Could anyone that attended be so kind to do a little recap of the day please and especially what was said (and shown) in the presentation?
The park itself was on the quiet side, until just after lunchtime when it seemed to get slightly busier. We had complimentary entry, and it was the first time I'd visited since I was a gosling.
We came across a very well presented, very small, park aimed at young families. I was incredibly surprised to see most of the rides running with one op, sometimes two, including some of the larger ones. Throughout was slow, in terms of technical numbers, but the spread of visitors meant that no queue really reached about 15 mins. The short ride length helps, of course.
At 1715 we registered at the diner in Tornado Springs and split off into groups to go and see some behind the scenes stuff of a ride of our choice. We chose the Flight of the Pterosaur, having seen the size of the other two groups, but accidentally ended up with lots of vloggers around us filming content. I get it, vloggers gotta vlog, but it did get a little annoying for those who were present in the moment and trying to enjoy the experience.
We got to walk around the station freely, the last helix and up to (but not on) the lift hill. We got to go into the ops booth and ask an engineer, who was on hand, lots and lots of nerdy questions about things like wheel compounds and, hypothetically, he thought an inverted coaster could develop a rattle.
At 1800 extra evening ride time opened up in Tornado Springs, with everything running. Rides were had. I hate yous were screamed at partners who made the other do gyro swings. The usual.
1900 was a buffet dinner. It was beige. It was incredibly salty. The drinks were not complimentary. Conspiracy hat on, I don't think this was entirely a coincidence. Was a little sad to not see any salad, or vegetarian, or anything that wasn't deep fried, or even free water being handed out easily. Only slight downside to the event; but catering can be tricky at the best of times.
At 1930 we sat down for a presentation and a sneaky peak of what was to come. We were held up a little, because they wanted to ensure that UK Vlogger of the Year was in attendance, as he'd snuck an extra ride on Storm Chaser, and so had to wait until he was in attendance.
Our hosts went over a little of Paulton's history, what its values are and missions. Where it's been, how it sees itself. Some bits and bobs about green investment. How they've realised that they need to cater for the kids who grow up with Pepper, and keep them coming back to the park for as long as possible.
We were shown a short video for the new ride for 2025, Ghostly Manor, and a small presentation video. Incidentally, when we were leaving the site of the old 4D Cinema had ghostly sounds coming from it. Exactly ride and model are to be confirmed at IAPPA.
The inverted Vikings clip was then shown.
They refused to answer any questions about any sort of wooden coaster coming to Paulton's. There was then a brief q&a. Shout out to
@Rowe, but not much insight from there (not Rowe's fault).
The silent disco then kicked up, but we decided to leave. It had been a long day, and we thoroughly enjoyed it. I did spy two people in matching dungarees as we were leaving though
@sock, but I was a little too tired to say hello and they appeared to want to leave and go home too. I'd have been a little more sociable with people, but my other half was struggling a little with the amount of cameras around.
Great day, thanks for the invite, must do it again sometime. I'd suggest mine, but I don't have any rollercoasters.
🪿