Last Sunday, Ian, Sue, MouseAT, Mike and myself went on a cred crawl across the south coast. They also went to Paultons on Sat with Nic, but I couldn't get the day off work for that 
boo.
Chapter One: Pub refusal!
Caught the train down to Hampshire on Sat evening, the plan was to meet in the Wetherspoons for food and drinks. The doorman refused to let me in because I didn't have I.D. (and I turn 26 next week, ffs!)
Ian had just bought a round, so I went off to find the least worst fast food available instead.
Finally met up with everyone, and we all sat in the park whilst I scoffed KFC like a right classy bird.
I didn't take any photo's, so I've drawn pictures instead. Here we all our, sat in the park talking about how good Magma is at Paultons.
(That's supposed to be a piece of KFC in my hand, not anything else!)
We went to the band stand in the park where Sue sang her fab new 'Burden' song; then it was back to Ian's.
Chapter Two: Moth Attack!
We were chatting in the kitchen, as you do; when a giant moth flew in the window. It was so huge, it was like a bat! I hid behind the door for my own safety.
Eventually, the moth was gone. Then Andy informed me there was an even bigger one in the bathroom! Luckily, the bathroom moth remained elusive whilst I brushed my teeth.
Chapter Three: Think Muffin of It!
The beauty of this cred crawl was not having to get up at goon-o' clock in the morning! Feeling refreshed after a good 8 hours sleep, Ian made us all some delicious muffins. The we headed to our first park of the day: Funland at Hayling Island
(Car journey highlight: 'Safety Dance' coming on the radio <3 )
We rode the Pinfari first. It had one of those horribly round loops, you know, the ones that compress your neck. It was painted a drab rusty brown, which made it look just as bad as it rode.
Are there any good coasters that are painted this colour? I can't think of any.
Then we rode the fab Dragon kiddie cred, which has a tiny little bit of airtime!
As far as kiddie creds go, these dragon ones are far superior to Apple coasters. Whilst we trundled around on it, we noticed that the 'F' for the sign of Funland had fallen off - aptly renaming the place: 'Unland!'
The other kiddie cred spited us, so I used up my tokens riding the World's Smallest Log Flume with Sue
Despite only being about 10ft tall, it had all this iceberg themeing!
Then Mike and I rode the Twister, which had a stupidly long cycle and made me feel sick.
Chapter Four: Premium Apples!
Then it was off to West Sands Fun Fair for our first apple of the day. Note how West Sands Fun Fair haven't even tried to call themselves a 'funpark' or anything. I reckon they are well aware of how crap this place is, it can only be passed off as a static fun fair.
The Big Apple here is fairly new, being built in 2012 and showing off a lovely paint job. Which lead to a discussion of the various types of Big Apples - the subtle differences between newer and older versions; and what distinguishes a Big Apple from a Wacky Worm or a Caterpillar.
Note the 2 signs that distinguish a Big Apple coaster from a Caterpillar or Wacky Worm:
1. The flower lights that surround a Big Apple are all painted yellow.
2. The big apple structure in the middle (judging by the yellowy-red hue of this one, this Big Apple was a Braeburn)
Chapter Five: Harbour Parking Nightmare
By now, everyone on the entire south coast had realized what a lovely sunny day it was and headed off to visit their local creds. We drove around for ages trying to find somewhere to park around the crazy free-for-all that was Harbour Park car park.
Eventually we dashed in, and I noticed how much nicer Harbour Park is compared to the other places we had been. They had actually made some effort to theme it - there was a mini drop tower themed to an Orca whale!
This time, the kiddie cred was a 'Crazy Caterpillar'
Note the 2 signs that distinguish a Caterpillar coaster from a Big Apple or Wacky Worm:
1. The flower lights that surround a Caterpillar are painted various pastel colours.
2. The lack of a big apple structure in the middle
Chapter Six: Fort Fun Rocks!
We headed to Fort Fun next, in Sue's convertible blasting out Mikes cheesy mix cd, was really fun!(Despite a self-inflicted lack of legroom)
Fort Fun is probably a great place to celebrate your 7th birthday; other than that is is rather shabby, remote and depressing.
But at least it had another cool mini drop tower, this one was themed to a bat and was all purple and black with wings <3
The cred was not your usual Big Apple, it was a non-event of a 'unique' kiddie cred that kind of had a helix. Sort of. It sucked...and guess what...It was painted that same rusty dull brown colour as the Pinfari!
We got ice cream and sat on the rocky beach, where Sue told us all about rocks and why they sometimes have little holes in them.
Chapter Seven: Flamingo Park vs. Flamingo Land
Our final park of the day was Flamingo Land in Hastings. It boasts a Caterpillar coaster that is only one month old!
Interestingly, this Caterpillar's flower lights were painted various primary colours as opposed to the pastel flowers of the Caterpillar at Harbour Park.
After doing some research, it seems there is a scientific reason for these colour differences - to distinguish the sex of the caterpillar coaster. According to Wikipedia: "Colouring often differs between male and female caterpillars, the male usually being most colourful."
I never realized there was so much depth to kiddie creds!
It's only natural, when two UK park's sort-of share the same name, for us goons to go into comparison mode. I'd say this new Caterpillar at Flamingo Park is much better than any of the new roller coasters at Flamingo Land. It was smooth and it offered spectacular views of the cliffs. Rather than rough and offering spectacular views of the rough at Flamingo Land.
It also had a hilarious Ghost Train, which is more than Flamingo Land can say.
Chapter Eight: Fish, Chips and a Mad Dash for the Coach
We went to a Fish and Chip shop that was both take-away and sit down, so we sat down like the civilized bunch we are. Then Sue spilled her chips into her lap. :lol:
It was looking like I might miss my coach home, so Sue put the pedal to the metal and I made it just in the nick of time - thanks Sue!
All in all, it was a lovely day full of sea, sunshine and kiddie creds. I returned home with a new appreciation for the subtle differences between Apples, Caterpillars and Worms.
boo.Chapter One: Pub refusal!
Caught the train down to Hampshire on Sat evening, the plan was to meet in the Wetherspoons for food and drinks. The doorman refused to let me in because I didn't have I.D. (and I turn 26 next week, ffs!)
Ian had just bought a round, so I went off to find the least worst fast food available instead.
Finally met up with everyone, and we all sat in the park whilst I scoffed KFC like a right classy bird.
I didn't take any photo's, so I've drawn pictures instead. Here we all our, sat in the park talking about how good Magma is at Paultons.
(That's supposed to be a piece of KFC in my hand, not anything else!)
We went to the band stand in the park where Sue sang her fab new 'Burden' song; then it was back to Ian's.
Chapter Two: Moth Attack!
We were chatting in the kitchen, as you do; when a giant moth flew in the window. It was so huge, it was like a bat! I hid behind the door for my own safety.
Eventually, the moth was gone. Then Andy informed me there was an even bigger one in the bathroom! Luckily, the bathroom moth remained elusive whilst I brushed my teeth.
Chapter Three: Think Muffin of It!
The beauty of this cred crawl was not having to get up at goon-o' clock in the morning! Feeling refreshed after a good 8 hours sleep, Ian made us all some delicious muffins. The we headed to our first park of the day: Funland at Hayling Island
(Car journey highlight: 'Safety Dance' coming on the radio <3 )
We rode the Pinfari first. It had one of those horribly round loops, you know, the ones that compress your neck. It was painted a drab rusty brown, which made it look just as bad as it rode.
Are there any good coasters that are painted this colour? I can't think of any.
Then we rode the fab Dragon kiddie cred, which has a tiny little bit of airtime!
As far as kiddie creds go, these dragon ones are far superior to Apple coasters. Whilst we trundled around on it, we noticed that the 'F' for the sign of Funland had fallen off - aptly renaming the place: 'Unland!'
The other kiddie cred spited us, so I used up my tokens riding the World's Smallest Log Flume with Sue
Despite only being about 10ft tall, it had all this iceberg themeing!
Then Mike and I rode the Twister, which had a stupidly long cycle and made me feel sick.
Chapter Four: Premium Apples!
Then it was off to West Sands Fun Fair for our first apple of the day. Note how West Sands Fun Fair haven't even tried to call themselves a 'funpark' or anything. I reckon they are well aware of how crap this place is, it can only be passed off as a static fun fair.
The Big Apple here is fairly new, being built in 2012 and showing off a lovely paint job. Which lead to a discussion of the various types of Big Apples - the subtle differences between newer and older versions; and what distinguishes a Big Apple from a Wacky Worm or a Caterpillar.
Note the 2 signs that distinguish a Big Apple coaster from a Caterpillar or Wacky Worm:
1. The flower lights that surround a Big Apple are all painted yellow.
2. The big apple structure in the middle (judging by the yellowy-red hue of this one, this Big Apple was a Braeburn)
Chapter Five: Harbour Parking Nightmare
By now, everyone on the entire south coast had realized what a lovely sunny day it was and headed off to visit their local creds. We drove around for ages trying to find somewhere to park around the crazy free-for-all that was Harbour Park car park.
Eventually we dashed in, and I noticed how much nicer Harbour Park is compared to the other places we had been. They had actually made some effort to theme it - there was a mini drop tower themed to an Orca whale!
This time, the kiddie cred was a 'Crazy Caterpillar'
Note the 2 signs that distinguish a Caterpillar coaster from a Big Apple or Wacky Worm:
1. The flower lights that surround a Caterpillar are painted various pastel colours.
2. The lack of a big apple structure in the middle
Chapter Six: Fort Fun Rocks!
We headed to Fort Fun next, in Sue's convertible blasting out Mikes cheesy mix cd, was really fun!(Despite a self-inflicted lack of legroom)
Fort Fun is probably a great place to celebrate your 7th birthday; other than that is is rather shabby, remote and depressing.
But at least it had another cool mini drop tower, this one was themed to a bat and was all purple and black with wings <3
The cred was not your usual Big Apple, it was a non-event of a 'unique' kiddie cred that kind of had a helix. Sort of. It sucked...and guess what...It was painted that same rusty dull brown colour as the Pinfari!
We got ice cream and sat on the rocky beach, where Sue told us all about rocks and why they sometimes have little holes in them.
Chapter Seven: Flamingo Park vs. Flamingo Land
Our final park of the day was Flamingo Land in Hastings. It boasts a Caterpillar coaster that is only one month old!
Interestingly, this Caterpillar's flower lights were painted various primary colours as opposed to the pastel flowers of the Caterpillar at Harbour Park.
After doing some research, it seems there is a scientific reason for these colour differences - to distinguish the sex of the caterpillar coaster. According to Wikipedia: "Colouring often differs between male and female caterpillars, the male usually being most colourful."
I never realized there was so much depth to kiddie creds!
It's only natural, when two UK park's sort-of share the same name, for us goons to go into comparison mode. I'd say this new Caterpillar at Flamingo Park is much better than any of the new roller coasters at Flamingo Land. It was smooth and it offered spectacular views of the cliffs. Rather than rough and offering spectacular views of the rough at Flamingo Land.
It also had a hilarious Ghost Train, which is more than Flamingo Land can say.
Chapter Eight: Fish, Chips and a Mad Dash for the Coach
We went to a Fish and Chip shop that was both take-away and sit down, so we sat down like the civilized bunch we are. Then Sue spilled her chips into her lap. :lol:
It was looking like I might miss my coach home, so Sue put the pedal to the metal and I made it just in the nick of time - thanks Sue!
All in all, it was a lovely day full of sea, sunshine and kiddie creds. I returned home with a new appreciation for the subtle differences between Apples, Caterpillars and Worms.
