NuttySquirrel
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Batman: Gotham City Escape
Visited the park last weekend for the first time; finally get time to write up my trip report and it seems @Rob has got there first with most of what I was going to say! 
Oh well, I'll say it anyway!
It's a very attractive park, helped enormously by the fine weather we had - perfect blue skies and a warm but fresh October day - and the really excellent Hallowe'en decorations that had only just been put in ahead of their Hallowe'en event. For that reason alone I'm glad we postponed our trip by a week - quite apart from the terrible weather of the weekend before! Seems they have gone for a Guinness World record on number of (real) pumpkins around the park but the effect worked really well, and the entrance plaza in particular was looking really splendid and autumnal. Though I wonder how many rotten pumpkins they'll end up replacing between now and 31st...
We headed to the left side of the park first and did The Edge, Magma and Cobra. There's some good theming around this area - we particularly liked the Topiary cobra - complete with fangs! But in general this area lacks a bit of cohesion and feels a bit sparse - and given the strength of the park's other themed areas I hope this is the area of the park they turn their attention to next for redevelopment.
Then it was over to Lost Kingdom, and really you can't go wrong with animatronic dinosaurs! The planting was great here as well, very subtropical, and the 'field notes' around the queue paths were a nice touch. We did all three coasters in this area; Velociraptor is the first boomerang I've done and it was fun but a bit short for my liking. Flight of the Pterosaur was fun but a bit tame for my liking - I was really hoping for some inversions, but quite understandably it's not that sort of ride being very much a family coaster.
We had lunch in the Japanese Garden; being a bit short of time (and unsure about gluten-free options) we didn't try any of the park eateries, though the coffee was good. I really liked this area, which has been landscaped beautifully and has some really nice details, including some really interesting metal-sculpted fountains. We then spent a leisurely hour wandering around the rest of the gardens and aviaries. This for me is what sets Paultons apart from other family theme parks in the UK; it's all been done so well and maintained so beautifully. Unfortunately some of the birds seemed to take issue with us and chased us off their patch with a great deal of squawking, straight into...
Tornado Springs. As many others have said, they have really outdone themselves here. Everything, literally everything, in the area fits perfectly with the chosen theme, which also fits perfectly with the ride offering. There are so many little details everywhere I must have missed a lot; it would be nice to go back and have a bit more time just to wander around taking everything in. I thought Cyclonator was excellent; I'm not usually bothered about flat rides but this is arguably the best ride in the park, especially for thrillseekers, and it was a lot more intense that I'd been expecting. Storm Chaser was a great spinning coaster, and it was good fun in the back car, which we ended up in both times we rode it - I've never looked down a lift-hill before, so that was a new experience. They've also done a really good job of re-theming the existing rides; I even dragged one of my party (to their embarrassment) onto Trekking Tractors, which was looking splendidly autumnal, and bursting with real grown produce such as corn, swiss chard and pear trees heavy with fruit.
Have to say, we made a quick beeline through Peppa Pig World, which really is a kids-only area and it feels awkward to be there as an adult-only group. But it was worth looking around the animal exhibits in Little Africa, although a couple of the mongooses were doing something very naughty and not family-friendly at all! We left them to it and did the little walk across the lake to a working watermill, which I think would be easy to miss but was a really nice find.
We spent the last hour rushing around to get some re-rides in. The park was pretty full at 5pm and could have easily stayed open for another hour I thought, but I guess the good weather had encouraged people to stick around. Leaving the site was pretty painful as three car parks converge to one exit; this probably needs a re-think if their popularity is set to continue. Anyway we had a great day and I'm really glad to have seen the place at its very best. Obviously it's a family park so I wasn't expecting a lot of thrill rides, nevertheless I think one high-thrill coaster with inversions would be a good addition to the current offering for the interest of adults and older children.
Keep doing what you're doing Paultons, because it's working - and hopefully the likes of Merlin will sit up and take notice!
Oh well, I'll say it anyway!It's a very attractive park, helped enormously by the fine weather we had - perfect blue skies and a warm but fresh October day - and the really excellent Hallowe'en decorations that had only just been put in ahead of their Hallowe'en event. For that reason alone I'm glad we postponed our trip by a week - quite apart from the terrible weather of the weekend before! Seems they have gone for a Guinness World record on number of (real) pumpkins around the park but the effect worked really well, and the entrance plaza in particular was looking really splendid and autumnal. Though I wonder how many rotten pumpkins they'll end up replacing between now and 31st...
We headed to the left side of the park first and did The Edge, Magma and Cobra. There's some good theming around this area - we particularly liked the Topiary cobra - complete with fangs! But in general this area lacks a bit of cohesion and feels a bit sparse - and given the strength of the park's other themed areas I hope this is the area of the park they turn their attention to next for redevelopment.
Then it was over to Lost Kingdom, and really you can't go wrong with animatronic dinosaurs! The planting was great here as well, very subtropical, and the 'field notes' around the queue paths were a nice touch. We did all three coasters in this area; Velociraptor is the first boomerang I've done and it was fun but a bit short for my liking. Flight of the Pterosaur was fun but a bit tame for my liking - I was really hoping for some inversions, but quite understandably it's not that sort of ride being very much a family coaster.
We had lunch in the Japanese Garden; being a bit short of time (and unsure about gluten-free options) we didn't try any of the park eateries, though the coffee was good. I really liked this area, which has been landscaped beautifully and has some really nice details, including some really interesting metal-sculpted fountains. We then spent a leisurely hour wandering around the rest of the gardens and aviaries. This for me is what sets Paultons apart from other family theme parks in the UK; it's all been done so well and maintained so beautifully. Unfortunately some of the birds seemed to take issue with us and chased us off their patch with a great deal of squawking, straight into...
Tornado Springs. As many others have said, they have really outdone themselves here. Everything, literally everything, in the area fits perfectly with the chosen theme, which also fits perfectly with the ride offering. There are so many little details everywhere I must have missed a lot; it would be nice to go back and have a bit more time just to wander around taking everything in. I thought Cyclonator was excellent; I'm not usually bothered about flat rides but this is arguably the best ride in the park, especially for thrillseekers, and it was a lot more intense that I'd been expecting. Storm Chaser was a great spinning coaster, and it was good fun in the back car, which we ended up in both times we rode it - I've never looked down a lift-hill before, so that was a new experience. They've also done a really good job of re-theming the existing rides; I even dragged one of my party (to their embarrassment) onto Trekking Tractors, which was looking splendidly autumnal, and bursting with real grown produce such as corn, swiss chard and pear trees heavy with fruit.
Have to say, we made a quick beeline through Peppa Pig World, which really is a kids-only area and it feels awkward to be there as an adult-only group. But it was worth looking around the animal exhibits in Little Africa, although a couple of the mongooses were doing something very naughty and not family-friendly at all! We left them to it and did the little walk across the lake to a working watermill, which I think would be easy to miss but was a really nice find.
We spent the last hour rushing around to get some re-rides in. The park was pretty full at 5pm and could have easily stayed open for another hour I thought, but I guess the good weather had encouraged people to stick around. Leaving the site was pretty painful as three car parks converge to one exit; this probably needs a re-think if their popularity is set to continue. Anyway we had a great day and I'm really glad to have seen the place at its very best. Obviously it's a family park so I wasn't expecting a lot of thrill rides, nevertheless I think one high-thrill coaster with inversions would be a good addition to the current offering for the interest of adults and older children.
Keep doing what you're doing Paultons, because it's working - and hopefully the likes of Merlin will sit up and take notice!
Last edited:
