Since my first visit to Flamingo Land in early 2013, a lot of rides have been added to the line-up. Two of the major additions (Hero and Twistosaurus) covered in this review were actually in construction back then. During the Covid-19 pandemic, the 10 inversion coaster Sik was being installed. With restrictions being now a thing of the past, the ride was finally able to open for the 2022 season.
Twistosaurus
Twistosaurus is an off-the-shelf junior twister coaster from Zamperla and comes without much theming. However, it fits in well with the Dino Stone Park theme area. The ride itself is a nice little family coaster with some hairpin turns and a helix that makes the cars spin. The whole experience is relatively stomach-friendly and great fun for the whole family.
Sik
For all friends of Colossus at Thorpe Park living in the North of the country, there is finally a very similar experience available in Yorkshire. Although it is the first installation of the roller coaster, Sik is actually a rather old ride. The ride was set to open at the Brazilian theme park Hopi Hari in 2012, but never installed due to financial situation of the park and a rather strange leasing deal. The ride moved basically from parking lot to parking lot and after a short stay at the Movie Animation Park Studios in Malaysia the ride was finally being bought by the Gibb family.
What makes the experience rather unique is the ride’s history and the extended degree of freedom due to the restraint system in use. Compared to Colossus, the layout features a different first drop, yet the remaining course consisting of a loop, a nice airtime bump into a tunnel, a cobra roll, two corkscrews and a total of five heartline rolls (four of them are straight in a row) is pretty much the same.
Although it is a new ride in Flamingo Land, you get quite a shake on this roller coaster. Compared to Colossus, which offers a good ride apart from the first three inversions, or Altair at Cinecittà World in Rome, which has the same layout and train design, Sik is not the smooth experience you might expect. The ride is still fun, but it could also be much better if it ran a little smoother.
Hero
Another coaster model which is infamous for its ride experience is the Zamperla Volare. This small scale flying coaster puts you into a cage and squeezes you like the filling of sandwich before sending you through a multilevel layout on a very tight footprint. While doing that, the ride offers a bunch of very cool heartline rolls and some seriously tight hairpin curves. It is no big news, that most roller coaster enthusiasts actually dislike this coaster model. Personally, I think a Zamperla Volare is actually lot of fun and a surprisingly smooth ride experience. There is nothing wrong with this model and especially not with Hero. It’s a good ride.
Pictures Flamingo Land
Conclusion Flamingo Land
The Flamingo Land still is a rather unique animal and theme park. With the recent changes, the park now appears a lot more coherent. The 2022 addition Sik fits in nicely and has a nice style to it. Especially Sik’s station has a great flair and the train with the dark coloured Union Jack has something very special.
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