Leaderboard

I visited this park three weeks ago and I had some thoughts. You can tell this was a Disney park on a budget and was obviously planned in the days where Disneyland Paris was seen as a failure and budgets were tight. When it opened, its major rides were Space Mountain, Jungle Cruise and at a push, The many adventure of Winnie the Pooh. Investment has come with an outer ring basically built on the left side of the park with it starting at Grizzly Bear Mountain Railroad, into Mystic Point, Toy Story Land and finally Frozen Land. The right side of the park hasn't been left behind though with the removal of Autopia in favour of the Ironman Experience, Buzz lightyear re-themed to Ant-man and a rumoured Tower of Terror ride themed to Spiderman. I will say this, it is most definitely a one day park, maybe even a half day. The queues here are minimal (which is refreshing for a Disney park) and a lot of the rides are basically filler (again, quite refreshing). The longest waits are for the Duffy and Friends characters near the park entrances. If you aren't interested in queuing an hour to meet Lina-Bell, you have a problem. Grizzly Bear Mountain is the parks Big Thunder Mountain equivalent and It's a really good family coaster, it lacks the jank of thunder Mountain and its backwards section is pretty weak but the rest of the ride is great. The bears are used for comedy, one rubbing its bum on a points changer, another two setting of the dynamite in the mountains. The launch is pretty powerful and there's great forces on the turns through the valleys of the mountain. Mystic Manor was closed. This absolutely sucked. Toy Story land is exactly the same as Paris's, just slightly bigger. Jungle Cruise is excellent. When we went you could wait for either mandarin or english skippers. Because the English was done in slightly broken English, it made it an absolutely hilarious time. The skippers were so fun and over the top. The finale is sublime and puts this as the best Jungle Cruise in the Disney parks. Frozen Land was fine. It still pains me that this Frozen Ever After is the big new hope for Disneyland Paris when at its heart, it's a very mid fantasyland reject and isn't really good enough. The Disney Sea equivalent is far superior. Onkens sleds is fine if a bit basic. Its best bit is the lift hilll animatronic. The rest of it is junior rollercoaster fluff. Small World is the best of the five and was in good condition. All figures and effects are working. Hyperspace Mountain is the same as the Disneyland version and is pretty fun if unremarkable. Its permanently hyperspace mountain so does need a proper refurbishment. Antman and the Wasp is dull. All the sets are just grey and brown as you are shrunk down to destroy micro-chips. This leaves you with a very bland experience. Iron Man experience is pretty good, a more modern version of Star Tours. I personally.. prefer star Tours as it feels more mechanical and less fluid. However there's no denying it is a fun and unique experience. When we went there was no parades or special entertainment as the trip was during the parks off-season. The only offering was the fireworks display at the end of the night, called Momentous which was fantastic and a beautiful display. I was pretty emotional towards the end.

Well having it closed will do no 'arm to the line up.

With the recent announcement of the Universal theme park for the UK, I’ve been wondering about the prospect of other similar mega-parks opening up in this country. There was of course the proposal for the Swanscombe Peninsula theme park, but this has been kicked into the long grass. Then I had an idea. Many British theme parks aren’t really themed around British culture, and with the rise in popularity of immersive experiences and living museums, I think this would be a good opportunity to trial a combined theme park and living museum attraction, that educates the British public on their country’s history through rides and experiences. I’m not expecting this to be the UK’s next thrill park, but more of a family park that appeals to all ages, consisting of a mixture of moderate rides and immersive experiences. Like many theme parks, this park would be split into different lands, with each one corresponding to a period of British history. There would be a big emphasis on theming to fit in with the area’s period, with rides camouflaged or located indoors wherever possible. Some of my ideas for areas include: - A Roman Britain themed area. - A Tudor and Shakespeare themed area. - An area themed around British myths, legends and folklore. - An area themed to British farming, particularly in the West Country. - An area themed to a remote Scottish fishing village at risk from the effects of global warming. - An area themed to a Welsh mining village, in an area where the future of coal mining is uncertain. - A peaceful “flora and fauna” area with no thrill rides, home to native British plants and wildlife. - An area themed to Wartime Britain, with emphasis on the two world wars and global domination of the British Empire during that period. - A science and technology area themed around British industry and inventions, celebrating the innovations of the past alongside those of today and tomorrow. - An area themed to British pop culture from the 1960s to the 90s, with an emphasis on the arts, sport and leisure. - The park’s hub, themed to a traditional market town in the South East of England. - A transit system to connect park areas together. Could be a replica of the London Underground. Each area would consist of: 1 rollercoaster, water or dark ride 1 flat thrill ride 2 childrens’ rides 1 immersive attraction 1 food outlet So to round things up, this would essentially combine the thrilling aspects of a theme park with the educational side of museums, and the Insta-worthy appeal of immersive experiences. Do you think such an attraction would work in the UK?

Needed new part, took a while to arrive. Just the way these things go sometimes.

I've definitely noticed it's a little rougher and a bit jolty since the wheels have been changed in my opinion. I haven't been on since the support/braces have been added to the bottom of the seats but have seen some comments saying its made it even worse which is interesting? They have recently reinstalled the splash down which indicates it could come back in the future. It hasn't been seen working again yet though since it was turned off last season.

It’s been 10 years today since the horrific Smiler collision. BBC News are running coverage about the accident, but for some reason are glossing over the fact that the 2 injured riders raising this are doing so to raise money for the air ambulance charity who helped save many lives that day. I still can’t get over that it actually happened to be honest. I remember seeing the footage on the news and feeling devastated that it happened at Alton Towers of all places - somewhere many people cherish as somewhere filled with joy and happy childhood memories. I also remember visiting in the week after the park re-opened, and how empty and weird it felt being there after what happened. A very sad time for everyone involved, and for all the staff. I can’t help but wonder what Alton Towers would be like today if this incident hadn’t happened. To this day, their reputation is damaged, and they certainly took a huge hit in the months and even years after the incident. Perhaps the park would have been prosperous if this hadn’t happened, or perhaps an incident was waiting to happen anyway given the shortcuts that were being taken.

Great day at Paultons today. I hadn’t been to the park for over 10 years, before the likes of Peppa Pig world so it was great to see how much the park has changed for the better since then. Ghostly Manor is a great addition to their lineup, fits the area perfectly and is finished to a really high standard. Seeing the coasters behind the scenes was really cool, particularly enjoyed watching Storm Chaser in the op cabin while it was being operated for the ERT. A little disappointed they went for a Gerst Eurofighter for their 2026 addition, but I do think it will be a great fit for the park. I think there are definitely better options out there, but think they chose this for budget reasons more than anything. Particularly disappointed that it will have OTSR’s rather than Lap Bars (the boos from the crowd were hilarious), and I do think that is a mistake. I understand their thinking, that they want it to be as accessible as possible and they feel like OTSR’s will be seen as safer by the GP, especially for their first inversion coaster. But ultimately, Lap Bars are more modern, and I think this will impact the overall guest experience and enjoyment of the coaster. New water ride teased for 2027 and then the accommodation is planned for 2030+. Great to see them investing so much and I do hope the 2026 addition is a success. They made it clear they are slowly increasing the thrill level rather than big jumps, so it seems this is very much a test. They seemed to keep repeating that this is their tallest coaster ‘yet’ and ‘to date’ so will be interesting to see Paultons future. Magma is going, they mentioned its staying in the UK so will be interesting to see what park has bought it. My understanding was that Edge will be staying where it is but just won't be part of the Vikings area.

Genuinely frustrating. it was supposed to be open as well and then two weeks before the trip they announced it was closed for the middle two weeks in May.