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Paultons Park: General Discussion

Shaggy_Dog_ said:
Very interesting that it's only a 1m height restriction but can do inversions. Off the top of my head I can't actually think of any 1m coasters that invert.
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They're getting 4 year olds on their thrill coasters before people over 1.96m (me) 😢😂

That is quite surprising though I'd be surprised if many 1m tall children would fancy a coaster with inversions but then we have seen family thrill get more thrilling lately.
 
If it is at Paultons - and I have to say I've seen no evidence that this is what they're actually getting - there will almost certainly be separate age restrictions for accompanied and unaccompanied children which will be aimed at slightly older children than the minimum height requirement would suggest. And from what I've seen at Paultons they do make an effort to enforce age restrictions - often at the expense of operations.
 
NuttySquirrel said:
If it is at Paultons - and I have to say I've seen no evidence that this is what they're actually getting - there will almost certainly be separate age restrictions for accompanied and unaccompanied children which will be aimed at slightly older children than the minimum height requirement would suggest. And from what I've seen at Paultons they do make an effort to enforce age restrictions - often at the expense of operations.
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Yes there is no evidence yet, but if Paulton's are indeed getting an inverting ride like the teaser implies and it is a coaster (which I feel is much more likely than an inverting flat ride), I could see this being it as it would make sense.
Time will tell, hopefully we'll get more details at the next Superfans event in May 2025.
 
Bowser said:
Do children at 1m want to go on an inverting coaster? Mandrill Mayhem has been criticised for being too intimidating and that’s 1.2m. We are talking potentially about 3 and 4 year olds!
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If they’re short for their age like my kids are, they absolutely would.

Personally I think this is great, the wait for my kids (12 and 9) to hit the ‘magic’ 1.4m is excruciating for both them and me. Having more thrilling options available to them in the uk would be amazing.
 
BigShadowtinytree said:
If they’re short for their age like my kids are, they absolutely would.

Personally I think this is great, the wait for my kids (12 and 9) to hit the ‘magic’ 1.4m is excruciating for both them and me. Having more thrilling options available to them in the uk would be amazing.
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Oh i'm the same, my son is in the 0.01% of smallest children so i very much know that pain but equally i accept his appetite for thrills is not typical. As i said, we're talking about average 4 year olds here who usually would be satisfied (or crying) on a merry go round let alone a launched inverting coaster 😂
 
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Second Ghostly Manor update. No huge changes to the outdoor queue line but video shows the ride system being installed. Looking at the circle of cables cables it does look like the ride has a very small footprint so when the gondolas are facing the outside of the building there is quite a bit of space for physical sets, with probably only room for screens when they're facing inside.


From: https://youtu.be/zPhJatLqo4o?si=AaqjPBKOC2JjBkfJ
 
JT01 said:
This is how you do it Alton Towers.. Take note
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Yeah not like they have just spent over 10 million on rebuilding the best coaster in the UK is it whilst also having a new flat ride coming next year too is it? Oh wait. 😂

I get it's trendy to constantly hate on Towers and Merlin and the news from the other day wasn't the best I realise but I think sometimes people just go way too far with it.

They have spent a ton of money of late on the park. Unfortunately a lot of the investments have been on rides that needed a revamp and all got old at the same time.
 
Benjsh said:
Yeah not like they have just spent over 10 million on rebuilding the best coaster in the UK is it whilst also having a new flat ride coming next year too is it? Oh wait. 😂

I get it's trendy to constantly hate on Towers and Merlin and the news from the other day wasn't the best I realise but I think sometimes people just go way too far with it.

They have spent a ton of money of late on the park. Unfortunately a lot of the investments have been on rides that needed a revamp and all got old at the same time.
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The thing is that everyone loves a plucky underdog get one over Goliath and in this case Paultons is very much the underdog having a go at the big bad guy being in this case Merlin (at least in enthusiasts eyes at least) and Paultons are having a good eye trying to show what they can do.
 
The big difference you turn up at Alton and 1st impressions ain’t good. You pay £10 for parking to then walk for 15-20 if wait for the monorail which is also on its last legs.
Even when the moment you enter the park there sales team try to sell you photo passes, Refillable cups and then fast track tickets.
It’s the complete opposite at Paulton’s. I felt I get good value for money there and the food is 100 times better.
Even there Christmas event is the best in the uk with only
  • Magma
  • Edge
  • Cobra
  • Digger Ride
  • Seal Falls
  • Splash Lagoon
  • Muddy Puddles
  • Water Kingdom
Closed for the event.
 
Benjsh said:
Yeah not like they have just spent over 10 million on rebuilding the best coaster in the UK is it whilst also having a new flat ride coming next year too is it? Oh wait. 😂

I get it's trendy to constantly hate on Towers and Merlin and the news from the other day wasn't the best I realise but I think sometimes people just go way too far with it.

They have spent a ton of money of late on the park. Unfortunately a lot of the investments have been on rides that needed a revamp and all got old at the same time.
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But this is the problem though with Towers. Let's look at what they've done in the past few years.

Retheming of Duel in to Curse
Repair/reimagining of Hex
Reopening of Sub-Terra
Retracking & Retheming of Nemeis in to Nemesis Reborn
Another Top Spin to replace the one that left the park 9 years ago

Sure, it's great that they retracked Nemesis and have spent money sorting our Hex, you are absolutely right in that they had a lot of rides that got old at the same time. But where are the exciting new and original rides that add to the park's lineup and bring people in? Since Wicker Man opened in 2018 the only significant new permanent attraction has been Gangster Granny, a frog hopper, and next year the incoming Top Spin. This is poor for a major theme park.

Since 2018 Paulton's have added Storm Chaser, Farmyard Flyer, Splash Lagoon, Cyclonator, Windmill Towers, Ghostly Manor for next year, and have the Viking area planned. That's some expansion of their ride lineup. Granted, they don't have the maintainance issues that comes up with a fleet of aging thrill hardware that Towers does but it really shows that Paulton's have ambition.

And if you look around Europe you can see that other parks are not standing still. I've picked a couple of top European parks to show what they have added to their lineup since 2018:

Walibi Holland - An RMC hybrid, a Zamperla Junior Coaster, a Zamperla Magic Bikes junior flat, and a twin single rail RMC for 2025

Walibi Belgium - Kondaa, a Zamperla Junior Coaster, a trackless dark ride in Popcorn Revenge, the 2025 Gertslauer family LSM launch coaster Speed Boat, and potentially an upcoming RMC conversion for Loup Garou

Liseberg - A Vekoma Family Boomerang, Zamperla Nebulaz, Underlandet tracked dark ride, Technical Park Sidecar (and also the Grand Curiosa Hotel, and the sadly delayed water park)

Europa Park - Voltron (and additionally also replacing a couple of rides that burnt down), the Rulantica water park

Phantasialand - F.L.Y

PortAventura World - An Intamin Multi Dimension Coaster in Uncharted, Elmo's Street Mission tracked dark ride

Towers really don't seem to be opening top new attractions to get people going back to the park like other European parks have been doing. It's great that they spent the money on Nemesis, Hex, and Duel to give them a new lease of life, but they've fallen well behind with what other parks are doing.
 
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Benjsh said:
Yeah not like they have just spent over 10 million on rebuilding the best coaster in the UK is it whilst also having a new flat ride coming next year too is it? Oh wait. 😂

I get it's trendy to constantly hate on Towers and Merlin and the news from the other day wasn't the best I realise but I think sometimes people just go way too far with it.

They have spent a ton of money of late on the park. Unfortunately a lot of the investments have been on rides that needed a revamp and all got old at the same time.
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The hate is with good reason. Just because they spend millions on new coasters we should accept that they deliver a below standard in everything else.
.Food
.Landscaping
.Upkeep
.The right investment
.Attention to detail
.Consistency throughout each land

All of which Alton Towers is terrible with since the merlin era, But we should ignore that because they dangle a shiny new coaster in front of us every 5 years?

The rides have not suddenly gotten old at the same time. they have had years of time to plan refurbishments and replacements but they chose to let everything reach a terrible condition before taken action.

All of this from UKs flagship theme park....

Paultons while is on a much smaller scale are smashing every one of those bullet points minus accommodation. The way they are interacting and constantly showing us all progress with passion about every detail in their vision and design is so refreshing for the UK

This is what Towers should take note.
 
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