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Almost 70 European theme park enthusiasts made their way to the US last month for the trip of a lifetime, gathering to visit seven of the country’s top theme parks
Tom Anstey | Planet Attractions | 06 Jul 2022
A group of 67 theme park and rollercoaster enthusiasts gathered in the US for the trip Credit: Pleasure Beach Experience
A group of nearly 70 theme park enthusiasts have taken a trip across the pond, travelling from Britain and wider Europe to the US for a special excursion to visit seven of the US’s top theme parks.
Taking place over the course of 11 days in June, the event was three years in the making, with 67 avid theme park and rollercoaster enthusiasts taking up the opportunity.
“We put the idea out there on social media in February 2020 to see if there was any interest,” said Scott Bickerton, one of the men behind the extremely popular Pleasure Beach Experience channel on YouTube, speaking to Planet Attractions.
“As a team, we'd been discussing it for months to see if we could carry it out. The initial interest was huge and we knew from there that there was justification for going ahead with it.”
The trip was delayed a number of times thanks to the global pandemic. This didn’t dampen expectation, however, with the initially-booked transport selling out in under five minutes.
Meeting in Chicago at the O'Hare Airport in Illinois, the group - made up of 62 British, four Czech and one Italian theme park enthusiasts - would visit seven top parks, including Six Flags Great America, Indiana Beach, Six Flags St. Louis, Holiday World, Kentucky Kingdom, Kings Island and finally Cedar Point. Not just a traditional park visit, the trip also included behind-the-scenes tours, exclusive ride time for attendees and more.
“I don't believe any other UK enthusiast group has achieved this kind of event other than the Roller Coaster Club of Great Britain (RCCGB),” said Bickerton, who was assisted in the planning by Andy Hine of RCCGB. “It took a lot of time and effort but the end result was absolutely worth it, so the planning for a 2024 edition is already well underway.”
For anyone interested in the 2024 excursion, email [email protected] and request to be added to the events mailing list or click here for more
Theme park
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