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Paultons Park: General Discussion

Matt N said:
YoY is a pair of RMC Raptors, not an Intamin Hot Racer. Intaminā€™s Hot Racers are a bit more family-friendly
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Sure, itā€™s the single rider aspect I think Paultons would baulk at. I canā€™t see them going from very family friendly rides to a large coaster children would have to ride alone, especially when the UK has some of the strictest health and safety compared to our European friends.

Also from a personal perspective my son wouldnā€™t be able to ride it and I suspect many other RAP users so would be quite an alienating ride to add.
 
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In theory they could run without continuous loading, but it would be insufferable from a capacity perspective. There were multiple issues when I rode WW with people getting to the platform and their groups being split up across trains or having to ride individually (you think they'd have noticed this before riding). I honestly can't see one operating effectively here in the UK unless a pair of them are installed. There's better bang for the buck Paulton's can consider.
 
Bowser said:
Sure, itā€™s the single rider aspect I think Paultons would baulk at. I canā€™t see them going from very family friendly rides to a large coaster children would have to ride alone, especially when the UK has some of the strictest health and safety compared to our European friends.

Also from a personal perspective my son wouldnā€™t be able to ride it and I suspect many other RAP users so would be quite an alienating ride to add.
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I completely agree there on that one and for similar reasons, I'd imagine the park will want something the family can ride together rather than alone/splitting up groups.

For what could be the park's biggest coaster, I can imagine that kids will want to ride with someone i.e. an adult, sibling or a friend.

In addition, I also think there'd be concerns about capacity for what will be the park's signature coaster.

Capacity wise, it'd be wise to aim for 1000pph or above.
 
Going back to the previous point; why exactly do we think the British public would struggle with single seater rows if the public in America, France, Australia and other countries with single rail coasters (I think one opened in Asia recently?) havenā€™t?

There certainly havenā€™t been enough struggles for parks not to buy them, as RMC seem to have sold a fair few Raptor Tracks now and Intamin has also sold Hot Racers.

I do acknowledge the point about families wanting to ride together as a potentially important one, but I still wouldnā€™t rule a Hot Racer out.
 
Bowser said:
Paultons doing a better job saying farewell to a ride than many parks do to advertise new ones:


From: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgre1xKPzgQ
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Merlin could've handled it a bit better with the permanent removal of Altons' super old pirate ship, but it was not totally unexpected, though the immediate retirement of the Kingda Ka by Six Flags in typical Corporate American fashion was a graceless, unnecessary rug pull.
 
Matt N said:
Going back to the previous point; why exactly do we think the British public would struggle with single seater rows if the public in America, France, Australia and other countries with single rail coasters (I think one opened in Asia recently?) havenā€™t?

There certainly havenā€™t been enough struggles for parks not to buy them, as RMC seem to have sold a fair few Raptor Tracks now and Intamin has also sold Hot Racers.

I do acknowledge the point about families wanting to ride together as a potentially important one, but I still wouldnā€™t rule a Hot Racer out.
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Who is to say they havenā€™t struggled?

As I mentioned before, I think the UK has particularly stringent regulations which combined with some of the best accessibility render them less favourable.

Do any major parks have one? All the ones Iā€™ve seen are at what Iā€™d consider second tier and below locations. In the UK I could imagine somewhere like Adventure Island getting one because the downsides are less problematic. I believe the one in Australia is at an equivalent location?

Iā€™m also struggling to think of any rides where passengers sit alone besides those for toddlers. To me of any park in the UK, Paultons is arguably the most family orientated so it makes the least sense.
 
Bowser said:
Do any major parks have one? All the ones Iā€™ve seen are at what Iā€™d consider second tier and below locations. In the UK I could imagine somewhere like Adventure Island getting one because the downsides are less problematic. I believe the one in Australia is at an equivalent location?
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Between Intamin and RMC models, several major Six Flags parks in the US have one, as well as Walibi Rhones Alpes in France. Walibi Holland will open a dueling version next year, with one side explicitly aimed at the family market.

I don't think there would be anything in UK legislation preventing an installation, but I agree that it might not be the best choice for Paultons. We'll see!
 
Paultons have a policy that children under a certain age (different for different rides) must sit with a responsible adult. "Sitting with" meaning in the same row. I've seen this cause issues for families with more children than adults on 2-seaters like Flight of the Pterosaur before. The same policy likely applies to the carers of RAP users, regardless of age. Given the family focus Paultons has I'm really not sure how a single-seat RMC Raptor or similar coaster would work given that policy.
 
NuttySquirrel said:
Paultons have a policy that children under a certain age (different for different rides) must sit with a responsible adult. "Sitting with" meaning in the same row. I've seen this cause issues for families with more children than adults on 2-seaters like Flight of the Pterosaur before. The same policy likely applies to the carers of RAP users, regardless of age. Given the family focus Paultons has I'm really not sure how a single-seat RMC Raptor or similar coaster would work given that policy.
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I am of the view that a single rail coaster won't happen however this is a very good point.

I think that Paultons won't choose a single rail coaster not because of the seating arrangements but more because of capacity.

Matt N said:
Going back to the previous point; why exactly do we think the British public would struggle with single seater rows if the public in America, France, Australia and other countries with single rail coasters (I think one opened in Asia recently?) havenā€™t?

There certainly havenā€™t been enough struggles for parks not to buy them, as RMC seem to have sold a fair few Raptor Tracks now and Intamin has also sold Hot Racers.

I do acknowledge the point about families wanting to ride together as a potentially important one, but I still wouldnā€™t rule a Hot Racer out.
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I don't see a reason why a UK park won't get a single rail coaster. I do think the appeal of sitting on your own may appeal to some people.

I can't see it working well as a signature coaster due to the capacity.
 
Well it would make sense to open a roller coaster with a height requirement of 1.1-1.2m as currently that area of the park will have the edge re-themed with a height requirement of 1.2m with a adult or 1.4m to ride alone then you also got Cobra and Magma been a minimum of 1.1 to ride with a adult or 1.3m on there own.
So with most kids been 7 to 8 years old at 1.2m tall itā€™s the ideal age where kids still enjoy doing things as a family.
 
Themeparksandy1981 said:
So is the log flume area just been left empty for future investment
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Bowser said:
Itā€™s just grass on the map currently. Interestingly so is the former go karts area.

I wonder if Cobra could be moved there or would that be ridiculous

Also strange theyā€™ve added Vikings but Ghostly Manor isnā€™t on the map!
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I don't think the map is necessarily showing the complete area.

As Cobra, Edge and Magma are planned to close at the start of September. I think it could very well include the area of those rides in addition.

With the Go Karts area, it could easily be included in the area or in something separate. It does seem to be a self contained area so may contain a single type of attraction i.e. a coaster, water ride or a dark ride - I'm thinking it's the site of their water ride.

With the flume site, I'm amazed they closed the ride down so soon if nothing is intended to go on the site imminently. It would've been better to keep it for a year longer and then close it as soon as the bigger replacement water ride opens. I'm hoping they don't do a Towers.
 
owenstreet7 said:
With the flume site, I'm amazed they closed the ride down so soon if nothing is intended to go on the site imminently. It would've been better to keep it for a year longer and then close it as soon as the bigger replacement water ride opens. I'm hoping they don't do a Towers
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I think aesthetically it let the park down. It looked like a tacky fairground ride in a park that seems to otherwise pride itself on its appearance. Was that reason enough to remove it early? I expect there were other factors but i don't blame them personally.
 
Bowser said:
I think aesthetically it let the park down. It looked like a tacky fairground ride in a park that seems to otherwise pride itself on its appearance. Was that reason enough to remove it early? I expect there were other factors but i don't blame them personally.
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I can imagine it was certainly technical factors which may explain the hasty removal and no imminent replacement.
 
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