Parkcast - The UK’s Original Theme Park Podcast

Mark Lofthouse from Neon Skull is my guest on Parkcast this week. He's a theme park and amusement industry veteran (he won't mind me saying that) with over 18 years experience in creative roles. We're talking about what it takes to make it in this hugely competitive industry, how far passion will get you and the challenges facing jobs like his. And we're taking a look at some of the specific project's Mark has been involved in including terrifying scare mazes and the new ride openings at Crealy this year.

Port Aventura is a park I've loved for over 25 years. It's home to some great rides and attractions including the incredible Shambhala. But recently it's started to get a bad rep for operations, essentially destroying some of the experience for guests. Alex Brindley joins me again this week - he's a big fan of the park and has just returned from a week there. So does his experience tell us the park is improving or getting worse, and is it one you should still be looking to visit?

Hyperia has been renamed Flipzeria as part of a new sponsorship deal and we aren't enamoured with it! In this episode we're looking at theme park sponsorships over the years - which ones have worked and which ones haven't. But also, WHY have they been success or not? We're drawing on our combined experience of negotiating commercial deals and asking, should you ever just take the money? And dare we mention Oblivion and Fanta.....

Phantasialand is a theme park I've loved since my first visit. It has some absolutely world class theming and attractions and I've enjoyed all my visits there. So much so, I insisted on taking my best mate Glenn with me on my most recent trip as even though he lives in Germany, he's never been! There are still so many things I love about the park, but this trip also flagged up a few issues that I'll definitely think about before visiting again. We talk through the good and the bad in this episode!
As an aside, voting for the UK Theme Park awards is open until 28th August. If you enjoyed this episode or my content generally, I'd obviously love your support in the content creator category. The website you need is ukthemeparkawards.com

Voting for the UK Theme Park awards is now open! Lawrence Roots who founded the awards joins me this week to talk about why he thought we needed them, how they've grown and what they mean to the UK theme park industry.
You can vote now and you don't to vote in every category if you dont want to. I should also say I'm nominated in the content creator category - very unexpected but appreciated. You don't need to vote for me - but please make your vote count!