Paultons Park: General Discussion

[Skyscraper]

I’ve got an interesting question.

I’m not trying to be goady or provocative for the sake of it, and I apologise if it comes across that way, but I’d be interested to know; does anyone have any kind of criticism or imperfection of Paultons Park to air? Or do we feel that the park is genuinely perfect?

I only ask because it seems that unlikely any other park, Paultons Park never seems to receive criticism or scrutiny of any kind on here. I dare say that even Europa Park receives more criticism and scrutiny on here than Paultons does, and given this site’s love of all things Europa, I think that’s saying something. As an example, you can see it above in the post by @QTXAdsy (I’m not singling you out at all, this is just an example of what I more generally notice):


There often seems to be an implication on here that Paultons are literally perfect at everything they do and above any kind of criticism. It’s rare to see any kind of criticism or scrutiny of the park, which I find mildly unusual compared to other parks. This site is not afraid to give fair scrutiny to other parks, so why doesn’t Paultons get the same treatment? For clarity, I’m not saying we should go out of our way to criticise by any stretch. I love positivity as much as the next person, and criticism for criticism’s sake would be completely unfair and would dismiss a lot of the very good work they do, but it seems like we don’t scrutinise Paultons quite as fairly as we do other parks. Any flaws or imperfections don’t seem to be commonly acknowledged, and where people do try and acknowledge them, there always seems to be a defence or excuse for it given, which isn’t the case with other parks.

With this in mind, I’d be intrigued to know; does anyone have any flaws or imperfections of Paultons Park? Or is the park genuinely perfect, and above any kind of criticism? When reading here and other places, it sometimes feels like people think the latter.

I’m not saying that Paultons doesn’t offer a very good product and doesn’t deserve praise, but I do find the complete lack of any kind of criticism or scrutiny quite odd at times.

Only thing I can think of (outside the Cobra area which will almost certainly be sorted in the future with Vikings) is the Penguin enclosure, it's looking a little tired and could do with a refresh. Apart from that, the park is perfect in my opinion.

 

[PhalanaxOperativeA1127]

Height Restrictions is definitely one of the things Paultons gets practically right.

Cobra is the one I'd say could possibly be 1m rather than 1.1m with other Gerstlauer Bobsleds being 1m.

Merlin tend to go on the cautious side of height restrictions which could alienate those between 0.9m and 1.4m and result in debates like "Why can't I/my kid ride X ride when Paultons lets me ride it there".

Magma is 1.1m and Croc Drop is 1.2m is an example.


One more thing that I would comment on is that I wouldn't have removed/closed Raging River until a bigger and better replacement is in place even if it had to relocate to a temporary spot for 2025 which is doable as it is a portable model.

Splash Lagoon works to complement something bigger much like how Tiger Rock and River Rafts complement each other so cannot say that's adequate.

I'm thinking there is a plan for a water ride replacement (that's not only Splash Lagoon) and that this was an unexpected closure that happened earlier than planned due to a major fault.

I completely agree about the log flume; it was planned to be open for the season, but unfortunately the ride needed a very expensive new part that wasn't deemed economically viable to replace with the imminent plans for removal & a replacement anyway. I don't think it was a choice as such, more circumstance forced their hand.

 

[Matt N]

People say about how Alton Towers is a poorer family park than Paultons. Fair enough; I guess for me, it depends on what you consider “family”.

If you are talking about young families with children below 1.2m, then Paultons probably is stronger, particularly for the 0.9m-1.2m demographic. This demographic is a notable weak spot of Alton Towers at present, and Paultons Park undeniably serves it excellently.

But at the moment, I would call Paultons Park a “young family park” rather than an “all ages family park”. There isn’t a lot there for people above 1.2m, and that is its fundamental weakness if we are judging it as an “all ages family park”. It’s certainly the reason I haven’t gone back since my first visit in 2021 despite finding the park highly pleasant and enjoyable and offering an excellent product for the younger family market.

I think Alton Towers serves older families with people above 1.2m a lot better than Paultons Park does; I’d maybe say Alton Towers has transitioned into an “older family park” with the exception of CBeebies. I dare say that even Chessington might serve the older family market better than Paultons does, with an ostensibly more “extreme” coaster in Mandrill Mayhem and a few more filler rides with slightly more universal appeal (e.g. Tomb Blaster, ZUFARI).

If we’re being honest, I feel that the UK in general is quite weak in terms of “all ages family parks” that appeal to every age group, and I feel that better examples of parks that hit every age range can be found abroad. Parks such as Europa Park fill this brief quite nicely; Europa has big thrill coasters, but also has plenty of rides with universal appeal, plenty of rides appealing to older families, plenty of rides appealing to young families and plenty of rides appealing to kids. It truly hits every single age range.

 

[Shaggy_Dog_]

Height Restrictions is definitely one of the things Paultons gets practically right.

Merlin tend to go on the cautious side of height restrictions which could alienate those between 0.9m and 1.4m and result in debates like "Why can't I/my kid ride X ride when Paultons lets me ride it there".

I think that one of really big problems is that Towers has a selection of aging ride hardware from days when OTSRs were the generally the standard thrill ride restraint. If you look at modern hardware such as the Intamin blitzes, the Mack clamshell coasters, new gen Vekomas, RMCs, etc it’s clear that many great rides now can be a 1.2 or 1.3m attraction due to the more inclusive design of their restraints compared to what was common in the late 90s through to the 2000s. I’d love to see the park get a Taron-esque 1.3m queue muncher as the long term successor to Rita for example.

 

[owenstreet7]

I think that one of really big problems is that Towers has a selection of aging ride hardware from days when OTSRs were the generally the standard thrill ride restraint. If you look at modern hardware such as the Intamin blitzes, the Mack clamshell coasters, new gen Vekomas, RMCs, etc it’s clear that many great rides now can be a 1.2 or 1.3m attraction due to the more inclusive design of their restraints compared to what was common in the late 90s through to the 2000s. I’d love to see the park get a Taron-esque 1.3m queue muncher as the long term successor to Rita for example.

That is true and with Alton, most of their coasters are at the recommended height requirements. I.e. Nemesis and other B&M inverted coasters are at 1.4m or 1.37m.

It is more apparent at Thorpe Park and Chessington where Croc Drop is 1.2m when Magma is 1.1m with Merlin's more cautious approach to their height requirements.

Magma and Croc Drop is the same ride model at the same height.

Another example is Saw which is 1.4m when other Eurofighters are at 1.2m or 1.25m. I had expected Hyperia to be 1.4m and was pleasantly surprised it was 1.3m

There was a similar discussion about height restrictions recently on the Thorpe Park topic where it was discussed and I had bought up a few examples comparing different rides at Merlin parks, their height requirements and the height requirements that it's set at other parks.

 

[Enter Valhalla]

It's interesting people saying they aren't allowed to criticise the park without getting jumped on. Everyone agrees that there are parts of the park that aren't perfect. Everyone agrees that it's not perfect, and everyone agrees that they are a progressing/transitioning park so that's all to be expected.

Paultons is my local park, so I'm a little bit biased here, but I don't half disagree with the above statement; yes, they aren't perfect. What park is?

The difference is, however, between Paultons and some of the Merlin parks; Paultons are clearly investing and continually improving every year to make the park better. I think the fact that Paultons are investing a lot of money every year, and are willing to improve and regenerate what we all agree are the weaker areas of the park, will mean that people cut them a little slack for those negative aspects of the park as it's clear that they are being worked on. If you have criticisms of a business, but they are willing to address those criticisms to improve, brilliant ... the Merlin parks don't always do that.

They aren't stupid; they know what areas of the park need work, and are willing to engage and fix those areas but it takes time. They're caught in a little bit of a middle ground at the moment, in transitioning from a bare amusement park into a full-blown immersive theme park.

I saw someone mention Critter Creek up ahead; even the park have admitted they'd do that completely different if they done it today.

I definitely think that the management of Paultons have the guests interests at heart more than Merlin do, and they seem to have the right approach to making sensible long term decisions rather than just jumping on something and expecting it to be a big hit like Merlin have done in the past.

But isn’t that what all theme parks should be doing as standard? In the UK, we have Merlin who are questionable to say the least, Flamingo Land and Oakwood which are both massively neglected, and Drayton and Blackpool who have also made some very weird moves over the years.

Paultons doing things right, is going to look amazing in comparison with UK competition, and were it not in the UK I think Paultons would get far less praise than it does and would be criticised far more for its high prices.

Again, I really don’t want to upset people as I agree that Paultons is mostly excellent, but when I hear people say it’s the best park in the UK… come on, really?

 

[Themepark-newbie]

Again, I really don’t want to upset people as I agree that Paultons is mostly excellent, but when I hear people say it’s the best park in the UK… come on, really

Depends what criteria you use to judge 'Best park'

 

[BooMT]

Paultons seem to have the little things sussed out far better than the other UK parks; whilst I prefer the line-ups elsewhere, I'm yet to experience a more stress-free visit at any other park. It's so easy to visit and feel relaxed, present even, even with my 2 boys who have additional needs. The atmosphere, the customer service, the fine details, cleanliness and quality of food & retail - when you do the basics as well as they do, you're on to a great thing.

Something else they do excellently is growth; You can visibly see and experience where they've learned and evolved. We see the same mistakes made again and again within Merlin Parks but I've only seen Paultons look at a problem, something that didn't work well, and then do it better or even take a different approach. We've got some exciting investments to look forward to over the next couple of years and hopefully, one of them involves ramping up a notch with thrill!

It's abundantly clear Paulton's really care about everything they offer to their guests and how they treat their staff; it's absolutely personal and it shows!

 

[PhalanaxOperativeA1127]

Depends what criteria you use to judge 'Best park'

Absolutely; best value for money, maybe? Best ride lineup? No.

Despite its high price, i genuinely believe you can be guaranteed a stress free day where you can do every ride multiple times And even take some time out for lunch.

Going to the likes of Alton and Chessington, as much as I enjoy visiting them, you really have to plan out your day to make the most of it and get everything in once, and avoid sitting down for lunch just to attempt to get everything in. And most of the time that's impossible in a single day.

None of those stresses at Paultons, where you can ride rides multiple times a day at any time, without rushing around the park like a mad man with a rough plan in your head.

But that's just me!

 

[Themeparksandy1981]

Value for money: Yes if u got 2 kids under 1m as they can enjoy 21 rides in the park and parents only have to pay £87.
No: if you got 2 kids over 1m as that’s £174.

I just checked even for 2 days 1 night at a local hotel is £427
Alton Towers for the same date is £429

 

[Benzin]

I'll have to see how stress free it is when I have to spend majority of my day in Peppa Pig World.

 

[The_bup]

I do have a few problems with paultons;

In a cruel twist of fate, the queues are almost too short? Got everything done on about an hour and didn’t really know what to do after that. There isn’t enough to do, at least for someone of my age.

The themes don’t grab me. Aside from the inherent charm that critter creek has (at least for me) the other areas don’t have that twist that particularly make them too special.

It’s too flat.

Some of the velociraptors in the queue line for velociraptor are falling apart.

There’s almost no show elements. Didn’t even see a par can in a station or anything. They need to work on their showmanship, make it a real spectacle.

That’s about it though. Even the funfair-ish areas are meticulously well kept. I think of the carousel they have with those really nice sculpted bushes around it. Food is pricey, but great!

 

[Matt N]

There’s almost no show elements. Didn’t even see a par can in a station or anything. They need to work on their showmanship, make it a real spectacle.

This is an interesting point that I’ve never heard anyone else mention, but that I sort of agree with, even if it is perhaps a tad on the more pedantic end of the spectrum in the grand scheme of things.

Paultons’ areas are lovely, detailed and very well-rounded, but they do seem to lack that touch of theatrical flair. For all their flaws, I think Merlin are very, very good at this theatrical flair. Things like special effects, dispatch sequences, sounds, movement and the like really add to this, and Merlin have been quite good at including these in their projects, for the most part. For example, Nemesis Reborn is a brilliant example of theatrical flair, with the giant eye, the smoke effects, the moving helicopters and other scenery pieces, the sound effects coming out of the scenery pieces, the dispatch sequence. The area feels very alive, and the whole ride has a sense of drama and theatre about it. Wicker Man is also a great example, with the fire effects, the smoke, the sounds, the pre-show, the dispatch sequence and the like. Heck, for all the flack its theming has received, even Hyperia has a fancy dispatch sequence and synchronised lift hill audio!

I think Tornado Springs and the like are absolutely excellent areas that are overall wonderfully themed, and Paultons’ projects do deliver in some other ways that Merlin’s arguably don’t (for instance, I’d argue that they’re a bit more well-rounded), but I think Paultons’ stuff, to a degree, lacks that theatrical flair and pizzazz that Merlin seem to be very good at integrating into their projects. They may include this in future projects, and indeed, Ghostly Manor may be an interesting exhibit of their showmanship skills, but as of right now, I think they do lack some of this theatrical flair.

 

[Enter Valhalla]

The lack of showmanship and theatrical flair is an interesting point, one which I hadn’t really considered. I think that Paultons does have some good, subtle showmanship but could be built upon a bit more.

To go slightly off-topic, one park which is really well themed but which ultimately I found very dull and bland, was Djurs Sommerland. It has a load of off-the-shelf themes, but there’s no character, no charm, it’s just like someone created it on Roller Coaster Tycoon, or ordered some generic themes from a theming catalogue.

Paultons’ themed areas do have their charm and I think they need to build on this. But just whacking a theme on to something isn’t enough, it needs to have that performative element to it too, and ultimately have heart.

 

[The_bup]

Ghostly Manor may be an interesting exhibit of their showmanship skills, but as of right now, I think they do lack some of this theatrical flair.

Precisely what I was thinking, there’s so many things they could do to make the ride interesting, but my main concern is they take the generic route and make the ride feel like a slideshow of stock images that aren’t entirely interesting or thematically linked, making it flat and boring. It’s like when you mix a bunch of coloured paints and get this boring brown colour. Going for the inoffensive generic answer.

Make the ghosts actually scary and aggressive, or make them silly and clumsy, just whatever you do, I want to see something new that can catch me off guard and entertain.

We give Merlin a lot of criticism for ‘generic themes’, but undoubtedly they’ve hit this balance of giving you enough information so that you know what the deal is, but not enough as so you make up some stuff in which would make it more appealing to you.

You also see this with some early Disney dark rides, primarily the Haunted Mansion, where they already show you a unique spin on the ghost train and some interesting scenes, but there’s been this entire Mythos for it that has been raised by the fans and pretty readily supported by the mouse.

I just think that’s interesting.

 

[Themeparksandy1981]

It’s an interactive dark ride where you will neither hit targets or at multiple screens.

 

[Benzin]

Considering the new attraction is replacing a 4D cinema anyone expecting an immense multi-layered experience is setting themselves up for disappointment.

 

[Enter Valhalla]

Paultons seem to have the little things sussed out far better than the other UK parks; whilst I prefer the line-ups elsewhere, I'm yet to experience a more stress-free visit at any other park. It's so easy to visit and feel relaxed, present even, even with my 2 boys who have additional needs. The atmosphere, the customer service, the fine details, cleanliness and quality of food & retail - when you do the basics as well as they do, you're on to a great thing.

Something else they do excellently is growth; You can visibly see and experience where they've learned and evolved. We see the same mistakes made again and again within Merlin Parks but I've only seen Paultons look at a problem, something that didn't work well, and then do it better or even take a different approach. We've got some exciting investments to look forward to over the next couple of years and hopefully, one of them involves ramping up a notch with thrill!

It's abundantly clear Paulton's really care about everything they offer to their guests and how they treat their staff; it's absolutely personal and it shows!

I would say that Paultons’ strategy very much involves looking at what Merlin do badly, and then doing the opposite.

When you look at the short queues, free parking, and absence of fastrack, it’s clear that Paultons management have been through Merlin TripAdvisor reviews, knowing that they can’t compete with Merlin, so being the one park in the UK that actively does things differently.

It’s a pretty good strategy to be fair. I much prefer this to Merlin’s historic approach of looking at Disney and trying to mimic what they do, in the expectation that one day they might beat them. That logic was always doomed to failure.

 

[NuttySquirrel]

There's lots of stuff that I think Paulton's is doing right, but I do have a few criticisms.

The two most recent additions to the ride line-up haven't really added anything new in terms of ride experience. Farmyard Flyer - though nicely themed - is just another kiddie coaster in the same vein as Dino Chase or Cat O Pillar coaster. Splash Lagoon is a children's log flume too similar to Seal Falls, rather than a family flume that might have been suitable for whole families like Tiger Rock/Pirate Falls.

The park really don't do much in terms of events. I've been to the park during the Halloween event and though the decorations are impressive (have never seen so many pumpkins in one place) the only scare attraction seems to be a rather low-budget woodland walkthrough. I think there might be a couple of dance shows aimed at little kids as well, but they could definitely do tons more. None of the times we've visited at Halloween seemed any busier than any other time. The only other event is Christmas which I've not been to, but seems to be mainly focused on festive decorations and a couple of family shows.

There's a very stark difference between the two newest, themed areas (Lost Kingdom and Tornado Springs) and ... everywhere else! I'm sure the park are aware of this though and we know there is a third themed area in the pipeline, but it is currently a detractor.

It's really expensive! This is partially offset by the lack of parking charges, fastpass upcharges and reasonably priced food, but an online price of £43.50 for an off-peak weekday in October seems a hard sell to me. Annual passes with no restrictions on weekends and school holidays are equivalent to a Merlin Platinum Pass.

Getting out of the car park at the end of the day is miserable.

The park map is indecipherable:

 

[Shaggy_Dog_]

There's lots of stuff that I think Paulton's is doing right, but I do have a few criticisms.

The two most recent additions to the ride line-up haven't really added anything new in terms of ride experience. Farmyard Flyer - though nicely themed - is just another kiddie coaster in the same vein as Dino Chase or Cat O Pillar coaster. Splash Lagoon is a children's log flume too similar to Seal Falls, rather than a family flume that might have been suitable for whole families like Tiger Rock/Pirate Falls.

I’ve always just assumed that Splash Lagoon is essentially the long term replacement for Seals Falls (and of which it’s clearly a serious upgrade) and that with the new Vikings area we’ll see a quality family water ride that will be a massive upgrade on their existing log flume. I feel confident that the park have a very good idea of what needs upgrading and replacing, and what new attractions can fill a hole in the existing lineup and how they can grow. I don’t see adding Farmyard Flyer to the park as a negative at all, it’s a nice little attraction that makes the Tornado Springs area feel very complete in its lineup (Stormchaser and Cyclonator as the more thrilling rides and Farmyard Flyer and Windmill Towers as the junior ones).