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There is also Zodiac (a HUSS enterprise ride) and Quantum (a flying carpet ride). |
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==History== |
==History== |
Revision as of 17:01, 23 April 2012
This article contains content that is written like an advertisement. (October 2011) |
File:ThorpeParkLogo.gif | |
Location | Chertsey, Surrey, United Kingdom |
---|---|
Coordinates | 51°24′17″N 0°30′47″W / 51.40472°N 0.51306°W |
Status | Operating |
Opened | 24 May 1979 |
Owner | Nick Leslau, leased to Merlin Entertainments |
Slogan | The Nation's Thrill Capital |
Operating season | March-October |
Area | 500 acres (2.0 km2) |
Attractions | |
Total | 33 |
Roller coasters | 7 |
Water rides | 4 |
Website | www.thorpepark.com |
Thorpe Park is a theme park in Chertsey, Surrey, England. Thorpe Park has frequent buses from Staines. It was built in 1979 on the site of a gravel pit which was partially flooded, 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.[1][clarification needed]
Some of the major attractions at Thorpe Park include:
- Nemesis Inferno, a Bolliger & Mabillard inverted roller coaster featuring interlocking corkscrews and a pre-lift section themed around a volcano.
- Colossus, an Intamin multi-looping rollercoaster with a record breaking 10 inversions.
- SAW: The Ride, a Gerstlauer Euro-Fighter themed around the Saw franchise.
- Stealth, a launched roller coaster which accelerates to 80 miles per hour (130 km/h) in approximately 1.9 seconds.
- X:\ No Way Out, an enclosed rollercoaster that travels backwards through the dark.
- Loggers Leap, the tallest log flume in the UK from 1989–1993 and from 2005–present.
- Tidal Wave, a 'Shoot the chutes' water ride.
- Storm Surge, Opened in 2011 the ride is said to have been built by some 'Hillbillies' .
- The Swarm, a Wing Coaster that opened on 15 March 2012. It is the tallest in Europe and is themed around an alien attack.
In 2009, the park had 1.87 million visitors, making it the second most visited theme park in the United Kingdom, after Alton Towers with 2.7 Million Visitors. It was the 11th most visited in Europe.[2]
Ride guide
Color | Target audience |
---|---|
Thrill ride | |
Family ride | |
Children's ride |
Roller coasters
# | Name | Opened | Park area | Description |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Colossus | 2002 |
Lost City | Intamin roller coaster with a record-breaking 10 inversions, featuring Corkscrews, Cobra Rolls, and Heartline Twists. |
2 | Flying Fish | 1983 |
Neptune's Kingdom | Originally the indoor, blacked out ride, Space Station Zero, before being moved outside to make space. |
3 | Nemesis Inferno | 2003 |
Calypso Quay | Bolliger & Mabillard Inverted Coaster based around the Theming of a Large Volcano waiting to erupt; features Interlocking Corkscrews, Zero-G Roll and the longest Pre-lift hill section in the world. |
4 | The Swarm | 2012 |
The Swarm Island | A Bolliger & Mabillard Wing Coaster based around an apocalyptic theme with full scale replica elements including a crashed aeroplane. |
5 | SAW - The Ride | 2009 |
SAW Island | Gertslauer Eurofighter Coaster themed around the SAW Horror Movie Franchise, features one of the steepest incline drops in the world, at a height of 100 ft. |
6 | Stealth | 2006 |
Amity Cove | Intamin Powered Launched Coaster taking riders from 0–80 miles per hour (0–129 km/h) in 1.8 secs reaching a height of 205 ft (62 m) with a bunny hill finishing the ride |
7 | X:\ No Way Out | 1996 |
Lost City | A Vekoma roller coaster that goes backwards in the dark. |
Thrill rides
# | Name | Opened | Park Area | Description | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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8 | Detonator | 2001 |
Calypso Quay | Drop Tower | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
9 | Rush | 2005 |
Lost City | A ride with 2 swings which can hold up to 32 people per ride, takes you up to 75 ft. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
10 | Samurai | 2004 |
Lost City | A Mondial Top Scan. Formerly at Chessington World Of Adventures from 1999–2003 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
11 | SAW Alive | 2010 |
SAW Island | An all year round live action horror maze themed to the SAW series of movies. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
12 | Slammer | 2005 |
Canada Creek | An S&S Power Sky Swat, similar to a fly swat action in the air. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
13 | Vortex | 2001 |
Lost City | A KMG Afterburner flat ride. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
14 | Zodiac | 2001 |
Lost City | An Enterprise style ride. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
15 | Quantum | 2004 |
Lost City | Magic Carpet ride.
Water rides
Family rides
HistoryThorpe Park is situated on the site of a former quarry on the border between Chertsey and Egham in Surrey. Then owners Ready Mixed Concrete Limited flooded the site after the quarry's closure in the late 1970s, with the intention of opening an educational leisure park. When Ready Mix Concrete sold out to CEMEX, a CEMEX UK office opened on grounds owned by the park.[3] On 24 May 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.[4][5] 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.[6] In 1998, the park was bought by The Tussauds Group, owner of Alton Towers and Chessington World of Adventures.[3] Due to the latter's proximity to Thorpe Park, Tussauds embarked on a strategy to allow the two parks to cater to different markets: Chessington would be transformed into a family park, and Thorpe Park would cater for the teenage/young adult market.[7] TimelinePre-1987
1983
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
riders into the strange and disorientating ride. Also, robot dummies and new lighting were added to the queue line and ride. 2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
QueuelinesFastrackFastrack 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 is normally popular on busy days and can easily sell out. 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.[9] 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.[10] 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. Thorpe Park have released their prices for the 2012 season. The current packages available in the 2012 season are:
The prices are currently per rider and may only be once. Fastrack tickets are also available for the Fright Night attractions for a bundle price. RecordsThorpe Park has held, and still continues to hold, a number of records for its rides. These include:
MusicThe 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 various attractions including Nemesis Inferno and Colossus respectively. In 2010, the usual entrance theme by Ian Habgood was replaced with chart music. The Swarm has its own theme song made by local band You Me At Six. Saw and Thorpe ParkLionsgate and Twisted Pictures started their partnership with Thorpe Park in March 2009, when SAW - The Ride opened. After this, during Fright Nights 2009, a film called SAW - MOVIE BITES was shown in the Time Voyagers cinema and SAW music was played around the park. A year-round horror maze based on the franchise, named Saw: Alive, was opened in March 2010. It features recreations of scenes from the movies, using live actors and sensory effects to scare visitors. Located on the plaza in between SAW - The Ride and SAW Alive is a SAW Store. Future2012 and beyondTwo new roller coasters are planned and five other rides planned to open between 2012 and 2015. On 31 January 2011, Thorpe Park submitted a planning application for its 2012 Wing Coaster, to be manufactured by Bolliger and Mabillard (B&M) of Switzerland named "The Swarm".[11] With a height of 38.6 metres (127 ft), The Swarm will be the second B&M Wing Coaster to ever be built. It is to be themed around a crash site, focused around the mythical apocalyptic year of 2012, with features such as a broken helicopter and parts of a destroyed aeroplane to be situated around the ride. Riders will also interact with this 'near-miss' scenery whilst riding "The Swarm". The teaser poster for the coaster was released online on 17 December 2010 along with the project codename, "LC12", and the tagline: "The end is coming". The poster depicts a giant mushroom cloud beside a silhouette of Stealth.[12] On 30 March, the plans for The Swarm were approved for construction with full planning consent. At the start of 28 April 2011 marketing of the ride started. Construction of the coaster is due to start in May 2011 for its Spring opening in 2012. On 3 August, it was reported that the first piece of track was delivered to Thorpe Park and was put on the construction site of The Swarm. But only on 11 August were the track pieces photographed for the first time.[13] On 18 November, the official website of "The Swarm" announced that the track had officially been completed, with over 1000 tonnes of steel and almost 800 metres of track installed, two weeks earlier than the scheduled deadline for track completion,The Swarm has been completed and is currently testing, this coaster will be the most themed in the park next to Saw the ride.It is due to open on the 15th March 2012.[14]
Medium Term DevelopmentThorpe Park has released plans for a hotel adjacent to its current car park with a boardwalk and 250 rooms as well as a boat service which would link the park to the hotel.[15] Planning documents outlining other future plans for the park over the period of 2010-2016 were released in early 2010. These plans include updating and extending many facilities; the addition of a few new flat rides within nine potential locations, and two new major roller coasters to be sited within three potential locations. One roller coaster is set to be opened in 2012 (see above) and the other in 2015. Special eventsFright NightsFright Nights, previously named "Frite Nights", is an annual event that has been running at Thorpe Park since 2002.[16] For a period during October the park opens until 10 pm on peak days to allow guests to ride in the dark. To continue the loose Halloween celebration, special temporary attractions such as scare mazes are constructed for the event. Actors in costume and make up are also found around the park, including in the queueline for Saw: The Ride. In 2011 the park have announced the arrival of a new attraction for the 10th birthday of Fright Nights. "Happy Bloody Birthday Fright Nights returns for its 10th terrifying season. More scares, awesome new Fright Night attraction for 2011, some awesome rides in the dark". The new attraction is called 'Experiment 10' Current yearly attractionsThe four main Fright Nights attractions are located around the park. They are usually set up around September and dismantled during February.
Former yearly attractions
In adverts for Fright Nights, the three main roller coasters (Colossus, Stealth, and Nemesis Inferno) are referred to as the "Unholy Trinity"[17] Thorpe BlastThorpe Blast took place after Fright Nights every year in early November. All attractions remained open until 8 pm and a fireworks display with popular music ended the night—hence the name, Thorpe Blast. The event stopped taking place after 2008.And returns for 2011 as announced on Thorpe Park's Website and is called "Blows it up". Sun ScreamSun Scream is a Dr Pepper sponsored period during August which offers 'stunts, rides and festival vibes'. During this time various shows and events take place throughout the park - in 2010 this included karaoke and motorcross show. Cans of Dr Pepper are given out freely during this time and most of the park's theme music is replaced by chart music. Cirque du Freak/Twisted Carnival/THORPE PARK Mash UpTHORPE PARK Mash Up, formerly known as Cirque du Freak and Twisted Carnival is an annual event that takes place during Easter and began in 2010. Past acts have included Flawless, Skate Naked, Aerial Acrobatics and contortionism. The event replaced Head Rush, which now takes place during the Summer. The event was renamed Twisted Carnival for the 2011 season, and included performances from:
More performances take around the park, and feature 'twisted' circus acts. The event is to return in April 2012, renamed 'THORPE PARK Mash Up'. Details of the event have not yet been confirmed. Head RushHead Rush is an extreme sporting event involing motocross stunts. Based in the Arena at Thorpe Park you can witness daredevils take to the ramps on motobikes in a freestyle motorcross bonanza. The park is in association with Xtreme Action. Based from 29 to 2 June you can view in the Arena at 12.30pm, 1pm, 3.30pm & 5pm. Thorpe Park Blows It UpAn extreme firework show reintroduced in 2011 with the previous title 'Thorpe Blast'. The event in 2011 started with a secret celebrity effigy burning which later was revealed as Jedward chosen by the public via Facebook. The second part of the event was the main fireworks display which lasted around 10–15 minutes, in conclusion to the fireworks; sirens sounded with the voice 'stay where you are, we are under attack' echoing around the park, after a short period another voice cuts in with the speed 'attack imminent in 5,4,3,2,1 with the 1 triggering an explosion linked to a fire engine hoysted above the lake. The explosion was a marketing scheme for the 2012 coaster The Swarm. The event also played host the return of the 'Thorpe Park Radio' with up to date tunes playing parkwide. Reload: Under 18's Club NightIntroduced in 2011, the park held an event so under 18's could experience a club night with a select few rides open. Controversy
See alsoReferences
External links |