martinb Posted April 1, 2006 Share Posted April 1, 2006 Hello, I must say I've had a very fun day today at Pleasurewood Hills, it was its opening day today for the season, and everything was great! I would also like to add that I wouldn't normally do a trip report about this park but its one of the parks that is a part of the UK trip in June, so I thought I'd do this so all you that haven't been before, could get to know a bit better, and its my home park, infact it was my first ever theme park, thats why I love it so much! Well the day with a bang, we got to the ticket kiosk and a little sign was being put up saying: "We apologise but the Waltzers wont be opening today, so to make up for this mayhem, the Go-Karts today will be compltely FREE OF CHARGE" My immediate thoughts, WOO HOO because these Go-Karts here are the best I've ever been on, for starters its not just a plain egg shaped track, its more like a z shaped track, with lots of cool corners to wizz round, the karts are VERY fast and even if they weren't free today they are only £2 per kart(double + single), which is the cheapest that I know of in all parks in England that have Go-Karts(BPB £4.50, Adventure Island £5, Fantasy Island £4) So that news had made my day already, but just as we were finishing are 20 laps on the Go-Karts, the heavens opened, but they slammed opened with a hurrendous downpour of rain(and just as thi happened my girfriends go-kart stopped, outside, far away, she got soaked through, haha), but the rain was go within a minute and the sun cam out and stayed out all day! One thing I find unique about this little park is it hasn't been split up in themed area's, which is a good thing, because IMO, it should be left to the big parks, when little parks try it the result is bad(Eg Pleasure Island, its about as big as the Forbidden Vally at Alton and its split up into 6 different areas). Another thing unique about this park is one of its coasters, its nothing special but its unique because its the only one thats ever been made, its a Schwarzkopf,Jumbo V. Its an ok coaster, very compact with very twisty track, a few head hoppers and pulls quite a few +G's in the helix, I'd also say its quite fast compared to other compact coasters, but the bad thing is the capacity, it has 2 trains, and each train has 2 cars with 4 seats each, so thats 8 people per ride, and when you go into the brakes(and boy you do), theres a long strecth before the exit station, then it has to travel to the other side of the coaster to the entry station, but if its bust they will run 2 trains and it does make the difference! POV of this Enigma, this 'one off' Schwarzkopf coaster at the bottom of this page! Another thing about this park is its scenery, ok, no ride here is themed but everything looks great, its such a beautiful park, they take great care with all their trees,flower beds, bushes, water fountains etc, and there are benches everywhere, and eventhough its about 1/6 the size of Alton Towers, it has double the amount of park transport, ie Alton has the Sky Ride, but Pleasurewood has the Alpine Chairlift and the Annie Oakley Railway which has 3 stations scattered across the park and the chairlift takes you from one side to the other, this theme park is like a normal 'park' with rides scattered about but it works very well. The park has recently been taken over by Grevin & Cie and they said they will relaunch the park, and they have and I thank them for that! Also please take in mind that this park has never had a big coaster, its biggest is Enigma, although it has had very intense flat rides(Mega Dance, The Tempest and my fav Megaspin Rollover(its like a Huss Frisbee but it just spins very fast and flips 360', its mental, and I've heard that not many of these were made, about 3 I think)) anyway the biggest change the new owners have done is currently in process, well 2005 was the last season for Mouse Trap(ever common spinning mouse coaster), but it was Pleasurewood's most popular ride but the owners sent it to one of their other parks in France, which really puzzled me but they are replacing it with a Vekoma Boomerang, in fact its the Missile that used to be at American Adventure, this is great news for Pleasurewood (even though virtually everyone hates them) because like i said before, they've never had a big coaster and this coaster will be massive for Pleasurewood! And as the new owners have spent loads of money on improving all their current rides, I was hoping that they would get oneof the new Vekoma trains(not the brand new ones,I mean like the Cokscrew at AT and the Millenium Coaster at FI) but they haven't, they've kept the same train that has been with the coaster since it opened in 1988, I have got some pics of the train and the track which was hidden behind a fence(well the train wasn't) and the track looks a rite old state, they have to at least paint it, its a manky grey colour! But I will judge when I've ridden it, its ment to be open in August! To be honest, if you visit PWH with just friends or as a couple, you will find that you will end up leaving just after dinner, but if you take a little person with you, you'll be their all day, which is what I do now, I took my girlfriend and her 2 brothers, 1's very little (4) and I've got him into rides already and theres loads for little people to do here aswell! Its also one of the cheapest Parks in England, coast £14.50 for adults but you get a return ticket to come back for only £9.50, you get one everytime you visit, so you only pay the full price once! Anyway I'm guna stop yabberin on now and let you (hopefully) enjoy the pics and the POV video, also sorry about the sound on the POV, I honestly don't know what happened! Enigma.zip Enigma POV Evan really not wanting his picture took whilst on Enigma WOO HOO, free Go-Karts WOO HOO A good example of PWH's great scenery I wasnt being cheap doing this, I had had enough of spending money today, and I was trying to hold his arms in the air, but somehow he looks like hes having a fit. The quiet area of the park, I think work is being done to sort it out, pretty decent kiddie coaster here, Rattlesnake! Bless his little heart! Charlie chops and Evan on Tidal Wave, another ride we had to go on about 30 times! Weeeeeeeee, Evan & Mince on the Helta Skelta, we had to go on this about 30 times today! Another view of the Vekoma train The newly themed Main St, which actually isn't anywhere near the entrance! Construction pic, thats were the Boomerang will stand! The Castle Theatre, home of the Circus show, I forgot to mention this park also has a Sea lion Show and a Parrot Show! Evan, Charlie chops and Mince, all on the Minature Railway Very nice picture, with Fireball and Log Flume Thats Thunderstruck, very strange flat ride, never seen one of them before! Charlie chops and Evan on Enigma Now this is different, thats a restraunt by the way and yes thats real train carrages you see there & it does have a real train engine & that large roof you see did used to be at Great Yarmouth train Station. Now thats something you don't see that often, Annie Oakley Railway, very smart looking train. Um.........no comment More faces Evan can't go on Fireball, so he pulls faces More Boomerang track, they really need to repaint it, well eveything else in the park is so brightly coloured, I wouldnt put it past them painting it orange or yellow! Boomerang track, doen't look to pretty in 'battleship grey' The very Brightly coloured Enigma The very old Boomerang Train, in the middle of that 2 minute downpour (behind the Go-Kart track) Evan is happy that hes on the awsome Go-karts, by the way Charlie is laughing at Evan, I hope! The pit stop for the awsome Go-Karts Little Evan & Charlie chops on the chairlift! Ummmm, lets stare at gravel!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canobie Fan Posted April 1, 2006 Share Posted April 1, 2006 OMGOMGOMGOMGOMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! http://www.themeparkreview.com/forum/files/pleasurewood_015_522.jpg TRI STAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Oooh man I cant wait to ride it : (yeah... so Riverside ((sfne)) had one of them untill 1996... So its been 10 years from my last ride on one.. ! ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martinb Posted April 1, 2006 Author Share Posted April 1, 2006 The Tristar that Ive been on is similar to it but there isnt a giant arm that lifts the whole ride up: the 3 arms lift up into a diagonal position and they spin really fast! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nrthwnd Posted April 2, 2006 Share Posted April 2, 2006 The Thunderstruck looks cool to me. Sort of three mini-Enterprises grouped together, heh heh. That should be fun, along with Enigma and other rides there. Thanks for sharing the TR. (EDIT: Oops. Wrong name there. Changed it. ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
niiicolaaah Posted April 2, 2006 Share Posted April 2, 2006 Looks like a strange Troika-Condor hybrid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dandaman Posted April 2, 2006 Share Posted April 2, 2006 That train restaurant reminds me of Weber's, up near Barrie... Thanks for the pics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carnage Posted April 2, 2006 Share Posted April 2, 2006 ^ $5 says very few people here know where Barrie is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
niiicolaaah Posted April 2, 2006 Share Posted April 2, 2006 I know where it is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carnage Posted April 2, 2006 Share Posted April 2, 2006 ^ That's why I said very few. I know some people will know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trustkill22 Posted April 2, 2006 Share Posted April 2, 2006 Man thats super funny! As soon as he said Train Restaurant I thought Webers too. The Flying W Bridge - Heck Yes. Awsome TR. I love to see people having great times at these little known parks and it shows that places don't have to have big rides and unreal attractions to have a good time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shockwave Posted April 2, 2006 Share Posted April 2, 2006 Great pics Martin. Pleasurewood looks like a nice little park to visit! Shame that they lost the spinning mouse to France this year, that's one credit I'll have to miss. I'll try and get down to East Anglia at some point this summer and get a few rides in at the parks there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DerekRx Posted April 3, 2006 Share Posted April 3, 2006 Enigma looks cool, but I'm really excited for the Tri-Star! Sadly, I don't think the boomerang will be ready for us by June Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shockwave Posted April 3, 2006 Share Posted April 3, 2006 One less vertical loop dude! But it wasn't a good ride to start off with. They haven't got planning permission yet, which is why it's still sitting in pieces. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martinb Posted April 3, 2006 Author Share Posted April 3, 2006 ^ Best place for it if you ask me! Nah seriously this is a massive ride for Pleasurewood, I found it rather strange that they purchased the coaster before the results of the planning permission, and it was refused, RCDB claim that they will try to get permission to build it somewhere else in the park, which I find hard to believe as there isn't anywhere else this ride could go! It's strange that the planning permission was refused as they've had taller rides(Mega Drop, Eye in the Sky) and they currently have a louder ride, the Rattlesnake! Beats me! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DenDen Posted April 3, 2006 Share Posted April 3, 2006 Here's a little info on Huss Tristar.... http://www.flatrides.com/Ride%20Index%20Pages/tristar.html The ride pictured in the link above resided at Kennywood for one season, (I think in 1991, and back then, it was a used ride.) and then was put in storage, then reborn as the Trinado @ it's sister park, Idlewild. These aren't new, but they are fun, mild rides. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martinb Posted April 11, 2006 Author Share Posted April 11, 2006 ^ I didn't find it very thrilling, it was more like one of them Condor rides but it tilts, I'm also surprised at the amount of people that like these rides, I would have preffered them to keep the Mega Drop though! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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