Absolutely Insane Deconstruction

Two cranes arrived at Fantasy Island this week to begin the deconstruction of Absolutely Insane. Standing at 240 feet, the S&S Sky Sling was the only ride of its type in the UK, but has remained standing but not operating since September 2007. Plagued with ongoing problems and expensive maintenance costs, Absolutely Insane has proven to be one of the park’s most unreliable rides. Speculation suggests that the ride has been sold for scrap value as the park struggled to find a prospective buyer.

Selling the ride also supports a recent report in the Skegness Standard, revealing the parks financial burden. Energy providor EDF threatened to disconnect the electricity supply to the park based on an amounted debt of £75,000. Negotiations were made to pay the debt back in periodical installments. Air your thoughts about Absolutely Insane in the Island Quest discussion forums.

The train for Millennium Roller Coaster has been reinstated onto its track ready for the park to reopen from this Saturday on a weekends only basis until Easter.

Thanks to Steve and Chaz for the information.

Jubilee Odyssey and Volcanic Impact Reopen – Fantasy Island

Despite set backs for two of the white knuckle thrill rides at Fantasy Island, Jubilee Odyssey and Volcanic Impact have reopened today for the first time in the 2009 season. Since testing very early in the year, Jubilee Odyssey stalled on its cobra roll inversion in March this year. More problems developed soon after as the lift hill motor needed replacing, causing several more weeks of downtime whilst the parts were being delivered from Vekoma.

Nonetheless, Absolutely Insane and Amazing Confusion remain closed. After shearing a drive pin last month, more problems were identified, leaving the ride awaiting more parts to be delivered from Mondial.

Odyssey Update: Lift Hill Motor

Jubilee Odyssey’s still yet to reopen for the 2009 season. A number of problems have developed since testing in March, including stalling on the cobra roll, and the lift hill motor breaking soon after. The latter required the lift hill motor to be sent back to Vekoma, as parts aren’t readily available in this country, and is due back on Wednesday. Unfortunately, this means that the ride will remain closed over the May Day Bank Holiday weekend, with a glimmer of hope of reopening on the 9th May.

In related news, Volcanic Impact and Absolutely Insane are expected to reopen for the Spring half term.

Most Thrill Rides Remain Closed

It’s almost a month into the new season, yet most of the park’s thrill rides are yet to open. As a result of Odyssey stalling during testing, the wheels on the train were replaced. Since then, there have been issues with the lift hill motor. Similarly, Volcanic Impact and Absolutely Insane are awaiting inspection from S&S before they can reopen, although reports from the park suggest that the cables have been replaced on Absolutely Insane, and new safety beacons have been spotted atop two of the towers. Amazing Confusion has also been subject to downtime as it sheared a drive pin, the decision was made to replace all twenty. Unfortunately, it looks as though these rides could remain closed for some time as the park are working with the ride manufacturers in an attempt to get them reopen as soon as possible.

Wristbands & Odyssey Ready for Easter

From this Saturday, Fantasy Island will now begin opening on a daily basis throughout the main season. The wristband system is all ready to go as planned, offering guests discounts for unlimited rides. Tokens will no longer be sold, but replaced instead with ‘live tickets’ which can be topped up as a pay per ride solution.

Jubilee Odyssey stalled on the cobra roll element, only two weeks ago. The park have confirmed that they winched the train backwards, and removed the train manually from the bottom of the loop. The train has since been reassembled and tested, but is now being fitted with new wheels. Hopefully, it will be ready to reopen over the Easter weekend.

Unfortunately, the same can’t be said for the park’s S&S rides, Absolutely Insane and Volcanic Impact, which will remain closed as they are still awaiting inspection from their American ride manufacturers. All other rides on park are expected to be operating this weekend though, but remember to check out our helpful trip planning pages before you visit.

Last updated on: April 6th @ 12.20pm

Inspecting Absolutely Insane

Absolutely Insane could be set to make a return to the park’s range of white knuckle rides after a year of remaining standing but not open. Amidst fears that the ride could be leaving the park altogether, news emerges that the 240ft sky sling is set to once again have its cables replaced. S&S are reportedly going to be inspecting the ride, and as long as no other problems are established, the ride should be able to reopen for the season. However, due to this, an actual date for the ride to reopen cannot yet be predicted. Selected rides are set to reopen around the park, weekends only commencing March 7th.

The Future of Absolutely Insane

Absolutely Insane has been standing but not open since last September. It wasn’t until June that the 240ft sky sling opened last year due to the cables being replaced. The car was removed weeks before the end of the 2007 season after only being open to the public for around 13 weeks. During the closed season, it was speculated that the ride would be disappearing from the skyline at the end of this year, could this be proved right?

At the beginning of this season, Martyn reported on the forums that the ride still looked as it does in winter; with its cables still attached to its weight. As of now, it’s unknown why the ride is closed and remains unclear how long it will remain in its current state. As far as we know, the ride hasn’t been tested for public use despite having its car reattached.

At present we’re considering the potential future for the ride, and have reached the conclusion that the car has been reattached for illustration purposes to prospective purchasers looking to buy the attraction. Nevertheless, it’s been rumoured on the forums that the ride could reopen for summer. Already a third of the way through the busiest period of summer, it looks very doubtful that the ride will open at all this year.

What are your thoughts? Let us know in the forums.

June Trip Report

Barry and myself headed out to Ingoldmells between the 7th and 14th June for probably one of the quietest times of the year. Having said that, most rides around Fantasy Island opened throughout the week, with a close time of around 5pm each day; slightly later on Saturday nights at 8pm. Jubilee Odyssey only opened for around an hour on Sunday afternoon, after being tested since only about 4pm. On such a beautiful day, it was surprising that they left it so late in the day, despite this there was almost a queue forming with the number of people waiting to ride. Millennium opened throughout the week; only closing on Thursday and Friday due to poorer weather conditions. Absolutely Insane wasn’t open throughout the week and despite having its car attached doesn’t appear to have been open at all since the season began in March.

One of the biggest differences compared to last year was the lack of park maps. Whilst they weren’t necessary to navigate the park, the maps did offer a sense of place.The old maps featured information regarding Blue Anchor caravans, and it’s possible that Blue Anchor owned the copyright to the maps and the old logo. Therefore, it’s understandable why the maps have been withdrawn. However, the only promotional material for the park now is leaflets available from the Skegness Information Centre and in the Skegness Directory.

Despite previous reports regarding Millennium and Amazing Confusion paint jobs, it looks more like Millennium has simply been shedding its old paint job and Amazing Confusion remains the same shade of sun-bleached pink.

Nevertheless, the park have been recycling old ride cars that were formerly used on Fantasy Flume. Three of these have been painted and set at the main carpark entrance as planters. The plants look pretty small, and the soil looks more like dirt than compost, but they have to be applauded forconsidering the cosmetic appearance of the park.

As noted on the forums toward the end of last season, the old Fantasy Island logo and disco ball have been removed from the inside of the pyramid. This used to hang at the apex inside the pyramid. It’s implied that the new owners are attempting to remove any sign of the old owners presence; and replacing this with the new park logo.

Finally,we noticed that the path that joined the Fantasy Island overflow carpark to Sea Lane has been closed since November last year. It’s noted that this is a permanent closure, however it’s unclear whether this is only whilst work is carried out to the adjacent caravan park development. Incidentally, this appears to be a Blue Anchor development and it could be possible that the walkway is the property of Blue Anchor. Either way, it makes a much longer trip from the overflow carpark to Fantasy Island. The route is also poorly sign posted; whilst there’s signs to get to the car park, there’s very few on how to walk back to Fantasy Island.