Here goes the first ever trip report for Unofficial Pleasurewood! Woohoo!
Arrival
We arrived at the park at about 10.10am in basking sunshine! Wipeout was already running which is a great sight as you pull up in the car park. The car park was already fairly busy as were the queues to the ticket booth. Whilst queuing a kind lady in front of us handed us a BOGOF voucher for the park so for the two of us it cost just under £8 each! Great value. Woody was also out and about greeting guests and entertaining the children in the queuelines.The large train was not operating this day.
Before Lunch
Our first port of call when we entered the park was Enigma. I suggested we hit this first as it was likely to be busy and the throughput is just dire; it was no better this time either. I think there was about 30 people in front of us and we queued for about half an hour.We didn’t mind waiting as it was such a glorious day but it is so quiet in the queueline – the atmosphere seemed dead.They were using one of the old Canonball Express trains:
The ride itself was fun but not worth such a long wait in my opinion.There were a lot of people leaving the queueline because they just couldn’t be bothered to wait.
Next up we headed for Tales of the Coast.The queue for this was pretty long and again no music or entertainment as you queued which is a shame.One thing I’ll note about the queueline is there is some wonderful facades on the outside of the queueline building but once you’re inside it is just bare!The ride itself is quite pleasant but some of the sound bites weren’t working so all you can hear is the squeaking of the animatronics so it seemed pretty tacky to be honest.I don’t know why they ditched the 3D element as that would probably make the ride slightly better.
After this we took the short walk up to Wizzy Dizzy and Timber Falls.I must say Timber Falls is looking great with the new paint job; really clean and attractive especially on a wonderful summer’s day.The park has made some effort with the theming with a wild west type wagon in the queueline:
The queueline is now much better without the cattle pen area under the small drop; now it’s just a single line running up the side of the ride and then straight into the loading area.The ride was also very good and we got a good soaking!
As we got up to Wizzy Dizzy a lad had been sick on it just before us so we had to wait for the ride op to clean it up!Nevertheless the ride itself as always was excellent – I love KMG Afterburners!
This area of the park has much more atmosphere now with the queue for the Sea Lion show having been moved to this side of the park.There were loads of people about and it felt really good.I bet it has also increased the amount of people watching the show as it is much more easily found now.
After taking a nice little trip on the miniature railway we hit Wave Breaker. Not much to say about this.It was really great fun as usual but still looks pretty horrible with its themeless appearance. It does make for nice views across the park though:
We took a stroll down to Snake in the Grass next.This end of the park is much better than it was last year with loads of people milling about creating a nice atmosphere.SITG was good fun and they have put some coloured lights up the lift hill which I don’t remember from last year.The ride op was having a great time entertaining the youngsters on the ride getting them to making whoop whoops etc.Two circuits as normal which was cool.
After this we queued up for the Chairlift which was really quite busy.I noticed they have installed a fountain on the lake which lightly spray your feet as you glide over it.This was pleasant and afterwards we refreshed with a cool beer in the beer garden.
Wipeout was next.This was fairly busy but we only queued for 25 mins or so which was great.It is made better by the atmosphere of the music and the people in the area and watching the ride go round.We sat right at the back on our first go on this.You forget how high it actually is and you can see for miles around.
After Lunch
After a lunch of a frank footer from Porkies Pantry we went and watched the Circus and Tango show in the Castle Theatre.This went on for about 35 minutes and I must say was very entertaining.It is basically a group of performers displaying different talents and skills on stage to music, including quite a weird clown type character who was mildly amusing.On show were a fantastic hula-hoop performance, juggling with clubs, rings and fire, a small amount of dancing and a fantastic Bola display (Bola is a bit like Poi but the balls on the end hit the floor to create rhythms and beats).All in all a very good show.
We then hit Wipeout again – this time for a front seat ride – before heading over to the 5.15 Sea Lion Show which never fails to entertain.After this finished we still had 15 minutes of park time left so we rode Wizzy Dizzy again until park close.It was very quiet so we were able to just jump on with no waiting at all.
All in all a great day out at Pleasurewood Hills.The park was much improved on last year with a great atmosphere in some areas unfortunately some areas lack any atmosphere at all (Enigma mainly) and hopefully that will be addressed for next season.
-- Edited by Josh on Thursday 20th of August 2009 08:53:35 PM
It looks like the park has done alot of them 'small things' that make a big difference to your day, I love it when parks do this. Like the sprucing up of the Sea Lion Show, and moving the entrance (even though I think I preferred it where it was before), the 'themeing' around Timber Falls, especially them log seats, they look fab!
It seems like a lot attention is being paid to the area around Timber Falls/Sea Lion Show. (the repainting of TF, with new queue line, the TF 'themeing' and benches etc & the new entrance for the Sea Lion show, all we need now is an S&S Double Shot Tower in Fireball's place )
And the Wipeout area looks a lot better now that the mud mound has grass growing through finally!
The park is really starting to look better, just a shame that they've painted the large train multi-colours! Things really are looking good for the park, all we need now is a nice new 'permanent' ride.
Have any seats been lost with moving the entrance to the Sea lion Show?
-- Edited by Martyn on Friday 21st of August 2009 03:46:13 PM
-- Edited by Martyn on Friday 21st of August 2009 03:54:05 PM
Thanks Martyn. I don't think any of the seats have been lost through the relocation of the entrance. They have done a really good job with that area of the park and it does ooze life now. I'm not sure how many people they had through the gates but it was by no means quiet.
It never tends to be quiet during the school holidays to be honest, especially on nice hot days.
So whats changed down by the SNIG for that area to now be better? Any sign of any work taking place in the quiet corner where the Dinosaurs used to be?
No sign of anything really in the works. Their was a lot of people down there which will make a difference but as I said in the other thread I think the Balloon Rays have been relocated to here so there are now 4 rides down there (if you consider the crappy clown slide thing a ride).
I think this area still needs a lot of attention and the Clown Slide needs to be got rid of. The area where the dinosaurs used to be just seems to be a little area of plant life now.
They need a new attraction (prefferably Rapids) in that far corner, a new catering outlet and a ride where the Hungry Bears Pavillion used to be to make that area of the park much better!
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