Flamingo Land Resort
| Previously known as Yorkshire Zoo, Flamingo Park | |
| Location | North Yorkshire, England |
|---|---|
| Opened | 1959 |
| Owner | Gibb Family (CEO - Gordon Gibb) |
| Slogan | "Wild Animals, Wilder Rides" |
| Operating season | March to October |
| Area | 375 acres (0.586 sq mi) |
| Attractions | |
| Total | Unknown |
| Website | http://www.flamingoland.co.uk |
Flamingo Land Resort is located in North Yorkshire, England. It is noted for being the only site in the country which contains a theme park, zoo, spa / gym / lesiure centre, golf course and holiday accommodation all in one location.
The park is operated by Flamingo Land Ltd which also runs Pleasure Island Family Theme Park in Cleethorpes.
Contemporary overview
The park is set in 375 acres of North Yorkshire countryside, in the Ryedale district with views of the Yorkshire Moors.
As well as being the largest amusement park in North England by quite a size, the park is also the largest and most popular privately-owned amusement park in the United Kingdom[citation needed].Most larger English theme parks that are now owned by national corporations, such as Alton Towers and Thorpe Park.)
During the 2005 season (April until October) the park attracted over 1.4 million visitors (up 11% on the previous season), mostly from the North East of England but also including many from the rest of the country and abroad. At any one time were an estimated 4,000 holidaymakers staying in the holiday village.
History
The Flamingo Park Zoological Gardens were founded within nine acres of land in 1959 by a resident of Scarborough; an entrepreneur in the cinema and theatre industry by the name of Pentland Hick. Hick has been described as both an eccentric and a visionary by his critics. Hick wanted to have dolphins in his park, which at that time were not found anywhere in captivity in the UK. He organised expeditions to many locations around the world to capture bottlenose dolphins and sperm whales, including to the Indian Ocean and off the coast of Greenland. Hick was commended for his treatment of the animals, which were fed well and kept in expansive enclosures.
A colony of pink flamingos were among the first animals to be housed on site and, remaining one of the most popular group of animals in the zoo, the flamingos became a kind of mascot for the entire park (hence Pentland Hick's choice of name for the park.) The descendants of the original flamingos are still resident in the zoo today, and the flamingo colony at the park remains the largest in the country.
Throughout the 1960s a small fun fair began to be held on the site, only to steadily gain momentum and bring more and more visitors to the site. In the 1970s, the fun fair was well established and amusement rides had become a permanent fixture of the park simultaneous to the zoo.
The ownership of the site began to shift about with the steady growth of the park. Pentland Hick floated the company as Associated Pleasure Parks in 1965, and officially renamed the site Yorkshire Zoo on Monday July 12, 1968. Again, with the continued growth of the park, the site was sold again, this time to Scotia Leisure, a company which dealt mainly with bingo halls and package holidays.
However a director of that leisure company was Robert Gibb, who cared for the park greatly and decided to buy the park from the company in 1978 and set up his own board of directors. Gibb renamed the park Flamingo Land and developed the complex so that it was more suited to be a nation-wide instead of a local tourist attraction, including developing the growth of the amusement rides and the uniqueness of the animals cared for in the zoo. It was slow process, but a successful one.
The year 1991 (whilst still under Robert Gibb's management) was one of the most productive in the park's history; it was in this year that the famous rides Bullet and Thunder Mountain were constructed.
Robert Gibb died in a car accident in 1995, and his eighteen-year-old son, Gordon Gibb, became chief executive of the park.
Animals
General overview
One time Flamingo Land claimed to be the largest animal holder of its kind in Europe, housing over 1,000 animals. Flamingo Land houses exotic birds, rare fish and sea-life, mammals and reptiles. Some animals include camels, zebras, bison, guanaco, red deer, hippos, giraffes, meerkats, monkeys, lions, rhinoceros, tigers, sea lions, birds of paradise, peacocks and a female okapi. The park take part in breeding programs an example of which is the Mangabeys featured in the 2006 series of ITV1 show 'Theme Park'.
Affiliations
Flamingo Land has connections to other parks in the country:
Many years ago one of the older Flamingo Land elephants, Jangoli went on to give birth to calves at Chester Zoo - in this manner the elephants at Chester Zoo are descendants of Flamingo Land's elephants. One of the parks current giraffes is also from Chester Zoo.
The park's male, lioness and her cubs were originally located at Longleat Safari Park before moving to Flamingo Land to start a new pride.
Chessington World of Adventures was also once the home of one of the park's sea lions.
African Animals
The parks emphasis is on their collection of African Animals, housed in the Lost Kingdom and African Plains. The parks water ride was designed to give a safari experience before its final drop, and meanders through savannah style grasslands with Giraffe, Ostrich, Zebra, Hippo and Rhino. The ' Forgotten City Lion Reserve' is also located in the middle of the ride.
Holiday village
The park has a large holiday village with static caravans and log cabins. Within the holiday village there are leisure facilities including a leisure centre, a swimming pool and a café.
On the outskirts of the park lies a nine-hole golf course. Also adjacent to the park runs Costa Beck, a stream localy noted with crystal-clear water and fly fishing is available here free to those staying in the holiday village.Trout, Dace, Grayling, Salmon, Kingfisher and Pike can all be found in Costa Beck.
Current areas
Plaza
The main day visitors entrance. Contains food outlets, gift shops, cash machines, pay-to-play game stalls and The Wave Swinger ride, as well as the Professor Bubbles Show.
Metropolis
This area is themed as a busy city. It contains such rides as Velocity, Navigator, Circulator and Corkscrew. Corkscrew was first built in 1980 with a design similar to the Corkscrew at Alton Towers it has operated since 1983. This area of the park has received a lot of attention throughout the seasons with the addition of Velocity, a boosterbike roller coaster manufactured by Vekoma rides. New for 2008 in this area is the 4D cinema showing the "Haunted Lighthouse" film which has also at Busch Gardens and Seaworld.
Seaside Adventure
This area is themed on the ocean and a seaside resort with such themed stores and a seafood restaurant. It contains Britain's second highest drop tower, Cliff Hanger, which is themed as a lighthouse, although it now only has its trademark red and white panels on the lower part of the tower after complaints it spoilt the views from outside the park (it is now painted a 'blend away' grey on the top half).
Splosh!
This area was introduced for summer 2007. "Splish Splash" is a water playground with squirting jets and water dropping palm trees. "Splash Battle" is a submarine themed ride where ride cars and off ride posts around the ride are equipped with water cannons.
New for 2008 in this area is Flip Flop, a Top Swing built by Fabbri. The ride has a large swing through station and sits over a lake with water jet effects.
Little Monsters Den of Mischief
This area is mainly aimed at children, including the Little Monster's Wacky Races and Mischief Mansion. Over the last few years this part of the park has been slowly fazed out to make way for "Muddy Duck Farm" an area themed around the farm animals. This area of the park will see the arrival of the "Helitoy" ride in 2008 which will take centre piece of the area while the go-gator coaster moves to the old "monsters explorium" site which was cleared at the end of 2007 to make way for new rides.
Lost Kingdom Reserve
Holds Flamingo Lands most ambitious projects ever with such rides as Lost River Ride and Voodoo. In 2006 Kumali was built in this area.
African Plains
An all animal area containing no rides and located in a quiet secluded area of the complex.
Current Attractions
Cliff Hanger
Installed 2002 it is the UK's tallest (200 feet (61 m)) vertical drop ride. The ride is themed like a lighthouse. During its opening year the ride was very highly themed with red and white stripes up the tower and a red light upon the top. Unfortunately the light and top 80% of the cladding had to be removed due to complaints that the ride spoilt the view of the oustanding area of natural beauty in which Flamingo Land sits. All that remains now are the lower parts of the cladding and base themeing (including rock and storm battered boat details).
Velocity
Installed 2005 it is the UK's only motorbike launch coaster and is the tallest and fastest of its kind in the world. The ride opened during the summer on 2nd July with a concert at the park called "Velocity 2005 : Party in the Park". it is very popular with guests and is the third most popular ride after the lost river ride and kumali
Navigator
Installed 2005 it was the first 'Mega' "Disk 'O'" type of ride ever to be built.
Kumali
Installed 2006 Kumali is a Vekoma Suspended Looping Coaster. The ride is based upon a standard manufacturer's layout however has several modified sections, including the cobra-roll which Flamingo Land wished to be out over a lake. It is named after one the zoos lions.
The themed Kumali ride music was written and produced by ElectricStreetPolice, a British TV composer by the name of Paul Bickerdike.
Corkscrew
Installed 1993 it is standard Vekoma Corkscrew roller coaster, almost identical to the model at Alton Towers with the same name
Wild Mouse
Installed 1997 is a steel Wild Mouse roller coaster. In 2007, new themed music and announcements were added.It was given a refresh for the 2008 season including a repaint and new station building.
Splash Battle
Installed in July 2007 Splash Battle was the first interactive water ride in the UK. Ride cars themed as submarines travel along a track where targets must be hit to prevent theming objects soaking riders. Cars have water cannons mounted to wet other riders. The area also has land based cannons
Lost River Ride
Installed 2004 it is a boat ride that menders through animal enclosures such as rhinos, hippoes, giraffes and lions. The ride also features a 60ft drop at the end to soak guests.
Flip Flop
This ride opened in the 2008 season. It is a Top Swing model manufactured by the Fabbri group, and features water theming to fit in with the rest of the Splosh! area.
Previous attractions
The face of the park is constantly changing; with old amusement rides being removed and new ones being constructed. Top thrill rides of yesteryear included:
- The Jets (Unknown-2004)
- Magnum Force (2000-2005) - Triple Loop Coaster built by Anton Schwarzkopf, originally toured German funfairs as Dreier Looping. Now located at La Feria de Chapultapec Magico, Mexico City.
- The Bullet (1991-2005) - Schwarzkopf Wiener Looping, previously operated in Austria, Florida, and toured German funfairs. Now in storage, awaiting sale.
- Thunder Mountain (1991-2004) - Enclosed Pinfari Z40.
- Top Gun (1996-2004)
- Klondike Creek (1999-2003) - Tripple drop log flume with a mine theme, believed to have been extended with sections of the removed Drayton Manor log flume. It was an aging ride and was removed when the Lost River was built (a more modern water ride).
- Crazy Loop (1986-1995) - The parks first ever coaster, was relocated to sister park Pleasure Island.
- Terroriser/Circulator (unknown-2007) - The ride left the park in 2007, and was moved to its "sister" park, Pleasure Island.
Flamingo Land in the media
Theme Park is an ITV docusoap shown in the Yorkshire and Tyne Tees Regions, following the behind the scenes activities of Flamingo Land. The first series was broadcast in 2001 and a prominent part of the show was the building of new area "The Little Monsters Den of Mischief" including attractions such as "Mischief Mansion".
The series in 2004 particularly followed the development of the new water ride, The Lost River, which replaced the previous log flume Klondike Creek. The Lost River was Flamingo Land's most ambitious project ever when it was undertaken in 2004. The water ride was a concept attraction which was to form the centre piece of the Lost Kingdom themed area of the park. The idea was to create a safari style ride which also had a thrill element. 2006 saw the third series of the popular ITV1 show. This particularly followed the construction of the parks new coaster for that season, Kumali.
The park's animal collection has also been a main feature of Zoo Vet a programme made by ITV. In one episode on 'Chucklevision', The Chuckle Brothers visit Flamingo Land in search of a pair of underpants which they believe to be of great value. The ride they predominantly ride during the episode appears to be the Corkscrew.
Flamingo Land took up the sponsorship of ITV Yorkshire weather in June 2007 and ITV Tyne Tees weather in July 2007. The campaign ran until the end of the season.
See also
- Lightwater Valley - a smaller theme park, also in North Yorkshire.
- Pleasure Island Family Theme Park - Flamingo Land's 'sister park'. It has been owned by Flamingo Land Ltd since 27 May 1993.
External links
Official websites
- Flamingo Land - main theme park website.
- Flamingo Land Holiday Village Booking - holiday village on-line booking site.
- Flamingo Land Gym and Leisure Centre - website for the Flamingo Land Gym and Leisure Centre.
- Flamingo Land Online Ticket Sales - pre-booking for day visitor tickets.
Related sites
- Flamingo Land Force - the largest and longest running flamingo land site; news, construction, history, pictures, reviews and multimedia.
- Talk Flamingo - active discussion forum about Flamingo Land.
- Flamingo Land Crazy - The biggest, and currently only running Flamingo Land Fan Site on the web. Full of information, news and updates every week!
- Splash Battle - Flamingo Land Crazy - A website looking at the features and construction of the Splash Battle attraction at Flamingo Land. Created by Flamingo Land Crazy.
Theme Park websites
- Flamingo Land at Theme Park Junkies
- Flamingo Land at RollerCoaster Database
- Multimap.com 2002 aerial view of the park
| Types of zoos | |
|---|---|
| Conservation | |
| Lists | |
| Related | |
