UK + Ireland 11/25 – Rainbow Park + Emerald Park

Turns out I’ve got one more in me for the year. I’ve been meaning to get back to Ireland for a while now, following Tayto’s continued expansion but, surprising though it may sound coming from me, could never quite convince myself it was worth the effort. Until the off-season started to look too long, so took the plunge.

Quick detour beforehand though:

Day 0 – Not Ireland

Continuing on with a seal obsession after the sanctuary in Japan, decided to try a boat ride to go see some in Norfolk.

Picture this, 100 more times.

Why am I telling you this? Well not far down the road is the glamorous

Rainbow Park

See?

With a magnificent specimen of a coaster, #1 Sea Dragon.

Been wanting to get this one done for years, but Hunstanton is just so far from anything. Except seals now. Tick.

There’s the beach.

The following morning we took a rough and ready Ryanair flight to Dublin without much event. Car hire was more of a faff than it needed to be, standing in a long queue only to then be told I didn’t need to stand in a long queue. Then a shuttle bus to some external car place where they didn’t know where my car was parked, in a sea of cars.

Didn’t really matter, had time to kill, so went to Tesco next for Irish supplies. Was thrilled to discover that even internationally a UK Clubcard saves you from getting ripped off by their greedy pricing structure. I was so ready to borrow one from a friendly passing Irishman.

Day 1 – Emerald Park

But the reason we were here of course was old mate Tayto, RIP.

Last visited here 6 years ago, while their Zierer was being built and they were only a +2. They’re up to 6 coasters now, so have had a pretty decent growth spurt.

Joined a light queue for a wristband at opening – they still use these as their ‘all-access’ day ticket for some reason, but never checked me once at rides the whole day, or even when leaving and re-entering the park.

Made an initial beeline burst for the new land of Tír na nÓg.

#1 Fianna Force was the main draw for putting up with all that travel nonsense, as potentially the most substantial coaster in Europe evading me. Dunno what it is now, but stupid Wiener Looping probably.

Bit of a buzz heading into the queue anyway, nice to know that can still happen, it looks pretty decent.

The last bit of cattlepen is indoors with a psuedo-pre-show in which a blacksmith sets the scene. Some bloke fought a dragon once, now we’re off to do the same. I’ve made some special armour for you – a Vekoma STC train. Noted.

It’s only the second one of these around and I’d consider it a solid step up. Hals-über-Kopf was fun and all, but managed to channel Vekoma’s modern blandness a bit too much for my liking.

Here things are a bit more varied, including the inversions that aren’t just roll, roll, roll.
This station interaction is an appreicated touch as well.

It’s quite intense in places that aren’t rolls, with some solid and sustained positives that pay homage to our B&M forefathers, RIP.

Though saying that, I did get a bit of a ‘left turn: the ride’ sensation after a few goes.

Variation picks up nicely at the end, with some right turns and some bouncy, swoopy hill-type moments. It’s another step in the right direction for airtime on inverts, the likes of which we were promised on Drage Kongen but were never given. Hope the upwards trend continues.

Nothing mind-blowing, but very solid package overall. Pretty, interesting, highly rerideable. I was happy.

That station interaction is of course with #2 Quest, one of the linear layouted junior boomerangs also from Vekoma.

It’s decent, I like these ones, though would of course have preferred something new. Or a view of Helix. In that vein, having the STC blast over your head in the station is probably the highlight, along with any subsequent interactive moments.

Nabbed a reride on Cú Chulainn on the way past as progress was going way too quickly. Everything was walk on, even on one train, except this, which was managing to hold a queue through faff and popularity, in that order.

I’m nowhere near as hyped for Gravity Group wooden coasters as I once was, sadly. I had such a personal golden era on the Chinese ones over a relatively short period of time, with nearly all of them kicking my ass in ways it had never been kicked before.

Then all the biggest US ones kinda sucked in comparison. And since then I’ve both experienced, and heard from others, that the Chinese ones have killed themselves.
Only Australian Lev remains, but god damn that’s a long way to complete a set. 2026 it is.

Anyway, this one was always decent, but low tier. It has moments, sparks, of what can make the big ones special. But it also has the gaping pacing flaws that just make a good number of them a wet blanket experience.

A decently scary first drop and some fun fast pops lead into a lot of ‘left turn: the ride’, again. There’s a solid, out of control, twisty bouncy section leading up into the non-inversion thing and then it just kinda peters out for another half a layout.

S’alright.

Back on the new cred agenda was big ol’ #3 Dino Dash themselves.

This was the first of this Vekoma Junior layout, but I managed to catch the Boonie Bear one before it, of course.

Very nicely presented anyway, with the exploratory queueline, couple animatronics, watery jump scare at the end. Great family attraction.

Which made #4 Flight School look rather sad in comparison. This building was pretty miserable, with stagnant water, broken TVs and sketchy electrical fittings.
It was uncannily like Luton Airport earlier that day though, so I guess it gets the point across.

Looks nice on the outside at least, and it’s a cracking layout for what it is. I’ve never done a Zierer Force 281, the horror, stupid Morey’s Piers, etc., but that laterals section in the middle is legitimately good.

Coasters complete, here’s some animals.

Lovely place overall, great day out if it’s conveniently located enough for you, though probably not quite a big enough draw just yet if the rest of Europe is still your oyster.

The ride lineup still feels a little lacking if you’re looking to squeeze every waking park hour out of it, but they’re fleshing it out nicely over a relatively short space of time and the zoo is a pleasant distraction. Needs a dark ride. A better water ride. A truly kick ass coaster. Don’t we all.

Flying back the same day sucked, but was stupidly cheap and I’ll take the +5 for the weekend, thanks.