Boulder Dash (Demolition Derby) by Zamperla
Paultons LOST KINGDOM
UK park embraces dinosaurs as it looks to the future
When Paultons opened Peppa Pig World in 2011, maybe even it couldn’t have anticipated the affect it would have – doubling attendance and increasing the park’s profile on a national and even international basis. Suddenly this 28-year-old (now 33) amusement park had fallen in love with theming, and it hasn’t looked back since. Owen Ralph uncovers the Lost Kingdom, Paultons’ new £9 million ($13m/€11.6m) dinosaur themed zone, and finds out why this time the park chose not to license an intellectual property (IP)
42 “ W
e did consider another IP,” reveals Paultons Park managing director Richard Mancey, “but we felt actually we could do just as good a job with
dinosaurs on this particular occasion. They are not an IP, but they kind of are an IP aren’t they? It’s an evergreen theme that is always going to be an attraction, now and in 10, 15, 20 years’ time.” Lost Kingdom fulfils Paultons’ desire to introduce new
attractions that appeal to children aged 6 and above; those that will have enjoyed Peppa Pig World but have grown out of it and are now seeking something slightly more daring. The new-look land features a pair of Vekoma rollercoasters – the first time for over 20 years that two coasters have opened simultaneously at a UK park in the same season – alongside six other rides and attractions and some fantastic theming that teleports families from 21st Century Hampshire back to prehistoric Earth. Located to the left of the new entrance building that opened last season, Lost Kingdom covers an area 12,200 square metres, or 4 acres. Previously standing in this part of the park was a 6-lane Astroglide (bumpy slide), Japanese garden, playground and a track ride built by Modern Products. Modern it may once have been (the British
manufacturer folded over a decade ago), but now it and the other attractions have been superseded by something from the distant past.
Bring on the dinosaurs To bring Lost Kingdom to life, Paultons turned to RMA Themed Attractions near London, the same firm that designed Peppa Pig World, Thomas Land at Drayton Manor and also themed Paultons’ Magma tower ride that opened in 2012. Whilst previous parks suppliers such as Zierer, Zamperla and Mettalbau Emmeln are back on board with rides in the dinosaur area, this was the first time Paultons had worked with Vekoma Rides Manufacturing, which installed Flight of the Pterosaur (a Suspended Family Coaster) and Velociraptor (Family Boomerang) as far back as August/September 2015. “That was a bit of a challenge,” recalls Mancey, “but it enabled us to get on with the rest of the work. Obviously the weather plays its part when it comes to construction, and it rained a lot this winter which is not ideal when you’re trying to do rockwork, but overall it’s gone OK and we were finished about two weeks early, whereas usually it’s the other way round! Vekoma were very professional from start to finish.” That rockwork was completed by Rockart UK, whilst the majority of landscaping was done by Paultons’ in-house gardening team. The 27 animated dinosaurs spread throughout Lost Kingdom were sourced from China. “Placing an animated dinosaur next to a ride isn’t necessarily going to give you the wow factor,” observes Mancey, “but when you look across and see these 6 to 7 metre high trees with the dinosaurs set among them, it looks very good. We believe the level of theming and ambience we have created will differentiate ours from similar rides that may exist at other parks.” The park’s MD concedes that choosing dinosaurs as a
theme rather than a licensed intellectual property has given JUNE 2016
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