RIDES CLOSED: None that I can think of, but several breakdowns/late openings.
After enjoying a day at Pleasurewood Hills last year we decided to return this year.
The day started badly; after park opening we headed to Enigma to find that it wasn't ready to open, then found that Wipeout was also not open. Fortunately Marble Madness opened on time and was running four cars - it did go down to three later in the day due to an issue with one of the cars, but with the crowd level this wasn't really an issue. I noticed that several of the smaller rides also opened late, which isn't good.
Annoyingly, despite opening over an hour late, the staff on Enigma closed the queueline 10 minutes early, and were actually off the ride and walking out of the park five minutes before park closing time, which is really not on.
The park lacks in atmosphere with music only playing at the entrance, meaning that there is not much audio around the park (aside from themed music in a few areas). I think a having a music playlist in some areas would work well, maybe something similar to the setup at Oakwood.
Aesthetically there is room for improvement, with overgrown grass and weeds in places and just generally looking uncared for. Things like disused queuelines and boats left lying around don't help, and it wouldn't take that much effort to improve this. With that said, there are some areas that look great, for example Enigma which has had a complete track and support repaint this year which is really good to see.
Capacity on some of the rides is low, but fortunately they are generally good at filling all the seats which keeps queues down (I'm not sure the park is busy very often), and I'm fairly sure there is no Fastpass system which is great!
For the benefit of those who haven't visited, I'll review some of the rides.
Enigma is my favourite ride at the park. It's a small, compact Schwarzkopf coaster which runs with a good mix of bumpiness and intensity. The low level turns near the end of the ride are the highlight for me, as well as the third drop. Great coaster.
Wipeout is great fun, very intense and forceful in places with both forwards and backwards travel.
Hobs Pit is a good dark ride which makes use of hologram effects very well, also combining them with the theming in places. Other effects/props are of a high quality, and the use of atmospheric audio and "Hob" talking finishes the ride well. With that said, it felt slightly less "polished" this year, and the ending is somewhat lacking - it should have something loud and sudden to finish IMO, but at the moment nothing happens apart from an actor following the car.
The park's decision to make the themed part of the exterior smaller is bizarre, however some small details have been added to the remaining facade which is good.
Jolly Roger is a drop tower which despite being small packs a lot of force into the drop, as well as offering some nice views of Enigma and the surrounding countryside.
Marble Madness is a standard mouse coaster but it's a good addition to the park, it also runs more efficiently than Rattlesnake at Chessington which is a plus!
I find it amusing that the park has two sets of Dodgems and neither are very good, but Hyper Drive in particular really is a bizarre concept and just doesn't really work.
A few of the flat rides judder quite alarmingly, namely Fireball (KMG Afterburner) and the Pirate Ship - suppose it made them different though!
Wave Breaker is a good dingy slide with some fantastic airtime.
Finally, I'd just like to mention that Pleasurewood Hills have a log flume, and they actually operate it! Timber Falls isn't the world's greatest log flume by any means but it has two good drops, and unlike many others in the UK is open!
RIDECOUNT:
Enigma x9
Jolly Roger (drop tower) x5
Wipeout x4
Hobs Pit x4
Marble Madness x4
Timber Falls Log Flume x3
Rattlesnake x2
Wave Breaker (dingy slide) x1
Fireball x1
Pirate Ship x1
Dodgems x1
Hyper Drive Dodgems x1
Train x1
Mini Train x1
Kite Flyer x1
TOTAL: 39
Highlights:
- Enigma and Wipeout are two good coasters
- Friendly staff
- No fastpass system!
- Great to get on a log flume which is a rarity these days in the UK
Lowlights:
- Rides opening late and several breakdowns during the day
- Enigma queue closing early
- Aesthetics could be improved
- Chairswing ('new' for this year) wasn't quite finished
Day 2 - Great Yarmouth Pleasure Beach
PARK OPEN: 11am - 8pm
RIDES CLOSED: Log Flume, Sky Drop
After an good day at Pleasurewood Hills we headed to Great Yarmouth Pleasure Beach for our second ever visit.
We arrived just after 11am and all rides were ready to go which was a good start. We headed to the wooden roller coaster and had four goes on it first - it does build up a queue due to only running one train, but it didn't reach over 15/20 minutes so not too bad.
There is a fantastic 'classic amusement park' atmosphere, with music playing throughout the park as well as a busy, lively feel which is something I miss about BPB these days. GYPB is a seaside park which takes advantage of walking trade offering free entry and both a token and wristband system. I noticed that a lot of people were using tokens throughout the day, so the park probably makes a healthy amount of money that way.
Aesthetically the park is really well kept, with pathways clean and free of litter as well as the rides being in good condition and clean-looking. It is clear that a lot of effort goes into keeping the rides looking good; particularly the painted frontage on the wooden roller coaster which is in great condition. I have a lot of respect for parks that keep the old heritage rides running.
The park are generally good at keeping queues down and filling all empty seats, and again there is no Fastpass system which is fantastic.
For the benefit of those who haven't visited, I'll review a few of the rides.
Roller Coaster is an superb coaster. Whilst it doesn't offer the intensity of some other woodies, it has some very good drops and the airtime in the back row is brilliant in places. As well as this, the effect of going through the frontage is good, as is the interaction with some of the smaller rides.
In addition to this, the coaster is unique as it has no upstop wheels, instead using an onboard brakeman to control the speed. Brilliant coaster.
Evolution was enjoyed again, it doesn't run on the best setting but still offers a good, thrilling ride with lots of hangtime.
After riding the Haunted Hotel (ghost train) last year, I remember saying that it was good, but needed more lighting in places. Fortunately the park have improved this, with extra UV lighting in places as well as additional strobes and some new props which improve the ride. Whilst it's nothing high calibre, the UV effects and strobes are really good and the scenery is plentiful. The ride does need some audio and sound effects to finish it off though.
The Dodgems are great fun and run well with a decent sized track, just wish the cycle was a bit longer!
The Snail ride is amusing and offers some unique views of the wooden coaster, as does the Monorail.
Family Star is a fun spinning coaster but nothing special, the throughput is awful as well!
Unfortunately the log flume was closed for maintenance, however there were visible signs of work going on with track having been replaced, so it's good to see that the park are persevering with it to get it back open rather than mothballing it - not naming any names there!
RIDECOUNT:
Roller Coaster x17
Haunted Hotel x10
Dodgems x8
Family Star x4
Evolution x3
Snails and Fairy Tales x3
Fun House x3
Waltzer x1
Twister x1
Whirlwind x1
Monorail x1
Mulan x1
Disko x1
Pirate Ship x1
Big Apple x1
TOTAL: 56
Highlights:
- Fantastic wooden roller coaster
- Park clean and well presented
- Great amusement park atmosphere
- Queues kept to a minimum (and closed on time - not early)
- Friendly staff
- No fastpass system!
Lowlights:
- Was a shame to see the Log Flume closed, but glad they are working to get it back open
- A bit frustrating near the end of the day when staff waited a while for the train to fill up on Roller Coaster
- Extra charge for the Ferris Wheel
- Haunted Hotel could do with some audio
Day 3 - Joyland & Britannia Pier
The third day was spent in Great Yarmouth, which included a brief visit to Joyland and Britannia Pier.
Joyland is a small park which has a few historic rides including The Tubs (last remaining Virginia Reel type ride) and The Snails. The park runs a token system with all rides costing £1 (1 token).
The Snails are amusing, with a calm first section followed by some small drops and hills. The Tubs are enjoyable, and quite bumpy with sudden changes of spinning direction. The cars themselves are powered, which I'm sure wouldn't have been the case originally. Spook Express is a small coaster which isn't very spooky, however it's good for what it is and has a small tunnel section. Finally, there is a small dark ride (Neptune's Kingdom) which makes good use of UV lighting.
We also made a brief trip onto Britannia Pier to ride the ghost train, which had a good mix of scares and sound effects, however it was very short!
[size=150]Photos![/size]
Pleasurewood Hills
Enigma, I really rate this coaster;
Taken on the same day, honest!
And they mean it! :lol:
Wipeout;
Hobs Pit;
Marble Madness;
Random boat
Chairswing, this looks well landscaped;
Great Yarmouth Pleasure Beach
Roller Coaster, a fantastic woodie;
Haunted Hotel features some good UV effects;
One of many views of Roller Coaster from the Snail ride;
The park have installed a new Ferris Wheel opposite the Log Flume, but it incurs an extra charge so we didn't bother;
