Paultons Park | Tornado Springs | New Area | 2021

[Matt N]

Cyclonator’s pretty extreme, and the park themselves are declaring it their “first ever thrill ride”, so I wouldn’t be surprised if we did see something more adult-orientated and thrilling than anything they currently have; based on what the park said in that Q&A from a few weeks back, I certainly wouldn’t be surprised to see a ride that’s a step up in thrills from Storm Chaser, in the same vein that Storm Chaser is a step up in thrills from Pterosaur/Velociraptor. Maybe a Vekoma Space Warp or similar would work well, or maybe a nice, mid-size wooden coaster, of a similar vein to something like Joris en de Draak or Thunderbird/American Thunder in terms of size and thrills? Not too intense like Wodan or Troy are, but still packing a real punch and functioning as a visible step up from the park’s other rides.

A wooden coaster in particular wouldn’t surprise me, as the park has said that one was considered for Tornado Springs, and Wicker Man has proven that the ride type can be successful in Britain. As well as that, wooden coasters are great in that you can make them have a very wide appeal; you can have woodies that strike the perfect balance of being thrilling enough to have the enthusiasts raving about them, but not intense enough to put off less seasoned riders!

 

[JoshC.]

We're very much getting ahead of ourselves by talking about the park's next big investment, but I think the park should hold off on any more coasters (after next year's one..) for a while.

In my opinion, they need a decent water ride (the log flume is a bit rubbish), and some sort of dark ride (literally any type of dark ride would work). They are glaring holes in the park's line up for me. Their coaster selection is extremely well rounded and extending that is unnecessary at this point in the park's development. Get in a new log flume, or even a compact rapids, and an interesting dark ride and the park will improve much further.

I expect it's easier said than done, and it feels like the park are lower on space now, so I'm not sure where and how such rides could fit in. But if there's a will, there's a way

 

[CrashCoaster]

^Well, we know they are next turning their attention to the left side of the park after Farmyard Flyer, which I imagine technically includes everything to the left of Lost Kingdom. I imagine we won't see the Go-Karts last much longer, and I'm hoping for some kind of permanent water ride to go there, replacing the log flume. I'm also hoping/expecting the entire area around Cobra and Edge to be re-developed, and both rides rethemed and repainted, as well as a couple of new family/kiddie rides down that end. I reckon Magma will remain as it is, maybe a bit of painting up and a little extra theming work but that's about it.

 

[Ian]

It’s unlikely the park will go any more extreme than Cyclonator. They know they’ve got to cater for a wide family age range, but the focus remains on the 5-12 year olds. Anybody more extreme is way off the mark.

The queues today were strange. There was a stampede for the new area, in particular the coaster, where the queue tracked about 35 mins. Then people migrated to Cyclonator- I queued for 25 mins at this point - but after that, queues rarely reached over 10-15 mins for anything in the park.

The park deliberately reduced the capacity today so it could cope. First day, new staff, new rides...high expectations. This focus on positive customer experience meant people were less likely to be frustrated by slow operations or long waits. I’m unashamed about my praise for Paultons...show me a UK park with it’s head better screwed on and...and... I’ll laugh in your face.

 

[CrashCoaster]

It’s unlikely the park will go any more extreme than Cyclonator. They know they’ve got to cater for a wide family age range, but the focus remains on the 5-12 year olds. Anybody more extreme is way off the mark.

The queues today were strange. There was a stampede for the new area, in particular the coaster, where the queue tracked about 35 mins. Then people migrated to Cyclonator- I queued for 25 mins at this point - but after that, queues rarely reached over 10-15 mins for anything in the park.

The park deliberately reduced the capacity today so it could cope. First day, new staff, new rides...high expectations. This focus on positive customer experience meant people were less likely to be frustrated by slow operations or long waits. I’m unashamed about my praise for Paultons...show me a UK park with it’s head better screwed on and...and... I’ll laugh in your face.

I agree that I don't think they will go more extreme than Cyclonator, which is why I think a woodie should be their next move coaster-wise. This is further evidenced by the fact one was considered for Tornado Springs. But as we've suggested, I think they should consider a water ride and/or dark ride (for post-Covid times) and a revamp of the left of the park before they get a new coaster.

On another note, how were Storm Chaser's operations, and were the new rides reliable throughout the day? Just asking because it seemed like the coaster was stacking trains every run. But I guess it is the park's first coaster to run more than one train (with the exception of Cobra).

 

[Ian]

how were Storm Chaser's operations, and were the new rides reliable throughout the day?

I did see about three empty trains doing the rounds throughout the day, with occasional inconsistent dispatch. Aside from first thing, the queue was never longer than 15 mins.

One of the bounce towers was down for an hour or so. But the other one was virtually walk on.

I observed one reset on Cyclonator but that churned people through all day, with longest queue about 30 mins early in the day (the one I joined!).

Unsure if they were technical, operational or faffing public delays, but they did bugger all to the flow of the day. No sense of outrage in the air at all!

 

[Niles]

I like all this love for Tornado Springs and I’m happy that you all seemed to have a great day, but I thought the whole point of going was for the magnificent kugel ball, don’t tell me no one gave it a pat

 

[CrashCoaster]

Here is a nice multi-angle POV video of Storm Chaser by Attraction Source (TowersTimes):-

 

[Professor]

The new area and rides look superb. Very impressive.

 

[Hixee]

Open = Unstickied.

Genuinely very impressed by how this looks. Easily, without any doubt in my mind, the best UK addition this year. If Merlin gave two ****s, this'd be putting the wind up them. Unfortunately, it's clear they couldn't care less.

I can't wait to visit Paultons again this summer.

 

[Tonkso]

Open = Unstickied.

Genuinely very impressed by how this looks. Easily, without any doubt in my mind, the best UK addition this year. If Merlin gave two ****s, this'd be putting the wind up them. Unfortunately, it's clear they couldn't care less.

I can't wait to visit Paultons again this summer.

This is what Chessington should be aiming for. Even the theme is what the Scorpion Express area SHOULD look like. Refurb Rattlesnake and add something like this and Chessington will be killing it again.

Paulton's will have a whole new land by then, come on Mancey, theme up Cobra and stick in a water ride around it. Show the big multinational how it's done.

 

[Hixee]

For what it's worth, here are CF's videos:

 

[Ian]

And for what it's worth a bit more, here's my report:

Tornado Springs opens - COASTERFORCE

Paultons Park today opened their new £12m area, Tornado Springs - the UK's biggest and most ambitious new offering this season.

coasterforce.com