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Paultons Park: General Discussion

Paultons has sold out over this weekend, glad to see it's going well for them, and they seem to have appeased their embarrassingly unsympathetic and demanding AP holders at some point.

I was disappointed with Stormchaser being a Sidewinder clone when it was announced as I didn't much care for that when I rode it, but seeing it there it really is bang on for their market even if I'd have preferred them to push a little but further towards thrill to round out their offering a bit.
 
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pluk said:
Paultons has sold out over this weekend, glad to see it's going well for them, and they seem to have appeased their embarrassingly unsympathetic and demanding AP holders at some point.

I was disappointed with Stormchaser being a Sidewinder clone when it was announced as I didn't much care for that when I rode it, but seeing it there it really is bang on for their market even if I'd have preferred them to push a little but further towards thrill to round out their offering a bit.
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I have visited twice in recent years and in my opinion it is the best park in the country in terms of its target market, aesthetics, cleanliness, maintenance and customer service.

Looking at the storm chaser video it is disappointingly short with only just over 30 seconds of ride from the top of the lift hill, but it's great to see them investing.

It is no surprise that they are sold out for the weekend and it just goes to show that when you put the effort in to offer good customer service and keep up high standards throughout the park, then people will want to come.

Other parks take note !
 
The food was dreadful when I visited. Have they improved this?

:)

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Is it any surprise that Paultons have won the TripAdvisor Travellers' Choice Award for best UK theme park for the 5th year in a row? :)
 
Thameslink Rail said:
Any chance of a soft opening in September/October?
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This is what I was thinking.

Paultons are certainly no strangers to soft openings. They did this with The Edge (a few weeks before official opening date) for certain and I’m pretty sure they’ve done it with other new rides too. I believe that the gyro swing has already had riders on it back in February?

I’m keeping a close eye on this and pencilling in an Autumn trip. Might actually get a new credit in 2020!
 
Thameslink Rail said:
Any chance of a soft opening in September/October?
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Enter Valhalla said:
This is what I was thinking.

Paultons are certainly no strangers to soft openings. They did this with The Edge (a few weeks before official opening date) for certain and I’m pretty sure they’ve done it with other new rides too. I believe that the gyro swing has already had riders on it back in February?

I’m keeping a close eye on this and pencilling in an Autumn trip. Might actually get a new credit in 2020!
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I'm going to say no. They're holding it back for a good specific reason; to obtain a return on investment, they've said that themselves directly.

They're going to pretty much sell out this whole summer based on the already considerable demand against the limited capacity for Covid. There's nothing in it for them to open the area 'early' this year to people happy to be there anyway, there's everything in it for them to encourage this year's visitors back next year by opening the new area then.
 
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skyscraper said:
Is it any surprise that Paultons have won the TripAdvisor Travellers' Choice Award for best UK theme park for the 5th year in a row? :)
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I would love to see Paultons lose that crown after their 5 year run.
Not because they don't deserve it, but because it would mean we had another park that was offering a world class experience.

As things stand, it's hard to see who will take it off them. That ones one is currently their award to lose.
 
I've seen they're opening Buffalo Falls next week which is a good shout. I don't know if you'd call that a soft opening as it was there before and has just been re-themed but either was it's a nice thing for them to do.
 
siralgenon said:
I've seen they're opening Buffalo Falls next week which is a good shout. I don't know if you'd call that a soft opening as it was there before and has just been re-themed but either was it's a nice thing for them to do.
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I thought Buffalo Falls opened last season?
 
pluk said:
It opened about 20 years ago, it closed last season for retheme into new land.
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What I meant is I'm sure it re-opened as Buffalo Falls last year. Was the first bit to open as it's just outside the area boundary.

I know what it is as I rode it before it's re-theme :p;)
 
Paultons is now unfortunately receiving heavy backlash from visitors for introducing a £1 booking fee for its season pass holders, reportedly due to a high rate of no-shows (30%, apparently): https://www.dailyecho.co.uk/news/18682339.paultons-park-make-changes-season-tickets-no-shows/

The park’s season pass holders are not happy about this change at all, however, saying that they deserve to be able to visit for free and whenever they like.

What are your thoughts? I don’t personally see anything wrong with it, because a lot of other places are doing it, and it does offer some incentive to actually visit. I can understand why the pass holders are unhappy, to a degree, but I personally agree with this change if it decreases the no-show rate and helps the park recover more quickly.
 
Sounds like MAP holders a few years ago when the Fright Night charges came into being.

Especially now it's important for parks to fill up within reason. People booking then not visiting doesn't help. Especially when pass holders are doing it.
 
Paultons’ managing director has now written an open letter to passholders and posted it on Facebook:

So in essence, the park is now letting Season Passholders visit freely after 2pm, and in a fantastic gesture, the park is donating 100% of the proceeds from the £1 booking fee to Southampton Children’s Hospital!
 
Some of the comments on their Facebook page remind of when I worked for Marks and Spencers. At the time we were charging 5p for plastic bags, before it became the law and every shop had to. I explained to one irate lady that the money went to charity. She replied, “I’ve never given money to charity and I don’t intend to start now”. Several other customers made similar comments. Ah, the great British public.
 
Fair play for the Managing Director himself making this line of communication. No polishing or attempting to bullsh*t, just a straight-talking, direct address to people's crappy attitudes and recognition of the effort staff make. If only Merlin did this.
 
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