I’ve lived in Salisbury for over 12 years now and not once in those 12 years have I actually visited Paultons Park despite it being only 30 mins away from me, so for Amber’s birthday a very small group of us decided to pay a visit to this popular family theme park. Obviously this visit had its changes to normality due to the current rules about social distancing, so the park was at less capacity than normal.
The first thing you notice when you rock up to the entrance is how clean it is. The entire park is the same. Its clean, well maintained and just very presentable. The entrance also gives some wonderful views of Tornado Springs, which is always a bonus. We started our day by heading to Lost Kingdom, the dinosaur themed area of the park that opened in 2016. The area has a selection of rides, including Flight of the Pterosaur and Velociraptor. Velociraptor is a fun and simple boomerang coaster but the highlight of the area is Flight of the Pterosaur. It stands out and for a family coaster it packs a surprising punch, especially at the back. Its first drop and last helix at the back of the train is really forceful and very unexpected. Lost Kingdom as a whole is stunning. The level of detail on the themeing is incredible. I also got spat at by a dinosaur on The Dinosaur Tour Co.
After a jaunt around Lost Kingdom we headed to the other big rides in this area of the park. Magma, Cobra and The Edge. Lets start with Magma. I don’t do drop towers but I was convinced to go on it. It was fun and then it started turning. Like what the actual hell is that sorcery. Scared the crap out of me, but It did weirdly make me enjoy a drop tower. Cobra was just fun. The small pops of airtime and drops really make this coaster fun. The Edge was your basic Disc-O so can’t really go into much about it. The problem is this area feels a bit out-of-place compared to the rest of the park. There is no real theme to the area and it just doesn’t feel like it fits. It feels more like a small beach side amusement park. Hopefully the area will eventually be refurbished to match the high level of the rest of the park.
After getting round that side of the park we headed via the gardens to Peppa Pig World and Tornado Springs. As you reach the right side of the park it feels very child friendly. Critter Creek is weird and wacky and Peppa Pig World is just smack bang in your face. It’s by far the busiest area of the park but the kids looked like they were loving it. The adults, not so much. We had a quick walk through before the temptation of baconizing Peppa Pig became too much. The only reason we went over this side really was to have a look at the stunning Tornado Springs. And when I say stunning, I mean it. I was naughty and stood on a bench for a better look (Sorry, not sorry). The level of detail in the themeing is incredible. Lost Kingdom will look underthemed compared to Tornado Springs, that’s how amazing the themeing is. Storm Chaser stands out and really makes the skyline of the area exciting. The coaster looks like it will be great fun. We saw Cyclonator testing and when we did our mouths dropped. It looks insane and goes stupid high. We really don’t understand the decision that Paultons made to build this ride, but we are so glad they have and we genuinely can not wait to come back and explore the whole area properly next Easter.
Having not been to the park in over 20 years, its nice to see its changed so much but kept the same charm that it had when I last visited. If you get the chance to visit this year we highly recommend doing so. It’s a fun day out, even for the big kids like us.
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