Pleasure Island Family Theme Park

Pleasure Island Family Theme Park

The logo for the 2008 season
Slogan	Previous: "Discover the Magic" "Don't you wish you were here?" Current: "Find yourself in a world of adventure"
Location	Cleethorpes, North-East Lincolnshire, England
Coordinates	53°32′36.26″N 0°00′29.48″W
Owner	DewarSavile Enterprises Limited (Melanie Wood)
General Manager	Neil Ireland
Opened	27 May 1993
Operating season	13 April to 30 October
Rides
Total	46/47 attractions
Roller coasters	3
Water rides	2
Website	www.pleasure-island.co.uk
Previously owned by Flamingo Land Ltd

Pleasure Island Family Theme Park is a Theme Park in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England. It is commonly known simply as Pleasure Island. The park opened on 27 May 1993 and was originally a subsidiary of Flamingo Land Ltd. Pleasure Island became independent of Flamingo Land in May 2010 and is now owned and operated by DewarSavile Enterprises Ltd.

History

Pleasure Island Family Theme Park stands on the site of the former Cleethorpes Zoo. Owned and operated by Associated Pleasure Parks, the zoo had such attractions as seals, penguins, raccoons, pelicans, chimpanzees, a whale, African elephant, tiger and an orangutan. The zoo subsequently closed in 1977. The site was sold to Pleasureworld, a division of RKF Entertainment, who announced that a new theme park would be built, as a sister park to the Pleasurewood Hills park near Lowestoft and bearing the same name. Construction began on the new theme park in the 1980s.

RKF Entertainment went into receivership during the early 1990s and construction of the park was halted. The site was sold to Robert Gibb, the Managing Director of Flamingo Land in Malton, North Yorkshire. When the opportunity to purchase the Cleethorpes site became available, Gibb decided to continue with the redevelopment of the site as a theme park, which became today's Pleasure Island. Construction of the park was completed by Gibb in 1992 and Pleasure Island Family Theme Park was opened on 27 May 1993. Robert Gibb's son, Gordon Gibb, later became the Chief Executive of the company and directly runs Flamingo Land, while his sister Vicky Gibb, and subsequently other sister Melanie Wood (formerly Gibb), took the responsibility for the management of Pleasure Island.

In 2010, Melanie Wood, completed her desire to take ownership of the park, separate from the family company. Pleasure Island is now operated by Dewarsavile Enterprises Ltd, directed by Mrs Wood. This marked the end of Pleasure Island and Flamingo Land's association and the two parks are now independent of each other.

In 2013, the farm and petting zoo including tractor ride is going to be added replacing electric monorail.

Closure

It was as a result of the most recent ownership transfer that on 14 April 2010, the Grimsby Telegraph website broke news that the park had closed. Staff had turned up for work and were given letters informing them of termination to their employment. Visitors were turned away at the gate. Later stories suggested that the closure was caused by a breakdown in negotiations about the park's ownership. Previously a sister park of Flamingo Land, negotiations were taking place to separate the two parks, with current managing director of Pleasure Island Melanie Wood taking control of the park.

The speculation about the park's future caused a great deal of concern amongst local businesses, staff and visitors, that the attraction was to close permanently.

Reopening

Pleasure Island Family Theme Park reopened under its new ownership on 1 May 2010 at 10:30 am. The McCormacks Family Bar Reopened 30 April at 7 pm.

Areas

The theme park is split into 6 areas:

• Africa, themed around Africa. and is the largest area of Pleasure island holding 1/7 of the white knuckle rides.
• Kiddies Kingdom, home to the rides for especially young children.
• Morocco, themed around the country of Morocco. it also holds 3/7 of the white knuckle rides which are the Alakazam, Hydromax and the Hyper Blaster.
• Old England, themed around England in the past (possibly Tudor times), this area contains the park entrance. and is the smallest area of Pleasure Island.
• Spain, themed around Spain and is nearly as small as Old England, this area is mainly based around things other than rides as it only has 1.
• White Knuckle Valley, home to 3/7 of the white knuckle rides these being the Boomerang (a Vekoma Boomerang rollercoaster), the Pendulus and lastly, the Terror Rack.

Height restrictions

Pendulus

The minimum heights are colour-coded as follows:

• Red, 55in.
• Purple, 1.3m.
• Blue, 1.2m.
• Green, 1.2m unless accompanied by an adult.
• Yellow, 1.1m unless accompanied by an adult.
• Pink, children only.
• White, no restriction.

Rides

Current rides

Ride name	Height Restriction	Zone	Type	Opened	Description
Alakazam	Purple	Morocco	HUSS Flyaway		A variation of the HUSS Enterprise ride, riders lie face down in a harness and are spun through 360 degrees. This ride is the only Huss Flyaway in the UK and can now spin backwards 360 degrees.
Aquasphere	White	White Knuckle Valley	Aquasphere		A pool filled with water in which rubber balls containing passengers float on top of.
Astra Slide	White	White Knuckle Valley	Slide		A traditional fair-ground slide with riders sitting in a sack to protect clothing and increase speed down the slide.
The Boomerang	Purple	White Knuckle Valley	Vekoma Boomerang	1993	A shuttle Roller Coaster incorporating a vertical loop and a cobra roll. It drops riders through inversions twice, both forward and backward. It produces a maximum g force of 5.2g, higher than any other roller coaster design operating in the UK
Carousel	White	Kiddies Kingdom	Carousel		A traditional fair-ground Carousel ride
Century 2000	Green	White Knuckle Valley			A flying car ride, themed around spaceships. It was originally situated in Africa where the Obliterator is now before being moved to the edge of White Knuckle Valley next to the Hydromax and has been re-colored red instead of white with blue and red cars instead of different colored cars
Clown Slide	Pink	Kiddie's Kingdom	Slide		A clown-themed slide.
Cycle Monorail	Red	Spain	Cycle Monorail		A monorail powered by the pedalling of the riders and a set of bicycle-like pedals.
Dodgems	Red	Morocco	Dodgems
Electric Monorail	Green	Kiddie's Kingdom	Monorail		An electrically powered monorail which takes riders over Kiddie's Kingdom and parts of White Knuckle Valley, in the end of the 2012, the ride is closing.
Shrieksville	Over 7's	Africa	Ghost train	2010	A new ghost train-style ride, with six themed areas, including a Graveyard and a Quarry.
Falls of Fear	Yellow	Africa	Water Slide		A water slide set inside dark tubes where the riders slide down in rubber boats.
Flying Chairs	Yellow	Old England	Chairoplane		A traditional Chairoplane ride. It is also the first ride seen in the park as it is right next to the entrance, Pleasure Island have also increased the speed of the ride for the 2011 season.
Frog Hopper	Pink	Old England			A smaller version of the Hyper Blaster with a frog theme, specifically for children. It used to be in located in Africa before being moved to Old England next to the Flying Chairs
Galleon	Blue	Morocco	Pirate Ship (ride)		A swinging pirate ship. The park was previously home to a ride of the same name which rotated passengers upside down through 360 degrees. It was replaced with a smaller ride that swings passengers through an almost 90-degree curve, located on a site formerly occupied by a 1001 Nights swinging gondola ride.
Go-Gator	Pink	Africa	Roller Coaster	1993	A very small children's roller coaster with a cartoon alligator theme.
Go-Karts	Red	Go-Karts	Go-Kart		Two riders get into one of two cars and race around a track.
Gravitron	Blue	Morocco	Gravitron		A spinning spaceship-themed ride that uses centrifugal force to hold riders against the walls. It was originally situated at Alton Towers under the same name and is the only Gravitron in the UK.
Hydromax	Purple	Morocco	Booster		A FarFabbri Booster ride with a turning set of seats on each end of a long spinning arm. This ride was designed by two youngsters, Jonathan Smith from Chesterfield and a young girl, Emily Beatson from Worksop, and was also featured on ITV Yorkshire's Calendar. Not only that, but it is probably the most popular ride in the park for thrill seekers and is thought to have come from Blackpool Pleasure Beach as one of the 2 Spin Doctors.[citation needed]
Hyper Blaster	Red	Morocco	S&S Double Shot tower		An S&S 90 ft (27 m) Double Shot tower attraction which launches riders 90 feet into the air with huge amounts of air time.
Major Orbit	Pink	Africa			A ride based around space that rotates as it tilts higher.
Mini Mine Train	Yellow	Africa	Vekoma Roller Coaster	1993	A Vekoma roller-skater coaster themed on an African mine which runs around the track twice.
Obliterator	Red	Africa	Evolution Ride	2008	Similar to the Pendulus but the seats turn on a horizontal axis in addition to the turning and swinging movements which forces the ride to go upside down straight-away. The ride opened at the beginning of the 2008 peak season after being moved from Flamingo Land.
Para Tower	Green	Kiddies Kingdom			A vertical tower ride in which the riders stand in a metal basket which is then winched up into the air, and then dropped after a delay.
Paratrooper	Yellow	Africa	Paratrooper		A suspended spinning and rising ride.
Pendulus	Red	White Knuckle Valley	Frisbee Ride	2004	A very fast spinning and large swinging gondola attraction built by Huss Rides, themed around the swinging pendulum of a clock with numbers 1–12 printed on the bottom of the gondola, the only HUSS Frisbee ride in the UK
Razzle Dazzle	Green	White Knuckle Valley	Trabant		A Mexican hat style ride which spins before rising and falling in a wavelike fashion.
Lake Boats	Green	Morocco	Pedal Boat		Pedal boats. These are ridden around the lake in the centre of the park and were formerly known as the swan boats.
Terror Rack	Red	White Knuckle Valley	Top Spin		A Fabbri Top Spin double-sided ride with no water fountains but suspends riders upside down much more than the normal HUSS Top spins and lasts longer upside down. Also it is notable that the ride was originally situated at Fantasy Island called the "Topsey Turvey" before being sent to Pleasure Island in 1997.
Tommy Tinkaboo's 'Sweet Adventure' Water Ride	White	Spain	Lazy River		An indoor water adventure-themed around a sweet factory, featuring the park's mascot, Tommy Tinkaboo. Revamped by Rex Studios.
Whirly Twirl	Yellow	Africa	Tilt-A-Whirl		A Waltzer style ride, where riders sit in 'shells' that spin around freely.

The Boomerang

Hydro Max

Former Rides

• Condor. A HUSS Condor Stood on the site of Kiddies Cove, before being sold at auction.
• 1001 Nights, replaced by The Galleon.
• Dream Boat, Stood where the Hydro Max is now.
• Big Splash, A unique water ride replaced by The Falls of Fear.
• Crazy Loop, A Pinfari Double-Looping Roller Coaster that also previously operated at Flamingo Land under the same name. It is now located in Brean Leisure Park as "Shockwave".
• 4 Man Bob, A small Schwarzkopf Bobsleigh Roller Coaster which was replaced by Crazy Loop.
• Pony Rodeo, A small monorail like rollercoaster themed around riding a horse

Shows

• Masai Warriors Show, introduced during ownership by Flamingo Land as a copy of their highly successful Bongo Warriors Show (Africa)
• Bird Show, parrots, barn owls and red legged seriema performing tricks. (Spain)
• Sea Lion Show, sea lions performing tricks. (Morocco)
• Tommy Tinkaboo Musical Extravaganza. (Morocco)
• The Basil Brush Laughter Show. (Africa)
• High School Summer (Set As The Movie 'High School Musical 1 + 2) (Morocco)

Restaurants and eateries

• Food Court. (Spain)
• McCormack's Family Bar, a family themed restaurant and bar, selling Traditional British Pub meals. (Old England)
• Lakeside, selling Chilled Drinks, and Hot and Cold Snacks.
• Tommy's Kiosk and Cafe, selling Chilled Drinks, and Hot and Cold Snacks.
• Fatimas Fish & Chips, a Fish and Chip shop.
• Sinbads Ice Cream Parlour, an Ice Cream shop, selling Ice Creams, Lollies, and chilled Drinks.
• Carousel, a Snack Bar located in the Carousel building.

Shops

• Tinkaboo Sweet Shop, a sweet shop at the exit of Tommy Tinkaboo's Sweet Adventure. (Spain)
• Gift Shop. (Old England)
• Shrieksville Shop Of Horrors (Africa)

Others

• Ali Baba's Arcade. (Morocco) a Small Arcade located next to the Gravitron and next to the Spain area, it also hosts some toilets
• Kiddies' Cove. A play area for young Children including swings and a few benches etc. It is located next to the Seal Show and Century 2000

External links

• Pleasure Island Official website
• Pleasure Island at Theme Park Junkies
• Pleasure Island at ARDcoasters.com
• Pleasure Island at ThemeParks-UK