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Paultons Park: General Discussion

owenstreet7 said:
I've just replied to a post on CoasterForce which ended up with me speculating on what could be in the Viking Area and from this, there is the possibility that the development could take the entire left side of the park that isn't developed from Raging River onwards. I've put the post that started the discussion below.

Post in thread 'New attractions at Paultons Park' https://coasterforce.com/forums/threads/new-attractions-at-paultons-park.45593/post-1175728

This is what I speculated based on it being for that entire area.

For me, this is what I'd say is coming for the 2026 Development in my personal opinion.

1. Intamin Multi Launch Coaster with a 25m tall swing launch and at least 2 inversions. (Thrill 1.2-1.3m).
2. Intamin Flume Ride - Similar to Biberburg. Long Term Replacement for Raging River. (Family-Thrill 1m plus).
3. Mack Seastorm - Long Term Replacement for Dragon (Family 0.9m)
4. Mack Twist N Splash - Likely Replacement for Teacups (Family 0.9m)
5. Zamperla Endeavour - 48 seat variation (Thrill 1.2m)
6. Zamperla Nebulaz (Family Thrill 1m)
7. Zamperla Air Race 6.4 Variation (Thrill 1.2m)
8. Zamperla Barnyard (Family 0.8m)
9. Zamperla Aero Top Jet (Family, No Height Requirement).
10 Bertazzon Dodgems (Family Thrill 1-1.1m)

That would be in addition to

1. Rethemed Cobra (Family Thrill 1.1m)
2. Rethemed Magma (Family Thrill 1.1m)
3. Relocated Kontiki (Family 0.9m)
4. Relocated Viking Boats (Family No Height Requirement).
5. Relocated Pirate Ship (Family 0.9m)
6. Repositioned Edge (Thrill 1.2m)
7. Rethemed Sky Swinger (Family-Thrill 1m)

I personally believe this offers a balanced family thrill area which includes

1 New Thrill Coaster

1 Refurbished Family Thrill Coaster

1 Replacement Family Thrill Water Ride

2 new supporting thrill ride and 1 refurbished supporting thrill rides.

2 new family thrill rides alongside the existing 2 family thrill rides.

4 new family rides alongside 3 refurbished and relocated family rides

This would be 4 thrill rides, 6 family thrill rides and 7 family rides offering a balanced all ages area. The rides I have suggested offer something different to the existing park offering or are upgrades to existing rides which I anticipate will be valuable supporting rides to the new coaster which will be very popular and put the park on the map as an all ages park.

In total, this would be 17 rides with 10 new and 7 refurbished.

My definition of scale I used:

Family = 0.9m and under height requirement
Family Thrill = 1m to 1.1m
Thrill = 1.2m plus

With this, I know this is ambitious however I can see this potentially being likely with the scale of the area and the park's ambition.

This also allows the remaining 3 family rides in the right side area except for the Carousel (which will stay as is) and the Teacups (which will go at the end of 2025) to be relocated and integrated into the new area whilst their old area gets developed next and not long after.

This is just me speculating as a bit of fun and may not be right by a long shot however if it gets close, I'd be amazed.
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I think that is slightly more than just ambitious! All of that for one single year would likely end up being the largest ever single investment a UK park has ever seen, by quite a distance, and I don't think Paultons pockets are quite that deep!

I'm also still not convinced that they are going to enter the thrill coaster market at this stage. They are very good at what they know, providing a top quality experience for families, and I don't see them steering too far from that. Maybe we'll get a few more things that are classes as family thrill in the future but an Intamin multi launch with inversions seems like a push.
 
Matt N said:
I think some of these individual attractions are nice ideas, but I’d be frankly stunned if we got 10 new rides and 7 refurbished ones in one fell swoop, personally.

Paultons may be ambitious, but none of their previous projects have had anything like this quantity of rides integrated within them. Paultons’ brand of ambition is also quite cautious and measured as opposed to being overly ballsy, so I’d be surprised if they chucked everything and the kitchen sink into building that many rides in one go. It doesn’t seem to me like the sort of thing they’d do; Paultons are quite reserved and cautious in their approach, whereas building 10 substantial rides in one go and refurbishing 7 others is an aggressive move.
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I think you are right although I had been thinking with the size of the land that it was a possibility although more likely they'd be a lot more cautious.

I'd be amazed if they got half of what they've got.

Rob said:
I'm also still not convinced that they are going to enter the thrill coaster market at this stage. They are very good at what they know, providing a top quality experience for families, and I don't see them steering too far from that. Maybe we'll get a few more things that are classes as family thrill in the future but an Intamin multi launch with inversions seems like a push.
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I believe a multi launch coaster with inversions is consistent with what the park have teased earlier this year and is fairly likely.

For the target audience, something like that which is low to the ground, has a lot of airtime and a couple of inversions could do wonders.

I can imagine them going with a one inversion coaster although I'd like to think it'd be something a bit more ambitious. Especially as we've got Hyperia being ridden by those who are 1.3m.

I believe it is very well equipped for families with it's coasters and the only logical family coaster expansion is a Mack Powered Coaster. With family thrill and above, they have a lot of options in general to go for and something in between could very well happen anyway.
 
TedShatner10 said:
Merlin Entertainments will be facing down a rival theme park that is a cross between Altons and Chessington in their 1990s/early 2000s prime...
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I think someone's spiked your Kool-Aid with acid, as you're on one heck of a trip, if you think that an off the shelf Mack spinner, Gerstlauer Bobsled and a custom Zierer Force compare in any way to the investments which captured the imagination of a nation, let alone the three B&M SWs.
 
GooseOnTheLoose said:
I think someone's spiked your Kool-Aid with acid, as you're on one heck of a trip, if you think that an off the shelf Mack spinner, Gerstlauer Bobsled and a custom Zierer Force compare in any way to the investments which captured the imagination of a nation, let alone the three B&M SWs.
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The coaster models that Paultons have installed have definitely been playing-it-safe type investments, whereas Tussauds/ Merlin have typically been willing to take more risks, which is understandable given that Tussauds and Merlin have a huge wider business to fall back on if an investment fails, whereas Paultons is family run and they’d therefore be gambling with their own money and can’t afford a failure.

Paultons have taken enthusiasts by surprise with the quality of their theming and operations in recent years, but they’re now at a stage where the community holds the park in such a high regard that I worry they aren’t going to be able to keep up with the expectations people set them, many of which they may be unable to achieve with the resources they have.
 
Drayton Manor made a risky investment with G-Force and it knackered them.

Paultons don't need to make risky, enormously expensive investments in world firsts or B&M's, they're plodding along making decent money as it is. They really could do with a coaster that is unique to them though rather than another off the shelf job.
 
Get the first UK RMC and receive ALL the plaudits.

They don't need a giant Intamin multi-launch anytime soon. More likely to get a new gen Vekoma looper first than something like Toutatis.

Family thrill coasters are the logical next step. One or two inversions and see how the park grows from there.
 
For a park of Paultons’ calibre, I think playing it safe and being conservative is probably the best way to go in terms of investments. There are plenty of UK case studies to suggest that going too big and being too risky can backfire, particularly when you’re not owned by a large corporation.

It would be nice to see them build a custom coaster rather than another clone, but I can see the logic of them building unique-to-the-UK clones and they are still good rides! There are plenty of coasters Paultons could build that would be clones, but would still ride really well and be unique to the country!
 
Benzin said:
Parks could (and have) buy standard layouts and landscape accordingly.

Then who would know the difference?
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I think there's something you can't always replicate with natural landscaping. Vampire and Nemesis are good rollercoasters in themselves of course but they're taken to another level by their surroundings and like @MaxPower says, i think even the most casual visitor can't help but notice that extra immersion.

A park like Paultons seems pretty limited in that sense, especially if they're putting in coasters in relatively small, central and flat locations with existing infrastructure.

The proposed Viking area does seem like it has more potential than anything they've done before though so hopefully they go all in on that aspect.
 
MaxPower said:
They can do and have done, to a really good standard.

All i'm saying is that what elevates a park to that next level is having that unique signature ride. Heck, even a rubbish park like Oakwood has Megafobia that keeps it limping along.
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Yep, i've mentioned before how Plopsaland in Belgium is a park not dissimilar to Paultons but now they have a world class thrill coaster in Ride To Happiness that people are willing to travel a long way for.

Paultons could really put themselves on the map if they do something similar but of course there's a big financial risk with something of that scale. Tornado Springs supposedly cost around £12m and Ride To Happiness around £15m so doesn't seem an unrealistic proposition.
 
The thing I think having a unique signature ride would do for them which they arguably struggle with to some extent at present, despite their best efforts, is properly show people that Paultons Park is more than just Peppa Pig.

Peppa Pig was what kickstarted the park’s success streak, but I almost think it’s possibly been too successful in that it’s made Paultons Park almost entirely synonymous with Peppa Pig in the wider public conscious. Whenever I’ve spoken to people about Paultons Park, their response has always been “That’s Peppa Pig Land, isn’t it? Isn’t it just full of baby rides?”. Despite Paultons Park’s extraordinary efforts elsewhere in the park, a sizeable cross section of the public still conflates the park with Peppa Pig and thinks “That park is targeted too young for me. They’ve only got baby rides”.

A unique signature ride would go some way towards dispelling that myth within the public conscious. To their credit, Paultons are excellent at marketing for a park of their calibre (with Tornado Springs, I remember seeing loads of adverts for it on TV, and I’ve seen adverts for Paultons Park in service stations pretty far north), so I imagine that another good marketing drive for a signature ride would help to dispel the notion that Paultons Park only has “baby rides” and get more people to visit the park and see how excellent it is for themselves.
 
MaxPower said:
Although I agree with you to some extent, I think the non-thoosies can tell between something designed adapted to the landscape such as Vampire for example, against an off the shelf model such as Flight of the Pterosaur.
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There is no landscape!

Think Chessingtons original Mine Train, a simple figure of eight powered coaster that not only guests couldn't tell was the basic clone but at first glance Mack couldn't either.
Even Stealth, it is practically a clone but served as the signature ride at Thorpe for 18 years with noone thinking any less of it.

It's all flat, so if they build around a ride it will look like the ride was designed to fit what's built.
 
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owenstreet7 said:
I've just replied to a post on CoasterForce which ended up with me speculating on what could be in the Viking Area and from this, there is the possibility that the development could take the entire left side of the park that isn't developed from Raging River onwards. I've put the post that started the discussion below.

Post in thread 'New attractions at Paultons Park' https://coasterforce.com/forums/threads/new-attractions-at-paultons-park.45593/post-1175728

This is what I speculated based on it being for that entire area.

For me, this is what I'd say is coming for the 2026 Development in my personal opinion.

1. Intamin Multi Launch Coaster with a 25m tall swing launch and at least 2 inversions. (Thrill 1.2-1.3m).
2. Intamin Flume Ride - Similar to Biberburg. Long Term Replacement for Raging River. (Family-Thrill 1m plus).
3. Mack Seastorm - Long Term Replacement for Dragon (Family 0.9m)
4. Mack Twist N Splash - Likely Replacement for Teacups (Family 0.9m)
5. Zamperla Endeavour - 48 seat variation (Thrill 1.2m)
6. Zamperla Nebulaz (Family Thrill 1m)
7. Zamperla Air Race 6.4 Variation (Thrill 1.2m)
8. Zamperla Barnyard (Family 0.8m)
9. Zamperla Aero Top Jet (Family, No Height Requirement).
10 Bertazzon Dodgems (Family Thrill 1-1.1m)

That would be in addition to

1. Rethemed Cobra (Family Thrill 1.1m)
2. Rethemed Magma (Family Thrill 1.1m)
3. Relocated Kontiki (Family 0.9m)
4. Relocated Viking Boats (Family No Height Requirement).
5. Relocated Pirate Ship (Family 0.9m)
6. Repositioned Edge (Thrill 1.2m)
7. Rethemed Sky Swinger (Family-Thrill 1m)

I personally believe this offers a balanced family thrill area which includes

1 New Thrill Coaster

1 Refurbished Family Thrill Coaster

1 Replacement Family Thrill Water Ride

2 new supporting thrill ride and 1 refurbished supporting thrill rides.

2 new family thrill rides alongside the existing 2 family thrill rides.

4 new family rides alongside 3 refurbished and relocated family rides

This would be 4 thrill rides, 6 family thrill rides and 7 family rides offering a balanced all ages area. The rides I have suggested offer something different to the existing park offering or are upgrades to existing rides which I anticipate will be valuable supporting rides to the new coaster which will be very popular and put the park on the map as an all ages park.

In total, this would be 17 rides with 10 new and 7 refurbished.

My definition of scale I used:

Family = 0.9m and under height requirement
Family Thrill = 1m to 1.1m
Thrill = 1.2m plus

With this, I know this is ambitious however I can see this potentially being likely with the scale of the area and the park's ambition.

This also allows the remaining 3 family rides in the right side area except for the Carousel (which will stay as is) and the Teacups (which will go at the end of 2025) to be relocated and integrated into the new area whilst their old area gets developed next and not long after.

This is just me speculating as a bit of fun and may not be right by a long shot however if it gets close, I'd be amazed.
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I reckon we would see a form of multi-launch, but I'd expect something along the lines of an Intamin Hot Racer over a Blitz coaster really. Paultons are restricted by height due to their location in the New Forest region. According to Intamin, Hot Racers are technically family/thrill coasters with a 1.2m height restriction, making the ride system ideal for Paultons' demographic. It's very, very unlikely that we'll see ten new attractions installed in a single new themed area investment also.
 
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owenstreet7 said:
This is what I speculated based on it being for that entire area.

For me, this is what I'd say is coming for the 2026 Development in my personal opinion.

1. Intamin Multi Launch Coaster with a 25m tall swing launch and at least 2 inversions. (Thrill 1.2-1.3m).
2. Intamin Flume Ride - Similar to Biberburg. Long Term Replacement for Raging River. (Family-Thrill 1m plus).
3. Mack Seastorm - Long Term Replacement for Dragon (Family 0.9m)
4. Mack Twist N Splash - Likely Replacement for Teacups (Family 0.9m)
5. Zamperla Endeavour - 48 seat variation (Thrill 1.2m)
6. Zamperla Nebulaz (Family Thrill 1m)
7. Zamperla Air Race 6.4 Variation (Thrill 1.2m)
8. Zamperla Barnyard (Family 0.8m)
9. Zamperla Aero Top Jet (Family, No Height Requirement).
10 Bertazzon Dodgems (Family Thrill 1-1.1m)
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This feels like the equivalent of when you were a kid and you’d go through the toy section of the Argos catalogue circling one thing you’d want on each and every page. Parks don’t work that way (with the exception of Energlandia circling everything in the Vekoma catalogue).

With regards to some of those proposed attractions, Paulton’s don’t need to copy the ride selection from Drayton Manor. I don’t want to see them get a Zamperla Nebulaz and an Air Race, I want to see them find interesting attractions to differentiate themselves from what is arguably their main rival park in the family sector, not just grabbing one of the same.
 
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benpicko said:
I'd like a ride like Formula at Energylandia -- snappy launch, a few smooth inversions, not unrealistically long for a smaller UK park, and only 80ft tall so hopefully doesn't fall foul of the building limitations. Would also only be the second in the world of the model?
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Formula is a Vekoma Spacewarp (of which another one of the model is listed on RCDB as being under construction at Oriental Heritage park in China), but I’d rather see an Abbysus style multi launch layout Shockwave model. I’m not too sure though what the difference is between the two models other than a single or multi launch.
 
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