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Family Easter Fun

March 26th, 2012

Easter isn’t just a great excuse for chocolate eggs delivered by oversized bunnies; it’s also an outstanding time of year for UK attractions and theme parks, which open for the new season with loads of unbelievable goodies. This Easter holiday is an ideal occasion to enjoy some unforgettable family fun and electrifying thrills. Here’s a rundown of what’s on offer at the UK’s top theme parks and family days out when Easter hops along.

LEGOLAND® Windsor

LEGOLAND Windsor is now open for the 2012 season and it promises to be a jam-packed Easter with the opening of the new LEGO® Star Wars™ Miniland Experience, featuring six of the most iconic Star Wars scenes plus one from animated hit Star Wars: The Clone Wars. The attraction is a first in the UK, using 1.5 million LEGO bricks in an atmosphere of authentic sounds and lighting effects, and special event Star Wars™ Invasion celebrates its arrival at LEGOLAND from a galaxy far, far away on 24th and 25th March. Enjoy a child-friendly break to the unique family attraction this Easter.

Paultons Park

Lurking beneath the smouldering volcano is Paultons’ blazing new ride MAGMA, opening for sizzling thrills in time for Easter when the Park reopens on 23rd March. Brave adventurers will delve into the red-hot caverns in a bid to unearth the deeply buried Jurassic secret – but look out, because when MAGMA erupts you’ll be sent into a dizzy spinning rise 25 metres into the air overhead – then feel your stomach plummet as you drop back into the mountain! This fiery journey promises to be a real family treat for all riders over 1.10m.

Chessington World of Adventures

Join the exotic fun this Easter at Britain’s wildest adventure with brand new live show DreamWorks Madagascar Live! Prepare to Party. From 23rd March the little ones will love singing and dancing along with Alex, King Julien, The Penguins and all their favourites in this amazing new extravaganza. Meet the gang in their brilliant Jungle surroundings, plus pose for photos and check out the new African Trading Co. shop and Coffee Hut café.

Alton Towers

Everyone’s favourite prehistoric trio and acorn-chasing squirrel arrive at Alton’s Cloud Cuckoo Land in time for Easter for an immersive 4D encounter. Using a combination of fun-filled 3D footage and eye-popping physical effects that reach right into your seat, this Dawn of the Dinosaurs 4D Experience transports you straight to loveable Sid and Scrat’s ultra-cool world from 24th March.

As if that wasn’t enough, Alton also unleashes the fury of Nemesis: Sub-Terra, an underground lair of hair-raising horrors based on the mysterious backstory of the original corkscrewing classic Nemesis. Dare you embark on the nerve-shattering journey? Courageous explorers can step up for this scarefest from Easter.

THORPE PARK

Bag a white-knuckle break to the nation’s Thrill Capital this Easter, whether you’re a hardened thrillseeker or fun-loving family. Get twisted with the THORPE PARK Mash Up on 6th and 9th April, an explosion of Easter insanity featuring awesome live acts and a few breathtaking surprises. You’ll be among the first brave riders to get your adrenaline pumping on THE SWARM, Europe’s tallest winged rollercoaster, boasting a unique head-first inverted drop from a stomach-churning height of 127ft. For families with a taste for extreme thrills with their chocolate eggs, THORPE makes an epic Easter getaway.

Warwick Castle

Easter is an ideal time to explore the eventful grounds and historical activities of Britain’s Ultimate Castle, where families can enjoy recreations of the great siege and treacherous jousting contests with the coming of spring. The Witches of Warwick have arrived in the creepy Castle Dungeon, cooking up supernatural spells and mischievous mayhem in a bid to avenge their curse. Plus until 15th April you can catch a range of exciting shows throughout the day, offering sights of everything from majestic birds of prey and weapons of war to battling knights and the legendary tale of The Sword in the Stone.

With so much going on at the UK’s theme parks over the Easter holidays, you’ll want to treat your family to some unmissable seasonal fun this April. Book a Play and Stay ticket and hotel package today.

What’s new in UK theme parks in 2012?

January 11th, 2012

2012 is going to be a great year at the UK’s theme parks no matter if you’re into white-knuckle thrills or family fun. There’ll be new rollercoasters for thrillseekers, new family shows for the little ones and even a new subterranean scare experience for those brave enough to try it.

What’s new at Alton Towers in 2012?

Ice Age Dawn of the Dinosaurs – the 4-D Experience
This family-friendly immersive Ice Age experience will open in Cloud Cuckoo Land on 24 March. Fans of the hit Ice Age series will love the amazing combination of 3D footage based on the third Ice Age film and fun physical effects which transport you straight into the super-cool world of Sid and Scrat.

Speaking of Sid and Scrat, be sure to keep an eye open for them, as they’ll be wandering around Alton Towers Resort to meet you and your family.

Nemesis Sub-Terra
Buried deep beneath Alton Towers Resort, a brand-new attraction is waiting patiently for the first brave explorers to step foot inside. The new subterranean scarefest is named Nemesis Sub-Terra and will take visitors on a heart-stopping journey through a network of catacombs. The attraction is based on the back story of the smash-hit Nemesis rollercoaster, which opened in 1994.

The new attraction’s scare factor is being carefully controlled by the Park’s new Director of Fear, death-defying adrenaline junkie Jack Osbourne. Be the first to experience Nemesis Sub Terra, book an Alton Towers ticket and hotel package with Play and Stay.

Coming soon to UK theme parks: Magma, Nemesis Sub-Terra, Ice Ice 4D Experience and The Swarm

What’s New at Thorpe Park in 2012?

The Swarm
Experience The Swarm – the UK’s first Wing Rider rollercoaster – at Thorpe Park in 2012. The new rollercoaster promises a thrilling flight through an apocalyptic wasteland on the wings of an invading swarm of planet-destroying baddies.

You’ll experience heart-stopping near misses and adrenaline-pumping inversions as well as a unique, head-first 127ft drop. War is coming…are you ready?

What’s New at LEGOLAND Windsor in 2012?

The LEGOLAND Windsor hotel
A brand-new hotel is opening on-site at LEGOLAND Windsor in 2012 and it’s certainly shaping up to be an incredible destination for family short breaks.

With child-friendly features including secret whoopee cushions, exploding toy boxes and treasure trails as well as Pirate, Adventurer and Kingdom themed rooms, there’s plenty to keep the family busy at the LEGOLAND Windsor hotel. Play spaces, a splash pool and regular children’s entertainment complete the package.

LEGO Star Wars Miniland Experience
The Force is coming to LEGOLAND Windsor in 2012. Seven of the most famous scenes from the six live-action Star Wars movies and one from the animated Star Wars: The Clone Wars have been recreated in 1:20 scale using 1.5 million LEGO bricks.

What’s new at Paultons Park in 2012?

Magma
The mysterious Magma is due to open at Paultons in 2012. Very little is known about it other than its name and the fact that it will be volcano-themed. Some suspect that Magma is more likely to be a thrill ride since Paultons recently added Peppa Pig World for the younger guests, but nothing is confirmed.

Want to try out any of these new attractions for yourself? Book a Play and Stay ticket and hotel package today.

What do we know about THORPE PARK’s THE SWARM?

October 25th, 2011

THORPE PARK are debuting a brand-new rollercoaster in spring 2012, the exact details of the ride are yet-to-be-revealed, but we do know a little bit about what to expect from the new attraction.

The facts:

The new ride is codenamed LC12, but we all know it as THE SWARM.
THE SWARM will be the UK’s first winged rollercoaster.
It will feature a “head first, inverted drop from 127ft”.
The theme will be post-apocalyptic. Considering that there’s been an army tank outside of THORPE PARK with ‘WAR IS COMING’ written up the side for ages, it’s likely that the story will be humanity’s last stand against something unpleasant.
It will be located next to Stealth.
It will be accessible via a wooden bridge.
The attraction’s highest point will be 36.8 metres about ground level.
Theming will include a “rickety jetty”, a helicopter, a crashed articulated lorry and what seems to be the crashed remains of some sort of aeroplane or rocket.
The coaster will be located on its own island

What’s a winged rollercoaster? Does it fly?
Typically, rollercoasters have carriages which keep riders positioned directly above or below the track. If you ignore all the fire and jet engines in the above image, you can clearly see that THE SWARM’s carriages are positioned to either side of the track, leaving nothing but empty air above and below you. In essence, you are sitting on/in the ‘wings’, which should make a nice change from the standard coaster layout. Disappointingly, winged coasters don’t fly.

What are other winged rollercoasters like?
Gardaland’s Raptor looks reasonably similar to plans for THE SWARM and it seems to impressing coaster fans. The main appeal of the winged design seems to be the opportunity for designers to include plenty of near-misses with the scenery. Think of the spinning blades at the bottom of the drop on SAW – The Ride, Raptor features loads of stuff like that, and you can bet that THE SWARM will, too. The interplay between the carriage, riders and scenery appears to be the key to a successful winged coaster.

Just who/what are THE SWARM’s swarm?
Not a clue. Aliens? Bugs? Alien bugs? The word swarm can be applied to pretty much any creature that gathers in large numbers, though the chances of the ride being themed around a destructive swarm of killer penguins is slim. If I had to guess, I’d assume that it’s aliens.

When does THE SWARM open?
Spring 2012. THORPE PARK ticket and hotel package are available from Play-and-Stay.co.uk, book now to be among the first to ride THE SWARM!

Weird and Wonderful Theme Parks Across the World

September 1st, 2009

Recently I came across a news story describing a Ferrari theme park due to open in Abu Dhabi in 2010. The park is set to become the world’s largest indoor theme park, with a red-roofed dome in the shape of a Ferrari GT. It will have more than 20 attractions, including the world’s fastest rollercoaster, a full-size racetrack and the region’s first Ferrari store.

Somewhat intrigued by the idea of a theme park based around the Ferrari, I went on a mission — to find a selection of other weird, wonderful and fascinating amusements parks. So brace yourself for robots, aliens, Lego and much more as I reveal my findings….

LEGOLAND:

Legoland Resort

Oh LEGOLAND! A family favourite and one I could not miss from this blog. Children over the years have had great fun building all sorts of wonderful Lego creations. So, what a great idea to turn a childhood favourite toy into a unique theme for an amusement park.

LEGOLAND has proven extremely popular worldwide with parks located in Germany, England, Denmark and the United States. Malaysia is also set to jump on the LEGOLAND bandwagon by 2012.

Suoi Tien Park:

Suoi Tien Resort

Diverting from Lego, I take you to Suoi Tien Park, a land of bright colours and Buddhas! Yes that’s right, this unusually themed park is based around the Buddhist religion.

Aptly named attractions such as Heaven Palace have somewhat distorted my previous conception of Heaven. I pictured chillaxing on clouds, however, here you splash around in a water park designed to look like the afterlife.

Think that sounds quirky? Well what about Hell Palace, similar but with frowning statues? Now I don’t know about you but I’m not sure if I could “let my hair down” and have fun if I am being glared at by sculptures. Will I face judgement if I visited Hell Palace over Heaven Palace? Where are the terms and conditions for this place?

On a happier note, the Tien Dong beach features an impressive sculpted waterfall, bearing the face of an emperor and you can even head over to Crocodile Kingdom, where you can feed some of the 1,500 live crocodiles. What this has to do with Buddha I don’t know.

Alien Apex Resort:

Alien Apex Resort

I never thought I would write about Lego, Buddha and aliens on the same day, but here I am. Fancy taking a trip to Roswell, New Mexico in 2010 for the opening of the Alien Apex Resort? I know what you’re thinking; how original! Yes I am afraid there are plans to place Roswell at the heart of alien activity once again after the famous incident in 1947.

Nevertheless the UFO-themed amusement park is said to include an indoor rollercoaster that’ll take passengers on a simulated alien abduction, which does sound sort of cool providing there’s no probing involved.

Robot Theme Park:

Robot Theme Park

Now, this I had to include. South Korea are intending to build two robot theme parks, with the first to be finished in 2013. Yes 2013 is a little while off but after all the theme is pretty “futuristic” (ha, at least I make myself laugh).

Robots are used in the nation’s key industries and the government are keen to promote the robotics industry. Apparently you will be able to see (what I can only picture as R2-D2 look alikes) compete in various events. Nothing screams “good day out” like watching robots in battle… right?

So there you have it, a selection of weird yet wonderful theme parks which exist or should exist soon. The question remains, what theme would you like to see as the basis for an amusement park?

New Ride At Alton Towers

April 24th, 2009

A little while back we reported how Alton Towers had confirmed plans to build a new ride in 2010 under the name Secret Weapon Six. Now, in true Play and Stay Blog style, it is time for a spot of speculation.

Normally I would leave this sort of thing to Jonathan Buckingham-Dudley, but he is far too engrossed in what is happening to Susan Boyle. So, for this instalment at least, you have the pleasure of my company.

First of all, a big thank you to Screamscape for supplying me with the crumb-trail. Without you, I really would have had no work to do this afternoon. And while for some that sounds like a marvellous thing, it doesn’t half make hometime a long way away.

There are three videos on YouTube at the moment. The beginnings of a new viral promotion or merely fan fiction? You decide:

Now, I don’t know about you, but I get the distinct feeling that Alton Towers are also going for something a bit spooky in much the same way Thorpe Park did earlier this year when they unveiled SAW – The Ride.

The difference being, of course, is that Alton Towers is aimed at a younger market – so we can expect it to be a little tamer than the aforementioned.

We also reported that the ride will have a backwards section, somewhat similar to Disney’s Expedition Everest ride (see above video). A quick glance at the plans below, which were submitted to the local council by Alton Towers, clearly shows the point where the ride stops its forward motion, in favour of a backwards section.

At this time, this is all we really have to go on, but fear not – we are on the case and will bring you all the latest as and when it hits.

Oh, and one last titbit for you. Here’s a video of the locals’ reactions to the ride. Some good, some bad. You can decide for yourself what you think.

New Rides at British Theme Parks: Thorpe Park and Paultons

March 12th, 2009

Yes we are back and yes we do more than just theme parks now, but for this blog, I intend to talk purely about rollercoasters and thrill rides. In particular, new ones.

2009 is not a good year if you are superstitious – TWO Friday the thirteenths in just two months? Surely nothing good can come from that. Can it? If you are a theme park fan, then the answer is yes. Well, sort of.

On Friday March 13, Thorpe Park champions its latest offering to the masses: SAW – The Ride. Based on the film franchise of the same name, the ride is the world’s first ever horror movie themed rollercoaster. Having watched the films and been left feeling rather queasy after a few scenes, I must say the thought of this ride is horrid.

Here’s why:
1. It has a past vertical 100 degree drop.
2. It reaches speeds of 55 mph.
3. It has a past vertical 100 degree drop.

While researching the ride, I stumbled across a few more facts: It will last one minute and 40 seconds from start to finish (queueing not included), has three inversions and cost a whopping £13.5m to build.

The cost is especially impressive when you find out how much the other new ride that opens on 13 March cost. We’ll get to this in but a moment. For now, my colleague and I are debating whether or not Thorpe Park had to pay a license fee for the ride, or if Lionsgate willingly gave the rights for free in return for future sales of the DVDs. Any of you guys know? Please let me know…

There is also some debate about whether or not SAW – The Ride is a worthwhile venture from the film industry, or if it’s simply a product of those marketing types looking to make a few extra bucks.

Also, in ten years time, will we actually remember the films, or will they be cast into the pit of forgetfulness along with the fizzy Nemesis drink that made its way into our vending machines in the mid 90s? (Look it up – it did exist.) Nemesis is still one of the best rides in the world – a true legend in fact, and SAW – The Ride looks set to be another major player in theme park land. There is no doubt in my mind that we will still be riding it ten years time – I am just not so sure I will remember anything of Jigsaw and his sordid ‘games’ with complacent victims.

The second ride opening this week is Edge at Paulton’s Park. If you haven’t heard anything about Edge, let me give you a brief description: It’s a big spinny-roundy disc that seats 40 people. Said disc then spins horizontally while moving along a 90 metre section of track at speeds of 43 mph. Back and forth, back and forth, I’m not entirely sure that anyone will be able to stand up or hang on to any lunch after riding the Edge.

The ride is another first for the UK – it’s the only one of its type here and the eighth of its kind in the world. Sure, Spinball Whizzer at Alton Towers does the same sort of thing, but that one actually goes round a proper ‘rollercoaster’ track and only accommodates four riders at a time.

Edge cost just £1m to build which, let’s face it, is nothing compared to SAW – The Ride. With the backing of Merlin, Thorpe can justify the spend. Paulton’s, on the other hand, can’t.

So where will you be heading this weekend? If you live near London, it’ll have to be Thorpe, but if you live near the New Forest – you’re surely going to Paulton’s. Me? I’ll be doing something far more cowardly, like stroking kittens, or watching Raven with my kids. Either way, you are going to need to take a packed lunch – the queues are going to be loooooooooong.

Thorpe Park’s New Ride News – Real Name Announced

October 13th, 2008

Saw - The Ride

After months of waiting the news is in! Thorpe Park‘s new ride is going to be called “Saw – The Ride” and it’s themed around the blood and gutfest, Saw, horror film series.

There’s loads of info coming later this week. If you just can’t wait then check out our newsfeed.

Keep checking back in for all the news, our opinions and some more shameless guesswork about this exciting new coaster.

Thorpe Park New Ride Construction Progressing Rapidly

September 25th, 2008

Our Thorpe Park insider, Agent Stealthy Squirrel, has sent a communiqué by carrier pigeon to the Play and Stay® offices this afternoon. Written in biro on the back of an acorn it simply said,

“Second inversion nearly finished, big frame going up. Send more nibbles.”

Not being above bribing woodland critters to carry out my espionage dirty-work, I promptly sent back some twiglets and got a’blogging. After investigating Agent Stealthy Squirrel’s claims it would seem that the second of Project Dylan’s three proposed inversions is indeed pretty much done. Not content with just building a roller-coaster really really fast, those busy builders have also constructed the beginnings of the frame that will become the scary sawmill.

The fact that the coaster’s track is being built so quickly suggests to me that Thorpe Park will be putting a great deal of effort into the area surrounding the coaster. Surely this means that Thorpe Park have big plans for the sawmill and its super-scary inhabitants. Interesting…….very interesting.

Project Dylan News

September 24th, 2008

Dylan
Ok chaps, I’ve done some maths to try and work out roughly how fast ‘Project Dylan’ will be. When I say roughly I mean ROUGHLY. My maths is notoriously poor and I’m working with little more than guesstimates here so please, bear with me.

The nearest comparable coaster to Project Dylan is (in my opinion) Dollywood’s Mystery Mine which has 1811 feet of track with a ride duration of 2 minutes and 30 seconds. This equates to 12.07 feet per second average speed. Project Dylan has 2362 feet of track with a ride duration of just one minute forty seconds which is around 23.62 feet per second.

From this we can very clearly see that Thorpe Park‘s new ride’s average speed will be almost double that of Mystery Mine. Unfortunately looking at the average speed of the ride does not reveal too much, the slow lift hills and the rapid vertical drops obviously affect the average quite a bit.

To put these highly ambiguous figures into some kind of perspective here is a list of a few of my favourite coasters and their respective feet per second counts.

Nemesis: 29 fps
Rita: Queen of Speed: 43 fps
Stealth: 50 fps
Project Dylan: 23.62 fps

So, from that we can see that Project Dylan is unlikely to break any records for speed, the drop remains the main draw of the attraction. At 97 degrees it will be one of the steepest the UK has to offer. All things considered I think it is fair to assume that Project Dylan will have a similar overall pace to Nemesis (which just so happens to be our very favourite coaster here at Play and Stay®). These numbers taken into account I’m expecting top speeds of between 50 and 60 mph and I’m pretty confidant that I’m right.

This last bit is purely conjecture, nothing more than my humble opinion on this thrilling new ride at Thorpe Park. I have a bit of a theory, Project Dylan is going to lean even more heavily on the horror theme that I originally anticipated. I predict that Thorpe Park’s new ride will be as much a grown up ghost train as a roller coaster. It will be heavily themed, there will be sections inside the planned sawmill that will probably employ animatronics or even just convincing models to give passengers a fright on their way to the beyond vertical drop. In short, this ride is going to be A for amazing.

Thorpe Park New Ride

September 18th, 2008

In addition to Jonathan Dudley’s recent post entitled Project Dylan – Thorpe Park’s New Ride. I don’t have much to add, other than this tantalising video of the new ride at Thorpe Park.

Archive for the ‘New Rides’ Category

What’s new at Alton Towers in 2012?

What’s New at Thorpe Park in 2012?

What’s New at LEGOLAND Windsor in 2012?

What’s new at Paultons Park in 2012?

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