The United States and Europe each have hundreds of amusement and theme parks. After you’ve visited a few of each, it’s easy to see how things differ in the operations and set-up. So in this video, I will discuss 20 of the biggest differences between American and European theme parks.
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41 Comments
I would say that europe probably has the best overall theme parks and coasters plus in addition the america parks don't get anywhere near as slammed as the major parks in america
Which is your favourite continent for coasters and theme parks out of North America, Europe, Asia, Oceania, Africa, South America the only one with no rollercoaster is antartica
I've always equated the U.S. with better coasters and Europe with better flat rides, though this is mostly speculation on my part.
One thing I'll say: you won't find a "Tagada" flat ride in the U.S. anymore. That I was able to ride one at Morey's Pier back in the 80s still astounds me.
It’s sad that all these safety features are in place in the US because people simply don’t know how to behave and act like human beings in public
Basically, europe is more chill
That is so true I do wish they had more Nanocoasters from Europe and Nanocoasters in general throughout United States the company seems to be lacking
European Parks look to have incredible theming, but solid coasters as well. Parks like Portaventura, Phantasialand, and Alton Towers seem to balance a solid coaster lineup with theming. American parks definitely focus on coasters rather than theming, but Cedar Fair has been focusing on theming a lot lately. This is seen with Adventure Port, Aeronautica Landing, and the Boardwalk. Keep up the great work, few enthusiasts have a credit count as high as you do!
Very interesting video. This was good.
You had me laughing at the no running policy in the US. You are right with the absence off staff on some rides, you especially see this on water parks (water slides rarely have lifguards)
So…which country is better?
I prefer the full safety check over the spot check.
I've had only minimal experience with European parks but I totally agree about the proximity to housing and public areas. In my experience, European parks are far more likely to be found in city centers and along major streets. They are often near beautiful old buildings, though that's basically true of Europe in general compared to the USA.
At Cedar Point people book at rope drop…then you get to the train tracks( if you entered by Magnum) and everybody is hunched over gasping for breath.
Cedar point is the only park that you can run at in the us..
Maybe next time if you go to Asia more, you can do a follow up video with the differences between Asia and US parks 🙂
As for #10: Playland in Vancouver has always cut the line early so the last dispatch is at closing time, the only exception for latest dispatch possibly being merely seconds later. They cut the line for coaster at 3:30pm because it closes at 5pm so it could open again at 6pm to charge other people another $45 to ride from 6-11pm, not counting how much less time one could ride at night since they'd probably cut the line 90 minutes before closing at night at about 9:30pm too. It's a racket.
I don't know how much that's the exception to the rule in North America especially Canada as Canada Wonderland doesn't do that, even though I've heard whispers of that being considered when the park closes at 8pm and Leviathan is still operating at 10pm due to crowds. That was just a typical 2021 mid week weekday pre labour day weekend at Canada Wonderland. I hope they keep it up but they better pay the employees. But yeah: Playland in Vancouver will literally cut the line for coaster at 3:30pm, due to 90 minute lines to ride an ELITE coaster with a 67' drop, that you must wear seatbelts in order to ride or the coaster's new computer won't let the train dispatch.🤪🤔But that's ok: I do realize you said denoted the theme of this video the the GENERAL differences between European and North American amusement parks.
The summary I take from this video looks positive fore me: from where my experience lands me: European Amusement parks look extremely attractive but I need to visit Universal Islands of Adventure and Busch Gardens's Florida 1st. I've never been to Florida but I've already been to the mainland of Europe 3 times and England 5 times, but other than visiting the three best parks in England in Autumn 2019 I only rode coasters in the mainland of Europe once in 1983 in Vienna Prater riding the Jet Star 1. After Florida (which I plan to visit in 2023): Europe: HERE I COME! You've done a good and fair job defending riding coasters in the mainland of Europe, which is wonderful.
R.I.P. coaster at Playland b.1958 – d. October 31st 2020. I wish I could talk about the sad state that Coaster at Playland has become in 2022 with someone; anyone. The 1st drop in the back seat is still uncompromised for what that's worth, but the 2nd drop, the post MCBR drop, the reverse camelback and two last northbound camelback hills are RUINED now. Zamperla doing Canada's fastest launch opening in 2024 cannot make up for that. Playland has to do better.
I'm lucky North American amusement parks focus more on the rides than theming in general, that's not the only thing for me to consider. I'm looking forward to visiting European Amusement parks in 2024 if I'm lucky enough to have all go as planned. Thanks for posting this informative video!
The UK is kinda in between the standards of Europe and the US. For example some parks have great theming (ie Chessington) while some just focus on thrills (ie Blackpool). Unlike the rest of Europe we keep queues open right until closing time. On ride filming is also frowned open. One thing to know if your visiting the UK is DO NOT go ahead of anyone in a queue for ANY REASON, you will be ejected from the park with no refund, and will not be allowed to re-enter.
Wait you guys have people at the top of logflumes? The what
European parks don’t need water fountains since in most countries water can be drank from the tap in the toiletareas. Since Americans are used to chlorine in their water, this won’t be an issue. In countries like the Netherlands, most parts of Belgium, Germany and Scandanavia water tastes the same as bottled water. So just bring an empty bottle and your good.
The free drinking water one is an interesting divide between the UK and mainland Europe. In the UK it is the law that all venues licenced to sell Alcohol (which will include places like theme parks which serve alcohol) have to provide free tap water on request. Alton Towers even lets you get drinking water for free from the automated hydration stations where you get your soft drink refills.
In Europe it is not an EU directive that licensed premises must provide free drinking water. France has actually had a law since 1967 statinng that if you pay for a meal you must be offered drinking water at no extra cost but they tend to just ignore that (every time I have been to France and asked for tap water/l'eau potable I have always been greeted with a look of feigned confusion). They restated it in another law earlier this year (though you still need to order food if you want free drinking water).
I also agree the smoking one is annoying, particularly in France and Germany. In my experience things have been getting better in the UK over the last 10 years. People are more considerate about not smoking in queuelines (at least they actually pay attention to the signs) and more people have started vaping instead which smells less offensive. When I went to Europapark the amount of smoke everywhere was horrible. Even though it has lots of wide paths it seemed like everywhere you went you ended up walking behind a group of smokers. And there were quite a few people there completely disregarding the signs and smoking in crowded queuelines.
That no-running policy is really the dumbest shit. I did not expect that.
Newer European rides have imascore soundtracks and they are just sooo good, it adds so much to the theming
this is such a great video idea i hope to see more like this in the future!
Great video! Very interesting.
I think a lot of parks are going to be moving to the AI-powered security check lines where you can just carry your bags through a tunnel without stopping. I saw this in use at one of the museums in London (the Victoria and Albert? I forget), and a few American parks have already put it in place.
#11 is far more general than amusement parks: in Europe, you have to pay for water everywhere, and it's the thing that most reliably annoys American tourists about the entire continent. Just a fact of life to get used to. I've also seen free ice water at restaurants being praised as a pleasant surprise about the United States by Europeans who wouldn't praise us in many other categories.
With theming, in the US there seems to be a strong division between the Disney/Universal tier of premium parks with very heavy theming, and everyone else. The US has a long tradition of simple local amusement parks that resemble a carnival midway, with just a bunch of flats and a wooden coaster, and the big thrill parks are kind of an evolution of that. After Disneyland appeared, a lot of parks started to put at least a token effort into building more highly themed areas, but for most of them it's secondary. In Europe, there are all sorts of theme parks with Disney-level theming, which I think is part of the reason Disney initially had trouble breaking into that market–they weren't offering a unique product.
Man, I wish public transit connections to theme parks were more common here in the US. Any time a park is far enough to fly to rather than drive to, transportation usually becomes a huge issue since you don't have a car on the other side. Renting a car is expensive and a hassle and relying on Ubers is expensive. Hotel shuttles can work occasionally, but only in specific scenarios and they only take you to specific places. I'm planning a trip to Orlando that I'm taking soon and transportation amongst all the different parks and attractions seems like way more of a hassle than it needs to be. My hotel has a shuttle that goes to Disney, SeaWorld, and Universal, but it only leaves at certain times, doesn't go to the smaller stuff like the FunSpots (meaning I'm gonna need Ubers), and doesn't take you to and from the airport for some reason. Building transit here seems like a no-brainer with all the car-less tourists, and yet it hasn't happened. Obviously this is a problem much bigger than just theme parks but still.
You forgot: Most European parks speak Europish and most American parks speak Americanish.
Number 4 is not needed overseas partially to the existence of the 2nd amendment in the US.
I was at Busch gardens Williamsburg this year and everyone was running to pantheon at the beginning of the day including me to get a ride. We got 4th train of the day. So I don’t know if the running rule is in every park but idk?
Knoebels basically picks and chooses the best rules from Europe and the US it seems. No bag restrictions, no parking costs, sometimes restraints not physically checked. I've seen them let people run as well. Cool video, do flats run faster in Europe or is that just at the fairs?
Europe wins this round…….😀
The thumbnail doesn’t show the uk lmao. The uk is still a part of Europe, just not the E.U
At Europa-Park they ask 20 years ago divergent great hotel clubs if they want to build hotels at the side of the park.
Only nobody was interested. And know they have interest but now they are not allowed to build there.
Could you do a video on the most public-transport friendly theme parks? I feel it's something way undervalued and I'm looking to do a car-free European coaster trip next summer!
I remember back in the g we used to be able to run at ki
Metal detectors and bag checks? For what? Are people taking their AR-15's with them for their fun family day out?
I ran around Nemesis lapping it last time, park closed at 16:00 and got my last ride in on the dot
Corporations don't completely run everything there. Car and gas companies "convinced" the government to build the interstate system and NOT build public transit like Europe.
Hah and then later in the video you highlight how labor is treated so much better there as well. It's actually a job for adults there with an actual salary as opposed to here with teenagers getting not much more than minimum wage. Labor controls must be nice. No bag checks because they aren't worried about people having guns.
Difference #21. CHEAPER BEER IN EUROPE
The weather