Paultons Park & Thorpe Park CF Live Trip Reports June 2016
- Thread starter 10WaTT
- Start date
Re: Paultons Park & Thorpe Park CF Live Trip Reports June 20
Relatively speedy trip report from me:
Picked Serena up in Bristol and made our way to the park. It was nice to finally meet her, as it turns out we've probably been walking past each other's flats for a while without ever crossing paths!
The drive was pretty painless and mostly just involved chatting about life and creds.
We met up outside the park, and as the crowd grew it was nice to see old friends and make new ones! We headed into the park, and straight to Lost Kingdom - what we were all waiting for! Now, the first picture:
We headed for Flight of the Pterosaur first, and were quickly on the coaster. I was very impressed! It's smooth, got some nice forces and interaction with the theming and pathways underneath, and the train design means the restraints can fit even the smallest children! A really excellent addition to the park, I think everyone would agree.
Next we moved on to Velociraptor. I haven't ridden Ben 10 yet, so this was a first for me and it was really rather good! Again it was smooth and had some nice forces, and the families seemed to be loving it! I'm not generally a fan of backwards bits on coasters, but the ride was actually quite enjoyable.
The exit of Velociraptor is right next to the Dino-Chase Tivoli. I'd already picked up the cred on the 2009 Live, so opted to get some goon shaming pictures instead.
Next we faffed our way over to Cobra, stopping at Magma on the way. It broke down twice while we were on it, and so eventually we gave up on it. It was extremely traumatic and has changed my life forever. I've just booked an ice climbing trip though, which should help me battle my way through the recovery.
Cobra was fun, didn't take any (worthwhile) pictures.
Next we headed over to the water flume - which I also skipped.
We dispersed for lunch, although I think most of us ended in the Wild Forest cafe. Chris, Emma and I finished relatively early, so decided to go for a quick re-ride of FotPt and Velociraptor.
After meeting everyone by Cat-O-Pillar, we all rode that, followed by the Jumping Bean! <3
We wandered through to Peppa Pig World, and rode George’s Dinosaur Adventure. This was pretty embarrassing for most of us, especially the "humiliation straight".
Next up was Wave Runner, followed by Boulder Dash (</3) and Dinosaur Tour, before we did our final rides on the coasters.
Finally, we did the group photos and said our goodbyes!
Paultons really have upped their game with this new area, and I can't wait to see what else they do. It was a great day out with everyone, as CF Lives always are. Thanks to old faces and new for coming along and chatting.
Relatively speedy trip report from me:
Picked Serena up in Bristol and made our way to the park. It was nice to finally meet her, as it turns out we've probably been walking past each other's flats for a while without ever crossing paths!
The drive was pretty painless and mostly just involved chatting about life and creds.
We met up outside the park, and as the crowd grew it was nice to see old friends and make new ones! We headed into the park, and straight to Lost Kingdom - what we were all waiting for! Now, the first picture:
We headed for Flight of the Pterosaur first, and were quickly on the coaster. I was very impressed! It's smooth, got some nice forces and interaction with the theming and pathways underneath, and the train design means the restraints can fit even the smallest children! A really excellent addition to the park, I think everyone would agree.
Next we moved on to Velociraptor. I haven't ridden Ben 10 yet, so this was a first for me and it was really rather good! Again it was smooth and had some nice forces, and the families seemed to be loving it! I'm not generally a fan of backwards bits on coasters, but the ride was actually quite enjoyable.
The exit of Velociraptor is right next to the Dino-Chase Tivoli. I'd already picked up the cred on the 2009 Live, so opted to get some goon shaming pictures instead.
Next we faffed our way over to Cobra, stopping at Magma on the way. It broke down twice while we were on it, and so eventually we gave up on it. It was extremely traumatic and has changed my life forever. I've just booked an ice climbing trip though, which should help me battle my way through the recovery.
Cobra was fun, didn't take any (worthwhile) pictures.
Next we headed over to the water flume - which I also skipped.
We dispersed for lunch, although I think most of us ended in the Wild Forest cafe. Chris, Emma and I finished relatively early, so decided to go for a quick re-ride of FotPt and Velociraptor.
After meeting everyone by Cat-O-Pillar, we all rode that, followed by the Jumping Bean! <3
We wandered through to Peppa Pig World, and rode George’s Dinosaur Adventure. This was pretty embarrassing for most of us, especially the "humiliation straight".
Next up was Wave Runner, followed by Boulder Dash (</3) and Dinosaur Tour, before we did our final rides on the coasters.
Finally, we did the group photos and said our goodbyes!
Paultons really have upped their game with this new area, and I can't wait to see what else they do. It was a great day out with everyone, as CF Lives always are. Thanks to old faces and new for coming along and chatting.
SilverArrow
Certified Ride Geek
Re: Paultons Park & Thorpe Park CF Live Trip Reports June 20
Nice report with some good photos! Was a great day!
Nice report with some good photos! Was a great day!
Chris Brown
Mr CoasterForce 2016
Re: Paultons Park & Thorpe Park CF Live Trip Reports June 20
Paultons Park Coasterforce Live 2016!
I’ve visited Paultons park numerous times as I live around 10 minutes away but hadn’t visited in since peppa pig was introduced. I’d always liked Paultons but always felt everything was very disconnected and spaced apart with nothing inbetween and to an extent it still feels like this. I feel like the Edge and Cobra have just been plonked in the back of a field and whilst they are both good rides theres just nothing to that area at all. I’d love to see how Paultons plan to make the park feel more busy as at the moment its quite a large park with not much in it. Lost Kingdom however is brilliant. I like how so much is pieced together to make this land with the 3 coasters all interacting with each other and the other rides in the area. The is for is what Paultons needs more of and im sure they are firmly on that track with the introduction of Peppa Pig world and Lost Kingdom.
The area itself is incredibly well themed. The queues are fun and non-repetitive and are all interactive underneath and around the coasters themselves with good shrubbery and loads of animatronic dinosaurs, an absolute must for a dinosaur themed area.
Anyway the creds,
Flight of the Pterosaur.
[youtubevid]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RdAi785ZrU[/youtubevid]
This was my first Vekoma Family suspended coaster and I was very pleasantly surprised. Being quite basic I still have a certain appreciation for smooth more gentle rides where you still get some gentle forces and a nice feeling of speed. The interaction with the theming and the near misses also adds to the experience and whilst being suspended you get a great view of the surrounding area and all the people on the paths below. The ride itself is a fair bit larger than I expected. I’d obviously seen construction photos but could never gain any real perspective. Even though I genuinely found the ride very enjoyable (I even scoffed my lunch to sneak off and get a view re rides before we all met back up) I don’t think Paultons could have chosen a better ride for their target audience. This minimum height for this thing is 1m and that’s the best thing about it, there are some very young children that can enjoy this coaster. Whilst I was queuing there was a boy who couldn’t have been any older than 5 who’s legs weren’t even long enough to bend out of the seat having the time of his life on this ride! All in all very impressed with this ride.
Whats your favourite dinosaur? VELOCIRAPTOR!
[youtubevid]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVim1k-xgJ4[/youtubevid]
Like the SFC this was my first family boomerang and was another enjoyable ride. Although not as visually imposing as Flight of the Pterosaur this ride is still another great addition. The drop after the backwards chain lift is pretty daunting for a kiddy ride and it picks up a fair bit of speed back through the station. Like the SFC this ride is very well themed with dinosaurs and plants although it doesn’t have the same level of rock work and scenery interaction. Still a great ride though and still a 1m minimum height so no one is left out. I feel like the majority of the focus was put on the SFC in terms of theming but that’s not to say this ride isn’t themed enough. Its just that it doesn’t meet the incredibly high standard of the SFC.
Dino Chase.
I’d already got the cred on previous visits but that didn’t stop being a top goon and riding again. Hixee managed to Pap a picture of me looking slightly creepy is his TR! Not much to say about this one but 3 laps is pretty generous and it acts as a good ride for the youngsters to stepping stone up to the bigger ones.
Overall review of Paultons is that they are heading on the exact right path that they need to be. The addition of these lands is making the park feel more complete and less mish mash, and the standard that they are being produced to shows that Paultons really care. I think it’ll take time to get the rest of the park up to these standards as there are area’s that don’t even come close to the standard of lost world. Take the travelling log flume they have installed, I cant help but feel like the park are almost ashamed of this but just cant do without a water ride. In terms of future development I’d like to see a rapids style ride where the go karts are currently located as part of an add on to lost world. I think a dinosaur themed rapids would work really well. Think Jurassic park outdoor section at IOA but more rapidy.
Anyway enough yapping, to finish the report I’d like to thank everyone for being so welcoming to Emma on her first live and giving her a great first impression of CF, she genuinely had a great day out and loved chatting to everyone!
To finish the report here’s a photo of me and Matt Le Tissier a famous footballer and sports presenter who happened to be at the park.
Paultons Park Coasterforce Live 2016!
I’ve visited Paultons park numerous times as I live around 10 minutes away but hadn’t visited in since peppa pig was introduced. I’d always liked Paultons but always felt everything was very disconnected and spaced apart with nothing inbetween and to an extent it still feels like this. I feel like the Edge and Cobra have just been plonked in the back of a field and whilst they are both good rides theres just nothing to that area at all. I’d love to see how Paultons plan to make the park feel more busy as at the moment its quite a large park with not much in it. Lost Kingdom however is brilliant. I like how so much is pieced together to make this land with the 3 coasters all interacting with each other and the other rides in the area. The is for is what Paultons needs more of and im sure they are firmly on that track with the introduction of Peppa Pig world and Lost Kingdom.
The area itself is incredibly well themed. The queues are fun and non-repetitive and are all interactive underneath and around the coasters themselves with good shrubbery and loads of animatronic dinosaurs, an absolute must for a dinosaur themed area.
Anyway the creds,
Flight of the Pterosaur.
[youtubevid]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RdAi785ZrU[/youtubevid]
This was my first Vekoma Family suspended coaster and I was very pleasantly surprised. Being quite basic I still have a certain appreciation for smooth more gentle rides where you still get some gentle forces and a nice feeling of speed. The interaction with the theming and the near misses also adds to the experience and whilst being suspended you get a great view of the surrounding area and all the people on the paths below. The ride itself is a fair bit larger than I expected. I’d obviously seen construction photos but could never gain any real perspective. Even though I genuinely found the ride very enjoyable (I even scoffed my lunch to sneak off and get a view re rides before we all met back up) I don’t think Paultons could have chosen a better ride for their target audience. This minimum height for this thing is 1m and that’s the best thing about it, there are some very young children that can enjoy this coaster. Whilst I was queuing there was a boy who couldn’t have been any older than 5 who’s legs weren’t even long enough to bend out of the seat having the time of his life on this ride! All in all very impressed with this ride.
Whats your favourite dinosaur? VELOCIRAPTOR!
[youtubevid]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVim1k-xgJ4[/youtubevid]
Like the SFC this was my first family boomerang and was another enjoyable ride. Although not as visually imposing as Flight of the Pterosaur this ride is still another great addition. The drop after the backwards chain lift is pretty daunting for a kiddy ride and it picks up a fair bit of speed back through the station. Like the SFC this ride is very well themed with dinosaurs and plants although it doesn’t have the same level of rock work and scenery interaction. Still a great ride though and still a 1m minimum height so no one is left out. I feel like the majority of the focus was put on the SFC in terms of theming but that’s not to say this ride isn’t themed enough. Its just that it doesn’t meet the incredibly high standard of the SFC.
Dino Chase.
I’d already got the cred on previous visits but that didn’t stop being a top goon and riding again. Hixee managed to Pap a picture of me looking slightly creepy is his TR! Not much to say about this one but 3 laps is pretty generous and it acts as a good ride for the youngsters to stepping stone up to the bigger ones.
Overall review of Paultons is that they are heading on the exact right path that they need to be. The addition of these lands is making the park feel more complete and less mish mash, and the standard that they are being produced to shows that Paultons really care. I think it’ll take time to get the rest of the park up to these standards as there are area’s that don’t even come close to the standard of lost world. Take the travelling log flume they have installed, I cant help but feel like the park are almost ashamed of this but just cant do without a water ride. In terms of future development I’d like to see a rapids style ride where the go karts are currently located as part of an add on to lost world. I think a dinosaur themed rapids would work really well. Think Jurassic park outdoor section at IOA but more rapidy.
Anyway enough yapping, to finish the report I’d like to thank everyone for being so welcoming to Emma on her first live and giving her a great first impression of CF, she genuinely had a great day out and loved chatting to everyone!
To finish the report here’s a photo of me and Matt Le Tissier a famous footballer and sports presenter who happened to be at the park.
Re: Paultons Park & Thorpe Park CF Live Trip Reports June 20
As always it was a pleasure to see regular, not-so-regular and new faces over the weekend. I didn't take any photos - except of Nic's arse on George's Dinosaur Ride (GDR) - so I'll bullet point a few highlights.
Paultons
Thorpe
Thanks to everybody who made it to one or both days, especially those who got up really early to get to Paultons on time.
As always it was a pleasure to see regular, not-so-regular and new faces over the weekend. I didn't take any photos - except of Nic's arse on George's Dinosaur Ride (GDR) - so I'll bullet point a few highlights.
Paultons
- Riding Pterosaur (pronounced with a prominent P) with my friend's child - he loved his first big rollercoaster!
- Gauging people's reactions to the Lost Kingdom area.
- The "Humiliation Straight" on GDR - especially the chorus of Happy Birthday as Serena passed by!
- Trying to figure out how Boulder Dash (Zamperla Demolition Derby) worked and the way everybody was confused by it's figure of eight movement.
- Matt Le Tissier.
- The bloke angling the fountain in the Peppa water area to soak riders on the waterslide.
- Golden Wonder crisps.
- Furie's interesting story about his Chertsey hotel.
- Serena's dinosaur jumper.
- Being asked to appear on the RCRS.
- Magma breaking down and Jake's 'vaping' in the queue line.
- Dinosaurs.
- Only purple sweets were left by the time we got to the Cobra queue.
- Matt Le Tissier.
- The look on Caffeine Demon's face whenever he rides a cred.
- The look of disgust on Emma's face when Chav Chris rode Dino Chase.
- Naming the Dino's on GDR. Bob...
- Matt Le Tissier.
- The singing of the Jurassic Park theme tune in the shop.
Thorpe
- Break/shutdowns we experienced - Stealth (twice), Saw.
- Gorgeous weather but limited shade/places to sit. "It's too Swarm!"
- Swarm back seats facing forwards - it's so good in the back!
- Mong serving food in the Bush BBQ.
- The long faff in the DBGT shop, the wall and Dan's appropriate fortune card (he can tell that story).
- Maxi-minor_furie's love and enthusiasm for everything!
- Bumming Gaffer.
- Excellent through-put on the Crapids.
- Stealth "lights out".
- Skipping massive queues thanks to multiple fastrax <3 We did all the creds plus Rapids, Tea Cups and Rush.
- Nic having a LC12 Wee and Furie having his meat pulled.
- Getting two rides on the trot on Swarm due to the poor batching and bag-drop hold ups.
- Menu Barrier.
- The Ed Sheeran lookalike operating Swarm who looked nothing like Ed Sheeran. LOLd at Dan's 'Thinking Out Loud' joke.
- Nic deep throating a Calypso and Tina going for a safer looking ice lolly.
- Neo's DGBT hoodie with a £10 discount.
- Slammer is slamming.
Thanks to everybody who made it to one or both days, especially those who got up really early to get to Paultons on time.
Re: Paultons Park & Thorpe Park CF Live Trip Reports June 20
^Ha, didn't realise you guys got a sneaky second lap on Swarm! That explains all the faff
I'll write a beefy PTR, because that's what I do...
Sat 4th June
It was a weird start to the day meeting outside the park, seeing so many faces I haven't seen in ages, and a few new ones too! A lot of time was spent pondering the depressing meaning behind the tree based fountain (why would we want to be reminded of a rainy day when it isn't raining?). Still, it was 10am and we headed inside and straight for Lost Kingdom. It looks great as you approach the new area...
The first ride of the day was Flight of the Pterosaur. I wasn't a fan of the tiny cramped cattlepen queueline, but approved of the rockwork surrounding it with the ride swooping overhead. Oh and the smoke effect was a nice touch when it worked.
I like the ride, it's a fun little layout for a family coaster. It does make me a little sad that it builds up so much speed on that final helix to just hit the brakes in the station. Also after riding older versions of these Vekoma SFCs, this is going to get horrifically rough within a few years which will be a shame.
Approved of sensible bag shelves
Some shop faff occurred before entering the queue for Velociraptor.
Velociraptor had yet another horrible queue design imo, just lots of green metal cages. This was my first Vekoma junior boomerang and I enjoyed it. It feels really forceful on some of the turns on the backwards section of the ride. Another solid family ride for the park then.
Then some of the group took a ride on the baby Tivoli which has had a rather nice re-theme. The dino on the front of the train is fab <3
We then headed round to Magma which was new for me. I quite liked the queueline and how it wrapped around the ride, still don't get why the volcano is purple? The ride was fun too, it was rather amusing when everyone kept making the same sound every time there was a moment of airtime.
Then we queued forever for Cobra. Worth it though, such a great little coaster. Would love to see Paultons revisit this area and give it a big redesign and theme to pull it more in line with Lost kingdom and Peppa Pig. Edge was also ridden. Was it me or did it really struggle to get over the hill?
Some peeps went for a splash on the log flume and then we went for food. A group of us headed out of the park to the pub just down the road. The food was amazing! We also had great fun rummaging through the old books by the window.
Now full of food it was back to the park and the bigger Tivoli in the newish Critter Creek area. I decided to sit out and went in the reptile house which was pretty standard. The area is pretty insane, the creature design is interesting and I do love how bright and colourful it all is.
We then ventured into Peppa Pig World. It's huge and was where all of the families were hiding. We decided to queue for the dinosaur ride because why not.
The paparazzi at the end was rather humiliating though lol
Then some of the group decided to ride the dingy slide things. I was rather amused by a man in the Peppa Pig water area putting his foot on a fountain which directed it onto riders.
It was then back over to the Lost kingdom area. Some of the group rode the chairswing. I took some photos of things that I saw.
Looking through these photos I've only just realised that this dino blinked
Then some of us rode Boulder Dash. I kinda like these little demolition derby rides, good little family flat ride.
We then took another ride on Velociraptor. Some juggling happened in the queue which was rather entertaining. The ride had also got a lot quicker and was certainly a lot more forceful, not sure I could really re-ride it though due to the backwards part.
This map at the exit is rather neat
Time to go explore the other part of Lost Kingdom then...
Where we found the jeep ride thing...
It's quite a big ride and quite impressive for somewhere like Paultons.
It was then time to say our goodbyes and head on home for the day. I love Paultons, it's a great family park and Peppa Pig, Critter County and Lost Kingdom seem like an excellent step in the right direction. As others have stated though, there are many gaps in between which bring it down somewhat. I'm very excited to see what Paultons do next.
Sun 5th
Nic, Plod and I managed to be a bit late for meet up at Thorpe due to Plod and I being burdens and needing tickets. We jumped into the queue for Stealth seeing as we'd only missed the group by a few minutes. There was a minor breakdown. It re-opened, the group got on, few minutes later it broke down again but this time for a good 30+ mins. Whoops, oh well it was Thorpe, this is kinda expected and we weren't exactly in a rush to get the park "done". Finally got on Stealth though and it's still amazing <3
We then properly said hello to everyone before joining the "15 min" queue for Rumba Rapids. It looked longer than that but it sure did move along. We didn't get too wet but Phil and I did get a rather nice spray from the indoor waterfall.
We then made our way on to Inferno. I love Inferno, a great intense B&M. It was nice to be back, it had been too long.
wtf was this all about though?
meh
What a waste of money, it did have a queue but I'm guessing that's down to awful throughput?
We then split for lunch. I like the food at the BBQ tent but jeez, why did it take so long to just order food? Then the bloke serving the food just being useless at life </3
After lunch we attempted Saw but it closed due to someone throwing their epi pen from the ride causing the staff to do a search for said item. Burdenous. We did wait for quite some time before giving up, which was also when staff decided to just empty the queue and hand out fastpasses.
later
Instead we headed over to Swarm and Flying Fish. I like Swarm but it really jolted around the track at certain points, don't remember it being like that.
Most of the group then decided to ride X. I loved how loud the music was in the queueline but you could barely hear it once on the ride, what was that all about? Oh well. We decided to then faff in the Derren Brown shop. The merch range seems ok.
So, I can't imagine there's a natural orp that takes place?
Some of us then took a little ride on Colossus. It was running quite well, absolutely blitzed through the first half of the ride.
Nic, Plod and I then had to say our goodbyes and head on home. It was great to see everybody, some new, some old. Had a really nice weekend!
Thanks Ian for the organisation and the fastpasses! Thanks Nic for doing all the driving and putting me up over the weekend.
^Ha, didn't realise you guys got a sneaky second lap on Swarm! That explains all the faff
I'll write a beefy PTR, because that's what I do...
Sat 4th June
It was a weird start to the day meeting outside the park, seeing so many faces I haven't seen in ages, and a few new ones too! A lot of time was spent pondering the depressing meaning behind the tree based fountain (why would we want to be reminded of a rainy day when it isn't raining?). Still, it was 10am and we headed inside and straight for Lost Kingdom. It looks great as you approach the new area...
The first ride of the day was Flight of the Pterosaur. I wasn't a fan of the tiny cramped cattlepen queueline, but approved of the rockwork surrounding it with the ride swooping overhead. Oh and the smoke effect was a nice touch when it worked.
I like the ride, it's a fun little layout for a family coaster. It does make me a little sad that it builds up so much speed on that final helix to just hit the brakes in the station. Also after riding older versions of these Vekoma SFCs, this is going to get horrifically rough within a few years which will be a shame.
Approved of sensible bag shelves
Some shop faff occurred before entering the queue for Velociraptor.
Velociraptor had yet another horrible queue design imo, just lots of green metal cages. This was my first Vekoma junior boomerang and I enjoyed it. It feels really forceful on some of the turns on the backwards section of the ride. Another solid family ride for the park then.
Then some of the group took a ride on the baby Tivoli which has had a rather nice re-theme. The dino on the front of the train is fab <3
We then headed round to Magma which was new for me. I quite liked the queueline and how it wrapped around the ride, still don't get why the volcano is purple? The ride was fun too, it was rather amusing when everyone kept making the same sound every time there was a moment of airtime.
Then we queued forever for Cobra. Worth it though, such a great little coaster. Would love to see Paultons revisit this area and give it a big redesign and theme to pull it more in line with Lost kingdom and Peppa Pig. Edge was also ridden. Was it me or did it really struggle to get over the hill?
Some peeps went for a splash on the log flume and then we went for food. A group of us headed out of the park to the pub just down the road. The food was amazing! We also had great fun rummaging through the old books by the window.
Now full of food it was back to the park and the bigger Tivoli in the newish Critter Creek area. I decided to sit out and went in the reptile house which was pretty standard. The area is pretty insane, the creature design is interesting and I do love how bright and colourful it all is.
We then ventured into Peppa Pig World. It's huge and was where all of the families were hiding. We decided to queue for the dinosaur ride because why not.
The paparazzi at the end was rather humiliating though lol
Then some of the group decided to ride the dingy slide things. I was rather amused by a man in the Peppa Pig water area putting his foot on a fountain which directed it onto riders.
It was then back over to the Lost kingdom area. Some of the group rode the chairswing. I took some photos of things that I saw.
Looking through these photos I've only just realised that this dino blinked
Then some of us rode Boulder Dash. I kinda like these little demolition derby rides, good little family flat ride.
We then took another ride on Velociraptor. Some juggling happened in the queue which was rather entertaining. The ride had also got a lot quicker and was certainly a lot more forceful, not sure I could really re-ride it though due to the backwards part.
This map at the exit is rather neat
Time to go explore the other part of Lost Kingdom then...
Where we found the jeep ride thing...
It's quite a big ride and quite impressive for somewhere like Paultons.
It was then time to say our goodbyes and head on home for the day. I love Paultons, it's a great family park and Peppa Pig, Critter County and Lost Kingdom seem like an excellent step in the right direction. As others have stated though, there are many gaps in between which bring it down somewhat. I'm very excited to see what Paultons do next.
Sun 5th
Nic, Plod and I managed to be a bit late for meet up at Thorpe due to Plod and I being burdens and needing tickets. We jumped into the queue for Stealth seeing as we'd only missed the group by a few minutes. There was a minor breakdown. It re-opened, the group got on, few minutes later it broke down again but this time for a good 30+ mins. Whoops, oh well it was Thorpe, this is kinda expected and we weren't exactly in a rush to get the park "done". Finally got on Stealth though and it's still amazing <3
We then properly said hello to everyone before joining the "15 min" queue for Rumba Rapids. It looked longer than that but it sure did move along. We didn't get too wet but Phil and I did get a rather nice spray from the indoor waterfall.
We then made our way on to Inferno. I love Inferno, a great intense B&M. It was nice to be back, it had been too long.
wtf was this all about though?
meh
What a waste of money, it did have a queue but I'm guessing that's down to awful throughput?
We then split for lunch. I like the food at the BBQ tent but jeez, why did it take so long to just order food? Then the bloke serving the food just being useless at life </3
After lunch we attempted Saw but it closed due to someone throwing their epi pen from the ride causing the staff to do a search for said item. Burdenous. We did wait for quite some time before giving up, which was also when staff decided to just empty the queue and hand out fastpasses.
later
Instead we headed over to Swarm and Flying Fish. I like Swarm but it really jolted around the track at certain points, don't remember it being like that.
Most of the group then decided to ride X. I loved how loud the music was in the queueline but you could barely hear it once on the ride, what was that all about? Oh well. We decided to then faff in the Derren Brown shop. The merch range seems ok.
So, I can't imagine there's a natural orp that takes place?
Some of us then took a little ride on Colossus. It was running quite well, absolutely blitzed through the first half of the ride.
Nic, Plod and I then had to say our goodbyes and head on home. It was great to see everybody, some new, some old. Had a really nice weekend!
Thanks Ian for the organisation and the fastpasses! Thanks Nic for doing all the driving and putting me up over the weekend.
Re: Paultons Park & Thorpe Park CF Live Trip Reports June 20
Sorry, been stupidly busy this week. Some idiot also decided travelling down south for the weekend was a good idea. What a knob - put me back days this week recovering
I have photos and I have video, but I'm working on them. I should have them posted by Sunday night.
Just quickly though I would like to say that the weekend was excellent. Great weather, great company and some great rides. I loved the new Found Kingdom at Paultons and both coasters were excellent fun. The Vekoma Family Suspended was a real shock - I just didn't expect it to be so forceful. Really great ride.
Thorpe was actually really good. I don't visit often and I think that helps. I love Inferno still and enjoy Stealth a lot (but it's a bit rough). Swarm I found I like a lot too after all this time.
Highlight of course was Maxi-Minor_furie getting on all his big rides (with a bit of persuading from Serena to get him on Saw). He's got it spot on. N:I favourite, followed by Stealth, Swarm, X and then the other crap
Actually, this was my first time on X since 2007 or something. It's so much better forwards. Shockingly mediocre. I'll have to put it above my Big Apples now on my next submission for the Coaster poll
Thanks to everyone for putting up with both MMF and myself, it's really appreciated. Apologies to Neo for MMF bombarding him with questions of life, the universe and everything at dinner on Saturday evening.
Will see you back in this topic in a few days when I've had a chance to work on the media side of things
Sorry, been stupidly busy this week. Some idiot also decided travelling down south for the weekend was a good idea. What a knob - put me back days this week recovering
I have photos and I have video, but I'm working on them. I should have them posted by Sunday night.
Just quickly though I would like to say that the weekend was excellent. Great weather, great company and some great rides. I loved the new Found Kingdom at Paultons and both coasters were excellent fun. The Vekoma Family Suspended was a real shock - I just didn't expect it to be so forceful. Really great ride.
Thorpe was actually really good. I don't visit often and I think that helps. I love Inferno still and enjoy Stealth a lot (but it's a bit rough). Swarm I found I like a lot too after all this time.
Highlight of course was Maxi-Minor_furie getting on all his big rides (with a bit of persuading from Serena to get him on Saw). He's got it spot on. N:I favourite, followed by Stealth, Swarm, X and then the other crap
Actually, this was my first time on X since 2007 or something. It's so much better forwards. Shockingly mediocre. I'll have to put it above my Big Apples now on my next submission for the Coaster poll
Thanks to everyone for putting up with both MMF and myself, it's really appreciated. Apologies to Neo for MMF bombarding him with questions of life, the universe and everything at dinner on Saturday evening.
Will see you back in this topic in a few days when I've had a chance to work on the media side of things
Rachel
Coaster MILF
Re: Paultons Park & Thorpe Park CF Live Trip Reports June 20
Paultons Park
Paultons has never really been on my radar, bar from a vague awareness of Peppa Pig World, so I was excited to head to a new park in the UK.
The new area looks fantastic, with two great family coasters. Flight of the Pterosaur was a lot of fun and really smooth, it picks up a nice bit of speed in the helixes towards the end and is quite intense. Velociraptor is also a great addition to the park and both coasters have the appeal of being that step up for youngsters, who are starting to look for something a bit more thrilling. The area is nicely rounded off with Dino-Chase, which to us was merely a plus 1, and a couple of flat rides including Boulder Dash, which had us all confused as to how it works and also the Dinosaur jeep ride.
We started a tradition of breaking the rides on Magma, the drop tower. Whilst we waited at the exit we practised our Daily Mail sad face and crossed arms poses. We got back on the ride, but alas today was not the day for us to ride Magma.
Cobra was a great ride, with some speedy helixes and good airtime bunny hops. I liked the openness of the front of the train.
After lunch Frank and I went for a wander around the garden areas which were really pretty. They have some cool flower and water displays, and it’s a really nice area to take a walk through to break the day up a bit. They also have some birds on display and a Discovery Trail where you can try and spot some of the wildlife, it’s a really peaceful little area.
The Group met back up in the Critter Creak area of the park, whilst we were waiting for a few more to arrive I went and saw Nemo.
Cat-O-Pillar was to be my 200th cred, for which I received my IFC handshake, very proud moment. For those of us sitting near the back, the coaster had a surprising pop of airtime over the first drop, we all squealed in delight (well I did).
I forgot to make a sign, so just pretend i'm holding one!
Some people did the Jumping Bean ride and then we headed over to check out Peppa Pig World. George’s Dinosaur Adventure was to be the longest queue of the day, I put my head down in shame as I passed the humiliation straight and then laughed as everyone sang Happy Birthday to Serena.
Did the water slides next and some of us observed how this seemed to be the standard area that every Theme Park in the UK has – carousel, pirate ship, boat ride etc.
Finally we did some re-rides of the 2 new coasters and called it a day.
I thought Paulton’s was a great park, it’s a little out of the way for me and doesn’t have anything quite thrilling enough to prompt a re-visit, but its definitely a place I’ll be recommending to those I know with young kids. The park has a really pleasant atmosphere, and I hope with the new area this encourages people to visit and that the park can continue to make great investments and become a real contender to places like Legoland and Chessington.
Thorpe Park
Originally I wasn’t planning to do Thorpe, but seeing as we woke up early and had nothing better to do, I convinced Frank to go.
First ride was Stealth, which as always was amazing!!! I don’t care if its short, that launch <3. It had a technical problem before we got on, and then as some of the others were about to ride it, it broke down for a while. Ughhhh.
Once it was finally up and running again and everyone had ridden, we headed to the rapids. They were crap. Crapids.
Nemesis Inferno had a disgusting queue time so we used up some fastpasses which Ian had. The ride made me think about how subjective rollercoasters are, Dan (Attackhammer) and I rode on the same row, me in the middle and him at the end, and whilst I found it really smooth he got some headbanging.
We stopped for lunch at the Bushtucker BBQ. The queue was ridiculous and the guy who brought out the food was a complete idiot. Nevermind, the food was actually quite decent.
Saw had a 45 minute queue which we decided to grin and bear. The ride stopped because someone had lost a medical item. We decided to wait it out and spent the time debating what it could possibly be. After a while they cleared the queue and handed out fastpasses to those who were still waiting. I picked up some extra ones by complaining about the people who had also been waiting for us. I stupidly blurted out 10 even though there was 16 of us in total. Doh!
Went to go and ride X. It was closed, so we moved on along to Swarm. We used the fastpasses and got on straight away. I queued for the front row and it was soooo good! I’d never done Swarm at the front before and I’d definitely recommend it, the inversions are so floaty and with the wind pushing down on you it feels really intense. There was some serious bag faff meaning that the station was practically empty, so some of the CFers got 2 rides in.
X was now open, we went straight in to the inside part of the queue. Its gross, it seemed to take ages and the music became annoying quickly. The ride was meh.
Colossus was running okay, I know how to prepare for the rough bits now so it wasn’t too brutal, I’ve had better rides on it and worse. The ride op stapled me so I didn’t even get any airtime on the hill after the loop. Annoying. The girls behind me were complaining on the brake run how much their heads hurt.
I finished the day on Saw. I actually got some of the best airtime that I’ve ever had on Saw, unfortunately this was ruined by its dreadful rattle and a painful jolt at the bottom of the first drop which went straight to my head.
Anyway I had a good day at Thorpe, of course I’ve done it a hundred time before but its all about the brilliant company. Having the fastpasses helped so a big thank you to Ian for these and also for organising the whole weekend, I had a great time but expected nothing less.
I'll end with my one and only good photo from Thorpe.
Paultons Park
Paultons has never really been on my radar, bar from a vague awareness of Peppa Pig World, so I was excited to head to a new park in the UK.
The new area looks fantastic, with two great family coasters. Flight of the Pterosaur was a lot of fun and really smooth, it picks up a nice bit of speed in the helixes towards the end and is quite intense. Velociraptor is also a great addition to the park and both coasters have the appeal of being that step up for youngsters, who are starting to look for something a bit more thrilling. The area is nicely rounded off with Dino-Chase, which to us was merely a plus 1, and a couple of flat rides including Boulder Dash, which had us all confused as to how it works and also the Dinosaur jeep ride.
We started a tradition of breaking the rides on Magma, the drop tower. Whilst we waited at the exit we practised our Daily Mail sad face and crossed arms poses. We got back on the ride, but alas today was not the day for us to ride Magma.
Cobra was a great ride, with some speedy helixes and good airtime bunny hops. I liked the openness of the front of the train.
After lunch Frank and I went for a wander around the garden areas which were really pretty. They have some cool flower and water displays, and it’s a really nice area to take a walk through to break the day up a bit. They also have some birds on display and a Discovery Trail where you can try and spot some of the wildlife, it’s a really peaceful little area.
The Group met back up in the Critter Creak area of the park, whilst we were waiting for a few more to arrive I went and saw Nemo
.
Cat-O-Pillar was to be my 200th cred, for which I received my IFC handshake, very proud moment. For those of us sitting near the back, the coaster had a surprising pop of airtime over the first drop, we all squealed in delight (well I did).
I forgot to make a sign, so just pretend i'm holding one!
Some people did the Jumping Bean ride and then we headed over to check out Peppa Pig World. George’s Dinosaur Adventure was to be the longest queue of the day, I put my head down in shame as I passed the humiliation straight and then laughed as everyone sang Happy Birthday to Serena.
Did the water slides next and some of us observed how this seemed to be the standard area that every Theme Park in the UK has – carousel, pirate ship, boat ride etc.
Finally we did some re-rides of the 2 new coasters and called it a day.
I thought Paulton’s was a great park, it’s a little out of the way for me and doesn’t have anything quite thrilling enough to prompt a re-visit, but its definitely a place I’ll be recommending to those I know with young kids. The park has a really pleasant atmosphere, and I hope with the new area this encourages people to visit and that the park can continue to make great investments and become a real contender to places like Legoland and Chessington.
Thorpe Park
Originally I wasn’t planning to do Thorpe, but seeing as we woke up early and had nothing better to do, I convinced Frank to go
.First ride was Stealth, which as always was amazing!!! I don’t care if its short, that launch <3. It had a technical problem before we got on, and then as some of the others were about to ride it, it broke down for a while. Ughhhh.
Once it was finally up and running again and everyone had ridden, we headed to the rapids. They were crap. Crapids.
Nemesis Inferno had a disgusting queue time so we used up some fastpasses which Ian had. The ride made me think about how subjective rollercoasters are, Dan (Attackhammer) and I rode on the same row, me in the middle and him at the end, and whilst I found it really smooth he got some headbanging.
We stopped for lunch at the Bushtucker BBQ. The queue was ridiculous and the guy who brought out the food was a complete idiot. Nevermind, the food was actually quite decent.
Saw had a 45 minute queue which we decided to grin and bear. The ride stopped because someone had lost a medical item. We decided to wait it out and spent the time debating what it could possibly be. After a while they cleared the queue and handed out fastpasses to those who were still waiting. I picked up some extra ones by complaining about the people who had also been waiting for us. I stupidly blurted out 10 even though there was 16 of us in total. Doh!
Went to go and ride X. It was closed, so we moved on along to Swarm. We used the fastpasses and got on straight away. I queued for the front row and it was soooo good! I’d never done Swarm at the front before and I’d definitely recommend it, the inversions are so floaty and with the wind pushing down on you it feels really intense. There was some serious bag faff meaning that the station was practically empty, so some of the CFers got 2 rides in.
X was now open, we went straight in to the inside part of the queue. Its gross, it seemed to take ages and the music became annoying quickly. The ride was meh.
Colossus was running okay, I know how to prepare for the rough bits now so it wasn’t too brutal, I’ve had better rides on it and worse. The ride op stapled me so I didn’t even get any airtime on the hill after the loop. Annoying. The girls behind me were complaining on the brake run how much their heads hurt.
I finished the day on Saw. I actually got some of the best airtime that I’ve ever had on Saw, unfortunately this was ruined by its dreadful rattle and a painful jolt at the bottom of the first drop which went straight to my head.
Anyway I had a good day at Thorpe, of course I’ve done it a hundred time before but its all about the brilliant company. Having the fastpasses helped so a big thank you to Ian for these and also for organising the whole weekend, I had a great time but expected nothing less.
I'll end with my one and only good photo from Thorpe.
SilverArrow
Certified Ride Geek
Re: Paultons Park & Thorpe Park CF Live Trip Reports June 20
So most people have covered most of the things we did in quite a bit of detail so i'll only add my own little bits.
Paultons
Had never been before so the whole day was a new thing for me.
Best Moment(s)
I was impressed by both of the new coasters, particularly FotP which had some great forces (shame about the sudden brakes after the speed build up at the end but hey ho). I loved the lapbar style restraints too which I think made it feel a lot more free and open which helped make it more thrilling. Cobra was also very enjoyable. Had some great pops of airtime at the end.
Worst Moment
The magma spite! Got to sit on it twice but that's as far as it got! Had some nice chats in the queue though so that's something.
Thorpe
Best Moment(s)
Back row Colossus with Dan! Rough but fab! Big fan of Colossus!
Our special stealth send off, Rush and Samurai (although Alex did lose his sunglasses).
Worst Moment
Queueing to get out of the car park at the end?? Does that count?
So most people have covered most of the things we did in quite a bit of detail so i'll only add my own little bits.
Paultons
Had never been before so the whole day was a new thing for me.
Best Moment(s)
I was impressed by both of the new coasters, particularly FotP which had some great forces (shame about the sudden brakes after the speed build up at the end but hey ho). I loved the lapbar style restraints too which I think made it feel a lot more free and open which helped make it more thrilling. Cobra was also very enjoyable. Had some great pops of airtime at the end.
Worst Moment
The magma spite! Got to sit on it twice but that's as far as it got! Had some nice chats in the queue though so that's something.
Thorpe
Best Moment(s)
Back row Colossus with Dan! Rough but fab! Big fan of Colossus!
Our special stealth send off, Rush and Samurai (although Alex did lose his sunglasses).
Worst Moment
Queueing to get out of the car park at the end?? Does that count?
Dave
CF Legend
Re: Paultons Park & Thorpe Park CF Live Trip Reports June 20
It was lovely to see everyone again, dragging myself back into Lives more and more now! Was good to see so many new faces, and older faces too!
Paulton's is my childhood park, grew up visiting it and it's completely changed from when I was young! The Lost Kingdom is a fantastic addition to the park, I could hear the children walking around the corner and being amazed by it and the size of it! Loved the rock features and the animatronic dinosaurs really bringing it alive for them, one of the smaller touches I thought was good was the dinosaur handler so kids could 'stroke' a dinosaur chick/hatchling (is that the right word?).
The park itself has come on leaps and bounds and has given itself a distinctive character and are slowly building themed areas as opposed to being an amusement park and plonking rides where there was space. Flight of the Pterosaur was a great little ride, the speed it got to at the end and the forces were fantastic! The seats were comfy and the restraints were comfy too with lots of room! I liked the queue the only downside was the queue fences let the theme down, but imagine this could always change in future.
Velociraptor Attack was good little ride as well, anything with a dark purple colour scheme gets a thumbs up from me! The lowering of the floor was good and the moment of suspense when it got to the top.
Highlights
- Flight of Ptersosaur, good little ride.
- Vadge's staff member double
- Magma trauma
- Meeting new members and familiar faces
Lowlights
- Food, but it's better than before
- Magma trauma
It was lovely to see everyone again, dragging myself back into Lives more and more now! Was good to see so many new faces, and older faces too!
Paulton's is my childhood park, grew up visiting it and it's completely changed from when I was young! The Lost Kingdom is a fantastic addition to the park, I could hear the children walking around the corner and being amazed by it and the size of it! Loved the rock features and the animatronic dinosaurs really bringing it alive for them, one of the smaller touches I thought was good was the dinosaur handler so kids could 'stroke' a dinosaur chick/hatchling (is that the right word?).
The park itself has come on leaps and bounds and has given itself a distinctive character and are slowly building themed areas as opposed to being an amusement park and plonking rides where there was space. Flight of the Pterosaur was a great little ride, the speed it got to at the end and the forces were fantastic! The seats were comfy and the restraints were comfy too with lots of room! I liked the queue the only downside was the queue fences let the theme down, but imagine this could always change in future.
Velociraptor Attack was good little ride as well, anything with a dark purple colour scheme gets a thumbs up from me! The lowering of the floor was good and the moment of suspense when it got to the top.
Highlights
- Flight of Ptersosaur, good little ride.
- Vadge's staff member double
- Magma trauma
- Meeting new members and familiar faces
Lowlights
- Food, but it's better than before
- Magma trauma
Howie
Donkey in a hat
Re: Paultons Park & Thorpe Park CF Live Trip Reports June 20
Thanks to Ian for organising, and thank you to everyone for making my second CF Live such a hoot.
Now, I think I managed to speak to everyone at Paulton's, but I didn't get everybody's username.
Which one was peep, and which one was SilverArrow?
And who's Plod?
Thanks to Ian for organising, and thank you to everyone for making my second CF Live such a hoot.
Now, I think I managed to speak to everyone at Paulton's, but I didn't get everybody's username.
Which one was peep, and which one was SilverArrow?
And who's Plod?
ATTACKHAMMER
Strata Poster
Re: Paultons Park & Thorpe Park CF Live Trip Reports June 20
Was a great live!
Highlights:
Magma - fab drop tower
Meeting some new people, Howie!
Seeing everyone again
Feeling Swarm
Colossus back row, avec Silver Arrow
Saw without roughness
Lowlight:
Fuel pump breaking in my car, in Thorpe's car park.
Was a great live!
Highlights:
Magma - fab drop tower
Meeting some new people, Howie!
Seeing everyone again
Feeling Swarm
Colossus back row, avec Silver Arrow
Saw without roughness
Lowlight:
Fuel pump breaking in my car, in Thorpe's car park.
ATTACKHAMMER
Strata Poster
Re: Paultons Park & Thorpe Park CF Live Trip Reports June 20
Nope. By the time I made it out of my parking space, there was no queue!
10WaTT said:
Nope. By the time I made it out of my parking space, there was no queue!
Re: Paultons Park & Thorpe Park CF Live Trip Reports June 20
Plod(dish):
SilverArrow:
(between ATTAKCHAMMER and Ploddish)
I'm just going to kind of add photos as I think people have written up pretty much what happened + I'm lazy + people just want to see pictures of themselves (until they realise I take awful pictures of people )
Raining garden thing, just in case we were missing actual rain after a full day of sunshine.
Burden in a hat.
Badger's Breakfast. It's like a Foxy Supper
Dinosaur! Rarrrrrr!
Pratts...
See, awful photos are my speciality
If viewed from above, it would be like a pie chart of goons!
And now some Disc coaster faff!
I do love this last shot of JayJay
No ideas what this is, but it's best staying behind bars
Goons!
Does anyone know who this is? Is it Neo maybe?
Always get the best poses.
Dinosaur Faff
Finally, some shots showing how much fun the day was
I only took a couple of shots at Thorpe (other than the one above):
Tada! Or something - no idea why the forums are rotating the images.
Peep:Howie said:
Plod(dish):
SilverArrow:
(between ATTAKCHAMMER and Ploddish)
I'm just going to kind of add photos as I think people have written up pretty much what happened + I'm lazy + people just want to see pictures of themselves (until they realise I take awful pictures of people
)
Raining garden thing, just in case we were missing actual rain after a full day of sunshine.
Burden in a hat.
Badger's Breakfast. It's like a Foxy Supper
Dinosaur! Rarrrrrr!
Pratts...
See, awful photos are my speciality
If viewed from above, it would be like a pie chart of goons!
And now some Disc coaster faff!
I do love this last shot of JayJay
No ideas what this is, but it's best staying behind bars
Goons!
Does anyone know who this is? Is it Neo maybe?
Always get the best poses.
Dinosaur Faff
Finally, some shots showing how much fun the day was
I only took a couple of shots at Thorpe (other than the one above):
Tada! Or something - no idea why the forums are rotating the images.