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Fantasy Island, Skegness, England
- Thread starter Scott.Smith
- Start date
Sazzle
TS Administrator
- Favourite Ride
- Steel Vengeance
I happened to be passing the area on Saturday of last week & there was a Vekoma van parked outside Odyssey, with two (presumably) company techies climbing the lift hill. Aside from that, the trains were off Millennium Coaster, and some of the rides were in a "take down" state for maintenance.
It was creepy to say the least, with only a handful of stalls open on the market and barely a soul wandering around!
It was creepy to say the least, with only a handful of stalls open on the market and barely a soul wandering around!
Enter Valhalla
TS Member
Fantasy Island's chances of opening next year seem pretty high now, but this small victory cannot be sustained long term. The park need to seriously clean up their act in terms of reputation and operations. There's no excuse for running your two main coasters, log flume and major thrill rides on hourly rotation in the peak summer months. I've never seen that at any other park. The atmosphere of the park also feels really rough and it's certainly not a pleasant place to be. BPB is now a much more, modern, slick and 'clean' image place than it was in the 90s and earlier and I believe that FI could be the same if the park management recognised the need to come into the 21st century. Sadly they don't seem to. Only time will tell what happens with this park but right now, I personally consider it to have the worst atmosphere of any UK theme park or amusement park. And I really don't understand why enthusiasts rate Odyssey so highly. SLCs are generally condemned. What's so special about this one?!
Sazzle
TS Administrator
- Favourite Ride
- Steel Vengeance
Personally can't stand Odyssey past the loop!
The atmosphere at Fantasy Island is unique, and as you've pointed out... not in a good way. Fantasy Island is barely an amusement park, let alone a theme park - it's essentially a couple of coasters and a handful of rides thrown around a market full of dodgy dealers. The indoor pyramid is nice enough, but for the most it's wasted space!
There's not a lot that can be done for the "park" considering the market is a huge tourist pull in the summer months, and something the council can't afford to lose. By putting up barriers to the rides and separating the market to create a "park", I guarantee the attendance figures would be akin to Pleasurewood Hills each year...
The atmosphere at Fantasy Island is unique, and as you've pointed out... not in a good way. Fantasy Island is barely an amusement park, let alone a theme park - it's essentially a couple of coasters and a handful of rides thrown around a market full of dodgy dealers. The indoor pyramid is nice enough, but for the most it's wasted space!
There's not a lot that can be done for the "park" considering the market is a huge tourist pull in the summer months, and something the council can't afford to lose. By putting up barriers to the rides and separating the market to create a "park", I guarantee the attendance figures would be akin to Pleasurewood Hills each year...
djtruefitt
TS Team
I think they are a bit stuck with what to do really. It's hardly the best area in the first place, the whole area is just full of caravans and arcades and cheap shops. The market is clearly where they must make their money as its massive. So they could go down a few routes. Do a pleasure beach and charge an entrance fee. However I don't think that would work for them, purely because of the amount of people who must walk through for the markets and to look around. Or they can keep as they are, or just try and smarten the place up. However its hard for them to really smarten it up, purely for the type of people who will always go and visit because of the area and markets.
The place does need a good clean and paint, when I went earlier this year some of the rides (particularly the log flume) was so tatty and old, our boat was covered in duck tape!
The place does need a good clean and paint, when I went earlier this year some of the rides (particularly the log flume) was so tatty and old, our boat was covered in duck tape!
Poisson
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- The Giant Squid
Utter turd hole. Poor operations, poor rides, poor availability. Went to get the Mouse cred this season and it did not inspire me to go back. Along with my previous visit, it has convinced me to not go back for a loooooooong time unless in the area, dry, sunny and I'm extremely bored (usually appear in the markets once a year)
Sammy
TS Team
- Favourite Ride
- Untamed - Walibi Holland
Hasn't been mentioned on here yet, but at the start of the month Fantasy Island confirmed via their Facebook page that The Odyssey is to be given a makeover this closed season, receiving a repaint in an entirely new colour scheme.
Personally I would have preferred them to retain the red for the track as now the park will be one large mess of Yellow! Vibrant Red and Jet Black would have worked much better for this! Will have to wait and see if it gets new trains/restraints, though I highly doubt it. Personally I'm not even convinced it will actually get painted.
Personally I would have preferred them to retain the red for the track as now the park will be one large mess of Yellow! Vibrant Red and Jet Black would have worked much better for this! Will have to wait and see if it gets new trains/restraints, though I highly doubt it. Personally I'm not even convinced it will actually get painted.
Dar
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Taron
kris3012
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- The Smiler
I live near Fantasy Island and go quite regularly (mainly because my missus loves shopping at the market 
).
'The red roller coaster' as its Known is quite rough now imo but its good to see them spending money on the park its been a highlight of my summers since i was a teen
).'The red roller coaster' as its Known is quite rough now imo but its good to see them spending money on the park its been a highlight of my summers since i was a teen
Enter Valhalla
TS Member
The best thing that could be done with that coaster would be to dismantle it and move it to a location where it can operate for more than just a few days a year. Whoever had the idea to install a coaster so heavily affected by the wind right on the exposed seafront must have been a few fries short of a Happy Meal.
It’s a shame that things haven’t worked out for Fantasy Island commercially, but doesn’t anyone miss the days when we weren’t relying on Thorpe Park or Alton Towers to build the next major roller coaster. Would it come from Oakwood who’d given us Megafobia and Speed? Blackpool Pleasure Beach who’d built The Big One and Valhalla? Drayton Manor who’d built Shockwave and Storm Force 10? Lightwater Valley who did The Rat and The Ultimate.
Although Drayton Manor and Flamingo Land still seem capable of delivering an amazing new ride, Merlin have had pretty much a monopoly on major rides in recent years. Some of the smaller parks have done some decent re-themes (Hobs Pit, Raptor Attack) and some of them have invested in themed areas and accommodation. But I miss the time when we never knew where the next major ride would come from.
Although Drayton Manor and Flamingo Land still seem capable of delivering an amazing new ride, Merlin have had pretty much a monopoly on major rides in recent years. Some of the smaller parks have done some decent re-themes (Hobs Pit, Raptor Attack) and some of them have invested in themed areas and accommodation. But I miss the time when we never knew where the next major ride would come from.
Tom
TS Member
With all due respect, some of the views being aired here are antiquated, bitter and gnereally invalid today. They're obviously driven by grievance over a long journey that has resulted in a disappointing visit in terms of ride availability.
I suggest you re-visit the park again, if not during the £5 weekend coming up - then in the summer of next season. Operations have improved dramatically.
I suggest you re-visit the park again, if not during the £5 weekend coming up - then in the summer of next season. Operations have improved dramatically.
John
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Steel Vengeance
This is pretty tempting, but I'm still wary of how many rides will actually be running. I've never been as I live to far to go there and risk half the park being closed.
Really? I've seen no evidence of this in the past 5 years or so. They seem locked into Zamperla, but Zamperla's best product is probably their motorbike coaster and sadly Mingo already have an inferior Vekoma one.