Today we were lucky enough to go along to Paultons Park's brand new Lost Kingdom Preview Day to experience their utterly brilliant dinosaur land. Paultons have invested heavily in this new attraction and the result is an outstanding addition to their already popular park. I was given the opportunity to help with art and design on some of the aspects of the Lost Kingdom, and one of the things I got to do was to design the carriages of the Dino Chase rollercoaster.
The Lost Kingdom already boasts two fantastic new full-sized rollercoasters but Paultons are well aware of their core audience and that means catering for the smaller children too. Thos who've been to Paultons before will remember the Flying Frog coaster – well, Dino Chase is a complete refurbishment of this ride. So not only has it been lavishly landscaped with some stunning animatronic triceratops and a stegosaurus, lots of creative planting and rocky outcrops, but it's also been re-imagined to fit its new home in the Lost Kingdom.
I was given free rein to come up with some friendly dinosaur designs, so played around with everything from feathered theropods to a head-bashing pachycephalosaur, but the one that tickled Paultons' fancy was the little galloping triceratops. I then had to proceed conceptual drawings of it from different angles, including the middle car and rear car, which sports the tail, plus an artist's impression, overlaying the then existing ride. Then it was over to the factory for construction. I love the result, and I'm sure you will too. Of course, I couldn't resist having a go...