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Thorpe Park
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Thorpe Park is a theme park located in Surrey, United Kingdom. It was built in 1979 on the site of a gravel pit which was partially flooded with the intention of creating a water based theme for the park. The park's first large roller coaster, Colossus, was added in 2002. In 2007, Tussauds was bought out by Merlin Entertainments, who now operate the park on a lease from Nick Leslau.
In 2007, the park had 1.7 million visitors, making it the third most visited amusement/theme park in the United Kingdom, after Alton Towers and Pleasure Beach; and 13th most visited in Europe.
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Encyclopedia
Thorpe Park is a theme park located in Surrey, United Kingdom. It was built in 1979 on the site of a gravel pit which was partially flooded with the intention of creating a water based theme for the park. The park's first large roller coaster, Colossus, was added in 2002. In 2007, Tussauds was bought out by Merlin Entertainments, who now operate the park on a lease from Nick Leslau.
In 2007, the park had 1.7 million visitors, making it the third most visited amusement/theme park in the United Kingdom, after Alton Towers and Pleasure Beach; and 13th most visited in Europe.
History
Thorpe Park is situated on what was a quarry in Chertsey / Staines, up until the late 1970s. Former owners Ready Mix Concrete filled the site with water after the quarry's closure, with the intent to start an educational leisure park. On May 24, 1979, Thorpe Park was officially opened by Louis Mountbatten who lent his name to the Mountbatten Pavilion, a large domed structure located at the entrance to the park. At this early stage in the park's history, the complex consisted of educational exhibitions such as Model World, a collection of famous structures from around the world built in 1:36 scale, with the Mountbatten Pavilion housing a standing aircraft display.
In 1998, the park was bought by The Tussauds Group, owner of Alton Towers and Chessington World of Adventures. Due to the latter's close proximity to Thorpe Park, Tussauds embarked on a strategy to allow the two parks to cater for different markets, with Chessington being transformed into a family park, and Thorpe catering to the thrill-ride market.
Timeline
Pre-1987
- A few attractions including the Cinema, Magic Mill, Waterbus services, Model World, Railway, Teacups, Nature Trails, Phantom Phantasia, Thorpe Farm and Sunken Gardens.
1983
- Space Station Zero opened.
1987
- Thunder River water ride opened.
1988
- Palladium Theatre opened.
1989
- Canada Creek area opened.
- Loggers Leap (largest log flume in the UK until 1993, and again since 2005) opened.
- Rocky Express opened.
1990
- Re-themed Space Station Zero into the Flying Fish.
- Carousel Kingdom opened.
- The Rangers Show opened.
- Drive in the country opened.
1991
- Fantasy Reef area refurbished.
1992
- Children's area refurbished.
- Viking Rowers opened.
- Hudson River Rafters opened.
1993
- Calgary Stampede opened.
- Virtual Reality Centre opened.
- Magic Mill closed.
1994
- Ranger County area opened.
- Carousel opened.
- Mr. Monkey's Banana Ride opened.
1995
- Mr Rabbit's Tropical Travels opened.
- Miss Hippo's Fungle Safari opened.
- Drive in the country closed.
1996
- X:\ No Way Out, the world's first dark backwards roller coaster opened.
1998
- The Tussauds Group purchase the park.
- Palladium Theatre closed.
- Ranger Show closed.
- Dare Devil Drivers opened.
- Wet Wet Wet! opened.
1999
2000
- Tidal Wave, a Shoot the Chute made by Hopkins Rides, opened becoming the tallest ride in the park, at that time.
- Dare Devil Drivers closed.
- Bumper Boats closed.
- On July 21 a major fire broke out in the centre of the park.
- This destroyed The Wicked Witches Haunt and the inside area of Mr Rabbit's Tropical Travels, The Wicked Witches Haunt got closed immediately but Mr Rabbit's Tropical Travels was reopened until the end of the 2001 season, it was then demolished to make way for the 2003 rollercoaster Nemesis Inferno
- A Huss Enterprise was drafted in as a replacement.
2001
- The Lost City area was established, with the Enterprise (that was introduced in 2000) being rethemed and renamed Zodiac and Vortex (A KMG Afterburner) as its first rides.
- Thunder River closed, ready to be revamped into Ribena Rumba Rapids for the 2002 season.
- Detonator, Mega Drop made by Fabbri, opened in Calypso Quay.
2002
- Colossus, an Intamin roller coaster with a record-breaking 10 inversions opened.
- Safari High Dive show opened for one season.
- Thunder River re-opened as Ribena Rumba Rapids.
- Debut of the park's annual Halloween event, Fright Nights.
- "Dino Boats" removed in the Calypso Quay area of the park.
2003
- Nemesis Inferno, a Bolliger & Mabillard inverted roller coaster themed around a tropical volcano opened.
- Also Quantum, a Fabbri magic carpet ride, opened.
- Eclipse, a Fabbri Ferris wheel, opened.
- A Spiderman show was performed in the arena. This continued into 2004 and was replaced in 2005 by Stuntzmania.
- Calgary Stampede closed, to make way for Samurai from Chessington World of Adventures
2004
- Samurai, a Mondial Top Scan, moved from Chessington, opened.
- New Spiderman show opened.
- Tea Cup Twisters rethemed to 'Storm in a Tea Cup' to fit with nearby Amity Cove's theming.
- Flying Fish closed at the end of the season to make way for Stealth in 2006.
- Eclipse closed at the end of the season due to lack of riders, only lasting one season. It was moved to Chessington and renamed 'Peeking Heights'.
2005
- Slammer, an S&S Sky Swat, opened on March 26th, after being delayed due to technical issues.
- Rush, an S&S Screamin' Swing and the world's biggest air-powered speed swing (Until the opening of Skyhawk at Cedar Point in the US), opened during the afternoon of 27 May.
2006
- Stealth, an Intamin Accelerator Coaster which launches riders from 0-80 mph in 2.3 seconds opens with the park on March 15th. A 'Ride It First' competition was held with the lucky winners experiencing Stealth before it opened to the rest of the guests.
- Zodiac is replaced by another Enterprise, sourced from Drayton Manor.
- StreetXtreme replaces Stuntzmania in the Arena.
2007
- Flying Fish returned, located between Tidal Wave and Wet Wet Wet.
- Thorpe Farm closes. Lack of visitors is the main reason for the closure.
- Canada Creek Railway reopened as a small circuit around Canada Creek, and it no longer travelled to Thorpe Farm. The railway takes a 'Spot the Bear' theme, the bear hunt.
- Ribena's sponsorship contract ends and so "Ribena Rumba Rapids" changes its name to 'Rumba Rapids'. The ride remains unchanged.
- Stealth is 'upgraded'. The ride now accelerates from 0-80 mph in 1.8 seconds, previously it was 2.3 seconds .
- StreetXtreme removed, no show is currently hosted in the arena although planning permission has been applied for to host the Se7en marquee for a period of 5 years, starting from October 2007. .
- The park started opening for February half term, in previous years the park had not opened for the season until March. During February reduced entrance fees apply as limited rides are available. Many rides are still closed for winter maintenance.
2008
- New 4D Cinema film "Time Voyagers" to replace "Pirates 4D" opens.
- It is announced that Canada Creek Railway will not run for the whole season due to construction of SAW: The Ride.
- Arena is once again used for shows this season after not being used last season.
2009
- SAW: The Ride, it is to open on the 14th March.
- Miss Hippo's Fungle Safari electric car ride was removed.
- Canada Creek Railway reopens in conjunction with SAW: The Ride, with a slightly altered route.
Park guide
Thorpe Park is split up into eight themed areas, although they are not used often in the park.
Port Atlantis
Known more commonly as "The Dome", Port Atlantis has a marine theme. This building contains such essentials as guest services, shops, toilets, lockers, a bar and staff areas. It includes a large restaurant called 'The Glasshouse'. When the park initially opened this was known as the Mountbatten Pavilion.
Lost City
Lost City is the largest area in Thorpe Park, hosting the majority of the rides in the park. It is based around a Mayan temple/land.
- Colossus, a roller coaster with 10 inversions built by Swiss manufacturer Intamin. Upon its opening in 2002, it broke the world record for the roller coaster with the most inversions. The ride currently jointly holds this record along with an identical ride in China. The soundtrack for colossus was composed by Ian Habgood.
- Samurai, a Mondial Top Scan which originally opened in 1999 at Chessington World of Adventures. It moved to Thorpe Park in 2004 with a new colour scheme following refurbishment.
- Vortex, a 32-seater park-based model of the KMG Afterburner. The ride opened in 2001.
- Quantum, a Fabbri Magic Carpet ride, opened in 2003.
- Zodiac, a Huss Enterprise. In 2000, following the destruction of the Wicked Witches Haunt, the park purchased an ex-German Travelling Huss Enterprise as a filler attraction. This was refurbished and themed to blend into Lost City for 2001 but was removed at the end of 2006 only to be replaced by another from Drayton Manor, with all the original theming (the zodiac signs and sun shapes) gone with the old Zodiac.
- X:\ No Way Out. Housed within a terracotta-coloured pyramid is the world's first and only backwards in-the-dark roller coaster which opened in 1996. It is an 'Enigma' manufactured by Vekoma and has been through a number of changes, such as: the on-train sounds were replaced by on-ride sounds and a large section of the queue line was cut off for the temporary Fright Nights attraction, Freakshow 3-D. In 2007, the ride was refurbished and now has a storyline added and the robot dummies from the original queueline have been put on the third animation block brake run of the ride.
- Rush, an S&S Screaming Swing. The ride features two arms which seat 32 people, secured by lap bars. Opened in 2005. Compressed air is used to propel the arms up to a height of around 60ft. The ride lost its crown as the world's largest Screaming Swing when Cedar Point opened a larger model.
Calypso Quay
Calypso Quay is home to:
- Nemesis Inferno — a Bolliger & Mabillard inverted roller coaster. It is marketed as the 'sister' ride of the original Nemesis at Alton Towers, which is also a B&M inverted roller coaster, and a sign along the ride exit invites riders to visit Nemesis at Alton Towers. Themed as an escape from a volcano.
- Detonator — a Fabbri drop tower in which riders are hoisted up 115 ft, with legs dangling, and launched down by pneumatics. This gives a comparable amount of airtime to freefalling from a tower twice as tall.
- Time Voyagers — a 4D cinema with water and vibrating effects in the seats.
- Rumba Rapids — a river rapids ride by Intamin, which was updated from Thunder River in 2002 for a sponsorship deal with Ribena (and renamed 'Ribena Rumba Rapids'). The sponsorship ended for the 2007 season, so the ride was renamed again to simply 'Rumba Rapids'.
- Storm in a Tea Cup — this ride was rethemed to look worn down and damaged to fit with nearby Amity Cove's Tidal Wave theming.
Canada Creek
Themed around a Canadian creek, this area is home to:
- Loggers Leap — a log flume which is themed around logging in Canada (hence the boats are themed as "logs"). Features two drops (one indoors/underground). The larger of the two drops contains a straight section (double drop) which adds airtime to the ride. Currently the tallest Log Flume in the UK.
- Slammer — an S&S Power Sky Swat, located to the rear of X:\ No Way Out. This ride is the first Sky Swat outside of America, and only the second to be built by the company.
- Rocky Express — small, circular roundabout-type ride for younger visitors.
- Canada Creek Railway — A miniature railway that runs through Canada Creek and around Loggers Leap, offering views of forest land and the lake the park is built inside. From 1989 until 2006 the railway ran to Thorpe Farm, but was re-routed to its current shorter route ready for the 2007 season, with the closure of Thorpe Farm. The ride is mainly aimed at family groups and since the closure of Thorpe Farm the ride has adopted a bear hunt theme, where riders are invited to see how many bears they can spot during the journey (there are models of bears at various locations around the track). The ride is closed for the 2008 season due to work on Thorpe Park's new 2009 roller-coaster.
- SAW: The Ride— Opens March 14th 2009. A Eurofighter roller coaster with a beyond vertical drop of 100 degrees. Based on the successful "Saw" film series.
Amity Cove
Themed around a 1950s New-Hampshire fishing village devastated by a tidal wave. It has its own park radio station, WWTP radio, hosted by 'Big Bob'. The rides in this area include:
- Tidal Wave — a "Shoot the Chute" style ride from O.D. Hopkins, on which riders are carried in a 4-tonne reinforced GRP hull to a height of 85 feet over a 3 million gallon lagoon. The boat is then dropped down a track into the lagoon with an impact force of 1.5g, forcing 3 tonnes of water into the air. Most of this water either shoots straight up and lands back on the riders, or shoots forward in a long spray that reaches a 'Splash Zone' where spectators can stand.
- Stealth — Thorpe Park's signature ride which opened in 2006. Stealth is an Accelerator Coaster designed by Intamin AG and features a hydraulic 80 mph (129 km/h) launch up a 205 ft top hat incline at approx 3gs, a vertical drop and a large "airtime" hill. In 2007 Stealth was upgraded to Stealth 1.1. The upgrade was in the ride's acceleration - it now launches riders to 80mph in 1.8 seconds as opposed to the original 2.3 seconds.
- Flying Fish — Small Mack powered roller coaster. Removed in 2005 to make way for Stealth, but now was re-installed between Tidal Wave and Depth Charge in 2007. After being re-installed, a brand new train was used with orange cars and a new 'Surfer Dude' theme has been adopted. The Flying Fish was originally called Space Station Zero when it was installed in 1979.
Ranger County
Ranger County is themed around the old "Thorpe Park Rangers" mascots. It is the smallest area in the park and is all that survives from the original Thorpe Park family areas. It is likely to be closed in the next few years. The current rides consist of:
- Mr Monkey's Banana Ride — A small swinging ship type ride, themed to a banana. This famously appeared on the indents of the Thorpe Park Programme.
- Chief Ranger's Carousel — A standard carousel containing figurines of the Thorpe Park rangers and vehicles themed as current and past rides. These include a Logger's Leap boat, a Thunder River boat, a Wicked Witches Haunt car, a Hudson River Rafters raft, an old Flying Fish car, an old Teacup car from Teacup Twisters, a Viking Rowers boat and a Mr Elephant car (as well as the traditional carousel horses).
"The Showcase" is a small, covered stage. This was once home to shows featuring the Thorpe Park Rangers, since then the Showcase has been used for karaoke and is currently showing the "Top Rockers" show during busy periods.
Neptune's Kingdom
Themed around the mythical kingdom of Atlantis. The area is the smallest in the park with only one major ride. The area is home to:
- Depth Charge — A 40ft tall four lane water slide, in which riders sit in dinghies. Atop the ride's station is a well themed crashed submarine as well as starfish and coral dotted around the area. When opened in 1991, Depth Charge was advertised as being the "World's First Four Lane Water Slide".
- Neptune's Beach — two large paddling pools for small children with various fountains and an imitation sandy beach. The attraction is rarely open due to cold weather and lack of people bringing their simming suits.
- Wet Wet Wet — 3 water chutes differing in height.
- Sea Snakes and Ladders — 1.2m in height, ideal for young thrill seekers.
Octopus' Garden
Located in the area between Port Atlantis, Amity Cove and X:\No Way Out. Octopus Garden is a small aquatic-themed area with several small rides for very young children. There are seven rides:
- Swinging Seashells - a small Ferris wheel which contains seashell themed cars, each seating four children
- Fantasy Fish - a small carousel type ride which contains individual fish which the children can sit on top of (like carousel horses although they don't move) and fish that two children can sit inside. The ride then rotates at a slow speed.
- Galleon Race - a round ride with boat shaped cars. The ride rotates round, and as the ride rotates the boats move over small bumps.
- Happy Halibuts - another round ride with suspended fish shaped cars which are free to swing. The ride rotates and lifts to an angle, with the cars being free to swing under centripetal force. This ride is the only ride in the area to have a minimum height restriction, which is 0.9m.
- Ollie Octopus - a round ride with one continuous ring shaped car which the children sit in. The ride rotates slowly and lifts at an angle.
- Up Periscope - a round ride with submarine shaped cars. The cars rise and the ride rotates.
- Slippery Serpent - a small track based ride, with a small train which moves slowly around the track.
Each ride has a maximum height restriction of 1.3m, the only ride which has a special exception is Slippery Serpent where a guest over 1.3m can accompany one under 1.3m.
All rides are usually open, although there are usually fewer operators in the area than rides available and so the operators rotate around the rides when they are available to do so.
The area also has a Donuts shop and an entrance to Thorpe Mega Store.
Queuelines
Fastrack is the current name for a priority queuing system in place at Thorpe Park as well as other Merlin parks. The system is based on the idea of assigning a limited number of guests a time to ride a particular attraction and allowing them reduced queuing time. The system has worked in a number of ways at the park and under a number of different names.
Fastrack Queueline
The Fastrack queue is a shorter queueline that joins on to the main line - minimising queue time. The visitors have to pay to use the shorter line, and are given tickets to be used at a certain time, letting them enter the Fastrack line.
The first such system to be introduced, which was trialled for three seasons, emerged in the 1990s and attracted attention from BBC programme Tomorrow's World. This system gave guests a pager-like device which beeped when it was their slot on a particular ride.
The Virtual Q system emerged in 2000 and worked by using a number of machines by the entrance to a ride where guests would scan their park tickets and received a printed out a ticket with a time to ride the particular ride. The system was renamed "Fastrack" in 2003 .
The current system is based on the "4Play" ticket which was introduced in 2004 as an adjunct to the ticket machine issued Fastrack tickets. The ticket allowed guests to pay £4 and get a non time limited ticket for one Fastrack ride on Colossus, Nemesis Inferno, Tidal Wave and Logger's Leap. The range of rides that Fastrack is offered on has since been extended. From 2006, tickets could be purchased in themed packages or individually. Fastrack tickets are also available for Thorpe Park's Fright Night maze attractions. The current packages available are:
- Adrenalin - one Fastrack ride on Rush, Slammer, Samurai, Vortex
- Extreme - one Fastrack ride on Colossus, Nemesis Inferno, X:\No Way Out and then either Tidal Wave or Loggers Leap
- Stealth Only ('Pole Position' front seat tickets are available at an additional charge)
- Hydration - one ride on Rumba Rapids, Tidal Wave & Logger's Leap.
- Ultimate - a wristband which allows unlimited Fastrack access to Fastrack rides (Colossus, Stealth, Nemesis Inferno, X:\No Way Out, Tidal Wave, Logger's Leap, Flying Fish, Rush, Slammer, Samurai, Vortex, Rumba Rapids) all day.
Single Rider Queue
As another way of aiming to reduce guests' queuing times, Thorpe Park also operates single rider queue lines as an adjunct to Fastrack. Single Rider is available on Stealth, almost every day, and also on Flying Fish on busy days. The system allows people who don't mind riding alone another way to queue in a separate queue line. If a single spare seat becomes available, then a single rider would be admitted, potentially reducing the queue time . Riders are informed that the single rider queue may be as long as the main queue.
Records
Thorpe Park has held, and still continues to hold, a number of records for its rides. These include:
- Colossus was the world's first roller coaster to feature ten inversions (the highest number of inversions in the world). It has not been succeeded by any other coaster, but equalled by an identical coaster in China.
- Stealth was previously the fastest rollercoaster in Europe until Furious Baco took the record in 2007. Stealth still holds the record for the fastest acceleration of any rollercoaster in Europe (0-80 mph in 1.8 seconds as opposed to Furious Baco's 0-83.9 mph in 3.5 seconds).
- X:\ No Way Out opened as, and is still, the world's only backwards in-the-dark roller coaster.
- Loggers Leap is the tallest log flume in the UK, although it lost that record for several years to The American Adventure's "Nightmare Niagara", then regained the record when that ride was removed.
- Tidal Wave was the tallest water ride in Europe until 2002.
- Nemesis Inferno has the longest pre lift section of any inverted B&M coaster in the world, and is the only inverted coaster to feature interlocking wingovers (corkscrews)
- Saw: The Ride It will be the only roller coaster in the world to be themed on a horror movie. SAW: The Ride will have worlds steepest free fall drop when it opens with a drop of 100°.
Music
The music played at Thorpe park is a combination of commercial tracks, library music and commissioned music. Composers such as Crispin Merrell and Ian Habgood have composed music for attractions including Colossus and Pirates 4D.
Special events
Fright Nights
Fright Nights have been running at Thorpe Park since 2002 . For a period during October the park opens until 8pm on off peak days and 10pm on peak days (11pm in 2003) to allow guests to ride the rides in the dark along with some additional attractions. Some of the extra attractions that have featured over the years are:
Current attractions
- The Asylum is a 'Live Action Horror Maze' attraction which has been a part of Fright Nights since 2005, replacing The Freezer. It uses a maze of chicken wire fencing, smoke and strobe lighting to disorentate, and involves various actors, including a patient armed with a chainsaw near the exit.
- Hellgate is another maze, and was first introduced in 2005, located at the rear of X:\No Way Out. The attraction is based on a run down stately home, ruled by the fictional evil spirts of Lady and Lord Denham.
- SE7EN open in 2006 is the gruesome third maze, based on the Seven Deadly Sins - Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Sloth, Wrath, Envy and Pride. The attraction is situated in the Arena in the centre of the park where a temporary structure is erected inside a tent.
- The Curse is the latest edition to Thorpe Parks horror mazes. Opening at the 2008 Fright Nights, this maze is based around an old ship wreck which was washed ashore to Amity Cove.
(These four attractions are not recomended for anyone below the age of 12.)
- Circus of Horrors a freak show which takes place in the Time Voyagers theatre.
Former attractions
- For 2002 only, the stretch of park from Canada Creek through Ranger County was converted into Scare-Zone. Two haunted-mazes, The Freezer and Freakshow 3-D were installed at either end of the area.
- The Freezer ran from 2002 until 2004. The attraction consisted of a maze which was entered through a large freezer-style door. The Freezer was altered slightly for the 2005 season and was renamed The Asylum.
- Freakshow 3-D ran from 2002 until 2004 Guests wore 3D glasses through the maze style attraction.
- Ultimate Horror Movie Bites was a film shown in the Pirates 4D building
comprising of a montage of horror films.
In adverts for Fright Nights, the three main rollercoasters (Colossus, Stealth, and Nemesis Inferno) are referred to as the "Unholy Trinity"
Thorpe Blast
Thorpe Blast is the name for Thorpe Park's annual fireworks display. The event is held during the first weekend of November, and features music and late closing.
Future Attractions
Saw - The Ride
On 16 November 2007, planning permission for a Gerstlauer Euro-Fighter roller coaster was applied for, and has now been accepted. It is expected to open March 14th 2009. The upcoming ride will be located in the Canada Creek area of the park and the queue line will be located on the new island which has been created in Abbey lake next to the Samurai entrance, with an additional new path being created via the walkway under Colossus's inline twists. The ride is expected to include a 100ft drop reaching an angle of 100 degrees (the second steepest drop in the world) and three inversions, including a dive loop, Immelmann loop, and a barrel roll in the dark before the main drop. The previous layout included four inversions but was revised in May 2008; the third inversion in the layout was removed and replaced with an airtime hill. On 13 October 2008, the ride's name and theme was released as Saw: The Ride, based on the movie series of the same name. It will be the first Roller Coaster in the world to have a horror movie theme. The ride is expected to open on 14 March, 2009.
The space which once occupied Miss Hippo's Fungle Safari is being cleared and it is likely a new ride will be built there.
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