Paultons Park: General Discussion

[Rick]

I am one of those who would be stood there giving you judgemental looks. It's a slippery slope ...

 

[NuttySquirrel]

I was kind of put off doing kiddie rides after the host on Octonauts looked like he was trying incredibly hard not to laugh as he batched us into the ride, and a lot of other people seemed to give us quite judgmental looks.

Sorry you had that experience Matt, I have a very low opinion of people who are needlessly judgmental of people doing completely harmless and fun things. You are NEVER too old! My 65 year old dad took my 66 year old mum to Towers and they did all the Cbeebies rides - they had a great time!

 

[shakey]

Just before the 1st lock down I rode a carousel in Chesterfield Town centre with a work colleague. Nobody else on the ride and we shared the same big cockerel!!!

Loads of people staring.

But I have no shame

So don't worry about doing a couple of peppa pig rides. You've paid your money, as they say.

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[Maelstrom]

As part of a short break visited Paultons for the first time this week. Had a decent day and it is a great family park with tornado springs being really well done and Lost Kingdom being decent as well. I have done the same Mack spinner a few times at Knotts before and also the one at IMG. Enjoyed the ride and seemed much bigger than I remember, maybe because its not surrounded by loads of bigger rides as it is at Knotts. Really enjoyed Cyclonator, and would like one added to Alton on ripsaws old spot (should be able to install and it be below tree height).

Hopefully through the park can address the Cobra/Edge and log flume areas next as they really stick out, especially the log flume. As has been said a new permanent water ride and some kind of dark ride along with a theme added to this area would be a wise next major investment.

Didn't think the food was that great though and certainly an area to continue to improve.

 

[Matt N]

Is it known whether Tornado Springs is proving successful for Paultons? I only ask because a lot of the queues seem to be 10 minutes or less a lot of the time, which suggests an abnormally quiet park given it’s the summer holidays…

I really hope the area is proving successful for them; while I’ve purposely avoided overloading myself with pictures & videos of the area, as I’m going for myself on Friday, I’ve heard very, very good things, so I think this area deserves to be a success for them!

I’m certainly very excited for it, anyway…

 

[Benjsh]

Is it known whether Tornado Springs is proving successful for Paultons? I only ask because a lot of the queues seem to be 10 minutes or less a lot of the time, which suggests an abnormally quiet park given it’s the summer holidays…

I really hope the area is proving successful for them; while I’ve purposely avoided overloading myself with pictures & videos of the area, as I’m going for myself on Friday, I’ve heard very, very good things, so I think this area deserves to be a success for them!

I’m certainly very excited for it, anyway…

The park just doesn't attract the number of thrill seekers that Merlin parks do so you won't find the queues too bad for the thrill rides.

The demographic is far more mixed and is far more of a family park. Just have a walk around Peppa Pig Land and you will see how busy the park is.

It's great news for older enthusiasts. You will get multiple re-rides in without having to wait too long. Winner.

 

[AstroDan]

Did anyone else find the harnesses on Cyclonator a right pain? Couldn't get my head in at first!

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[Matt N]

Did anyone else find the harnesses on Cyclonator a right pain? Couldn't get my head in at first!

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Did you visit the area @AstroDan? If so, what were your thoughts?

In terms of Cyclonator’s restraints; I don’t know myself, having never ridden a Zamperla Discovery, and I’ve never had an instance where I literally can’t get my head through, but I’ve certainly had other instances where my ears have caught on restraints (although in fairness, I do have an ear that sticks out).

 

[Benzin]

Did anyone else find the harnesses on Cyclonator a right pain? Couldn't get my head in at first!

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They're certainly not the most head space friendly restraints.

Though once they're down didn't have any issues. Problem mostly on my visit was that it only has one staff member running it and because we'd gone through the disabled queue we had to wait ages for loading.

 

[Alsty]

One member of our group was unable to get his head through the restraint. The operator suggested he try to jump up onto the seat with his head through the hole, but my friend decided to abandon it rather than risk having the opposite problem at the end of the cycle!

Then during the ride cycle, the idiot next to me gets out his phone and starts recording it. Here's me concerned about getting a phone in the face but there's no reaction from the operator. Even when the operator came to the ride after the cycle had finished and said idiot still had his phone out, not a word. Slightly disappointing.

 

[Skyscraper]

Then during the ride cycle, the idiot next to me gets out his phone and starts recording it. Here's me concerned about getting a phone in the face but there's no reaction from the operator. Even when the operator came to the ride after the cycle had finished and said idiot still had his phone out, not a word. Slightly disappointing.

I'd contact the park about that. Not good at all!

 

[shakey]

@Matt N - Did you visit Poulton's ? - I would have thought you would have given us an 8 page report by now

 

[Matt N]

@Matt N - Did you visit Poulton's ? - I would have thought you would have given us an 8 page report by now

Ah, sorry for my lateness!

I did write & post an entire trip report of my day over in the Trip Reports section on the day I visited, if you want to read it (as well as one from my LLW trip), but I was meaning to write a more specific Tornado Springs review, so thanks for reminding me; I’ll get going!

 

[Matt N]

Apologies for my lateness, but as some of you know, I was able to visit Tornado Springs, as well as Paultons itself, for the first time on Friday. I’ll keep this to Tornado Springs, as I did write a lengthier Paultons trip report over in the Trip Reports section, but I’ll insert a few notes about the park in general at the end, if you don’t want to traipse all the way over to Trip Reports…
The Area
Let’s kick things off with the area, and I must say; bravo, Paultons! Every nook & cranny of the area is phenomenally detailed, and you almost wouldn’t believe that the area was within a theme park getting only around 1 million guests per year! Everything is very detailed and looks like it’s been built to a very high quality, and I must say, it really does immerse you in the feel of 1950s America very well, in my opinion! I know this might seem like a strange comparison, but it reminded me an awful lot of Amity Cove at Thorpe Park, in many ways; I don’t know why, as the areas are tackling two completely different areas of America to one another, but it just did, for some reason! In terms of particular things that I think are really good; I like all the little items strewn around, like the cow sticking through Storm Chaser’s station roof, and the silos & trailers around with water coming out of them, and also all the little signs & stuff to read as well! On the whole, I think Tornado Springs is a brilliant themed area; one of my favourite themed areas in the UK, if not my favourite! It’s so detailed, and you can certainly tell it’s had a lot of time & effort put into it:

In terms of the rides in Tornado Springs, I experienced two of them; Storm Chaser and Cyclonator, so I’ll write a separate review for each.
Storm Chaser
I’ll admit I was unsure if I’d particularly enjoy this, as I’m not usually a huge fan of all things spinny. However, I am growing rather partial to a good Mack coaster, so I was cautiously optimistic that Storm Chaser might please me based on my love of Mack coasters.

But what did I think after actually riding it? Well, after 3 rides on it, I’m glad to report that Storm Chaser was a very positive surprise for me, because I thought it was fab! The level of spinning wasn’t too excessive, and the ride was very smooth & comfortable, yet also packed surprising force & vigour in places! Not to mention, it was also very fast-paced throughout, with even the slower-looking sections feeling pretty fast when you’re actually on the ride!

If I had to pinpoint some elements that really stood out to me, there was a helix at some point in the layout that was surprisingly quite forceful, and there was also some really nicely executed s-bend sequences throughout the layout that I thought were great fun to ride! But in general, I’ve got to say I really liked the whole ride!

Overall, I thought Storm Chaser was an excellent family spinning coaster, personally! If I had to pinpoint a ranking; I’d say it’s easily my favourite spinning coaster, narrowly my favourite coaster at Paultons, and out of the 79 coasters I’ve done, I’d place it at #20 overall and #10 in the UK! I was almost tempted to go a little higher, as I did think it was great fun, but there were some rides above that spot that I didn’t really think I could justify placing SC above.

But in summary; it’s fab, in my opinion, and certainly worth riding:

Cyclonator
Even though I’m not usually a huge fan of really spinny flat rides, I wanted to give Cyclonator a go, as I’d heard some very superlative-filled reviews before going (“best UK flat ride” etc etc) and was told I needed to try it as it was so good, even by people who say that they don’t have the greatest intensity/spin tolerance themselves.

As I said above, I do not have the greatest of spin tolerances, so was unsure if I’d overly like it, but I was cautiously quite optimistic, as these frisbee rides didn’t look to spin loads and loads, and the ride type looked to have notable similarities to Rush at Thorpe Park (one of my favourite flat rides) in that you oscillate, get a gorgeous dose of huge weightlessness at each peak and then get a great feeling of speed at each trough. I love Rush because it gives great airtime at each peak, a great sense of speed at each trough, and no nausea whatsoever, and I was optimistic that Cyclonator would be the same, just with an added element of slight rotation.

However, I’m afraid to say that Cyclonator was a bit of a disappointment for me. I’ll preface this statement by saying that this was partially aided by my rather weak stomach for flat rides, as it did make me feel somewhat strange when I got off, but it also rode rather differently to how I was expecting it to.

I’ll confess that Cyclonator was my first ever frisbee ride, and while I went in expecting a ride that had a fair bit of floaty airtime, some great speed and some light rotation, what I got was a ride that didn’t seem to really provide any floatiness, and where the sense of speed, while undeniably there in places, didn’t seem anywhere near as great as it does on the likes of Rush. The only things it really seemed to provide were non-stop positive g’s and a lot of spinning (when you’re on it, I dare say it seems more spinny than it looks), and while I know that these things appeal to a lot of people, they don’t really appeal to me, personally. Don’t get me wrong, the positive g’s and the spinning were done pretty well, but for what I personally like in a flat ride, it didn’t really wow me quite like I was hoping it would.

If you like things that are very, very intense from start to finish, and quite spinny, then I can certainly see why Cyclonator would appeal to you, but I like my flat rides a little less spinny & intense and a little more floaty & speedy, so I’m afraid Cyclonator didn’t really float my boat, personally. I found it a little too intense & spinny for my liking, and when combined with the rather unpleasant restraints (am I the only person who found them incredibly tight & restrictive?), I must say it’s not a ride I especially enjoyed. It’s not the most unpleasant or nauseating flat I’ve ridden by any means (Air Race at Drayton says hello), but when I was on it, my emotions were certainly leaning far more towards “This isn’t overly fun, and is making me feel a bit strange”, than “Wow, this is fun!”, and one ride was certainly enough for me.

Don’t get me wrong, I applaud Paultons for trying something different, it’s seemingly very popular among most people who’ve ridden it, and I hope it works for them so that we get other more thrilling rides in the future, but it didn’t really do it for me, I’m afraid:

Summary
Overall, I think Tornado Springs is a smashing area that certainly blew me away! Both of the main rides work really well; I thought Storm Chaser was fab, and while I wasn’t a huge fan of Cyclonator, the masses don’t lie, and it clearly seems to be a crowd pleaser! The area is really detailed, seems to have breathed a huge amount of life into what I’m led to believe was previously quite a dull part of the park, and overall, I think it’s absolutely smashing; I’d certainly recommend a trip!

As well as Tornado Springs, it was also my first visit to Paultons, and I must say, I liked the park a lot! Some particular points of interest include:

• While Storm Chaser was my favourite coaster at Paultons, Flight of the Pterosaur surprised me immensely and shot itself into a very close second! It never looked overly interesting on POVs, but after 3 rides on it, my opinion is that it rides very well and is an absolutely stellar family coaster! It’s absolutely glass smooth, with some of the most comfortable restraints I’ve ever sat in, but is also quite fast and deceptively forceful in places; that helix into the station in particular is really quite forceful for a family coaster!
• Velociraptor was also quite good fun, and I liked it more than the similar model at Drayton Manor, but I didn’t find the backwards section as enjoyable as the forwards section, and I didn’t enjoy it quite as much as the top 2 coasters at the park, personally.
• In spite of not being a huge fan of wild mice & coasters focused on heavy laterals, I actually rather enjoyed Cobra! Don’t get me wrong, the section with the laterals is something I could certainly do without, and I’d definitely like the ride more if it wasn’t there, but unlike your average wild mouse, these laterals only take up a small part of the ride, and the rest of it is consists of some fun helixes & turns, and some surprising airtime, and is very smooth, so certainly gets my seal of approval!
• The park as a whole has quite a relaxed vibe. There’s a lot of more relaxing areas, such as the gardens & the watermill, that I didn’t know about prior to visiting, and the park as a whole doesn’t give off a vibe that makes you want to or feel the need to rush around it.
• The park is also absolutely immaculate, and it’s very clear that the Manceys take a lot of pride in the park. Even the older, lesser-themed areas of the park, such as by Cobra, are very well presented and look lovely; the older bits didn’t feel as jarring as I’d anticipated!
• I’m not sure if this is the lack of Fastrack talking, but the queues seemed to move surprisingly quickly given that the rides themselves have quite low headline capacities (Cobra, Pterosaur and Velociraptor were all somewhere around 500pph, and even Storm Chaser was only hitting somewhere around 600-700pph). Operations were excellent!
• Even though Tornado Springs is currently getting all of the attention, I’d say I like Lost Kingdom nearly as much! The rockwork is gorgeous, the landscaping is great, and there’s a fair few really amazing animatronics! A very nice area that deserves more attention, in my opinion!
• Overall, the park was certainly a pleasant surprise, in spite of the fact I had pretty high expectations, and I’d say that while it isn’t my favourite UK park (I personally crave a slightly more thrilling ride selection), it’s certainly in the top 5; if I were pushed, I’d say it’s probably my 4th favourite UK park, with only Alton, BPB and Thorpe being ahead.
• If you want any advice, I’d say; don’t dismiss Paultons as being a kiddie park with mild, uninteresting rides like I perhaps was guilty of doing for years prior to visiting, because as much as they don’t have the world’s most thrilling, enthusiast-friendly ride selection, I don’t think they really need it, because personally, I think they’re absolutely hitting the nail on the head in building great family attractions that have really good universal appeal; I’m genuinely convinced that anyone of any age could go to Paultons and have a great time with the ride selection that they have. My take on the park has certainly changed a fair bit having visited for myself, and I can definitely get the hype!

 

[Leigh]

Apologies for my lateness, but as some of you know, I was able to visit Tornado Springs, as well as Paultons itself, for the first time on Friday. I’ll keep this to Tornado Springs, as I did write a lengthier Paultons trip report over in the Trip Reports section, but I’ll insert a few notes about the park in general at the end, if you don’t want to traipse all the way over to Trip Reports…
The Area
Let’s kick things off with the area, and I must say; bravo, Paultons! Every nook & cranny of the area is phenomenally detailed, and you almost wouldn’t believe that the area was within a theme park getting only around 1 million guests per year! Everything is very detailed and looks like it’s been built to a very high quality, and I must say, it really does immerse you in the feel of 1950s America very well, in my opinion! I know this might seem like a strange comparison, but it reminded me an awful lot of Amity Cove at Thorpe Park, in many ways; I don’t know why, as the areas are tackling two completely different areas of America to one another, but it just did, for some reason! In terms of particular things that I think are really good; I like all the little items strewn around, like the cow sticking through Storm Chaser’s station roof, and the silos & trailers around with water coming out of them, and also all the little signs & stuff to read as well! On the whole, I think Tornado Springs is a brilliant themed area; one of my favourite themed areas in the UK, if not my favourite! It’s so detailed, and you can certainly tell it’s had a lot of time & effort put into it:

In terms of the rides in Tornado Springs, I experienced two of them; Storm Chaser and Cyclonator, so I’ll write a separate review for each.
Storm Chaser
I’ll admit I was unsure if I’d particularly enjoy this, as I’m not usually a huge fan of all things spinny. However, I am growing rather partial to a good Mack coaster, so I was cautiously optimistic that Storm Chaser might please me based on my love of Mack coasters.

But what did I think after actually riding it? Well, after 3 rides on it, I’m glad to report that Storm Chaser was a very positive surprise for me, because I thought it was fab! The level of spinning wasn’t too excessive, and the ride was very smooth & comfortable, yet also packed surprising force & vigour in places! Not to mention, it was also very fast-paced throughout, with even the slower-looking sections feeling pretty fast when you’re actually on the ride!

If I had to pinpoint some elements that really stood out to me, there was a helix at some point in the layout that was surprisingly quite forceful, and there was also some really nicely executed s-bend sequences throughout the layout that I thought were great fun to ride! But in general, I’ve got to say I really liked the whole ride!

Overall, I thought Storm Chaser was an excellent family spinning coaster, personally! If I had to pinpoint a ranking; I’d say it’s easily my favourite spinning coaster, narrowly my favourite coaster at Paultons, and out of the 79 coasters I’ve done, I’d place it at #20 overall and #10 in the UK! I was almost tempted to go a little higher, as I did think it was great fun, but there were some rides above that spot that I didn’t really think I could justify placing SC above.

But in summary; it’s fab, in my opinion, and certainly worth riding:

Cyclonator
Even though I’m not usually a huge fan of really spinny flat rides, I wanted to give Cyclonator a go, as I’d heard some very superlative-filled reviews before going (“best UK flat ride” etc etc) and was told I needed to try it as it was so good, even by people who say that they don’t have the greatest intensity/spin tolerance themselves.

As I said above, I do not have the greatest of spin tolerances, so was unsure if I’d overly like it, but I was cautiously quite optimistic, as these frisbee rides didn’t look to spin loads and loads, and the ride type looked to have notable similarities to Rush at Thorpe Park (one of my favourite flat rides) in that you oscillate, get a gorgeous dose of huge weightlessness at each peak and then get a great feeling of speed at each trough. I love Rush because it gives great airtime at each peak, a great sense of speed at each trough, and no nausea whatsoever, and I was optimistic that Cyclonator would be the same, just with an added element of slight rotation.

However, I’m afraid to say that Cyclonator was a bit of a disappointment for me. I’ll preface this statement by saying that this was partially aided by my rather weak stomach for flat rides, as it did make me feel somewhat strange when I got off, but it also rode rather differently to how I was expecting it to.

I’ll confess that Cyclonator was my first ever frisbee ride, and while I went in expecting a ride that had a fair bit of floaty airtime, some great speed and some light rotation, what I got was a ride that didn’t seem to really provide any floatiness, and where the sense of speed, while undeniably there in places, didn’t seem anywhere near as great as it does on the likes of Rush. The only things it really seemed to provide were non-stop positive g’s and a lot of spinning (when you’re on it, I dare say it seems more spinny than it looks), and while I know that these things appeal to a lot of people, they don’t really appeal to me, personally. Don’t get me wrong, the positive g’s and the spinning were done pretty well, but for what I personally like in a flat ride, it didn’t really wow me quite like I was hoping it would.

If you like things that are very, very intense from start to finish, and quite spinny, then I can certainly see why Cyclonator would appeal to you, but I like my flat rides a little less spinny & intense and a little more floaty & speedy, so I’m afraid Cyclonator didn’t really float my boat, personally. I found it a little too intense & spinny for my liking, and when combined with the rather unpleasant restraints (am I the only person who found them incredibly tight & restrictive?), I must say it’s not a ride I especially enjoyed. It’s not the most unpleasant or nauseating flat I’ve ridden by any means (Air Race at Drayton says hello), but when I was on it, my emotions were certainly leaning far more towards “This isn’t overly fun, and is making me feel a bit strange”, than “Wow, this is fun!”, and one ride was certainly enough for me.

Don’t get me wrong, I applaud Paultons for trying something different, it’s seemingly very popular among most people who’ve ridden it, and I hope it works for them so that we get other more thrilling rides in the future, but it didn’t really do it for me, I’m afraid:

Summary
Overall, I think Tornado Springs is a smashing area that certainly blew me away! Both of the main rides work really well; I thought Storm Chaser was fab, and while I wasn’t a huge fan of Cyclonator, the masses don’t lie, and it clearly seems to be a crowd pleaser! The area is really detailed, seems to have breathed a huge amount of life into what I’m led to believe was previously quite a dull part of the park, and overall, I think it’s absolutely smashing; I’d certainly recommend a trip!

As well as Tornado Springs, it was also my first visit to Paultons, and I must say, I liked the park a lot! Some particular points of interest include:

• While Storm Chaser was my favourite coaster at Paultons, Flight of the Pterosaur surprised me immensely and shot itself into a very close second! It never looked overly interesting on POVs, but after 3 rides on it, my opinion is that it rides very well and is an absolutely stellar family coaster! It’s absolutely glass smooth, with some of the most comfortable restraints I’ve ever sat in, but is also quite fast and deceptively forceful in places; that helix into the station in particular is really quite forceful for a family coaster!
• Velociraptor was also quite good fun, and I liked it more than the similar model at Drayton Manor, but I didn’t find the backwards section as enjoyable as the forwards section, and I didn’t enjoy it quite as much as the top 2 coasters at the park, personally.
• In spite of not being a huge fan of wild mice & coasters focused on heavy laterals, I actually rather enjoyed Cobra! Don’t get me wrong, the section with the laterals is something I could certainly do without, and I’d definitely like the ride more if it wasn’t there, but unlike your average wild mouse, these laterals only take up a small part of the ride, and the rest of it is consists of some fun helixes & turns, and some surprising airtime, and is very smooth, so certainly gets my seal of approval!
• The park as a whole has quite a relaxed vibe. There’s a lot of more relaxing areas, such as the gardens & the watermill, that I didn’t know about prior to visiting, and the park as a whole doesn’t give off a vibe that makes you want to or feel the need to rush around it.
• The park is also absolutely immaculate, and it’s very clear that the Manceys take a lot of pride in the park. Even the older, lesser-themed areas of the park, such as by Cobra, are very well presented and look lovely; the older bits didn’t feel as jarring as I’d anticipated!
• I’m not sure if this is the lack of Fastrack talking, but the queues seemed to move surprisingly quickly given that the rides themselves have quite low headline capacities (Cobra, Pterosaur and Velociraptor were all somewhere around 500pph, and even Storm Chaser was only hitting somewhere around 600-700pph). Operations were excellent!
• Even though Tornado Springs is currently getting all of the attention, I’d say I like Lost Kingdom nearly as much! The rockwork is gorgeous, the landscaping is great, and there’s a fair few really amazing animatronics! A very nice area that deserves more attention, in my opinion!
• Overall, the park was certainly a pleasant surprise, in spite of the fact I had pretty high expectations, and I’d say that while it isn’t my favourite UK park (I personally crave a slightly more thrilling ride selection), it’s certainly in the top 5; if I were pushed, I’d say it’s probably my 4th favourite UK park, with only Alton, BPB and Thorpe being ahead.
• If you want any advice, I’d say; don’t dismiss Paultons as being a kiddie park with mild, uninteresting rides like I perhaps was guilty of doing for years prior to visiting, because as much as they don’t have the world’s most thrilling, enthusiast-friendly ride selection, I don’t think they really need it, because personally, I think they’re absolutely hitting the nail on the head in building great family attractions that have really good universal appeal; I’m genuinely convinced that anyone of any age could go to Paultons and have a great time with the ride selection that they have. My take on the park has certainly changed a fair bit having visited for myself, and I can definitely get the hype!

Convinced me. Will be getting booked in next time I'm down Soton way.

 

[MaxPower]

I think the only thing that lets these newer areas down is way they've use tarmac throughout them.

Other than that they've really done well for a family owned park and certainly put some of Merlins recent efforts to shame.

 

[Matt.GC]

I think the only thing that lets these newer areas down is way they've use tarmac throughout them.

Other than that they've really done well for a family owned park and certainly put some of Merlins recent efforts to shame.

Yeah I thought the same when I visited Lost Kingdom opening season. Had this fantastic themed area, the best we've seen in the UK for many years but the floor was just tarmac. But is any UK park good at pathway surfaces? Can't think of any decent ones in this country unless anyone has any decent examples?

To think a small single park business opens Tornado Springs the same season international "second to Disney" juggernaut Merlin opens Walliams World.

 

[Matt N]

I think the only thing that lets these newer areas down is way they've use tarmac throughout them.

Other than that they've really done well for a family owned park and certainly put some of Merlins recent efforts to shame.

In fairness, I think tarmac works well with the Tornado Springs theme. The paths are designed to be like a road leading through the town, with road markings on it!

Besides, when tarmac is all people can find to complain about, that must surely be a sign that the park did a great job?

 

[Matt.GC]

In fairness, I think tarmac works well with the Tornado Springs theme. The paths are designed to be like a road leading through the town, with road markings on it!

Besides, when tarmac is all people can find to complain about, that must surely be a sign that the park did a great job?

I agree. If this was Towers it would be the standard, boring brick path which isn't any better. Fun fact, I remember the season they installed the brick paving at Towers. I think it was 92. Every area of the park other than Talbot Street had standard tarmac pathways I think. I was only around 10 at the time.

Possibly Towers Street was brick paved beforehand

 

[ThemeParkAddict]

We went last Thursday and, overall, had a great time!

Firstly, Tornado Springs is exceptional. Probably our favourite area in the UK, with a great family coaster, a really good flat in Cyclonator and plenty more rides that all fit nicely into the theme. The diner was great and served really good, decently-priced food (although they could do with a few more tables). We even saw Farmyard Flyer testing about eight months before it's supposed to open.

What else to say? The gardening is great, all the animal exhibits are a lot of fun and the Penguin feeding was really good too. We probably can't quite call it our favourite park in the UK because there's only two true thrill rides, but for the family audience I'd imagine this is probably the best day out on the south coast by quite some distance now.