RedSpecial Posted June 14, 2009 Share Posted June 14, 2009 OK this is my first TR so be gentle with me - hope you like the new construction/testing picks of Mumbo Jumbo due to open in July and an update on other general rides at Flamingoland in North Yorkshire. [coastertube]http://www.themeparkreview.com/coastertube/play.php?vid=flamingoland_qumm[/coastertube][/coastertube] Who need's Mantas when we have sharks. Flip Flop's been around a year or two now at Flamingo land and really sets off the Splosh themed area. Can't wait for this to open - talking to the staff they said that they will get first go on the ride before the official opening day. Navigator is a typical but great fun spinning flat ride. Always worth a few goes. Although lots of fun it was almost as bumpy as Corkscrew. Before we could progress on to the larger rides we just had to have a go on the mine train From Corkscrew you can see this - my how the construction has speeded along in recent weeks. Now that Alton Towers no longer has a Corkscrew this is the last remaining one in the UK These still look like the original cars. First we checked out the Corkscrew. Originally this ride came from Whitley Bay Welcome to Flamingoland! OK before we get on to the coasters we better have a shot of the Flamingo's - there's also a zoo at the park but today we'll focus on the park's main attractions - the rides. Anyone with any sense tended to take off their tops. Willing victims. The loading bay. Although we all tend to read these signs - in this case it should come with a government health warning - you really really will get very wet on this ride. Next to Flip Flop you'll find the main Splosh ride. This guy looks so cool. Up, up and away! This is a very popular ride but the wait is never too long thanks to the ride volume. On to the Mad Mouse - it's had a paint job since our last visit and looks good for it. You can even get your own Mad Mouse video. Up, up and ow my god I could really die on this ride - seriously health and safety need to check this out. After Splosh we had a go on Sky Flyer - this is one very serious ride - you really do need these cages or you'd go splat. After Splosh we needed a change of clothes and picked up these cool Flamingoland t-shirts - a steal at £5 each! The day was a very pleasant 21 degrees C not sure what this would be like on a typical UK summer day? I like the look of that 120 degree first drop. Shot of upside down dummies The cars were running for most of our visit with two dummies in the back of each car. Love the cars with their crash test dummies Time to check out Mumbo Jumbo Flamingoland has a really good mix of both large and smaller coaster rides. We rounded off our day with a go on the Vekoma bikes 0-60mph in 2.6 seconds. Unfortunately it takes ages to get a ride on this due to the very slow loading times. Flamingoland also has one of the biggest log flumes in the UK. Just love those loops. Can still remember when Rob paid a visit just after Kumali opened. It's interesting to see how the theming has changed the feel of the ride. Will Mumbo Jumbo put Kumali in to second place? At the moment Kumali is still Flamingoland's No 1 ride. Back to the rides with Kumali Repeat after me - how low can you go. Love to see what these guys Wii Fit ages would come up with. After checking out Mumbo Jumbo we dropped in on the Bongo Warriors show. Another wide angle shot. Why is it we are always one of the first to arrive and the last to leave. You really should check out the ravens in the car park picking over the remains of exhausted visitors. End to a very fun day! One last shot of Mumbo Jumbo - looking forward to a return visit once it's open in the next few weeks. Check out the snaking layout of Velocity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Electerik Posted June 14, 2009 Share Posted June 14, 2009 Nice TR. Thanks. Was that video something you can buy from the park? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dr.gumbo Posted June 14, 2009 Share Posted June 14, 2009 Woo, someone from the Tyne and Wear area!!! Nice report, can't wait for this ride to open. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedSpecial Posted June 14, 2009 Author Share Posted June 14, 2009 Nice TR. Thanks. Was that video something you can buy from the park? Yes on the Wild Mouse each car has two inbuilt video cameras that are wireless broadband connected to the picture hut at the end of the ride. For a small fee they do a DVD from your ride. Only takes a few minutes for them to do the disk. Since my last visit they've also installed similar cameras on Kumali - only down side is that the two front seats on Kumali can't be recorded due to having no place to put the cameras. They'd run out of DVD disks for Kumali for our visit or I'd have one for this as well. Not sure if they plan to put cameras in Mumbo Jumbo - couldn't get close enough to the new cars to check them out. I like the idea compared to Alton Towers your visit type system as you can easily pick which one off rides you want a DVD for at Flamingoland. Thanks for the feedback. Flamingoland really seems to be on the up at the moment - maybe it'll start attracting more visitors from further South. The park was really really busy on our visit but the queues seemed shorter than I'm used to. General good visitor management - lots of good ride attractions to pick from. Hoping to get in a return visit once Mumbos opened. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedSpecial Posted June 14, 2009 Author Share Posted June 14, 2009 Woo, someone from the Tyne and Wear area!!! Nice report, can't wait for this ride to open. From what I picked up the official opening will be first week of July. The ride looks completed and ready to role - just waiting for some of the theming and ground work to be completed from what I could tell. Should give a good increase in gate numbers. Nice to see we have a number of Geordies on the forum Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedSpecial Posted June 14, 2009 Author Share Posted June 14, 2009 Forgot to add in the report that Mumbo Jumbo has what looks like one of the smallest loading stations I've seen in a very long time. It looks like they will run at least two cars; possibly three at a time if testing is anything to go by so the wait time won't hopefully be too long. The loading bay 'hut' station. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Airtime&Gravity Posted June 14, 2009 Share Posted June 14, 2009 Nice trip report, and Flamingo Land looks to be a lot nicer than I remember. Corkscrew stands out, not in a good way, and hopefully the park owners fix up the ride so that it doesn't look so bad. Either that, or they could scrap it which wouldn't be a bad thing considering that it is an old Vekoma corkscrew. Nice photos though, and Mumbo Jumbo looks like it should be a decent ride. Even though it isn't very big, it still looks fairly intimidating because of the drop and other unique elements. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazydaveh Posted June 14, 2009 Share Posted June 14, 2009 Nice TR. This place makes me want to find the original RCT game, as it seems most of it's rides are from that game! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedSpecial Posted June 14, 2009 Author Share Posted June 14, 2009 Nice trip report, and Flamingo Land looks to be a lot nicer than I remember. Corkscrew stands out, not in a good way, and hopefully the park owners fix up the ride so that it doesn't look so bad. Either that, or they could scrap it which wouldn't be a bad thing considering that it is an old Vekoma corkscrew. Nice photos though, and Mumbo Jumbo looks like it should be a decent ride. Even though it isn't very big, it still looks fairly intimidating because of the drop and other unique elements. Thanks for the kind comments. I'd really like to see Flamingoland give Corkscrew a paint job. I have a real soft spot for the ride - it was originally based in my home town 5 minutes from my house - my daughter's school now sits on the foundations of where Corkscrew lived at the now gone Spanish City in Whitley Bay, Tyne and Wear. The ride still has the same loading bay before they purchased the ride and moved it to Flamingoland. With Alton Towers taking down their Corkscrew last summer this is now the last Vekoma Corkscrew left in the UK. Flamingoland should be renamed - Vekomaland! Very excited about Mumbo Jumbo - watching the testing the other day - it has some real cool moves and should be real fun to ride. Generally Flamingoland is really on the rise at the moment - really impressed with the overall service in the park and the professionalism of the way the staff are working. Even after a very long day the staff were more than happy to keep the rides open and let you have one last go before ending your day. 10 out of 10 for customer service in my book - unlike some other UK parks. They are putting more and more resources in to theming and keeping the customers happy. The level of cost effective and 'quality' items for sale in the sales outlets was really worth spending a few more pounds on. Generally a really good day out - could easily spend two days in the park and still find more to do. Well worth a visit in my opinion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaSeBaLL Posted June 15, 2009 Share Posted June 15, 2009 Great FL report... Now only if they wood install a GCI woodie for there next coaster. Will be doing a Hoppings report next week, keep an eye out for it. CaSeBaLL ..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedSpecial Posted June 15, 2009 Author Share Posted June 15, 2009 Great FL report... Now only if they wood install a GCI woodie for there next coaster. Will be doing a Hoppings report next week, keep an eye out for it. CaSeBaLL ..... Look forward to seeing your report on the Hoppings - hope the weather keeps fine - I may be paying a visit myself. Interesting what you say about FL installing a woodie - I was thinking along the same lines myself - looking at the park not sure where they will place their next coaster - wonder how much room for expansion they have? Hope they keep all existing rides and expand on to a new area. FL really seems to have the resources for expansion lately. Really nice to see a local Northern park investing and expanding. Like the look of the holiday homes located between the Wild Mouse and Velocity - my idea of heaven - a holiday home a few feet away from at least four coasters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vacoaster Posted June 16, 2009 Share Posted June 16, 2009 Found some footage Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedSpecial Posted June 16, 2009 Author Share Posted June 16, 2009 Thanks for adding the extra video footage - looks really good - like the way that the test dummies each have a name. Looking forward to the 4th July. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PKI Jizzman Posted June 16, 2009 Share Posted June 16, 2009 After riding Steel Hawg, the "El Loco" ... This ride is awesome! Flamingoland is going to be very happy with this ride. It's so unique and the elements are absolutely NUTS. Have fun with Mumbo Jumbo! -JZ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RollercoasterTigger Posted June 18, 2009 Share Posted June 18, 2009 we were looking at going up to Flamingoland on the 11th July but it's a 3.5 hour drive for us so might leave it until September now Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedSpecial Posted June 18, 2009 Author Share Posted June 18, 2009 we were looking at going up to Flamingoland on the 11th July but it's a 3.5 hour drive for us so might leave it until September now After not visiting Flamingoland for a while we were really pleased with the general up turn in the quality of everything - the place to me hardly seems like the same place I remember from a few years back. New rides, clean facilities, good food, helpful staff and quality merchandise all make for a really good day out. The queues weren't a put off either, even though the park was really busy on our trip. All in all I'd think it would be worth a 3.5 hour trip. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RollercoasterTigger Posted June 18, 2009 Share Posted June 18, 2009 we were looking at going up to Flamingoland on the 11th July but it's a 3.5 hour drive for us so might leave it until September now After not visiting Flamingoland for a while we were really pleased with the general up turn in the quality of everything - the place to me hardly seems like the same place I remember from a few years back. New rides, clean facilities, good food, helpful staff and quality merchandise all make for a really good day out. The queues weren't a put off either, even though the park was really busy on our trip. All in all I'd think it would be worth a 3.5 hour trip. It's worth the trip as I haven't been since early 2005 and when we got there the park was closed due to a thunderstorm so we only got to ride the Bullet and Cliff hanger before leaving Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedSpecial Posted June 19, 2009 Author Share Posted June 19, 2009 we were looking at going up to Flamingoland on the 11th July but it's a 3.5 hour drive for us so might leave it until September now After not visiting Flamingoland for a while we were really pleased with the general up turn in the quality of everything - the place to me hardly seems like the same place I remember from a few years back. New rides, clean facilities, good food, helpful staff and quality merchandise all make for a really good day out. The queues weren't a put off either, even though the park was really busy on our trip. All in all I'd think it would be worth a 3.5 hour trip. It's worth the trip as I haven't been since early 2005 and when we got there the park was closed due to a thunderstorm so we only got to ride the Bullet and Cliff hanger before leaving Bullet closed in 2005 - a lot has changed you'd be very impreseed. General question - does anyone have any old photos from Flamingoland - the place has been around since 1959 - would be interested in seeing some older photos with any related comments? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dubaidave Posted June 25, 2009 Share Posted June 25, 2009 Sorry if I missed it but is there an opening day opr media day? I will be in the area on the 6th and 7th July and will head up if its open. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedSpecial Posted June 25, 2009 Author Share Posted June 25, 2009 Sorry if I missed it but is there an opening day opr media day? I will be in the area on the 6th and 7th July and will head up if its open. From what I've read the launch day is indeed Saturday the 4th July if you can make it. You may be one of the first to experience the new ride - would be interested to read your comments. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedSpecial Posted June 25, 2009 Author Share Posted June 25, 2009 Sorry if I missed it but is there an opening day opr media day? I will be in the area on the 6th and 7th July and will head up if its open. From what I've read the launch day is indeed Saturday the 4th July if you can make it. You may be one of the first to experience the new ride - would be interested to read your comments. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nemesis-storm Posted July 4, 2009 Share Posted July 4, 2009 The coaster opened today (4th July) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nrthwnd Posted July 4, 2009 Share Posted July 4, 2009 Happy Opening Day, Mumbo Jumbo! Looks like a great little OMG kind of coaster a small park can install and run. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveC Posted July 5, 2009 Share Posted July 5, 2009 Looking good - I'll find out for sure on the 12th! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Koolkid Posted July 5, 2009 Share Posted July 5, 2009 Looks awesome, anyone who's been , how've the ques been and whats the reliability of it been like so far? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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