Paultons Park: General Discussion

[rob666]

All the queues there are never that long though...

 

[PhalanaxOperativeA1127]

Thought I would see what all your thoughts are on this.....

We all love Paultons, and I think it is the best themed park in the UK, but over the years what mistakes do you think they have made?

For me, it would be taking out the Wind In The Willows walk-through, I loved that attraction and couldn't believe they removed it! I wish they would bring it back!

Good question, they've got a lot right but not everything. No park can.

Personally, I think they've made 4 big mistakes. Well, not mistakes as such, but new development that hasn't ultimately landed that well for me.

1) the new entrance. It's an ugly building.
2) critter creek. Its OK but not at paultons recent standards.
3) the undercover seating area by the pirate ship and rio grade station. Useful, but again, ugly.
4) controversial, perhaps, but the way that buffalo falls is blended into tornado springs is poor.

I too, loved the Wind in the Willows as a kid. I also miss the magical forest walk through and the romany experience they used to have. The old hedge maze, the atsroglide, the bumper boats. The old kids kingdom play area. So many missed attractions for me, although I don't think it was necessarily a mistake to remove any of them, but I do miss them all.

 

[owenstreet7]

Thought I would see what all your thoughts are on this.....

We all love Paultons, and I think it is the best themed park in the UK, but over the years what mistakes do you think they have made?

For me, it would be taking out the Wind In The Willows walk-through, I loved that attraction and couldn't believe they removed it! I wish they would bring it back!

I think the mistakes Paultons have made in my opinion is.

1. Not focusing on enough all round family or family thrill rides (1m+) meaning there's not too much other than the coasters for older ones.
2. Removing Raging River in 2024 mid season without there being a suitable replacement ready until possibly 2027.
3. An oversaturation of Zierer Force/Tivoli coaster models.
4. The removal of Magma when there is a shortage of larger rides.
5. I wouldn't say that's a mistake but bringing in a Eurofighter in 2025 instead of around 2013/14. I've already said that a Eurofighter around that era would've been fantastic.

 

[Poisson]

I think the mistakes Paultons have made in my opinion is.

1. An oversaturation of Zierer Force/Tivoli coaster models.

Blasphemy

 

[Matt N]

Instinctively, I would say that the Gerstlauer Euro-Fighter for next year seems like it could be a potential misfire, particularly with the choice of OTSRs, but I’m willing to reserve full judgement on that one until it opens and people have ridden it.

In my personal view, I would also maybe say that Farmyard Flyer feels a little bit redundant. It is one of three smaller family coasters of a relatively similar style in the park, so by the time it was added, the park arguably already had ample coaster coverage in this area. It also isn’t up to much in terms of ride experience for me; I would say I quite comfortably prefer Cat-O-Pillar as a ride experience, even if the theming is absolutely gorgeous.

 

[MattBTP]

Just wanted to chime in on the controversial Euro Fighter.

There's probably a few reasons why they chose this:

The wanted a coaster to interact with Cobra, and I should imagine bits of Cobra will need to be disassembled and put back together again. They probably want Gerst to oversee/consult on this, and it makes sense to have them also design and manufacture the new coaster.

From experience, quite a few vendors have long wait times due to being extremely busy. Parks are having to wait for their slot (which currently the wait time can be a number of years depending on the vendor). It might be that Gerst had the availability to meet Paultons requirements. There are A LOT of unannounced projects in the ME that are currently in concept/design stage for example.

They have a limited budget and a Euro Fighter fits their budget, and required attraction scope (e.g. inversions)

Also, they just want that coaster type,

Will be interesting to see how it is received by the public once its opened.

 

[Zeock]

Thought I would see what all your thoughts are on this.....

We all love Paultons, and I think it is the best themed park in the UK, but over the years what mistakes do you think they have made?

For me, it would be taking out the Wind In The Willows walk-through, I loved that attraction and couldn't believe they removed it! I wish they would bring it back!

The playground in Tornado Springs is pretty poor.

 

[PhalanaxOperativeA1127]

The playground in Tornado Springs is pretty poor.

My kids love it, although my youngest has grown out of the smaller park there now!

 

[Enter Valhalla]

I’d say the only real mistake that Paultons has made in recent year is to install items that are functional rather than aesthetically pleasing.

Right now, the biggest issue is that Paultons is a mix of heavily themed lands with the pre-Magma style of simple, functional, but bland installations.

It’s actually quite remarkable how quickly Paultons changed from bland and functional to heavily themed. When you walk past the teacups and Kontiki ride and then in to Tornado Springs, this stark contrast is so obvious.

It’s definitely a huge change in focus, but let’s not forget that the new entrance area and the seating area around the stage are both fairly recent additions, and already look so out of place next to the heavily themed areas adjacent to them.

I won’t criticise them too much for Critter Creek and Magma because these were early attempts at theming and were done on a small budget, and to be honest they look fine.

 

[owenstreet7]

In my personal view, I would also maybe say that Farmyard Flyer feels a little bit redundant. It is one of three smaller family coasters of a relatively similar style in the park, so by the time it was added, the park arguably already had ample coaster coverage in this area. It also isn’t up to much in terms of ride experience for me; I would say I quite comfortably prefer Cat-O-Pillar as a ride experience, even if the theming is absolutely gorgeous.

To add to this, that is what I'm thinking

If the park wanted to add another family coaster, I think it would be amazing if it's a Mack Powered Coaster instead

Something that is slightly different from the Zierer Force/Tivoli models they have

Now onto Zierer, could we see a Zierer Star Shape eventually? (I'm not being serious on that)

 

[Themepark-newbie]

Pillar as a ride experience, even if the theming is absolutely gorgeous

I was wondering if Catopillar is earmarked for removal? We know Critter Creek isn't that good so perhaps this was/is the intention?

 

[Themeparksandy1981]

You got a lot of land there from the small train ride to the pirate ship if they wanted a new area or 2

 

[Dave]

Just wanted to chime in on the controversial Euro Fighter.

There's probably a few reasons why they chose this:

The wanted a coaster to interact with Cobra, and I should imagine bits of Cobra will need to be disassembled and put back together again. They probably want Gerst to oversee/consult on this, and it makes sense to have them also design and manufacture the new coaster.

From experience, quite a few vendors have long wait times due to being extremely busy. Parks are having to wait for their slot (which currently the wait time can be a number of years depending on the vendor). It might be that Gerst had the availability to meet Paultons requirements. There are A LOT of unannounced projects in the ME that are currently in concept/design stage for example.

They have a limited budget and a Euro Fighter fits their budget, and required attraction scope (e.g. inversions)

Also, they just want that coaster type,

Will be interesting to see how it is received by the public once its opened.

I don’t think there is any issue with them going with Gerst, but their small infinity coaster model would have been a far better option.

 

[Benzin]

Wonder if a ride like say Fury at Bobbie Jobbie Land was considered, but the cost of the launch system made them look at other options.

 

[East Coast Mariner]

We all love Paultons, and I think it is the best themed park in the UK, but over the years what mistakes do you think they have made?

Not so much mistakes, but three things I'm not keen on:

1) The park is cashless, which cheesed me off a bit when I went to buy something last year. And thinking about it, absolutely everywhere accepted cash when I was on the Isle of Wight recently, so I don't really like that.

2) I think they have added an awful lot without actually bettering Cobra. Flight of the Pterosaur is great, but I didn't love Storm Chaser, Velociraptor or Farmyard Flyer (although of course, that is not meant to be better). So what would beat Cobra? Well, something similar-but-bigger, such as a woodie or Gerstlauer Airtime Coaster (like Mecalodon). Their strategy is clearly to get variety instead, which I don't think is a "mistake", as such, but I'd prefer it if they got something that is comprehensively better.

3) This might be a very controversial one - I think the park was better before it was themed. I recently saw a picture of the Tornado Springs area before it became that, and I thought it was much nicer. I like rides, sure, but to me they're better placed amongst trees and greenery than fibreglass theming, with loud music blaring out.

Don't get me wrong, I love the park and don't think it's overrated at all, operations-wise. With things like Super Fans Day, you can feel the kindness they have. But it's troubling me a bit that I thought it was just as good in 2007 as it was in 2024, that's all.

 

[jon81uk]

The park is cashless, which cheesed me off a bit when I went to buy something last year.

A lot of places are going this way. It reduces cash theft by staff and similar issues. Also lower insurance costs when you don’t need to worry about securing cash. Generally in London I’ve come across a lot of places that are cashless now, especially smaller businesses who don’t want to worry about taking cash to the bank and the time and effort that takes.

 

[Bowser]

A lot of places are going this way. It reduces cash theft by staff and similar issues. Also lower insurance costs when you don’t need to worry about securing cash. Generally in London I’ve come across a lot of places that are cashless now, especially smaller businesses who don’t want to worry about taking cash to the bank and the time and effort that takes.

I don’t think I’ve handled cash in the UK since before the pandemic. In fact the only occasion I can think of coincidentally is the Alton Towers Water Park archaic lockers still requiring 20p meaning I had to withdraw £10 just to then request £9.80 in change. Two years later the 20p still sits in my car only to be used on those visits

Cash on your person is never great at theme parks anyway. I remember when Adventure Island had an upside down pirate ship and it would rain coins down on everyone.

 

[Hid]

Cash is also not so good for rides either if a coin were to fall into Cobras Motor, Rita or Stealths Launch Cable or even into Flat rides like Submission it can cause havoc

 

[Matt N]

I honestly find it a nuisance to have to use cash these days. I very rarely have cash of any quantity on me now!

The only place where I still regularly use cash is at the hairdresser, and that’s only because their card machine broke and they refused to buy a new one. As a result of my haircut not costing a uniform amount ending in a 5 or a 0, I often gain a good few coins in change from a haircut (which admittedly come in useful to placate people asking for money in the middle of Cardiff!), but I hardly ever carry notes anymore.

I find it so much easier to just tap my bank card than have to fiddle around with notes and/or coins in my wallet!

Maybe they should offer the option of cash payments for people who don’t like or trust banks (I know a few, particularly among the older generations), but for someone like me, I honestly find it more of a nuisance to ever be forced to use cash!

 

[rob666]

I'm old.
My punters are older.
Most insist on paying me cash, two even still pay me with cheques!
Cash is often easier and more convenient to me...because it is already there in my pocket.
Twice at aldi recently the card readers were down...I got to jump the queue!
Theme parks are easy, and I love using up "useless" cash on the bar in Crevettes, right down to giving a thruppeny bit as a tip.
Cash can be managed on parks.
You have zips on your pockets in your rollercoaster trousers.
Simple.

Completely off topic in the Paultons topic.
Again.

Paultons biggest fault...too far south!