TS North: 13 - 14 July 2013

[Joel]

I can't seem to make my mind up if I'm going or not, I really have no love for either of the parks, and can't seem to find any cheap deals to get in to Flamingoland either (as I have work on the Sunday... grrr!).

If anyone does want a voucher, the only decent one I can source is this 3-for-2 from Yorkshire travel board. Awkward amount though :/

http://www.yorkshire.com/offers/Flamingo-Land-Theme-Park-and-Zoo/207

 

[Ian]

I'll be there just for the Saturday

 

[Cheese]

Does anybody have an accommodation space available for this, and if not, is anybody else that would need a room considering going? I'm thinking of making the trek oop north, but would need to do both days to justify it (and potentially stay on Friday night too).

 

[blackholes crow]

scratch that last post works got me in a pickle im working in oxford over the weekend (cry's like a baby)

 

[WillG]

That 3 for 2 saves £8.50 compared to booking online, so it's worth doing - but has everyone else already got their tickets; I'm looking for a third person to share the offer with
My plan for the Sunday varies depending on how next week is shaping up for me, but still a definite for Flamingo, there's new coasters to be got, and both parks are always very pleasant in this weather

Some sort of plan for meeting at Flamingo would be useful as well

 

[Ian]

I'll join you in that 3 for 2 if the offer still stands

As for meeting I don't really know Flamingo Land, but I'd suggest perhaps meeting at the entrance just before opening, unless anyone else has a better alternative?

 

[WillG]

^
Yeah, that all sounds like a good plan to me, no problem;I've printed off the voucher and I'll probably be at FL for a bit before 10 - staying in Yorkshire Friday night to avoid an overly upsetting morning!

On another note, this might just be a bad habit I picked up on another site, but for any coaster collectors/completionists, I've noticed there's a couple of small parks nearby that I've not picked up yet, if anyone's interested in a diversion and a +1?

 

[Sam]

Really excited about this one, I haven't been to Mingingland for about five years!

 

[josht]

I'm not to found of the north with there strange people

 

[Cheese]

Is anybody else yet to find two other people for the 'Mingo voucher?

 

[Mike]

Is anybody else yet to find two other people for the 'Mingo voucher?

Me! The two I was sharing with now can't attend :-(

Also - myself and HaydenCR now have no lifts to parks - does anyone who is staying in Bradford have any space?

 

[T]

Is anybody else yet to find two other people for the 'Mingo voucher?

Me! The two I was sharing with now can't attend :-(

Also - myself and HaydenCR now have no lifts to parks - does anyone who is staying in Bradford have any space?

As Mike has mentioned, D & I are no longer in attendance due to me becoming hospitalised after quite spectacularly taking ill in The Smiler queue & station on Tuesday. As such I've left Hayden & Mike in a compromising position of which I deeply regret.

:-(

 

[pritchardavid]

^
Yeah, that all sounds like a good plan to me, no problem;I've printed off the voucher and I'll probably be at FL for a bit before 10 - staying in Yorkshire Friday night to avoid an overly upsetting morning!

On another note, this might just be a bad habit I picked up on another site, but for any coaster collectors/completionists, I've noticed there's a couple of small parks nearby that I've not picked up yet, if anyone's interested in a diversion and a +1?

Out of interest what other parks have found?

 

[HaydenCR]

Is anybody else yet to find two other people for the 'Mingo voucher?

Me! The two I was sharing with now can't attend :-(

Also - myself and HaydenCR now have no lifts to parks - does anyone who is staying in Bradford have any space?

As Mike has mentioned, D & I are no longer in attendance due to me becoming hospitalised after quite spectacularly taking ill in The Smiler queue & station on Tuesday. As such I've left Hayden & Mike in a compromising position of which I deeply regret.

:-(

It's no fault of your own! We have transportation sorted now, so we will be fine! I very much hope you get well soon!

 

[WillG]

Out of interest what other parks have found?

Nothing particularly exciting, but Clifton Park in Rotherham and Bayside Park in Bridlington are both fairly local, and each has at least one cred; more if you're small enough to get onto a Go Gator - but in light of the nice weather, I've changed my plan and will be exploring the Yorkshire countryside today, looks like there's some really scenic spots not far from either park

 

[Natalie]

Out of interest what other parks have found?

Nothing particularly exciting, but Clifton Park in Rotherham and Bayside Park in Bridlington are both fairly local, and each has at least one cred; more if you're small enough to get onto a Go Gator - but in light of the nice weather, I've changed my plan and will be exploring the Yorkshire countryside today, looks like there's some really scenic spots not far from either park

You do know someone from this forum works at Clifton? And are you talking about the Go Gator they have?

 

[Ian]

Rotherham is quite a way from Flamingo Land. I certainly wouldn't call it local As for Brid, I'm here right now, and Bayside has gone to the dogs Nothing of interest there whatsoever!

So what time are people planning on getting to the park tomorrow? Apparently it's gates open at 9:30 with rides starting at 10. 9:45 at the entrance sound alright for anyone using 3 for 2 (We'll all have to sort of be arriving at the same time)?

 

[WillG]

So... what to say about my second proper TS meet...?
Well, the first I remember of it was the alarming moment in the early hours of Saturday morning, when it turned out other people WERE joining me at Bradford Travelodge, as I found out when a receptionist let Sam, John and others into the room where I was already asleep. Suffice to say, I was confused and disorientated for a good few minutes, but suitably glad to see everyone (and save on the room cost!) after that -and despite the 7AM alarm call allowing us to enjoy the questionable joys of a McDonalds breakfast, I still slept quite well

On a similar subject, while I'm not convinced Sam would agree with me, I quite enjoyed being a driver last weekend - it was the first time I'd driven north of Burnley, which probably showed, but everyone seemed to see the funny side of my numerous cock-ups [the Flamingoland car park incident WASN'T my fault, but whoever it was marked their own car considerably more than mine], whereas trips with a certain previous group did HORRIBLE things to my confidence! Anyways, I already felt included - and by Sunday evening, I DID miss having someone to keep my iPod in order - 'Never be Vekoma', 'Back on the PMBO', 'Roland, I'm in love' and 'I love it when Mack call' to name but a few were an excellent way of keeping me awake and sane on the tragic A64 with its many horseboxes! Any future meet-up where you can cope with countless missed turn-offs and my questionable taste in music, you're welcome back in the Clio of SIGH

So, onto Flamingoland then - this was my first visit since Summer 2009, and my memories of the place were hazy at best - I couldn't quite put my finger on why I'd not been back in so long; surely it couldn't be THAT bad, right?
Wrong, alas. I was looking forward to both days of this trip, and tried to approach Flamingo with an open mind, but by the time I'd passed through the rather lacklustre entrance (good work on the 3 for 2, by the way) any vestiges of optimism had vanished, and over the course of the day, Flamingo slowly reclaimed its place as my least favourite UK park.
A short highlights list would consist of Flip Flop (a rare flat ride with a ride cycle long enough to actually satisfy, meaning the slow moving queue was at least worthwhile), Cliff Hanger (still one of the country's better tower rides, but... would be so much better if it was run properly!) and the Dinosaur area - it looked VERY half-finished, but if they do it properly, it'll be a rare NICE bit of the park; I quite enjoyed the skyflyer and Twistosaurus as well, and while the Little Monsters dark ride thing is in dire need of some TLC, it wasn't nearly as bad as I'd been led to expect, and had the added bonus of getting us out of the relentless Yorkshire sun (yeah, you read that right!) for a while. The weather was good (maybe a little too good, but I came close to continuing my 7 year streak of never having seen rain at Flamingo) and the park wasn't horrendously busy considering - we managed to avoid queuing over half an hour for anything, which wasn't bad. Rolling back on the other kiddie coaster was another memorable moment, but while I thought it was hilarious, I DIDN'T appreciate a parent shooting us a filthy look and walking off muttering to her children about how selfish it was for grown-ups to ride family rides without a child. It was tempting to point out I'd paid the same admission charge as her, even if she DIDN'T understand the concept of ridecounts!

As for the rest of the park, it's difficult to address gently, so I'm not going to try - I think the major problem is that it all HURTS, and not in the Ultimate's characteristic way either. Kumali may not be bad for an SLC, but that doesn't mean it's not bad for a coaster - it's been rough since it opened, and the last 4 years had clearly been even less kind to it than they had to me - 1 ride was enough, and the nicest thing I can say is that it was at least over quickly.
Mumbo Jumbo, I disliked in its opening year and hasn't exactly improved either - I'm sure it's got its fans, but I just don't *get* it - hangtime is bad, and so are S&S restraints on a coaster, add that to a string of elements that just don't seem to flow and an unforgivably rough final sector and, well...
Worse still was Velocity - try as Zoe might to persuade us otherwise, the fact remained that that coaster has more rattles than a spoiled toddler. Again, uncomfortably rough, with an undesirable riding position and... basically lacking in any redeeming features.
The Mine Ride is a coaster not even its parents could love, and it gave me more bruises than the Ultimate did. I think that just leaves Zooom! and while you could argue I perhaps approached it with unrealistic expectations, and I'm not exactly its target audience, it's rare I've been quite so BORED by a coaster, and I didn't get to 307 without riding my fair share of family coasters! Family suspended coasters, yes, even the newer Vekoma models, aren't bad at all, and yet we end up with this travesty with its ironic exclamation mark and its excessive number of vowels, and that makes me a little bit cross. Even the credit whore in me is, at this point tempted to slowly and carefully explain the concept of quality over quantity to Flamingoland.

I notice there’s a couple of obvious rides I’ve not mentioned – I’m aware that all green water aside, Lost River Ride is on the jewels in Flamingo’s sparsely populated crown, and though I’ve only been on it once, I remember liking the interaction with the zoo (which is hopefully better than the park, I’ve only been in once, and didn’t feel strong enough to return for sentimental reasons) and alas, thanks to the queue length and Flamingo’s trademark catastrophic throughput, we didn’t fancy our chances! As for Splash battle, in a cruel twist of fate, it was down for maintenance for much of one of the days when guests were in the greatest need of wetting; only Sam was brave enough to venture into either of the water based playgrounds, infested as they were with minimally clad children.

So, not pretty, but there you have it; a stark contrast with the report I wrote after my last Flamingo visit (and a few thousand words shorter, though I could probably fill those with reasons why the park needs more shaded areas, or just rage induced keyboard mashing now I remember the stupid sandwich shop was out of bacon, and a chicken and bacon sandwich is just not the same without!) yet probably a good deal more accurate – more accurate than a lot on tripadvisor too, for that matter.

And yet, I should probably add, despite the multiple sins of the park now known as ‘Stupid’ Flamingoland since I gather Hero opened just THREE days too late for me to get the cred, it wasn’t a bad day. I gather it was an oddly small group for a TS meet, and seemed quite a random mix of members as well, with a handful I’d not met before but got to know better as the day wore on – Hayden seemed on a worryingly similar wavelength to me, I’m sure Sam would love to see Craig again, and Zoe’s sense of humour (and… frankly tragic coaster opinions!!) added a lot. I think I probably spoke to everyone else at some point, even if some people seemed a little unsure of what to make of me; believe it or not, I’m fairly inoffensive once you get used to me, but perhaps I have an unfortunate habit of hiding my initial shyness behind a loud, mildly obnoxious facade?

Anyway, as you’ve perhaps gathered, Hero or no Hero, it’ll be a while before I’m back in Kirby Misperton (perhaps it’s time Flamingo went back on ‘the B&M list’?!) – but although I may have just spent an hour or so gleefully ripping the place apart, I’ve done much of it with a smile on my face. Maybe it wasn’t as good as some of the other TS days I’ve had already this season, and maybe there weren’t as many standout memorable moments (though I’ve just remembered the Harvester, where there were a fair few, and not just the waitress with the Smiler pen. And extra bacon) as usual – it was still more fun than I’d have had at home - there weren't 2 creds there either! As I rather oddly wrote in a university essay, ‘the world inhabited by the coaster aficionado is one in which mediocrity frequently outweighs brilliance’, and if ever there were proof, then Flamingoland is it.

As for Lightwater, it was a MUCH better day – but I don’t want to get the Eagle’s Creek Farm song in my head at bedtime, so maybe I’ll tackle that one tomorrow

Also, thanks for reminding me the coaster kingdom reviews exist - keeping myself entertained re-reading those, and as you might be able to tell, his writing style's always been a bit of an influence

 

[WillG]

So, if you’ll excuse the double post, onto my thoughts on Lightwater Valley.
By all accounts, this was the nicer of the two days and given the choice of which of the two Yorkshire parks I’d rather spend a sunny day at in future, I’d go with Lightwater every time – not only were the rides considerably more enjoyable and the park quieter, but there were plenty of grassy areas on which to relax in between rides, somewhere I thought that Flamingo really fell down – sure it was still no Alton, but nevertheless a nice place to be, and their appreciation of enthusiasts, for the most part, did not go unnoticed.

Partly thanks to staying up late (by my standards!) watching Hot Fuzz with Sam on Saturday night, I felt more delicate (and quieter, much to everyone’s delight!) on the second morning, and was grateful for my McDonalds caffeine and bacon dose, followed by a comparatively simple upward trek to Ripon. The weather was still very much on our side (sorry, Diego…) without being as oppressive as it had become on the previous day, and thus, the stage was set.

Ridewise, whilst Flamingoland had failed spectacularly to meet my 2009 memories, Lightwater far exceeded them. Neither ride on Raptor Attack featured the frustrating queue we’d expected – in fact, I don’t think we waited more than 15 minutes or so for anything all day, and so the first ride was already better than any coaster we’d met earlier in the weekend. I hadn’t been on Raptor Attack since the ‘retheme’ and whilst it may appear a little minimalist, it was nevertheless an improvement (it’s a proven fact that dinosaurs make everything better – just ask Jeff Goldblum!) and the entrance and exit to the ride, whilst perhaps accidental, are as impressive as many better known rides elsewhere in the country.

But it was the Ultimate we’d really made the trip for, and it didn’t disappoint – as is to be expected, it became considerably more vicious as the day progressed (I only managed one ride after 4PM when everyone else was repeat riding), but thoroughly enjoyed the 4 or 5 laps I did subject myself to – perhaps it’s a ride that’s already so rough it can’t possibly get any more violent with age. Either way, by the time the morning was over, I understood everyone’s love for the ride (Hayden even commented that it reminded him of love; looks pleasant and sedate enough from a distance, and then a couple of minutes in you realise you’ve actually let yourself in for a world of pain!) a bit better – it’s one of a kind and like so many of Blackpool’s classics, it’s characteristically, rather than unbearably rough. I can’t remember the last time I laughed that much on a coaster.

New since my last visit was the topscan (which I never did ride, though it mostly got very good reviews) and the pirate area. It had been a LONG time since I last did a looping pirate ship, so my inner child was quite excited by it, and it didn’t disappoint, which was good, as aside from the Wave and Eagle’s Claw, Lightwater’s always seemed a little lacking in the flat rides department. The mini-breakdance however was not so nice – I felt quite rough afterwards.

Lunch… wasn’t great, and I’d have to describe it as overpriced – it was traditional theme park fare, but a rather lacklustre version, possibly even worse than Flamingoland’s (which had improved ever so slightly since ’09 – adding coffee shops was a nice touch). This is one area in which a great many of the country’s smaller parks really need to concentrate – I know nobody goes to a theme park for a good meal, but if the Merlin parks manage to provide it (sometimes) then the others can at least try. I was also mocked for my confession of being privately educated at this point; as you might have gathered, I’m not exactly proud of it!!

Eagle’s Claw was next up, and, as I may have mentioned 9 or 10 times, that was a good moment for me as believe it or not, I’d actually been too fat to ride on my last 2 visits; annoyingly, I was repaid for my return by the ride stealing my orange lighter. Not as good as Flip Flop, but a lot better than Vortex would be my verdict, and the surrealist conversation that went on during the ride was entertaining! Next door was Eagle’s Creek farm – bearing in mind the park’s countryside location, I wasn’t too sure what they were aiming at with this, as surely city park visitors are going to be more excited by a theme park farm than anyone Yorkshire born and Yorkshire bred. Nevertheless, I controversially quipped that it had done a considerably better job of satisfying its own criteria than Zufari has done, and there was no exasperating pre-show, just a particularly catchy, upbeat theme song and unintentionally comical station announcements. Much as it pains me to say it, Alton, take note, this made your farm look even worse than is in fact the case. There was also one of those egg-catching arcade games in the station – I hadn’t seen one for YEARS; it made me laugh and happily consumed Hayden’s life savings!

The only downside of this area was it set my hay fever off in earnest, and I’d forgotten to bring any tablets for it, so I didn’t feel great when we rode the waveswinger and the caterpillar coaster (the first was good, the second, spoiled rather by a particularly unfriendly staff member) and opted for some downtime in the shade while the rest of the group did the waterslides.

Feeling better, the remaining coasters were mopped up – the always lethal Twister (and queue of ‘who’s the least qualified’ ‘stupid Oxford’, Zoe the closet Toro-Rosso fan and Dave’s memorable putdowns) was made even moreso by me deliberating making our car as unbalanced as possible, leading to one of the better rides I’ve had on a coaster type so many enthusiasts love to hate (still better than Flamingo’s mouse was!!!) and then I scraped together the last of my change to buy a rolo ice cream, which, to my surprise, I was allowed to eat on the now re-opened ladybird coaster. It improved the ride notably.

By 4:30, I was tired again and with 2 hours+ of motorway ahead of me, decided that repeat-riding the Ultimate probably wasn’t the way forward, so I had some more recovery time on the nearby lawn, and watched everyone else go round until the rides finally closed. Leaving the park was a laborious process (though the train helped, the slightly useless souvenir shop at the exit did not, AND nowhere sold lighters!), and although my memories of the day are mainly positive, it was definitely time to head home – happily, all roadworks aside, the interesting scenery of the M62 did a good job of keeping me awake!

I’ve just been told I’m heading out for lunch, so I’m going to round it off here quite quickly – if I’ve missed anything out, I’m sure I’m not the only one highly skilled in the art of waffling (that’s the one life ‘skill’ a media degree DOES give you!), but otherwise, I shall see you back at Towers for August bank holiday. Because while I may not like Flamingoland, I DO like TST. I’ll do Lightwater again next year for definite – FL might take a little more convincing - and a higher turnout

PS: Sam, you've not got a pair of my black trousers have you? I don't seen to have brought them home, so either you're wearing them, or, more likely, they're in stupid Bradford. Not the end of the world, I'll replace them today.

 

[DiogoJ42]

The Ultimate. That is all.