Paultons Park: General Discussion

[Skyscraper]

Was headed to Towers on Saturday and stopped at Knutsford Services, was taken aback to see an advert for Dino Splash pop up on the digital advertising screen just before the entrance.

Great to see the park so positive about it's future and able to make big announcements for 2025 and 2026.

I stopped off at Watford Gap services (around two hours from the park) on the way home yesterday and was surprised to see an advert for Splash Lagoon pop up on the electronic advertising board too!

 

[Ash]

Hard to disagree with any of this.

Paultons has been voted the best theme park in the UK 5 years running on Trip Advisor too (amongst other accolades), so whatever value you give to that i think it illustrates that satisfaction levels extend well beyond any alleged tribalism that exists on dedicated forums like this.

Seems somewhat symbolic that Paultons opened a delightfully themed flume ride this year whilst Merlin have multiple rollercoasters that looked like building sites. You'd think it's a no-brainer from looking at parks like Disney, Europa and now Paultons that when you take pride in your presentation and operations, people will adore your park.

The metaphor for Alton Towers is how they’ve treated the grade 1 listed gardens and towers.

Let it go to rack and ruin. Both of them.

It’s a simple question, but what would they look like that if they were owned by Europa Park or Paultons?

As others have said, Alton or the Merlin parks in general have had the same or less quality additions since the 90s. They’ve certainly not progressed. Meanwhile everywhere else has kicked on with better rounded attractions, better theming, more detailed buildings etc.

There’s a reason attendances have stagnated.

 

[Skyscraper]

What I will say actually to any adult who who is going soon, is don't be afraid to ride Splash Lagoon. It might be a small flume (that only seats one adult per boat) but the theming is excellent and there is so much to see (including animatronic dinos!) and the soundtrack is great too. Plus I found it can actually be wetter than the bigger flume across the park! It truly is an excellent addition and well worth a ride.
And to think it was only a minor investment is mind-blowing.

 

[rob666]

Meanwhile everywhere else has kicked on with better rounded attractions, better theming, more detailed buildings etc.

There’s a reason attendances have stagnated.

Everywhere else?

Welcome to Blackpool.

 

[The Big Mack]

The impression I get is that Paultons want to be the very best at what they do. This ethos is clear in every aspect of what they do. They have no interest in being the next Energylandia, becoming the coaster capital of the UK, becoming a resort, beating Merlin’s attendance etc.

They want to be a good quality family theme park, and I’d say that not having the huge aspirations actually helps them be the best at what they do. They can focus on being good at what they do well, rather than putting their efforts into being something bigger.

Ironically, in the past 20 years, they’ve become something bigger and better by gradually expanding, rather than doing what many other parks do in making big statement new investments which they can’t really afford and which end up costing them in the long run. Paultons are sensible, they have ambition, but ultimately they put quality ahead of aggressive expansion.

It's actually in their 'vision statement' to be 'the best at what we do' (presented to us at the Super Fans Day), and it shines through with every new investment, the quality of their food and restaurants, to how friendly and personable their staff are. I have zero doubts that they'll be the best non-Universal theme park in the country by 2030 or 2031. They are the definition of a quality day out, and that quality is only going to improve more so over the coming years, every new investment regardless of them being minor or bigger investments gives them new lessons to learn from, meaning the same mistakes of Critter Creek are never repeated, and they echoed this loud and clear to us at the fan event. Then we have Merlin who regress into new mistakes whenever something new does hit the parks... we're so lucky to have Paultons, they honestly do show the Merlin parks up and are deserving of cannibalizing Merlin's market share as much as possible over the coming years.

 

[LF22]

What mistakes were they referring to with Critter Creek?

 

[Shaggy_Dog_]

... meaning the same mistakes of Critter Creek are never repeated, and they echoed this loud and clear to us at the fan event.

What were the mistakes of Critter Creek? I think it's a bit of a weird are with a strange look that isn't the most appealing but did the park specifically comment on this at the fans day?

Edit - Just beaten to it by the post above asking the same question.

 

[TPick]

Blimey, all the vloggers in the same place at the same time would have driven me nuts

 

[Skyscraper]

Blimey, all the vloggers in the same place at the same time would have driven me nuts

Hope you're not going to Hyperia's opening this week then mate

 

[TPick]

Hope you're not going to Hyperia's opening next week then mate

Surprisingly, no . Though I am sure it would be amusing to watch the mad dash to the ride once the gates open.

 

[BooMT]

What mistakes were they referring to with Critter Creek?

Lawrence did directly refer to 'learning from the mistakes of Critters Creek' but didn't expand as to what they may be. I think it's a quirky, cute area on the whole but now starting to feel a little prematurely dated and everything seems packed in a bit too tightly, it's quite a small area. Cat-o-Pillar in its previous form (the Stinger!) was my first 'proper' coaster & what gave me the coaster bug so I was glad they kept it when they rethemed the area. It would be interesting to find out what the learns were!

 

[Rowe]

I like to think their biggest mistake re Critters Creek was removing the delightfully twee Wind in the Willows walkthrough by the coaster formerly known as The Stinger. But that might just me, because it was one of my favourite attractions.

 

[rob666]

Hope you're not going to Hyperia's opening next week then mate

Keep up, this week!

 

[Benjsh]

As it so happens, Motiongate Dubai does have a Mack Inverted Power Coaster themed to How To Train Your Dragon



/end tangent

It does indeed. We first rode it in 2022 and we are back there again in a week's time. Excited to get back on it.

This type of coaster is badly needed in the UK somewhere. It offers enough of a thrill for the whole family but the opportunity for theming and story telling makes it an instant hit with all who rode it.

I loved Arthur too at Europa. Amazing ride.

 

[Matt N]

The recurring Merlin vs Paultons debate is an interesting one. I personally feel, however, that there is far more nuance to it than “Paultons good, Merlin bad”.

I won’t deny that Paultons does a lot of things right. It is a supremely pleasant park to visit and spend time in, it offers a pleasant experience in most regards, and their recent investments of the last decade or so have mostly been good, well-rounded and well-themed. I thoroughly enjoyed my one visit there in 2021, and I do think that the park deserves praise and has an exciting future ahead of it. It’s definitely one of the strongest non-Merlin parks in the country for me, it has an excellent product, it has a greatly promising future, and given the widespread praise on here and through the likes of TripAdvisor, whatever they’re doing is evidently working well.

However, I do not agree with the instant declarations that the park is the best park in the UK and that it’s miles ahead of Merlin in every regard or whatever. I think this misses some of the deeper nuance present in the debate. I feel that there are fundamental differences between Paultons and the Merlin parks, as well as certain avenues tackled by Merlin that Paultons are yet to properly tackle and certain elements of Paultons’ current experience that may be caused or at least aided by its relative smaller size.

The first thing I would say is that there are thematic and immersion-related areas Paultons are yet to tackle that I think Merlin has shown signs of great proficiency in, albeit not necessarily consistent proficiency. As an example, Paultons are yet to tackle a properly large-scale, heavily themed dark ride project like The Curse at Alton Manor (Ghostly Manor will be an interesting exhibit of their proficiency in this regard). Perhaps controversially, I also feel that they are yet to attempt proper immersive, theatrical coaster theming in the manner that some Merlin coasters have done really well. As excellently themed and polished as the likes of Tornado Springs are, Paultons have not yet produced a heavily themed coaster experience with quite the theatre, spectacle and overall immersive experience of something like Wicker Man or Nemesis Reborn. Wicker Man has a giant, 60ft fire-breathing structure at its centre, a pre-show, themed tunnels with smoke effects, a heavily themed and theatrically lit station, details strewn all around its queue, and a clearly told, but not overbearing, narrative. Nemesis Reborn has the giant animatronic eye, the various helicopters and big props with movement and sound, the theatrically lit and heavily themed station with the dispatch sequence, the queue with all the props littered around it, the tentacles all around the area and such. People may not agree with me on this, but I don’t think Paultons have done properly theatrical, immersive coaster theming with spectacle on this level. As well-themed and well finished off as some of Paultons’ recent work is, I don’t think they’ve yet done immersive theatre and spectacle on the level of some of Merlin’s best work.

Another thing I would say, which kind of links in with the first point, is that as excellent as their recent investments are, I don’t think Paultons has yet done anything overly ground-breaking or complex in the grand scheme of things. They’re yet to build a proper custom coaster, and Storm Chaser is their only coaster to have more than 1 full-size train. Nothing they’ve currently done rides-wise has been overly ground-breaking, whereas Merlin, for all the flaws of some of their projects, do churn out custom rides that are quite often very unique and bring something new and interesting to the table.

I would also say that Paultons is a small park with no overly complex rides and a possible skew towards Peppa Pig among its visitor base, and this may aid some often praised aspects of the experience it offers. As an example, people often praise its short to nonexistent queue times. I’d wager that the lower attendance and possible skew towards Peppa Pig may be significant contributing factors to the low queues for the park’s bigger rides. If the park was bigger and/or had attendance less skewed towards Peppa Pig, I don’t think the park’s thrilling rides would necessarily still be a low-queue utopia. Even now, I’ve seen and heard of some queues in Peppa Pig World getting quite long during peak periods. The low complexity of the rides may also aid the often praised low downtime at Paultons; if Paultons had more complex rides to maintain like some of the Merlin parks, would the downtime situation still be quite so idyllic? Plenty of praised aspects of the guest experience are of course conscious decisions by the park themselves, but I think it’s fair to acknowledge that some aspects may be aided by the park’s inherent attributes.

Overall, I think they’re very different animals and hard to directly compare. Paultons is doing very, very well for a smaller, independent UK park, and I think they have a brilliant product and a very promising future, but I think that their lesser scale of operation compared to the Merlin parks does become apparent in some ways when you directly compare the two. The Merlin parks do operate on a completely different scale in most aspects, and I think this does become apparent when you look at things such as the major investments.

For clarity, I’m not saying that Merlin are perfect or that Paultons don’t deserve praise by any means. I think there are aspects of Merlin’s guest experience and operations that could be improved, and there are aspects that Paultons does beat them on, in my view. I’m merely expressing reasons why I don’t wholly agree with the common view that Paultons are trouncing Merlin and why I feel that it’s important to consider the additional nuance rather than just go “Paultons good, Merlin bad”. I apologise if anything I’ve said is controversial or wrong; that’s simply my view based on my own experiences and what I know.
TL;DR: I feel that there is far more nuance to the Paultons vs Merlin debate than simply saying “Paultons good, Merlin bad”. I think it’s important to consider that Paultons have not yet done anything overly complex or any kind of theatrical theming or heavily themed dark rides like Merlin at their best have done, and I also feel that the park’s smaller size and visitor composition may be important to consider when talking about some aspects of their guest experience.

 

[TPick]

I like to think their biggest mistake re Critters Creek was removing the delightfully twee Wind in the Willows walkthrough by the coaster formerly known as The Stinger. But that might just me, because it was one of my favourite attractions.

Think it was outside of Critter Creek area, but wish they had kept Jumping Bean and Jumping Jack.

 

[rob666]

The recurring Merlin vs Paultons debate is an interesting one. I personally feel, however, that there is far more nuance to it than “Paultons good, Merlin bad”.

I won’t deny that Paultons does a lot of things right. It is a supremely pleasant park to visit and spend time in, it offers a pleasant experience in most regards, and their recent investments of the last decade or so have mostly been good, well-rounded and well-themed. I thoroughly enjoyed my one visit there in 2021, and I do think that the park deserves praise and has an exciting future ahead of it. It’s definitely one of the strongest non-Merlin parks in the country for me, it has an excellent product, it has a greatly promising future, and given the widespread praise on here and through the likes of TripAdvisor, whatever they’re doing is evidently working well.

However, I do not agree with the instant declarations that the park is the best park in the UK and that it’s miles ahead of Merlin in every regard or whatever. I think this misses some of the deeper nuance present in the debate. I feel that there are fundamental differences between Paultons and the Merlin parks, as well as certain avenues tackled by Merlin that Paultons are yet to properly tackle and certain elements of Paultons’ current experience that may be caused or at least aided by its relative smaller size.

The first thing I would say is that there are thematic and immersion-related areas Paultons are yet to tackle that I think Merlin has shown signs of great proficiency in, albeit not necessarily consistent proficiency. As an example, Paultons are yet to tackle a properly large-scale, heavily themed dark ride project like The Curse at Alton Manor (Ghostly Manor will be an interesting exhibit of their proficiency in this regard). Perhaps controversially, I also feel that they are yet to attempt proper immersive, theatrical coaster theming in the manner that some Merlin coasters have done really well. As excellently themed and polished as the likes of Tornado Springs are, Paultons have not yet produced a heavily themed coaster experience with quite the theatre, spectacle and overall immersive experience of something like Wicker Man or Nemesis Reborn. Wicker Man has a giant, 60ft fire-breathing structure at its centre, a pre-show, themed tunnels with smoke effects, a heavily themed and theatrically lit station, details strewn all around its queue, and a clearly told, but not overbearing, narrative. Nemesis Reborn has the giant animatronic eye, the various helicopters and big props with movement and sound, the theatrically lit and heavily themed station with the dispatch sequence, the queue with all the props littered around it, the tentacles all around the area and such. People may not agree with me on this, but I don’t think Paultons have done properly theatrical, immersive coaster theming with spectacle on this level. As well-themed and well finished off as some of Paultons’ recent work is, I don’t think they’ve yet done immersive theatre and spectacle on the level of some of Merlin’s best work.

Another thing I would say, which kind of links in with the first point, is that as excellent as their recent investments are, I don’t think Paultons has yet done anything overly ground-breaking or complex in the grand scheme of things. They’re yet to build a proper custom coaster, and Storm Chaser is their only coaster to have more than 1 full-size train. Nothing they’ve currently done rides-wise has been overly ground-breaking, whereas Merlin, for all the flaws of some of their projects, do churn out custom rides that are quite often very unique and bring something new and interesting to the table.

I would also say that Paultons is a small park with no overly complex rides and a possible skew towards Peppa Pig among its visitor base, and this may aid some often praised aspects of the experience it offers. As an example, people often praise its short to nonexistent queue times. I’d wager that the lower attendance and possible skew towards Peppa Pig may be significant contributing factors to the low queues for the park’s bigger rides. If the park was bigger and/or had attendance less skewed towards Peppa Pig, I don’t think the park’s thrilling rides would necessarily still be a low-queue utopia. Even now, I’ve seen and heard of some queues in Peppa Pig World getting quite long during peak periods. The low complexity of the rides may also aid the often praised low downtime at Paultons; if Paultons had more complex rides to maintain like some of the Merlin parks, would the downtime situation still be quite so idyllic? Plenty of praised aspects of the guest experience are of course conscious decisions by the park themselves, but I think it’s fair to acknowledge that some aspects may be aided by the park’s inherent attributes.

Overall, I think they’re very different animals and hard to directly compare. Paultons is doing very, very well for a smaller, independent UK park, and I think they have a brilliant product and a very promising future, but I think that their lesser scale of operation compared to the Merlin parks does become apparent in some ways when you directly compare the two. The Merlin parks do operate on a completely different scale in most aspects, and I think this does become apparent when you look at things such as the major investments.

For clarity, I’m not saying that Merlin are perfect or that Paultons don’t deserve praise by any means. I think there are aspects of Merlin’s guest experience and operations that could be improved, and there are aspects that Paultons does beat them on, in my view. I’m merely expressing reasons why I don’t wholly agree with the common view that Paultons are trouncing Merlin and why I feel that it’s important to consider the additional nuance rather than just go “Paultons good, Merlin bad”. I apologise if anything I’ve said is controversial or wrong; that’s simply my view based on my own experiences and what I know.

That one needed one of your nice bold summaries Matt.

 

[Bowser]

I’d wager that the lower attendance and possible skew towards Peppa Pig may be significant contributing factors to the low queues for the park’s bigger rides

Just to pick up on this, it’s been said that Paultons deliberately keep attendances lower by charging more to facilitate a better customer experience.

They also do an excellent job of keeping all rides available or advertise closures up to 18 months in advance!

We can argue about ride complexity but that’s not the customers problem, it’s the parks duty to maintain their rides.

Storm Chaser is their only coaster to have more than 1 full-size train

I’ve never seen Storm Chaser run on more than one train. Is there even room on the brake run to do so?

 

[Matt N]

I’ve never seen Storm Chaser run on more than one train. Is there even room on the brake run to do so?

Storm Chaser does have the capability to run 2 trains, and is indeed supposedly capable of 1,000pph when it does so.

That one needed one of your nice bold summaries Matt.

Thanks for pointing that out, Rob; I’ll add one!

 

[Skyscraper]

I’ve never seen Storm Chaser run on more than one train. Is there even room on the brake run to do so?

Pretty sure they can run two if required but it probably never gets busy enough. We actually got to see them swap the trains over during the behind the scenes tour, was very cool watching the lift go up and down from the mech bay!