Are there any non-kiddie coasters currently operating at Funland at the Tropicana in Weston-super-Mare?

[Matt N]

Hi guys. I was pondering my next solo trip, and I looked into public transport options for getting to Brean Theme Park. I noticed that the recommended one was to get a train to Weston-super-Mare and catch a bus from there. With that in mind, I was thinking “If there are any non-kiddie creds at Funland, I may as well knock those out while I’m in Weston”. So my question today is; if anyone has recently been on a cred run to Weston-super-Mare, does Funland currently have any operating non-kiddie coasters?

Now I know what you’re all going to say; “just look at RCDB”. And I can certainly understand why you’d say that, as RCDB is the font of all knowledge when it comes to coaster selections.

However, I’m not sure RCDB will necessarily have the clearest picture in this instance. A look on there now suggests that there are not currently any operating roller coasters at Funland full stop, but their coaster history suggests that the park is quite a revolving door when it comes to coasters, with the selection changing frequently. And from having remembered previous additions onto the site from Funland, the rides there only tend to get added after they’ve opened and someone has discovered them while doing a cred run.

The park also has no website or rides list for me to view from doing a quick Google search.

So if anyone has visited Weston-super-Mare as of late, does Funland at the Tropicana have any operating non-kiddie coasters?

 

[Shaggy_Dog_]

A quick look at their Facebook page shows that it hasn’t been updated since December and their website is no longer functioning.

Maybe the question to ask is whether the park is actually operating in 2022. Both Tripadvisor and Google list it as “Temporarily Closed”.

 

[Matt N]

Interesting… thanks for the info @Shaggy_Dog_!

RCDB still says “Operating since 2013-2016”, but whether that’s up to date or not is anyone’s guess… I guess that one might not be on the agenda, then!

Perhaps I should take a trip to the Grand Pier instead? I know there are no creds, but there might be some fun stuff to do there!

Or I could just take the bus on down to Brean and skip Weston entirely.

 

[MattyH]

The spoons was quite nice for breakfast last year

 

[Matt.GC]

As you know Matt, I live in Weston and as far as I'm aware it's not open yet this year. The Tropicana is still owned by NS council and is rented out in the summer for Funland and a winter ice rink event in early winter. No idea why it doesn't appear to have returned. Definitely wasn't open when I took the kids into town last month and it's usually open by now. You usually can't miss it when it is open as they plaster plasters everywhere, even as far afield as the Midlands by the M5/M42 interchange (as if someone that close to Towers or Drayton would turn round and drive to Weston instead?)

They normally do have a non-kiddie coaster every year and a couple of decent flats to try. Would still recommend stopping off in Weston after getting off the train before getting the bus to Brean. You won't need any more than 3 hours max in Brean so you'll have some time to kill anyway so might as well have a quick blast on the pier as well.

I'll do some digging and get back to you if that's ok?

 

[Matt N]

As you know Matt, I live in Weston and as far as I'm aware it's not open yet this year. The Tropicana is still owned by NS council and is rented out in the summer for Funland and a winter ice rink event in early winter. No idea why it doesn't appear to have returned. Definitely wasn't open when I took the kids into town last month and it's usually open by now. You usually can't miss it when it is open as they plaster plasters everywhere, even as far afield as the Midlands by the M5/M42 interchange (as if someone that close to Towers or Drayton would turn round and drive to Weston instead?)

They normally do have a non-kiddie coaster every year and a couple of decent flats to try. Would still recommend stopping off in Weston after getting off the train before getting the bus to Brean. You won't need any more than 3 hours max in Brean so you'll have some time to kill anyway so might as well have a quick blast on the pier as well.

I'll do some digging and get back to you if that's ok?

Cheers @Matt.GC; that would be grand! Sorry for the late response; I’ve been a bit busy having fun at Alton the past couple of days!

How strange; it seems to have gone totally AWOL on the online communications front, from what I can gather. I never heard anything about it closing, but with that lack of communication and your reports of it being closed would suggest that it probably isn’t open.

The heavy advertising far afield doesn’t surprise me; driving down the motorway into Gloucestershire yesterday (literally just as you enter the county, so somewhere around Tewkesbury/Cheltenham way), there were massive adverts for the Grand Pier in Weston. And as we South West locals know, Weston isn’t exactly a stone’s throw from Tewkesbury, so the attractions there clearly aim for a further reach than you’d expect!

I was thinking I might possibly head into Grand Pier if I had some time to kill after doing Brean; the Robocoaster is the UK’s only robo arm, which might be cool to try! It’s also ostensibly “the UK’s smallest rollercoaster” according to the park website, but it’s not listed on RCDB, so clearly its credit status is up for debate… I’m definitely going to try and do Brean at some point this year, though, as it’s my local theme park and I’ve somehow never been!

When my cousins aged 5 and 9, who’ve done hardly any theme parks, have been and I, the near 19 year old theme park enthusiast who’s done 20 theme parks and nearly 100 coasters, hasn’t, I know I’m clearly slacking…

 

[Matt.GC]

Cheers @Matt.GC; that would be grand! Sorry for the late response; I’ve been a bit busy having fun at Alton the past couple of days!

How strange; it seems to have gone totally AWOL on the online communications front, from what I can gather. I never heard anything about it closing, but with that lack of communication and your reports of it being closed would suggest that it probably isn’t open.

The heavy advertising far afield doesn’t surprise me; driving down the motorway into Gloucestershire yesterday (literally just as you enter the county, so somewhere around Tewkesbury/Cheltenham way), there were massive adverts for the Grand Pier in Weston. And as we South West locals know, Weston isn’t exactly a stone’s throw from Tewkesbury, so the attractions there clearly aim for a further reach than you’d expect!

I was thinking I might possibly head into Grand Pier if I had some time to kill after doing Brean; the Robocoaster is the UK’s only robo arm, which might be cool to try! It’s also ostensibly “the UK’s smallest rollercoaster” according to the park website, but it’s not listed on RCDB, so clearly its credit status is up for debate… I’m definitely going to try and do Brean at some point this year, though, as it’s my local theme park and I’ve somehow never been!

When my cousins aged 5 and 9, who’ve done hardly any theme parks, have been and I, the near 19 year old theme park enthusiast who’s done 20 theme parks and nearly 100 coasters, hasn’t, I know I’m clearly slacking…

So, I've just been to the Tropicana and despite a packed seafront in the sunshine, I can confirm that Funland is definitely not open.

But, there are what appear to be the supports of the Wild Mouse sticking out from the back right hand corner of the park. I presume it's under construction. It's quite clearly supports so it looks like it will open at some point and that the Wild Mouse will be in the exact same location it was last year.

On your pier point Matt, I'd probably say you'd have more fun there than at Brean! The Robo Arm (not a coaster but they call it that for some reason) is actually a half decent experience. They also have an awesome Ghost Train. Puts Duel to shame.

 

[Matt N]

Cheers for the intel @Matt.GC! I did later read somewhere else that they’re doing some sort of art installation on the site (a la Dismaland), which has become delayed. I don’t know if that lines up with anything you’ve heard, but that’s what I read.

I now think I’ll be delaying Brean anyway, though, as one of their key credits (the Pinfari looper) is currently deconstructed and awaiting some kind of retheme according to RCDB. If I go, I’d quite like all 3 coasters to be open if possible.