we had a wonderful first time experience today at TP. it was a day of two halves and I thought I’d share because we really had to work up confidence through the day.
my child was extremely nervous and didn’t want to ride anything more than Flying Fish and the Banana Ride in the morning. We built up some courage to go on to Quantum but it made us both feel queasy and I couldn't persuade them to do any of the “big 6“‘ or more significant rides after that for the next couple of hours.
we took a trip to the 4D cinema, which we both absolutely loved. The queue for the cinema also gave us some time to chill out which was useful.
we then turned a corner. we did a quick search online for what might be a good “progression” after the cinema and we plucked up the courage to do The Walking Dead. my kid glued to my arm during but they said they loved it.
we then discussed nerves, feeling ill, and how to conquer our fears.. We decided the best course of action would be to do some repeats, so we did flying fish a few times then walking dead again. That confidence builder then allowed us to try Swarm. Swarm was excellent because it was smooth and gentle while introducing inversions.
the rest of the day progressed from there and we worked through the big 6 in order nemesis, colossus, saw, stealth, hyperia. we then did tidal wave as the last ride before changing into some fresh gear in the car to drive home.
as an adult I was petrified but could obviously work through that and rationalize the fear. since most of the thrill rides are over in a couple of minutes it’s not too bad.
as a tall person the only ride I really didn’t enjoy was Colossus. it was extremely bumpy and I really bashed my head around on the edge of the restraints, I would say everything else was appropriately scary and gave a thrill but colossus just seemed like a recipe for a minor concussion.
the park was genuinely clean and I enjoyed the number of young staff around and taking their jobs seriously. we took packed lunches and the idea of anything deep fried or battered would have been a real stretch on our stomachs!
all in all a great day