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Flamingo Land: General Discussion

John Wardley said that he rode Nemesis 37 times consecutively on opening day in 1994, without leaving the station (see link below at 17:03 mark) - although:-

1) I suspect that safety procedures weren't as strict back then, as he also said in another interview that he was able to ride Nemesis whilst it was still being built, which he admitted would not be allowed today

2) It must have been fatiguing, as he said that he wouldn't be able to ride 37 times consecutively today

3) He said that he didn't leave the station, but he didn't specify whether he left his seat in order to stand up and stretch his legs et cetera (although I suspect that he remained seated throughout)

4) Even Shawn Sanbrooke seemed impressed by this, as he himself was also attempting a record - but, unlike JW, he was leaving the station and walking around each time

5) The restrictions may not have applied to JW anyway, as he was an Alton Towers employee and not a paying member of the public


From: https://youtu.be/qV5SlTBsgfw?t=17m03s
 
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VHSGnome said:
Magnum Force looked crazy.

Top Gun, an extremely rare Intamin Flight Trainer attraction in which only very few were built, especially outside of America!!
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Magnum force was crazy, intense, uncomfortable and not as good as olympic looping.

Not was it as good as the bullet which even now is one of my favourite coasters of yesteryear.

And before anyone suggests them -

terrorisor - horrendous
Thunder mountain - poor
Corkscrew - fine
Wakiki wave - meh.

Sent from my Pixel 8 Pro using Tapatalk
 
Energy bills rising is not only hitting us in the pocket when it comes to paying our bills....it's hurting lots of small, medium and large businesses too. Theme Parks have probably been hit as hard as most too. Staggered ride openings have almost certainly been a response to it.

Net Zero is hurting this country more than people think it is. All whilst countries in Europe open new Power Stations almost every month. Complete waste of space if you ask me to go on a Net Zero journey when others aren't coming along with us.
 
I haven't been following the net-zero situation much, but one criticism I've heard (not sure if this is true or not) is that the idea behind net-zero is to increase renewable fuel and thus reduce dependence on fossil fuels, but - instead of doing this - Britain is often simply buying fossil fuels from other countries instead (who are not following the same net-zero policy) in order to meet the domestic net-zero quota, but placing the country at a competitive disadvantage in the process

If I am understanding all of this correctly, it means that net-zero isn't necessarily a bad idea in and of itself, but is perhaps not being implemented correctly?
 
Secret Weapon said:
According to Ride Comparisons, Flamingo Land has just made a £1.5m loss (ouch) - see link below

He said that the park made a £2.8m profit the year before, but high operating costs in Britain are making it more difficult to remain profitable


From: https://youtube.com/shorts/pgmfXVGpOpU
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Whilst I cannot deny that UK theme parks are suffering from rising costs, it’s not at all unreasonable to say that Flamingo Land has, in recent years, made some incredibly bad decisions.

Charging £58 for an adult ticket is outrageous, especially considering that it was only £37.50 in 2022, and since then barely anything has changed at the park, if anything it’s got worse. A £20 increase in just 4 years, but with no major new rides is baffling.

Customer service at Flamingo Land has never been great, and now that such things as Trip Advisor and Google Reviews are widely used, it’s far more difficult to get away with shoddy service.

There was also the moving of Velocity’s height restriction to 1.52 metres or something in that region, which will have annoyed a lot of people, as will the delays to Lost River. Slow moving queues due to low capacity has always been a problem at Flamingo, but again social platforms and websites make this info more widely shared now.

The world has moved on, but Flamingo Land hasn’t kept up. Yet they have had the audacity to raise the entrance fee way above the rate of inflation in the middle of a cost of living crisis. It’s hard to have sympathy, especially when the majority of other UK theme parks, including independent ones, have remained fairly affordable.
 
Only thing that I'll allow leeway for with entry fee is that the park does have that constant upkeep of the animals to pay for.

Still an obscene amount of money they charge though (£46 online for reference). Worse for the caravan park.

But the owner is also heavily right wing so reaping what he sowed.
 
To be honest, I think that Drayton Manor should probably remove the animals as well*, as I rarely see people in the zoo anymore

(*By 'remove', I mean relocate - not terminate!)

Unless the parks get paid to house endangered species by a zoological society? (I doubt it)

West Midlands Safari Park is different, because animals is the core of the entire park

I've never been to Chessington and so I don't know how important their animals are to the overall park
 
Benjsh said:
Energy bills rising is not only hitting us in the pocket when it comes to paying our bills....it's hurting lots of small, medium and large businesses too. Theme Parks have probably been hit as hard as most too. Staggered ride openings have almost certainly been a response to it.

Net Zero is hurting this country more than people think it is. All whilst countries in Europe open new Power Stations almost every month. Complete waste of space if you ask me to go on a Net Zero journey when others aren't coming along with us.
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Net Zero is not just about getting off fossil fuel for Carbon, but also move to cheaper renewable energy Solar Panels are cheap and reliable forms of power they generate so much power they create too much at times.

All Parks with Car Parks and Buildings should be fitting Solar Panels everywhere they can to reduce energy costs.

If we decouple from Fossil Fuels it means price shocks would be nullified a lot. This is the winding down of the fossil fuel industry happened with Coal first, now is happening with Oil and Renewables will take their place
 
One thing I’d say about Flamingo Land’s entry fees is; with the park’s historic reputation around operations and queues, is it possible that they’re “doing a Paultons” and trying to keep attendance artificially low to drive a better guest experience in the long run?

Now this is of course predicated on the entry price being a new thing (I don’t ever remember it being spoken about in the past). If the expensive pricing has been around for years, that does pour cold water on my theory.

In terms of what’s causing FL’s issues; I think COVID must surely have hobbled them to an extent. I know they had a rather threadbare initial reopening in terms of ride offering after the lockdowns, and were said to really be struggling financially at that point in time. That sort of thing must have a long-term impact, surely?

If we look at what additions they’ve had since the pandemic, we’ve only had:
  • Sik, which was started before the pandemic, originally planned to open in 2020, was largely brushed under the carpet until about a month or two before opening, and I strongly suspect came closer than we realise to not opening at all based on the park’s financial difficulties and reluctance to acknowledge it at all during COVID.
  • This Lost River Ride project, which has seemingly been under construction for years and is at best progressing very slowly (wasn’t it originally planned for 2024?).
Based on additions and the seemingly glacial pace that the current project is being built at, they evidently aren’t prospering to the extent they were even 10-15 years ago.

As well as the lack of additions, we’ve also had a fair few things removed from FL, if I remember rightly.

The zoo can’t help with running costs, but I’m not sure that removing it is the answer. Like Chessington, I’d argue it’s quite an important part of the park’s whole identity (it’s called Flamingo Land, for goodness sake!). Without the zoo, I’d argue it becomes a less compelling proposition, even if FL is admittedly in a considerably less saturated market than Chessington and could probably still boast about being the only park in Yorkshire/the northeast with any real thrill ride selection now that Lightwater Valley has shrunk.
 
Matt N said:
One thing I’d say about Flamingo Land’s entry fees is; with the park’s historic reputation around operations and queues, is it possible that they’re “doing a Paultons” and trying to keep attendance artificially low to drive a better guest experience in the long run?

Now this is of course predicated on the entry price being a new thing (I don’t ever remember it being spoken about in the past). If the expensive pricing has been around for years, that does pour cold water on my theory....

The zoo can’t help with running costs, but I’m not sure that removing it is the answer. Like Chessington, I’d argue it’s quite an important part of the park’s whole identity (it’s called Flamingo Land, for goodness sake!). ...
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'mingo has always been a little expensive compared to other parks, and offers have been rare, often only the local rags at the end of August...we used to go quite often with tyke mates.

The place "doing a Paultons"???

Chalk and cheese come to mind, 'mingo have never been "customer focussed", they are more the bottom end of the market, especially at the caravan site.

The zoo could always just hang on to the flamingos.
 
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