Great day at Oktoberfest on Saturday, always seems to be such a good atmosphere on park. Ents were great as always, from the roaming characters to the performers on stage. It'd be nice to see a bit more variation come next year, but I don't think things need any sort of major change when the lawns are jam packed at the end of the day.
The central bit on the lawns was a nice change, and looked great with the photo ops and seating away from the lines of benches in front of the stage. Nice to see the new Laugh and Scream beer as something unique, although it was a bit plain in comparison to some proper craft stuff that I'd have preferred Towers to have asked for. It was a shame to see a lack of wheat beer though, would've been nice to have that as an option.
Food wise, a bit of praise for Aramark here as they now get the standard outlets involved in themed foods as well as the outlets which are brought in on the lawns. Flammkuchen was available as an option in pizza/pasta - although it perplexes me why they don't offer it as a takeaway option too. They did it over covid, so surely they could make efforts to do so for the event as well? I wasn't keen on forking out for the full buffet to try it, as it's always a bit too much stodge for a day on park for me. It seems like a missed opportunity to make some money from customers who just want something quick and it's ultimately pretty cheap to make.
What I did try though is the bratwurst at the hot dog kiosk by the courtyard. £8 or £6.40 with annual pass discount, so a fair bit cheaper than the kiosks who don't offer discount, and ended up being substantially nicer than the ones from there too. Sure it wasn't cooked on a proper grill like the outlets (they were using George Foreman style grills to cook them out back), but it ended up being really quite decent. A standard hot dog bun, but topped off with sauerkraut, crispy onions and curry ketchup - really well presented with Oktoberfest themed paper. No photos since I was slightly inebriated by this point and far too hungry, but I felt it was really decent value and tasty as well.
So despite all the Aramark doom and gloom, they are capable of doing some decent stuff. It'll be interesting to see how this develops as time goes on, and whether the likes of Carvery Grill will continue to be brought in to run these external outlets. Or, if Aramark will be starting to run these/develop more permanent additions which can be re themed to each event instead. The bratwurst stand in the courtyard is a prime example, a mad addition when the courtyard bbq could be brought back into use instead.
I really hope the opening hours are amended back next year. I can't help but feel the issues with rides opening late are hampering any sort of attempt at pushing opening hours back later, as it only exacerbates issues the next morning. If they can get that sorted, then hopefully we'll see a return to some later opening in 2024. It's a shame there's all that lighting put to very little use at present!
I’ll be sure to report back on what I think of the event set up this time, hopefully the entertainment and being well, and ops and rides in the relevant threads
