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Paultons Park: General Discussion

Octonauts is a mess. 99% 2D graphics, squashed in a corner and inexplicably the station never got a roof? I think it would work better with a re-routed queue and that wall between it and Spinball being replaced with another entrance arch for Cbeebies and the wall being removed to open up the area.
 
Matt.GC said:
"For a Kiddie coaster"? Isn't theming for kids attractions important?
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Of course it is; I’m not denying that.

I was more meaning that kiddie coasters don’t typically have tons of theming, even when done by the prestigious worldwide operators like Disney & Universal. So when you compare Farmyard Flyer to other kiddie coasters worldwide, I think Paultons have done extremely well with the amount of theming they’ve given it and detail they’ve put into it. It looks really detailed and fun; sure, the ride won’t be high on enthusiasts’ radar, but it doesn’t need to be.

Within the young children’s demographic, I think it’ll go down really well!
 
Alsty said:
Yep, can hardly tell them apart...

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Credit : CoasterForce

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Credit : TowersTimes
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Good god when you look at it like this ….. Merlin is appalling

For me Paultons lacks a big thrill coaster, that’s only because my kids are older and so am i (obviously) we want that type of ride. However I get the park doesn’t actually need it.

It would be interesting if they could do something like Drayton have with their rapids, along with a big coaster (not stand up!) and maybe storm force 10 type ride
 
Excalibur said:
A rich, second to Disney attraction operator compared to a small family run themepark who are surpassing all the major theme parks in the UK at the moment.
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Second to Disney only in number of attractions operated and therefore overall guest numbers. That statistic is irrelevant in all discussion really. I could own ten thousand shops, wouldn’t mean they are better quality or more profitable than Tesco with half that number of stores. Quantity doesn’t mean quality or profit.


Wouldn’t surprise me if Paulton has more cash/profit than Merlin.
 
jon81uk said:
Second to Disney only in number of attractions operated and therefore overall guest numbers. That statistic is irrelevant in all discussion really. I could own ten thousand shops, wouldn’t mean they are better quality or more profitable than Tesco with half that number of stores. Quantity doesn’t mean quality or profit.


Wouldn’t surprise me if Paulton has more cash/profit than Merlin.
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They definitely don't have more cash or profit. They just aren't greedy corporate pigs. That's the difference.
 
I was going to make a post defending's Paultons higher prices, but it turns out they are cheaper than Alton Towers if you book online :)

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Alton Towers:
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I get that most people who go to Towers, use BOGOF vouchers, which then makes it £31 cheaper than Paultons, but if you are the target audience for Paulton Park, it offers significantly better value. At Paulton's, there is always something for the little ones to do, while the big ones queue for the rides, and if you have paid for the little one to get in, 95% of the time they can go on the ride as well (Edge and Cobra being the exceptions)

I am sure once Annabelle and Daisy reach 1.4 meters, Alton Towers will become a lot better value than Paultons.
 
IanB said:
I was going to make a post defending's Paultons higher prices, but it turns out they are cheaper than Alton Towers if you book online
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Only on peak days, off-peak Alton is £5 cheaper as Paulton charge same price every day, whereas AT is seasonal again.
What makes a difference with pricing at Paulton is the fact that under 1m go free, whereas AT charge for everyone over 3 years old. Realistically many four year olds may be over 1m anyway, but it sounds better as height is directly linked to what rides they can go on.
 
It might be worth mentioning as well that Paulton’s don’t have any kind of Fastrack system and I don’t think the larger attractions get the 60 minute queue times that you regularly see at Merlin parks on busier days. So a day at Paulton’s might actually feel more rewarding in terms of the amount of rides you can go on in a day for entry price on a busier day compared to a Merlin park (and some other parks) on a busier day when people Fastracking through can sometimes add to the frustration.
 
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jon81uk said:
Whereas Disney are greedy corporate pigs and make high qaulity attractions!
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They do indeed although I would wager not as frequently as they should do. The main park at Paris for example hasn't had a new major attraction in a long long time.

Disney are going down a very dangerous path too. They are taking the mick with their new pricing and fast track structures. It's getting to the point where it's no longer worth going.
 
Benjsh said:
They do indeed although I would wager not as frequently as they should do. The main park at Paris for example hasn't had a new major attraction in a long long time.

Disney are going down a very dangerous path too. They are taking the mick with their new pricing and fast track structures. It's getting to the point where it's no longer worth going.
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Yes Disney's internal accounting for charging for attractions is ludicrous and Florida often feels reactionery (they build because Universal do) rather than thinking of a proper long-term stratergy.
As for Paris have they ever had a proper long-term stratergy!

Paulton (and Drayton Manor to some extent) is proving at the moment where smaller, well-planned investments make more sense than Disney/Merlin trying to do the next big thing, not quite getting it right and then finding every possible way to nickel-and-dime guests.

(off-topic but I read recently that Disney have reworded the website to indicate that you will only skip the line on 2-3 attractions per day when spending $15 on Genie Plus to get access to what used to be "free" fasttrack).
 
Merlin to their credit do generally get Rollercoaster additions spot on. There's not been many across their parks where you question the logic. Its just everything else where they seem a bit behind the times.

Paultons obviously is a much smaller family ran business but they are living proof that taking the cheap easy way out doesn't have to be done. We should support them massively for this. It's really commendable.

Same goes for Drayton too. They are seemingly trying to do things right now and I commend that. What I can't commend is the premier theme park destination in the UK and one of the biggest ones in Europe resorting to fairground rides because the owners are more interested in setting up Midways around the world with their profits.
 
Slightly off-topic but I find this comparison between Poultons being a small family run park and the big corporates Merlin and Disney. Yet in the case of Drayton its now the opposite. It was family run and was seemed to be heading to bankruptcy yet now it is owned by a big corporate and everyone is praising its turn-around since it was taken over by the big corporate. Another point is Poultons of course doesn't charge for parking which isn't in the headline price for Alton vs Poultons yet Drayton does. Yet neither Drayton or Poultons offer push-in passes meaning the main queues move quicker for everyone fairly.
 
Is it likely that Paultons will move towards hotels sooner rather than later? Or does that risk causing a bit of a stir with the owners of local accommodation? Would be keen to see their take on it. Although I suspect it would probably be quite Pigcentric.

Their commitment to getting the traffic issues solved, and at their own expense, is really laudable. Keeping your community onside is very important for a business making the strides that Paultons Park is.
 
Plastic Person said:
Is it likely that Paultons will move towards hotels sooner rather than later?
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I've been wondering this. It would be a huge and risky investment compared to rides, and their current relationship with outside hotels clearly works well for them.

If they consider going that way I wonder whether they might test the water with something like glamping on the field over by Cobra, which they they probably can't do much of any actual building on?
 
See, I’m not sure a hypothetical Paultons hotel would be overly Peppa-centric, myself. Even though Paultons has Peppa Pig and it is their flagship attraction, they don’t seem to overly milk it to death.

For what it’s worth, Drayton Manor’s hotel isn’t solely Thomas-themed, and Paultons’ reliance on Peppa Pig is probably no greater than Drayton’s reliance on Thomas.

I’m not sure I see Paultons going for a hotel imminently, though, and I’m not necessarily sure they need one. Using the case study of Drayton Manor’s hotel once again, I seem to remember reading that Drayton’s hotel was one of the things that initially crippled them financially and set the wheels in motion for their eventual administration because the park simply wasn’t ready to sustain a hotel in terms of both finances and the amount on offer within the park.

With that in mind, I think Paultons should be very careful before investing in accommodation, and perhaps hold fire for a good few years yet. They’ve got a pretty good thing going right now, and I wouldn’t want them to lose that.
 
The owners of the park have previously expressed that they have no ambition of getting into the hotel business and they think that it is important to support local hotels. This was a few years ago, however, and with UK short breaks being a lot more popular now, that might have changed.
 
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