Ultimate guide to Europe's 12 best theme parks: From incredible rides to gorgeous gardens, world-leading experts tell which to pick, how much it'll cost... and exactly what to do when you get there
Roll up, roll up! Theme parks have flung open their doors for the summer season. And even if you're not a rollercoaster fan, these mini metropolises of fun have plenty to entertain every generation, including spectacular shows, more leisurely rides and beautiful gardens.
And often there are big discounts available for pre-schoolers and over-65s, too. Tips? Pack a poncho in case it rains and wear your comfiest shoes...
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Daily Mail
18 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Kylie Jenner reveals the two things that keep her 'normal' even though she's a billionaire who dates a movie star
Kylie Jenner has flashed her abs in lingerie for the new issue of Dazed Magazine. The 27-year-old looks thinner than ever as she had on a cute black-and-beige bra and underwear set with black high heels in a shoot by Erika Kamano. In her interview by Kacion Mayers, Kylie is asked how she is able to stay down-to-earth with such intense fame as she has become the most popular Kardashian/Jenner in recent years. She credits two things that keep her 'normal': her old school friends and close-knit family. 'I think the reality is having the same friends that I've always had, my family's obviously the same, and keeping my internal circle, and private life, the same has been the best thing for me,' said the cosmetics mogul who is worth over $1 billion. 'I don't feel like it's changed me. I've been able to remain the same. 'And I get that compliment, too. Sometimes when I meet new people, they're always pleasantly surprised with how normal I am.' From A-list scandals and red carpet mishaps to exclusive pictures and viral moments, subscribe to the Daily Mail's new Showbiz newsletter to stay in the loop. Jenner also said she likes to socialize a lot. 'I think I'm a true Leo to the core,' she said. 'I'm very loyal, I loved being the center of attention growing up. I wasn't afraid of anything. I'm a social butterfly. I love to make people happy and laugh.' She says she's a Scorpio moon and a Capricorn rising, 'so I think the Capricorn is my work ethic and drive. And the Scorpio, it's just the more fiery side of me.' But she does struggle with so many projects while sharing her personal life with her fans. 'I am actually in the middle of figuring that out right now. My schedule has gotten really busy, and when I'm not working, I'm with the kids,' she shared. 'Trying to carve out a moment for me is something that I honestly still struggle with. 'I'm trying to have a little fun and not take things too seriously, you know?' she added. As far as holding back on her family's reality TV show The Kardashians, Kylie offers: 'I think I've found a good balance with sharing the things that I want to share. Keeping parts of my personal life private. I'm just learning as I go, I think.' And she says as a result, fans don't know everything about her. 'Ninety per cent of the time, whether it's negative or positive, people just don't know the half of anything,' said Kylie. Trolls don't get to her, she maintained. 'I do, but I honestly think I'm so used to it, and I just don't really care what people say. Also, you know, other people's opinions of me have never affected my personal life, how my friends view me, how my kids view me, how my family views me, or the success of my business.' She credits two things that keep her 'normal': her old school friends and close-knit family. 'I think the reality is having the same friends that I've always had, my family's obviously the same, and keeping my internal circle, and private life, the same has been the best thing for me,' said the cosmetics mogul who is worth over $1 billion These days she is the most followed of the Kardashian-Jenner family. 'I'm coming up on the 10th anniversary of Kylie Cosmetics, and I've been thinking about the beginning a lot. 'With the success of my brand and the influence, I just don't think I knew…' she trails off. 'I don't think I knew what I had when I had it. 'Looking back, I was so young and I had the world in my hands, and I still feel that way. I'm trying to live in the moment and appreciate all of the amazing blessings in my life instead of waiting 20 years and looking back... I'm trying not to stress about it and instead enjoy these experiences I'm lucky enough to have.' Kylie also shared some new information about daughter Stormi. She doesn't have a phone or any social media. But she has learned about TikTok at school: 'She'll come home and be like, Mom, I learned this TikTok dance at school.' When Kylie films a TikTok dance with Stormi she does not post it: 'She doesn't know [that] a million people would see if it was posted.'
The Guardian
28 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Why are members of the Super Bowl champion Eagles promoting a right-wing Christian wealth scheme?
The thousands who gathered on Saturday at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia weren't there for a basketball or hockey game. Instead, the 21,000-seat arena played host to a very different spectacle. The stage was bathed in lights, Christian pop thundered from the speakers and the congregation filed in to hear not just sermons, but also strategies: how to get right with God and get rich doing so. The headliners were five current and former members of the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles. Head coach Nick Sirianni, star running back Saquon Barkley, second-year cornerback Cooper DeJean, and longtime fan favorites Brandon Graham and Brian Dawkins all appeared on promotional materials for Life Surge, a touring Christian financial seminar that promises attendees a blueprint 'to grow and use wealth for Kingdom impact'. Ticket packages offering photo ops with the players sold out in advance. In the extended afterglow of the Eagles' Super Bowl beatdown of the Kansas City Chiefs, it was a marketing no-brainer: there may not be five public figures with higher popularity at the moment in Philadelphia, a city where sports have always meant a little too much. Yet for all the spiritual rhetoric and NFL star power, Life Surge was built on a business model repeatedly criticized in investigative reports by the Guardian, the Philadelphia Inquirer and others as one that uses faith and celebrity as bait for high-cost financial mentorships. The man behind the operation, Joe Johnson, is a self-described 'serial entrepreneur' whose past ventures have been subject to lawsuits, tax controversies and accusations of exploiting Christian values for profit. Johnson has declined requests for interviews but told the Inquirer, which published a detailed investigation into Life Surge last week, that his failures taught him to become a better business leader. Yet critics describe a pattern that goes back years. Johnson was previously an executive at Get Motivated, a now defunct seminar company that sold expensive investing classes wrapped in conservative Christian branding. One former attendee, Amy Wolfe, said Johnson persuaded her to loan him $12m under the guise of mentorship. She says she never got it back. 'They're predators who want to be your mentors,' Wolfe told the Inquirer. 'It happened to me.' The model has hardly changed. Life Surge offers low-cost entry – sometimes as little as $19 – but attendees are soon encouraged to sign up for $97 'starter' seminars, then pitched on advanced training packages that can run as high as $40,000. Credit card applications are often made available on-site and attendees have reported being encouraged to cash out retirement accounts or go into debt. One man, a Christian minister named John Simmons, compared the atmosphere to a timeshare presentation. When he posted a critical YouTube review of his experience, Life Surge sent him cease-and-desist letters and takedown notices. Social media platforms like Reddit are full of horror stories claiming the organization preys on the faith of financially naive Christians. On Saturday in Philadelphia, across the street from the stadium where the Eagles will raise their second Super Bowl banner in September, the event's branding emphasized faith, success and patriotism, but carefully avoided any official association with the team or the NFL. Earlier versions of promotional artwork used team-style typography and labelled Sirianni the 'Philadelphia Eagles Head Coach'. Those references were scrubbed after questions arose in March. A team spokesperson went on to tell the Inquirer that the Eagles had no affiliation with the event. Still, the message was clear: these were NFL champions backing the product. When DeJean was asked about the Life Surge event after an Eagles practice session last week, the Super Bowl hero said simply, 'They came to my management team'. The other four did not comment. A Life Surge spokesperson confirmed that all five were paid a flat appearance fee but declined to say how much. This was not a one-off. A 2022 Guardian report from a Life Surge event in Denver painted a strikingly similar picture: a day of worship music, motivational speakers and calls to 'surge your wealth' as a Christian duty. 'Grow your faith to grow your business,' one session instructed. The former NFL star and evangelical hero Tim Tebow, reality TV star Willie Robertson of Duck Dynasty and other conservative Christian luminaries like Kayleigh McEnany filled out the program, while the crowd dined on Chick-fil-A. At one point, a speaker asked, 'Why on earth are we not buying Twitter?' and encouraged the audience to pool their resources to fight 'the devil' taking over American culture. Financial success, attendees were told, was not just personal; it was spiritual warfare. Life Surge's Philadelphia spectacle also echoed a more recent playbook in Columbus, the college town where the Ohio State Buckeyes football team inspires a religious fervor. There, the organization tapped into local sporting legends with former Buckeyes coach Urban Meyer, broadcaster Kirk Herbstreit and several Ohio State football players. According to the Rooster, attendees paid up to $997 for a ticket, with a chance to win photo ops with the stars. Meanwhile, speakers pitched $97 investment classes on the arena floor and sent card readers through the concession lines. The football figures did not directly endorse the seminars, but their proximity to the brand helped attract and validate the crowd. The same cosmetic firewall between pitchmen and athletes was visible in both cities. Sign up to Soccer with Jonathan Wilson Jonathan Wilson brings expert analysis on the biggest stories from European soccer after newsletter promotion At every stop, Life Surge appears to follow the same formula: emotionally charged Christian messaging, conservative talking points and financial promises, all propped up by local sports heroes. It functions as a touring prosperity gospel roadshow, while denying that's what it is. Speakers at recent tour stops have included some of the NFL's most recognizable names, such as Joe Montana and Emmitt Smith, while the Hall of Famer turned broadcaster Michael Strahan is on the slate for next month's event in Newark, New Jersey. Beneath the stagecraft and scripture, Johnson's record tells a different story. His previous companies, including the Welfont Group, a real estate firm that marketed dubious tax shelters, have been sued repeatedly. Public records show at least six cases where courts found that appraisals were inflated to artificially boost deductions, ultimately costing clients millions. Johnson insists he left Welfont before the lawsuits began and says he has no knowledge of pending legal actions. But court documents show the deals in question happened while he was CEO. In addition to Welfont, Johnson ran a series of Christian-themed nonprofits and investment initiatives that folded amid controversy. One charity, which claimed to offer microloans in developing countries, spent most of its budget on executive salaries and fundraising, according to a Tampa Bay Times investigation. Another declared bankruptcy with $16m in debts. Despite this trail of ventures, Life Surge has flourished since its 2019 launch in Palmetto, Florida, not as a ministry but as a for-profit limited liability company. It sold more than 100,000 tickets for events in more than two dozen cities last year and boasts a 98% satisfaction rate, according to internal surveys. Its spokespeople point to glowing Google reviews and Trustpilot scores. Yet the pattern of complaints persists, from attendees who felt blindsided by the costs, to critics who say the seminars mask old-fashioned hucksterism in a veneer of righteousness. For the Eagles' devoted supporters, many who wore team-branded gear to Saturday's event, the presence of their heroes on that stage was surely a thrill. For Life Surge, it was a promotional coup. But for those in the audience already struggling financially, the real cost may not be clear until long after the music fades and the arena empties out. Neither Life Surge nor the Eagles responded to requests for comment from the Guardian for this story.
The Independent
29 minutes ago
- The Independent
Worried about turbulence? The hack for discovering how bumpy your next flight will be
Turbulence is undoubtedly the scariest aspect of a flight for nervous fliers — with their fears compounded by not knowing how long it'll last or how severe it's going to get. But fortunately there's a hack to help with this, a tool that gives passengers-in-waiting almost as much information about turbulence levels for their upcoming flight as pilots receive. The feature is by website which monitors and predicts turbulence using the same sources pilots and airlines use to plan their flights — the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the MetOffice. Fliers who believe in a "better the devil you know" approach to life simply input their upcoming departure and arrival airports, and flight numbers, into forecasting tool to see hour-by-hour turbulence levels for their trip, presented as a graph. This indicates whether turbulence will be light, moderate or strong along the expected route, along with a one-line summation of how bumpy things will get. The website describes "light" turbulence as "smooth flight conditions"; "moderate" as leading to "difficulty with walking and food services"; and "strong" as "passengers straining against seat belts". Further down the page, and viewers can see predicted tailwinds and headwinds, crosswinds at the expected take-off and landing runways, plus thunderstorm forecasts. The website also produces insightful interactive turbulence maps, with passengers able to plot their upcoming flight route and see any patches of turbulence their plane might pass through. In addition, produces lists of the airports and flight routes that are the worst for turbulence. In North America, the most turbulent airport for approaches and descents — take-offs and landings are affected by crosswinds, not turbulence — is Denver, Colorado, followed by Bozeman Yellowstone International Airport. Salt Lake City, Jackson Hole Airport and Las Vegas also make the top 10, with Albuquerque to Denver ranked as the route with the highest average turbulence. Las Vegas to Reno and Las Vegas to Salt Lake City also make the top 10 most turbulent route table. Turbulence is caused by warm air rising through cooler air; mountains or manmade structures disrupting air flow, and pockets of air moving in different directions. It's completely normal and modern aircraft are designed to withstand more turbulence than you'll ever experience on a flight. According to data from America's Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), there have been only 184 serious turbulence injuries between 2009 and 2023, with 37 of those people passengers, the rest crew members. North America's 10 most turbulent airports Denver (17.29 EDR — eddy dissipation rate) Bozeman (17) Albuquerque (16.44) Salt Lake City (16.43) Jackson Hole Airport (16.14) Las Vegas (15.74) Vancouver (15.68) Reno (15.67) Seattle (15.49) Boise (15.40) North America's most turbulent routes Albuquerque — Denver (17.75 EDR) Denver — Jackson (17.45) Jackson — Salt Lake City (17.41) Denver — Salt Lake City (16.94) Bozeman — Denver (16.68) Ontario — San Diego (16.43) Boise — Salt Lake City (16.30) Bozeman — Salt Lake City (16.25) Las Vegas — Reno (16.06) Las Vegas — Salt Lake City (15.87)
