Paultons Park: General Discussion

[East Coast Mariner]

How did I know someone was going to make the Tivoli reference?

Perhaps I should have put *recent* major coaster additions, and by recent I would say in the last 20 years- the UK’s first Gerstlauer bobsled, the UK’s first Verona family suspended coaster, the UK’s first Mack spinning coaster and the UK’s second junior Boomerang. I would class this new addition as fitting into the major new coaster category, so a bog-standard Eurofighter with shoulder bars is the exception to the rule. I didn’t think I needed to explain that so specifically, but I have now anyway

I don't think the Force coasters are that much like the Tivolis, anyway, to be honest. The Tivolis tend to have much longer trains, and are actually quite a bit better, in my opinion.

You see, that’s interesting, because I fear that a conservative choice like a Gerstlauer Euro-Fighter won’t grab people’s attention enough to shake off the reputation of the park solely being “Peppa Pig World”.

Without a doubt, Peppa Pig World was, and still is, successful. Hugely successful, in fact. None of the expansions in the last 10-15 years at Paultons would have happened without it, and it has been the making of Paultons as a park. That’s undeniable.

But one thing I do think Peppa Pig has done is limited the park’s appeal among older audiences. Rightly or wrongly, Paultons does have a perception of being “Peppa Pig World” among the general populace (where I live, anyway), so when you say to someone older who isn’t so into parks about Paultons, the response is “isn’t it just full of baby rides?” and they’re put off visiting as an adult group or even as a slightly older family because Paultons equals Peppa Pig in their mind. The rest of the park is currently not well-known enough outside of enthusiast circles to shake that reputation for older guests.

I was really hoping that 2026 would bring a unique, innovative headline coaster that would grab people’s attention and help to reinforce to older audiences that Paultons is more than just Peppa Pig. With Drakon being the 4th Euro-Fighter built in the UK and not exactly reinventing the wheel or bringing anything new to the table compared to the other three, I’m doubtful that it will grab attention sufficiently to do that. Something a bit more unique might have done.

Yes, I see what you mean. On the one hand, theme park goers will have seen and ridden Euro Fighters before, particularly at Thorpe and Southend. On the other hand, it will still be quite a thrilling ride. It sort of reminds me of the Vekoma Boomerangs. How much does the thrill of the ride compensate for their familiarity?

I'm thinking of "leaflet appeal", mainly. When people see the leaflets, and the inversion or drop of Drakon on them, it will send a clear message that the park now has some real thrills. Paultons is quite a weird park, arguably, in that there's a massive discrepancy between what different guests are there for. You can have the park fairly busy and almost all of them are there for Peppa Pig World. I've never really seen that sort of thing anywhere else, to that extent. Cobra and Storm Chaser are family-thrill, and I'm tempted to put Velociraptor and Flight of the Pterosaur more in that category as well (rather than "family"), but I rather suspect they haven't attracted as wide an audience as they might. I do think the Euro Fighter will do that, as much as I'd have preferred quite a few other things, personally.

 

[GooseOnTheLoose]

and by recent I would say in the last 20 years

Farmyard Flyer, the successor of the Zierer Tivoli, is the park's newest and most recent coaster opening just three years ago.

 

[TedShatner10]

The elephant in the room here is the dramatic overhaul of the Cobra into Raven, interesting to see what the theming for that will be, so you've got two solid roller coasters alongside maybe two flatrides (the Edge is starting to get long the tooth).

 

[Enter Valhalla]

Farmyard Flyer, the successor of the Zierer Tivoli, is the park's newest and most recent coaster opening just three years ago.

I’m not sure if you’re just deliberately being pedantic now for comedy effect, but I implicitly said that the major coasters at Paultons have been UK firsts (ie not Farmyard Flyer) Also in my original post, I said that Paultons’ new coasters have tended to be unique for the UK.

Yes, some of the smaller support coasters have been Tivolis, but all the major coaster projects in the past 20 years have been pretty unique to the UK, so a Eurofighter is the exception to the rule. Again, I really didn’t think I needed to explain this in so much detail.

 

[TedShatner10]

What Enter Valhalla is saying is that Drakon is a somewhat conservative choice roughly a decade+ out of date for a thrill coaster in comparison to the more unusual Storm Chaser family thrill coaster (that's still relatively recent).

I don't think the Drakon coaster will be the "flagship" coaster for the Viking area and that'll be the 2027 project (like SAW is next to Hyperia in the same section of Thorpe Park, but on a slightly smaller scale).

 

[GooseOnTheLoose]

all the major coaster projects in the past 20 years have been pretty unique to the UK, so a Eurofighter is the exception to the rule. Again, I really didn’t think I needed to explain this in so much detail.

You can't be "pretty unique", it's a binary choice. Something is either unique, or it isn't, there is no middle ground.

The point you're trying to make isn't unusual for UK theme parks, with most of the major parks having installed unique ride types for their major coaster installations, within the past 20 years.

Drayton Manor Park and Zoo, in the past 20 years, installed the UK's first Maurer X-Car, the UK's first Gerstlauer family coaster, the UK's first Vekoka Family Boomerang and the UK's first Intamin Lift and Launch coaster.

Flamingo Land, in the past 20 years, installed the UK's first Vekoma Motorbike coaster, the UK's first S&S El-Loco coaster and the UK's first Zamperla Volare coaster.

Alton Towers, in the past 20 years, has installed the UK's first Intamin Multi-Dimension coaster, the UK's first Gerstlauer Infinity coaster and the UK's first GCI wooden coaster.

I could go on, but it's also worth pointing out that none of these parks have three Zierer Tivoli type coasters, which I guess makes Paulton's Park unique in that regard.

 

[PhalanaxOperativeA1127]

I don't think the GP give two hoots whether a coaster is a UK first or not; all they'll care about is whether it looks good, or looks fun to ride.

Again, we're confusing enthusiasts opinion vs that of the general public.

 

[Plastic Person]

Theme park enthusiasm, as a 'lifestyle', is a much larger and more accessible interest than it was even a decade ago. Which means that, yes, people will probably still flock to try this as a new ride that "looks fun". But in many cases, they will be aware that it resembles and rides like very similar coasters less than a couple of hours east.

PP has excelled in recent years precisely by differentiating itself from its competitors, so this will always strike me as a disappointing move given the diversity of the market and what's possible these days, even within the context of a family park. In particular, when I saw footage of the new Mack Big Dipper at Fantasiana, I did begin to rue their choice in this instance. But I'm sure it will be well presented nonetheless.

 

[Enter Valhalla]

You can't be "pretty unique", it's a binary choice. Something is either unique, or it isn't, there is no middle ground.

The point you're trying to make isn't unusual for UK theme parks, with most of the major parks having installed unique ride types for their major coaster installations, within the past 20 years.

Drayton Manor Park and Zoo, in the past 20 years, installed the UK's first Maurer X-Car, the UK's first Gerstlauer family coaster, the UK's first Vekoka Family Boomerang and the UK's first Intamin Lift and Launch coaster.

Flamingo Land, in the past 20 years, installed the UK's first Vekoma Motorbike coaster, the UK's first S&S El-Loco coaster and the UK's first Zamperla Volare coaster.

Alton Towers, in the past 20 years, has installed the UK's first Intamin Multi-Dimension coaster, the UK's first Gerstlauer Infinity coaster and the UK's first GCI wooden coaster.

I could go on, but it's also worth pointing out that none of these parks have three Zierer Tivoli type coasters, which I guess makes Paulton's Park unique in that regard.

When did I ever say anything about other UK parks?

I think you’re missing the whole point I was making here.

 

[Bowser]

I don't think the GP give two hoots whether a coaster is a UK first or not; all they'll care about is whether it looks good, or looks fun to ride

I think if it’s a genuine first they do. Alton Towers most successful period was partly founded on such rides and the marketing often focused on it.

Now it’s a case of diminishing returns when the firsts are increasingly tenuous, with Drayton Manor in particular excelling in this regard.

 

[GooseOnTheLoose]

When did I ever say anything about other UK parks?

In your original post:

Paultons have previously tended to go with quite unique models for their new coasters - unique for the UK at least

In order for a model to be "unique for the UK at least" it can't feature at another UK park, which creates the comparison.

I think you’re missing the whole point I was making here.

The point you were making was contentious at best and isn't borne out by the park's track record.

Out of the six family coasters the park will have built in the past 20 years (which is commendable on its own), only three of them are unique models to the UK. That's a unique rate of 50%, which is much lower compared to most other major parks in the country.

Paulton's Park has never gone for particularly exciting or ground breaking coaster models, that's not their bag. They excel at presenting fairly middle of the road installations in an impressive and immersive way (excluding the world's first NCP inspired coaster station).

Even if the park did tend "to go with quite unique models for their new coasters", this isn't out of step with other parks or operators and is fairly standard practice.

firsts are increasingly tenuous, with Drayton Manor in particular excelling in this regard.

"the first in the UK to feature a backward launch into an outdoor gravity track" was a particular Drayton Manor Park and Zoo favourite of mine.

 

[TedShatner10]

Theme park enthusiasm, as a 'lifestyle', is a much larger and more accessible interest than it was even a decade ago. Which means that, yes, people will probably still flock to try this as a new ride that "looks fun". But in many cases, they will be aware that it resembles and rides like very similar coasters less than a couple of hours east.

I don't think we should treat it as the stand out coaster, but as a decent enough experimental, lower risk thrill coaster to accommodate the 2027 ride with the larger outline by the old go kart track.

Again, I think Paultons are still on the right track in creating a more fully rounded park similar to Altons or Efterling (not skewed towards giant thrills like Thorpe Park or a Six Flags resort).

 

[Enter Valhalla]

In your original post:

In order for a model to be "unique for the UK at least" it can't feature at another UK park, which creates the comparison.

The point you were making was contentious at best and isn't borne out by the park's track record.

Out of the six family coasters the park will have built in the past 20 years (which is commendable on its own), only three of them are unique models to the UK. That's a unique rate of 50%, which is much lower compared to most other major parks in the country.

Paulton's Park has never gone for particularly exciting or ground breaking coaster models, that's not their bag. They excel at presenting fairly middle of the road installations in an impressive and immersive way (excluding the world's first NCP inspired coaster station).

Even if the park did tend "to go with quite unique models for their new coasters", this isn't out of step with other parks or operators and is fairly standard practice.


"the first in the UK to feature a backward launch into an outdoor gravity track" was a particular Drayton Manor Park and Zoo favourite of mine.

If you say so

A standard Eurofighter is different to the mostly unique major coasters that Paultons have installed in the past 20 years, hence why I was surprised why they made such a conservative decision.

Not saying it was the right decision, not saying it was the wrong one. Just surprising.

 

[TedShatner10]

Well Gerst was the company who installed the Cobra, they've been re-appointed to upgrade the Cobra into the Raven, so Paultons decided to contract them to install the Drakon within the budget too (but it still got a vertical drop and a couple of inversions on a bargain).

 

[Matt N]

I have no issues with Gerstlauer being the manufacturer. Granted, I’m yet to ride a Gerst that I overly rate, but some of the newer ones do look pretty good. If this had been a Gerstlauer Infinity Coaster with lap bars, or one of Gerstlauer’s family coasters (maybe something like Mecalodon?), I’d have been thrilled!

It’s the fact they’ve chosen a Euro-Fighter, and one with OTSRs at that, that lessens my excitement so significantly. The general consensus is that Euro-Fighters with OTSRs are average at best and quite unpleasant at worst, and while I’ve only ridden Saw and the late Speed, I didn’t overly rate either. I admit that I don’t hate them as much as some, and I certainly wouldn’t put them down there with an SLC or a Volare, but they’re not something I would rave about or consider among my favourite coasters either.

Putting that aside, I also feel that the Euro-Fighter as a model, particularly with OTSRs, is a little bit dated for larger parks. The very few parks that have recently installed Euro-Fighters are much smaller parks than Paultons, and for those smaller parks that lack budget, I think a Euro-Fighter is a fine choice. But Paultons is a park that has shown great potential to enter the big leagues of UK parks, and with that in mind, I think they need to be slightly more ahead of the curve if they want to enter those big leagues. When Thorpe, Oakwood and Adventure Island built their Euro-Fighters, the model was at least somewhat on trend among major parks… but in 2026, when 3 Euro-Fighters have already been built in the UK including two that are arguably more impressive, the choice feels about 10-15 years behind the curve.

My disappointment stems from the fact that Paultons has recently proven itself to be a really savvy, forward-thinking park, and I was hoping for something slightly more ambitious and modern with this in mind. As much as I applaud the park for trying an inverting thrill coaster, a Euro-Fighter with OTSRs feels like quite a dated and regressive choice for a forward-thinking park that has big league aspirations like Paultons.

I also question the decision to have OTSRs; while I do understand the rationale, I think it’s based on outdated orthodoxy that other rides in the UK such as The Wave, Icon and Hyperia have proven wrong. Paultons have proven themselves to not be afraid of challenging UK industry orthodoxy in plenty of other regards, so I’d have expected them to be the sort of forward-thinking park that would want to introduce inverting with lap bars to its market and am disappointed that they’ve succumbed to the status quo on this one.