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Best non-Merlin UK park & coaster

Ian

Ian

From CoasterForce
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Too much emphasis is put on UK parks operated by Merlin. That's fair enough, they do hold the keys to the "big" parks and most peope here are Anal Pass holders, but what about the independently or other companies owned parks here in the UK?

Oakwood, Flamingoland, Lightwater Valley, Paultons, The Crealy's, Pleasurewood Hills, Brean, Drayton, Pleasure Island, Fantasy Island, M&Ds, Pleasure Beach Blackpool, Pleasureland Southport, Flambards....there are loads!

So which UK non-Merlin park and coaster is the best?
 
Re: Best non-Merlin UK park & coaster

Hmm.

The only serious contenders are Blackpool, Flamingo and Drayton.

FlamingoLand, probably. Dayton is a horrible place, and Blackpool doesn't do enough.

Mingo has developed at a rate comparable to Thorpe, its also kinda nice and has interesting (if nothing else) rides.

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I adore Oakwood. It's small, neat, friendly and has Megafobia - my favourite none Merlin coaster. I don't know why I love Oakwood really, I just do. It just presses all the right buttons for me, even though I probably only ride on about four rides when I go. It's very odd.

Drayton is a superb "young family" park. For parents with kids from say 1-8 it's brilliant. I think it's probably better than Flamingoland (which is also superb for that age group) just because it's so compact. It's also got that 9-teen market covered to a degree with Shockwave, Apocalypse, etc - but nowhere near to the extent Thorpe or Alton has.

Flamingoland as I say I think is great for a young family and it covers the 9-teen market well too. However, it lacks... something. I think probably dark rides. Chuff Nuggets, Bat on a Stick and Rip-off of the Caribbean are dreadful, but entertainingly dreadful. For kids they're just fantastically entertaining. Minger just doesn't have that fun factor and quirkiness I really enjoy having to break up the day. As for thrill rides, I think that it's also full of mediocre "meh". Though it's all fine for the demographic and area it aims for - it's just that they're not going to drag people (other than enthusiasts) from London with Mumbo Jumbo. That's okay though because they don't want to :)

Paultons is gorgeous, well kept and the absolute best children's park I've been to. It's got a brilliant range of rides, attractions and PPW for those under 7/8. Lovely place and takes the crown for the lower age market.

That kind of really leaves Blackpool as the best "thrill and complete attraction park" that comes close to offering what the three Merlin parks do. I think it probably does as well, cover bits that the other three do. There's thrill, dark rides, flats, kid's area, water rides and a lot of fun in there. As an "all-round" contender it's got to be the best.

Though Oakwood and Megafobia still get my own personal vote for this question.
 
Park wise - I'd say Blackpool - it just has a great combination of thrills, history and dark rides, and whilst Im still a bit miffed about trauma towers going, I still love it there.

coaster wise? tough chocie, Ultimate, Nash, Steeplechase and wild mouse would be up there - although I'd like to ride fobia again.
 
Nice topic,

Oakwood - I actually love the place, it has a nice mixture of quirky rides and obviously Megafobia, it's just a shame it's so far away, but then again I think that's part of the attraction. The only gripe I have with it is Speed, but for me that's a minor issue as Oakwood is just generally a real pleasant place to be, it has a certain charm about it.

Drayton - I'm not the biggest fan of Drayton really, I like Maelstrom and Apocalypse, both would be good in any Merlin park, but I loathe G-Force and I have to be in the mood for Shockwave. I also find some areas of the park quite dirty.
However forgetting that, what Drayton does do without a shadow of a doubt, is appeal to families, Thomas Land is one of the best franchise themed areas of any park in the country, along with Ben 10, which I think is one of, if not the best themed franchise rides in the country.

Flamingo - I like Mingo also, it was the first non Merlin park I went to actually, having said that I haven't been for about 2 years now, and in that two years it seems like so much has changed, I should be going in September, and there will be 3 new creds to get, that's like going to a new park altogether, so for comparisons to Merlin, if you want a park to rival Merlin, then when it comes to volume of recent installations, Flamingo is that park, and for that they have to be credited.

Blackpool - I know Blackpool is hit and miss for most people here, but for me it's a hit, there's things I don't like the location of Infusion, and just Infusion in general, lack of flats to name a couple.
But pretty much everything else I love. The rides, Valhalla, Nash, Avalanche, the atmosphere always seems good, plus they have the UK's biggest Burger King, so, yeah, balls in your court Merlin. :)
For me Blackpool take this just ahead of Oakwood, they're my 1 and 2 of all parks here, including Merlin ones.

Honorable mention to Paultons for Peppa Pig World and LWV for The Ultimate Raptor Attack.

As for rides, Megafobia takes this, but honorable mentions to, The Ultimate and Odyssey.
 
Ultimate is the best coaster in the UK, btw.

Like, legitimately. Not in a "its so awful its amazing" way, it is without a doubt the best. There's a lot of reasons why, and the park it resides in being so, er ...pants, in a non-offensive way, is part of it's greatness. It's got that "hidden gem" thing going on. But it is a legitimately scary, legitimately unique and legitimately forceful ride, and whether it was designed to be any of these is getting hung up over something roller coasters were never meant to be questioned about, I guess.

Also you should all read Jeremy's review of it because Jeremy is my hero. <3 http://www.rollercoasterphilosophy.com/ ... er-valley/

The problem with Megafobia, and Oakwood in general, is that Megafobia is great in UK terms, but fails to stand up to anything outside the UK. Go to mainland Europe, or better yet the States, and Megafobia doesn't hold up. I'm all for rating rides within context, but when you have a discussion like "best in the UK", you're looking for a team which can defend themselves against the bests of anywhere else. Megafobia is definitely forgettable after riding even mediocre US wood.

On that note, Blackpool is probably more worthy of my nomination than Flamingoland - but what I love about Mingo is it's a bunch of weird arse things. It's kinda like Kings Dominion, I guess.
 
Nah, Megafobia is still easily in my top five wood. That second drop is sublime and it never fails to leave me feeling elated and full of giggles.

Though I have limited European wooden experience (Balder, Thunder Coaster, Wodan, Stampida and Mammut), 'fobia is the best by a fair way compared to those.

Boulder Dash and El Toro easily beat it though but nothing else I can think of. Though I've only got those two, Lightning Racer and Phoenix which are "heralded" US wood.

I couldn't care less if The Ultimate was demolished tomorrow. It's got a dull start and then it's just badly designed and hideous. It's like saying that the people on Jeremy Kyle should breed because they're rough but unique, scary but beautiful inside - or some other such bollocks.

Like those people on Jeremy Kyle, I can understand why people find entertainment and enjoyment from them, but it's a special kind of love ;)

I love LWV as a park though and would spend all day there really enjoying not riding The Ultimate.

I also actively dislike Flamingoland. I have never had a good "adult" day there. I think it's superb with a young child though :)
 
I couldn't care less if The Ultimate was demolished tomorrow. It's got a dull start and then it's just badly designed and hideous. It's like saying that the people on Jeremy Kyle should breed because they're rough but unique, scary but beautiful inside - or some other such bollocks.
Click to expand...
All respect for you gone.
 
Re: Best non-Merlin UK park & coaster

For me it's Blackpool, just a lot of good coasters and its fun there.

The other UK parks have some good rides I leave places feeling let down like there is something missing.

A lot of the UK parks have one trick and that's it. I can walk 5 mins down the road and get a cheap thrill that other UK parks offer :)

Same view as Furie about The Ultimate, have got no idea what the hype is. Can have more fun on the roads leading to that park than any of their rides :). It was so rated on cf that when I went there I was expecting a lot and just found it boring.

Need to do Oakwood on a none rainy day in some sort of good order rather than zig zag all over it and just get fed up.
 
I actually really enjoy Flamingo Land. It's one of a few parks where we actually stay until closing (not on purpose) as there's so much to do, even when the park is dead.

I also really like Drayton, Blackpool and Oakwood.

And I have to give an honourable mention to little Pleasure Island. Such a quirky little park, with some fantastic thrill rides, shows and dark rides. Though it's still a park that I tend to leave around dinner time..
 
Martyn B said:
It's one of a few parks where we actually stay until closing (not on purpose) as there's so much to do, even when the park is dead.
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I thought the reason why people stayed to closing at FL was due to the poor operation. They take forever to load, unload, check restraints etc.
 
I would have to say that Lightwater Valley is one of my favourite non-Merlin UK parks not just because of the Ultimate, which is rather bonkers but good, but also it had a charm about it which I like and Whirlwind their Topscan is fantastic :)

Honourable mention goes to Bottons in Skegness - while it doesn't have a lot of big coasters I thought it was a nice little seaside park and I enjoyed my time there.
 
T'Ultimate for best coaster, definitely.

As for best park... hmm... I kinda agree with what people have said about Flamingoland. There's a lot there, and I love their bravery to choose really mental things, whilst still managing to stay on budget and on message. I also like that they have at least a small stab at theming stuff. The first couple of visits I had there were really enjoyable, and I came away with an affection for the park. However, my last visit pretty much undid all of that. As Ian said, the state of operations was appauling. All themed music had gone, replaced by ride ops' iPods. Many ops/hosts were more interested in chatting to mates than doing their job, and in the worst cases were actually pretty rude to guests. The time taken to batch and dispatch rides was unaceptably long, leading to ridiculous queues. Rides were being run on worse cycles, such as Cliffhanger running shot only rather than shot and drop. So yeah, given all that, they can't have my vote.

I don't hate Drayton in the way that a lot of people do. Plus, I'm not afraid to admit that I actually LIKE G-Force. But again, I think the operations let it down. I can't remember the exact number, but when we saw G-force valley once, something like 23 staff came over to "help". Most of them were standing around drinking coffee for half an hour. That just looks bad. Then you've got stuff like Excalibur. They should actually be down right ashamed of that. Of course, Thomas Land, and the Ben 10 cred are great, but that's no excuse for leaving the rest of the park to rot.

I like Blackpool. I love how tacky and vile it is, and that there's loads there and that it's all crammed on top of itself. However, I hate the fact that Amanda keeps trying to make it something its not. Aiming for "classy" and "sophisticated" is ridiculous. Not only is she doing a crap job of it with the decisions that are made ("Loos"? Really?!) but it's just not that sort of park. It should stick a "Kiss me quick" hat on, slump in a deckchair with some chips in paper on its lap and gracefully embrace its seaside tackyness.

That doesn't leave a whole lot really.

I don't dislike LWV, but it is basically just a big field with a few stock rides round the edge and T'Ultimate in the corner. You know how supermarkets always stick the bakery in the far corner in the hope that the smell of freshly baked bread will lure you into the store? Yeah, that's how I see T'Ultimate. Whilst its really lovely bread, the rest of their stuff isn't good enough to make me do my weekly shop there.

I adore a lot of the smaller parks actually. I really enjoyed GreenWood. It's got a great combination of attractions, knows its target audience, and has an amazing atmosphere. Obviously it'd have been better if the new zip wire hadn't killed someone...

Paulton's, of course. Again, I like the ride selection and the atmosphere. Cobra is one of my absolute favourite family coasters, and definitely my favourite Gerstlauer (I think. So far). The new bits they've worked on are great, but parts of the park are looking rather tired, so I think they still have a little way to go yet. The signs are promising though.

I like Oakwood, but its at the arse end of the world. I loved it 20 years ago before it really had proper rides. I don't really understand the love for 'fobia, but I was probably just unlucky when we went the other year. The ops were also shockingly bad that day too. Plus, they spite adults from the Clown Coaster, so I can't pick them.

That basically leaves The Milky Way. No, the ride selection isn't brilliant, but I REALLY don't care. The homemade 50p B&Q theming on Clone Zone is enough alone to get my vote. Combine that with the most epic, best lit, fastest, most brilliantly operated and organised dodgems I've EVER seen, and an indoor play area open to ADULTS, and what's not to like? LESSTHANTHREE indeed :)
 
Intresting point about the Ultimate. I used to hate it. I saw nothing good about it and, to this day question what I see in it. But unfortunately, I now do see something in it. Maybe it's the thought that it's built by BR (and the inevitable, constant fear of the train sticking a person, not making it round for leaves on the line, getting held up due to over running engineering works, that that brings). But in truth, I actually think it's a good ride. It is well designed if a little unimaginative; ok, the first half is essentially pointless, but the terrain hugging second half uses that valley for maximum effect and for that I must say I love it. It's like someone's back garden, hobby built rollercoaster (which, well, it is), and that has a nice bit of charm to me. It's unique, it's fun, and it's British.

But that aside, I have to say I'm not following the Flamingo Land buzz here. It's too much like everything that's bad about Thorpe. It's flat, there are no clear themes, rides are plonked on concrete footings with little thought as to theme, there is little greenery used to positive effect (ie: trees arn't used to break the areas up, there is no vegetation consistent with theme). The park is also ramshackle in places, take the area around Cliff Hanger, it's typical quick theme theme park, boring building with cheap facade. The newer areas just lack buildings all together. The only ride I find pleasant is the boat river (whatever it is called), and that, I never ride, because hypothermia and lion flu don't interest me.

Blackpool I despise. It does nothing for me at all. Rides are lovely but rides on a bleak sea front, with no theme, lots of concrete/wood/building materials, and panoramic views of council estates all on offer. I know a lot of that isn't the fault of Blackpool Pleasure beach, but I just don't think they do much to hide these things and to bring a better experience. Also, they removed bling, after years of running it on a poor cycle, so don't expect much love from me for that one...

Drayton, I like. It does a lot of things right. It's rides are well themed, it pays attention to detail and it actually tries to make something of it's investments. I feel like it's the poor man's version of PortAventura, or rather, a park that tried to be Alton Towers in the 1990's, never had quite as large investment fund, but still keeps on trying, and to be perfectly honest, if the park just had a slightly bigger collection of thrill rides, could just win me over from Alton Towers in the majority of cases. My only criticism, is it's inability to manage large gate figures; although I think that's a theme common to many smaller parks.

Finally Lightwater Valley. My favourite. I really have a soft spot for Lightwater. As I already mentioned in another topic, I feel like it's a park going through all the right stages and doing all the right things to one day flourish into a real star of a theme park. It's not rushing down the MUST BUILD A HOTEL ROUTE, or storming into the build anything we can as long as it's a new ride party either. No, it takes it's limited budget and does the right things with it. Take their latest investments. They've put in a really good (for a small park), themed area. They've added a good all rounder (the fairground rapids ride), and they've (in my eyes), invested wisely in an ex-fairground flat ride, that is actually a superb crowd puller (Whirlwind). They don't blow they're own trumpet, they don't try and ram sales down your throat when you visit them, and they don't hide from what they are. I also give them top marks for superb customer service. When I last visited, all the staff were superb. I was given student entry rate without asking, staff on numerous rides spoke friendly-ly to me, and when I requested specific elements in a cycle on Whirlwind, instead of the Thorpe Park answer (how do you know what cycle 6 is? No you can't have it (followed by looks of what a geek)), I had a really friendly chap, who had a genuinely friendly conversation about the ride and tried to do exactly what I had asked. And for that reason, I give Lightwater valley my vote. They look after their guests, they seem to invest wisely, and the rides they have, are actually, pretty darn good.
 
There's only going to be one park that gets my vote here and I am sure I don't need to write it, but BPB!

I prefer BPB to anywhere in the UK and I do rate two of their coasters as two of the best in the country, even if many people disagree with one of them, PMBO! The other one is the Grand National.

I haven't been to Oakwood or Flamingo Land for many years, but from my past experiences they were no where near the standard of BPB or the two leading Merlin parks (Towers and Thorpe).
 
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