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Paultons Park: General Discussion

Enter Valhalla said:
I hear a lot of negativity about Critter Creek, but why? Is it really that bad? I quite like it. I remember at the first super fans event, Mancey said something about “mistakes” that were made in the creation of Critter Creek, but I think people are being over-critical here. It’s a nice area with a quirky theme that fits in well with the family demographic. I’m intrigued to know why people don’t like it though.
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Oh its nice enough, but I think comparisons get made vs the quality of the newer areas; but its more a sign of the evolution of Paultons.
 
I don't think Critter creek is going anywhere for a while. I think they will want the lodges development out of the way before starting anything else but 5-10 years I could see it happening though the Teacups ride is completly clapped out so that may go sooner
 
Quantum said:
I don't think Critter creek is going anywhere for a while. I think they will want the lodges development out of the way before starting anything else but 5-10 years I could see it happening though the Teacups ride is completly clapped out so that may go sooner
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I don't wanna speculate too much but the unthemed area could work for a soft retheme because of the loose theme of pirate/seafaring themed rides in the area.

Considering Pirate Ship, Viking Boats and Kontiki, I do think it is quite loose because of the different seafaring themes of the area though.
 
Again, not to speculate but RE: Critter Creek.

On their maintenance schedule both rides in Critter Creek are scheduled to be closed for the whole of November, December and January 2026/2027. This seems quite unusual for them as only that side of the park is open in November and the rides are usually open in December.
 
Enter Valhalla said:
I hear a lot of negativity about Critter Creek, but why? Is it really that bad? I quite like it. I remember at the first super fans event, Mancey said something about “mistakes” that were made in the creation of Critter Creek, but I think people are being over-critical here. It’s a nice area with a quirky theme that fits in well with the family demographic. I’m intrigued to know why people don’t like it though.
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It's still a very whimsical area with a great kiddie coaster and fascinating mini-zoo, but similarly like with the prehistoric theme for the now defunct Magma ride, it's getting left behind by Paultons' more recent developments, and in 5 to 10 years time will likely get upgraded (without totally discarding the current general goofy vibe; maybe make it more like Legoland Windsor's excellent MYTHICA area).
 
At Southend and just did Rage. I’m still utterly baffled Paultons are recreating this near 20 year old coaster for their families first inverting coaster.

That said young children seem to happily ride and enjoy it so I think the roughness is more an adult issue. And I’m becoming convinced Paultons know something we don’t.
 
Bowser said:
And I’m becoming convinced Paultons know something we don’t.
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What do you feel that might be, out of interest?

I still think the Euro-Fighter is a questionable choice for a park in Paultons’ position, who are clearly wanting to enter the big leagues of UK parks. I may warm to it once it opens, and reserve full judgement on the experience until I’ve ridden it in the flesh, but my current feeling is that there are better options they could have gone for, even within their price range.

I was an advocate of an Intamin Hot Racer during the rumour stage, but I now think that something like Helios at Fantasiana would have been brilliant. It’s on a very similar sort of scale to Drakon, but looks like a brilliant ride!

Heck, Paultons could even have followed their old strategy of building clones and gone for a clone of Helios, and I certainly wouldn’t have complained.
 
Roller coasters have advanced a lot since the 1980s, but a Eurofighter is still an acceptable choice within the price range and fully custom made, and with the 2027 ride they will hopefully knock it out of the park with a broader family thrill coaster (be the equivalent of Chessington's Vampire back in the very early 1990s and Alton Tower's Wickerman).

They're still aiming more at higher thrill family coasters (Storm Chaser, the Cobra/Raven, and FotP) with Drakon being a outlier for testing the waters.
 
TedShatner10 said:
Roller coasters have advanced a lot since the 1980s, but a Eurofighter is still an acceptable choice within the price range and fully custom made, and with the 2027 ride they will hopefully knock it out of the park with a broader family thrill coaster (be the equivalent of Chessington's Vampire back in the very early 1990s and Alton Tower's Wickerman).

They're still aiming more at higher thrill family coasters (Storm Chaser, the Cobra/Raven, and FotP) with Drakon being a outlier for testing the waters.
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Coasters have also moved on a lot since 2003, yet here we are with another Eurofighter.
 
TedShatner10 said:
Roller coasters have advanced a lot since the 1980s, but a Eurofighter is still an acceptable choice within the price range and fully custom made, and with the 2027 ride they will hopefully knock it out of the park with a broader family thrill coaster (be the equivalent of Chessington's Vampire back in the very early 1990s and Alton Tower's Wickerman).

They're still aiming more at higher thrill family coasters (Storm Chaser, the Cobra/Raven, and FotP) with Drakon being a outlier for testing the waters.
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I'm thinking it definitely is that they're going for a tried and tested model for their first thrill coaster. I wouldn't knock them for it.

I think this is a sensible choice, the other choices I'd say could be a Vekoma Space Warp (Formula, Energylandia) or something like Helios at Fantasiana.

I definitely think and have vouched before that a Eurofighter would be a fantastic addition to Paultons even before Lost Kingdom and Tornado Springs was added.
 
If they go for another thrill coast post-2027, if the Drakon and '27 project are a reasonable success, they'd more likely go for something like Helios.

Poisson said:
Coasters have also moved on a lot since 2003, yet here we are with another Eurofighter.
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It's not exceptional and quite dated, but Oakwood's died out/gone dormant with sadly no SPEED; No Limits, and Drakon will likely have more bells 'n whistles with the set dressing and SFX to grab more attention (SAW The Ride still has staying power).
 
Well Drakon has an interesting enough "bow tie" looking track layout? And it's quite short, so won't outstay its welcome (a complaint often levelled against Alton's the Smiler).
 
Maelstrom said:
Cost plays a big factor- a small Mack striker is likely to be much more expensive than a similar sized euro fighter. They could have gone for a more expensive model but at the expense of theming, or no additional flat ride, restaurant etc or no major ride in 2027.
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Yeah, that whole wing of Paultons was oddly barren well into the 2020s, and going for a moderately dated Eurofighter (that still packs a punch with a vertical drop and a few graceful inversions) was a solid choice, when they need to dramatically redevelop the whole area and got a potentially more impressive or unique ride in the pipeline only a year after Drakon's inauguration...
 
Poisson said:
Drakon's layout reminds me of Vertika, built in 2020.

I rode it in 2024. I do not have a single good word to say about it. @Leigh will back me up.
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Here is a dramatic POV and off ride shots of the older Vertika ride:



The layout is similar but not virtually identical. Not an exceptional looking thrill ride but still sufficient as part of an already broad ensemble of relatively big family coasters.
 
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