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Flamingo Land: General Discussion

That is concerning news. Hopefully they are able to pull through and come out of the other side relatively unscathered, even if it means not opening the new coaster this year.

Having to cover all costs for the zoo is bound to be impacting them more than it would otherwise.
 
Tricky situation to be in. They are seemingly skint but also have a big new coaster, far beyond anything they have installed before, that is ready to go. However if they haven't got any budget to market it it could open up like a damp squib.

They probably just need a few month's of cashflow in order to get it open. I think it will open just in time for the summer holidays. That's my bet.
 
I'm not saying anyone is doing well at the moment, but their turnover has been relatively healthy in recent years. I find it a questionable claim that they're in a sell-off-to-survive crisis.

The 'New for 2021' is also still on the map over the ride, but disappears when you zoom in to a certain extent. This is on desktop though so not sure what the issue is.
 
Matt N said:
According to The Undead Creature over on CoasterForce, Flamingo Land is opening very little and has removed “coming 2021” from their new coaster because they have “literally run out of money”, and may even have to sell some rides off.

I hope the park is able to pull through this tough stretch and open their new ride eventually.
Source: https://coasterforce.com/forums/thr...rsion-coaster-2021.43277/page-43#post-1105717
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Apparently Flip Flop is up for sale so unfortunately there could be some truth to that. Although I think that ride has been problematic for a while, having to remove some of the seats etc..... so could be unrelated.

At this point though it really does seem like this coaster is cursed.
 
Reality is starting to sink now isn't it? These parks are in for a good year if they can hang on that little bit longer. But can they?
 
Thameslink Rail said:
That's what I was thinking, if you're a thrill seeker in Yorkshire/the North East where are you going to go?
Fantasy Island is 85 miles away from Flamingo Land
Alton Towers 95 miles
Blackpool Pleasure Beach 96 miles
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Living in Newcastle I've not been to Flamingoland for about 10 years. I always quite happily pass it and go to Towers and Blackpool regularly, maybe twice or thrice yearly to the two of them while Flamingoland doesn't even get a look in. I've even been to Thorpe 3 times within the time I've not been to Flamingoland.

I mean it has some OK coasters, but operations are a bit crap and the park isn't that pleasing on the eye and I really don't feel it has that much to offer. Although I will go when the new coaster opens to see how it is.
 
I was always of the understanding that flamingo land did rather well financially, primarily because of the popular holiday village. You can see how the zoo may have been a large burden operationally during the extended closures though.

Let’s hope there’s not much to the rumours as it would be a shame for yet another uk park to start on the path of ride reduction and removal.
 
Godscrasher said:
Living in Newcastle I've not been to Flamingoland for about 10 years. I always quite happily pass it and go to Towers and Blackpool regularly, maybe twice or thrice yearly to the two of them while Flamingoland doesn't even get a look in. I've even been to Thorpe 3 times within the time I've not been to Flamingoland.

I mean it has some OK coasters, but operations are a bit crap and the park isn't that pleasing on the eye and I really don't feel it has that much to offer. Although I will go when the new coaster opens to see how it is.
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The operations aren't a bit crap, they are a lot crap.
Single train operations, dodgy single queuebuster tickets, full trains of queuebuster riders, and a full hours queue for the sodding queuebuster tickets, makes for a pretty crap day overall.
 
Flamingo Land are in a tight spot but I think they'll benefit enormously from domestic tourism in Yorkshire (and especially around the Yorkshire coast) this summer.

The consensus here in Scarborough is that this summer season will be incredibly busy. Many B&Bs and hotels are fully booked already, and the local hospitality industry is working hard to prepare for the anticipated demand. The Coastliner bus service that runs to Scarborough from Leeds and York (with most services calling at Flamingo Land) announced earlier this week that it's doubling its pre-Covid timetable to run buses every 30 minutes from May onward (link).

All this suggests that Flamingo Land could enjoy a bumper season and recovery from last year's heavy losses.
 
I’ve now heard word online that Flamingo Land will likely be unable to open their new 10-inversion roller coaster in 2021 due to difficulties in getting the engineers over from Europe to be able to test the ride.
 
Matt N said:
I’ve now heard word online that Flamingo Land will likely be unable to open their new 10-inversion roller coaster in 2021 due to difficulties in getting the engineers over from Europe to be able to test the ride.
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This is utter rubbish if that's the reason they are spouting.
 
AstroDan said:
This is utter rubbish if that's the reason they are spouting.
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I should note that this isn’t an official line; this is a rumour I heard online. This is of course unconfirmed, but certainly wouldn’t surprise me, what with the current travel restrictions and situation in Europe.
 
Matt N said:
I should note that this isn’t an official line; this is a rumour I heard online. This is of course unconfirmed, but certainly wouldn’t surprise me, what with the current travel restrictions and situation in Europe.
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People can travel for business - yes there is a need to quarantine - but it can be done. Storm Chaser is opening, as is Croc Drop and Flight of the Sky Lion - all European manufacturers - as are other rollercoasters around Europe.

I know friends involved in commissioning of rides in foreign countries and they have been continuing as such, simply quarantining on return.

It might well be more difficult than usual, but the idea that they are unable to get people in to commission/test the ride is simply not a feasible argument.
 
AstroDan said:
People can travel for business - yes there is a need to quarantine - but it can be done. Storm Chaser is opening, as is Croc Drop and Flight of the Sky Lion - all European manufacturers - as are other rollercoasters around Europe.

I know friends involved in commissioning of rides in foreign countries and they have been continuing as such, simply quarantining on return.

It might well be more difficult than usual, but the idea that they are unable to get people in to commission/test the ride is simply not a feasible argument.
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Do you feel that Flamingo Land’s alleged financial difficulties may instead be the cause?

If this rumour is true, of course.
 
As they have had sod all income for six months, and massive outgoings feeding and vetting all those animals, it is fair to presume they are on the very skint side of skint.
 
Flamingo Land have actually just filed their latest accounts at companies house. They cover the period up to March 2020, so of course it doesn’t cover last season, but shows their financial position going into the pandemic and actually overall they were in a pretty good position.

They have very little long term debt and had enough money in the short term to cover the bills. There is a small section covering 2020 which states they took out a £5million loan to help cover themselves and were actually able to pay back £1.5million of this due to summer trading last year.

It also confirms they have spent just over £6million on the new coaster up to March 2020.

https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/SC052543/filing-history
 
By March 2020, is it plausible that the park hadn’t paid off the full cost of the coaster yet? The ride is quoted as costing £20,385,000 by the park, and £6m is not even half of that figure, so they clearly had quite a bit left to pay prior to the pandemic hitting.
 
Matt N said:
By March 2020, is it plausible that the park hadn’t paid off the full cost of the coaster yet? The ride is quoted as costing £20,385,000 by the park, and £6m is not even half of that figure, so they clearly had quite a bit left to pay prior to the pandemic hitting.
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That £20m figure surely wasn't correct though. One of those coaster models brand new would probably come in under £20m nevermind a second hand one.
 
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