This thread is for rollercoaster news in the UK... but feel free to add any major rollercoaster developments that are happening abroad. Rollercoasters might be a bit random in a skyscraper forum, but with some in the UK over 200ft tall, they easily have enough height to make an impression on any UK skyline. I have included each 'coaster's height.


UK Tallest Rollercoasters

1. 65m Pepsi Max Big One
2. 63m Stealth
3. 51m Jubilee Odyssey
4. 46m Millennium Roller Coaster
5. 37m Shockwave
6. 36m Kumali
7. 36m Wipeout/Boomerang
8. 35m Speed: No Limits
9. 33m Infusion
10. 33m Ultimate


European Tallest Rollercoasters

1. 73m Silver Star (Germany)
2. 65m Pepsi Max Big One (UK)
3. 63m Stealth (UK)
4. 60m Colossos (Germany)
5. 58m Stunt Fall (Spain)
6. 55m Vertigo (Belgium)
7. 53m Expedition GeForce (Germany)
8. 51m Jubilee Odyssey (UK)
9. 50m Katun (Italy)
10. 50m Superman (Spain)



World's Tallest Rollercoasters:

1. 139m Kingda Ka (USA)
2. 128m Top Thrill Dragster (USA)
3. 127m Superman The Escape (USA)
4. 115m Tower of Terror (Australia)
5. 97m Steel Dragon 2000 (Japan)
6. 95m Millennium Force (USA)
7. 80m Thunder Dolphin (Japan)
8. 79m Fujiyama (Japan)
9. 76m Eejanaika (Japan)
10. 75m Titan (USA)



Here are some pictures of new additions to the UK rollercoaster scene since the year 2000 to wet your appetite :)

Infusion (33m)
Blackpool Pleasure beach, built May 2007
Loops/Inversions: 5
The first rollercoaster built over water.
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y281/gherkin007/Rollercoaster/infusion2.jpg
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y281/gherkin007/Rollercoaster/infisin3.jpg

Stealth (62m)
Thorpe Park, built March 2006
Loops/Inversions: 0
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y281/gherkin007/Rollercoaster/stealth2.jpg
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y281/gherkin007/Rollercoaster/stealth.jpg


Kumali (36m)
Flamingo Land Theme park, built April 2006
Loops/Inversions: 4
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y281/gherkin007/Rollercoaster/kumali.jpg

Jubilee Odyssey (51m)
Fantasy Island Theme Park, built May 2002
Loops/Inversions: 5
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y281/gherkin007/Rollercoaster/jubilee.jpg
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y281/gherkin007/Rollercoaster/jubileee.jpg

Wipeout (35m)
Pleasurewood Hills Theme Park, Under Construction
Loops/Inversions: 3
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y281/gherkin007/Rollercoaster/wipeout.jpg

Speed: No Limits (35m)
Includes a "more than vertical" drop
Oakwood Park, built April 2006
Loops/Inversions: 2
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y281/gherkin007/Rollercoaster/speed2.jpg

Rage (22m)
Adventure Island, built February 2007
Loops/Inversions: 2
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y281/gherkin007/Rollercoaster/rage.jpg

Colossus (30m)
Thorpe park, built march 2002
Loops/Inversions: 10
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y281/gherkin007/Rollercoaster/colossus.jpg
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y281/gherkin007/Rollercoaster/colossus2.jpg


I only chose the taller 'coasters in that summary to fit in with the skyscraper/height theme. The UK is the biggest rollercoaster builder outside the USA, so there are literally hundreds being built each year so ofcourse I cannot include them all.

Please post coaster or theme park pics/news/gossip below :banana:

Wow!! I never knew we had so many.

^^ I find it amazing how many 'coasters thers are outside of the bigger amusement parks (Alton Towers/Drayton Manor/Blackpool Pleasure Beach/Thorpe Park to name a few). Between them, these 4 theme parks only have a mere 30 rollercoasters. There are apparently 128 more coasters in the UK:


Here is the top 5 world rankings of rollercoaster numbers in each country, courtesy of www.rcdb.com:

USA - 642
Japan - 249
UK - 158
Germany - 114
China - 94

Crikey, can't beleive Pleasure Wood Hills is building a proper looking roller coaster! I might actually have to go to the chav infested cesspit next time I'm in Yarmouth!

this is weird. i watched final destination 3 last night and put it on my to do list today to find out exactly how many tall rollercoasters we have in the uk. i log onto ssc and see someone has just done it! thanks :)

^^ Rollercoasters are probably the last tall manmade objects in the UK without notice in these forums, so I thought they deserved a thread. My list only has the taller ones built since 2000. Go onto www.rcdb.com (brilliant website) for full statistics.

To put things into perspective, the 139m Kingda Ka rollercoaster in the USA could just about travel over the 135m London Eye, like so:

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y281/gherkin007/KING5.jpg
(I couldn't be bothered to spend more than a minute on MS Paint)



http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y281/gherkin007/KING3-1.jpg
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y281/gherkin007/KIn11.jpg



More Comparisons:

From the top:
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y281/gherkin007/KING6.jpg
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y281/gherkin007/KIN2.jpg

With Beetham in Liverpool:
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y281/gherkin007/KING7.jpg

Oh and I should have credited all of my images to Flickr, RCDB and Gothic's site for that Beetham pic :)

Lol, I've long been a coaster enthusiast, in fact.. I was into coasters before skyscrapers. Well, I say enthusiast, I'm not, cos they're the people who go to every park about 50 times a year and get married on big dippers. But I like them!

There has also been a new ride advertised for Camelot Theme Park, not sure what it looks like, called Knightmare. It is going to open next month I think, anyone confirm this?

Also, for anyone who doesn't know, Infusion was once known as Traumatizer, it was relocated after Pleasureland, Southport was closed.

As for tallest rollercoasters, some people might not know that Alton Towers had a wooden rollercoaster planned a few years back which would of had around a 200ft drop down a ravine, it would of been the biggest and fastest wooden rollercoaster in the world, but it was overcome by NIMBY uproar.. as per usual. Hopefully they'll come up with a similiar scheme soon.

^^ I was at Alton Towers a few weeks ago and wondered why there were no tall rides. To take a NIMBY point of view, Alton Towers is a great looking amusement park and I suppose a tall coaster would do a lot of damage to the stunning views of the castle and from the valleys. But, to take a coaster-fan point of view... I'm gutted. Wooden rollercoasters are awesome.

The height restriction at Alton towers is not to go beyond the height of the trees, that is why the taller rides have their uphill supports and track painted green or a dark colour (RITA, Corkscrew, Air etc).

Yet if it wasn't for this restriction, I doubt the rides would be anywhere near as good, Nemesis is a world-famous ride because of its non-stop dives below ground and into ravines, they wouldn't of designed such an awesome ride had they had no restrictions of going high up, so its beneficial to have restrictions not only to preserve the village and natural beauty of the area, but to ensure designers create exciting rides.

As for the Wooden rollercoaster, despite being 200ft drops it would still not have been visible above tree height as the ride was designed to make use of the natural valley in the middle of the park and swoop down hills to create land-hugging drops. The locals protested over noise levels rather than visual impact, and for the protection of the 'tree's to be felled for construction, despite nearly all of them needing to be removed anyway due to rot or illness.

PICTURES

From http://www.towerstimes.co.uk/news/woodie.htm

"Unfortunately the wooden roller coaster plans have been withdrawn; the reason for this was due to a few issues regarding the noise and the height of the coaster, Alton Towers have said they plan to resubmit an amended plan of the roller coaster to make sure the plans don’t get denied. The new plans will hopefully be submitted before the end of the season."


Unfortunately, however, this was 2003, and it seems RITA was built instead. I hope that some point this coaster will be built, however, as 2x200m drops into the valley sounds stunning.

I remember the "Bigger One" being planned for Blackpool Pleasure beach some time ago. Here's the promotional video. It would have been the tallest rollercoaster in the world. Good video here:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7057964445874979805

could they plant bigger trees lol

I remember the "Bigger One" being planned for Blackpool Pleasure beach some time ago. Here's the promotional video. It would have been the tallest rollercoaster in the world. Good video here:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7057964445874979805

You are aware that that is from the game Roller coaster Tycoon right? That is probably someones design and they just recorded it and then posted it on google.

Yeah, I was thinking the same thing.

It's not from Rollercoaster tycoon, its from a simulation game.. the name escapes me, I used to have a demo of it.. You basically just design 1 ride and then you can watch it in action or get on-ride perspective.

Yes it's rolercoaster tycoon the Rollercoaster Simulation game.

Sorry my mistake! I just remember it beoing on Goth's site a while back and found it again on youtube the other day.

Yes it's rolercoaster tycoon the Rollercoaster Simulation game.


No, its not Rollercoaster Tycoon. Petty as it is to argue over somet so small I will prove its not Rollercoaster Tycoon.

To prove it, a snapshot of RCT.

http://www.mismatch.co.uk/images/nicsroaster.jpg

a snapshot of the coaster simulator used, I believe it to be called 'no limits'

http://www.nolimitscoaster.com/Kumba2_640.jpg

Could be RCT 3?

http://www.pantherproducts.co.uk/Games%20Zone/Images/roller3_big1.jpg

After lookin at it again as close as possible (with the quality of the video) then maybe it is RCT3 after all.. So apologies for possibly being wrong, lol :S it happens.

But still, looking at the video it looks too smooth to be RCT3, which is really cartoon-like and kiddy, just look at the scenery in this compared to the video.. I honestly don't know now but I'm gonna let it drop cos there's more important things be doing..

Anyway on Wikipedia it says that Stealth will be moving to Blackpool Pleasure Beach in 2008 for a season. Is this true or just some edgit putting on false info?

^^ Stealth is very popular at Thorpe park, and is shorter than the Pepsi Max - a much better rollercoaster anyway. I can't see it working at Blackpool Pleasure beach alongside it's taller, longer, better brother. Better off keeping it at Thorpe Park where it actually appears tall.

Anyway on Wikipedia it says that Stealth will be moving to Blackpool Pleasure Beach in 2008 for a season. Is this true or just some edgit putting on false info?

my money's on the edgit

I've never seen it - does it look easy to dismantle?

^^ Pics on page one. I think it could be moved, but won't be. It's silly to move a rollercoaster that is based on height and speed relocated next to a taller and faster rollercoaster at Blackpool Pleasure Beach.

a ride that high will surely have every support concreted or deeply piled? They don't move rollercoasters of such size easily, and its Thorpe Park's main new attraction, not to mention probably one of its most expensive (due to all the mechanical support needed for the hydraulics) I can't see them shipping it off anytime soon

Do you think that oblivion should be on the top 10 list?? i know its only 20m above ground, but the drop is actually 54.9m, which is pretty impressive, would love to see what it looks like next to stealth all above ground.

^^ I realized that when I wrote the list, but as skyscrapers are measured from ground height (and not basement height) I thought I should stick with ground level measurements for this website.

Does oblivion really go that far underground? I was on it the weekend before last and I didn't feel I was that far below the ground at all. Perhaps it's the speed of the thing?

yep, it surprised me 2, but when you think about it it has to go from vertical to horizontal at high speed so the curve is quite big under ground.

Thorpe Park will be getting a new B&M-designed (Nemesis, Nemesis: Inferno, AIR, Oblivion...) rollercoaster for 2009. It is rumoured to be a "flying" coaster.

OH SHIT.

Theme park prosecution over death

Hayley Williams's family have been told of the decision to prosecute
A theme park is to be prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) following the death of a teenager three years ago.
Hayley Williams, 16, from Pontypool, died at Oakwood in Pembrokeshire in 2004 after falling from the Hydro Ride.

The HSE confirmed it intends prosecuting the park and that Ms Williams's family had been informed.

Full story at:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/south_west/6669329.stm

They wont move stealth from Thorpe Park (TP). Tussords group is setting up TP as the thrill ride capital and this is the main attraction. Rumours are actually bouncing around that Oblivion may be relocated from Alton Towers (AT) to TP. Apparently it under threat at AT due to noise abatement orders.

Quite clearly Tussords have given up fiting the NIMBYS at AT and decided to move it in the direction of a themed resort. Thorpe park is being target at the thrill seekers while Chessington will specialise in family entertainment.

Having said that, my favourite coaster in the UK is the big dipper in Yarmouth. A classic woodie - of which we have so few in this country.

I remember watching a programme called "Top 10 rollercoasters of the world" or something aslong those lines.
They featured a wooden rollercoaster in England which was made out of wood. It had sheep beneath it that keep the grass looking maintained.
The thing didn't even have any breaks on the corners like most rollercoasters.

^That's called Megafobia. It's in South Wales.

yep, it surprised me 2, but when you think about it it has to go from vertical to horizontal at high speed so the curve is quite big under ground.

Half of the drop is underground. 90ft above, 90ft below

They featured a wooden rollercoaster in England which was made out of wood.

:applause:

^^ lol.

They featured a wooden rollercoaster in England which was made out of wood. It had sheep beneath it that keep the grass looking maintained.The thing didn't even have any breaks on the corners like most rollercoasters.

As hull.co.uk said, it's definetly Megafobia. The first time I rode it I had a broken collar bone (which afterwards became more broken), but it was worth it! I don't see how it's in the "top ten coasters" in the world though. There are surely better wooden rides out there.

That program was made 10 years ago though.

Finally got a chance to ride Stealth at Thorpe Park. Its my third visit since it was added and each time before it was broken. It actually broke this time while I queued but they managed to get it running again. Really was worth the effort though. Fantastic ride. They have juiced up the launch system this year to deliver 0-80 in2 seconds, a 20% increase on last year. I have never felt anything quite like it. Given that this is just the baby version of Top Thrill Dragster and Kingda Ka in the US I cant imagine what they would feel like!

Thorpe Park really does seem to have major problems with their ride reliability. On a revious visit Nemesis was down. Collossus and X No Way out were both down this time. On my first visit Collossus and the log flume were broken. Other parks dont seem to have such problems.

On Colossus by the way, that ride is starting to feel really rough. Bordering on unpleasant. It really hasnt aged well at all. I'm not sure what they can do about it but judging by its deterioration I wonder if it has much more of a future.

^^ I'm beginning to question the future of Thorpe park itself after that post! Rollercoasters do break down, but I've heard so much negative press about ride delays at Thorpe Park recently. They really need to get their act together.

Atención: Se reactiva en Buga la construcción del Parque de atracciones mas grande de suramerica y uno de los 5 mas grandes del mundo VERTIGO THEME PARK
Confirmado, ya todos los permisos están y es una realidad.

Igualmente las personas interesadas en adquirir el pasaporte o recibir información pueden escribirme por este medio o al tel 3127760305 o llamar a la agencia de viajes Capilla del mar en cali tel: 5245010.

Con este pasaporte tendras derecho a 100 entradas al parque y a disfrutar cuantas veces desees de las atracciones mecanicas y los shows de animales, baile andaluz y flamenco, baile frances can can y muchas atracciones mas.
Sera personal e intrasferible, se tendran grandes beneficios como asistir a la preapertura del parque, bonos en los juegos electronicos, bonos de los patrocinadores, acceso a filas rapidas para las atracciones mecánicas.
Solo se venderá una cantidad limitada y el que no lo adquiera, deberá pagar aproximadamente $75000 cada vez que ingrese al parque para tener acceso a todas las atracciones.

Wow that's topical spam!? I don't think you are allowed to sell or advertise on these forums, but I won't tell because it's for a theme park ;)

(Ah que es spam tópico!? Yo no pienso que usted es permitido vender o anunciar en estos foros, pero en yo no diré porque soy para un parque de atracciones temático ;) )

lol

Do any of you guys know if something else will be built at Pleasure BEach in the near future?

Was there last Wednesday and there was a large bit that used to be the lake where there now is just plain concrete open space. Nearby to the site there was a bit of rollercoaster track over the pathway, looked like it was from the BIg one and lights were aiming up at it. Any info would be great.:)

I doubt anything of significance will be built at the Pleasure Beach for a number of years. People forget that the Pleasure Beach is still a family-run business, and despite it's incredible success, they just don't have millions of pounds to throw around year after year. They are claiming Infusion cost £8million, but that almost certainly includes the £5million it originally cost to build it as Traumatizer at Southport. Do I reckon something will show up next year - probably, but don't expect another ride on the scale of Infusion for a few years yet. Although with a bit of luck, when it does arrive it won't be a 8-year-old, second hand ride from down the coast.

Regarding the coaster track over the pathway, the Pleasure Beach has a habit of using old Pepsi Max Big One track for a variety of uses. As you've said it was used as a sign for Spin Doctor (now removed) on the Tom Sawyer Bridge. They have also used it as signage for the Traumatizer at Southport, and more interestingly some of it was used as part of the structure that holds up the facade of Valhalla.

Stealth is higher than the pepsi max and and there is an unknown major attraction planned for pleasure beach. I read it on screamscape.

Stealth is higher than the pepsi max and and there is an unknown major attraction planned for pleasure beach. I read it on screamscape.

stealth is not higher than Pepsi Max

Stealth is 200ft high and is the fasted in the UK (maybe the tallest LAUNCH coaster too)

Pepsi Max is 255ft high....

Oh sorry, I made a mistake but the pepsi max is not 255ft its 213ft and stealth is 205ft. Follow the link and you will see.

http://www.coasterforce.com/index.php?categoryid=101

Just thinking Birmingham will have the worlds tallest roller-coaster at 200m by 2010.

Just thinking Birmingham will have the worlds tallest roller-coaster at 200m by 2010.


theres a rollercoaster on VTP?? Are we talking something similiar to the one on the Stratosphere in Vegas? (were it just circles the top of the tower?) I just thought it was bungee and boingy lifts meself :lol:

Its not really a roller coaster. Its a flight simulator that rotates while you control it with a joystick from inside your pod.

http://www.skyscrapernews.com/images/pics/5341VTP200_pic6.jpg

Im gonna do everything on that tower, whilst shitting myself.

ah right, yeah i did notice them pods on the renders but cos i hadnt read what features or attractions are based in the VTP I didn't know what they were, thought they were part of the lighting scheme actually,lol..

theres a rollercoaster on VTP?? Are we talking something similiar to the one on the Stratosphere in Vegas? (were it just circles the top of the tower?) I just thought it was bungee and boingy lifts meself :lol:

the Stratosphere took down the rollercoaster 2 years ago.

^^ Why?

Dont really know.
The first time i went to LV it was there along with the other 3 rides but 2 years later when i went it had been dismantled.
To be honest it wasnt all that and the other 3 rides are far better.

I remember the "Bigger One" being planned for Blackpool Pleasure beach some time ago. Here's the promotional video. It would have been the tallest rollercoaster in the world. Good video here:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7057964445874979805


that video is stupid, it says that the Pepsi max big one was built in 1997, duh it was 1994... :ohno:

Ok that vid was made using the coaster from rollercoaster tycoon 3 Blackpool would not use a computer game to design a prposed ride.

Secondly it did not say 1997 it said 199? if you looked closley.

And finnaly heres what Blackpool are building soon, dont no when but its called adventure golf.
http://i209.photobucket.com/albums/bb105/jaybuoy/Birminghaseafandculturecentrejus-4.jpg

I remember the "bigger one" being a news article on skyscrapernews.com so I thought it was for real. Oops! I won't say what I think of that golf course...

A euro fighter is to be constructed in Thorpe park. Im not sure when it will open it is either next year or the year after. It will have a mine train theme.

What significance will the eurofighter have? Will it be the cars on a rollercoaster? Because that will look a bit silly...

I think Eurofighter is a style or model of coaster, dont they usually have a vertical lift and drop sometimes followed by a loop, its nowt to do with euro fighters (if thats what you're thinkin) be a bit tricky to have a mine-themed ride with euro fighters :S

This is Rage in adventure island,(its a euro fighter) obviously the one in thorpe park will be better and themed.
http://i209.photobucket.com/albums/bb105/jaybuoy/00.jpg

Oh I know the style, there's one in Oakwood Park in South Wales. I think it's something to do with the more than 90 degree drop, similar to how a eurofighter could nose dive down to earth...

Yep you hit the nail on the head there, I cant wait until its built and yes I am certain it is for next year.

Bit surprised Thorpe has gone for this to be honest. I always thought the Eurofighter was better suited to 'second-tier' parks like Adventure Island and Oakwood. Indeed If you look at other Eurofighter installations around the world, they are all in mid-sized parks. I do wonder about potential capacity issues in a park as popular as Thorpe.

Out of interest, anyone know if Alton Towers is getting anything new and exciting this year?

Yep there getting a whole new land with three new attractions and two new restraunts. Its themed around the pirates and all I know is that a large splash battle attraction is included in this. Hope this helps!

Out of interest, anyone know if Alton Towers is getting anything new and exciting this year?

New? - Yep.
Exciting? - Open to interpretation.

As mentioned by BrummyBoy they are getting a pirate-themed area by the name of Mutiny Bay. The Splash Battle - named Battle Galleons - will be located on the small lake that held the Swan Boats until a few seasons ago. The Tea-Cup ride re-themed as Maurader's Mayhem, and they will add a Rockin' Tug (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvkgnLpza1k), called Heavo Ho, themed accordingly.

Im gonna do everything on that tower, whilst shitting myself.

:lol:

This sounds completely barmy. It was reported in Doncaster's local paper that Hull, Bradford, leeds and Doncaster are potential locations for one of the biggest theme parks in Europe:
http://www.hcandersenthemeparkcentreuk.com/index.html

The Centre will have these facilities:

Hans Christian Andersen 25.000 M2 (300.000 SQ FT Theme Park Fairytale Exhibition Centre, Designed in full scale with sounds & light effects.
80.000M2 (900.000 SQ FT) Fairytale Shopping Centre, 135 High Street shops & 15 Restaurants,
330 Rooms, HCA Luxury Hotel includes 100 2 Bedroom Family Suite.
180 Office Suits.
280 Luxury Penthouse Apartments.
3500M2 (36000 SQ FT) Fitness Club.
Concert Hall for 3500 people.
Underground parking facilities for over 600 cars.
Outside parking facilities for over 4000 cars
HCA Fairy Tales Theatre with 750 seated area.
Hans Christian Andersen 40 people Theatre Tropes.
4 Cinemas
Conference/Seminars & meeting facilities catering for between 2 to 3500 people.
Luxury Wedding Ballroom.
Exhibition & Fair Hall for Fairytale writers from around the world.
Hans Christian Andersen Charity offers 10 Hospice 2 Bedroom Penthouse Apartment for “NHS Patients”. Catering for Terminal ill Cancer Patients & Families (children from 0 to 14 years))

Blackpool Pleasure Beach has announced that from 2009 you will have to pay £5 to get in which is crazy, I won't pay it and neither will many people, who just go for a stroll around.

I don't know how it effects shows like Hot Ice but I buy tickets for that from the shopping centre in Blackpool, so I guess they will let you in with one of those as the rest of the park is usually shut when the evening performance is on.

I wonder what Amanda Thompsons father and grandmother will make of her greedy decision:

http://www.blackpoolgazette.co.uk/blackpoolnews/Admission-charge-shock-for-Blackpool.3784320.jp

^^

I'm actually really concerned about the future of the Pleasure Beach. No matter what anyone else thinks, I will always believe that Pleasureland in Southport would still be operating today (as it was, not in it's new guise), if it weren't for the introduction of the £2 admission fee. If history repeats, the Pleasure Beach could be in serious danger.

They say the move will make them more like other theme parks. But people go to Alton Towers etc with the sole intention of riding. People visit the Pleasure Beach often to ride, but also to simply soak up the atmosphere. I know my parents spent a good hour in the Pleasure Beach last year just walking around, watching the (cough)...new...(cough) ride in action etc. They bought drinks and souvenirs while in the park. They won't pay £5 to get in from next year though, so that passing trade will be lost.

Reading around the subject, it concerns me that people are blindly supporting the decision. "They are a big company with advisors so must know what they are doing", is a common response. Given the thousands of companies big and small that fold each year, I'm afraid I don't buy that argument. Particularly in it's main catchment area - the North West - the Pleasure Beach used up a lot of goodwill with the unnecessary destruction wreaked at Southport following the closure there. They don't need to give people another excuse not to visit.

Bottom line - the Pleasure Beach thrives on passing trade, and has done for 111 years. I really hope it will be around to see it's 115th Anniversary, as Pleasureland didn't last three seasons after it's entrance fee was introduced, so who knows if it will?

Good and bad news Rollercoaster fans :(

http://www.kentonline.co.uk/images/news/40104_0_l.jpg

http://www.kentonline.co.uk/kol08/article/default.asp?article_id=40104

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/kent/7335519.stm

http://www.c20society.org.uk/docs/press/080422_margate_dreamland_update.html

The Twentieth Century Society is pleased to have learned that the fire that partially destroyed Margate’s Scenic Railway on April 7th, was not as destructive as initially reported. Although the signage, cars, and part of the station are all but gone, the engine house, containing all the electric motors and winding gear, survived, as well as 80% of the track.

The fire, currently the subject of a police investigation, has prompted swift and decisive action from the local authority Thanet District Council, which has served a Repairs Notice not just on the Scenic Railway but on the whole Dreamland site – including the Listed 1935 Dreamland Cinema which closed last year. The Society warmly welcomes this action, which requires the owners to have to have the ride repaired and operational by Easter 2009.

Constructed in 1919-20 and restored after fires in both 1949 and 1957, the Scenic Railway was developed by John Henry Iles. It is a roller-coaster of tremendous historical importance, and only one coaster, at Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen was known to be older – dating from 1914.

By serving the Repairs Notice, Thanet Council have underlined the importance of this superb structure to Margate and sent a firm message this important site must be at the heart of Margate’s regeneration. The Society applauds the council for this decision and we are looking forward to working with the conservation team in Thanet as they guide the reconstruction. The Councils action should also act as a deterrent to any one who might contemplate destroying a listed structure elsewhere.

Ooh - 'top secret' new ride for Alton Towers next year?

Monster rollercoaster closes
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7713643.stm

Britain's first double-looping rollercoaster is closing after 28 years service.

Hundreds of people had their last ride on the Corkscrew at Alton Towers on Sunday.

The theme park plans to replace it with a new "top secret" ride.

The site of corkscrew's tiny though. Fingers crossed for another rollercoaster of air quality at alton towers :)

They're still apparently dying to get a wooden rollercoaster at Alton, which would be perfect, we need a beast of a woodie in this country to match those in America with tonnes of air time and massive drops..

Apparently they found a wooden leg when they dismantled the corkie, fancy not realisin when you get off a ride that your leg is missin? strange.. :|