Mitchada04 Posted December 1, 2012 Report Share Posted December 1, 2012 Yesterday I was lucky enough to have the day of school and with my dad of work we decided it would be the perfect day to go to Winter Wonderland. I have been lucky enough to go every year since it began in 2008 and it has been great to see it develop the way it has, however, every year we had been on a weekend making it very busy. Fortunately, this year it was lovely and quiet thanks to it being a school day making it much more enjoyable. The layout of the event this year is much more spread out with wider pathways and more concrete paths other than plastic mud covers (or whatever they are). This and the event only being a week old on Friday meant it was much drier and less muddy. The ride lineup this year is by far the best. The well known favourites of Power Tower and Air returned in great fashion. Both at £6 but worth every penny (especially when you get a really long ride because there's no queue). Once again Euro Coaster also returned and I've always enjoyed this ride since it arrived in 2009 but it is getting quite repetitive and should be replaced for next years event especially when they charge £6 for it. I found it doesn't compare to the new Alpine Coaster (London City Coaster) which is a very decent £4. New for this year is Wilde Maus XXL (or Christmas Mouse because Winter Wonderland are so imaginative with their names). I wasn't expecting much from it at first but the two drops added to the ride really make it amazing. The roar from a car going down the first drop is quite loud for a travelling coaster. Definately worth the £6 in my eyes (helped by the enjoyable queue line). The last ride I did was the new Starflyer. I had never been on one of these before and they are quite spectactular. The height of it leads to great views of Winter Wonderland and the rest of London. You also get a decent ride time and with it being so cold up there it felt much faster than it actually was. Maybe not worth the £6 but definately worth a go if you've never done a Starflyer before. Ride count and cost: Christmas Mouse £6 Alpine Coaster £4 Air £6 Starflyer £6 Christmas Coaster £6 Pictures: Got to have a Wheel shot Believe it or not this does say Winter Wonderland Hopefully I'll get to visit again this year to ride some of the others like Power Tower but overall a great evening. UnderItAll, Luke_A, Fred and 4 others 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mitchada04 Posted January 1, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 1, 2013 Now I didn't take any photos so you'll have to make do with the previous ones. So I woke up this morning to be told we could go to Winter Wonderland again. I didn't hesitate and within an hour we were setting of to London. We left with the aim of getting there as near to the 10 opening because we took our dog with us to give him a nice walk in Hyde Park. When we arrived just after 10 it was nice and quiet. My parents said I could do 4 rides and having missed out on Power Tower last year (yes I can say that now ) I headed straight there. Whilst it may cost £6 I love it, you get such a good ride time and many different experiences of falling and launching. And who doesn't like looking over London for a few minutes. With that out of the way I decided to do Blizzard because I had heard great reviews about it. £7 worth of tokens to the man and I was on. One of the best experiences ever, being flung through the fresh London air is spectactular, and then hanging at the top for a few minutes whilst they loaded the other pod led to a nice view of Hyde Park. 2 rides down and 2 to go and Showtime was calling my name. The only other experience I can compare to this is Vortex but Showtime is much better. You spin so much more and get many more swings. It is also in my eyes the prettiest looking ride at night which I saw on my last visit. Now I had 1 ride left, I could have chosen Air, Wilde Maus or even Power Tower again but I went for the insanely bizzare but awesome Alpen Hotel. The mad house part is possibly the best I've ever been on and the ending is very odd but great. I won't say what it is but the Germans have a weird interpritation of their pubs. And with that done my time in Winter Wonderland was done. The walk around part of Hyde Park with the family and dog was nice though and you get some great views of Winter Wonderland aswell. And that's it, first ride of 2013 was Power Tower (much better compared to Bubbleworks being my first and last ride of 2012 thanks to Zoo Days). I can't wait to return to Winter Wonderland next year (or later this year even) to see what new things they will have to offer. Thanks for reading this and my previous report Topsyturvy15 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigBobJones Posted January 1, 2013 Report Share Posted January 1, 2013 I went to the Winter Wonderland, got there for around 5PM, 10 out of 10 for theme and quality 10 out of 10 for ride selection 10 out of 10 for food stalls and choice 4 out of 10 for the price of the rides as its too expensive 10 out of 10 for squeezing too many people into the place and making it very stressfull and not being able to walk or move. We were going to do the Wild Maus XXL, but the queue looked a good hour and then we were going to do the Christmas Mouse coaster, but £16 for 3 of us to go on 1 ride.... With the Merlin MAP sale on £74 per person for 1 full year entry and unlimited rides to all Merlin attractions or 12 rides at the Winter Wonderland.... Ride count = 0 Money spent = £0 Going back, again? Nope unless I go at 10am in the morning when its quiet and the ride prices are more reasonable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Topsyturvy15 Posted January 1, 2013 Report Share Posted January 1, 2013 The frustrating thing about the fair is that even when you spend the money to ride you just feel guilty about how much you've spent! Its takes the enjoyment out of the ride. I went on Blizzard this year and although it was great I just kept thinking am I getting my money's worth. I would love a ride wristband for say £30 quid or generally cheaper prices/ multi ride discounts but as visitor numbers rise there is no incentive to cut prices and they could rise further. A £6 price for Wild Maus with long queue implies that the price is right and not over the top! Maybe early morning discounts could be an idea? Having said this I thought it was brilliant year. One chocolate shop with lightbulbs and tools (made of chocolate of course) was exceptional is again over priced. The rides are brilliantly themed and there is an air of magic to the place. Some of the stools are actually pretty reasonable and hopefully next year (with the dream of falling prices) the park could be even better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deleted Users Posted January 1, 2013 Report Share Posted January 1, 2013 I imagine rent and running costs (security alone will be a good chunk) will be much, much larger than usual fairs. Plus it's in Central London. If the demand wasn't there, prices would be lowered or the fair scrapped altogether. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigBobJones Posted January 1, 2013 Report Share Posted January 1, 2013 The frustrating thing about the fair is that even when you spend the money to ride you just feel guilty about how much you've spent! Its takes the enjoyment out of the ride. I went on Blizzard this year and although it was great I just kept thinking am I getting my money's worth. I agree, nobody want to feel like they are getting ripped off. To be honest, they know they will get the numbers of guests through the doors and while people spend the money, they will continue to charge it. I was prepared to pay £6 for the Mild Maus, but not with a queue. I don't know what it is when people say "Well it is London, so you have to pay more" The economy of scale would mean with much more people and more money taken through the till, it would be very reasonably priced, but for me it seems that just because it is in London, the price is double what you would pay elsewhere. Where does the additional money go, well it goes into some cat cats pocket, the owners of Hyde park must take a huge chunk, then the organisers must be rolling in cash. I wouldn'gt be surprised if 50% of the cash goes to the organisers which is where the higher price goes to. But I was thinking that Merlin should take some tips from them, those rides looked amazing in the dark, where as Merlin just don't put much effort into their rides as if you have been to Scarefest or Fright nights, most of the rides are not that well lit up. Only Samurai and Zodiac have half decent lights. The lighting on all the rides was brilliant, the quality of everything was top notch and some rides were themed for the event. The double decker bus had "Hyde Park" on the side and was themed to London The big wheel has "Winter Wonderland" written on all gondolas I seriously can't say anything other than too expensive and too busy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TPJames Posted January 3, 2013 Report Share Posted January 3, 2013 I would have paid alot for a wristband, the money does add up quickly and I would be happy to stay there for the whole day! The Alpen hotel is great but I found the irrengarten mirror maze much better because it seemed to be much more detailed than the Alpen hotel, it contained 12 of the crazy mirrors whereas the Alpen hotel only contained three! The actual mirror maze part was very unique and was really hard to find the way out! It was great and it also featured funhouse features aswell! I just hope it returns next year. Showtime is a very unique experience and I found it very scary indeed, it spins much faster than vortex and when you are at the top it is utterly scary! Great experience Although there are high prices, if you go there in the morning, you can get long ride times and it is really worth the money! I would really love vortex to have some great lights, it would be absolutely amazing in the dark also if they upped the speed of the spinning, I would be more keen to go on it! One more thing, air is £6 at winter wonderland, I love it and it felt really forceful when I rode it for the 2nd time! Also blizzard is £7 and although it is an amazing ride, I feel the price is too high! Just wondering, if you went to a normal funfair what is the price you would pay for these? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke_A Posted January 3, 2013 Report Share Posted January 3, 2013 Air is £6 at Winter Wonderland, I love it and it felt really forceful when I rode it for the 2nd time! Also Blizzard is £7 and although it is an amazing ride, I feel the price is too high! Just wondering, if you went to a normal funfair what is the price you would pay for these? £4 is usually the standard price for Air, although once both sides of it's queue channels are up to the payboxes another £1 or so is usually added onto the price. Blizzard aka Booster is usually £3 sometimes £4, although many owners of Booster's (both Fabbri & KMG ones) can easily charge anything up to £10 at high attendance events such as Festivals where people WILL pay it and it will still have a small 5-10 min queue. Beacon / spectacle (tall) rides often draw good crowds at fairs and therefore can charge higher prices than some others. Then again atmosphere is another thing key to a fair, Air has a mighty Discosmash sound system which is somewhat left to rest at Winter Wonderland, at a street fair it usually has people crowding round the front of the ride simply because of the atmosphere created by mic work & good music (lots of Showtek, Laurent Wolf & Steve Aoki)! So many factors come into what they charge though. example: *own video plug* http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_jmsaCTZUJY Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TPJames Posted January 3, 2013 Report Share Posted January 3, 2013 (edited) Where is air at in that video? Is it Oxford st giles fair? I am wondering because I want to know a good funfair near Richmond which contains air thanks guys, I really like this ride and I am just wondering does the Ealing common funfair have it?Please tell me some good funfairs which have it, nothing like hull fair or Nottingham goose because quite frankly I live no where near there! Also can they be quite close to this period in time because I don't want to have to wait ages to ride it! And yes, I know winter wonderland because I previously visited and first went on air thanks guys! Also, you said they add an extra £1 when both sides are filled! How do they control who goes on when both sides are filled? Edited January 3, 2013 by Thorpe Park= :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TPJames Posted January 3, 2013 Report Share Posted January 3, 2013 Also, I went in the pirates adventure on my second visit, if anyone wants to know what is inside it just send me a message! I will be posting another review very shortly... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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