Friendly staff dressed in costumes suiting the king Arthur theme are welcoming visitors at the entry gates. Entry to Camelot for the 2007 season is, Adult £18.00, Child £18.00, Family Ticket (valid for 4 guests £60 and Senior citizens £12.00, To save some money on ticket prices check out the link at the bottom of this article for a £6 discount. Its also worth mentioning at this point that some elderly or disabled visitors may find this park a bit hilly, you enter at one level, drop into a valley for some rides and entertainment, then come back out of the valley to a more level area for the additional rides, if you unsure about the suitability I would check with the park on 01257 455030 or check the Website.
Ok on into the park we decided to miss out all the attractions near the entrance and head of into the distance to ride the furthest away rides first and then work ourselves back to the main entrance later in the day, for once this worked the area furthest away from the park was almost empty and queue times minimal.
The Whirlwind Coaster.
Min height 1.2m, For the coaster buffs out there this is a Maurer Sohne SC 2000 coaster with spining cars. Built in 1999 the ride was initially a travelling coaster in Germany for some time before coming to Camelot.
Its not to easy to describe this ride, its a conventional coaster as far as the track goes, But the cars spin around on the track, so you could go up the lift hill facing forwards or sit backwards and look at the lift chain as you climb the hill. Once off the hill the cars are free to rotate in any direction, so you can find yourself in any number of angles as you weave through the twisted track.
The Rack.
Min Height 1.2m.
Similar to the magic carpet type rides that we see but the left and right supports are at different angles, the ride is never level. When the left hand side is high up the right is low to the ground. Another unique side of this ride is the carriages that face each other move apart.
The Gauntlet. Min height 1.2m
This is Pinfari, steel, sit down coaster, brought to Camelot in 2001. Length 1197ft, Height 36ft, 1 loop with 3 cars per train sitting 2 across in 2 rows. 12 Riders per train.
Not a bad ride for a small looping coaster, its never going to break any records and I doubt it will ever have the fondness that the tower of terror; did with me, But all the same a decent addition to Camelots ride count. Its definitely worth a couple of repeat rides if queues are moving quickly.
Excalibur 2. Min height 1.4m, Designed by Fabbri, This is a mulit dimensional spinning weightless, upside down type of ride.
I can’t make comment apart from yes it looks ok, its something I wont be trying anytime soon. For the thrill seekers trying this ride they all come off suitably impressed. it quite funny standing and watching the most cool teenager scream at the top of their voices when this thing is upside down. if anyone would like to comment on this ride please let me know and ill add your comments for the article
The Dragon Flyer, Children under 1m must be accompanied by an adult.
Ive never seen one of these deisel powered rides before, its a mix between a coaster without any serious drops and a monorail, it zooms around the valley side of the park and can be quite a shock for some people with its speed. A great ride in my opinion
Falcons Flight. Children under 1.2m need to be accompanied by an adult
The Galleon Ship, Children under 1.4m need to be accompanied by an adult.
Sir Lancelots Chargers, Children under 1.2m need to be accompanied by an adult.
Pendragons Plunge.
My Daughter loves this ride, you start of at the top of the Valley and choose one of three tubes to come down, pick up a dinghy and away you go, you drop 33ft over the length of the trip through bendy tubes.
Log Flume.
A small log flume, doesnt get you to wet.
Kingom in the clouds, Children under 1.2m need to be accompanied by an adult.
A great view of the arena from up here.
Cup and Sorcerer, Children under 1.2m need to be accompanied by an adult.
Dungeons of Doom, Children under 1.0m need to be accompanied by an adult.
Camelots one and only dark ride, its not scary but younger children may be bothered by it, the pictures below are taken using a flash as the ride can be quite dark. The attraction doesnt show any disturbing scenes.
The Farm.
The Farm is a small farm with a varied collection of farmyard animals, pigs, goats, horses and sheep, its a nice addition to the park. The kids love the younger goats who are addicted to eating they even try to open the doors to the feed room, im sure they must keep staff on there toes.
Younger Children.
Younger children are well catered for at Camelot, they have there own small area called Merlins playground which has a small but decent collection of rides including a mini paratrooper ride and carousel.
No park is complete without a caterpillar, this one is located near the main entrance.
Merlins Playground.
The kids also benefit from an indoor play area with soft play and a dodgem track.
Entertainment.
Throughout the day there are jousting and magic shows, The magic show last for about 20 minutes and is quite good, the theatre is small so I would advise anyone wanting to see this queue up 15 minutes earlier. The Jousting is a great show and the kids are encouraged to get involved booing and cheering the knights on their horses, theres also a few jokes/gags thrown in for the mums and dads. Be warned if you sit near the front in the jousting you could become part of the show as my partner found out for not cheering, ive never seen her so quiet. 😉
The nasty one 😉
Catering.
Theres nothing special catering wise at Camelot over any other park. Fast food is served in a number of places and is typical of what you would expect anywhere else, Burgers, Chicken Burgers etc. There is one outlet that does Pasta and Jacket spuds but thats the healthiest you will get. There is adequate seating for eating.
Staff.
I found all the staff expect one at Camelot very cheery and friendly, the one member of staff that did put me off was looking after the childrens soft play area, for the majority of the time she had her back to the attraction and was staring into space. God knows what would have happened should an accident have occured or a small child got into trouble. I very much doubt she is still there as im sure a couple of other parents noticed this. To me staff play such a big part in making a day memorable at theme parks, especially the way they interact with the kids.
Overall.
Camelot is a nice, small and friendly park in a lovely area of countryside, the queues for rides are never that big even in the height of summer. The staff are friendly and cheery. Catering isnt brilliant but do we expect that from a theme park…no. we expect fast food and thats what we get. The Jousting on twice daily is a great show but it does get a bit tedious after about 20 times, the kids do enjoy it and any youngsters into knights or horses will love this show.
The Future.
For anyone that doesnt know the future of Camelot is somewhat bleak, theres been talk for a number of years about the land been sold and the area turned into a residential area, this still hasnt happened and the park are still investing each year.
They have recently announced knightmare as a new coaster for 2007. for more information see UK Rides
For additional pictures of the park visit my Gallery where theres an additional 285 pictures to accompany this article. Ridemad is not connected to Camelot or any other theme park, These are personal opinions from the editor and his family. If you want to use any photographs please dont just steal them, contact me on [email protected] as im more than happy to share and have higher resolution photographs available. All pictures taken for this article were took in the 2006 season, any 2007 updates will be applied when the park opens for the new season on 31st March 2007
Thanks for Reading.
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