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West Midlands Safari Park: General Discussion

Sam said:
Looking at the map, this seems a very odd decision. Surely the current SVR station at Bewdley would be about the same distance away from the hotel/waterpark as a new station? Why not just build a monorail to the Bewdley station?
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Bewdley station wouldn't be an ideal site to build a monorail to the Safari Park from. The station site is elevated above the surrounding area (trains approach from Bridgnorth on a viaduct), relatively long and narrow and lacking in free space. Parking is very limited too considering it's one of the line's larger stations, so I'd imagine that the railway would be hesitant to encourage guests visiting both the railway and park to leave their cars there. The important period feel of the station would also be compromised by having a new monorail station somewhere on the site.
 
Sam: I have produced an image of where the proposed Hotel, Waterpark, SV Railway Station, Conference Centre & Monorail will be.

5Nrkfw2.jpg

KEY
Blue- Hotel
Red- Waterpark & Conference Suite
Yellow- Severn Valley Railway Station
Gray- Monorail route (Proposed route)
Green- Traditional Park Entrance

The monorail route is just the PROPOSED route and could extend further. The Hotel location is pretty much confirmed. Plans should appear sometime this year IF the park go ahead with the Hotel, £10m Safari re-ferb, Waterpark, Conference Centre, Monorail, Amusement Area expansion & new attractions and the SV Railway Station at WMSP.

One reason why the park NEED the SV Railway Station is because should the park need any more space for parking after these attractions are built, there is no where to build more spaces. So they need to find ways of making people come to the park by a different method of transport rather than using a car.

Hope this helped!
 
Just seen this on Safari Sundown:

Safari Sundown said:
ENTER LION COUNTRY

New £3/4m exhibit for Safari Park

Realm of the Lions - the latest animal exhibit to be incorporated into the four-mile self-drive safari at West Midland Safari Park - is now open.

The entire exhibit has been fully landscaped to create the appearance of savannah grassland and themed with boulders, plants and sculpted lion head rockwork from which a waterfall cascades into a pool below. More importantly the entire area that spans almost seven and a half acres, will provide important and essential enrichment for the Park's pride of 13 African lions.

The exhibit, which cost £3/4m, has been designed in-house and was built under the watchful eye of the Park's Creative Designer, David Powner, who said, "This has been a massive project. Design work started on it over a year ago; it was then modelled in clay to make sure that the initial ideas worked and it looked the part. The model was then used by our builders to create the real thing - that in itself was quite a task since they were working from a tabletop clay model and sheet plans to create an exhibit that would extend over seven acres. Whilst it has not been easy due to the enormity of the 'lion rock' construction, we are all delighted with the result. Needless to say, the lions haue an outstanding new reserve in which to roam and explore".
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Sounds pretty interesting! I wonder what it looks like in the flesh. :)
 
Here's some pictures taken from www.safarisundown.co.uk of the NEW lion exhibit:

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Looks like a great new addition! Fantastic theming too. It's also rumoured a new ride has been put forward to the head board of WMSP. This is just a rumour though.
 
Finally 'hopefully' tonight, the Realm of the Lions exhibit advertisment material:
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I shall be at the park during Easter, so i'll get some pictures of the exhibit. There are some pictures above too.

Looks like a great addition to the park. 1 step closer to a better themed safari-drive!
 
Re: West Midlands Safari Park: General Discussion HOTEL PLANS SUBMITTED

In case anyone missed it between my 2 posts on the New Exhibit at West Midland Safari Park, the Hotel, Waterpark & Conference Centre plans have been submitted to the council for approval or denial. The Council showed keen interest in the plans, so there is a high chance they will be approved.

If the plans are approved, then the park will start construction during the summer 2013, ready for opening in 2015/16.

Personally, I think this is exactly what the park needs, another attraction (Waterpark) to add to the list of attractions there already (SV Railway, Amusement Area, Safari, Discovery Trail). And then with these 5 attractions a Hotel will be needed to be able to do all of the attractions.

This is great news for the Safari Park and surrounding area. No plans released on the planning app yet but there should be some plans coming up soon.

I'd love to know your thoughts on it! Some concept art of the Hotel & Waterpark are on previous pages.
 
Arg! I wrote a huge response here but the site crashed =/

In short I'm thrilled that a park of this size has got the confidence to invest so heavily. At first I thought the hotel was to much, but It is always a pretty exhausting day out. Throw in a good bar and the waterpark and I could see myself staying overnight.

Lions look fantastic and will definitely get me to visit again this year. :)

My one and only criticism of the place is the ride area. I avoid it. Bunch of tacky, overpriced street fairground rides.
 
Taken from www.safarisundown.co.uk

Recently, is has come to Safari Sundown's attention that the park have recently started to add plans to the planning application submitted to Wyre Forest Council.

The only plan on the application at the moment is the confirmed location, which will be on Bunker's Hill, close to the roundabout for Bewdley Town Centre & Kidderminster.

It's thought from the plans and concept arts that there will be new exits added to the roundabout for the Hotel & Waterpark as a drop off/Bus stop area.

It's now thought that the development plan is full steam ahead, and our Hotel & Waterpark mini site will be online within the next few days.

Below we have attached the Official location plan from the Wyre Forest Planning area. The plan is (C) to Wyre Forest Planning.

As always, we'll bring you the latest updates ASAP on our social pages, website & forum.

In the meantime, why not discuss today's breaking news on our forums or social pages!
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/safarisundownuk
Forums: http://safarisundown.createaforum.com/index.php
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/SafariSundown
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Looks like it's full steam ahead! More plans will be added within the next few weeks. Fingers crossed for an approval!
 
I suppose the only way to go these days is to have a resort to encourage additional spend. I'm still slightly hesitant as to whether they're big enough for a hotel or not, but time will tell!
 
Well, the Waterpark will be another attraction to add to the list of Safari, Discovery Trail, Amusement Area and Severn Valley Railway. Plus, lots to do in the surrounding area like Cadbury World etc...

I think it'd be good for the park. Location plan looks good anyway. Along with this is £10m upgrade to the Safari and some upgrades to Amusement. The future is bright!

Should be done for 2015/16, which will be fantastic!
 
(Taken from Safari Sundown website)
A NEW West Midland Safari Park Apple App has launched today to celebrate the 40th year of operation of the park.

The app is aimed to enhance your day experience at the park by providing you with park information like new attractions, features in the park, places to eat and more.

The app is downloadable from the Apple App Store NOW for free.

Key Features of the app include:

-New for this year attractions
-Discover interesting facts about the animals we have at West Midland Safari Park
-Plan your shows and encounters with our Activities planner
-Visitor Information
-Connect and share with Facebook and Twitter

Download the app now at: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/west-mi ... 79356?mt=8

Talk about the new app on our Facebook page, Twitter page or our Forum. Go to the website homepage and click our links to all the social media areas.
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What a fantastic idea! I've been on the app and it's by far one of my favourite park app's. Very bold and informative. Thumbs up to WMSP.
 
The Hotel, Waterpark, New SVR Station and Monorail Link, and conference centre are all up for discussion tonight by the Wyre Forest Council. From the BBC Midlands Today News Report, it seems the council and surrounding people in the area are all FOR this new development, set to create 300 jobs. Plans are set to be submitted in the next few weeks time, and have a high chance of approval. If approved, the development would be ready for the 2015/2016 season at WMSP. This will change the '1 day attraction' to a short break destination, almost claiming it's 'Resort' status. £20 Million will also be spent on improving both amusement area and the main safari drive, ensuring it's well themed throughout. 1 reserve has already been developed, this being the Realm Of The Lions area; new for 2013. :)

Multi-million plans to expand West Midlands Safari Park will go before council planners next week.

The proposals include a 250 bedroom hotel, a 1,000 delegate conference centre, and a water park on land at Bunkers Hill.

There is also provision for a new stop on the Severn Valley Railway.

Wyre Forest District Council has said the move could create nearly 300 additional jobs in the area and bring in £10m to the economy.

The plans will be considered at the council's cabinet meeting on 17 September. An application for the project could then be submitted later this year.

Wyre Forest District Council's cabinet member for Place Shaping, Councillor Anne Hingley said: "The Safari Park is one of a number of projects referenced in the Plan that we hope will boost the local economy and provide job opportunities for local residents.
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A NEW Park design has been released by WMSP, who are currently operating Wild Winter Safari weekends.

The NEW PARK MAP is thought to also be used for the Summer Season (Feb-Nov) when the rides re-open, however will include the rides too at that point.

Personally, I really like the new park map, it's easy to use and looks brilliant and vibrant, and uses the WMSP colours.

Thoughts?
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New theming has also been added to Zambezi Watersplash, including a NEW log fence (Really high standard) new signs, and also a new crane theming item in the centre, with types of animals on it too. :)

Seems they are focusing well on the Amusement Area now, and improving dated rides.
 
Opening Times & NEW Possible 4D Cinema?
Opening Times for Feb-Nov have now been confirmed, and once again the times are of a good standard close!

In February & Low-Visitor dates, the park closes at 5pm, Busier days at 6pm, Bank Holidays at 7pm, Summer Nights (August) at 9pm, Spooky Spectacular at 9pm, and Firework Festival at 10pm.

Interestingly, the park have also now confirmed over 5 NEW events, including Explorers Week, Easter Eggstravaganza, Love Your Safari Week & MORE!

The park is also running the Spooky Spectacular over 1 month, similar to last year. It began running over 1 month 2 years ago, and is thought to bring in more custom if ran over a long time period.

Looks like it's set to be another fantastic season for West Midland Safari Park! :)


4D Cinema?
Yes, you saw that right, a 4D Cinema. Recently, the park have submitted plans for a creation of a Dinosaur Exhibit, New Walkthrough Exhibit, & 4D Cinema.

The plan was submitted 2 days ago, and looks to be the largest development since Penguin Cove in 2012. This is looking like it may be a NEW attraction for 2014 Summer/2015.

No plans have since been published on the District Council website for the Wyre Forest, however they are thought to be added in the next few days, confirming the location for the Cinema.

This is set to be a fantastic development for the park, improving the parks indoor offerings & main attraction offerings.
 
Any investment is great for WMSP, I personally think its an underated attraction, I loved my visit there last year. The 4D cinema would fit in perfectly with the target market - Aren't they getting a hotel as well this year?
 
The Hotel I think has been stretched back a bit. I think they don't want to bring it in until 2016 now, because I think they realise the park isn't worthy too much of a Hotel & Waterpark, so developing the Amusement Area & Discovery Trail will help them re-vamp the park's main look a bit.

They are kind of working from the Entrance. They started with Lost City Plaza Entrance Refurb, and slowly are moving along, and are now in Discovery Trail, making that a little better to the eye, i.e. New Penguin Cove, Planned Otter Exhibit, 4D Cinema, Planned Walkthrough Exhibit, New Dinosaur Exhibit, before slowly moving into the Amusement Area to do major work there, and then onto the Hotel at the back.

This makes sense, because if you visited in 2010 & 11, the park looked like a mess, very old and tired out. Now with this redevelopment in the areas, it's slowly improving, everywhere, which is what I like to see.

Over time too, the Safari Drive is being improved, such as the new themed Realm of the Lions drive thru part of the Safari Drive, and I read somewhere, along with the Hotel, they are chucking £20m at the Safari Drive? Personally, thats a good idea, but I would of expected them to of halfed that money, some for Amusement Area, and some for Safari, however it seems like they must have a totally different budget all together for the Amusement Area?

This place is one to look out for over the next few years, it seems they really are taking peoples advice further.
 
I have visited a few times since 2010, and I have to say that WMSP looks very polished in comparison to my first visit, you can tell they have started to re-invest in the amusement area as well as the actual safari drive. I personally think they need a major attraction - something like Ben 10 at Drayton Manor or something similar, to really boost interest in the park. The last Major attraction added in the Amusement area seemed to be Venom if I remember correctly ;). But there has been a huge improvement in everything at the park, especially the new African Village area at the back, I thought it was superb! :D
 
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