Seaside Park

[Stu]

I dream of a clean cut modern amusement park beside the sea, in Weymouth, (perhaps built over the sea life park) known as ‘the coast’ the park would be focused around a single large building, known as ‘the pavilion’ which would be an architectural attraction in itself

inside the building, the ambience will be relaxed, with very lush planting and landscaping, and intensive themeing, with feature rock pools, cascades and shipwrecked lagoons, with rope bridge walkways, steeping stone trails and all kinds of hidden caverns and such to discover and explore

the feature attraction would be a Maurer Sohne xtended water ride, the spinning mouse / river rapids hybrid product concept they have on offer, which begins with a roller coaster ride through the roof tops of mystical palaces, before infuriating Neptune, who conjures up a vast storm, which dissolves the magnificent palaces, sinking them deep below the oceans surface in a white water whirlpool

a second water ride comes in the form, of ‘serpent racers’ a pair of racing flumes from whitewater west, featuring the slidewinder toboggans boats

wouldn’t be too adventurous with any other installations, i think a Pinfari x-press inverted coaster, named ‘the mistral’ would make a sweet little addition, great throughput a tight good quality ride, and accompanying mini mega junior coaster, named the ‘beachcomber’, both with a strong nautical themed aesthetic, and themed base, maybe to allow for long term changes to take place

a Mack endless system dark ride, would glide deep into an eerie cave, which is haunted by smugglers who used to stow their treasures there many years ago

a Mack monorail journeys around the rooftops and treetops, pausing to witness stories and fables coming to life through various animatronic scenes

the ‘trail of lost treasures’, is a family orientated 3D walk through adventure, which climaxes in an interactive mirror maze, while ‘ocean drive’, provides a sedate and scenic (Zierer) car track ride, in open top sports cars.

there’s also a supporting stock, of themed zierer flat rides including, ‘high seas’ (magic carpet), ‘celebration swings’ (wave swinger) ‘up up and away’ (air balloon themed ferris wheel) ‘kontiki’ (kontiki) and ‘sea dragon safari’ (kiddie boat ride)

outside two (S&S) steel structured wooden coasters circumnavigate the main building, the ‘weymouth bay cyclone’ and a junior version dubbed the ‘lil’ stormer’,

there is also an outdoor amusement area, which has permanently landscaped grounds, where base frame and temporary rides can be set up and replaced without any hassle, to provide a constantly changing experience, so there’s always something new each season to come back for,

a Zamperla hawk 48, themed as hammerhead sharks, and a (inward facing) discovery would make the debut alongside covered rides such as a Mack tea cup, with the idea been to offer as many covered rides (as well as the large indoor section) to operate the park all year around

A permanently established helter skelter ride, named the lost lighthouse, would treat guests to a nostalgic walk through dark experience, with shaking floors, crazy mirrors etc, as they climb upwards towards the slide.

. . . . well i’d visit it!

[Graeme]

It sounds amazing! There sounds loads to explore, and I love traditional names like Cyclone and Tornado for seaside wooden coasters.

I went to Walton the other day and it was as quiet as anything. The trade was literally non-existant. Ice cream stalls were shutting up, no one was using the arcades and the rides weren't even open.

This was June!!!

Our seasides are "closed" for so much of the year. I thought June, July and August were the main summer months, but it's only really six weeks of even those that are busy. What we need is indoor complexes you don't even need to think about the weather for. People will always love the outdoor elements of seasides when it's sunny enough for them, but we need to make it so a trip isn't out of the question when it's not sunny.

Standing in the pier arcade at Walton brought back that perfect seaside atmosphere for me. I'd have a complex where a corridor with plush carpets linked a neon-lit arcade, adult bar and family bar and cabaret area. All with sea views...

Maybe that could be a side-building to a larger, central building (like your Pavilion). This large building would be designed to have one long family steel coaster utilising the entire space, high and low. Other rides would be slotted in the gaps.

Outside, I doubt I could resist having the "Essex Cyclone" and "Essex Tornado" (I've got two complexes - one at Clacton, one at Walton) - both steel-structured woodies with a "menacing", run-down theme. Also a WhiteWater West spinning raft ride and water coasters.

[Stu]

Really like your ideas, sounds like I’ll have some competition from your Essex park chain

I think our seasides are declining not just because of the increasing availability of low cost flights overseas, but as much as a result of their own stubbornness to change and adapt themselves to what tourists want and expect

I'm going a little break to blackpool with friends in a few weeks, and was amazed that there are still quite a few hotels that will only accept bookings for a full week!

That aside resorts which have had great opportunities to reinvent their hubs, such as Morecambe and Margate are getting tangled up in local politics and planning rows rather than thinking what’s best for incoming guests to the town, in the meantime any guests that do visit are put off by large derelict and unwelcoming holes!

I do agree that one of the main issues is to provide something that can entertain guests in all weather conditions, and it’s certainly an interesting challenge to overcome,

I believe there is a place for modest scale amusement parks at the seaside, and will always be, and covered versions of these, together with other forms of weatherproofed activities could help to reinvent the seaside and make it more inline with current day tastes

[Graeme]

I quite like the idea of having only one coaster. I'm getting bored with the "queue for a ride, go on a ride, queue for a ride..." culture of theme parks. I think in a way our parks are packed full of too many rides, with not enough attention put into atmosphere, landscaping, architecture or just the plain physicality of a complex. Instead of a theme park, I'd rather go to a place of character with a coaster of character.

For instance, an undercover complex with just the one woodie running outside of it would be fine by me. Alternatively, just one coaster than runs through (and makes perfect use of) a shopping mall is the kind of thing I like.

This is one of the reasons I found Millennium Coaster very interesting, particularly in my 1999 visit before Jubilee Odyssey had been built.