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Flamingo Land | Sik | Intamin 10 Inversion Coaster | 2022

Matt N

CF Legend
Apparently, a recent visitor to Flamingo Land over on TowersStreet talked to some members of staff at the park, and they were able to confirm that the coaster has now officially been delayed to 2022, and that Flip Flop and the Cable Cars have apparently been sold.

The park is also being absolutely lambasted from every angle at the moment from an operational standpoint. It’s a real shame to see the park seemingly struggling so much, given that things seemed so positive for them pre-COVID.
 

CrashCoaster

CF Legend
I do still honestly think they'd be better off sold to Merlin. I don't say that about many parks at all, but I would honestly take Merlin's management and operations over what the park has now.
 

Pokemaniac

Mountain monkey
Staff member
Administrator
Moderator
I do still honestly think they'd be better off sold to Merlin. I don't say that about many parks at all, but I would honestly take Merlin's management and operations over what the park has now.
Assuming Merlin would even bother to keep it open, instead of just cutting costs and consolidating the demand at Alton Towers and Thorpe instead.
 

JoshC.

Strata Poster
Assuming Merlin would even bother to keep it open, instead of just cutting costs and consolidating the demand at Alton Towers and Thorpe instead.

Flamingo Land is a huge resort destination thanks to the adjoining campsite. That's something that Merlin would really value and love to milk.

Given that pre-pandemic the resort was getting about 1.5m visitors a year, largely bolstered by the campsite, and Merlin could boost that with investment and annual pass holders, I think it's a genuinely interesting idea for the company.

I would be surprised if they ever actually did it, but I think from a business sense, there's a lot of things that make sense in Merlin buying and tarting up the place.
 

Pierre

Strata Poster
Had a trip to the park today, not a chance of it opening this year. Most of the supports only have 4 bolts where they connect with the footers. No sign of any work on the queue line. No sign of any trains or cars on the track, and going by the operations today the park is really struggling.
To be honest if we’re going to assess how Flamingo Land is doing based on their operations the park would have been defunct years ago 😂 Kumali was waiting for a part which is now here and I believe has been running again. It is a disgrace the park opened at full price with so much either not running or on dual operation with one ride operator. You only need to look at their reviews on social media and you can see how many people they’ve thoroughly annoyed with their pisspoor operations.
 

tynemouthsurfer

Roller Poster
Was there yesterday, some construction work looked to be going on. Couple of workers, some timber and a small digger. Looked like the entrance or exit perhaps.

We have been to FL a few times past couple of years, mainly for the zoo. From a coaster perspective, they really need this ride.

I think Kumali is a really solid ride (when the queue is light given they only operate one train). Velocity I am not the biggest fan of. Mumbo Jumbo is a novelty. Hero is terrible.

The needs a new flagship coaster and this will hopefully get finished and be it.
 

Matt N

CF Legend
Out of interest, is it known whether Inversion, or Invers10n as everyone seems to be stylising it as, is just a code name, or is it the actual ride name?
 
At this point, I just imagine the staff referring to it as "That 🤬 🤬 thing" or similar tbh

You are not wrong, we have all said it is cursed as every park it has been to has run into some sort of problem.
Trying to track down 10 year old parts for a ride that has been spread across 3 continents is a logistical nightmare.
We even have the Intamin engineers scratching their heads too (they are the dudes in the pics from theme park insanity)
 

Matt N

CF Legend
Have we heard anything new about this coaster as of late? Is it testing or anything yet?

I find it really interesting how much this has flown under the radar given its significance; yes, it's a Colossus clone, but it's the tallest coaster built in the UK since Swarm 10 years ago, as well as the biggest ride at Flamingo Land (I think?), so it's pretty significant for the UK coaster scene in that regard!

On a side note, Flamingo Land is going to have a pretty epic coaster collection by the time this opens... they're going to be joint with Towers & Blackpool for most coasters in the UK according to RCDB, and they're going to have 5 thrill coasters! That's nothing to be sniffed at, in my view... it must surely put them in contention for having one of the strongest coaster lineups in Britain, possibly even one of the strongest in Europe?
 
Have we heard anything new about this coaster as of late? Is it testing or anything yet?

I find it really interesting how much this has flown under the radar given its significance; yes, it's a Colossus clone, but it's the tallest coaster built in the UK since Swarm 10 years ago, as well as the biggest ride at Flamingo Land (I think?), so it's pretty significant for the UK coaster scene in that regard!

On a side note, Flamingo Land is going to have a pretty epic coaster collection by the time this opens... they're going to be joint with Towers & Blackpool for most coasters in the UK according to RCDB, and they're going to have 5 thrill coasters! That's nothing to be sniffed at, in my view... it must surely put them in contention for having one of the strongest coaster lineups in Britain, possibly even one of the strongest in Europe?
Are you counting Hero as a thrill coaster. Wow, hot take that!
 

Matt N

CF Legend
Are you counting Hero as a thrill coaster. Wow, hot take that!
I've never ridden, so can't comment on its actual thrill level, but it's listed Extreme on RCDB, so I thought to count it... the 5 thrill coasters I was referring to were Kumali, Mumbo Jumbo, Velocity, Hero and Inversion (I'll go with the codename, as we don't have an actual name).

I don't know if you guys agree with that sentiment, but that's just my outsider's take on it.
 
I've never ridden, so can't comment on its actual thrill level, but it's listed Extreme on RCDB, so I thought to count it... the 5 thrill coasters I was referring to were Kumali, Mumbo Jumbo, Velocity, Hero and Inversion (I'll go with the codename, as we don't have an actual name).

I don't know if you guys agree with that sentiment, but that's just my non-visitor's take on it.
Ride it for the cred, nothing else.
 

Sandman

Giga Poster
As nice as it is that Flamingo Land are getting this, there's still a significant gap between them and the big 3 (Towers, Thorpe, BPB). I don't see them really getting any surge in attendance because of the new looper - marketing will probably reach Scotland (at best) and won't even break south.

Still a million miles from anywhere near a decent line-up in comparison to many parks Europe wide.
 

Matt N

CF Legend
Looking at RCDB, they do seem to have a surprising amount of family/kiddie coasters given the size of the coaster selection... 5, by the looks of things. It's almost like a British Energylandia on a smaller scale, in that regard; a really great kids' lineup!

I've never visited Flamingo Land, but I always thought it looked fun; kind of like a British Busch Gardens Tampa, but on a smaller scale coasters-wise! I need to go at some point (it's probably the most significant UK park I haven't visited yet), but it's far away from me, and incredibly hard to get to on public transport from the South West... maybe one to save for when I can drive?
 
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