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Flamingo Land: General Discussion

We went to flamingo land on Friday. Quiet day so great for queues etc!

I had a nice day overall, the staff were nice and there was a full ride lineup.

With that said, the place did seem extremely neglected. Hero, Flip-Flop and Navigator look like they’ve been SBNO for 5 years.

Kumali rides great but looks faded and stripped down - the on board cameras have been pulled out (presumably years ago) and replaced with an off-ride camera just takes photos a photo of a row of shoes as they pass by.

Sik looks nice but very out of place at flamingo land. A bit too corporate? Velocity’s repaint looks smart, but having grey supports next to Sik is a bit miserable.

SeaLion show was great - so cheeky!

PS: does anyone know what these red and white plastic chains are for? They’re around Kumali and Mumbo Jumbo’s lowest points. Are they for maintenance or is it just to please their liability insurers by pretending to be an extra layer of fencing?
 

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Hi everyone, finally visiting Flamingo Land next Tuesday.

I've never been before so am unsure of what to expect.

Away from the headline coasters can anyone advise any 'hidden gems' ride wise the park may have that I'd possibly miss. And also what's good for food?

Thanks.
 
John_P said:
Hi everyone, finally visiting Flamingo Land next Tuesday.

I've never been before so am unsure of what to expect.

Away from the headline coasters can anyone advise any 'hidden gems' ride wise the park may have that I'd possibly miss. And also what's good for food?

Thanks.
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Cliffhanger (S&S shot and drop tower) is a must if it's on combo mode, so forceful!
 
John_P said:
Hi everyone, finally visiting Flamingo Land next Tuesday.

I've never been before so am unsure of what to expect.

Away from the headline coasters can anyone advise any 'hidden gems' ride wise the park may have that I'd possibly miss. And also what's good for food?

Thanks.
Click to expand...

Besides the headline coasters there aren’t really too many must do attractions, the park isn’t as balanced as some others are. It has some good coasters (Sik, Kumali, Velocity, and Mumbo Jumbo) and one of the best shot towers in the country (Cliff Hanger). On a busier day I’d say try and get in on Mumbo Jumbo and Kumali as your first two rides as the park can struggle with operations leading to lengthy queues.

As for hidden gems I’m not sure there are any. The Lost River water ride is very slow and lengthy and the Twist-O-Saurus spinning coaster is ok for a family spinner but nothing special. If you like star flyers then you’ll probably like Pterodactyl. The mine train coaster is worth riding as is the Voodoo pirate boat but really you’ll be wanting to try and get as many goes on the four good coasters and shot tower as you can. As for food, unfortunately Cooplands the bakers has closed but there is a good chip shop on park. There’s also a noodle place and a pizzeria.
 
Go to Pickering before going to the park. Thomas the Baker on the main street do good food and you can stock up to avoid the park food.

Operations are atrocious, do Hero first as it has a throughput measured in single digits a week
 
Rick said:
Pterodactyl is terrifying.

It's a nicely presented zoo for the most part. The penguins are always fun to watch and have a nice enclosure, situated right at the back.

Have a great time.
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I’m glad I’m not the only one that was terrified on Pterodactyl! I can’t quite put my finger on what it is but there’s something about it that freaks me out, I don’t know if it’s because they removed some of the arms it makes it feel more sparse looking or if it’s the way that entire towers rotates from the bottom.
 
Shaggy_Dog_ said:
I’m glad I’m not the only one that was terrified on Pterodactyl! I can’t quite put my finger on what it is but there’s something about it that freaks me out, I don’t know if it’s because they removed some of the arms it makes it feel more sparse looking or if it’s the way that entire towers rotates from the bottom.
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Flamingo Land maintain it. Terrifying.
 
John_P said:
Hi everyone, finally visiting Flamingo Land next Tuesday.

I've never been before so am unsure of what to expect.

Away from the headline coasters can anyone advise any 'hidden gems' ride wise the park may have that I'd possibly miss. And also what's good for food?

Thanks.
Click to expand...
Kumali, Velocity are excellent coasters!

There isn’t a huge amount there. Hero isn’t anywhere near as bad as people make out.
 
Following up on my first ever trip to Flamingo Land.

Firstly it was really easy getting there on public transport from York, plus with the current government scheme it was only £2 each way. There's a bus about 8.15am from York that'll get you there about 9.30am, and a bus going back at 5.15pm. They look to be hourly during the day.

The park was lovely, enjoyed the zoo as much as the ride area. Lots of charm.

Good collection of coasters, and Hero. I really enjoyed Sik, with the newer trains it's much better than Colossus. My only dislike of it was the rapid fire barrel rolls at the end. Loved the way the ride was presented and the atmosphere inside the station.

Velocity was shut sadly but I got on all the other coasters except the go gator.

Cliff Hanger was a great drop/shot tower, a real punch with both the main launches.

Petrodactyl was genuinely terrifying, thought the chair was going to turn around when I was at the top. Saw a bit later it had stopped at the top and was being slowly lowered.

All in a really fun day out.
 
I've finally done Flamingoland for the first time during a schools outing day which normally means he'll through oddly it didn't seem much of a problem todsy.

Let's say that other than seeing how bad Hero was and some throughput operations, never have I been lied to about a park until now. All those stories about how bad it was have all been unfounded and I'll have much to say about this when I get round to a trip report. I think I might appreciate this place more so than I would have expected.
 
QTXAdsy said:
I've finally done Flamingoland for the first time during a schools outing day which normally means he'll through oddly it didn't seem much of a problem todsy.

Let's say that other than seeing how bad Hero was and some throughput operations, never have I been lied to about a park until now. All those stories about how bad it was have all been unfounded and I'll have much to say about this when I get round to a trip report. I think I might appreciate this place more so than I would have expected.
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I am one of those liars.
I think all those terrible tripeadvisor reviews have removed the crowds, so operations are a little better.
Good park on a nice day, horrendous when busy, but I hate zoos, so that is always a minus.
 
QTXAdsy said:
Let's say that other than seeing how bad Hero was and some throughput operations, never have I been lied to about a park until now. All those stories about how bad it was have all been unfounded and I'll have much to say about this when I get round to a trip report. I think I might appreciate this place more so than I would have expected.
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Glad you had a good day, but... people's poor experiences on their visits doesn't mean their stories off the back of their visits are "unfounded". Good news if things are on the up and I'm looking forward to reading your report, however I'd strongly recommend not calling others liars 😉.

Being my local park, I've visited many times over the years and have sadly seen the place show some promising shoots of progress and then a massive amount of decline following that. I'd love to see that be reversed, but I don't think one report of a decent day is an indication of that based on the capacity decreases and general lack of love and care in other areas.
 
@QTXAdsy Looking forward to hearing more about your day.

I do think that the (lack of) quality of Flamingo Land has been somewhat over-egged over the years.

I am sure some people have had some pretty sucky days there but some of the dislike has become a bit of a meme ... It's a fairly easy joke, I guess.

I've never had a bad day there in 25+ years and it's certainly the park that has had the biggest transformation over that period, perhaps bar Thorpe. Maybe.
 
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The only park I have known to have its tripadvisor reports suspended, after covid.
Think it lasted about three months.
Things were that bad.
Current reviews are mixed at best, had half a dozen one star reviews in a line a couple of months ago.
Ops let it down more than anything.
That and, you know, Yorkshire.
 
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Listen buds, when your 'local' Park is M&D's the bar is set pretty low so honestly Flamingoland had nothing to lose today, plus I managed to multiple re-rides which I've not had the chance to do in God knows how long so I appreciate that, plus its just next door to the North Yorkshire Moors Railway which anything with a steam railway next door is a win.

Buy yeah, I'll have much to say when I get back as now I want to enjoy the rest of my holiday with the family.
 
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