Thorpe Park

Initial development The demolition of the Thorpe Park Estate in the 1930s resulted in the grounds being converted into a gravel pit, originally owned by Ready Mixed Concrete Limited. RMC extracted gravel from the site for thirty years, from 1941 until 1970, at which point the company began planning to flood the expended gravel pits and develop the site into a leisure-based visitor attraction. In 1975, the Water Ski World Championships were held on the lake. RMC established a subsidiary, Leisure Sport Limited, to operate the park for water sports, leisure activities, and heritage exhibitions, at a cost of £3 million. The park was formally opened to the public by Lord Louis Mountbatten on 24 May 1979, in what would be his final public appearance before he was assassinated later that year by a bomb planted by the Provisional IRA on a fishing boat in Mullaghmore, Ireland. In addition to its lakes and parkland, the site featured a replica Stone Age cave, a Celtic farm, a Norman castle, and a Viking camp, as well as exhibits of historic watercraft and aircraft. New large attractions were introduced throughout the 1980s, including Magic Mill, Phantom Fantasia, Thunder River, Logger's Leap and the Canada Creek Railway, along with the development of a central area of themed streets, shops and eateries. Space Station Zero was the park's first roller coaster, an indoor powered coaster, opened in 1984. New themed areas opened in the 1990s with Fantasy Reef and Ranger County. The last major attraction developed under Leisure Sport Ltd was the themed indoor roller coaster, X:\ No Way Out, in 1996 (now The Walking Dead: The Ride). Between 1983 and 1989, the park was also used as a filming location for The Benny Hill Show. Sale & further development In 1998, The Tussauds Group purchased the park. This period saw considerable investment, with major attractions opening such as Tidal Wave in 2000, Vortex in 2001, Colossus in 2002, Nemesis Inferno in 2003, and Stealth in 2006. In May 2007, the 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 acquired a 20% stake in Merlin Entertainments. On 17 July 2007, as part of the financing for the Tussauds acquisition, Merlin sold Thorpe Park to the private investment firm Prestbury under a sale-and-leaseback agreement. The site is operated by Merlin under a renewable 35-year lease. On 20 February 2019, Thorpe Park's official Twitter account confirmed the permanent closure of Logger's Leap. In 2021, Thorpe Park announced plans for a new rollercoaster on the log flume's former site. During the 2023 Fright Nights event, the ride was officially revealed as Hyperia, planned to become the tallest and fastest roller coaster in the United Kingdom, reaching 236 feet (71.9 metres) in height and speeds of up to 81 mph (130 km/h). Hyperia opened on the 23 May 2024, when the first public riders were allowed on. Also for 2024, Thorpe Park adopted a new logo and branding, which the park stated was to "encapsulate the spirit of Thorpe Park". ==Rides and attractions==

Roller coasters } Thrilling flat rides } Water rides } Family flat rides } Dark rides and other rides } Former attractions } == Park Areas ==

Thorpe Park has featured multiple themed areas and attraction zones throughout its operational history. Between 2008 and 2015, these areas were not identified by name on park maps or signage, although their physical layouts and attractions remained unchanged. From 2016 to 2020, the park reintroduced named zones under the designation “Island Territories,” during which several areas received updated names and thematic identities. From 2021 onwards, named designations were again largely removed from maps and signage; however, new area names have continued to be introduced within the park. File:Thorpe Park Amity Hotel.jpg|Amity File:Derren Brown's Ghost Train Exterior.jpg|The Dock Yard File:Nemesis Inferno first drop.jpg|The Jungle File:Detonator at Thorpe Park - geograph.org.uk - 145471.jpg|Big Easy Boulevard File:Colossus-Thorpe-1.jpg|Lost City File:Sawopen.jpg|Saw – The Ride File:The swarm, church, thorpe park.jpg|Swarm Island File:Thorpe Park Hyperia 2024-03-25.jpg|Fearless Valley • The Dome is the large dome building guests first enter at the park. • Amity opened with Tidal Wave and now includes Stealth, Depth Charge, Amity Beach, High Striker, Flying Fish, and Storm Surge. • The Jungle contains Nemesis Inferno, Mr Monkey's Banana Ride, and a street of restaurants. • Saw – The Ride and Samurai are located in a zone formerly joined with "Old Town". • Fearless Valley is located towards the back of the park and contains Hyperia. • Lost City contains Colossus, Rush, Quantum, Vortex, and Zodiac. • Swarm Island is an area containing The Swarm. • The Dock Yard is the area immediately outside Ghost Train and includes The Walking Dead: The Ride roller coaster. • Big Easy Boulevard is located between Amity and The Jungle, and contains Detonator, Big Easy Bumpers, and Sunset Cinema. The area also hosted Black Mirror Labyrinth between 2021 and 2023. The main Old Town area closed after the 2021 season to be redeveloped for Hyperia, which opened in 2024 and the area was subsequently renamed Fearless Valley. Saw and Samurai continue to operate in a separate now unnamed zone, following the disuse of area names from park maps from 2021. Fearless Valley The main attraction in this area is Hyperia, the United Kingdom's tallest and fastest rollercoaster. Fearless Valley also includes a Burger King, Victorious Games, the Hyporium gift shop, Cloud Nine Treats, and toilets themed to Hyperia. Swarm Island Swarm Island serves as the plaza for The Swarm, a wing coaster manufactured by Bolliger & Mabillard that opened in 2012. The area was built on land reclaimed from surrounding lakes and is themed to depict the aftermath of an apocalyptic event or alien invasion caused by “The Swarm.” Key thematic elements include a crashed aeroplane, damaged emergency vehicles such as a helicopter and fire engine, a partially destroyed church that functions as the ride station, and additional ruined structures. Several guest and operational facilities are integrated into these props, including a shop housed within a shipping container and the ride control room located in an overturned police trailer suspended within the church roof. Timeline of park areas   Previous named area   Current named area ==Records held by the park==

• Nemesis Inferno is the first inverted coaster to feature interlocking corkscrews (in the same layout). • Additionally, the world record for "most naked people on a roller coaster" was set on Nemesis Inferno in May 2004. • The Swarm opened as Europe's tallest wing coaster and the first coaster in the world to feature the "wing over drop". • Saw – The Ride was marketed as having the world's steepest "freefall" drop, and as the world's first horror movie themed roller coaster. Saw - The Ride was not actually the steepest roller coaster in the world when it opened in March 2009 - Steel Hawg at Indiana Beach had opened the previous year with a steeper 111° drop. However, whilst Steel Hawg's drop has brakes on it, Saw's drop is brakeless - hence it being marketed as having the steepest freefall drop. This particular accolade was taken by The Monster in 2016 (and, as of 2022, is held by Defiance). • Colossus held the world record for the most inversions on a rollercoaster when it opened in 2002, with 10 inversions. This record was matched in 2006 by 10 Inversion Roller Coaster (an exact clone of Colossus) and then beaten in 2013 by The Smiler at Alton Towers, with 14 inversions. • Stealth was the United Kingdom's fastest roller coaster, launching from in 1.8 seconds (as of 2024 this record has been taken by Hyperia) Standing at , it is also the United Kingdom's third tallest roller coaster (behind The Big One and Hyperia). • Tidal Wave opened as Europe's tallest water ride. • Hyperia is the tallest roller coaster in the UK at , and the fastest roller coaster in the UK at 81 mph (130 km/h). However, this is debated as they have included a 3s stall in this statistic, which is widely regarded as hangtime and not airtime. • Stealth is the world's fastest accelerating rollercoaster ( in 1.8 seconds) with the announced closure of Do-Dodonpa at Fuji-Q Highland on 13 March 2024. ==Fright Nights==

Fright Nights, formerly styled as "Fright Nites", is Thorpe Park's annual Halloween event and one of the largest Halloween events of its kind in the United Kingdom. The event has run at the park since 2002, celebrating Halloween with extended opening hours and a range of temporary Halloween attractions. Roaming actors in costume or make-up can also be found around the park. During Fright Nights, the park operates with extended opening hours and features a series of themed “scare mazes”. In previous years, the park also offered an additional paid experience titled Face It Alone, which allowed an individual guest to navigate a scare maze alone; participation required the signing of a liability disclaimer. In 2013, Fright Nights was rebranded to feature a horror film–themed format under a three-year licensing agreement with Lionsgate. As part of this rebranding, all existing Fright Nights attractions were discontinued, with the exception of The Asylum and Saw: Alive, and replaced by new scare attractions based on popular horror films produced or distributed by Lionsgate. In 2014, following the opening of the Thorpe Shark Hotel, Thorpe Park introduced two overnight scare experiences for guests. The first involved a “night terror” character entering guest rooms during the night, while the second, called the “Extra Cut,” staged a scenario in which guests were “kidnapped” from their rooms and pursued throughout the park. In 2017, Fright Nights was redesigned with a Walking Dead theme in collaboration with The Walking Dead. Two new attractions based on the series were introduced to coincide with the premiere of its eighth season. Existing attractions from previous years, including Saw: Alive, The Big Top, and Platform 15, were retained, while Containment returned as a paid upcharge experience. In 2020, restrictions associated with the COVID-19 pandemic limited Fright Nights operations to two scare mazes: Platform 15 and Roots of Evil, both of which were primarily outdoors. For the first time, a range of scare zones was introduced across the park, including The Swarm: Invasion on Swarm Island, Creek Freaks Unchained in Old Town, The Fearstival Arena in the Dockyard, The Howling of LycanThorpe High in Lost City on the site typically used for a scare maze near Zodiac and Rush, and Terror at Amity High, returning for its third year on Stealth Plaza. Additionally, The Crows were introduced as roaming scarecrows, stationed at key locations but moving throughout the park and interacting with other scare zones.  – Previous Fright Night attraction.  – Current Fright Night attraction. ==Thorpe Shark Cabins==

Guests can stay on-site at the Thorpe Shark Cabins, comprising 90 rooms converted from shipping containers and linked to facilities in the adjacent Dome. The accommodation takes its name from its shark-head entrance feature, constructed from recycled park signage. The hotel initially opened in 2013 as The Crash Pad, operated by the external company Snoozebox. The temporary development was purchased by the park the following year and rebranded as the Thorpe Shark Hotel. Thorpe Park had originally planned to construct a permanent 250-bed hotel as early as 2006. It would have been located on the opposite side of the lake, on the site of former excavation works, and feature a lakeside bar, health club, and restaurant. Planning permission was granted in 2011. The development was proposed again following the installation of The Crash Pad to "test market conditions". The park received planning permission to construct the permanent hotel in 2014, with construction planned to begin in 2016 and an opening scheduled for 2018. However, the hotel was never built, and the Shark Hotel’s planning permission was instead extended by ten years. In 2023, new Swarm, Nemesis Inferno, and Stealth-themed rooms opened in the Thorpe Shark Cabins. They feature bespoke theming and provide unlimited fastrack access to each room’s associated roller coaster on the second day of a stay. In 2024, new Colossus and Hyperia-themed rooms opened in the Thorpe Shark Cabins. == Operations and developments ==

Thorpe Park has a maximum capacity of 15,000 guests. In 2010, the park outlined a five-year development plan, which proposed new roller coasters for 2012; this was later realised with the opening of The Swarm. The plan also included a roller coaster scheduled for 2015 and a permanent lakeside hotel, neither of which has come to fruition. No application was ever submitted for the 2015 development, and the site behind The Swarm remains undeveloped. For the 2026 season, it was announced that approximately half of the Amity Beach area would be redeveloped to create a new relaxation zone called The Launchpad. The Launchpad is designed as a year-round space for visitors to rest and refuel between rides, featuring seating and canopies. The smaller remaining half of Amity Beach will remain operational. On 12 March 2026, the park released an official statement alongside Jack Silkstone, confirming the permanent closure of Rumba Rapids after 39 years of operation. The park has stated ‘Whilst we don’t have plans to share just yet on what’s next, we’re always reviewing our line-up of world-class rides and attractions to make sure Thorpe Park remains the UK’s most thrilling theme park’. == Transport ==

There are no direct rail connections to Thorpe Park; the nearest railway station is Chertsey, situated approximately 2km away. Thorpe Park is served by the 950 express bus, which departs from Staines railway station, providing connections from London Waterloo and Reading. Other local bus routes serving the park include routes 461 and 446. Additionally, there is the seasonal 951 bus between Watford and Thorpe Park, operating once daily (arriving in the morning and departing in the evening), with two return journeys during Fright Nights. ==Incidents==