WGH Transportation

The holiday resort of Ingoldmells is mainly characterised by its numerous holiday parks; after all, the first Butlin’s Resort in the country has been located here since 1936. In order to expand the resort’s offerings, the Fantasy Island amusement park was built in the 1990s, including a large indoor area with an arcade and a bowling alley. Since 2016, the park belongs to the Mellors Group, England’s largest fairground operator.

Rhombus Rocket

The Rhombus Rocket powered coaster was the theme park’s first roller coaster. As was often the case at the time, the roller coaster was paired with a log flume to place two of its main attractions in the smallest possible space. The interaction with the log flume is still the ride’s greatest charm today. The otherwise very family-friendly ride by WGH Transportation convinces with its long helices and the big dip just before the station entrance. As is often the case on a good powered coaster, you ride the layout several times.

Volcano, Sea Storm and Magic

The Rhombus Rocket roller coaster is surrounded by some wonderfully designed rides. In addition to a typical English Twister, the Sea Storm ride and the classic Magic formerly owned by German showman Ludewigt, the Space Shot Volcano by S&S, which shoots out of an artificial volcano, is particularly impressive.

Pyramid Attractions

The indoor area of the Pyramid is the big flagship of Fantasy Island theme park. Around the Mystical Dragon Mountain, which houses a really fast dinghy slide, there are numerous really nice attractions here. The cute oldschool themed ride Seaquarium and the brand new interactive dark ride Harrington Flint’s Island Adventure’s stand out positively. But a ride on the monorail Toucan Tours or the flying theatre The Guardian should not be missed. In addition, the Pyramid features the Jellikins Coaster, a roller coaster for very young park guests, which is a rather uncomfortable experience for most adults due to its enclosed cars.

Millennium

Until a few years ago, the entrance to the Millennium roller coaster was located directly in front of the pyramid. Nowadays, the waiting area is inside the pyramid, which on the one hand offers a clearly immersive experience, but on the other hand comes with the circumstance that you now call a largely unused station your own. Due to the lack of separation between entry and exit, one is held back in a small area until the last passenger of the roller coaster has passed it. Only then is the ascent into the station via the exit of the roller coaster.

After entering the station, the train is quickly dispatched and sent on its way. Having reached a height of 46m, we immediately descend the first drop to the left. After we have smoothly passed the first valley, we immediately go through an unusually high loop – for an MK-1200. After a long straight, we skilfully change our direction in a sidewinder, but not without completing an oversized Bavarian curve above Ingoldmells Market – Europe’s largest weekly market. After a short climb, we plunge down once more and immediately into the ride’s second loop. The rest of the way around the pyramid is a little more relaxed as we glide over several hills before we move on to the grand finale. In a helix we are pressed into the seat for one last time before we reach the braking section of the ride and our ride soon comes to an end.

Millennium is one of the greatest roller coasters by Vekoma. Although the layout is not quite as imaginative as more modern rides from the manufacturer, the huge MK-1200 can convince with its pressure-rich elements and its fantastic ride characteristics. This ride is simply smooth.

Family Roller Coaster and Wild River Rapids

On the other side of the pyramid, the big roller coaster Odyssey is joined by the small family roller coaster Family Roller Coaster and the water ride Wild River Rapids. The Spinning Raft from Reverchon is hit or miss, because the ride can very well get you soaked, but the likelihood of that is low.

Odyssey

Originally opened as Jubilee Odyssey for Queen Elizabeth II’s golden jubilee, the ride is the tallest inverted coaster in the world to date at just under 51m. However, the ride, which was built directly on the North Sea, was rarely operated by the previous owner of the amusement park due to the high wind load, which gave the ride a questionable image. With the change of operator, the Odyssey also picked up speed again.

After leaving the 50m-high lift hill behind, the ride goes very steeply back down to the ground. With a lot of pressure we pass the first valley, whereupon a huge loop awaits us. Immediately afterwards, we shoot up a huge Cobra Roll, which turns us upside down two more times. In a very unusual way, we change our direction of travel once again in a huge turn. As if that wasn’t enough, a sidewinder follows immediately. We then circle the exit of the Cobra Roll in a large helix. Far from the ground we glide through a dip before we are turned upside down one last time in a corkscrew. With plenty of speed left, we reach the braking section of the ride and soon the station of the roller coaster.

Odyssey is a really strange roller coaster. The size of the ride speaks for itself, and the unorthodox layout is somehow appealing, but the rough ride characteristics don’t really make it fun to ride.

Pictures Fantasy Island

Conclusion Fantasy Island

Fantasy Island is a thoroughly nice amusement park in a more than strange place. The large selection of rides and the very high quality are surprising and leave a very positive overall impression. Especially the attractions inside the pyramid stand out positively due to their immersive design. The rides outside the pyramid, on the other hand, are more classic and convince with their unique layouts.

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Legoland Windsor

After Alton Towers, Legoland Windsor is the most popular Merlin Entertainments Group theme park in the UK, so expect long queues. Its location on a hill overlooking Windsor Castle in the distance gives the park a remarkable appeal.

From the top of the hill, several paths wind their way down, with slides similar to those at Tolk Show. The most interesting way to descend, or rather conquer, the hill is to take the Hill Train funicular railway, from where you have a great view of the Vikings River Splash rafting ride.

Vikings River Splash

Due to the canal, this ride is certainly not a beauty, but the view from the lower levels of the park is something special, as rafting boats floating many metres above you is not an everyday sight. The ride also seemed to be very wet, which even in England is a miracle on a ride like this.

Jolly Rocker

If you follow the path down from the rafting, you will pass a maze and Zierer Kontiki to reach the park’s pirate themed area, where an old acquaintance from Germany’s Heide-Park makes his swings. In addition to the HUSS Pirate Jolly Rocker, there is a teacup ride, a log flume and the Pirate Falls Dynamite Drench. There are also plenty of play areas for the little ones.

Knight’s Quest and Dragon’s Apprentice

If you’re looking for Adrealin, at least a little bit, you’ll find it in Knight’s Kingdom, where you’ll find the two coasters Dragon and Dragon’s Apprentice next to the rather popular torture machine Knight’s Quest, a rather uncomfortable Old Train by Mack Rides. While the latter is a nice children’s coaster with a downward helix and slight turns, the Dragon is a rather strange and interesting family coaster. Like many other rides at Legoland Windsor, both coasters were built by the English company WGH Transportation.

Dragon

The Dragon is a little reminiscent of Lightwater Valley’s legendary coaster The Ultimate, but without the height or length of the ride. The Dragon starts with a dark section, similar to the other Dragon coasters at Legoland. Towards the end of the ride, the Dragon heads towards the lift hill without a steep drop or launch. The lift hill is not very quiet due to the metal plates on the catwalk and the track is unnecessarily twisty. The first drop is followed by a figure of eight until you pass under the first lifthill on a second curvy lift and gain some more height. With the collected energy, you now pass through a tunnel and complete another figure of eight. The braking section consists of friction wheels, which have been installed on another curvy hill.

While the Billund Dragon has a fast course and a strong acceleration after the dark ride part, which is reminiscent of a launch, and the Legoland Germany Dragon has a comparatively large size and a rather abrupt first descent, the Windsor Dragon has nothing special to offer. Although the ride is suitable for children and is quite fun because of the sudden turns, the Dragon offers a more or less uneventful ride, often interrupted by lift hills.

Laser Raiders

If you follow the paths, the Egyptian themed area Kingdom of the Pharaohs offers another highlight in the form of the Laser Raiders, for which you are welcome to queue a little longer. As much as I would have liked to test the ride from Sally, the time I had left in the park went by very quickly. Due to the general traffic in London that day, as well as the big rush at Legoland Windsor, I was only able to visit the two roller coasters, Miniland, the Hill Train and the new 4D film.

The unique rides of Legoland Windsor

In addition to the usual Legoland repertoire, Legoland Windsor has a number of special features. For example, you can drive a real excavator in the Digger Challenge, move or turn your helicopter up and down on a stick at Duplo Valley Airport, slide down a twisting track in a dinghy on the Raft River Racer, pass by well-animated Lego models on the Fairytale Brook fairytale ride or take a ride in small submarines through a Sealife Centre in Atlantis Submarine Voyage.

Miniland

While the kids get wet in the Duplo water area, the adults can check out the Lego models in Miniland. This is quite nice and has models from the UK, France and the Netherlands. Star Wars models are not to be found in this part of the park, but fortunately they have their own display near the entrance.

Legends of Chima 4D

The park’s 4-D cinema is showing an agent film as well as a film exclusively about Lego’s new product series The Legends of Chima. As Lego have already shown how to animate properly with their series, I was quite curious to see this film, even though I didn’t know much about the subject matter and a Ninjago film would have been more appealing. The animation was very clean and the 3D effect was actually as clear as I have ever seen it in any other cinema. The other effects were all well adapted to the film, so it is definitely worth seeing, as long as you can cope with large amounts of water and are not necessarily averse to the animation genre.

Conclusion Legoland Windsor

Legoland Windsor is a park that really surprised me. Due to its location in a valley, the park offers unusual views and still knows how to make use of them. Everything seems to be in harmony, even if it is a bit more densely built than other comparable parks. Smaller children up to a certain age have plenty of opportunities to let off steam, which is generously accepted.

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Big Amusements in a strange Holiday Destination