Pleasurewood Hills

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Pleasurewood Hills is an American styled theme park. It is located on a 59-acre site in Corton, near Lowestoft in Suffolk, England. Its cuddly mascot is called Woody Bear.The Image of Woody Bear Changed in 2006 to a Sailor Type Look! Some rides include:

Snake in the Grass (formerly Rattle Snake) - Steel roller coaster
Enigma (formerly Cannonball Express) - Medium steel roller coaster
Alpine Lift - Chairlift

1 History
2 Problems
3 Grevin & Cie
4 Snapshot
5 External links

[edit] History

The park was created by local entrepreneur Joe Larter in 1982 as a small American-themed family attraction, containing a miniature railway, Cine 180 and adventure playground. A pattern of yearly expansion was established, with the addition of one or two major new attractions and general improvements taking place every winter.

Around 1989 a controlling interest in the park was sold to RKF, a property development company. Most of the existing management team remained the same. Some of RKF's other leisure attractions included two Sea Life centres (in Great Yarmouth & Hunstanton), a Ripley's Believe It or Not (on Great Yarmouth seafront) and the new 9-mile Bure Valley Railway (in Aylsham). All these concerns had been sold to RKF at the same time as the interest in Pleasurewood Hills. RKF also started work on building a second Pleasurewood-Hills-style theme park in Cleethorpes. RKF went bankrupt in early 1991 and this forced all their leisure attractions into receivership, which were later sold to new owners. Some of the former Pleasurewood management staff subsequently took control of The Bygone Village at nearby Fleggburgh.

The park continued in this vein until 1996/7, when it was purchased by Leisure Great Britain, a large caravan park operator. They owned the park until 2000, when Peter and Peggy Hadden, who had been connected with the park for many years, bought it with the intention of reviving its flagging fortunes. It was at this time that the name was changed to 'New Pleasurewood Hills'.

In 2004, another change of ownership took place when Grévin & Cie, a French leisure group, purchased the site. The park's name reverted to its original form and in early 2005 the owners announced their intention to spend £3 million on improvements to the park.

[edit] Problems

A couple of problems have hindered the development of Pleasurewood Hills. One is its geography. The location of the park on the east coast of England mean that its immediate catchment area is too small to allow it to compete with larger, more geographically central theme parks such as Alton Towers or Thorpe Park. Thus, the park has never, and is very unlikely to ever, expand to the size of these parks.

Secondly, a period of neglect took place from 1996 to 2000 which has proved hard to recover from and has damaged the park's image. Combined with a natural decline from the heyday of the theme park in the UK during the 1980s, in which novelty value played a large part, this has meant that Pleasurewood Hills has struggled to survive over the last decade.

However, the investment announced by the new owners in 2005 seems to presage a period of renewal and hope for the park. A part of this investment is a new 'Boomerang' steel roller coaster bought from American Adventure theme park. It must also be pointed out that Pleasurewood Hills is generally viewed favourably in the local area, and many people would be sad to see it close.

[edit] Grevin & Cie

£1million of the £2million investment has already been spent on improving the appearance of the park, including the re-theming of Main Street to a nautical theme by local company REX Studios. The park has also greatly been tidied up through the removal of unsightly caravans in front of the park and repainting of rides; the former Cannonball Express has been renamed 'Enigma' and has lost its mine train theming and scenery.

[edit] Snapshot

The profile of the park in 'UK Theme Parks A Market Report' published by Tourism Research & Marketing in February 1990 includes the following data:

A 59 acre area (with plans to expand to 136 acres). Family centre with 51 rides and attractions, including:

Ladybird Roller Coaster
Sky Leap
Haunted Castle: opened 1988 costing £0.5 million, 480-person capacity, 12-minute show
Fantasy Canal Ride
BMX track
Inflatables
Ball baths
Magic Music Hall show
Woody Bear character
Roving clowns and cowboys
Fast food outlets
Self-service barbecue area