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PODCAST

Parkcast - The UK’s Original Theme Park Podcast

The UK’s Original Theme Park Podcast Reviews. News. Tips. Opinions. Rollercoasters - Parks - Rides Parkcast is a UK based theme park podcast bringing you all the latest news from theme parks across the globe, interviews with influential people in the theme park industry along with money saving tips, tricks and suggestions to enhance your day out. Join us, it"ll be quite a ride!

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All Episodes

57:04

S3 Ep22: What a year for theme park fans

Parkcast - The UK’s Original Theme Park Podcast ·

2025/06/06

2025 has seen huge announcement after announcement in the theme park world. It’s an exciting time to be a theme park fan so who better to join us than writer of “Theme Park Fan: The Musical” himself - Nick Hutson.You’ll have heard Nick’s work at Chessington or during the Oakwood fireworks but he also famously wrote and recorded a full musical about being a theme park fan. In this episode we talk about that and the biggest announcements of the year so far….

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38:41

S3 Ep21: Everybody’s talking about….Paultons Park

Parkcast - The UK’s Original Theme Park Podcast ·

2025/05/30

It’s official - everyone is talking about Paultons Park. This family theme park has grown from strength to strength over the last decade and just a couple of weeks ago they announced they had no plans to stop.This week I’m joined by Kip Hakes who went to the Super Fans event and got all the details about their new Ghostly Manor attraction and their future investments. We discuss why enthusiasts are getting so excited about this park, and exactly why it is becoming so highly regarded.

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72:11

S3 Ep20: Creating 5 Star Experiences with Mark Shaw

Parkcast - The UK’s Original Theme Park Podcast ·

2025/05/23

This week we’re joined by industry veteran turned consultant Mark Shaw. Having cut his teeth at Thorpe and Chessington alongside legends like John Wardley and Glenn Earlam, Mark headed down under to turn around Adventure World in Perth. He took a park that was consistently scoring low on guest satisfaction to become the highest rated in Australia.In this episode he tells us how he did it, and why creating fantastic customer experiences is vital to running a successful theme park.

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82:10

S3 Ep19: An Epic Adventure

Parkcast - The UK’s Original Theme Park Podcast ·

2025/05/16

Strap in park fans because this is a long one!This week I’m dissecting my trip to Universal’s newest theme park Epic Universe! Having booked an impulsive 5 day trip to go and check it out, was it worth it? We’ll go through the portals discussing the highlights of each area of the park, and anything to note along the way. And how does visiting make me feel about Universal coming to the UK?!

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51:23

S3 Ep18: A USA Catch Up

Parkcast - The UK’s Original Theme Park Podcast ·

2025/05/09

It’s about time for another trip across the pond! We’re joined by our favourite US-based enthusiast and industry insider Mark Rosenzweig, and there’s a lot to talk about! From Epic Universe previews, to Top Thrill 2 finally reopening, a Canadian coaster to get really excited about and just a general look at how parks in the US are holding up - we’re doing it all in this episode!

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71:15

S3 Ep17: Universal UK - The Deep Dive

Parkcast - The UK’s Original Theme Park Podcast ·

2025/05/02

A few weeks ago UK theme park fans got the news we had all been waiting for - Universal are going to be building a park here! Set to open in 2031 it could be a game changer for the UK industry and will undoubtedly bring a world class park experience to our shores.There was only one person we could get back on to dissect what we know so far - our friend Lawrence from Universally Bedford. In this episode we look at absolutely everything we know so far, the strong predictions and what will happen

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39:21

S3 Ep16: Francis Jackson on Operating Theme Parks Pt 2

Parkcast - The UK’s Original Theme Park Podcast ·

2025/04/25

In this episode we continue our chat with former Alton Towers Resort Operations Director and General Manager Francis Jackson. Francis talks to us about how building cohesive teams hugely impacts ride operations, why we see staggered openings and we find out what his “Just Gotta Ride it” rollercoaster is.

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44:14

S3 Ep15: Francis Jackson on Operating Theme Parks

Parkcast - The UK’s Original Theme Park Podcast ·

2025/04/18

We’re delighted to bring a theme park legend back to the UK for this episode! Francis Jackson was both Operations Director and General Manager at Alton Towers from 2016 - 2023 and his personable style and viral social media videos gave him renowned status amongst enthusiasts and the general public. Now living back in his native Australia and working globally as an attractions industry consultant, we’re delighted to have him on Parkcast to explain the realities behind some of our theme park

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45:57

S3 Ep14: Vampire at 35 with John Wardley

Parkcast - The UK’s Original Theme Park Podcast ·

2025/04/11

35 years ago on the 11th April 1990 Vampire opened at Chessington World of Adventures. Along with the much acclaimed Bubbleworks, the rides were the focus of Transylvania, the first truly themed area at a theme park in the UK. In this episode we celebrate both rides by chatting to the creative genius who brought them to life and made them the special attractions we have known and loved - John Wardley. John takes us through the history of the rides, the problems he faced along the way and shares

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28:58

S3 Ep13: Unpopular Theme Park opinions

Parkcast - The UK’s Original Theme Park Podcast ·

2025/04/04

We’ve all got one…..This week it’s been over to you as we ask - what are your unpopular theme park opinions? From SLC’s to POV’s - we’re covering off the unpopular opinions you sent in; and whether we agree or not…. We’ll be revisiting this topic so if you have your own please send it over!

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52:43

S3 Ep12: Do we care about Theme Parks too much?

Parkcast - The UK’s Original Theme Park Podcast ·

2025/03/28

As theme parks have started to reopen for the 2025 season, things haven’t all been plain sailing. As theme park enthusiasts we often get called overly critical, so do we care too much? Do we notice things and get worked up over things your average park guest wouldn’t? Or are we right to push for higher standards for everyone? In this episode we talk about the Alton Towers 2025 opening day which didn’t go as well as hoped and try and work out if we were right to be upset by it.

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45:08

S3 Ep11: Making a splash - Water Rides in the UK

Parkcast - The UK’s Original Theme Park Podcast ·

2025/03/21

Despite our climate we’ve always had a strong line up of water rides in the UK, but are we starting to fall out of love with them? Especially the classic log flume?! In this episode we look at some of our favourite water attractions - past and present - and discuss what we think the future of water-based rides could look like.

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61:20

S3 Ep10: Oakwood: What went wrong?

Parkcast - The UK’s Original Theme Park Podcast ·

2025/03/14

The UK theme park enthusiast community has been left reeling from the shock announcement of the closure of Oakwood Theme Park in Wales. This week we’re joined by RCCGB Chairman Andy Hine to look back at the park over the years and try and work out what went wrong? Is there any chance Megafobia can be saved and what does the future hold for the park once held in such high regard by enthusiasts and the public?

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41:07

S3 Ep9: UK Theme Parks - What the heck is going on?!

Parkcast - The UK’s Original Theme Park Podcast ·

2025/03/07

Ride closures, park closures and even resorting to justgiving pages to raise money - it’s been a tough week in the UK theme park industry. This week we dissect the news from Chessington, Oakwood and look at Blackpool Pleasure Beach’s opening weekend. Are there any positives, and are things going to get worse before they get better?!

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56:15

S3 Ep8: Mind The Lap Bar - A journey into Dark Rides

Parkcast - The UK’s Original Theme Park Podcast ·

2025/02/28

Dark rides provide us with incredible thematic experiences in theme parks, but do we value them enough in the UK?This week we’re joined by two experts in creating world leading immersive attractions - Andy Sinclair-Harris and Alex Tyrell from Katapult a themed attraction design company based in Derby. With projects at Disney and Universal under their belts, they talk us through the theatre of creating dark rides, where technology is going and why we maybe don’t see as many as we’d like.

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53:52

S3 Ep7: Six Flags Qiddiya City - Saudi’s Ultimate...

Parkcast - The UK’s Original Theme Park Podcast ·

2025/02/21

When plans for Saudi Arabia’s first theme park emerged many enthusiasts assumed it would never get off the ground. Now nearing completion, the park will open in 2025 and the plans have become reality. In this episode Bex chats to Neil Dwyer - VP Operations about his humble beginnings at Camelot Theme Park in the UK through to heading up this incredible project. And of course we discuss the most anticipated rollercoaster in years - Falcon’s Flight.

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38:07

S3 Ep6: Are you not entertained? The demise of Merlin...

Parkcast - The UK’s Original Theme Park Podcast ·

2025/02/14

There have been shockwaves through the UK theme park industry this week with news emerging that Merlin are making sweeping cuts in their entertainments teams. Bex and Kev are joined by Kip Hakes who has quit the content creator programme in protest over it. But what do these changes mean for us as theme park fans and guests? And do entertainments matter anyway?

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38:05

S3 Ep5: S3 Ep5: A February Theme Park fix

Parkcast - The UK’s Original Theme Park Podcast ·

2025/02/07

At this point in the closed season we’re all really feeling the coaster blues. But with just a week to go until many UK parks start to open at least some of their attractions for Feb half term - where should we be looking to get a theme park visit under our belts?Bex and Kev are joined by Kip Hakes to look at what the UK has to offer theme park fans and families this Feb half term.

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58:46

S3 Ep4: Are IP’s ruining Theme Parks?

Parkcast - The UK’s Original Theme Park Podcast ·

2025/01/31

Love them or hate them - IP’s are a familiar sight at Theme Parks. But are they stifling creativity and as park guests, do we crave more? Or do we love being able to immerse ourselves in the worlds of characters we know and love? With Universal UK looking more likely by the day one thing is for sure - we are only going to see more in our parks! Were joined by Lawrence from Universally Bedford to look at this and the very latest on the Universal UK project.

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54:17

S3 Ep3: Will 2025 be a great UK Theme Park season?

Parkcast - The UK’s Original Theme Park Podcast ·

2025/01/24

This week Bex and Kip are joined by Sam aka Coastertog! With only a few weeks left of the UK closed season we’re looking ahead to 2025 and looking forward to getting back into our favourite parks. Whilst 2025 may not share the same hyped ride openings of 2024 - is there still plenty to look forward to as a rollercoaster enthusiast?

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