• ℹ️ Heads up...

    This is a popular topic that is fast moving Guest - before posting, please ensure that you check out the first post in the topic for a quick reminder of guidelines, and importantly a summary of the known facts and information so far. Thanks.

Flamingo Land: General Discussion

Smilertron said:
Back from a weekend in North Yorkshire and a cheeky trip to Mingo Land. Now, the last time i went to this park, i was a bit younger and wasn't really an enthusiast, so didn't worry about certain aspects of the park. Let me start by talking about Hero. I really wanted to understand why the Zamperla Volare model was so disliked by the theme park community as i am not a man that generally worries too much about a bit of roughness. Hero has got to be the worst ride i have ever been on in my life and fully understand why this is so hated now. I am still suffering pains in my neck and upper back from that thing. Once is enough and i doubt i will go on it again. To be brutally honest, i had a good day, in a very average park...at best. Kumali was testing all day but did not open, Mumbo Jumbo ran on one train causing a really slow queue, the Zamperla Disko was shut, Hero was a big queue because it was running one train (but maybe that might have been when saw it). The park can be summed up in one word really...Cheap (apart from the entrance price). Really slow operations all day, lack of interest from staff, apart from the Diner staff who were great. The place is a mess really but has soo much potential. Lets face it, the park are only building this Intamin because it is practically second hand. Again...a cheap option. The zoo is actually a really nice area but the park is just a monstrosity. A little bit dissapointed really. This place needs some money pumped into it. I know Merlins cost cutting can be annoying but this place actually makes them look like a company that is second to Disney. Apart from that, it was a great weekend.
Click to expand...
Money pumped into it ?? They have large investments every year be it the zoo theme park or resort there’s always major investment every year
 
I like Flamingo Land. I've had the off day there, but that's true of everywhere. Aside from Thorpe, I am not sure any park has transformed quite as much in the past two decades. Sure, you can lament the loss of the Anton's, but they have some great rides now.

Not a two day park? Thousands of families do a week there every year - some will use it as a base to do other things, but I bet a huge number go on park for a portion of every day.
 
Rick said:
I like Flamingo Land. I've had the off day there, but that's true of everywhere. Aside from Thorpe, I am not sure any park has transformed quite as much in the past two decades. Sure, you can lament the loss of the Anton's, but they have some great rides now.

Not a two day park? Thousands of families do a week there every year - some will use it as a base to do other things, but I bet a huge number go on park for a portion of every day.
Click to expand...
people do come see us for up to two weeks and don’t get bored in a caravan owner there and longest booking we have is 2 and a half weeks
 
Last edited by a moderator:
charlie craig said:
I like how every one on this forum absolutely rips the crap out of Flamingo Land and then makes out they know how to run a theme park properly. Yeah sure ok then. Flamingo Land gets so much unfair stick because of its operations, every theme park has its bad bits why attack flamingo land because it's there’s?
Click to expand...

I think you'll find every park is held to a high regard and most find FL have some failings. Take a look at say Velocity and tell me it doesn't fail on themeing terms?

I'm not sure where this aggressiveness has come from but we can't all have a civilised debate with such attacks.
 
Last edited:
Do we think the ten looper will be pushed back to 2021?

Cant imagine they will want to open it up (if they even reopen this year) to reduced crowds and with social distancing in place.

I think it would probably be a good idea to hold it back now really.
 
Benjsh said:
Do we think the ten looper will be pushed back to 2021?

Cant imagine they will want to open it up (if they even reopen this year) to reduced crowds and with social distancing in place.

I think it would probably be a good idea to hold it back now really.
Click to expand...
Wouldn’t surprise me if it was; I think it might depend on where they are in construction. I don’t think they were too far along, were they?
 
Not sure ... they've opened new rides in July/August (and I think September!) before now. All depends on the situation.

The nature of the dynamic between the holiday village and the park means that 'late' openings are not all that unusual, or even entirely undesirable.
 
I will probably take a trip if it does open. However I'm expecting the push back.
 
Poisson said:
The easiest solution in terms of a smooth 2021 opening would be some soft openings in 2020 to try and iron out any issues, officially open in 2021
Click to expand...

This won't happen. It devalues the grand opening and potential for some hype. Paulton pushed theirs back for this very reason and they are further ahead aren't they?
 
Just a quick question for those who know the park. What is the zoo like?

I'm not very fond of the idea of animals being part of a theme park, and I just wondered what the conditions are like for the animals?

Unless you are a world-respected conservation zoo like Chester, or London etc I think a lot of "zoos" and "animal parks" shouldn't exist, especially if they are an add on attraction but I gather the animals came first and then the park later.

It's actually one of the things that has put me off visiting, and I just wondered if anyone could give me any information. I understand at Magic Kingdom the animals are quite away from the rides, is it the same here?
 
Spookle15 said:
Just a quick question for those who know the park. What is the zoo like?

I'm not very fond of the idea of animals being part of a theme park, and I just wondered what the conditions are like for the animals?

Unless you are a world-respected conservation zoo like Chester, or London etc I think a lot of "zoos" and "animal parks" shouldn't exist, especially if they are an add on attraction but I gather the animals came first and then the park later.

It's actually one of the things that has put me off visiting, and I just wondered if anyone could give me any information. I understand at Magic Kingdom the animals are quite away from the rides, is it the same here?
Click to expand...

To be fair to Flamingo Land I would say it’s one of the better theme park zoo’s I have been to. It used to be horrific but they spent a lot of money on its about 15 years ago and brought the enclosures up to scratch. The Zoo sits mostly separate from most of the rides in the park (obviously the river ride is within the Zoo).

It certainly puts Drayton Manors Zoo to shame.
 
Sorry, I thought it was very poor last year.
I'm with the small zoo owner recently in the press.
I remember the Tower Zoo.
Ban all zoos.
Do the conservation work in the nation of origin.
Simple.
 
rob666 said:
Sorry, I thought it was very poor last year.
I'm with the small zoo owner recently in the press.
I remember the Tower Zoo.
Ban all zoos.
Do the conservation work in the nation of origin.
Simple.
Click to expand...

That wasn’t the question nor the answer. The OP asked how it compares to other UK Zoo’s.

I have no particular problem with banning Zoo’s in principle. Currently conservation in the original country of the species is often a risk due to poaching, but I think most people agree that’s the goal we should be setting globally.
 
Dave said:
That wasn’t the question nor the answer. The OP asked how it compares to other UK Zoo’s.

I have no particular problem with banning Zoo’s in principle. Currently conservation in the original country of the species is often a risk due to poaching, but I think most people agree that’s the goal we should be setting globally.
Click to expand...
I could be wrong but didn’t some zoo or something like that come out and say when pushed on why not release all the animals back into the wild, they basically said they couldn’t the animals are adjusted to that life and sending them out in the wild would kill them. It was something like that it was a while ago I heard it.
 
If people are concerned about animal welfare the focus should not be on banning zoos (which would be detrimental to conservation and would leave thousands of non-releasable animals with nowhere to go,) the focus should be on lifting the legal minimum welfare standards to match AZA accreditation at a bare minimum, preferably exceeding those standards in some areas.
 
MakoMania said:
If people are concerned about animal welfare the focus should not be on banning zoos (which would be detrimental to conservation and would leave thousands of non-releasable animals with nowhere to go,) the focus should be on lifting the legal minimum welfare standards to match AZA accreditation at a bare minimum, preferably exceeding those standards in some areas.
Click to expand...
That's nowhere near as easy as the knee-jerk "Ban All Zoos!" view though ;)
 
Ok, a more detailed review of mingo's zoo.
I went early autumn 2019 with tyke mates and their kids.
While the kids went on the worlds slowest big splash flume,with the worlds slowest water ride queue due to fast pass abuse, I wandered the zoo twice, once while the kids queued, once while they were on the ride.
The latest "New for 2019" big cat enclosure was empty, still waiting for the animals out of quarantine apparently.
The new enclosure looked ok, but overall the tidy up from the decade before needs redoing.
The other enclosures were reasonably sized for a modern zoo, but nowhere near safari park standards for space and visibility of the animals.
Very large concrete walls were shedding their render, glass viewing windows were filthy, none of the animals looked happy, there was evidence of lengthy pacing of the boundaries of the enclosures by many of the larger animals...worn out grass around the walls.
The penguin enclosure was very poor indeed, the viewing windows within a concrete bunker that smelt strongly of urine appeared to be fogged out...but it was very, very murky water, catering for a single penguin.
The meerkat enclosure with pop up dome viewing windows used to be good, but the enclosure has deteriorated over time, and the viewing domes were closed when I visited.
Many of the viewing windows were cracked, scratched badly or damaged, there were a number of gaffer tape repairs.
The kids only went through part of the zoo to get to the excellent pub within the park at the far end of the park from the rides... they, and their parents, did not want to see, as they described it, big animals in small enclosures.
I saw no evidence of conservation talks or educational provision on the day I was there at all.
The flamingoes were nice,and the layout, though not easy to fathom, was well landscaped, at least for the humans.
Having visited a large number of zoos as part of my job, I can honestly state that I hate them all.
Ban cages and small enclosures first, close the safari parks last, but shut every last one.
Do the conservation work in the country of origin.
Use television and the internet to educate and inform about conservation and ecology.
Do meaningful scientific research with the animals in their natural environment.
We no longer need zoos.
They serve no real purpose anymore, and are cruel.
If you aint going to eat it, dont keep it in a box.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top