West Midlands Safari Park Trip Report

[MattC]

West Midlands Safari Park Trip Report

Post Posted: Sun Jun 28, 2009 20:08

I headed down to WMSP with my cousin and sister, as well as my mum and auntie. The first ride we headed for was Black Fly. I've no idea what ride this is, I'm presuming it's Vekoma or Intamin but essentially, it's a pendulum while a spinning disc at the centre. It's like Maelstrom at Drayton, except it's smaller and the seats are facing inwards. I was dreading this as I don't usually like flats and I tend to get slightly motion sick from spinning things. Despite all of this I had promised myself to try it. I loved it. The feeling was similar to a pirate ship and the Gs at the bottom of the swing as epic. I came off feeling slightly sick but went around for another go After a second go we headed up to the Swinging Chairs ride. Obviously one for the younger folk, offering very little excitement. Then we headed to The Tarantula. It was a scrambler but on arms that lifted you towards the sky for quite minimal air time and nowhere near as fast as it's fairground cousins. Then we meandered over towards the ghost train. It was very below average, and I'm sure H&S wouldn't be too happy with all the bars within arms reach that you could shove your hand in. After that we headed to the HUSS pirate ship next door. It was alright at best, nothing too good and offering OK airtime at the very back rows. Then we headed to the Log Flume. A travelling model, built permenantly it was quite good especially when you pushed all the weight in the boat to the front for the final drop After a go on that we walked over towards the Wall's Twister ride. Built by a company called Reverchon I wasn't expecting much but it fulfilled my roller coaster cravings for the moment. Then we headed to the rapids, also a travelling model that had been permenantly installed. We go soaked on them and we're very pleased with the outcome from them After that we got some average food before heading back to the pirate ship for another go. Following that we went back on the log flume. We noted how much the queues had grown although it only meant a 5 minute wait for the log flume. After that we went to try the Rhino Rollercoaster. A Vekome Junior Rollercoaster it was OK but was really a junior rollercoaster. We then headed back for another few cycles on Black Fly. One thing that was obvious was that as it warmed up it got a lot better. It felt a lot more intense and they also made the cycle longer with a spin direction change midway through the ride. My cousin and sister had 3 straight times on the ride whereas I hopped off for the 2nd and came back on for the 3rd as I probably would've been sick. Overall, very fun day especially for such a small park. Just before I go just a word on the new attraction. 'Shark Island' is currently in the form of a concrete section, and looks to be ready for the installation of the ride. It bears the notice 'coming soon' so I wouldn't hope for it this year. Also a note on the price. It was a joke as if you wanted to visit the fair part you had to pay full entry. As my auntie and mum tagged along too it ended up costing as much as all of us to go to Alton Towers. An absolute joke in my opinion and they should seriously look into making it so there is a car park for people who just want to visit the fair so they only have to pay for wristbands.

 

Anyway, the ride count

 

Black fly x4

Pirate Ship x 2

Ghost Train x 1

Chair Swings x 1

The Tarantula x 1

Log Flume x 1

Rhino Rollercoaster x 1

Wall's Twister Ride x 1

River Rapids x 1

[snoflake15]

Whatever happened to the Arrow Boomerang coaster there?

[Coke]

That went over 12 years ago now, they replaced the empty spot with a family coaster and in the leftover space a drop tower was built last year. (it's very good IMO)

[snoflake15]

^ Seems I'm really up to date. I'm off to see the Titanic arriving.