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Flamingo Land - 03/08/09

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Hyper Poster
We arrived at Flamingo Land at about 9:20 and although the park wasn't advertised to open until 9:30, they let us straight in with our e-tickets. After a little wander around snapping photos we decided to go wait for Mumbo Jumbo to open, figuring a quick early queue.

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We were 4th and 5th in the queue, but it wasn't very long until it stretched far back and the ride wasn't even open. At 10 they opened the rides and the queue line flooded into the actual queue path, instantly creating a 40 minute queue that luckily we were at the front of.

We rode Mumbo Jumbo twice that day. I thought it was a good if not odd ride. I said to Ian in a PM that it felt like a wild mouse gone mental, and I think that's the best way to sum it up. It was very brief but provides you with some new coaster sensations, like going around the outside of a corner and rolling along upside down.

As I've said, I thought it was good, but I believe it could get boring quick if ridden too much, or even too many of them built. It is very slow loading and the queue can seem somewhat of a mystery as how long your going to be waiting. From my experience on Monday each Zig (or Zag) of the queue up the slop to the station takes 15-20 minutes, there were 3 cars operating. It felt very slow loading, often there were no cars running around the track and all 3 sat in the station. The last point about Mumbo Jumbo I'd like to address is the breaking down the drop. It looks odd when you are watching, but i can't say I actually noticed it whilst on the ride, thinking about it, you know you should be going faster around the outside curve of the drop but it didn't spoil it for me.

Next we hurried over to Kumali where I had mixed feelings about what to expect. Some people seem to love it, others hate it.

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No queue worth mentioning and we were on the ride. I must confess to finding it quite dull, after the first drop and loop it felt laboured getting around the track. Very little to say, but I feel it could have been better if dug down into a trench to create some themeing and foot choppers.

The Corkscrew was surprisingly good and I felt it was relatively smooth for an ancient Vekoma.

Dragon was a case of close your eyes and think of the credit.

Then we rode Velocity. Forgot to take a picture.
I really enjoyed it! Got front row for every ride (by chance) and I found it to be quite exiting. The motorbike position was new to me and charging head first down the launch track was really cool. The banked curves felt about right to be exciting for adults and not terrifying for kids. I'm hoping to go to Toverland next year to ride Troy, but I'm now also excited about the bike coaster they have there.

Then we rode this:
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It's called runaway train, I think, but we dubbed it "Holy Crap!". For some reason i spaced out going up the very short chain lift, and as we were sat in the back it made me jump as we accelerated over the crest of the hill, I said "Holy Crap" in alarm and the name stuck. The rest of the 2 circuit ride was similar to GBH.

The Wild Mouse was... well.. a wild mouse. We had to queue for about 5 minutes for it and it was a giggle enough. They provide a ride video for the Wild Mouse, it seems like an odd choice for a ride video ride, but there you go. We didn't see ours on the screens, maybe it was down.

That all the coasters we rode, as the Go-Gater had a Children Only sign (thank god for that!). The zoo was large and very good, much much better than the Chessie and Drayton zoos. I really enjoyed Flip Flop, it provided lots of air time at the top of the swings.

We ate lunch at the Costa near the zoo and had a nice and healthy baguette for a couple of quid each.

In summery of Flamingo Land, I thought this was a good park, well worth the £21 entry fee. There are plenty of coasters to be ridden, and the Zoo area is a nice escape from the theme park for a lunch or something. Mumbo Jumbo and Velocity are the coasters I would visit for, they both provide unique ride experiences for the UK. There is enough entertainment for 1 day. Travelling from the south, as I did, the journey would really be made worth it by combining your trip with Lightwater Valley (as I did).

Ride Count:
Mumbo Jumbo - 2
Kumali - 2
Velocity - 2
Corkscrew
Wild Mouse
Dragon Coaster
Holy Crap
Flip Flop
Kiddies Ghost Train Thing
Zoo Train
Spongebob 4D
Pedal Monorail
 

Pierre

Strata Poster
So do they open the park gates at 9.30 now? Wasn't aware of that.
I agree with you about the zoo, its the perfect escape, I went to ride Mumbo Jumbo and ended up being in a 2hr 15min queue (that was 1hr on 3car operation and 1hr15 on 4car) and I was so pissed off by the end I just walked around the zoo and had a pint to cool off :)

Looks like a decent ride count though.
I'm one of a select few to have the Go Gator credit because I rode it when I was supposed to, when I was a young child!! :D
 
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