Paulton's Park + Stonehenge + Oakwood: My Smashing ACE UK Tour Trip Report - Part III

Greetings, Thrillographers!

After several days of pre-tour antics, the ACE UK 2015 tour is finally underway! Everyone was full of energy and excitement as we boarded our motor coaches and set off for our first stop: Paulton's Park!

Woohoo! Nothing like greeting the day with some Gerstlauer awesomeness!

Paulton's park is a lovely kiddie park with a handful of larger rides. We were blessed with great weather in which to enjoy this beautiful park!

This blown glass flower fountain wins "Best Amusement Park Fountain" here at Thrillography. :}

In addition to a large collection of rides, Paulton's Park also has an impressive collection of zoo animals and botanical gardens. :}

First credit of the tour!

Also possibly the cutest. 

JUST LOOK AT THIS CUSTOM KITTY CAT TRAIN! A long-ass Tivoli train has never looked better!

Welcome back (some of) the crew! John, Alec, Mat, Steve, and Jeff!

This whimsical garden area in Paulton's is full of clever touches.

The park has a fiberglass shop and is not afraid to use it!

Check it out! It's an "Eye Pod!" 

Paulton's is growing in 2016! Not one, but two coasters are coming to the park: a kiddie invert and a kiddie boomerang! 

In a delightfully Roller Coaster Tycoon-like fashion, Paulton's is full of lovely topiaries and carousel music. :}

There's also a pretty snazzy miniature train!

Gotta get my ride with the one and only Bill Linkenheimer!

\

Elena, Steve, and Stephen are here too! 

An antique car ride is too mainstream for Paulton's Park! Tractor rides are where it's at now!

Paulton's train has shades of the Knoebels train; at its far turnaround, there's a nice little stretch of unspoiled natural scenery. 

Duck crossing!

Egret (?) crossing!

Alec and John could not resist the allure of the giant ball! They just had to put their hands on it. ;}

Time for lunch at Paulton's lovely new restaurant. 

The Brits really love their condiments. 

Lunch is served! And it was free! Thank you, Paulton's! 

I now submit for your approval: this incredible bird! Just look at those tail feathers!

Paulton's courtyard is about as lovely as can be. There's another blown glass flower fountain here, too! 

Due to the spotty sunlight throughout the trip, I didn't get a ton of my usual flower close-up shots. Got a couple, though. :}

Courtyard w/ crew!

Here we have a tiny flying Velociraptor. Watch your fingers.

Another view of the Paulton's courtyard. There's a lot of work that goes into some of the park's more scenic areas.

Some areas are less concerned with aesthetics, and that's ok too. :}

In the wide open spaces of Paulton's grassy picnic grounds lives today's star coaster, Cobra!

Fans of Thor's Hammer (Djurs Sommerland) and G'sengte Sau (Erlebnispark Tripsdrill) will recognize the layout of Cobra as a near-clone, sans any elaborate theming. 

However, even just plopped down in a field, this Gerstlauer "Bobsleigh" coaster gives a delightful ride!

The United States could really use one of these. FireChaser Express at Dollywood is pretty darn close for anyone wanting to experience something similar from Gerstlauer. :}

A giant Disk'O coaster helps anchor this part of Paulton's as the "Big Kids" area. 

The boys just love Cobra! Steve Perry says "We need one of these for Alabama Splash Adventure!"

Thrillography agrees! Dan Koch, if you're reading this, Steve and I have spoken! ;}

The Disk'O coaster, called "Edge," complements Cobra nicely.

Though it lacks themed elements, Cobra still has the tunnel drop found on other incarnations of the ride. 

She's either having a really great time or a really bad time. 

Of course, how could you possibly have a bad time on Cobra?!

#Lifeontheedge

I think it's time for another ride on Cobra.

This kid.

"Today I have conquered the Cobra. Tomorrow I shall conquer THE WORLD."

*evil cackling*

Cobra has quite the logo! Notice the tiny car on the top right.

Time for a POV ride on Cobra!

As usual, I'd like to remind everyone to ALWAYS obey loose article policies and to ALWAYS practice safe snaps when using film equipment on rides! 

FIRST DROP INSANITY!

Edge is all about some POV ride time!

Awkward mid-ride selfie!

(well…I tried)

XTREME BUNNY HILL AIRTIME POV DELIGHT!

WOOOOO! 

WOOOOO TUNNEL DIVE!

Next up is Magma, a giant SBF/VISA Twist n' Drop!

Big or small, these rides are always great fun!

Walking through the volcano!

Though a drop ride, Magma is slow and gentle enough to safely photograph while riding!

And since it rotates, you can get great views of everything in one ride!

A majority of Paulton's Park is in this direction. In the foreground is construction on the massive new dinosaur area with the two coasters!

Soon Cobra will have a little more company over in this side of the park. 

Cobra and Edge coming in for a landing!

Kiddie trampolines! Brings me back to the sommerland parks of Scandinavia and Germany!

The new family boomerang was nothing but footers on this visit, but this month trackwork on the ride was completed!

Surrounded by construction is the Flying Frog. He's covering his face because he's a little camera shy!

Like Cat-O-pillar, Flying Frog is a Tivoli coaster (only much smaller).

Cre-hoes: ASSEMBLE!

(The frog looks completely over it)

FLYING FROG CREW TAKEOVER!

This log flume looks like a rainbow.

MUST. RIDE. NOW.

Get it, bro! Getcha some of that yellow log action!

Wasn't planning on getting the photo, but I couldn't exactly say no to this.

Soft eis! Here we have John demonstrating proper soft eis etiquette. 

Soft eis with Cadbury Flake is the norm here. And it's a good norm.

Forest Friends! :D

Water slide time!

Wavy hump wet/dry slides: Simple but effective. 

There isn't always time to ride these at parks that have them, but fortunately there's plenty of time to enjoy them today!

The air on that second drop tho! :D

Last stop is Peppa Pig World, a park-within-a-park inspired by Britain's favorite pig, Peppa!

This is the main reason we're checking out Peppa Pig World. These Ferris Wheel Towers are awesome and I haven't seen but one or two before this one. 

Wavy slides!

Here's some more of the rather sprightly Peppa Pig World. 

Time to roll out! Thanks for a great first park of the tour, Paulton's! Now just a quick stroll through the gift shop before we embark on our next adventure:

STONEHENGE!

Of all of England's points of interest, this is the one that meant the most to me. Fortunately for me, the ACE Tour added Stonehenge to the itinerary a few months ago, saving me the need to orchestrate a visit to see it myself. 

Stonehenge moved me in a way that old buildings cannot; the mystery and magnificence of this monument affected me on a spiritual level.

(Thanks to Joel Brewton Photography for the photo!)

I was so inspired that I had to do something I almost never do: a panoramic photo. Blog formatting be damned!

There is a strange and wonderful energy around Stonehenge. An aura of curiosity and wonder that permeates its visitors.

And let me just say again that we were so fortunate with weather on this day. I never dreamed I'd be taking pictures like this of Stonehenge. 

Everyone in the tour was captivated by the stones. Hours were spent taking photos and basking in its presence. 

A series of lawn sprinklers helps keep the grounds around Stonehenge luscious and green!

And I mean GREEN! Bright green grass in some areas!

Quite a lot of clover too, which I love. 

Here are the owners of the farm next door to Stonehenge, drinking wine and watching the tourists.

Something about this made me even happier than I already was. 

Goodbye, Stonehenge! Thank you for making me feel so many feels! 

ACE descended upon the Stonehenge gift shop like vultures and bought everything in sight. It was a good time. :}

In stark contrast of today's flawless weather, our day at Oakwood would be extraordinarily wet. Fortunately for us, Oakwood had no problems running major coasters in the rain! 

Unfortunately for me, however, the weather was so wet for so long that it started to foul up my camera. Later rainy days were a non-issue (putting Chapstick on the telescope and covering it with my hand proved to be simple and effective solutions), but my Oakwood day was an exercise in patience and discovery, to say the least.

Let's get our sopping wet show on the road!

We're here! It's cold and wet.

The magnificent Megafobia is ready for action, though!

Built in 1996, Megaphobia was Custom Coasters International's most ambitious project at the time. The ride's signature first drop is taller than the lift hill, bottoming out on a natural slope that leads into a pond.

The constant moisture did wonders for our morning rides, which probably would've been sluggish to start without wet rails.

The basic layout of Megafobia was re-interpreted two years later on a slightly larger scale at Alabama's VisionLand. This bigger version, called Rampage, has all of Megafobia's exquisite choreography but on about a 30% larger scale, plus a redesigned ending and station configuration (You may remember Rampage from my "Rip Roarin' Rampage" trip reports from June and October). :}

Megaphobia is full of those trademark CCI fan turns and, of course, plenty of airtime. Much to our delight, the years (and the Oakwood maintenance department) have been good to Megafobia; if only every CCI coaster was this well-maintained. 

I think Kevin liked it.

  

Here's the part of the day where my camera started to have problems. At first I was in a wild panic because I thought it was totally broken; desperate, frenzied attempts to make the telescope cooperate had me beating the everliving !%£@ out of my camera to get the lens to deploy. It worked a few times, but I started to really lose faith in the camera after a while.

I decided to calm myself down by putting the camera away and praying that some time in my pocket would benefit the situation. 

After visiting one of Oakwood's kiddie coasters and finding it closed temporarily for weather, we headed over to Oakwood's other flagship coaster, Speed: No Limits. While in line I managed to get the camera to function briefly enough to get some pictures. 

Kevin, Sharon, Terry, and Tom came flying into the brakes as we walked up. They gave it a positive review, so we amped ourselves up for our ride!

One of Gerstlauer's earliest Euro Fighters, Speed: No Limits gives an aggressive ride with some great airtime! Smoothness is sometimes a crap shoot with Euro Fighters, but Speed ended up being quite smooth.

(Also, this picture is what happens when you, your camera, and your camera's light filter are freaking out)

The camera was still hanging on, but it started locking up whenever I racked focus. I gave it another break in my pocket, since that seemed to help the first time. 

We rode the park's gentle (and LOUD) Huss launch tower, called "Bounce." Powered by a flywheel, it's not nearly as potent as even the milder S&S towers, but it was still quite fun. 

So much wetness and discomfort in one picture.

The two preceding shots were all I could get before giving up on my camera again for a while. With no initial guarantee that the camera would improve, I was starting to get a little depressed. "What if my camera does this for the entire trip?" I thought.

By the grace of God, the day actually dried out long enough for me to discover that it was just an excess of water on the telescope that was causing my problems. I wasn't going to assume it was that simple, but that turned out to be the case!

:D :D :D IT'S MICHAEL :D :D :D

It was actually Michael's smiling face that fixed my camera completely. After I took this picture, I had no more problems. ;}

I see you Corey! How's that alpine slide treating ya?

Metal Alpine Slide + Wetness = Insanity

Unlike their cement counterparts, metal alpine slides like to fishtail around corners, especially in the rain. Once fearless ACErs were cut down to size by this wet n' wild alpine slide! 

Re-rides on Megafobia were less wet than this morning, but still just as wild!

Jeff and John are in the front seat! They're holding on because they know what they're in for!

Hooray! Treetops Coaster is open!

This double-8 Tivoli coaster is Oakwood's oldest coaster; it boasts 25 years worth of natural foliage that festoons its curves.

"Keep your hands and arms inside the train at all times" has never been more important. You can get a broken hand real quick on this one if you're not careful.

Gang's all here! Mat, Jon, Jeff, (my seat), Chris, Alec, ACE President Jerry Willard, and Todd!

Such a pretty ride. :}

Back for another ride on Speed: No Limits now that I'm not distracted by my busted camera. :}

I see you, Megafobia!

This is a picture I *wanted* to take earlier. Glad I got it on the second pass-thru. :}

XTREME BARREL ROLL HANGTIME ACTION!

Speed was running one car on our visit. This was perfectly fine, however,  because A) There never seemed to be more than 8-12 people in line at once, and B) Everyone on the Scandinavian Sojourn remembers what happens when first-generation Euro Fighters run in the rain! x}

(Collisions. Collisions are what happens when first-gen Euro Fighters run in the rain)

Look at this camelback hump. Look how beautiful it is. 

That person in the front right seat is feeling it. 

The fence next to Speed is a roller coaster. It has a little silhouette of Speed's car. :}

This is such a great ride. I can't get enough of that loop design! 

Does this tree look magical to you? It should! Just beyond it is Neverland!

See? Suddenly it's all Peter Pan up in here. :}

We've landed at Skull Rock!

I gotta say, having a log flume pass through the eye socket of a skull is pretty metal. 

Everyone paired off to ride the log flume with a limited threat of wetness.

(except for Jerry, who supervised)

There are two kinds of people in this world.

Wow! Neverland was just behind Speed: No Limits the entire time! In the foreground is Crocodile Coaster, a tiny powered coaster that was still closed due to wetness. 

Yes they have flyers. Yes they are themed to Tinkerbell.

It's called "Tink's Flying School." :}

Rus seems to have the hang of it! It's amazing what a little pixie dust can do! :}

One last shot of dat airtime hill!

ACE TAKEOVER OF CLOWN COASTER! It's the last credit to open from the rain!

Here we have our handsome Oakwood representative, Mr. Legs, having a ball photographing all of these grown-ass coaster enthusiasts on Clown Coaster.

Everyone is so excited to ride this 54ft long kiddie coaster. The line is literally longer than the length of the ride itself. 

The ride's location makes for great picture opportunities while standing in line!

Havent forgotten about this monster. We're saving it for last. 

Megafobia positively glides through the trees! 

OOOH! The thing is testing! This is good; it hadn't been showing any signs of life until now. 

Almost time to ride! Clown Coaster is a tiny version of the Wacky Worm; It's roughly 200% shorter than a Wacky Worm, and easily 200% creepier. 

Clown Coaster is no match for Rus's enthusiasm!

(Seriously, I don't know what Pinfari was thinking with this train. You're literally riding on the back of a clown)

Bill and I had to try very hard to squeeze into a seat together, but we were determined! 

Alright y'all. Let's get wet.

"Drenched" is Oakwood's gargantuan Intamin shoot-the-chute ride. Fans of Knott's Berry Farm may recognize this one; it's the only other "Perilous Plunge"-style flume ever built. 

Perilous Plunge went through more than its fair share of retrofits during its ten years at Knott's Berry Farm; likewise, Drenched has been through a few of its own. 

Both giant flumes opened with simple lap bars, and both rides succeeded in chucking people to their deaths. Perilous Plunge ended up with a five-point harness system, which was later traded out for shoulder harnesses similar to those found on Intamin launch coasters. Drenched, on the other hand, received homemade steel harnesses (yeah, they're exactly as uncomfortable as they sound). 

After Cedar Fair called it quits on Perilous Plunge (and then the untimely retiring of the much newer Pilgrims Plunge Intamin shoot-the-chute at Holiday World), most assumed Drenched wouldn't be far behind. Nevertheless, this demolition-defying ride still thrills guests to this day.  

Drenched has one of the best dives in the world; it's a drop so sharp and aggressive that the last row of each boat is permanently blocked off. Following the ferocious whip and near-vertical dive, a deluge of cold water that can be best described as "a fire hose to the face" resolutely saturates riders to the bone.

(thanks to Todd Houts for the picture!)

Already soaked to an irrevocable degree, I had myself another ride – this time in the front. Most ACErs skipped the ride due to its incredible wetness, but those who rode can't deny the El Toro-like quality of this outstanding drop. 

My time at Oakwood was a little rocky, but it certainly turned out better than I'd hoped given the circumstances. Fully recovered, my camera forgave me for knocking the hell out of it when I was weak, and as of this writing it's still kickin'.

I hope you're ready for the cheerio show to fire into overdrive, because tomorrow we embark on our epic journey through ALTON TOWERS, one of Europe's largest and most spectacular parks! 

See you soon. ;}