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Paultons Park: General Discussion

Relife said:
I've been to Paultons 3 times and don't live local and found it an excellent park that's still very much growing it's offering. Not overrated in the slightest.

I think it's very unfair to mark down the park for lack of dark rides while they are literally building one now. There is also a brand new area planned which you know will be an immersive experience.
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I don't dispute anything you say other than the fact you say it's not overrated in the slightest.

I just don't think the park is the second coming of Christ.

You can't enjoy a beer without purchase of a meal. Urgh.
 
Paultons is a fantastic park that has only started growing since the success of Peppa Pig world, yes it has areas that could be improved upon but since 2011 its had major investment.

The plain parts of the park will get worked on in time, they are gradually getting there, especially since the whole park used to in that kinda style.
For a park not ran by a huge company they have done amazing so far!

so looking forward to seeing their first go at a dark ride, 'ghosty manor' isn't the worst name considering other ride names in thr uk
 
Even though I enjoy Paultons, I’ve made no secret of my opinion that I think the place is over rated by UK enthusiasts.

What I will say however is that their business model of limiting the numbers visiting the park to ensure the quality of experience seems to be a direction that Merlin, under their new CEO, are starting to move in. Obviously this would be a massive change in strategy for Merlin and won’t happen overnight, but it’s interesting to see how Paultons was the first UK park to try this approach and it seems to have worked out pretty well for them. I’d say that Paultons is now a bigger threat to Merlin than it has even been in the past. Maybe we’ll finally see an end to Merlin’s 2 for 1 offers on every cereal box, chocolate bar and bottle of hand soap.
 
Enter Valhalla said:
Even though I enjoy Paultons, I’ve made no secret of my opinion that I think the place is over rated by UK enthusiasts.

What I will say however is that their business model of limiting the numbers visiting the park to ensure the quality of experience seems to be a direction that Merlin, under their new CEO, are starting to move in. Obviously this would be a massive change in strategy for Merlin and won’t happen overnight, but it’s interesting to see how Paultons was the first UK park to try this approach and it seems to have worked out pretty well for them. I’d say that Paultons is now a bigger threat to Merlin than it has even been in the past. Maybe we’ll finally see an end to Merlin’s 2 for 1 offers on every cereal box, chocolate bar and bottle of hand soap.
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What makes you think Merlin are moving in that direction out of interest?
 
Bowser said:
What makes you think Merlin are moving in that direction out of interest?
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Certainly the recent changes to RAP and annual pass restrictions that have been announced. The change of RAP system is, I’m told, very similar to the system which Paultons already operate.
The recently announced changes to the Merlin Annual Pass are also a step, albeit a small step, towards the Paultons approach, by requiring MAP holders to pre-book time slots at certain attractions and putting a cap on the number of bookings.

Until recently the marketing for MAP has been similar to the Six Flags strategy of just selling as many annual passes as possible and worrying about everything else later. This year they seem to be recognising that this isn’t the best idea and that some limitations need to be put in place to give everyone a better overall experience.

As I say, Merlin are starting to move in this direction, they’re still nowhere near the Paultons approach yet, but I do think they’re finally realising that simply packing the parks out with as many people as possible isn’t always the best approach.
 
If they change the advertising on the products from 2 for 1 to just a theme park advert it'd probably work fairly well.
 
Enter Valhalla said:
Certainly the recent changes to RAP and annual pass restrictions that have been announced. The change of RAP system is, I’m told, very similar to the system which Paultons already operate.
The recently announced changes to the Merlin Annual Pass are also a step, albeit a small step, towards the Paultons approach, by requiring MAP holders to pre-book time slots at certain attractions and putting a cap on the number of bookings.
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The mechanics of the RAP changes seem to be unconfirmed as there's conflicting information out there. The Official Thorpe Park account said something to the degree of the cap would only ever likely be reached on a handful of peak days, so if that's true across the board then it will have no discernible difference.
At Paulton's the situation is that the park is so well run that it's very rare any ride has a queue longer than 25 minutes and thus only those who truly need RAP are using it, combined with the single ride use restriction.

The MAP time slot bookings don't apply to the theme parks, only other attractions and have already been in place for varying amounts of time. The cap on bookings has also been in place for at least a year and again made no meaningful difference in 2023 (anecdotally at least) in my opinion. There's also conflicting information here too as i was told by a Merlin staff member that if there are General Admission tickets available for an attraction you can call for a MAP booking if they appear unavailable. Has anyone ever encountered a day at a theme park where MAP tickets are unavailable? Even if they have this must surely only be a handful of dates.

I think the more impactful differences at Paultons are the combination of high ride availability and higher pricing, neither of which seem likely to be applied at Merlin parks so i remain sceptical it's a direction they are heading in.
 
I always knew Paultons are crap

Paultons Park scoops double win at Loo of the Year Awards
The park triumphed in the National Water & Theme Park Award for England category, with eight of its facilities earning the top platinum plus honour.

Additionally, for the second consecutive year, the park has made it to the Champion’s League, a group of organisations with at least five diamond, platinum or platinum plus awards from a minimum of eight facilities.
(A Champions League of toilets?!)
 
I'm not surprised; there are plenty of them, they are all like new, any time of the day they are spotless, every single cubicle has a child and adult seat, and the men's have have baby change facilities which is infuriatingly rare.

It seems like a silly little thing but it's all this stuff that makes it so good.

My local motorway services (Thurrock) won the loo of the year award to much fanfare when they first opened. There's not much to be proud of in Thurrock. They are now just about the worst toilets you are ever likely to set foot in. 🤢🤮
 
Thameslink Rail said:
I always knew Paultons are crap

Paultons Park scoops double win at Loo of the Year Awards
The park triumphed in the National Water & Theme Park Award for England category, with eight of its facilities earning the top platinum plus honour.

Additionally, for the second consecutive year, the park has made it to the Champion’s League, a group of organisations with at least five diamond, platinum or platinum plus awards from a minimum of eight facilities.
(A Champions League of toilets?!)
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It amuses me that it’s someone’s job to go round evaluating toilet facilities for an annual award.
 
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