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Nemesis Nick · Posted: Sun Jun 14, 2009 9:07 am Post subject: Nemesis Nick’s Devon Dash 2009

Nemesis Nick’s Devon Dash 2009

Date: Friday 5 June to Monday 8 June 2009
Venues: Riviera Centre Torquay, Devon’s Crealy Great Adventure Park, Plymouth Pavilions, Woodlands Leisure Park
Who Went: Just me

Rationale For Trip
Question: 50 or so of your fellow members are due to go on the two-week RCCGB USA trip in early June, and you’re not going. What else might you do?
Answer: book a cheap B&B in south Devon, Advance train tickets and enjoy a long weekend in south Devon, to enjoy water slides, ice skating, rides and adult sized indoor adventure play complexes.

Why Devon Dash?
I felt this long weekend should have a catchy title, just like I called my trip to Swansea last September “Swansea Slidathon”. The problem was what would go with Devon? I remember from the 2004/05 RCCGB Yearbook that the Club once did a Disney Dash to Disneyland Paris. Therefore Dash would equally well go with Devon.

Furthermore, much as I was keen to do a long weekend of this nature to Devon at some point this year, back in May I gave precedence to having a holiday in York early July, in order to be able to attend the Summer Bash at Flamingo Land on Saturday 4 July (yes, I’ll be there). In fact I made the arrangements the day of the Eurovision Song Contest Grand Final, about 6 or 7 weeks in advance of my going to York. The day after I looked at going to Devon in early June, and in the days that followed, booked accommodation in Torquay for 3 nights 5 to 7 June, and Advance train tickets. By comparison with York, booking Devon seemed a last minute dash to cram in something extra before York and the Summer Bash. Basically, dash off to Devon for a long weekend in early June before my 4-night holiday in York early July.

Day One - Friday 5 June

Journey to Devon
Well blow me down! After a week of hot sunny days 29 May to 4 June, the weather forecast didn’t look too promising for my weekend away, 5 to 8 June. Almost as though it was on spite! Friday 5 June I caught the 8:55 train from Bath Spa to Newton Abbot. Upon leaving Bath the sky was overcast but dry, but by the time I’d passed Bridgwater, it was reasonably sunny the rest of the way. Following a quick change at Newton Abbot, I finally reached Torre around ten to eleven.

Friday Daytime
Having checked into my guest house, I walked down to the sea front. There was soft sunshine at the time. I had a fish and chip takeaway for my lunch, which I ate on the promenade. That’s what you traditionally have for your lunch at the seaside. After that the sun became brighter and it remained bright the rest of the afternoon. I wandered along the beach (made a sandcastle with my bare hands), around Torre Abbey Gardens, the sea front and pier for the next couple of hours. There is almost a continental feel to Torquay when it’s sunny, what with the palm trees. Well it is promoted as The English Riviera. By the time I reached the harbour, I had a whippy ice cream, another required element for the seaside.

Waves Leisure Pool at Riviera Centre Torquay
Late afternoon I went to the Riviera Centre to enjoy Waves Leisure Pool. This has the following facilities:

Fun Pool
This has a wave machine, but is not always on.

Water Slide
This starts as a closed tube doing a clockwise semicircular loop outside the building. Next it becomes an open top slide for an anticlockwise spiral, and finally a closed tube for the final descent to the landing pool. A lifeguard patrols the start, and insists a slider has left the landing pool before letting the next slider go.

During term time weekdays, the wave machine and water slide aren’t always available. 4pm onwards Fridays is a Fun Session when those features are available.

I was in the pool area from 4:40 to 6:40, but only went in the pool during the wave sessions at 5pm, 5:30pm and 6pm to enjoy the waves. The rest of the time I was on the water slide. That was generally quiet, sometimes I managed to go straight on to it, and at worst there were only about two or three waiting in front of me. If only the rides at Thorpe Park had been that quiet for SAW-Ted! Altogether I enjoyed a total of three wave sessions and 66 goes on the slide.

There is also a large inflatable dinosaur which was placed in the water when the 6pm wave session ended, and was to stay in until 7pm, hence there was no 6:30 wave session. Unfortunately only 8 to 12 year olds are allowed on the inflatable.

Friday Evening
After leaving the Riviera Centre the sky was overcast but it was dry. It remained overcast but dry until dusk. I went to Wetherspoons down by the harbour for my evening meal. After that I returned to my guest house.

I then faced a difficult dilemma working around the weather for the next two days. My original plan was to go to Plymouth Saturday, to enjoy swimming and water sliding, followed by ice skating at Plymouth Pavilions; and to go to Devon’s Crealy on Sunday. However according to the BBC national weather around 10:30pm Thursday evening, Devon was to be fairly dry Saturday, and wet Sunday. Friday evening the situation was:
BBC Red Button forecast: dry with sunny spells across South Devon Saturday, and wetter Sunday.
BBC South West forecast: dry across south Devon Saturday.
BBC national forecast: wet in Devon Saturday.

Already I favoured swapping my plans for Saturday and Sunday around, do Crealy Saturday when hopefully it might be dry (as that would involve a lot of being outside), and Plymouth Sunday (what I wanted to do there being indoors).

Day Two - Saturday 6 June

Saturday First Thing
I got up, and had to make a final decision about what to do today. The BBC Red Button and BBC National forecasts around 8am were as 10:30pm Friday evening. Two contradicting forecasts from Auntie! I looked out of the window and the sky was overcast, but it was dry. Anyway, I made a final decision to go to Devon’s Crealy that day, and do Plymouth Sunday. I put on my RCCGB 20th Anniversary T-shirt for my visit to Devon’s Crealy.

That morning I had a delicious breakfast: cereal, Full English and toast. You see, I was able to manage a full English there as it would 1) be a couple of hours before getting to Crealy, and 2) the El Pastil Loco coaster at Devon’s Crealy is tame compared to PMBO, Steeplechase, Big Dipper and Infusion at Pleasure Beach Resort Blackpool. Whereas I felt a full English before my day at Devon’s Crealy would be fine, a full English before an ERS on PMBO and Steeplechase, or before an ERS on Big Dipper and Infusion would be a tad risky.

Off To Crealy
Around ten past nine I caught a fast bus from just up the road from my guest house to Exeter, whereupon I caught a connecting bus to Devon’s Crealy. The sky was overcast but dry when I left Torquay. On approaching Exeter, the rain was really pouring down. I finally reached Devon’s Crealy at 10:45, but by the time I walked up the drive and was admitted, it was 11:00. Thankfully the rain just about stopped by the time I was admitted to Crealy.

Devon’s Crealy Great Adventure Park

El Pastil Loco Coaster
As a member of the RCCGB, where better to start than the El Pastil Loco coaster? This family steelie is tame compared to some of the giant steelies I’ve been on at Alton Towers, Thorpe Park and Pleasure Beach Resort Blackpool, but is nonetheless fun to ride. One ride consists of two laps. I had a total of four goes on this, as follows: 2nd from back, 2nd from back, 3rd row, 2nd from back.

Queen Bess Pirate Ship
A typical swinging pirate ship, and this one is made by Metallbau Emmeln. Having previously been on Rush at Thorpe Park, I find I need to sit on the end row of pirate ships to get the maximum thrill out of them. The end rows definitely give a more exhilarating ride than the middle rows. I had two goes on this: the first in one end row, and the second in the other end row.

One thing is certain: the Queen Bess Pirate Ship is not as re-ridable as the El Pastil Loco Coaster. Whereas I’d just managed four goes on the coaster, two at a time was plenty for the pirate ship. I admitted to the Ranger that I couldn’t have risked a third go on the pirate ship after a cooked breakfast.

Honey Swing
This is located in the Magical Kingdom, and is basically a chair-o-plane. Adults can go on it. It goes around clockwise, with the seats on an angle. For now I just had one go on this.

Having left the Magical Kingdom, it was now raining again. Never mind, being as I had my rain gear on, where better to go next than the log flume?

Tidal Wave Log Flume
You get into a log, go up one lift and down. After that you go around a bend, and up a second lift, which is taller than the first. The drop which follows is taller than the first drop, and enclosed in a tunnel. After a big splash on landing you return to the station. I had a total of four goes on this. The boats are numbered, my 2nd & 3rd goes were in boat 4, and 4th go was boat 5. By the way, if you’d been there, would you have made the effort to ride a different numbered boat each time?

Victorian Carousel
Speaks for itself really, mostly galloping horses, though there are some cars on the ride. I sat on a horse, and had just one go on this.

Having left the carousel, it was still raining. I didn’t fancy playing on the Treetops Outdoor Play Area in the rain. For now I headed over to the Dino Blasters

Dino Blasters
Electric bumper boats which have a button to press so you can squirt other users. There’s also a squirter at the side so people watching can squirt you, in which case you squirt back. When I approached the ride, I only had a very short wait for a red boat. Once I got on, I had a really long go before it was time for me to give up my boat. That was my only go on the Dino Blasters all day.

The time was now around 1pm, and I went into the Crealy Bears Café for a much needed hot cup of coffee after being out in the rain. However I wasn’t hungry at the time, having had the big breakfast earlier.

Dina’s Showtime
This took place at 1:30 in the theatre, and I went to see it. The show began with a group of children bottle feeding goat kids. After that Dina the Dinosaur appeared. The audience were called to the area immediately in front of the stage to dance the hokey cokey with Dina. I joined in, this must have been my first time of dancing hokey cokey for about 30 years.

Dizzy Dina Ride
An indoor ride, located in Dina’s Lost World. Set of pods on the end of spokes which you sit in, each one has Dina the Dinosaurs face on. You go round clockwise and up and down. I had two goes on this ride.

Meteorite
An indoor ride, located in Dina’s Lost World. It’s a drop tower ride, featuring one row of seats on this, on one side of the ride. Adults are only allowed to sit in certain seats for some reason. It rose and fell several times. I only had one go on this ride.

After that, there seemed no end in sight for the rain, so I decided to brave the pouring rain in order to do the River Challenge and, Funambulist Challenge (which I’d not yet done), as well as to have more goes on the roller coaster.

River Challenge
A series of different designs of bridges, including stepping stumps. One bridge in the sequence, the Burma Bridge, had been taken away, I don’t know why.

Tidal Wave Log Flume
By the time I’d reached the end of the River Challenge, I was back near the log flume. Decided I’d might as well go on this again, being as one would get wet on this, and I was already dressed in my rain gear. I had two goes on it this time (the first in boat 2, and the second in boat 1). The photo kiosk was closed now, as the camera had become covered with rain.

Roundabout PlayPump
A park roundabout which you can sit on to go round and round. In Africa, roundabouts like these have been installed to pump groundwater into a tank as children play on the roundabout. I’m not sure whether or not the one at Devon’s Crealy actually pumps water though. Anyway I sat on the roundabout and went clockwise, followed by anticlockwise.

Funambulist Challenge
This is a series of wooden beams, as well as some swinging steps, for you to balance on. If you’ve made it around all that lot, which I did (despite the rain), you should then try the short tight ropes which are placed just centimetres above the ground. I just about made it to the end of the short rope, but didn’t bother trying the two longer ones.

Honey Swing
Time to go indoors for a bit, to ride the Honey Swing one more time in the Magical Kingdom.

El Pastil Loco Coaster
Back to the ride I first began with at the start of my visit: the El Pastil Loco Coaster. As I approached it, the ranger said “Have you not had enough of the rain yet?” and I answered “No”. Well us lot in the RCCGB ride in the rain, don’t we? That’s all part and parcel of being coaster crazy isn’t it? Remember Saturday at Alton Towers during Loopathon 2005, and the Summer Bash at Southend-on-Sea 2007? I was at both those and it rained much of both days. Then there was Oak-soak (or Oak-mud) last August, which I didn’t attend.

There were a few other riders on the coaster, but there were loads of empty seats. I managed to get on to it without queuing. I had two goes in the second row from the back, and three in the back row. It was so quiet I didn’t have to get off and run back around to the ride entrance between goes. In addition the photo counter was now closed (just like the log flume photo counter).

Although you don’t get AIRtime on this coaster, the closer to the back you are, the more thrilling the ride. I’ve ridden the front seat on previous visits, but didn’t have any front seat goes this time. That was the last ride (outdoor or indoor) I went on this visit. Basically, I decided to finish with the same ride as I’d started with.

Crealy Bear’s Café
Well the time was now around 4pm, and it was still pouring with rain. My feet had become wet, as had my bum, and I was now getting peckish and thirsty. I chose to have a cup of coffee and a baguette at Crealy Bear’s Café before doing anything else.

Whilst I was in there, I heard an announcement telling visitors that the bit of the car park nearest the coaster had become flooded, and those who’d parked in that spot should return to the car park so their cars can be dragged out. After that announcement, I told a Ranger in the Café I’d come by bus, and she said “You’ll be alright then”.

Battle Of The Bears
This is a place with dim lighting. There are raised platforms in the corners, and in the centre, with guns to allow you to fire foam balls around. In addition there are pipes around the room, you can feed foam balls in and they get transported to an overhead box, which when full empties. I spent a few minutes in here and had a go at firing balls around, great fun.

Go Wild!
Having left Battle of the Bears, I returned to Dina’s Lost World. As well as Dizzy Dina Ride and Meteorite, there’s now also a wooden play structure in here: Go Wild! This was my first time ever of going on this. It includes sloping wooden box bridges, net bridges and log ramps.

Adventure Zone
A large indoor adventure play complex, designed and installed by Taylor-Made Play Equipment. It includes the following equipment:

Two 4-lane Astrozoomer Astra slides (one is yellow, one is in various shades of grey)
Two double drop slides (i.e. drop half way, flat landing, sloping bit and land in ball pool)
Red Devil drop slide (straight down and out along the run-out) – this has two launch beams
Yellow spiral tube slide and red corkscrew slide
Crawl maze
Loads of soft play equipment

Best of all, adults (or should I say adult kids?) are allowed to play on everything.

I spent the rest of my visit in here, and went on the following. The three drop slides gave AIRtime (something I didn’t get on any rides) in the form of freefall drops.

Yellow Astrozoomer all 4 lanes left to right once each

Blue double drop slide x 4

Red Devil lower beam 4, upper beam 4

Soft play equipment, including over and under barriers, spinning discs, up zigzag web climber, down tumble tower, challenge rollers (vertical), wringer rollers (horizontal), rollerway, squeezum pads, swing over nets. At the back of the ground floor there’s a padded pit with giant balls, I tried doing jacknife on ball and bridge on ball (just like on the Swiss balls in circuit training at Bath Sports Centre). Also at the back of the ground floor there’s a maze which I went through.

Red corkscrew slide

Yellow spiral tube slide (second floor to ground floor) x 4

Grey Astrozoomer all 4 lanes left to right once each

Black double drop slide x 4

Soft play equipment far right hand side including level changers (padded cylinders), a big ramp to climb up. To the left of the grey Astrozoomer there’s a X-changer and more level changers. Near the end of my visit, I crawled through the crawl maze which is located under the padded pit at the right hand side of the first floor.

To finish off, eight goes on the Red Devil (mix of upper and lower beams), and finally once through the wringer rollers.

Well what a mega fun time I had in the Adventure Zone, Taylor-Made fun. I always save the Adventure Zone for last. At 6pm a Ranger announced “Park closed”. I collected my belongings from my locker and headed back to the bus stop. Heavy rain was still falling on my way out of Crealy.

Summary of rides I went on:
El Pastil Loco Coaster 9
Queen Bess Pirate Ship 2
Honey Swing 2
Tidal Wave Log Flume 6
Victorian Carousel 1
Dino Blasters 1
Dizzy Dina Ride 2
Meteorite 1
TOTAL 24 RIDES

Altogether a great day out, despite the rain. Thanks to the wet weather, I didn’t get to slide on the metal slides in Treetops Outdoor Play Area. Nor did I bother trying the Buzzards Swoop drop slide, because although that’s enclosed, you must take your shoes off, and walk across an open air wooden platform (which would have been wet) to get to the steps to the launch beam, something I didn’t fancy doing in stocking feet. It was heartbreaking not having a single go on Buzzards Swoop. Also there’s a new outdoor play area next to Queen Bess Pirate Ship: Pirates Revenge. One can climb up the equipment inside Pirates Revenge, and there are three tube slides running from the top of the structure to the ground. I’m not sure what restrictions if any are in use on that, but even if adults can go on it, I avoided it due to wet conditions.

Saturday Evening
Having left Crealy, I faced a wait of about half an hour for a bus back to Exeter. The rain continued falling during my wait, and the journey to Exeter. By changing buses at Heavitree (rather than going all the way into Exeter), I just managed to connect with the fast bus to Torquay. Heavy rain continued on the way out of Exeter. However by the time the bus reached Newton Abbot, the rain had stopped and the sun appeared. It was about twenty to eight when I reached Torquay Harbour, by which time it was really sunny.

Blow me down, if only I’d had that gorgeous sunshine at Crealy until around 3pm, so I could enjoy the rides and outdoor play areas, and then it had clouded over and the rain started to fall by the time I was intending to do the indoor rides and Adventure Zone for the rest of my visit. Likewise I wouldn’t have minded torrential rain all the way back to Torquay, and the rest of the evening there.

I went into Wetherspoons for my evening meal, and got back to my guest house around 9:30pm.

Day Three - Sunday 7 June

Sunday First Thing
Well blow me down! When I woke up, it was sunny outside. I had an early breakfast again, consisting of cereal, grapefruit, full English and toast.

Off To Plymouth
Since I’d done Devon’s Crealy on Saturday, I was now off to Plymouth today. The earliest I could get to Plymouth was at 10:25 on a Sunday, and the only way that was possible was to catch a bus from Torre to Newton Abbot around 9:00, for the 9:43 Newton Abbot to Plymouth train. It was sunny all the way from Torre to Plymouth, and on arrival in Plymouth at 10:25.

The sunshine was a blessing and a curse. It looked as though I’d have a nice sunny day for my trip to Plymouth, but I wanted to spend the bulk of my day indoors. I deeply regretted not sticking to my original plan of doing Plymouth Saturday and Crealy Sunday, the reason will become clearer later.

When I got to Plymouth, I headed straight for Plymouth Pavilions. There were two things I wanted to do here: swimming and water sliding at Atlantis Fun Pool the rest of the morning, and ice skating at Swiss Lake Ice Rink mid afternoon. I bought a joint ticket to cover both activities.

Plymouth Pavilions Atlantis Fun Pool
This has the following features:

Fun Pool
This has a wave machine, which is not on continuously.

Conical Buckets
Located by the pool side, they have a continuous trickle of water flowing into them. When full, they tip up and empty on to the area below. You can stand under them, and if you happen to be in exactly the right spot at the time a bucket tips, the water lands on you.

Green Snake
A closed tube water slide all the way down, to land in a catch tray.

Orange Slide
This water slide starts much higher, and is open top for two anticlockwise loops before becoming a closed tube for its clockwise loop outside the building. Upon re-entry to the building one lands in a plunge pool. This is much more thrilling. Unfortunately this was more popular than the green snake, so I didn’t get as many goes on this.

I got into the pool area around five past eleven, and spent most of my session on the two water slides. Altogether I had 18 goes on the green snake and 7 goes on the orange slide. In addition I had one wave session in the fun pool, and from time to time stood under the tipping buckets and had water land on me. My session finished at 12:48.

Plymouth Pavilions Signatures Café
Having dressed I went to Signatures Café at Plymouth Pavilions for a coffee and sandwich before what was to follow, ice skating.

Plymouth Pavilions Swiss Lake Ice Rink
I’d booked for the 2pm skating session, and was at the rink well before the session was due to start. The rink is an unusual shape so that it cannot be used for competitions. The session lasted one and a half hours, and I managed to make it to the end without a fall.

Rest Of Visit To Plymouth
Having left Plymouth Pavilions around quarter to four, I headed down to the Barbican, whereupon I had a traditional Devon Cream Tea at Strand Tea Rooms. Got to have one of those on a trip to Devon, haven’t you? There was a brief shower of rain whilst I was on my way to the Barbican, but the rain had stopped by the time I left the tea room. Finally I headed back to the station at a leisurely pace. The sun reappeared whilst I was on my way back to the station, and I took the time to admire and photograph the gardens in Armada Way. I caught the 18:10 train from Plymouth to Newton Abbot, followed by the next available bus to Torquay. It was sunny on leaving Plymouth. There was a large dark cloud at Ivybridge, but it was dry. After that, it was sunny the rest of the way to Torquay.

Rest Of Sunday
Back in Torquay, I enjoyed a delicious Sunday Club dinner at Wetherspoons, consisting of roast beef with all the trimmings, plus a drink from the Sunday Club selection. For a little extra you could add a pudding from the Sunday Club menu, and that’s what I did. Altogether I thought it was a super meal, and excellent value for money. Just after nine I was back at my guest house.

Looking back, I wish I’d gone with my original plan: Plymouth Saturday and Devon’s Crealy Sunday, because I could have enjoyed the fun pool and ice rink at Plymouth Pavilions, followed by cream tea at Strand Tea Rooms Barbican whilst it was pouring with rain outside. I don’t know what weather Devon’s Crealy had Sunday, but if it was the same as Plymouth and Torquay, I’d have had it dry most of the day, and sunny for a significant part of the day, in order to enjoy the outdoor play areas and rides. If they had a shower late afternoon, it wouldn’t have mattered as by then I’d have been in Dina’s Lost World for the Dizzy Dina Ride, Meteorite and Go Wild!, followed by the Adventure Zone.

Day Four - Monday 8 June

Monday First Thing
The final day of my long weekend already. It’s a pity time passes so quickly on holiday. Lo and behold, the sky was overcast, but it was dry. Once again I had an early breakfast: cereal, grapefruit, full English and toast. Again, I was happy to have a full English before a visit to Woodlands as I wasn’t going to be riding anything like PMBO, Infusion or Oblivion there.

Regardless of what the weather was to be that day, I’d rigidly intended going to Woodlands, near Dartmouth, that final day, to the extent of booking my homeward Advance ticket from Totnes to Bath when I made the arrangements in May. The reason being there would not be time to leave Woodlands, travel back to Torre, collect my bag, get something to eat and catch my train home from Torre station. My plan was to take all my luggage with me after breakfast, catch a bus from Torquay to Woodlands (via Totnes), leave my large bag in a locker all day at Woodlands, get the bus back as far as Totnes, have dinner there and catch my home train from there. Despite the inconvenience of taking a big bag to and from Woodlands, that was the easier option.

Trip To Woodlands Family Theme Park
I left around quarter to nine with all my luggage, to the top of Torquay town centre to catch my bus to Woodlands around 9:10. It was about 10:35 when I reached Woodlands. By the time I walked to the top of the drive and was admitted, it was about ten minutes later when I was admitted. It was cloudy but dry from Torquay to near Woodlands (bar an odd glimpse of sun), but when I reached Woodlands, the sun was out.

Toboggan Run
This is pretty self-explanatory, You get on to a toboggan, are carried up a lift to the top of a steel track where a Ranger is supervising. At the top you must test your brakes before setting off downhill along the steel track, around a series of U-bends, under gravity. To control your speed along the way, use your brake. You must slow down as you approach the station. Are any other RCCGB members familiar with this sort of ride? Been on the one at Woodlands, or one somewhere else? If so, from my description, could you call this a coaster of a sort?

This cannot operate in wet conditions, as the brakes don’t work properly when the track is wet. Therefore recognising that it was sunny when I got to Woodlands, I headed straight for the toboggan run, hoping it was open. Thankfully it was, and being a quiet day, there was no queue, so I was able to enjoy four goes straight off.

Ninja Towers
A new outdoor play area for 2009. It consists of bridges and a net crawl tunnel. I went on all those. Also there’s a purple spiral tube slide, a black spiral tube slide and a red straight tube slide. I had two goes on the purple spiral tube, one go on black spiral tube and one go on red straight tube. All were quite fast, presumably because they are new at the moment.

From the top of Ninja Towers you can access a red and black four-lane Astra slide. Alternatively you can go up the staircase at to the right of the slide (as you face it from the bottom). That slide was there last year, but obviously at the time you could only access it from the said staircase, as Ninja Towers adjoining it didn’t exist at the time. I enjoyed one go in each lane left to right (as viewed from the top). I noticed AIRtime on the dips whilst going down the outer lanes.

Matrix
An older wooden play structure, standing next door to Ninja Towers. This too consists of a series of bridges, a ramp going down and back up, and there’s a log ramp with rope to go on and off the structure. I went on all of this structure

By the time I’d done Matrix, the sky was overcast, but it was still dry.

Zip Slides
Basically, a zip slide is a pole with disc at the bottom, and you sit on the disc. The whole thing hangs from an overhead wire which you slide along. There are three zip slides altogether and I enjoyed four goes on each one.

Tango Trolls Mystic Maze
A building half way up a hill, which contains a maze. The lighting is dim, and there’s pictures of trolls in the maze, to give a really spooky feel to the place. There are two tube slides exiting the building, which land at the bottom of the hill. The green tube slide was blocked off at the top, presumably there was something wrong with it. Nonetheless I did the red one twice.

By the time I left Tango Trolls Mystic Maze, light rain began to fall.

Avalanche
If you look at this from the bottom, you see what looks like two giant versions of conventional kids’ park slides. You go to the station at the top of the hill, collect a plastic dinghy, which you sit in to slide down one slide or the other. At the bottom, you put your dinghy on the conveyor belt to take it back to the top. Since there’s two separate slides, purists would say this is really two rides. As viewed from the top, I did them in the following order: right, left, right, left.

Next to the Avalanche are Arctic Gliders. This consists of plastic thatch laid in the hillside, and you slide down a lane on a plastic tray. Unfortunately they were out of action due to the sprinkler not working. The light rain at the time was not enough to wet the thatch.

Commando Course
An assault course, set in the side of the hill. You go around a sequence of obstacles arranged in a figure of eight. This time I took 4 minutes 8 seconds to complete one lap of the course, in the rain.

Action Track 1
A smaller obstacle course, which includes a Burma bridge, stepping stumps, and tyre climb. I did one lap of this.

Waterfall Slide
A metal double drop slide located outside, next to Action Track 1. There’s a vertical drop, flat bit, slope and land on the ground. I had two goes on this. Next-door are two metal tube slides, but I didn’t bother with those this time.

Triple Drop Slide
The name is misleading, it’s actually a single drop slide that takes you straight down and out along the run-out. There are three launch beams at different heights, hence the “triple” bit of the name. Launch yourself off the beam and experience the freefall drop, now that’s AIRtime. I fearlessly enjoyed for goes from each of the three heights.

Master Blaster
A 3-storey indoor attraction. On the ground floor you can feed foam balls into tubes, and they get transported through pipes to the upper levels. Also on the ground floor is a fountain which you fill with balls, then press a button to spray the balls into the air. On the first and second floors are pneumatic guns, you put foam balls in one at a time and press a button to fire them across the room. Great fun.

In addition there’s soft play equipment around the edge of the ground and first floors, and a maze in the corner of the ground floor. There’s a straight tube slide from first to ground floor, and spiral tube slide from second to ground floor. Adults are allowed on all the play equipment in here.

I had a mega fun time in the maze, on the soft play equipment and firing foam balls around. I covered all the soft play equipment and maze once, and had two goes on each tube slide. As much as I enjoyed it, I limited my time in there to about twenty minutes, in order to allow time for the facilities described below. Rain was still falling when I left Master Blaster.

Seascape Mirror Maze
Speaks for itself, it’s a mirror maze. Took a walk through this start to finish.

Sea Dragon Swing Ship
A swinging pirate ship which was new to Woodlands in 2008. Woodlands claim it to be a white knuckle ride, but considering the park is a family theme park, I wonder if that’s actually the case. I had two goes on this, the first in one end row, and the second in the other end row. I had the ride to myself for both goes. Quite frankly two at a time is enough on this, any more is pushing it. Remember what I’ve said already about swinging pirate ships.

Bumper Boats
Again it’s pretty obvious what these are, but you can’t squirt water from the ones here. This ride was also quiet, there were a couple of other boats on the lake when I started, but by the time I finished, I was the only one on there.

The rain was getting quite heavy now, and I headed off to The Empire Of The Sea Dragon to spend the rest of my day there. Just as well I saved that for last, in view of the weather.

The Empire Of The Sea Dragon
This is a large blue building at the far end of the Park, which includes themed birthday party rooms, Sea Dragon’s Play City (described below), a smaller soft play area The Ice Palace for young children, and three rides: Dragon Ferris Wheel, Submarine Ride and Trauma Tower. In addition there’s a café (Ray’s Diner) there.

Submarine Ride
Submarines on spokes, they go round clockwise. Touch a lever to make the submarine rise. I had just one go on this.

Dragon Ferris Wheel (avoided)
A mini ferris wheel Adults can go on it, and I went on it during my visit last year, but since it wasn’t particularly exciting, gave it a miss this time.

Trauma Tower (out of order)
A drop tower by Moser Rides, but disappointingly it was out of action again. It was out of action on my last visit 29 September last year. I have ridden it on my visits to Woodlands in 2005, 2006 and 2007. You go up and down a few times, but the final drop is very gentle. Obviously its height is restricted by the height of the building, and of course it’s tame compared to Ice Blast at Pleasure Beach Resort Blackpool.

Before doing anything else, I went upstairs to have a roll and coffee in Ray’s Diner. That’s all I wanted mid afternoon after a filling breakfast.

Sea Dragon’s Play City
The largest attraction in The Empire Of The Sea Dragon, an enormous 5-storey indoor adventure play complex designed and installed by Taylor-Made Play Equipment. It includes the following features:
Barracuda 6-lane Astra slide.
Double drop slide (drop half way, flat bit, slope, ball pit landing).
Triple Decker Deep G Dive drop slide (drop part way, flat bit, slope, flat bit, slope, ball pit landing)
Single drop slide (straight down and out; it has two launch heights a storey apart)
Two long spiral tube slides
Two other short tube slides (one going from the first floor to land in a ball pit on the ground floor)
Maze on the ground floor
Loads of soft play equipment
90 degree tubes to crawl through at the highest level
Crawl maze

It claims to be the UK’s biggest indoor play zone, and best of all adults (or should I say adult kids?) are allowed to play on EVERYTHING in there. It’s even been said adults seem to get more fun out of it than children. Maybe that’s why it’s also known behind the scenes as the Senior Play Area.

I spent an hour and 40 minutes in Sea Dragon’s Play City, starting with 6 goes on the Barracuda Astra slide (1 go per lane left to right, viewed from the top). After that I enjoyed the rest of the equipment in the play area. There’s so much in there it was difficult to ensure I covered everything whilst I was in there, let alone remember the complete sequence in which I did it all. I enjoyed all the soft play equipment, walk-through maze, crawl maze, and tube slides. Most thrilling of all were the drop slides, which gave AIRtime in the form of a free-fall drop. Wow! I might tell you a little more about Sea Dragon’s Play City in due course.

Summary of rides I went on:
Toboggan Run 4
Avalanche (left viewed from top) 2
Avalanche (right viewed from top) 2
Sea Dragon Swing Ship 2
Bumper Boats 1
Submarine Ride 1
TOTAL 12 RIDES

Rest of Monday
At ten to five, I was back at the bus stop outside Woodlands and shortly afterwards caught my bus back to Totnes. The rain had stopped when I left Woodlands, but the sky was still overcast. I went to Bistro 67 in Totnes to have a meal around 6pm. When I left the bistro about an hour later, rain was falling again. I headed for Totnes station to catch my booked train home, which left Totnes just after eight, and reached Bath around ten.

Outtro

Highlights
Three nights’ B&B in Torquay, including the delicious filling breakfasts.
Evening meals at Wetherspoons Torquay first 3 nights (particularly Sunday Club meal Sunday), and Bistro 67 Totnes Monday evening.
Gorgeous sunny afternoon Friday (at least the sun was on its best behaviour for part of my short break).
Achieving 66 goes on the water slide at Riviera Centre Torquay in two hours.
Sliding the water slides and skating on the ice rink in Plymouth Pavilions.
Having 9 goes on El Pastil Loco Coaster (5 in rain) and 6 on Tidal Wave Log Flume (all in rain) at Devon’s Crealy.
Dancing hokey cokey with Dina the Dinosaur at Devon’s Crealy.
Playing in the Adventure Zone at Devon’s Crealy and Sea Dragon’s Play City at Woodlands.
Getting 4 goes on the toboggan run at Woodlands whilst I had chance to (sunny spell at start of my visit).
Trying out the new outdoor play structure Ninja Towers at Woodlands.

Lowlights
Heavy rain most of the day at Devon’s Crealy Saturday (it meant I avoided Treetops Outdoor Play area and Buzzards Swoop drop slide)
Trauma Tower being out of action again at Woodlands, that’s two visits running I’ve not been able to ride it.

Summing Up
On the whole, a great long weekend away, which included riding, outdoor and indoor adventure play areas, water sliding and ice skating. Indoor adventure play complexes are something we don’t get on Club trips. It’s such a pity I never got to do the Blackpool Bash in 2005 or 2006, when Sunday was at Southport and you had a session in the Fun House when adult members could go on the play equipment there. That’s something I now feel I missed out on, and never will get the chance again. Fair enough I had a mixture of weather over four days, but I tried not to let the rain spoil the weekend too much. Like I’ve already said, my biggest regret of the weekend is changing my plan to do Crealy on Saturday and Plymouth on Sunday. I should have just stuck with my original planned itinerary of doing Plymouth on Saturday followed by Crealy on Sunday.

See you at the Summer Bash, Flamingo Land on Saturday 4 July. Let’s all hope the sun will be on its best behaviour for that. We want the sunny weather we had for Paultons in 2006 and Great Yarmouth Pleasure Beach 2008, not the wet weather we had for Adventure Island (Southend-on-Sea) in 2007.

smiler · Posted: Sun Jun 14, 2009 5:39 pm Post subject:

This may have been a 4 day trip but I need 5 days to read it all. That is some trip report there Nick well done to you Laughing

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Rogue · Strata Poster Joined: 23 Sep 2007 Posts: 3865

Toboggan Run - There is one of these at Oakwood Leisure Park and one at Llandudno. I think there is also one at Robin Hill Countryside Adventure Park on the Isle of Wight
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Magic · Posted: Tue Jun 16, 2009 8:03 am Post subject:

Nick another fascinating and in depth report. Look forward to you one day doing a USA trip and writing a report. There's some good USA reports at http://www.rccgb.co.uk/tripreports/usa2009.html

I'd recommend using www.weather.co.uk rather than the BBC forecasts, they're often more accurate and give you an hour by hour forecast.

A small favour, could you post your trip reports 1 day per post. The mega long posts become laborious to read and if you have to go away and come back to it, it's arduous to find where to start again. Maybe you could put a little less detail into the travel, this is a coaster board and not a public transport board.
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Nemesis Nick · Posted: Wed Jun 17, 2009 5:13 pm Post subject:

Thanks. I take it you've read it all now.

Coaster Toaster · Posted: Wed Jun 17, 2009 5:36 pm Post subject:

Anything is minimal compared to your reports.

As for the usa trips each day has 3 paragraphs saying what thye have done.
The 1st day with the plane was the 1st day of their trip.