Thrills at La Ronde theme park in Montreal (by Robert)

Robert, who's 12, writes:

When we were on holiday in Montreal, I went to a Six Flags theme park called La Ronde. This was so I could go on all of the awesome rides and roller coasters, whilst dad came along to keep me company and sit on a bench near the awesome rides and roller coasters! For me it was one of the best days of our trip to Canada, here my three favourite rides and what I thought about them.

Please watch our video about the highlights of our Montreal trip:

[kad_youtube url="https://youtu.be/PFhW6M_On6o" width=200 height=100 ]

 

Demon

[caption id="attachment_4285" align="alignnone" width="1200"] The Demon ride at Le Ronde
(Six Flags Entertainment Corporation)[/caption]

Demon is the best ride I’ve been on all year and my favourite at La Ronde by far. When strapped in, you are lifted up before being spun in loads of different directions. You go upside down, spin round and round, and go fast. It was very unpredictable, which made it exciting. At many parts, you travel towards jets of water, which make it look like you’re going to get splashed. At the very last second you flip away, so you stay dry. The best place to sit is on the far left, because you go super close to the water. This made the ride really fun.

Vampire

[caption id="attachment_4286" align="alignnone" width="1200"] The Vampire ride
(Six Flags Entertainment Corporation)[/caption]

Vampire was my favourite roller coaster and my second favourite ride at La Ronde. This was a really smooth roller coaster and there were lots of turns and drops. It also went really fast, at 50 miles per hour, and I really enjoyed it. It was lots of fun, and when I think back of my time at the park, it really jumps out at me.

Super Manège

[caption id="attachment_4287" align="alignnone" width="1200"] The Super Manege ride
(Six Flags Entertainment Corporation)[/caption]

Super Manège was really fun because it was fast and there was a loop de loop. It was probably one of the lengthiest roller coasters at La Ronde, which was good as you had more time to enjoy it. It was not very scary and there weren’t very many drops, so I recommend it for children and people who don’t go on a lot of roller coasters.

There were loads of rides and roller coasters at La Ronde. Another two I recommend are the Gravitor, where you go up and around, and Bateau Pirate, which is a pirate ship on a pendulum. I also recommend Monster, which was unfortunately closed when we went but is supposed to be really good. I only went on some of the rides at La Ronde as there were so many to choose from. The only downside was the roller coaster Ednör, where my head kept smashing against the metal of my seat. However, the majority of the rides were good.

In conclusion, I liked La Ronde as there were so many rides to pick from. There was a range of rides catering from thrill-seekers to children, and the location was really nice. It is very central, so when you go high you can see lots of important places in Montreal and you have a good view of the water and the rest of the park. Overall, I recommend the park for anyone below 100! I had a really good time.

You can save tickets if you buy your tickets to La Ronde in advance (and don't need to queue!). They range from 30 to 60 Canadian dollars depending on when you want to go! That's around £20 to £40 for a day pass.

Read about what else we got up to on holiday in Montreal

Also on theme parks:

The best waterpark in the world: Siam Park

A great day out at Thorpe Park

Drayton Manor: not just for little ones (by Robert)

Robert, aged 11, writes:

In half term we went to Staffordshire for a short holiday and on the final day of our trip we went to Drayton Manor, which is a very cool theme park. There was loads to do for all different ages. Here’s what I thought.

Scary, Exhilarating Rides

Shockwave is one of the two main roller-coasters in the park. It is one of the few attractions that go upside down and is unlike any ride I’ve ever been on. It’s actually one of only two roller-coasters in Europe in which you stand up. The carriage adapts to your height, so your feet are on the ground, before sending you on a course of fast loops and turns. I really enjoyed Shockwave althoughI felt like I was going to fall out. This is only because I was one of the smallest people in the ride and the bar didn’t go any lower.

G Force is the other big rollercoaster in the park and was one of my favourite rides. At the beginning you slowly go up a large ramp before starting a loop the loop very slowly, which means you are dangling upside down for a small amount of time. Then you rush down quickly and go through a series of turns, twists and drops, not mentioning a few more loops. G Force is very popular and was one of the only rides at Drayton Manor that I had to queue for. I did really enjoy it though and it was worth the wait.

[caption id="attachment_3426" align="alignnone" width="1200"] The terrifying Maelstrom ride![/caption]

Maelstrom is a brilliant thing to go on if you’re a thrill seeker who isn’t scared of heights. The ride swings you up and down, every time escalating until it gets to the maximum height which is around 74 ft. Whilst spinning like a pendulum you are also spinning around so at some points you are falling forwards, sometimes falling backwards and sometimes falling sideways. I loved this ride and in my opinion it was one of the best attractions in the park.

The Bounty Pirate Ship is like a less scary version of Maelstrom. It still swings you up and down but it is not as high and you don’t spin around. There are people on both sides of the boat so you still go backwards and forwards but going backwards isn’t scary at all. The further to the side you are the higher you will go, so if your child forces you to go on you can let them go at the back and you can sit in the middle where it won’t be so scary.

Air race is a very fun ride which some could find quite scary. Don’t be fooled by the colourful aeroplanes: the ride basically spins you around for the entire time, one loop the loop after another. The ride gradually gets faster and fasters until you are whizzing around. Funnily enough it didn’t make me feel queasy at all although I’m sure some people didn’t get off so lucky!

There were a few of the scarier rides that I didn’t go on. Pandemonium looked very good but was closed when we went and In Stormforce 10 you get absolutely soaked, which I couldn’t face in the British winter time. Apocalypse was the only one of the big rides I chose not to go on as I couldn’t face a 177 ft drop.

Family Rides

I didn’t go on that many of these kinds of rides that weren’t very scary but one attraction that was very scary was The Haunting. Drayton Manor’s haunted house doesn’t actually have anything that should scare anyone over the age of six yet, after going to countless places like The London Tombs and The London dungeons I was expecting a different scenario than what actually happened. At the beginning we were shown a video in which a man told us “Some people see things, some people smell things and some people feel things.” I felt that implied that people were going to touch me and from then on was very scared. The whole thing actually turned out to be some models of ghosts and a chair that moved. Although it wasn’t that scary it was very fun and would recommend going. It is quite long so we had to queue for ten minutes or so.

I didn’t find Ben 10 Ultimate Mission Coaster that great or thrilling, but all the younger kids seemed to love it. In the ride you go quite fast at the beginning before reaching the end of the track and doing most of the ride again backwards. I did quite enjoy it and is perfect for younger children as it is fast but not too scary.

I enjoyed Yogi Bears 4D adventure as you can’t beat a free trip to the cinema. There wasn’t as many special effects as in ones I’ve seen before but we were still squirted with water and I found the film funny and a good way to let my queasiness go away from all the previous rides I had been on.

There are loads of other rides in the park that I didn’t go on. If you want to find out about them go to the Drayton Manor website  

Thomas Land

[caption id="attachment_3428" align="alignnone" width="675"] If you've got younger kids, they'll love Thomas Land![/caption]

A large chunk of the theme park was taken up by attractions all about Thomas the Tank Engine and his friends. As you would’ve guessed I spent nearly all my time in Thomas Land going on Bertie the Bus and Harold the Helicopter. Just joking! There are loads of calm rides to go on and the toddlers and kids seemed to be having the time of their lives. We did pop in for 10 minutes or so and it was very enjoyable.

Overall,  Drayton Manor is a brilliant place to go. Most of the people who go are there for Thomas Land so most of the other rides had no queue. There was so many things to do including a zoo with monkeys and a great reptile house. I loved going and would definitely recommend it.

Drayton Manor is open from November 19th for for its "Magical Christmas season". A family ticket for the park costs £98.

Disclosure: We went to Drayton Manor as part of a "Staffordsheerescape" package, courtesy of Enjoy Staffordshire, although they had no input at all into this blog post. The Drayton Manor package starts at £170 for a family of four, and includes an overnight stay (we stayed at the fabulous Hilton St George's Park, which you will read about soon!), plus admission to Drayton Manor Park and two other attractions. There’s a basket of 10 to choose from in all, including the Snow Dome and Trentham Monkey Forest - so you'll have a fun packed time. You can see the details of the Drayton Manor package here. 

Read what I thought of:

Thorpe Park

Siam Park (the best waterpark in the world!)

A Great Day Out at Thorpe Park (By Robert)

[caption id="attachment_2498" align="alignnone" width="1200"] The depth charge ride[/caption]

Robert, aged 11, writes: You might know that I turned 11 a few weeks ago, and to celebrate, my Dad took me and some friends to THORPE PARK. That day I was accompanied by a thrill seeker who wanted to go on everything, a boy who was scared of heights and my mate who was too small to go on a handful of the rides. Each of my friends had a totally different experience but they all had a great time overall. This is what happened in our day at the park...

On arrival, we ran to get to the I’m a Celebrity Get Me out Of Here Maze as we’d heard that there was usually a long queue. But when we got there we found out that the attraction only opened at 10am and this was true for many other rides as well.  Instead we went over to Tidal Wave and as it was so early, we didn’t have to wait at all.

[caption id="attachment_2497" align="alignnone" width="900"] Tidal wave ride[/caption]

Tidal Wave is one of the highest log flumes in the UK and is a whopping 85 ft tall. We sat down in our vehicle before slowly going up on a treadmill sort of thing, at the top we went round a corner before plummeting down into a giant pool of water. The splash was so big you couldn’t see anything for a few seconds and then when we thought it was over we got soaked. As there was still no one waiting we went on Tidal Wave five more times before eventually plodding out, nearly unable to walk as we were so cold. You have to be 1.2 metres tall to go on this ride.

It was nearly 10am, so to our dismay we were forced to run in our soaking state and we managed to be the second group to enter the I’m a Celebrity Get Me out Of Here Maze. This was one of the attractions I enjoyed the most and not only because it was about one of my favourite TV shows.

When we entered we were met by one of our campmates who then elected a new leader (this was me). We then watched a video where Ant and Dec explained to us about what we were about to face. The maze wasn’t actually a maze, it was a set of three challenges or Bushtucker trials. The first was to stick your hand in a hole then pass a star from one person to another. Our group failed miserably as one of my friends didn’t understand what to do and just held on to the star for the entire time. The next trial involved answering a question; If you got it correct nothing happened whilst if you got it wrong you’d be covered in something horrible (not really, it was just rice). The final challenge was a bit disappointing as the Celebrity Cyclone was just climbing up a hill with some dramatic lighting. My favourite part of the “maze” was when we had to sort out some washing to spell a word. When we were finished we won some dingo dollars which we could spend on a treat but it didn’t really go to plan. All throughout this attraction you crawl through tunnels and go down slides but these are all optional.

Next we explored Angry Birds Land. Detonator bombs away is a short ride which you have to be 1.3 metres tall to go on. This meant that all my friends could go on it but two decided against that idea and were much happier playing with the claw machines which they did, amazingly, win something in. Detonator bombs away is a 100 ft drop where you go 50 miles an hour. I thought it was really fun and we went on it a few times as it didn’t take very long. Next in Angry Birds Land we went and saw a 4D movie. The film involved some green pigs stealing some eggs from a group of birds. This made them angry and they turned into...  angry birds. The film was extremely entertaining and I loved how the seats moved to make you feel like you were being catapulted or being chased by bees. You might get a bit of saliva on you though, I did warn you.

Next two of us went on Rush. This was definitely the most thrilling ride to go on if you are less than 1.4 metres (the minimum height to go on all the roller coasters). The ride swings you up and down, the height gradually getting bigger each time until it gets to the maximum, 75ft. Every other go you will end up going backwards which sounds horrendous but personally I found it more pleasant than when going forwards. You can see the whole park right at the top which was amazing. I cannot stress how much I loved this ride and how much you should go on it. It was awesome.

Quantum is a smaller version of Rush. You have to be 1.3 metres to go on. In this ride you swing up and down and sometimes you do a whole loop but you are never upside down. This is a really good attraction for people who like rides but don’t want to go on the really big ones. But it did make one of my friends feel quite sick although that might have been the candyfloss, biscuits and crisps!

My friend who was too small to go on some of the rides got to choose the next attraction we did, so after everyone enjoyed a refreshing slushie we reluctantly went on Flying Fish, one of the only roller coasters you can go if you're under 1.3 metres. However, it was really fun and I’d recommend going on it. At my party we went on it about five times throughout the course of the day.

The four of us went on Rumpa Rapids and to be honest it was not worth the wait. I like fast, scary rides and for this attraction you just sit there. It was a bit like a lazy river just with a name that suggests something thrilling. It was quite nice though just to relax and let our clothes dry. Depth Charge was also a slight disappointment. We waited half an hour to go down a slide which only lasted 10 seconds. If you have time you should go on it but it should definitely not be a priority.

Now onto the big, proper rides at the park. Storm in a teacup is the modern day twist (get it) on the classic teacups ride. This means it is exactly the same as it was 20 years ago. You spin around in a teacup. My opinion of this ride was that it was a bit dull and just made you dizzy but two of my friends loved it. Everyone’s got their own opinion.

I was the only one to go on Zodiac as one of my friends ran away as I got into my seat (scaredy Cat). Zodiac is basically a Ferris wheel that spins really fast. It starts off spinning around on the floor and then slowly turns vertical. By the end you are doing one loop the loop after another. It is really fun when you are on it but I did feel queasy afterwards.

Storm Surge is a fun water ride, but you don’t get that wet during it. You are put into an inflatable dinghy with a maximum of 7 other people before rushing down a course of spirals and small drops resulting in a small splash at the end.

We were nearing the end of our trip so this was our time to get extremely scared; this was our time to go on the big roller coasters. Dun, Dun, Duuun. We decided to start off on Nemesis Inferno, which was apparently the least scary of the main five. Unfortunately it was out of order so we were thrown in on the deep end and went on Colossus. Before that day I had never been on any rollercoaster with a loop the loop, I was really excited. Then when I heard the familiar click of me being locked in, I was petrified. Then all of a sudden the ride started and there was no going back. Colossus was fast, very fast and went as quickly as 45 miles per hour. Throughout the ride you spin around a total of ten times, that includes loops, rolls, corkscrews and the UK’s first and only quadruple barrel roll. I really enjoyed the ride and found out that loop the loops aren’t actually that bad and actually enjoyed them near the end of the ride.

Saw was scary. Not only did the ride include a 100 ft vertical drop even just queuing up was freaky. Based on a horror movie the building is meant to creep you out and it really did. Saw starts off inside where I could barely see anything. After a few unexpected drops we were out in fresh air and already slowly sliding upwards and after fifteen seconds of tension we fell. I managed to hate it and love it at the same time. After the plummet we zoomed around loops and spun our way through the rest of the course which did include some more high drops. It was fantastic and one of my favourite rides in the park. You do shake around like a bobble head after some of the drops. You should look at this on the ground as you can see everyone’s heads shaking in unison, it is quite funny.

[caption id="attachment_2496" align="alignnone" width="900"] The Stealth Ride[/caption]

Never in my life did I think I’d go on a rollercoaster that lasts 13 seconds. Stealth is one of Europe’s fastest roller coasters. When the ride starts you go from 0 to 80 miles per hour in less than two seconds. You then quickly zoom up 205 ft before going down again. This ride isn’t actually that scary as it does not go upside down and the drop is nowhere near horizontal but that didn’t matter as it was one of the most exhilarating things that I’ve done in my life.

Finally after another go on flying fish we (that means one other friend and I) went on The Swarm. This was the one ride that I said I would never go on when I entered the park and by the end it was my favourite thing I’d done. Just the introduction to the ride was amazing. As you walked in ambulances were on their side you could see half an aeroplane sitting on a field very close by. The Swarm is the UK’s first winged rollercoaster meaning you sit on either side of the track and there is nothing over or below you. This ride goes at a speed of 100 kilometres an hour so it was really fast. Throughout the ride you fly through billboards and narrowly dodge them as well. It was really exciting and by far my favourite ride in the park.

Overall I had one of the best days out I’ve had in ages at Thorpe Park. There are a few rides like X, the indoor rollercoaster that you don’t have to be that tall for or Nemesis Inferno that were closed when we went but are still great rides. There are also loads of attractions for younger or smaller kids that we didn’t go on. I loved nearly every second and would do it all again in a heartbeat.

Tickets for Thorpe Park are cheaper online! It costs £32.99 per person for a ticket and fasttrack pass which means you can jump the queue for many of the rides. It costs £27.99 for a day pass. You can find out more about the tickets from the website.

Read Robert's view on The London Dungeons and also on Shrek's Attraction.

5 top tips for visiting Legoland (by Robert, aged 9)

I am sure most of you have heard of or been to Legoland. I love going there and wanted to share my top tips for when you go again (or for any first-timers).

5  Try and plan out your day before you get to Legoland because it saves a lot of time.

4 Try to go on the Dragon rollercoaster and Laser Raiders late in the day because the queues can go on for more than 45 minutes.

3 Go on the wet rides at the end so that you aren't wet for any of the other rides afterwards!

2 If you are not sure if to go on a ride or not, watch the ride one to three  times before you go on. That way you will know if a ride might be too scary or too babyish.

1 Unless you have a Q-Bot or there is hardly anyone at the park I recommend to not go on a ride more than twice.

More by me:

A Harry Potter walking tour in London

5 top tips for visiting Legoland (by Robert, aged 9)

I am sure most of you have heard of or been to Legoland. I love going there and wanted to share my top tips for when you go again (or for any first-timers).

5  Try and plan out your day before you get to Legoland because it saves a lot of time.

4 Try to go on the Dragon rollercoaster and Laser Raiders late in the day because the queues can go on for more than 45 minutes.

3 Go on the wet rides at the end so that you aren't wet for any of the other rides afterwards!

2 If you are not sure if to go on a ride or not, watch the ride one to three  times before you go on. That way you will know if a ride might be too scary or too babyish.

1 Unless you have a Q-Bot or there is hardly anyone at the park I recommend to not go on a ride more than twice.

More by me:

A Harry Potter walking tour in London