CoasterMadMatt Reviews...: Wood Express

Size Doesn't Matter

When thinking of theme parks close to Paris, France most people will think of Disneyland Paris or Parc Asterix. Parc Saint-Paul is not one that you would normally think of, despite it being roughly 80km away. The two major parks near to Paris have long since complimented each other, with Parc Asterix focusing more on the thrills and themeing, whereas Disneyland is well, Disney.

Parc Saint-Paul is not trying to compete with the major parks, it reminds me a bit like Gullivers and Oakwood combined, aiming for the more family market in a wooded setting and just like Oakwood, the star attraction is a wooden coaster: Wood Express

One of only a handful of Gravity Group wooden coasters in Europe, it is nestled in to the back of the park and the first thing that you notice, this is a small wooden coaster, especially when compared to Tonnere 2 Zeus at Parc Asterix.

The area around Wood Express does open up quite dramatically from the woodland, so although it does look small, it does have that imposing look when compared to the other rides nearby but there is no denying at little over 50ft high and the amount of hills and the brake run and station roughly being a 1/3 of the total height, it is a little disconcerting with how it would play out with pacing and airtime. Having ridden Twister at Grona Lund in Sweden (another small sized wooden coaster by the company), it gave me hope this would turn out quite decent

The queue is a lengthy affair of cattlegrid but thankfully despite me visiting on what seemed to be a French school outing to the park, the cattlegrid queue was not needed and at most I only ever waited 10 minutes on a one train service.

Using the Gravity Group Timberliner trains, the restraints are a strange waist style restraint but are quite comfortable even if they feel a little restrictive when compared to the GCI and PTC restraints. The trains are small, only holding 12 riders, but thankfully the bonus of this is, operations are good and as soon as the restraints are checked, you are off on your way.

As you leave the station, you bend to the right, passing the maintenance shed on your left, before a small predrop into the lift hill. The lift hill, seemed to me to be a little steeper than your usual coaster and no sooner have you joined the lift hill, are you at the top of it, ready for the first major drop.

The drop at the front of the train gives a slight pop of airtime but at the back, you are carried out of your seat in a nice bit of airtime (this is where you realise the restraints are not as restrictive as they first appeared). As soon as you reach the bottom of the first drop, you rise up into the first hill, where it's nearly a mirror image to the first drop, with the front of the train getting the majority, whereas the back is nice and floaty. As you reach the bottom of this drop, you make a slight right hand turn into another airtime hill, before now turning around so you are facing back to the station. For such a small height, you are taking these elements at what seems fairly quickly, despite the top speed being less than 40mph. The bends, create some nice lateral G forces and all taken fairly smoothly for a wooden coaster

As you leave this elongated bend, you are treated to a double up, with both hills providing another healthy dose of airtime, before the track descends again right to ground level, to help maintain its speed. Two mini airtime hills follows, where it does not matter where you sit, you are getting some ejector style airtime. Personally, I preferred the front of the train for these elements, but there was not much in it. The track now bends to the left, under the brake run, with a slight incline to provide a double down. The train slowly starts to lose some of its amazing pacing just before you hit top of the hill before the double down, but at only 50ft and what you've done before it, its hardly surprising. Back at ground level, you hit another airtime hill, before bending to the right to go under the hill you've just climbed.

The train now bends to the left, as you hit another airtime hill, still taken at a fairly good speed, but you can tell that the edge has been taken off just a little bit, before you ascend into another hill, which is where you hit the magnetic brakes and a small drop back into the station.

It may only be just over a minute from leaving the station to the brake run, but, the pacing is something else for just a "small" out and back layout coaster. Even after riding it many times throughout the day in 2022, it is still amazing to think what Gravity Group managed to do with a limited height. Yes, Twister at Grona Lund is similar, but twister style layouts are easier to do compact which helps keep the illusion of speed. Wood Express, not only goes out and back, but it does it twice.

There are only some slight niggles to it, like one or two of the airtime hills, perhaps slowing down the coaster a bit too much, and some of the corners are not the smoothest, which depending on your rough tolerances, could prove a bit too much for people to do multiple re-rides.

Would I recommend a trip just to ride Wood Express? Yes and no. It is certainly the best ride in the park and one of my favourites in France, but, partly that was because apart from its quirky nature, Parc Saint-Paul is not one a lot of the enthusiasts talk about. If you are in the area, then definitely you need to visit to ride it, same if you want to explore the rest of the park has to offer. But, if you are expecting big thrills this (and Parc Saint-Paul) will not be for you, as it is not trying to be anything more than an exceptional family thrill coaster.