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Flamingoland Tips and Tricks

CoasterCrazy

Giga Poster
Hi everyone,
I'll be visiting Flamingoland for the first time late September, and was just wondering about a few things before I go...

- Is there ANY chance of getting ANY discounts, or are they practically nonexistent?
- What will the queues be like? Sunday, end of season...?
- What would be the best plan of action? I hear Mumbo Jumbo pulls reasonable queues, but what about the others? And are they any good ;)
- Finally, is Hero really as **** as everyone says it is?

If anyone could help, it would be greatly appreciated, even if it's not much!
Thanks in advance! :)
 

Smithy

Strata Poster
No discounts, big queues.

Hero is ****.

Basic advice I'd imagine, Velocity pulls the biggest queues so head straight to Kumali/Mumbo Jumbo, you can whore Velocity later in the day.
 

CoasterCrazy

Giga Poster
Haha, you lot are an enthusiastic bunch ;) Thanks for the replies anyway - I'll certainly go to MJ or Kumali first now.
Think I'll be going anyway, as I need the creds...and I can tie it into a University Open day ;)

I've only done Chessie so far this year, and that was, well, truly gross to be honest... How many rides per day are we thinking of? If I can get on more than 5 rides in the day, then sadly, that'll be an improvement on my last visits to Thorpe and Chessie.

Surely, however bad the capacity, at the end of the season, the queues can't be over an hour each? I suppose we'll see!

Anybody got any good news? I mean...it must be better than Chessington? Surely? If it isn't then I might sit down and cry as my already frustrated family vow never to visit a British Park again....
 

Smithy

Strata Poster
Yeah Mumbo Jumbo has a dire throughput so get it out the way asap. Kumali and Velocity get through queues quite quickly tbf, but Velocity is the first major ride people come across so as the unwritten rule of theme parks go it pulls a big queue early on.
 

rob666

Hyper Poster
Velocity is one of my favourite rides,
worth queueing for.
Throughput on the coasters is pretty naf,
take a good book!
The zoo part is worth a wander.
Number one tip...
take a picnic, probably one of the worst parks ever for food.
Always hard to find discounts,
but at least parking is free.
Resort to the queuejumping pass if required,
but I don't think the queues will be too bad at the end of the month.
And now your expectations have been lowered,
the park isn't too vile,
or completely gross,
just a bit sh!tty.
Worth doubling up with Lightwater if you've never been there,
shorter queues and a nicer park, just fewer rides overall,
but a nicer day out,
and it has The Ultimate for the best of bruises.
Quite good really for Yorkshire!
Good luck.
 

ECG

East Coast(er) General
Staff member
Administrator
As others have said - my tip is don't bother and the trick is to go somewhere else.
That being said, all the queues other than MJ should be no more than 10-15 minutes but the ride ops are so bad that they can take up to an hour. I can see Velocity taking a bit longer than the others, but there's no excuse for the way they operate Kumali. A 30 person queue on that shouldn't take 30-40 minutes, even with poor ride ops.
 

Thekingin64

Strata Poster
I get the impression I'm the only one here who actually likes Flamingoland. OK, the operations arent great and there is a lot left to be desired but it's still a likeable park which I would happily go to repeatedly.
 

Pink Cadillac

Giga Poster
I was looking to go myself as I haven't been since 2001, meaning I've ridden none of the major operating creds. This thread makes me want to keep it that way :/
 

Dar

Hyper Poster
I mean, if 10 minute dispatches on an SLC is your bag, then knock yourself out! Personally, having my restraint checked twice before AND after the cycle isn't my idea of fun! :p
 

CoasterCrazy

Giga Poster
Haha, thanks everyone for your responses! They lowered my expectations so much that I actually had a great day! Here's a mini trip report if you don't mind....

Anyway, so I arrived around opening time, surprisingly a little nervous. Having managed just 5 rides on my last UK park visit to a stupidly crowded, and generally pretty **** Chessington, my family were beginning to question whether it was really worth me dragging them around the country to visit overcrowded parks in the UK. At least this time I tactically had the University of York open day to blame for that. So, since we were paying full price, I was jokingly told I'd have to pay for it, if it really was as awful as you claimed. Given your enthusiasm it looked like I was going to have to.

Ben said:
My biggest Flamingoland tip is not to go, the park is gross.
ATTACKHAMMER said:
Hero is disgusting and the park is vile.
So with that in mind, I was pleasantly surprised when I saw only about 20-30 cars in the car park. Even more so, when I managed to walk on Kumali twice in the space of about 10 minutes. In fact, after getting 20 rides in, including all the creds, the zoo and a cream tea we even managed to leave half an hour early. :)

Anyway, so what did I think? Well, although it was deserted the day I went, I can see where you guys are coming from. Single train ops on practically everything, and rides with stupidly low capacities could have made for a pretty shocking day. But thankfully, I can review all the coasters....

Kumali - 8/10, x4- It's an SLC, and the best I've ridden, but it's not quite as smooth as a baby's bottom as some claim. However, it does have some excellent positive Gs throughout the short, but quite intense layout, especially front seat on the drop! The zero-G was a little disappointing, and it was pretty short, but it's still probably one the best non-B&M inverts out there.

Velocity - 9/10 x4 or 5 - A fantastic little coaster, with some great airtime! It was a little rough round the edges, and again, was a little on the short side, but the forces were excellent, especially the little Negative-G buffet at the end. I felt the trains actually amplified the experience of what, in my opinion, is the best ride in the park.

Mumo Jumbo - 6/10, x1 - One and done quite frankly. Shocking capacity, a bit of rattle and nothing really to rave about. I mean, how much do they need to trim that drop? Opened late too!

Flip Flop - 4/10, x1 - Downright disappointing to be honest. Is it just me, or is that ride really quite dull? A few positives, but any airtime was deadened by the loose restraints. Stupidly long ride cycle which almost made me fall asleep. Looks pretty though.

Hero - 4/10, x1 - There's a reason volares are cheap. You were all right on this one...it's awkward, jolty, rough, and a bit uninteresting to be frank. After the first drop I thought, 'actually, this is alright!', and then came that first turn. Ouch.
Decent heartline rolls, but it's not really thrilling enough to make up for the pain! It could have been worse though.

Pteradactyl - 9/10, x1 - For a small starflyer, this was probably the most terrifying ride in the park. It just feels so....unrestrained to be honest. A tad disconcerting, especially in the wind, but it was enjoyable in the end and it was nice to actually feel scared for once.

Navigator - 9/10, x1 - Not bad at all! A very good ride cycle- so much so I actually preferred it to the extended Disk'O models.

Other Creds - Well, I got them all. Nothing to write home about really. (#credlife)

Overall, a good park, and a good day out. The problem is, whilst almost all the rides are unique in some way, I wouldn't describe any of them as good enough to really warrant a revisit. They just fell very slightly flat. The park really needs a stand out attraction for true adrenaline junkies (a woodie would be nice ;) )...close, but no cigar!

But let's remember, at the end of the day, it's a family park/resort. And it does a very good job of being that.

Check out my channel for offrides and more in the coming days!
 
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