legoland Dubai, Real Madrid World
12/01: Sparky's Al Ghurair, Kiddieville, Sparky's Lulu, Ajman Market, Al Shaab Village, Al Qasba, Family Gathering, Al Rigga Carnival
13/01: Fun City Bawadi, Hili Fun City, Play DXB
10/02: Palooza Land, Sindibad
11/02: Crazy Park
12/02: M'nar Park
29/04: Parc d'Olhain, Dennlys Parc, Bagatelle, Reims Foire du Paques
30/04: Plopsaland De Panne
03/06: SkyPark
04/06: Playground Varna, Luna Park Sunny Beach, Sunny Beach Park, Fun Park Sunny Beach
15/06: Emerald Park
18/06: Waarbeek, Attractiepark Slagharen
19/06: Movie Park Germany
24/06: Parc du Petit Prince, Markstein Grand-Ballon, La Bresse Hohneck, Bol d'Air, Foire Saint-Jean à Strasbourg
25/06: Skyline Park
03/07: Chelyuskintsev Park, Gorky Park Minsk, Suvorov Park
04/07: Gomel Amusement Park, Children's Park Rechytsa, Ski Complex Mazyr
06/07: Chernivtsi Central Park
07/07: Mis'kyi Park, Galaxy
09/07: Active Ukraine
15/07: Dingles Fairground Heritage Centre, Crealy Park, Funder Park, Paignton Green Funfair
16/07: Milky Way Adventure Park, Big Sheep
28/07: Parc Astérix, Fete des Loges, Fete des Tuileries
29/07: Royaume des Enfants Cergy, Mer de Sable
04/08: Family Park Saint-Martin-le-Beau, Parc Fenestre, Parc d'Attractions Marseillan-Plage, Lunapark Cap d'Agde, Fabrikus World
05/08: Jacquou Parc, La Coccinelle, Kid Parc, Lunapark La Palmyre
06/08: Parc de la Vallée, Kingoland
07/08: Parc Ange Michel, Parc du Bocasse
20/08: Murray's Funfair Swinford
03/09: Shirakaba Resort Family Land, Tokyo SummerLand
04/09: Benyland, AniPa
05/09: Tokyo Disneyland
06/09: Tokyo DisneySea
07/09: Kitami Family Land, Family Ailand You
08/09: Yomiuriland
09/09: Dazaifu Yuenchi, Kōno Park, Huis Ten Bosch
10/09: Akiyoshidai Safari Land, Marina Circus
11/09: Miyazaki City Phoenix Zoo
12/09: Hiruzen Kogen Center, Universal Studios Japan
13/09: Ikoma Skyland, Universal Studios Japan
14/09: Parque Espana
15/09: Legoland Japan, Nagashima Spa Land
16/09: Tokyo German Village, Kisarapia, Mother Farm
23/09: Ferrari Land, Port Aventura
24/09: Tibidabo
07/10: Flamingo Park, Dreamland
08/10: Cannon Hill Park, Sandwell Valley Amusements, Treasure Island Amusement Park
21/10: Legendia
22/10: Energylandia
17/11: Global Village, Sparky's Khalidiyah
18/11: Ferrari World Abu Dhabi, Motiongate
05/12: Winterville, Hyde Park Winter Wonderland
15/12: Wiener Weihnachtstraum, Wiener Prater
23/12: Paisley First Winterfest, Edinburgh's Christmas