Flamingoland + Joyland + Great Yarmouth Pleasure Beach + Pleasurewood Hills: My Smashing ACE UK Tour Trip Report - Part VI

Hello again. How are things with you? :}

After our amazing three days at Alton Towers and Blackpool Pleasure Beach, the last two days of the ACE UK (partial) Tour were a whirlwind of good, bad, and ugly in northern and eastern Great Britain.  

After flying high at two of Europe's best parks, ACE crash-landed at what would end up being the worst park of the tour, Flamingoland. 

On a positive note, they were playing really cute music at the entrance.

Flamingoland greets guests with this outrageously creepy clown ride, which is apparently the park's answer to an entrance plaza carousel. 

Here's one of Flamingoland's five kiddie coasters, to which we will be whoring ourselves in a few hours.

Flamingoland's new pride and joy is actually this. I wish I was joking.

But they also have one of these! Huzzah!

"Mumbo Jumbo" is the twin of Steel Hawg at Indiana Beach. All of the appropriate S&S El Loco shenanigans are present.

While I liked the ride, I must admit that the El Loco at the Circus Circus Grand Slam Canyon Adventuredome in Las Vegas has really spoiled me. Lap bar only cars FTW!

Still, Mumbo Jumbo is a fun ride with a great layout. 

Hi fellas!

We were supposed to have ERT on Mumbo Jumbo (and Hero, which was closed upon arrival), but Flamingoland forgot that our ERT was in the morning (it was originally nighttime ERT; the schedule was changed months prior). Instead we stood in line for 30 minutes and waited for the park to open. Womp womp.

Next door to Mumbo Jumbo is Kumali, a Vekoma SLC "Shenlin" model. 

Thrillography readers may remember the Vekoma SLC from Happy Valley Shenzhen, which was the first installation of this model. Future models of this ride feature a second helix, and over a dozen rip-offs of this ride layout have popped up all over China thanks to Golden Horse Amusement Machines.

Like its Happy Valley counterpart, Kumali is pleasant but not totally remarkable.

Kumali has a unique paint job that Flamingoland has since failed to maintain.

Still a better ride than Infusion at Blackpool Pleasure Beach.

(That's the name of the SLC at Blackpool, btw. I never actually mentioned its name in the report. No regrets)

This park was once home to two Schwarzkopf looping coasters. TWO!

Flamingoland sold the coasters (they're in Mexico now, at La Feria Chapultepec and Selva Magica) because they wanted to start investing in stationary-looking rides to help give the park more of an established feel. This decision was made 10 years ago, and as the day goes on, you'll see that their commitment to this decision is lackadaisical at best.

With Velocity (the park's Vekoma Booster Bike, which was in the first picture of the update) and Hero closed, everyone on the tour scrambled to pick up Flamingoland's numerous kiddie credits.

This rather neat one is called "Zooom." It's a custom Zamperla kiddie suspended coaster.  The ride means well, but it is literally the most uncomfortable kiddie coaster I've ridden. My left leg was boxed in by the lap bar in such a way that made it completely immobile, which made me claustrophobic. 

From here Flamingoland looks nice, but they're still far and away from leaving overgrown carnival status behind.

See? The leg room is a problem.

Kumali at least has great leg room. :}

Betty is probably thinking to herself

"What decisions have I made that led me to riding this terrible coaster at this terrible park?"

Zooom! With Charles! (As always, Thrillography would like to remind its readers to ALWAYS obey loose article policies and to ALWAYS practice safe snaps when filming on rides!)  :}

Ok, Zooom! isn't terrible. I'm just bitter that such a cool-looking ride isn't more accommodating to people over 6ft.

From Zooom! we see Velocity standing dormant. Not a good sign.

The first kiddie coaster we saw today is ready to go!

Coming in for a landing.

One down, five to go.

Next up: Dino Roller!

He we see Joel filming us for his ACE UK Tour DVD while we film him for Thrillography. Hopefully this doesn't rip a hole in the space-time continuum.

Everyone flap your wings! Maybe it'll make it go faster!

Kiddie Coaster #3: "Twistosaurus!"

Built in 2013, Twistosaurus is one of the latest developments of the spinning coaster genre. A train of Zamperla's spinning mouse cars navigate this small, quasi-wild mouse layout as it tries its best to make you throw up on everything.

John Anthony, Joel, and Kathy seem content. I was ready for it to be over about half way through the first circuit. ;}

Oh, and they have a Starflyer here. Just what I always wanted.

Kiddie Coaster #4: DENIED! No adults allowed on Go Gator!

(No big deal since it's powered anyways. Moving on)

Runaway Mine Train completes the kiddie coaster checklist at Flamingoland. Now we wait for the other half of the major coasters to open.

They were doing welding work on Hero. "Surely it won't open today" we thought.

Back around to Mumbo Jumbo. Not a whole lot to do here for a park with nine coasters.

May as well take the sky ride!

I'm a huge Von Roll 101 Skyride enthusiast, and while this is actually just a British-built skyride that resembles a Von Roll, it's still a cool vintage ride.

Flamingoland's skyride spans almost the entire length of the sprawling park, but it ONLY HAS FOUR CARS. And one of them is in no shape to fly!

I would've been bothered by the ride's 30 minute wait if I felt like there were other things in the park I could be doing that were more interesting.

I was able to bide my time by watching the ride operator catch the cars as they trickled their way in

Yep. This is what three car operation on a sky ride looks like.

Alright! Our turn!

A ride on the Cable Cars gives you a good general idea of the blah-ness of Flamingoland (hereafter referred to as "Blahmingoland")

Kumali's corner at least looks fairly nice.

The areas directly below are sorta…….disjointed.

Blahmingoland's largest non-coaster ride is this large shoot-the-chute. Closed, of course. 

The park's splash battle ride looks like it could use more water.

Still no signs of life from Velocity or the flying garbage coaster.

Look! We're actually passing a car!

The flume looks to have potential, but like everything else here it's half-assed.

Kumali roars off in the distance. With Velocity closed, the rest of the park is rather quiet. 

Twistosaurus packs a punch for such a tiny ride. It would make an ideal replacement for an aging flat ride at any small-medium park.

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't concerned about the animals here. 

Coming in for a landing near the aviary.

Blahmingoland has a small aquarium that was in pretty bad shape. I'll spare you pictures of everything other than this one fairly well-maintained tank of African Ciclids.

Other residents of Africa around the park seem to be doing ok.

Rhinos and giraffes doing rhino and giraffe stuff.

Blahmingoland's groundskeepers are pretty relaxed. Explains a lot. 

This picture of Kumali was photobombed by the park's swinging ship!

BABY DUCKS!

Baby ducks with no regard for their own safety!

They just got right up next to us. No effs given.

Paddle boats are closed today.

It's amazing how good their intentions are with some things, like the details on Kumali. Look at the rocks they used to disguise the footers!

Ultimately, Blahmingoland is a park paved with good intentions. We all know where that road goes...

Ducks, you are too good for this place. Go fly to a park with better atmosphere and rides.

With Kumali in 2006 and Mumbo Jumbo in 2009, the park probably seemed like it was going in a good direction. I don't know what happened.

Right where we're standing was home to the one-of-a-kind Schwarzkopf "Wiener Looping," which was a tire-driven shuttle coaster built for the Vienna Prater. It spent 15 seasons in this spot before going to Selva Magica.

The other Schwarzkopf, "Drier Looping," was over by where the shoot-the-chute is now. Its twin has operated at Galaxyland at the West Edmonton mall since the 80s, and Drier Looping now joins it in North America at La Feria in Mexico City. :}

Several ACErs visited Flamingoland when Wiener Looping was still here, and just about all of them would agree that it's a better coaster than anything here by a mile. 

Oh good. The flying garbage coaster is open.

These boys seem to be in good spirits. We'll see how long that lasts.

These guys seem to be enjoying it! Makes sense I guess. Teenagers are made of rubber.

We're going to file this one next to Infusion in the "Well, at least it looks nice" category.

Good luck, guys!

Riding a Zamperla Volare requires a lot of bracing, which makes for a stressful experience.

Thumbs up…?

Hero definitely seems to have the approval of the locals. 

The ACErs are not impressed, however.

Having fun, boys? lol

Enjoy!…?

Contemplating their fates.

If you're wondering why I have so many pictures of this ride, it's because THERE WAS A HUGE LINE because these people are CRAZY.

Oh yeah. Those are faces of sheer enjoyment.

For the record, this was my FIFTH Zamperla Volare. And there's still one in Canada I haven't ridden. You know how many RMC coasters I've ridden? None. What am I doing with my life…?

With Hero taken care of, there was nothing left to do but wait around for Velocity. The park's dark ride was a nice surprise. It features famous Hollywood monsters as children creating problems.

The dark ride is in the old part of Blahmingoland, which is also home to farm animals.

Another tractor ride!

This part of the park is full of poultry. 

PEACOCK!

In here is a lovely tea house. This part of the park doesn't resemble an amusement park, but it's certainly nicer than the part that does.

Following the president to the namesake attraction at Blahmingoland! 

"…of course we have flamingos!"

The flamingos seem content.

This peahen has made a nest fit for chick-peas in front of the teahouse. :}

Bunnies <3

LOOK AT THESE CUTE LITTLE BIRD NUGGETS WITH THIER GIANT FEET!

Mom and babe. 

Yeah, I think the best attraction here is the farm animals.

Hey look, Velocity opened.

Loading for this ride was tedious, but the ride itself is great; solid launch and nice visual effects from the seating arrangement. The one at Toverland has an extra airtime hill, but both are solid rides.

Gotta do something while waiting in line. 

Despite a super-late showing, everyone on the tour got their Velocity credit. 

Plaque presentation for the park. I've been tough on Flamingoland, but I wish them the best. 

Time to go!

Gummy teeth lead to endless amounts of fun. :}

I completely forget what city this is, but we went out in search of food as soon as we checked in.

The swans are looking for dinner too.

We took to the internet to find a nice place, and the internet came through for us!

The restaurant is called "East." I had one of the best meals of my life here.

There was an absolute cornucopia of sensational Asian cuisine. Everything from pork cheek to curry to tempura to stir fry ended up on our table. I had prawn and egg vermicelli with mango sorbet (literally the best dessert I've ever had).

So yeah, the highlight of the day was this dinner, followed by the wild birds living at Flamingoland. I'm a little worried about that place, but hopefully it'll pull through.

Tomorrow is a new day! There is much more good than bad (or ugly) just ahead in one of Great Britain's loveliest beach cities, Great Yarmouth! :D

Good morning! It's soggy out, but it's a good morning indeed!

Welcome to Joyland, home to a higher percentage of joy by volume than any other park in the world. :}

Joyland is less than an acre in size, but it's a very special park with a big presence!

Joyland currency! :}

First ride of the day is Spook Express! It's a kiddie coaster from British-based WGH Transportation (like Rhombus' Rocket at Fantasy Island) built on the second story of Joyland's "mountain."

Below us are the Jet Cars, a circular kiddie car ride, and Neptune's Kingdom, a small undersea-themed dark ride. I didn't get pictures of these rides, however, because I was too busy taking pictures of...

…THIS! TYROLEAN TUB TWIST!

It's the world's ONLY REMAINING VIRGINIA REEL!!! DO YOU KNOW HOW COOL THAT IS????

and it's not just any Virginia Reel! It's a MINIATURE VIRGINIA REEL!

I didn't think it would be possible to find a cuter roller coaster than Kiddie Coaster at Rye Playland, but today the impossible happened. What you're looking at is literally the world's cutest roller coaster. 

It's almost our turn to ride! Riders sit two to a tub and are carried up the lift hill by the electric rails on the floor. 

 While the ride is often powered by its own kinetic energy as it zigzags its way back to the station, the electric rails keep the ride moving in the event of a loss of momentum. :}

Tyrolean Tub Twist was built for Joyland's first season in 1949 by Horace Cole, a local engineer who built and operated the park with his wife Daisy (whose background in the funfair industry served as the inspiration for the park). Joyland is still owned and meticulously maintained by the Cole family to this day.

The side walls of Tyrolean Tub Twist are responsible for not only keeping the the little tubs from derailing, but also for spinning the tubs via tires mounted on the sides of each car.

Once the tubs reach their peak, they scuttle their way through the layout at a breakneck speed of 1-3mph.

Like all of Joyland, Tyrolean Tub Twist is adorned with numerous artistic touches.

Its zigzags are also flanked with trees and shrubs. :}

Tyrolean Tub Twist is an amazing classic, but it's not the only amazing classic at Joyland!

BEHOLD THE JOYLAND SNAILS OF GREAT YARMOUTH!

Like Tyrolean Tub Twist, the Joyland Snails were built by Horace Cole in 1949. :}

Together, the Snails and Tyrolean Tubtwist make Joyland one of the most historically significant amusement parks of the post WWII era. 

JOYLAND SNAILS POV DELIGHTFULNESS!!!

Neither a roller coaster nor a dark ride, the Joyland Snails are rare in being one of the only rides of this variety to pre-date the amusement park renaissance ushered in by Walt Disney.

Unlike wooden coasters and haunted houses, outdoor tracked rides of this nature were offered by few (if any) manufacturers at the time of Joyland's construction. 

 The successors of this ride style would soon become a national sensation with the opening of Disneyland, and Arrow Dynamics would go on to produce dozens of outdoor tracked rides for parks around the world. 

The success of the Disneyland Autopia lead to gas-powered antique car and sports car rides becoming the most popular form of outdoor tracked ride, but I'm still quite partial to the electric rail Snails :}

HOLD ONTO YOUR HATS, FOLKS!

#snailselfie

Everyone loves Snails!

Especially Joel.

Tim and Jeff spinning away on Tyrolean Tub Twist!

Now everyone on the ACE UK Tour can say they rode the world's ONLY Virginia Reel!

***I'd now like to submit the concept to Knoebels as a future pet project. It would be a breeze after Flying Turns!

Joyland looks like a toy box exploded. 

Spook Express doesn't hold a lot of people, but fortunately there was enough time to get the credit and still enjoy Joyland!

On my last lap around the park, I witnessed a collision on Tyrolean Tub Twist! Fortunately the cars are built for this sort of thing and the traffic jam was sorted out. :} 

Everyone's snagging their credit on Spook Express!

You guys ready to a hop, skip, and a jump over to our next park??

It's Great Yarmouth Pleasure Beach, just down the street! :D

This is a Disney IP Lawsuit waiting to happen. 

First things first: Wacky Worm credit!

This guy looks like he could use some ChapStick.

There's nothing like a cold, wet Wacky Worm ride to make you feel alive.

Right, fellas? :}

This is just one happy bunch of ACErs right here.

._____.

The pony ride is testing!

Likewise is the rare Fabbri Evolution ride, which I avoided like the plague. 

Now for the real reason we're here!

It's the Great Yarmouth Pleasure Beach "Roller Coaster!"

Built by Erich Heidrich for the 1929 Paris Colonial Expedition and purchased by Great Yarmouth Pleasure Beach in 1931, Roller Coaster has been offering scenic thrills with an iconic look for over 80 years!

Roller Coaster is a brakeman-operated scenic railway with one-of-a-kind  five bench art deco trains!

Not to be outdone, the SBF/Visa figure-8 spinner, Whirlwind, has thrills to offer as well. :}

The ride is 50% lift hill, but that gravity-powered other half makes it an indisputable coaster credit. :}

Whirlwind gets its kicks by gradually speeding up as it makes five passes around the circuit. Simple but effective. :}

Okay, back to Roller Coaster.

ACErs had mixed emotions about the day's wetness, but you can't deny that wooden coasters are always made better by rainfall!

As you can see, Roller Coaster's superstructure is obscured by an incredible mural. Almost the entire ride is wrapped in red, white and blue!

The brick building on the left is the ride's train shop. :}

Hi guys! :D

Everyone loves Roller Coaster! Even though it's got some of the heaviest wood coaster trains ever built, it's one of the smoothest coasters you'll ever ride!

Let's go up for a birdseye view!

This isn't your average monorail; old-timers are the vehicles of choice here!

Almost ready to roll!

I'm pretty sure they painted this roller coaster yesterday or something. Have you ever seen such a pristine paint job??

This is just a glorious ride. One of the loveliest you'll ever see. :}

Just below is the Pleasure Beach's version of the Joyland Snails, built 15 years after the original. It plays "it's a small world after all" in the station, which is potential Disney IP lawsuit #2 for the park. 

Roller Coaster temporarily ceased operation while I was riding the monorail, but for good reason. 

Roller Coaster is meticulously maintained. A maintenance associate is seen here applying grease to the track to keep things slick in the rain. :}

What lies inside the hidden superstructure??

A car wash! :D

Parts of blue train are in storage awaiting refurbishment. 

The backside of Roller Coaster!

Ok, so that's two IP lawsuits for Disney and one Universal Studios.

Ride bits await future developments in the boneyard.

Super old-school wooden-track go karts!

And a crazy-fast Waltzer!

Roller Coaster actually replaced a smaller Scenic Railway that operated from 1909-28. When Pleasure Beach owner Pat Collins saw Roller Coaster at the Paris Colonial Expedition, he took the opportunity to bring a Scenic Railway back to Great Yarmouth. 

Whirlwind is so cute. :}

Roller Coaster is back online!

Roller Coaster's 2nd drop is surprisingly large, taking riders deep within the superstructure! 

It's a race to the finish!

Gotta love Martin and David's devil horns in the front seat!  \m/

This is one of the greatest living examples of a classic wooden coaster, and it's just down the street from another one of the greatest living examples of a classic wooden coaster! Great Yarmouth is a great place to be if you love great old rides! :D

Also there's this weirdness. 

It's a Fabbri spinning coaster called "Family Star," which depicts scenes that resemble family sitcom moments. 

Yeah, I don't have a clue. 

Quick Wacky Worm credit run for anyone who skipped it earlier.

Weeeeee! :D

Family portrait!

After a great morning and afternoon in Great Yarmouth, it was time to hit the road for a third time. Off to Pleasurewood Hills!

There was good weather waiting for us at park #3 of the day. :}

What's so special about Pleasurewood Hills, you ask?

This.

Enter: Enigma! The world's only Schwarzkopf "Jumbo V" (Jet Star V)

Yep. We found a one-of-a-kind Jet Star coaster in the British Countryside. :}

Enigma was brought to Pleasurewood Hills in 1983 after s few years on the German fair circuit.

Rather than use the traditional in-line toboggan cars found on most Jet Star models, Enigma was built with four-seat cars that had been developed for Magic Mountain's Revolution (and subsequently used for all Schwarzkopf looping coasters).

(Fun Fact: Revolution is technically part of the Jet Star line and was listed in Schwarzkopf's catalogue as a Jumbo IV Looping Speed Racer. Hersheypark's Sooperdooperlooper may also technically be one, but the model/classification for the coaster may have changed after Revolution opened) 

Enigma also saw the return of the straight lift hill, which had been phased out on the Jet Star 2 in favor of the signature spiral lift. All Jet Star 2, Jet Star 3/Jumbo Jet, and City Jet installations used the spiral lift, as well as all of the non-looping extended Jumbo IV/Speed Racers.

The combination of classic Jet Star curves and the comfortable looping coaster seating arrangement makes for a superb ride! It's a shame that Enigma was the only Jumbo V manufactured.

I don't exactly know why the cars are locomotives, but I can tell you that two Looping Stars (one in The Netherlands and one in Italy) also have them. :}

While Enigma only ran one train on our visit, the ride could probably easily run 4 or more trains. 

ACErs flocked to Enigma first thing, but even with the one train the line wasn't bad. All the more time to take pictures. :}

Enigma isn't exactly A+ on aesthetics, but does it ever ride well! Pleasurewood Hills must be doing something right. 

Built with loading swiftness in mind, Enigma has separate loading and unloading platforms. It's almost time for our ride!

Congrats to Tom on his 800th coaster and Steven on his 500th! What a fabulous milestone!

Enigma is tucked away in a small valley surrounded with shrubbery.

It looks almost as if it just sprouted out of the ground one day. :}

Alright, time to take care of the rest of the park. There's more to Pleasurewood Hills than Enigma, but not much.

Next is a simple Mack mouse, which was moved from Flamingoland last year.

You know, the world is becoming so full of spinning mouse coasters that it's actually rather refreshing to ride one of the non-spinning variety.

And, true to German tradition, no trim brake usage allowed on mouse coasters! :}

The cars are rather Minion-esque. 

There's also a log flume here that's positively green.

It would take a lot more than algae blooms to phase American Log Flume Enthusiast President Charles Mann and First Lady Anna Baker! 

On the right is HoBs PiT, a genuinely terrifying multi-modal dark attraction that combines a haunted walk-thru with a mine shaft-themed ghost train. A great surprise for all dark ride enthusiasts in attendance! 

Pleasurewood Hills may be a modest park, but it still has many lovely things to see.

To say that this miniature train is a narrow gage is an understatement! 

My foot is longer than the width of the tracks!

The park's sky ride is quite expansive, but rather slow.

How long you been up there, Stephen??

Pleasurewood's largest coaster is Wipeout, a Vekoma Boomerang. Try to contain your enthusiasm.

The park's Huss Trinado ride looks cool, but sadly the hydraulic arm designed to lift the ride no longer works, reducing it to basically a grounded Huss Condor. 

The park has a second, smaller miniature train that's of a more conventional width than the teeny-tiny train. 

As you can see, the train rides intersect each other. :}

The sky ride brings guests over the duck pond to the park's farthest border.

Wipeout began its life as "Coca-Cola Roller" at the Glasgow Garden Festival in 1988, and then opened in 1989 as "Missile" at American Adventure Theme Park in Derbyshire, where it ran until the park closed in 2002.

(Yes, it was an America-themed amusement park in Great Britain. Yes, their main attraction was a roller coaster themed to a bomb. Perhaps a little social commentary?)

While a rather mundane experience for most coaster enthusiasts, Wipeout is the U.K.'s only Boomerang coaster and thus unique to the park by local standards. :}

The last credit of the day!

Yet another Tivoli family coaster. Always a good time. :}

We were given food vouchers for dinner, but the park ran out of food! Grabbing a bite to eat before getting back on the coaches meant settling for the only food left in the park: ICE CREAM! :D

What an exciting day full of unique coasters!

This concludes the ACE UK 2015 Tour core portion, but tomorrow begins Day 1 of the ACE UK 2015 Tour official add-on! Six more amazing parks await! Stay tuned! :}