England's lost theme parks...

[acf8181]

Went to Camelot loads as a kid...also went to american adventure and morecambe

And (on the bbc link) we ended up living in the housing estate where Belle Vue zoo, Manchester previously stood!

[StuntmanMike]

Mutts said:

Steamer said:

Mutts said:

andy-xr said:

Log flume for me, so addictive!

same here, think i managed 23 times one saturday

Now you are talking!

School trips + log flume = cheeky fondle on the way down the dips!

ETM. I would just like to add that comment was 'age relative' and no I'm not a teacher.

Then of course there was Noah's Ark and the FunHouse with its 2 mental slides.

One of those slides was the steepest in the world, according to the Guinness book of records.

[StuntmanMike]

P.S didnt the Funhouse burn down a couple of years before Frontierland shut?

[Oakey]

StuntmanMike said:

P.S didnt the Funhouse burn down a couple of years before Frontierland shut?

The Fun house burnt down a long time ago now, all that survived was that creepy laughing clowns head

[tim0409]

Mark-C said:

NelsonM3 said:

bazza white said:

Amazed to see pleasure wood hill still going in Yarmouth.


Is that paramount theme park going to be built. I can't see it being a huge success tbh.

Went to Pleasurewood Hills last year for the first time since about 1999. Shame it's lost the American theme but it's a good little park.

Worked there for a couple of summers in the mid 80s and it was then my youngest's birthday treat for a few years in the 90s. We've got a road trip planned this summer (me and daughter, she's now 26) to Norwich and we're definitely going for a day of nostalgia

When I read the thread title I immediately thought of Pleasurewood Hills - my dad's family are from Lowestoft and my brother and I used to get packed off there for a couple of weeks every summer to visit my aunty and uncle. They didn't have kids and struggled to cope with us. I remember the first time they took us to Pleaseurewood Hills (must have been circa mid-eighties) we had a fantastic time until we had an "accident" on the bumper boats (round boat with an IC engine) when my brother tried to ram me, ending up with his boat lifting out of the water exposing the guarded propeller. We got thrown off and it was a long time before we allowed back on! Great times though.

[Chrisgr31]

MrBig said:

Not when they locate it somewhere where it's going to be a monumental ballache for 90% of the population to get to!

Isn't it going to be on the Crossrail line so fairly easy to get to by public transport, and the population seems to get to Bluewater and Lakeside ok.

[MYOB]

Chrisgr31 said:

Isn't it going to be on the Crossrail line so fairly easy to get to by public transport, and the population seems to get to Bluewater and Lakeside ok.

It would please me if 90% of the population didn't go. Less queuing!

[PanzerCommander]

Feirny said:

Mr Marvel's was open in Scarborough up until early 2000s. I went in about 2007 and had a wander round, it was left unloved.

I remember going there when I was much younger. You could walk up to it or ride the chair lift. A quick look on Google earth/maps shows nothing but an abandoned concrete base now

[trashbat]

Oakey said:

StuntmanMike said:

P.S didnt the Funhouse burn down a couple of years before Frontierland shut?

The Fun house burnt down a long time ago now, all that survived was that creepy laughing clowns head

The Funhouse that burnt down was Blackpool Pleasure Beach, not Morecambe.

[littlebasher]

Steamer said:

I never even knew 'The American Adventure' closed down!



I just stopped hearing the advert on the telly.

I only went once and the concept of the The Wild West during a raining day in the midlands just didnt seem to gel, even as a kid. Its all pirates and Frozen now.. I guess you just couldnt diversify a place like that once you've set your stall out as 'Wild West / frontier times'. Cowboys and Pirates just doesnt have the same ring about it.

From what I just read on 28Days it sounds like the novelty soon wore off and it went down hill fast (no pun intended)

Edited by Steamer on Sunday 25th January 12:32

My overriding memory of that place, is going on the Twin Looper with my daughter. After queuing in the sun for 30 minutes, she decided she wanted to ride in the front. Fair enough, so i had a word with the staff and we were held back till the next turn and moved to the front of the queue. When boarding commenced, some yoof comes barging past me nearly sending my daughter flying and climbs into the front - this upsets my daughter and annoys me somewhat. Following some choice words and an offer to forcibly remove him from the seat he wisely opts to sit elsewhere.

Everybody is happy and we get to enjoy the ride.

Getting off the ride, it turns out that not only is this kid with a charity daytrip, he only has one leg as well......Remember that scene from the inbetweeners?

[Steamer]

So not only did he push in, he also didn't pay?!

... Didn't have a leg to stand on by the sounds of it.

[knotweed]

I only found out last year the American Adventure had closed. I loved going there when I was small. The Missile was awesome.

I didn't know Wicksteed had closed either - I went there on a school trip in the 80s.

[RemyMartin]

Blimey. Didnt realise Camelot or american adventure had gone :-(

I often think, the peppa pig association is whays keeping Paultons afloat. Mond you it apparently is very good for kids.

[miniman]

RemyMartin said:

I often think, the peppa pig association is whays keeping Paultons afloat. Mond you it apparently is very good for kids.

The Peppa Pig bit is excellent considering the target audience age range, and very well constructed and "on brand". The rest of Paulton's has had a big upgrade, lots of money spent, so it's obviously doing ok.

[littlebasher]

miniman said:

The Peppa Pig bit is excellent considering the target audience age range, and very well constructed and "on brand". The rest of Paulton's has had a big upgrade, lots of money spent, so it's obviously doing ok.

I gather it's expensive though? My kids are probably too old for it now - pity as i wanted to show it to them being as i grew up just up the road from it.

[Magictrousers]

Very expensive. In the summer holidays, you can't move in Piggy world. The kids get fed up queueing, squeeze through the legs of the jammed in parents and end up lost. Saw it time and time again the last time we visited. A real shame as Paultons alway held great childhood memories for me.

Another nod to Tucktonia from me. Used to be virtually on our doorstep and somewhere we were sent to let off steam!

[Oakey]

trashbat said:

Oakey said:

StuntmanMike said:

P.S didnt the Funhouse burn down a couple of years before Frontierland shut?

The Fun house burnt down a long time ago now, all that survived was that creepy laughing clowns head

The Funhouse that burnt down was Blackpool Pleasure Beach, not Morecambe.

But BPB had Noahs Ark and the Funhouse with the two steep slides? (were they not talking about BPB?)

Edited by Oakey on Monday 2nd February 19:35

[littlebasher]

Magictrousers said:

Another nod to Tucktonia from me. Used to be virtually on our doorstep and somewhere we were sent to let off steam!

Tucktonia!

I seem to remember there wasn't much there other than a model village and a little train!

Posh riverside houses now IIRC

[Adz The Rat]

I went to Camelot a few months ago, we had a great time!


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[Oakey]

My brother and his mates did the Camelot thing a few years back, there was still power when they went. They came back with boxes of plundered Wimpy burgers.