Thorpe Park
Thorpe Park Resort, commonly known as Thorpe Park, is an amusement park located between the towns of Chertsey and Staines-upon-Thames in Surrey, England. It is operated and owned by Merlin Entertainments and includes rides, a themed hotel, live events and Stealth, the UK's fastest rollercoaster.
After demolition of the Thorpe Park Estate in the 1930s, the site became a gravel pit managed by Ready Mix Concrete (RMC). When the pits were expended, RMC regenerated the site for leisure, opening Thorpe Park as an outdoor activity park in 1979. It has since grown into one of the major theme parks in the UK.
Major attractions include a large water ride Tidal Wave, a number of rollercoasters including Colossus, Nemesis Inferno, Stealth, Saw – The Ride, The Swarm, The Walking Dead: The Ride and dark ride Derren Brown's Ghost Train: Rise of the Demon. Other smaller attractions include a water area called Amity Beach and an Angry Birds themed land. It also has on-site accommodation, the Thorpe Shark Hotel.
The demolition of the Thorpe Park Estate in the 1930s saw the grounds transform into a gravel pit, originally owned by Ready Mixed Concrete Limited. When the pits were expended, RMC flooded part of the site. In 1975 the Water Ski World Championships were held on the site. RMC established a subsidiary, Leisure Sport Limited, to operate a 400-acre park for water sports, leisure and heritage exhibitions, at a cost of £3 million.
The park was officially opened to the public by Lord Louis Mountbatten on the 24th May 1979. In addition to lakes and parkland, the park featured a replica Stone Age cave, Celtic farm, Norman castle and Viking camp as well as ancient water vehicles and aircraft.
In the early 80s, the park redeveloped into a theme park with permanent themed rides and attractions. New attractions were opened throughout the 1980s and 1990s. Space Station Zero was the park's first rollercoaster, opening in 1984. The last large attraction opened by the park's original owners was "X:\No Way Out" in 1996.
In 1998, The Tussauds Group bought the park. From the outset the park started opening key attractions such as Tidal Wave in 2000, Colossus in 2002, Nemesis Inferno in 2003 and Stealth in 2006.
In May 2007, Blackstone Group purchased The Tussauds Group for US$1.9 billion and the company was merged into Merlin Entertainments, who took over operation of Thorpe Park. Dubai International Capital also gained 20% of Merlin Entertainments.
On 17 July 2007, as part of the financing for the Tussauds deal, Merlin sold Thorpe Park, to private investor Nick Leslau and his investment firm Prestbury under a sale and leaseback agreement. Although it is owned by Prestbury, the site is operated by Merlin based on a renewable 35-year lease.
The target audience for the Resort is Teenagers and Young Adults, adding rides such as Saw - The Ride and The Swarm for example. In 2014, Merlin decided to also target a more broad-family based market with new attractions such as Angry Birds Land and the park's onsite hotel.
On 20 February 2019, the official Twitter account of Thorpe Park confirmed the permanent closure of Loggers Leap, a log flume that opened in 1989 but had been closed since 2015.
On the 25 February 2020, Thorpe Park announced the addition of a live action Black Mirror attraction, named Black Mirror Labyrinth, which was scheduled to open in 2020, but was postponed until 2021 due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
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