Pleasurewood Hills
 |
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| Pleasurewood Hills | |
|---|---|
| Location | Lowestoft, Suffolk |
| Coordinates | 52°30′25″N 1°44′40″E / 52.50707°N 1.74443°ECoordinates: 52°30′25″N 1°44′40″E / 52.50707°N 1.74443°E |
| Website | www.pleasurewoodhills.com/ |
| Owner | HIG Capital |
| Opened | 1982 |
| Previous names | New Pleasurewood Hills |
| Operating season | March to October |
| Rides | 30 total
|
Pleasurewood Hills is a theme park on a 59-acre (240,000 m2) site between Corton and Gunton, near Lowestoft, Suffolk. The park contains attractions including three rollercoasters. Its mascot is called Woody Bear, who was given a "sailor" look in 2007. Rides include:
- Wipeout[1] - Vekoma Boomerang roller coaster
- Snake in the Grass (formerly Rattle Snake) - Steel roller coaster
- Enigma (formerly Cannonball Express) - Medium steel roller coaster
Contents |
[edit] History
The park was created by entrepreneur Joe Larter in 1982 as a small American-themed family attraction, containing a miniature railway, Cine 180 and adventure playground. Yearly expansion brought the addition new attractions and general improvements. Controlling interest in the park was sold to RKF, a property development company, in the late 1980s. RKF built attractions including two Sea Life centres (Great Yarmouth & Hunstanton), a Ripley's Believe It or Not (Great Yarmouth seafront) and the 9-mile (14 km) Bure Valley Railway (in Aylsham). It started building a second Pleasurewood Hills style park in Cleethorpes. RKF went bankrupt in early 1991 and its attractions were sold. Some Pleasurewood management staff took control of The Bygone Village at Fleggburgh.
Noel Edmonds converted the Haunted Theatre into Crinkley Bottom Castle in the mid-1990s. The park also featured appearances by Mr Blobby and Edmonds himself.
The park continued in this vein until 1996-7, when it was bought by Leisure Great Britain, a caravan park operator. It owned the park until 2000, when Peter and Peggy Hadden, who had been connected with the park for many years, bought it. The name changed to New Pleasurewood Hills. In 2000 the park bought Magic Mouse.
In 2004, Grévin & Cie, a French leisure group, purchased the site. The name reverted to its original form and in early 2005 the owners said they would spend £3 million on improvements.
Changes included repainting and renaming a number of rides, but the first major investment was in the park's first inverting coaster, Wipeout, with track from the closed American Adventure. The old cars were scrapped and new ones bought from Walibi World.
In 2009 the Mellow Yellow log flume was repainted and had a revamped entrance. It is now called Timber Falls. In 2010 the park put a StreetDance show in the Castle Theatre. In 2010 the park appointed a new manager.
On 30 January 2011, it was announced that the park had been sold to a new company. H.I.G Capital France, in partnership with industry expert Laurent Bruloy, purchased seven leisure parks, including Pleasurewood Hills, from across Europe. The seven parks will benefit from a joint investment of around £1.7million over 5 years.
[edit] Roller Coasters
| Ride | Year opened | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Wipeout | 2007 | A Vekoma Boomerang model. Relocated from the closed American Adventure theme park, where it was known as 'Missile'. |
| Enigma | 1995 | Previously known as 'Cannonball Express', this is the only example of a Jumbo V model by the defunct manufacturer Schwarzkopf. |
| Snake in the Grass | 1986 | Opened as the 'Ladybird Coaster'. Later re-themed to 'Rattlesnake' in 1990, and then 'Snake In The Grass' in 2007. |
[edit] Water Rides
| Ride | Year Opened | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Timber Falls | 1992 | Opened in 1992 as 'White Water Falls'. Later painted and renamed 'Mellow Yellow', and then re-themed as 'Timber Falls' in 2009. |
| Wavebreaker | 1996 | A two-lane dinghy slide. |
[edit] Other Rides
| Ride | Year Opened | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Tales Of The Coast | 1984 | Story telling boat ride. Previously called Fantasy Boat Ride and Voyage To Aladdin's Cave |
| Veteran Cars | 1984 | Vintage car ride travelling round a fixed track |
| The Pirate Ship | 1985 | Swinging pirate ship themed ride |
| Chair Lift | 1987 | Chairlift taking guest from one end of the park to the other. Previously called Merry go straight |
| Woody's Driving School | 1995 | Dodgems |
| Double Deck Carousel | 2001 | Duel Carousel replacing elder single one |
| Kite Flyer | 2004 | Lay down central spin ride |
| Balloon Rays | 2004 | Hot air balloon themed central spin ride |
| Fireball | 2004 | 5G Spinning pendulum ride, previously called Whizzy Dizzy. |
| The Tide Traveller | 2005 | A Huss Tri-star previously called Thunderstruck. |
| Woody's funky flyers | 2008 | Central spin plane themed ride |
| The Jolly Roger | 2012 | A 40m Free fall drop tower. |
| The Pleasurewood Pony Rail | 2012 | A Pony track based ride. |
| The Lighthouse | 2012 | A Child's Lift and drop tower. |
Under new owners HIG Capital France, Pleasurewood hills will be revive 5 new attractions for the 2012 season:
- The Jolly Roger (40m Drop Tower)
- The Pleasurewood Pony Rail (Horse rail ride)
- The Lighthouse (A Froggy hopper tower)
- New Castle Theatre Show (Sean Alexander)
- Laser Labyrinth (Laser Quest type game)
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Map sources for Pleasurewood Hills
- http://www.pleasurewoodhills.com - Official site.
- http://www.rcdb.com/pt290.htm - Facts and timeline used for this article
- http://www.unofficialpleasurewood.co.uk - Unofficial website
