Record-holder for most rollercoasters ridden in a week eyes up next challenge

A thrill-seeker who set a world record for the most rollercoasters ridden in a week is eyeing up his next challenge of completing more than 100 rollercoasters in Germany.

Dean Stokes claimed the Guinness World Record after riding 55 in seven days as part of a trip where he set out to ride every rollercoaster in the UK.

Throughout the expedition, which lasted 16 days in total, Mr Stokes rode 108 rollercoasters and was joined by his friend and former colleague Simon Fasolo, 44.

Mr Stokes, from Brighton in East Sussex, covered more than 2,300 miles on his challenge, which was temporarily disrupted after Storm Floris closed several theme parks.

The record-holder said the best rollercoaster in the country was Hyperia at Thorpe Park in Surrey but he could ride Icon at Blackpool Pleasure Beach “all day” as it was “super fun” and had two launches.

On his next rollercoaster challenge, Mr Stokes said he was currently considering Germany as it was home to some “amazing theme parks” and was a “really nice country to drive through”.

There are around 112 of the rides in Germany that are classed as “thrill” or “extreme” according to an online rollercoaster database, he added.

On his inspiration for the UK mission, Mr Stokes said: “I really think that we should all get out there and have more fun.

“I think that as you get older, it’s very easy to feel embarrassed about the things that you might like, and there’s maybe a fear of judgment, and for me this was just something to do that was some fun.

“A friend came along with me who doesn’t even like rollercoasters and we just had an amazing 16 days just riding rollercoasters and exploring theme parks.”

The 36-year-old documented the journey on social media, amassing more than 100,000 views of his first video and more than one million views on TikTok across the whole challenge.

“When I first started sharing the videos, I honestly thought it would be my friends and family just watching along and like a way for me to kind of document what I was doing,” he said.

Mr Stokes, who took two weeks off work to complete the quest, added: “I think that life can feel very serious sometimes, especially with everything that’s happening in the world right now, so a little bit of joy and happiness in your life is never a bad thing.”

He added: “My advice is just go and give it a go and try and push past the discomfort of it maybe failing or not working out, because it’s still very likely that, even if it doesn’t work out exactly, you’re going to have some fun in the process.”

Mr Stokes said he wanted to challenge fellow rollercoaster fans to break his record, which he believed was “super beatable”.

“Go and apply for that Guinness World Record. I’m really excited to hand over the baton to the next person,” he added.