Paultons Park Locks in Spring 2026 for Valgard Viking Expansion

Paultons Park near Romsey has confirmed that its latest Viking-inspired zone, Valgard: Realm of the Vikings, will swing open its gates on 16 May 2026. This £12 million venture marks the park’s biggest single outlay yet, carving out a fresh pocket of Nordic grit right next to the existing Lost Kingdom area.

Families chasing bigger thrills will find plenty here, with rides tuned for older kids and teens who have outgrown the gentler spins.

At the heart of Valgard sits Drakon, the park’s inaugural inverting rollercoaster. Built by Gerstlauer, this beast kicks off with a vertical lift hill before hurling riders down a beyond-vertical drop and through two stomach-flipping twists.

It weaves right into the path of an established coaster for that extra layer of chaos at full tilt. Then there’s Vild Swing, a UK debut from Art Engineering: picture a 12-metre-high pendulum flinging groups into mock aerial skirmishes, blending height with a dash of battlefield flair.

Overhauling the 2006 Cobra ride, Raven emerges as a bobsled-style plunge through misty fjords, keeping the pace relentless. Younger ones get a breather in the Viking playground, complete with timber forts and rope bridges evoking longship raids, while the Nordic longhall serves up hearty plates in a hall that feels ripped from a saga.

This build slots into Paultons’ steady push forward. The 140-acre site, bought by the Mancey family in 1979 and launched in 1983, already packs in Peppa Pig World since 2011, drawing crowds with its toddler-tuned charm.

Valgard shifts the dial towards adrenaline, though a water-based thrill is pencilled in for 2027 to keep the momentum rolling.

The park scooped 10 gongs at this year’s UK Theme Park Awards, including overall winner, thanks to staff grit and fresh ideas. Just days before the Valgard reveal, they unveiled Ghostly Manor, a £3.5 million indoor haunt that amps up the eerie factor for shorter days.

Paultons sits amid the New Forest’s ancient oaks and heaths, an easy hop from Romsey or Southampton. Locals know it as a rainy-day fallback, with indoor options shielding against Hampshire downpours, while newcomers might pair it with a forest ramble for a full weekend hit.

The Viking motif leans into raw escapism: think fog-shrouded shores and rune-carved beams, all without skimping on queue-jumping tech or accessibility tweaks.

Reviews of Paultons as a whole paint a solid picture on Trustpilot, where punters rate it highly for slick operations and cheery crews. Valgard lacks its own feedback loop for now, but given the park’s track record, expect it to pull similar praise once the longships dock.