A rainy day with the ECC beside the seaside in Margate...
A rainy day with the ECC beside the seaside in Margate...
The European Coaster Club's first UK trip of 2019 saw a group of 30 or so members braving a showery day at Dreamland in Margate. The ECC has had a long association with the park, having been a big supporter of the Save Dreamland campaign when the park was threatened with redevelopment a few years ago, so it was nice to visit and see how far it has come since the dark days.
It was an early start, with a drive around the M25 to arrive in Margate around 8:30am.
We all met up inside Dreamland's main entrance building
The day began with a behind the scenes tour and an ERS on the Scenic Railway
A very welcome post-ERS cup of coffee!
The carousel gave us a chance to wave at Paul ... every time we went around!
I really enjoy staying on the ground and taking pictures of other people on drop towers
The park is small enough that it was easy to bump into other ECC members as we were touring around
Hurricane Jets were a big success ... for those of us who could get ours off the ground at least!
We're so cool that we take group photos outside the toilet
Yes, it really was the toilet
We had Caribbean barbecue chicken for lunch overlooking the rest of the park
After lunch it was time for a ride on the kiddie coaster - we terrorised a poor ride op called Callum by singing Happy Birthday to him all the way around!
One of Dreamland's more unusual rides is Dreamcatcher - as Carol pointed out, it is like an Enterprise, but different
The rest of us sat it out while Brian and Carol took a flight on Dreamland's new Zamperla Air Race - it's like an Enterprise, but different
Dodgems - they're like an Enterprise, but different. We saw Callum again, so we sang him a Happy Birthday encore. I'm not sure he was impressed.
Why take a photo of everyone on the Big Wheel when you can get the pole in shot instead?
Because I'm that good at selfies... :-/
Having endured the showers and with the rain becoming heavier it was time to call it a day. Dreamland has come a long way - it's looking spectacular, even on a wet day!