Tayto Park
 | |
| Location | Curraha, Ashbourne, County Meath, Ireland |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 53°32′43″N 6°27′34″W / 53.545377°N 6.459375°WCoordinates: 53°32′43″N 6°27′34″W / 53.545377°N 6.459375°W. |
| Owner | Ashbourne Visitor Centre[1] |
| Operated by | Ashbourne Visitor Centre |
| Opened | November 2010 |
| Visitors per annum | 750,000 (2015) |
| Rides | |
| Total | 18 |
| Roller coasters | 3 (1 Under Construction) |
| Website | www.taytopark.ie |
Tayto Park is a crisp themed amusement park in Ireland and is based on the Irish crisp brand, Tayto. It is located in the townland of Kilbrew, in County Meath. The park was opened in November 2010.
The park was designed by Stewart and Sinnott Architects, landscaper Anthony Ryan and designer Milo Fitzgerald, with an €8.5 million investment from Ray Coyle. The park developed 55 acres of Meath farmland into an American-themed park, which includes a Native American themed village, Ireland's only wooden roller coaster, a Maxi Dance Party 360, adventure playgrounds and an exotic zoo.[2][3]
It is the sixth most popular paid for attraction within the Republic of Ireland, with 750,000 visitors in 2015.[4]
General Attractions
- Pow Wow Playground: Play area with and rope bridges for children under 12.
- Spudhara Playground: Playground with swings and activities for children under 6.
- Dinosaurs Alive: Exhibition of life like animatronic dinosaurs (self-guided walk through) (closed temporarily)
- Tiny Tater's Patch: Giant spiral hill and mini maze
- Giant Chess Board: A seasonal attraction which features water jets in the ground
- Mini Playground: Intended for children aged 4 years and under
- Crispy Maze
- Vortex Tunnel: This attraction is a tunnel with swirling lights near Wind Starz
- Tayto Factory Tour: Visitors can see how Tayto, a popular brand of crisps within the Republic of Ireland, are made
- Live Shows: Magic shows
- Face Painting & Arts and crafts
- Wheelchair Swing
- Play and Splash: Water zone
Zones
Eagle Sky Adventure Zone
- The Cú Chulainn Coaster: Ireland’s only wooden roller coaster, opened on 5 June 2015, the attraction is themed on Irish mythology and named after Cú Chulainn. A figure of the warrior is emblazoned across the front of the rollercoaster trains.[3]
The Cú Chulainn Coaster - The Rotator: A Maxi Dance Party 360 manufactured by SBF VISA GROUP. Riders face outwards on a rotating gondala that swings like a pendulum. The Rotator no longer spins the full 360° that the ride is capable of.
- Air Race: Manufactured by Zamperla, this ride, themed around aeroplanes, spins and rotates simultaneously.
- 5D Cinema: A short film experience featuring air gusts, water jets, leg ticklers, flashing lights, bubbles and smoke blasts.
- Zip Line Extreme: Tayto Park is home to Ireland's longest and fastest zip wire
- Extreme Climbing Wall: 21 metre climbing wall
- Tayto Twister: 20 metre tubular slide
- Sky Walk: Three levels of obstacles and bridges high above the ground
- Viking Voyage: A Viking themed log flume which involves 3 drops, two facing forwards and one facing backwards. Manufactured by INTERLINK, the ride is a "Shoot the chute" model.
- Wind Starz: Manufactured by Zamperla. Riders sit in hangliders and push the bar to go up and pull the bar to go down.
- Endeavour: An upside down Ferris wheel Manufactured by Zamperla
- Power Surge: Manufactured by Zamperla. Riders sit in chairs and get spun and swung around.
Eagle's Nest
- Air Jumpers: Bungee system with trampolines for springing over 5 metres high
- Super Hero Training Wall: Climb up to 9 metres on the wall
- Shot Tower: Strap in, countdown and prepare to shoot 10 metres into the sky. Manufactured by Zamperla
- Pony Rail: Saddle up and gallop across the plains of Tayto Park
- Honey Pot Bears
- Steam Train Express: 2 ft (610 mm) narrow gauge[5] train ride featuring a steam outline/diesel hydraulic locomotive and three coaches from Severn Lamb[6]
The Zoo
- Farmyard Friends: An open area, which includes some rare breeds of farm animals such as Jacob, Manx & Soay sheep, Highland cattle, pygmy goats, and Vietnamese pot belly pigs.
- Wild Woods: A wooded area with animals including ocelots, ring-tailed coatis, Amur leopards, fishing cats, corsac foxes, aardwolves and more.
- Feathered Friends: A collection of exotic birds from around the world
- Buffalo Ridge: Home to the first herd of American bison in Ireland
- Cat Country: mountain lions, Eurasian lynx and the largest of the big cats, the endangered Amur tigers.
- Down Under: Visit emus and wallabies
Facilities and access
Tayto Park is wheelchair accessible with a few minor exceptions. There is a gift shop and various food options such as the restaurant in the Lodge Building, which also provides a private function room or the Pizza Place.
There is free parking for cars and buses as well as disabled parking close to the entrance.
Bus Éireann operates the 103 and 105 service, which stops at the park on a daily basis.
Incidents
There has been a number of minor incidents which have occurred within Tayto Park.
- On June 11, 2012, Helena McDonnell, a former female employee who was working as a tour guide at Tayto Park, broke her ankle after she went down a 60-foot slide with her friends. the slide was not open to the public at the time but she along with other employees were told to try it that they could get a "feel of it". McDonnell sued Ashbourne Visitor Centre Ltd, trading as Tayto Park, as a result of the accident on June 11th, 2012. She also sued Hags Aneby AB of Sweden and Spraoi Linn Ltd, the manufacturer and supplier of the slide respectively. The case was settled out of Court. Following the accident, the ride was altered in relation to how steep it was and at the turns.[7]
- In August 2016, a father and his 12 year old daughter visited Tayto Park, after the girl has ridden the Cú Chulainn, a wooden rollar coaster at the park, she complained of neck pain the same evening. She originally suspected that the pain was caused by severe whiplash, however after four weeks in pain her family brought her to Crumlin. X-rays revealed that the teen had actually sustained a broken neck which required multiple surgeries, the medical team said she was lucky to be alive and to have not suffered paralysis after the neck injury.[8]
- On October 22, 2016, a wooden staircase in one of the parks Halloween attraction suddenly collapsed and gave way. The incident happened at around 8pm at the "House of Horrors". Nine people were taken to the hospital as a precautionary measure but were all later discharged the following day.[9]
References
- ↑
- ↑ Casey, Ann (2010-11-17). "Opening of Tayto Park near Ashbourne brings 85 jobs". Meath Chronicle. Retrieved 2018-08-04.
- 1 2 "Cú Chulainn - Tayto Park (Ashbourne, Meath, Ireland)". rcdb.com. Retrieved 2018-08-04.
- ↑ "Ireland's top visitor attractions revealed". Your Days Out. Retrieved 2018-08-04.
- ↑ Severn Lamb - Texan
- ↑ Blooloop - Severn Lamb Provides Texan Rail Turnkey Package for Tayto Park, Ireland
- ↑ "Woman who broke ankle on Tayto Park slide settles action". The Irish Times. 2017-02-14. Retrieved 2017-07-03.
- ↑ "Concerns raised over rollercoaster regulations". RTE.ie. 2017-02-02. Retrieved 2017-07-03.
- ↑ Hennessy, Michelle (2016-10-23). "Nine people injured after House of Horrors staircase collapse at Tayto Park". TheJournal.ie. Retrieved 2017-07-03.
This article is issued from
Wikipedia.
The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike.
Additional terms may apply for the media files.