Apil 2015

DayOut.ie were delighted to attend a recent media day at Tayto Park, to get the low down on what’s coming up (oh that’s clever) for the 2015 season.

First things first. Where is Tayto Park?

It’s a theme park located in Ashbourne, Co Meath. (see directions below…)

Tayto Park Attractions

 

1st September 2015

Monkey Business at Tayto Park with arrival of 4 Goeldi’s Monkeys

Tayto Park has been monkeying around this week with the arrival of four endangered Goeldi’s Monkeys to the animal sanctuary in Ashbourne, Co. Meath.

Tayto Park Animal Welfare Ranger Jessica Hurley said today, “We are delighted to welcome the four new arrivals to Tayto Park. They have bundles of energy and we can already see their individual personalities coming through which is great to watch.”

Native to the South American Amazon Basin (Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru), the Goeldi’s Monkey is a small black or brown primate. The tip of their tails are sometimes red or white and sometimes even have silvery brown highlights.

Unlike other primates, Goeldi’s Monkeys prefer to live in small social groups that stay within a few feet of one another most of the time, staying in contact via high-pitched calls.

Check out for more details and opening hours for the Autumn/Winter months.

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The Cú Chulainn Coaster is coming! It’s nearing completion and is scheduled for opening we hear in June/July.

It’s very impressive to see up close. It’s massive and is billed as Europe’s largest inverted, wooden roller coaster. Yep, it’s all wood!! It was started in September 2014 and has been ongoing since, straight through.

‘Tayto Park has employed the services of globally renowned roller coaster engineers The Gravity Group from Cincinnatti, Ohio who have created over 50 wooden roller coasters around the world including the first ever wooden roller coaster in China.  A team of 70 engineers and builders have been hard at work to ensure that the roller coaster will be completed by Summer 2015’

Just to give you some scale on this…

• 800,000 kgs of yellow pine wood transported from Southern USA
• more than 100 tonnes of steel
• over 700,000 nails and bolts
• dizzying heights of 32.05 metre
• a stomach churning drop zone of 29 metres

There has been much media coverage recently about the roller coaster, calls coming from enthusiasts all over the world, possible marriage proposals on opening day, who gets to go first and lots more!

Roller coaster builder Jeff Mason and engineer Korey T. Kiepert from The Gravity Group have over 40 years collective experience both designing and constructing some of the worlds most adrenaline fueled roller coasters. Between them they have worked on over 73 roller coasters around the world.

With visitor attraction figures for 2013 now available, Tayto Park is ranked #6 in Ireland for the Top ‘paid’ visitor attractions, approaching ½ million visitors annually. That was in 2013!

Coupled with the recent announcements from Failte Ireland about and the drive to increase visitors along the East Ireland region by up to 600,000 new visitors, historic sites, visitor centres and attractions like Tayto Park, look like they’re in for a bumper few years!

Time we think to get yourself on to the and get your family pass!!

Other Tayto Park Attractions

€26 million has been invested into Tayto Park with major upgrades and major new attractions.

• Air Race – an amusement type heart pounding, eyes bulging, rotating amusement ride
• The Rotator – seriously you should see this. A massive circular seated disc on the end of a very, very large arm. It rocks you like a pendulum, getting higher, swings back to the other side, then back again building momentum and eventually inverts you so you’re now upside down and suspended in time, then it free falls on an axis back down and does a full 360 while rotating the seated disc your sitting in. The speed of it!! I was ahem, busy when that was going on! There are only 4 of these rotators in the world and 1 is in Tayto Park!
• 10mtr high vertical climbing wall – amazing to see children climbing this (yes fully harnessed of course). Hook them up and let them loose.
• 3 Carraige Road Train – takes visitors visitors from one end of the park to the other
• Steam Train Track Ride – operates on a traditional track and does laps around a small circuit. Complementary to visitors and great fun. Basically a big size train set that you can sit in.
• 5D cinema – screening five and ten minute movies. Stimulate all the senses with this incredible 5D experience
• Dinosaurs Alive attractions – a life-like animatronic dinosaur spectacular – massive dinosaurs in a landscaped enclosure

(That’s DayOut.ie on the zip line!)

 In addition, there has been huge work carried out

• New landscaped car parks
• Entire new entrance / admission lodge (original entrance is now gone)
• Extensions to the main restaurant lodge
• New Outdoor pizza food area
• New gift shops
• New animal enclosures
• New playground perimeter fencing

It is an all day entertainment park. So much to do and hugely enjoyable. Probably, the best day out that we can recommended.

Admissions:

Adult €14

Child €14

Child Under 3 – Free

OAP – €12

Student (with valid ID card) – €12

Carer – Free

All day wristband – €15 (this is in addition to the admission fee. Use this for access to all rides within park. Except Crispy Creek Mining Company. Non transferable and fitted by counter clerk at admission, void if removed )

Park Family Memberships 2015

 

Opening Times 2015

January Closed
February Closed
March- Closed until March 26th

Re-opens Thursday 26th -31st 10am-6pm

April – June
Open 7 days
10am – 6pm

July & August
Open 7 days
9.30am – 7pm

September
Open Saturday and Sunday
10am – 6pm

October
Open Saturday and Sunday
10am – 5pm

October Mid-Term Break
Open Saturday 24^th – Sunday 1st November 10am – 5pm

November
Open Saturday and Sunday 10am – 5pm

December
Open Friday 12pm – 5pm
Open Saturday and Sunday 10am – 5pm
Open Monday 15^th – Wednesday 23^rd 12pm-5pm
Closed 24^th-31^stTayto Park Attractions – Directions

by Car, From south in country

Approach Dublin and head NORTH bound on M50 for Dublin Airport. Take the M2, exit 5 which is sign posted Derry/Slane on the M50, to Ashbourne. Once onto the M2 continue to the very end of the motorway until you come to a roundabout take the first exit onto the N2 signposted Slane.

Continue on the N2 Slane road for 3.8km and turn left onto the R155 to Curragha (Sign-posted Dunshaughlin/Ratoath). Follow this road and it will bring you to a crossroads. Turn right at the crossroads and you’re just 1 minute from Tayto Park.

by Car, From North / Belfast

Take the M1 from Belfast to the M50. Take the 1st junction onto the M50 heading southbound. Take the 5th exit onto the M2. Continue on the N2 until the very end of the motorway you will then come to a roundabout take the first exit off the roundabout signposted Slane.

Continue on the N2 for 3.8km and turn left onto the R155 to Curragha. Follow this road and it will bring you to a crossroads. Turn right at the crossroads and you’re just 1 minute from Tayto Park.