Our final stop on our epic trip was The Villager Hotel just outside Fantasy Island at Ingoldmells. The hotel was once again really nice, quiet too considering it had a bar below and to the side of it. The rooms were nice and had everything we needed, a lovely place for our final stop.
Before we headed home though, we had Fantasy Island to do! As with Adventure Island, we pre purchased wristbands which allows access to all the rides here.
First up, we had a go on The Volcano, an 183ft S&S shot tower. I used to be terrified by these, but recently I’ve been trying them out, with Apocalypse at Drayton Manor and Cliff Hanger at Flamingo land helping with the fear! Tracy also found it to be quite enjoyable after the initial shock!
We followed up The Volcano with a ride on Magic, a Huss Magic flat ride which was great fun! It didn’t spend too long spinning in one direction, and gives good force every now and then. We then tried Firebowl, a Teacups style ride, then followed by the Dodgems.
Next we headed into the Pyramid to visit Millennium, the parks first major roller coaster. Manufactured by Vekoma, this was the very first ‘big’ coaster I ever rode and I was pleased to see others saying how smooth it rode, and we have to agree. It is a very pleasant ride, if a little lacking in raw thrills. Still, a very good roller coaster for anyone progressing onto bigger rides with inversions!
Once we’d had a wander around the Pyramid, we made our way outside to try out Speed Racer, a new for 2021 Maurer Spinning coaster. This is a really decent spinner, with good force in the turns and plenty of sharp drops in its small footprint. After which I queued for Odyssey.
The queue took a while as they have to assess wind conditions as the ride can’t operate in winds that are too strong, as the ride has previously been known to valley in the cobra roll element. Eventually they got the all clear, to a cheer from the crowd and I took my seat for my 3rd ride on the Vekoma Suspended Looper.
This ride does, at least to some extent, hold up to its reputation of being the best Vekoma SLC ever built. Personally I feel it could do with going through the cobra roll a little faster, and it does knock your head about a little here and there, but otherwise, it’s an excellent inverted coaster.
After Odyssey, we had a go on the parks Star Flyer, which is a first for me as I’ve never really seen the interest in them until recently. It is quite cold when you’re at the top, what with the speed of the ride, the height it gets to and the strong coastal winds, but otherwise it offers really great views of the east coast and over the park!
Upon returning to the ground, we headed over to the Family Roller Coaster, a Wacky Worm ride, situated just next to Spinning Racer and Star Flyer. The attendant had his doubts that we’d fit, but we gave it a go, and there was room to spare! As for the ride, it was alright, just a standard Wacky Worm, but with no theming at all!
Next we went back into the Pyramid to play in the arcades a bit and finish of the attractions in there. We rode Mystical Dragon Mountain, Toucan Tours, Jungle Adventure, The Balloon Ride and Seaquarium. All of which are quite pleasant little rides, with decent scenery and all indoors.
We finished off our day at Fantasy Island with a look around the shop, collected prizes from the arcades and then made our way to the car for the final trip home.
Like Adventure Island before, Fantasy Island was a lovely day, with barely any queues for attractions and pleasant helpful staff too. The only issue we had, and its only a minor one, was that certain rides were closed at certain points during the day. So for example Odyssey would close when Millennium was open, which is fine, but the ride operators weren’t always there for a rides opening time, which did lead to a little confusion as to whether some rides were actually open or not!
Overall though, another great day out and a good end to our UK road trip. Conclusion to follow….!
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