Alix
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Balder BEEP BEEP
Having watched some of the Discord regulars’ exploits over the last year, @Chimpy and I decided this year we would be a bit more adventurous in our trip planning. After doing 2 parks in a day for the first time ever last year, (Gullivers Kingdom and Valley) I cooked up a plan with @Poisson and @MattyH to get us +11 in the space of 3 days.
The plan was fairly simple, a trip to Flamingo Land, with stop offs at WMSP and Drayton Manor. My brother and his family live in Newcastle, so they decided they’d join us at Mingo for a family day out.
Day minus 1: MC dropped off at the cattery. Bags packed (a record 6 hour attempt for Chimpy for whom procrastination is a super power) car all checked and fuelled and we were ready to go.
Day One: an 8am start to drive up to WMSP. I’d originally ridden the African Big Apple when I was small - it’s probably my second ever coaster, so although the place has changed a lot (not that I would remember this long after) it was nice to take Chimpy to get the same cred. When we arrived, the board said Rhino Coaster was closed which was disappointing, but then the coaster gods smiled on us and that sign was removed. As soon as the rides opened we cracked on and got all 3 creds, then made our way round the other rides at a more leisurely pace. Everything is fairly small at WMSP, Chimp did not get to go upside down, but we had fun being daft. We’d done pretty much everything in the “theme park” in 2 hours, so it was time for lunch before going to check out the animals. We had lunch in the dino diner and although at £34 it wasn’t cheap, the pizzas were big and very tasty. Chimp had Hawaiian and I had vegan spicy chicken - 9/10.
Although not vegan, it seemed a waste to visit the place without having a look at the animals. The bats and the lorikeets were worth a look as they’re free flying (not in the same enclosure) and the chimp was happy to look at anything and everything that was there. The red pandas were in hiding, as were the white lions, but we saw quite a few critters and they all seemed to have nice enclosures and enrichment. We also did the dinosaur and ice age walkthroughs which were nice enough but looked a bit tired in places. The mammoths were fraying at their seams a bit.
Before we went home I’d planned we would do the safari. At 4 miles long I expected to be in and out in about an hour or so before we hit the road up to Pickering. I was mistaken. 2.5 hours later we were finally leaving, having seen quite a few bovines but not much in the way of big cats which was a bit disappointing.
The drive up to Pickering was long but nothing of note happened. Tea was a Sainsbury’s sarnie. 260 miles in a day with 8 hours in a park I don’t know is a bit of an achievement for me, so herbal tea and medals all round before Flamingoland on day 2.
Day two: Flamingo Land: We were only 7 minutes away from Mingo so could have a lie in and leisurely breakfast at our premier inn. I foolishly tried the vegan bacon - yep, it’s still disgusting. We packed up and got to Mingo for 0930 where we met up with my brother and his family. Straight away we found out velocity was shut for maintenance, so our possible +9 was reduced to +8. We’d had some advice on the order to tackle the rides so we started at Hero which only the small nephew couldn’t ride. My brother took him off to do some of the little rides, whilst the 4 girls (me, chimpy, sister in law and niece) were on before 10 and all the warnings were right. I reckon I must have stood on the wrong step because my shoulders were in agony all the way round, my teeth were rattled and it scored a definite 5/5 for OW. Chimp and niece enjoyed it though. Next was Mumbo Jumbo, queues were starting to build but we were still on in about 20 minutes. Slightly more comfortable than Hero, but again those restraints were not nice to shoulders and it was a 4/5 OW.
Time for the nephew to swap parents, so my brother could join us for Kumali. Queue was still fairly short, chimp and I got front row. Best ride of the trip so far, miles smoother than mumbo jumbo and hero, maybe Mingo isn’t as bad as everyone says! Chimp and I were starting to itch for Sik, so we parted ways with everyone else and made our way over. We went single rider as the main queue was already spilling out through the shop, and were on in about 30 minutes. The interior of the station was a bit of a surprise, definitely felt like I was not the target audience for that or the merch but the ride it self was not bad at all. I’m not a fan of Colossus and I think Sik is better. The lap restraint makes for a much more comfy ride, even if the corkscrews were a bit slow and painful. 1/5 for OW.
It was nearly lunch time now, so we went to the Coach House and had a proper hot lunch. Prices were reasonable, and meltdowns averted. On our way we noticed that Twistosaur was closed – we didn’t worry too much though as we had plenty of time for it come back up later.
Now it was time to try and catch some of the smaller creds that all of us could ride. However, small nephew had found the play ground in Muddy Ducks and was resisting arrest, so we girls went off again leaving the boys in the mud. We went on dino coaster quite easily, although it wasn’t being fully loaded as by now the rain had started. Twistosaurus was struggling in the wet and after queuing twice and being denied we gave up on it. The possible +8 disappointingly became +7. We did the mine train, which is quite quick and not bad at all for what it is. Then we went to Zooom which all of us could ride, and we’d achieved all the creds available to us. I was nominated responsible adult to take chimp and the niece on Cliff Hanger – it was on shot and drop and we enjoyed it. Then the smaller members of the group started getting tired and tetchy, so we said our goodbyes and chimp and I ran off for one last go on Sik before hitting the road. The drive down to Tamworth was fairly uneventful, dinner was a tesco sarnie and a coffee. We’d now clocked up 400 miles and tempers were starting to fray just a little, however we’d survived so far so day 2 medals duly issued.
Day Three: Drayton manor. Again we were only down the road from Drayton so we didn’t have to get up too early, I gave the vegan bacon a swerve this time, Chimp got our money’s worth in pig to make up for it. When I’d planned the trip, we were all hoping the new coaster would be open at Drayton, however that hasn’t happened so there were no creds for us to get this time. We still had a good time though, getting on the majority of the rides we were interested in, (Loki is a favourite of ours so long as the queue is short) and the Wave which is ok but the queue was horrendous and slow moving and the restraints uncomfy. The new western area Frontier Falls is looking fresh, the 4D cinema actually still smells of new paint. Accelorator is having a bit of an identify crisis with a different name on the outside but no discernable change to theming inside. I was dragged round the zoo by the Chimp at the end of the day – the animals are still look sad in enclosures which look too small, I’m really not keen on animals and theme parks mixing and Drayton does nothing to convince me otherwise. It was then time to head home, getting stuck in a fair bit of traffic but we still managed to get home at a reasonable hour with no stops.
Verdict – this was quite tame in comparison to what some get up to, however for us it was a big trip. It was enjoyable though, despite not getting all the creds we hoped, and I’m now more confident that our next road trip out East will be just as successful. Having more experienced members of the forum happy to provide advice and support when things unravel slightly really helps – thanks again @Poisson.
Final stats:
Creds - +9 (+10 for Chimp)
Miles – 509
Hours driving – 10
Hours on parks – 20
Steps – 32,735
The plan was fairly simple, a trip to Flamingo Land, with stop offs at WMSP and Drayton Manor. My brother and his family live in Newcastle, so they decided they’d join us at Mingo for a family day out.
Day minus 1: MC dropped off at the cattery. Bags packed (a record 6 hour attempt for Chimpy for whom procrastination is a super power) car all checked and fuelled and we were ready to go.
Day One: an 8am start to drive up to WMSP. I’d originally ridden the African Big Apple when I was small - it’s probably my second ever coaster, so although the place has changed a lot (not that I would remember this long after) it was nice to take Chimpy to get the same cred. When we arrived, the board said Rhino Coaster was closed which was disappointing, but then the coaster gods smiled on us and that sign was removed. As soon as the rides opened we cracked on and got all 3 creds, then made our way round the other rides at a more leisurely pace. Everything is fairly small at WMSP, Chimp did not get to go upside down, but we had fun being daft. We’d done pretty much everything in the “theme park” in 2 hours, so it was time for lunch before going to check out the animals. We had lunch in the dino diner and although at £34 it wasn’t cheap, the pizzas were big and very tasty. Chimp had Hawaiian and I had vegan spicy chicken - 9/10.
Although not vegan, it seemed a waste to visit the place without having a look at the animals. The bats and the lorikeets were worth a look as they’re free flying (not in the same enclosure) and the chimp was happy to look at anything and everything that was there. The red pandas were in hiding, as were the white lions, but we saw quite a few critters and they all seemed to have nice enclosures and enrichment. We also did the dinosaur and ice age walkthroughs which were nice enough but looked a bit tired in places. The mammoths were fraying at their seams a bit.
Before we went home I’d planned we would do the safari. At 4 miles long I expected to be in and out in about an hour or so before we hit the road up to Pickering. I was mistaken. 2.5 hours later we were finally leaving, having seen quite a few bovines but not much in the way of big cats which was a bit disappointing.
The drive up to Pickering was long but nothing of note happened. Tea was a Sainsbury’s sarnie. 260 miles in a day with 8 hours in a park I don’t know is a bit of an achievement for me, so herbal tea and medals all round before Flamingoland on day 2.
Day two: Flamingo Land: We were only 7 minutes away from Mingo so could have a lie in and leisurely breakfast at our premier inn. I foolishly tried the vegan bacon - yep, it’s still disgusting. We packed up and got to Mingo for 0930 where we met up with my brother and his family. Straight away we found out velocity was shut for maintenance, so our possible +9 was reduced to +8. We’d had some advice on the order to tackle the rides so we started at Hero which only the small nephew couldn’t ride. My brother took him off to do some of the little rides, whilst the 4 girls (me, chimpy, sister in law and niece) were on before 10 and all the warnings were right. I reckon I must have stood on the wrong step because my shoulders were in agony all the way round, my teeth were rattled and it scored a definite 5/5 for OW. Chimp and niece enjoyed it though. Next was Mumbo Jumbo, queues were starting to build but we were still on in about 20 minutes. Slightly more comfortable than Hero, but again those restraints were not nice to shoulders and it was a 4/5 OW.
Time for the nephew to swap parents, so my brother could join us for Kumali. Queue was still fairly short, chimp and I got front row. Best ride of the trip so far, miles smoother than mumbo jumbo and hero, maybe Mingo isn’t as bad as everyone says! Chimp and I were starting to itch for Sik, so we parted ways with everyone else and made our way over. We went single rider as the main queue was already spilling out through the shop, and were on in about 30 minutes. The interior of the station was a bit of a surprise, definitely felt like I was not the target audience for that or the merch but the ride it self was not bad at all. I’m not a fan of Colossus and I think Sik is better. The lap restraint makes for a much more comfy ride, even if the corkscrews were a bit slow and painful. 1/5 for OW.
It was nearly lunch time now, so we went to the Coach House and had a proper hot lunch. Prices were reasonable, and meltdowns averted. On our way we noticed that Twistosaur was closed – we didn’t worry too much though as we had plenty of time for it come back up later.
Now it was time to try and catch some of the smaller creds that all of us could ride. However, small nephew had found the play ground in Muddy Ducks and was resisting arrest, so we girls went off again leaving the boys in the mud. We went on dino coaster quite easily, although it wasn’t being fully loaded as by now the rain had started. Twistosaurus was struggling in the wet and after queuing twice and being denied we gave up on it. The possible +8 disappointingly became +7. We did the mine train, which is quite quick and not bad at all for what it is. Then we went to Zooom which all of us could ride, and we’d achieved all the creds available to us. I was nominated responsible adult to take chimp and the niece on Cliff Hanger – it was on shot and drop and we enjoyed it. Then the smaller members of the group started getting tired and tetchy, so we said our goodbyes and chimp and I ran off for one last go on Sik before hitting the road. The drive down to Tamworth was fairly uneventful, dinner was a tesco sarnie and a coffee. We’d now clocked up 400 miles and tempers were starting to fray just a little, however we’d survived so far so day 2 medals duly issued.
Day Three: Drayton manor. Again we were only down the road from Drayton so we didn’t have to get up too early, I gave the vegan bacon a swerve this time, Chimp got our money’s worth in pig to make up for it. When I’d planned the trip, we were all hoping the new coaster would be open at Drayton, however that hasn’t happened so there were no creds for us to get this time. We still had a good time though, getting on the majority of the rides we were interested in, (Loki is a favourite of ours so long as the queue is short) and the Wave which is ok but the queue was horrendous and slow moving and the restraints uncomfy. The new western area Frontier Falls is looking fresh, the 4D cinema actually still smells of new paint. Accelorator is having a bit of an identify crisis with a different name on the outside but no discernable change to theming inside. I was dragged round the zoo by the Chimp at the end of the day – the animals are still look sad in enclosures which look too small, I’m really not keen on animals and theme parks mixing and Drayton does nothing to convince me otherwise. It was then time to head home, getting stuck in a fair bit of traffic but we still managed to get home at a reasonable hour with no stops.
Verdict – this was quite tame in comparison to what some get up to, however for us it was a big trip. It was enjoyable though, despite not getting all the creds we hoped, and I’m now more confident that our next road trip out East will be just as successful. Having more experienced members of the forum happy to provide advice and support when things unravel slightly really helps – thanks again @Poisson.
Final stats:
Creds - +9 (+10 for Chimp)
Miles – 509
Hours driving – 10
Hours on parks – 20
Steps – 32,735
