TRAVEL TEST

DAVID COMEAU

BY

WHAT: Farmyard Flyer, the new junior rollercoaster at Paultons Park themed around a crop dusting aircraft on a 1950s American farm. Tickets from £39.75 per person, family packages available, short breaks from £199 per family of four. paultonspark.co.uk

WHERE: Located within the theme park’s new Tornado Springs land which has the trappings of vintage Midwest America, complete with Route 83 diner, barns and aircraft hangar.

Paultons Park is just northwest of Southampton in Hampshire’s countryside, off the M27. The nearest railway station is Southampton Central with buses operating from there to the park.

EXPERIENCE: You board the ‘plane’ after meandering through the queue surrounded by a set design that’s on point. A barn, a cow, some chickens and a couple of aircraft feature, one of which has evidently crashed and torn in two (if little Hugo wasn’t already scared about his first rollercoaster, he is now).

The best experience is in the front seats where you can pretend you are flying the plane. It’s fairly sedate as you’d expect from a junior rollercoaster with just some gentle undulating.

You need to be at least 0.9m tall to ride it and under-sevens must be accompanied by an adult.

QUIBBLES: It feels too short. If you have queued for 35 minutes or longer to get on the ride then you may feel a bit aggrieved.

It’s not unusual for thrill rides to be short, but you feel it’s worth it when you get an intense adrenalin rush. No wobbly legs after coming off this one though.

VERDICT: A good introduction to rollercoasters for young thrillseekers, but if you are a seasoned rider, it’ll feel very tame. Young children will find it great fun but it’s perhaps one to skip until the queue has died down.

6/10