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Paultons Park: General Discussion

rob666 said:
Going off other parks, I would guess Covid had a very large part in those profits...nowhere else to go that year.
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It's a factor, definitely - but not the only one. Tornado Springs *was* a triumph for the park and it's done a huge amount towards putting the park on the radar of those who had previously overlooked it, including us lot.

I also think it's benefited hugely from Chessington's demise - 'demise' sounds a bit drastic but given the capacity and quality issues the park has been having I think there are loads of young families living in the south of England who've decided to vote with their feet and go to Paultons instead; it appeals to a very similar demographic. There also isn't really any direct competition for Paultons in its geographical area; aside from the London area the south/south west is a bit of a black hole for good theme parks and they'll be pulling in regular visitors from as far as Bristol.

I was expecting a bigger announcement from them this year than a kids log flume, but I'm sure it won't be long before they sink those profits into something really exciting - watch this space!
 
Matt N said:
I’m surprised this hasn’t been mentioned yet, but it would seem that Tornado Springs was a huge success for Paultons Park, with the park making a pre-tax profit of £15,994,312 in 2021 according to their latest accounts: https://s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/document-api-images-live.ch.gov.uk/docs/sRRRfW96Nm9mmxbAMhYFWhX1ezLlAAk7t-4MyjLOaCY/application-pdf?X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Credential=ASIAWRGBDBV3OZZQRCBH/20230711/eu-west-2/s3/aws4_request&X-Amz-Date=20230711T115858Z&X-Amz-Expires=60&X-Amz-Security-Token=IQoJb3JpZ2luX2VjEEIaCWV1LXdlc3QtMiJGMEQCIEOnYPZ6sIl/e5lEbePIKFxyjcB9ZwdKiYNYDBHmwAzAAiA2drl9eKxn6/o7IdH8NQVBsV/4UcekprW7WdN9ShAQTCrEBQi7//////////8BEAQaDDQ0OTIyOTAzMjgyMiIMH3hItctFa40K8Jp5KpgFv7X9RX3hi9vTXsLm9DVkUW2TAUd/hZwaCE7vaU5UIH9pqcYhSeq+xNJ/O5i4VsooznuW+Z7ASCVlzmRc0gMPL79IDq8PJryqGwEzV7D2J8WxK2/zHkIG+mc+GKYcpGueWr5pYqPHnshjN6pu4x4rIFwWezhUIq27S+kienCeuUgI3vEQDV0q/QuKpRusrG/bOGbWj/3/iue91I8G6ihs33Eb4L0Q8NXPDWExwhX+Gpqz0oLPb7t7KLnjVCMTrxfF7q/hDnxH5ZdooK/oEcdkK54LprPnsSDM03YsUdBg2Mj42W+/Jk/shag9gZ3mlCGeKEoNmO7ahR6OwywSdN/eWklBmfAqEfrvbBG/ifVGE04/+iXGeY14pHRcjtQypHDRjVe1m+WeaYqdhrNZAbshZ2e2cq3IXA64HOZae6ExpikQWz8jK9qAAW5NHELKY+eekPChtMIp9eVQizi2Sx4rytl19VAzcdONoXWFPt1n3aNAvXGLjJVMe0o4G1earLGHl8OuM0cKQRK+87T8Kpf0bWhkAjmJ9oH7fvTPjZakIMgWEzqVVrErPe3JXECKT9B/SWFGc9J3wyTP7yDx5ZpiIDiMdJkUqHK7rhxEssCVZLLtK5z6I4zGmlpSQE2KlSWZU35YOXm/8ArmNt1gJl2XcqeX3t4AOSvKAaMqJ+udkoAoesbN7czJejQtaEzd/2VwMYJq8kj/zskxeKXLs2TxmBGkjCxpsG0BHuy04eq0Fp3UHDzjJ4GdouoE40+mnlGXDXyjGGSdAuIxZSLQQz0UmF9G48IGYLLQWuKcMehJI9E9kkMfRJwb+Ud1BWE28HAm1DXu8r23RyLuTTCJuqvOsTHG4JPhJFf5FRXIwTMGas4eVHx6qddFzDDd1LSlBjqyAXi5Ls3NGCHdxSIvrz7XMSCTwozabK8grSMycpyHtrMi3zGPPuhvJ9HhaQ4brFSU2R46zHa4DLnhbGUdPAa99CzN0D44nM4oWJug3AYZyfknQVuNOt0kaw1hiKGmp0uCg24kdsouYSjJ+egnrAAPHBufAG0BceUcJH41F4MRFODApehzvkuNT30XCPvV979QY9ctjKPAd+neioxYN3wRBniQ46RbuCr/ZJQV1cww8/W8qIE=&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&response-content-disposition=inline;filename="companies_house_document.pdf"&X-Amz-Signature=f5966228908dbb47f937bb37658a0a960c6bf375f2ea11c60e863e4b79bc2ad1

This compares with a pre-tax profit of £1,124,493 in 2020 and £6,642,686 in 2019, so Tornado Springs did seemingly help to facilitate a further upward turn in Paultons’ fortunes!

Having recently read through Blackpool’s accounts (where there are vastly more losses and vastly lower pre-tax profits), I’ll admit to being staggered by how much money Paultons Park makes. Even BPB’s “record” pre-tax profit of £8-9 million in 2021 is a fair way off the amount of money that Paultons made in 2021!
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That is very good. This shows that if you build a good area, people will come.
 
This years accounts will give a better idea of where the park is going. As many have said they would have benefited fro. The Staycation boom in 2021s numbers.
 
IIRC (the link to the accounts wont work fir me) the park does not run off of debt. You'll see other places making multi millions but they are many times that in debt and the profit goes on servicing that debt, whereas Paultons makes the money before it spends it. It makes for a very healthy and efficient business.

I hope they continue to grow and grow.
 
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I’m kind of low key gutted that this is all it is. The way it was teased, I was expecting something like a Mack water coaster, especially considering their current log flume is awful. Oh well, I guess there’s been a lot of investment at PP in recent years so I can’t really complain.
 
Enter Valhalla said:
I’m kind of low key gutted that this is all it is. The way it was teased, I was expecting something like a Mack water coaster, especially considering their current log flume is awful. Oh well, I guess there’s been a lot of investment at PP in recent years so I can’t really complain.
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Wait and see what happens if they do indeed build a new area or retheme the Cobra/Edge part of the park. I think we’ll get something a bit more exciting then, this is more like a replacement for their kiddie water ride than their flume replacement which I’m sure will be coming at some point.
 
pluk said:
Not every investment will be a big investment, big things are coming...
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I guess I maybe had my expectations set too high, however 2024 will have been three years since TS, and based on the size of the teaser banner, I really did think it was going to be something more exciting than a kids log flume. I mean, they’ve already got Seal Falls, I don’t really see the point of this, and I really, really don’t see the point of hyping it with a big promo banner.

I guess that, based on previous years, Lost Kingdom opened in 2016, TS was meant to open 4 years later but obviously got delayed, so perhaps we should expect to see a big capex every 4 years, so 2025 could be a big one.

Maybe I’m just impatient!
 
Enter Valhalla said:
I guess I maybe had my expectations set too high, however 2024 will have been three years since TS, and based on the size of the teaser banner, I really did think it was going to be something more exciting than a kids log flume. I mean, they’ve already got Seal Falls, I don’t really see the point of this, and I really, really don’t see the point of hyping it with a big promo banner.

I guess that, based on previous years, Lost Kingdom opened in 2016, TS was meant to open 4 years later but obviously got delayed, so perhaps we should expect to see a big capex every 4 years, so 2025 could be a big one.

Maybe I’m just impatient!
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Or maybe, its part of a grander plan which involves the removal of the Seal Falls & the redevelopment of that area (including the current log flume & Cobra). So this is, potentially, a replacement before that area closes for redevelopment over the next year or so.

Big things are coming to this park, probably 2025.
 
pluk said:
IIRC (the link to the accounts wont work fir me) the park does not run off of debt. You'll see other places making multi millions but they are many times that in debt and the profit goes on servicing that debt, whereas Paultons makes the money before it spends it. It makes for a very healthy and efficient business.

I hope they continue to grow and grow.
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Often in those scenarios the debt is deliberate as it reduces exposure to tax.

Big corporations have the capital to take that risk, smaller family businesses can’t always.
 
Steve28 said:
Or maybe, its part of a grander plan which involves the removal of the Seal Falls & the redevelopment of that area (including the current log flume & Cobra). So this is, potentially, a replacement before that area closes for redevelopment over the next year or so.

Big things are coming to this park, probably 2025.
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Well it definitely sounds like you know something that I don’t, so I’ll take your word for it and be optimistic for the future.
 
I don't think this is necessarily a case of insider knowledge; the park have been quite transparent about their plans for expansion in the form of market research and planning applications particularly for the redevelopment of the Cobra site - there is clearly something substantial on the horizon!
 
Enter Valhalla said:
Well it definitely sounds like you know something that I don’t, so I’ll take your word for it and be optimistic for the future.
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The park always said that in Tornado Springs the two rides Storm Chaser and Cyclonator were a bit of a tester for the idea of having more thrilling rides at the park. And last year they issued a survey asking guests what kind of themes and rides they might like to see coming to the park at some point. There’s also a new back of house building being built and I think I read that the 4D cinema is due to close, so when you put all that together it does seem to indicate that the park are planning something.

But if course it’s clear that the park are keen on creating nice themed areas and started doing that in the past twelve years or so. We’ve seen Peppa Pig World open in 2011, the smaller retheme in 2015 of the Critter Creek area, and then the creation of the big themed areas Lost Kingdom in 2016 and Tornado Springs in 2021.

I don’t think it takes much guessing to think that the unthemed part of the park that contains what is essentially a travelling log flume from 1999, a small kids ride (Seal Falls) from 2002, and Cobra (2006) and Edge (2009). It just seems logical that they’d look at that area and create something good there to stand alongside the other themed areas of the park. I’d guess that Magma could be moved over to Lost Kingdom where it would fit in perfectly thematically, and as said earlier the new water ride will essentially be an upgrade on Seal Falls and could well allow it to leave the park.
 
Enter Valhalla said:
Well it definitely sounds like you know something that I don’t, so I’ll take your word for it and be optimistic for the future.
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No insider info as such. Ive heard rumblings (its my local park) but nothing that isnt already out there on the Internet.

There's been evidence of surveyors (and their yellow cameras, sorry I don't know the proper name) around that general area, as well as planning applications (again, I don't know the exact name of the process) of the use of land for that area as to whether its designated pleasure or not, as well as applying to extend the park boundaries slightly by the go karts.

2025 is a logical timeline for that development, but it's certainly going to be a big one. It'll be interesting how they play it as they're not going to want those rides (cobra, edge etc) closed for too long.
 
No insider knowledge, but I put together a bit of a 'summary' few pages back of what is known (and filled with a lot of guesswork):

4D cinema closed this season. Will be a big building empty!
Permission granted for area near gokarts
Permission applied for at cobra area
Surveying around edge/cobra area
New flume a big upgrade on Seal Falls... this to be removed?
Use of hash tag #wehavebigplans on some of their 40th anniversary materials. This clearly isn't talking about the mini flume

As already identified, Paultons makes a lot of money and they also reinvest a lot of profits into new rides and attractions... probably the most as a % of any park. When they will build, they will build big!
 
Does Paultons have height limits like most other parks do here? Would love to see a big RMC in this country if it is Paultons that are going to get it.
 
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