Play-and-Stay Blog

There was a worrying trend amongst many UK theme parks during 2006 - in two cases financial losses led to owners and investors sadly deciding upon closure as the most viable option.

The last year saw the sudden closure of Southport’s Pleasureland after 94 years of providing fun rides to the public, there was also outrage at the demolishing of its Cyclone, a roller wooden roller coaster that had been in operation since 1937. Meanwhile, in Derbyshire, The American Adventure also was forced into shutting its doors. The problems faced for smaller theme parks are clear from a press release after the closure of Pleasureland:

‘It must be acknowledged that the UK theme park industry as a whole is facing increased competition from publicly-funded and lottery-funded attractions which have significantly distorted the visitor attractions market. This situation has been compounded by our weekend trading now competing with extended Sunday shopping rules and Sunday sporting events.’

The demise of these two family favourites probably had much to do with competition from larger and more diverse local rivals, with two parks that are often regarded within the world’s best; namely Alton Towers. It is also rather unfortunate that the theme park industry in the UK has to compete with something it can do very little about: the weather, which even in the Summer, can be quite unsavoury for a whole day outside!

Whilst two theme parks did close in 2006, it seems unlikely that others in the country will follow suit, and certainly not in the forseeable future! Sure, for the 2007 season there has been hasn’t been the arrival of world beating rides, like when Stealth launched at Thorpe Park just last season, or when Valhalla opened its doors at Pleasure Beach back in 2000 with the acclaim of being the ‘world’s best water ride’, but there certainly is enough to get excited about.

With the Log Flume at Blackpool closing after 39 years of soaking guests, many visitors were sad to see it leave but (to use the old cliché) ‘every cloud has a silver lining’. The closure of Southport Pleasureland has brought its flagship ride ‘The Traumatiser’ across the Ribble Estuary to Pleasure Beach, Blackpool,, where it will occupy the old site of the Log Flume and take the name Infusion This is perhaps the biggest ride move of the year, as Infusion is set to be a truly incredible experience, ‘infusing’ a traditional steel roller coaster ride with water elements. Additionally, guests to LEGOLAND® Windsor will be very excited by the arrival of a thrilling river rapids ride - Vikings’ River Splash, giving you the chance to cool off on a hot summers day in a slightly unusual way!

Brilliant thrill rides at Pleasure Beach, Blackpool, Alton Towers, Thorpe Park, Lightwater Valley, Drayton Manor and M & D’s will all certainly continue to keep the thrill seekers delighted in 2007 and keep the ‘Wow Factor’ very much alive across the UK this year. There’s also the great family fun to be had far and wide from Camelot, down to Chessington and LEGOLAND® Windsor, and then as far south as Paultons in Hampshire. This is not to mention the Gulliver’s and Diggerland parks. For both of these brands there are three separate parks dotted around the country, with rides suitable for absolutely everyone.

It’s great that websites like Play and Stay can offer so much from the theme park industry and help it to stay very much alive and kicking. From the magic of Disneyland® Resort Paris, to the family fun of Paultons or the thrills of Thorpe Park, sites like this help to inform the customer and offer choice. So much information was often unavailable in the days before the worldwide web, but it’s here to stay, and so are the nation’s theme parks!

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 21st, 2007 at 11:18 am and is filed under Theme Parks, News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.