Tayto Park: If you build it, they will come...

People were bemused when Ray Coyle spoke of his dream to open a Mr Tayto-themed park. Eight years on, even he is blown away by its success, he tells Vickie Maye.

Every year Tayto Park reopens for the season with a brand new addition.

Three years ago their Cu Chulann rollercoaster, one of the biggest in Europe, launched and became the talking point of the summer.

Last year came the Viking Voyage, a water thrill ride akin to Splash Mountain.

This time around the focus is very much on the smaller visitors to Tayto Park. The new Nissan Driving School lets kids go behind the wheel, manovering roundabouts and traffic lights – with the reward of their very own personalised licence at the end.

Standing on the spot of this latest investment to the theme park, owner Ray Coyle can’t stop himself from indulging in just a little nostalgia.

“Imagine, I used to grow potatoes in this field,” he says.

And it’s true. Ray Coyle was once a very successful potato farmer, supplying to none other than Tayto.

Then, the market collapsed, and Ray lost his fortune.

Undeterred, he set up Largo Foods, deciding there was space for a new player in the Irish snack market. Hunky Dorys followed, and on foot of that success, he ended up buying the Tayto brand outright.

The idea of a theme park was always floating in his mind. Ireland didn’t have one, and he knew demand was there.

Initially, he figured Hunky Dorys could lend itself to a western themed extravaganza. Then, when he acquired Tayto, he knew the face of the brand had bigger potential. First Mr Tayto ran for election. Later came his book.

And eight years ago he took his biggest gamble yet, opening the gates to Tayto Park on a cold November morning.

The park was virtually empty, and it would stay that way for months.

“I thought we were finished,” Ray admits now. Friends told him subsequently they thought he was mad when he pitched his idea to them. There was no outside investment, the country was, at the time, in the depths of recession. Analysts told him it could work – but it may not either.

This would either be a bold, brave move – or a very stupid one.

Thankfully, the Easter after they opened was something of a heat wave. Ray arrived one day to see a queue at the gates. Tayto Park never looked back.

“We opened at the wrong time of year,” says Ray.

These days, Tayto Park closes off season, opening from Easter right through to Halloween, and weekends beyond that to Christmas.

“You know I was quite happy growing potatoes for Tayto until the crash. I never thought we’d have such a place.

“We really took a chance, it was a risk, more than a risk really,” he says, laughing.

“This was in the middle of the country, not in the fringes of the city either.”

taytoParkDrivingSchool_large.jpg[/timg

Truly a case of build it, and they will come. And they keep coming back for more. It’s thanks to Ray’s determination to invest in the park, new rides each year (another rollercoaster is planned for two years time) and his firm focus on strong customer service.

I tell him my young children, Peppa Pig devotees, think they are going to Potato City, Mr Potato Head’s theme park in the preschool animation. (The similarities are quite something.) And then Ray tells me he’s even explored the idea of bringing Peppa Pig rides to Meath.

There are already plans for a hotel on site, word on planning permission should come back next month.

In the meantime, the nearby City North hotel caters for much of the park’s overnight visitors. Their current offer, one night B&B in a family room with a family pass to Tayto Park is €170 for a family of four.

Ray hopes visitor numbers, currently at 760,000, will hit the million mark in 2021. Ray will keep investing, he will keep building, and the public – we will come.

City North Hotel offers one night B&B in a deluxe family room with a family pass to Tayto Park for €170 for a family of four.

www.taytopark.ie