StealthFan Posted July 27, 2013 Share Posted July 27, 2013 Last weekend I was lucky enough to finally be able to visit one of the few UK park I have yet to visit. I didnt really have many expectations for the park as I didnt know a great deal about it. All I knew was the park it home to Peppa Pig land, they had a custom Gerstlauer Bobsled and a Disk-O-Coaster. I think its safe to say I was very surprised with how nice the park was. It to me was exactly what a family park should be. Almost every single ride and attraction the whole family could enjoy together, there was tons of kids play areas with climbing frames etc, the park had an incredibally relaxed feeling which in turn created a good atmosphere and the food wasnt badly priced. I could write more but I think I will let the pictures and video do the park justice. Below is a video featuring off ride shots of the parks cutom Gerstlauer Bobsled Cobra. [coastertube]http://www.themeparkreview.com/coastertube/play.php?vid=Cobra_84n7[/coastertube] Here is the current entrance to the park. Right now it is nothing amazing and the turnstiles leave a lot to be desired as they are all currently manually operated by admissions staff who scan your ticket on a checkout then push a button to active the turnstile. The park has obviously seen this as an area that needs improvement and is investing in what looks like a very modern entrance plaza for next year. Work has already begun but I assume the main bulk of the work will be done over the winter period. Upon entering the park you are created with this huge floating globe. This was installed in the park in 2008 to mark the Park’s 25th anniversary. The spacious entry to the Park features the fascinating Floating Globe. Measuring 1.5 metres in diameter it is the largest of its type in UK. (Yes those nerdy facts were kindly brought to you from the parks website!) We headed over to Peppa Pig Land when we entered the park which is by far the best themed area of the park. While I personally don’t know a lot about Peppa Pig (which says a lot with how much kids TV I watch). The whole area is really nice and I saw many kids go insane when they saw the area. There were loads of rides in the area. Each one was themed to a different character from the show. Anyone know the name of this one? Paultons deserve the upmost credit as this was the only ride that was down all day. I didn’t see any other ride have even the slightest amount of downtime during the day. This ride I’m guessing must be waiting for some part of some issue has been found as the ride has been down for quite some time as both ride vehicles had been removed and were not on site. The park had SO MANY benches. You could always find somewhere to sit, which is something I think a lot of park struggle with. Benches here were like trash cans to Cedar Fair. Check out the awesome moustache. Obviously this area is directed more towards families with younger children but it was still nice to walk around. This house was poorly placed. I think stepping out your front door and falling into an oncoming train would seriously effect the value. "Look at me. NO HANDS!" As I stated earlier I know very little about Peppa Pig so it seemed incredibly random to me that this dinosaur volcano ride was here. It got even more confusing when we bumped into Mr Potato! Does anyone have any idea how you would get into the vehicle when the doors are only painted on? This seemed to be the most popular ride in the land. Reminded me of how busy the one at Legoland always is. The landscaping around the park was beautiful and the park staff deserves a lot of credit for how well they present the park. Leaving Peppa Pig land here is a somewhat overview of the area that shows only a few of the rides the area actually had. After being confused by Peppa Pig we decided it was time to eat so we headed to the Railroad Diner. This is what I got and I can hand down say it was one of the best, if not THE best theme park burgers I have ever eaten! More parks need food this AWESOME! After my amazing burger I needed to do something relaxing so we decided to go and see everyone’s favourite animal. "What you looking at?" We needed to cool off so we took a quick spin on the parks Depth Charge clone. For the record I won out of all lanes! Next up was one of 3 credits the park has. (Hi Larry) The park has 2 Tivoli coasters. A small and a medium. Both are pretty much standard run of the mill experiences like all the others. Nothing spectacular but fun. After being stung we went off to experience the parks new for 2013 attraction. A 4D cinema. Here’s one for the park index This is the film they were showing. I don’t know if anyone else has seen this film but it was bloody awful! I would much prefer Pirates 4D. The inside of the theatre was really nice; they made it look like an old style cinema. However they didn’t have air conditioning in there and it was like a furnace! There was a pre show before you actually entered the main theatre. It wasn’t bad but it dragged on and people lost interest in it before it finished. The main theatre was the nicest 4D theatre I had ever been in. It was so well done. The seats were so comfy. It also had a great control system that allowed the attraction staff to just activate the rows of seat that had people sitting in them. After the awful movie in the amazing theatre we took a walk over to a one of a kind Wind in the Willows walk through. Badger was always my favourite! The attraction basically consists of lots of little models from the story. It didn’t really follow the story. All the models moved which was a nice touch. I did film a POV of it if anyone is interested. The park also had a little train ride that didn’t go anywhere really; it sort of just went through some woods, past a river then back to the station. Nothing special but a nice little ride. The station was nicely themed though with lots of old timey signs. Near to the train was the park adventure golf course. The most amazing thing about it is that its FREE! All you needed to do was give a £1 refundable deposit per club, then away you went. It was nicely themed, especially considering it was FREE! This was the hardest hole on the course which made it perfect for young kids. It really was a nice course and provided lots of shade on a stupidly hot day. After golf it was time to experience the park big 3 attractions. For some reason this ride sign was opposite the ride so no one would really see it. Not that most people look at ride signs anyway. There was this dinosaur in the queue line for some reason. I don’t know why exactly but it was cool. It’s not the tallest tower ride out there but it is a lot of fun. The entire queue line and exit is contained within the Volcano/Mountain. The second of the parks big 3 rides was their Disko Coaster. Its pretty much you standard Disko Coaster. This one does have seatbelt though. Very enjoyable here. And very testicle crushy here! Finally onto the park’s main attraction. Their Gerstlauer Bobsled: Cobra. NERD SHOT! The lift hill was super quiet except for when it engaged where it made an almighty crunch. The ride was incredibly smooth. These turns really packed a punch as the day went on and the track warmed up. My favourite part of the ride has to be these bunny hills at the end. While they don’t have any super airtime they are really fun. And you get to go through this random shed. Over all its a great ride and perfect for the park. More parks should look at getting these style of rides as they are just so much fun. I will leave you with this picture of another pefect example of the way the park presents itself with great landscaping. I will deffinetly visit the park again next year as I had so much fun during my visit. If they park looks after itself the way they are now and invests wisley in the future this place will just keep getting better and better. I hope you have enjoyed my trip report of this little known park and if you have already please check out my video of Cobra above. -Craig Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
larrygator Posted July 27, 2013 Share Posted July 27, 2013 Thanks for the update Craig Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TPDave Posted July 27, 2013 Share Posted July 27, 2013 Does anyone know how the whole Disk-o planning permission saga ended? Last I recall it wasn't looking too good? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GayCoasterGuy Posted July 27, 2013 Share Posted July 27, 2013 Great report and pictures! I wonder what made the food so good? This one got my attention: Wind in the Willows: That's Debbie Harry in the red, a few years before Blondie. I figured there would be another "over 30 year old" on here who might appreciated that. Maybe one Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_koppen Posted July 28, 2013 Share Posted July 28, 2013 Awesome photos! The bobsled looks just as awesome as all the others! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BudtheWeiser Posted July 28, 2013 Share Posted July 28, 2013 Do they still make you seatbelt your legs in on the disko found that damn uncomfortable when we last went? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StealthFan Posted July 28, 2013 Author Share Posted July 28, 2013 Does anyone know how the whole Disk-o planning permission saga ended? Last I recall it wasn't looking too good? I would assume its fine now. Last I heard about that was a few years ago. Do they still make you seatbelt your legs in on the disko found that damn uncomfortable when we last went? Yes they do make you still put the seatbelt over your legs. It didn't make it any more uncomfortable than a Disko usually is. -Craig Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoCo Posted July 30, 2013 Share Posted July 30, 2013 Thanks for this great report; it's the first time I've ever seen pictures from this park. And yes, I also vote, strongly, for some American park to pick up a Gerstlauer Bobsled coaster. They look like a blast. And that "Cobra" logo is the bomb. Wind in the Willows: That's Debbie Harry in the red, a few years before Blondie. I figured there would be another "over 30 year old" on here who might appreciated that. Maybe one MUCH appreciated! She looks great as a brunette. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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