Thorpe Park - Timeline

Timeline

Thorpe 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. On 24 May 1979, Thorpe Park was officially opened by Lord 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.

Pre-1987

  • Attractions included 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, at a cost of over £2 million.

1988

  • The 630 seat 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

  • Space Station Zero was re-themed into the Flying Fish and moved outdoors.
  • Carousel Kingdom opened.
  • The Rangers Show opened.
  • Drive in the Country opened.

1991

  • Fantasy Reef area was refurbished.
    • Depth Charge opened.

1992

  • Children's area was 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 purchased the park.
  • Palladium Theatre closed.
  • Ranger Show closed.
  • Dare Devil Drivers opened.
  • Wet Wet Wet! opened.

1999

  • Pirates 4D, a 4D cinema attraction starring Leslie Nielsen, opened.
  • Carousel Kingdom closed.
  • Viking Rowers closed.

2000

  • Tidal Wave, a Shoot the Chute made by Hopkins Rides, opened, becoming the tallest ride in the park at that time. The ride was promoted with a new version of the ThorpePark.com website that featured a skeuomorphic "water-damaged" interface. This was the first attraction website developed by web agency Semantic Limited, who later collaborated on brands for The Tussauds Group and Merlin Entertainments that included (in chronological order) Warwick Castle, Chessington World of Adventures, Tussauds Annual Pass, Merlin Annual Pass, LEGOLAND Discovery Centres, The Dungeons, Blackpool Tower and Weymouth SEALIFE Tower.
  • Dare Devil Drivers closed.
  • "Dino Boats" closed.
  • On 21 July a major fire broke out in the centre of the park.
    • The fire destroyed The Wicked Witches Haunt (previously known as Fantom Fantasia) and the inside area of Mr Rabbit's Tropical Travels. The Wicked Witches Haunt was closed immediately. 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 (now 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. The 2002 website featured a Shockwave 3D "virtual ride" of Colossus.
  • 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.

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 Spider- man 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

  • Eclipse closed mid season due to a lack of riders, having lasted just over one season. It was moved to Chessington and was renamed 'Peeking Heights'.
  • 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.

2005

  • Slammer, an S&S Sky Swat, opened on 26 March, 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 miles per hour (0–130 km/h) in 2.3 seconds, opened with the park on 15 March. A 'Ride It First' competition was held with the lucky winners experiencing Stealth before it opened to the rest of the guests.
  • Zodiac was replaced by another Enterprise, sourced from Drayton Manor.
  • StreetXtreme replaced Stuntzmania in the Arena.

2007

  • Flying Fish returned, located between Tidal Wave and Wet Wet Wet.
  • Thorpe Farm closed, mainly due to a lack of visitors.
  • Canada Creek Railway reopened as a small circuit around Canada Creek, and it no longer travelled to Thorpe Farm. The railway takes a bear hunt where riders spot models of bears around the journey.
  • Ribena's sponsorship contract ended and so 'Ribena Rumba Rapids' changed its name to 'Rumba Rapids'. The ride remained unchanged.
  • Stealth was 'upgraded'. The ride now accelerates from 0–80 miles per hour (0–130 km/h) in 1.8 seconds; previously it had been 2.3 seconds.
  • No show was hosted in the Arena, although the Se7en scare maze was still hosted there in Fright Nights.
  • 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 applied, as limited rides were available. Many rides were still closed for winter maintenance.
  • X:\ No Way Out was slightly refurbished, with a new storyline added about how 'X Laboratories Facility' lost control of their super-computer, thus sending

riders into the strange and disorientating ride. Also, robot dummies and new lighting were added to the queue line and ride.

2008

  • New 4D Cinema film "Time Voyagers" opened to replace "Pirates 4D".
  • It was announced that Canada Creek Railway would not run for the whole season due to construction of SAW: The Ride.
  • The arena was once again used for shows this season after having not been used the previous season.

2009

  • SAW - The Ride, a custom Gerstlauer Euro-fighter rollercoaster opened.
  • Canada Creek Railway re-opened with an altered route.
  • Miss Hippo's Fungle Safari closed.
  • Fastrack for Rumba Rapids.
  • Thorpe Blast was due to return but was cancelled in August.

2010

  • Saw: Alive is opened. This is the park's second Saw-themed attraction, and its first permanent horror maze
  • Two new outlets - Desperados Mexican cantina and The Coffee shack.
  • Thorpe Park adopts a new brand image, aimed towards the teenage and young adult market, introducing the 'Fat Heads' mascots. The entrance is repainted and most signage around the park replaced.
  • Octopus Gardens closes in September and is demolished to make way for the relocation of Storm Surge from Cypress Gardens in 2011.
  • Construction of Storm Surge begins in late September.
  • Thorpe Park released an iPhone App. The app displayed information about shopping, food and drink, queue times, and the park map as well as various other fun & games.

2011

  • Storm Surge opened on 17 March 2011, after being relocated from the former Cypress Gardens in Florida. (Now Legoland Florida )
  • Two new food outlets were opened: Bar 360, replacing 'The Glass House' in the Dome, and Amity Kebabs replacing Amity Bugle in Amity Cove.
  • The official iPhone app was updated to display real-time queue times in the park.
  • On 5 April 2011, a fire broke out at the park and caused major internal damage at the Saw Alive Maze. The maze is gutted by the fire. On 2 May 2011, work started on restoring the attraction.
  • Thorpe Park Blast returns but is renamed as 'Blow It Up'.
  • British wrestling organisation the Frontier Wrestling Alliance (FWA) presented matches over the four day Easter weekend in the Dome in front of thousands of the park's visitors.
  • To celebrate the 10th anniversary of Fright Nights, the park introduced Experiment 10.
  • Time Voyagers 4D closed on 6 November 2011, after just 4 seasons.

2012

  • The Swarm a Bolliger & Mabillard Wing Coaster, opened 15 March 2012
  • Noodle Bar re themed Wild Wong's Noodle Bar
  • Canada Creek Railway closed after 22 years.
  • Amity Fish & Chips re-themed to Battered Fish And Chips
  • Lost City Donut's re-themed to 'Ben & Jerry's Scoop Shack'
  • Thorpe Park introduced smoking areas around the park alike sister parks Alton Towers and Chessington World Of Adventures
  • SAW Alive's operational days cut down to popularity decline, only open during Fright Nights.
  • Single rider queues are removed: the former single rider queue for Flying Fish is now a queue for 'First Place'. That of Stealth's is now an accessible queue for guests with disabilities.
  • To celebrate Colossus's 10th birthday, Thorpe Park opened early.
  • Fright Nights 2012 introduced "The Passing", a new 2nd gate horror maze.

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