Haha, thanks everyone for your responses! They lowered my expectations so much that I actually had a great day! Here's a mini trip report if you don't mind....
Anyway, so I arrived around opening time, surprisingly a little nervous. Having managed just 5 rides on my last UK park visit to a stupidly crowded, and generally pretty **** Chessington, my family were beginning to question whether it was really worth me dragging them around the country to visit overcrowded parks in the UK. At least this time I tactically had the University of York open day to blame for that. So, since we were paying full price, I was jokingly told I'd have to pay for it, if it really was as awful as you claimed. Given your enthusiasm it looked like I was going to have to.
Ben said:
My biggest Flamingoland tip is not to go, the park is gross.
ATTACKHAMMER said:
Hero is disgusting and the park is vile.
So with that in mind, I was pleasantly surprised when I saw only about 20-30 cars in the car park. Even more so, when I managed to walk on Kumali twice in the space of about 10 minutes. In fact, after getting 20 rides in, including all the creds, the zoo and a cream tea we even managed to leave half an hour early.
Anyway, so what did I think? Well, although it was deserted the day I went, I can see where you guys are coming from. Single train ops on practically everything, and rides with stupidly low capacities could have made for a pretty shocking day. But thankfully, I can review all the coasters....
Kumali - 8/10, x4- It's an SLC, and the best I've ridden, but it's not quite as smooth as a baby's bottom as some claim. However, it does have some excellent positive Gs throughout the short, but quite intense layout, especially front seat on the drop! The zero-G was a little disappointing, and it was pretty short, but it's still probably one the best non-B&M inverts out there.
Velocity - 9/10 x4 or 5 - A fantastic little coaster, with some great airtime! It was a little rough round the edges, and again, was a little on the short side, but the forces were excellent, especially the little Negative-G buffet at the end. I felt the trains actually amplified the experience of what, in my opinion, is the best ride in the park.
Mumo Jumbo - 6/10, x1 - One and done quite frankly. Shocking capacity, a bit of rattle and nothing really to rave about. I mean, how much do they need to trim that drop? Opened late too!
Flip Flop - 4/10, x1 - Downright disappointing to be honest. Is it just me, or is that ride really quite dull? A few positives, but any airtime was deadened by the loose restraints. Stupidly long ride cycle which almost made me fall asleep. Looks pretty though.
Hero - 4/10, x1 - There's a reason volares are cheap. You were all right on this one...it's awkward, jolty, rough, and a bit uninteresting to be frank. After the first drop I thought,
'actually, this is alright!', and then came that first turn. Ouch.
Decent heartline rolls, but it's not really thrilling enough to make up for the pain! It could have been worse though.
Pteradactyl - 9/10, x1 - For a small starflyer, this was probably the most terrifying ride in the park. It just feels so....unrestrained to be honest. A tad disconcerting, especially in the wind, but it was enjoyable in the end and it was nice to actually feel scared for once.
Navigator - 9/10, x1 - Not bad at all! A very good ride cycle- so much so I actually preferred it to the extended Disk'O models.
Other Creds - Well, I got them all. Nothing to write home about really. (#credlife)
Overall, a good park, and a good day out. The problem is, whilst almost all the rides are unique in some way, I wouldn't describe any of them as good enough to really warrant a revisit. They just fell very slightly flat. The park really needs a stand out attraction for true adrenaline junkies (a woodie would be nice
)...close, but no cigar!
But let's remember, at the end of the day, it's a family park/resort. And it does a very good job of being that.
Check out my channel for offrides and more in the coming days!
