Flamingo Land Resort

Flamingo Land Resort

Park logo
Slogan "Wild Animals, Wilder Rides"
Location Kirby Misperton, North Yorkshire, England, United Kingdom
Coordinates 54°12′35″N 0°48′30″W / 54.2097°N 0.8082°W / 54.2097; -0.8082Coordinates: 54°12′35″N 0°48′30″W / 54.2097°N 0.8082°W / 54.2097; -0.8082
Opened 1959 (1959 as Theme Park)
Previous names Yorkshire Zoo, Flamingo Park
Operating season

March–November

Winter opening will be this year (zoo and selected rides only)
Area 375 acres (152 ha)
Rides
Total 52
Roller coasters 9
Water rides 2
Website www.flamingoland.co.uk

Flamingo Land is a theme park, zoo, and resort located in North Yorkshire, England.

History

Flamingo Land Resort was established in 1959 when a cinema entrepreneur, Edwin Pentland Hick, sold his cinema chain and used the funds to purchase a bankrupt country club to use the land for a zoo.[1] The site, which occupied nine acres, was initially called The Yorkshire Zoological Gardens. A colony of flamingos were among the first animals to be housed on site.[1]

In 1963, the gardens became home to the UK's first captive bottlenose dolphins - one of whom was given the name Sooty after the children's TV puppet. During the 1960s a small funfair began to be held on the site. In 1965 the company was floated on the London Stock Exchange as Associated Pleasure Parks and, in 1968, the park was renamed to Flamingo Park Zoo.

In the 1970s, amusement rides had become a permanent fixture of the park along with the zoo, becoming the first site in Europe to combine the attractions in one location.

The park was losing money by 1974 and underwent a major revamp when it was renamed Flamingo Land. More emphasis was placed on the "day out" experience - with fairground rides, a haunted castle, model railway and a jungle cruise raft ride on the lake. Despite a more professional marketing approach which saw regular guest appearances by celebrities and stars of the day (including the racehorse Red Rum), Flamingo Land continued to lose money.

The owners, Scotia Leisure Ltd., sold the site in 1978 to Robert Gibb - himself a former director at Scotia leisure. He put a team in place to develop the complex as a national, rather than local, tourist attraction, including investing in amusement rides. Many staff were made redundant with most re-engaged on seasonal contracts.

The rides Bullet and Thunder Mountain were constructed in 1991.[1]

In 1995 Robert Gibb died in a car accident and his son Gordon Gibb, only 18 at the time, and his two sisters, Vicky and Melanie, took over the running of the park.[1]

Attractions

Some of the major attractions at Flamingo Land include:[2]

Also on the site is a gym, a leisure centre, a spa, a golf course and a large collection of log cabins and static caravans.

Pleasure Island

Flamingo Land also operated Pleasure Island Family Theme Park in Cleethorpes from its opening in 1993 until 2010, when it became independent.[3]

On the former site of Cleethorpes Zoo, construction for an amusement park was begun in the 1990s by RKF Entertainment. During this time RKF went into administration and Robert Gibb purchased the site as a second park to Flamingo Land. When his son Gordon Gibb became chief executive of the company, his sister Vicky Gibb and later other sister Melanie Wood took the responsibility for the Cleethorpes park.

In 2010 Melanie Wood attained her goal of taking ownership of the park, separate from the rest of the family company. Pleasure Island is now operated by Dewarsavile Enterprises Ltd, directed by Wood. This marked the end of the association between Pleasure Island and Flamingo Land.

Animals

General overview

Sea lion show
Bird show

Flamingo Land once claimed to be the largest animal holder of its kind in Europe, housing over 1,000 animals. Flamingo Land houses exotic animals, including camels, zebras, Vicuñas, hippopotamus, giraffes, meerkats, baboons, chimpanzees, lions, rhinoceros, tigers, sea lions, parrots, and peafowl. The park takes part in breeding programmes an example of which is the Mangabeys featured in the 2006 series of ITV1 show 'Theme Park'. In June 2010, Flamingoland started work on a new penguin enclosure, the first stages of which were completed in August 2010.

Affiliations

Flamingo Land is a member of the British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums (BIAZA)[4] and the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA),[5] and has connections to other parks in the country:

African Animals

The park's emphasis is on their collection of African animals, housed in the Lost Kingdom and African Plains. The Lost River Ride was designed to give a safari experience before its final drop, and meanders through Savannah-style grasslands with giraffe, ostrich, zebra, hippotamus and rhinoceros. The Forgotten City Lion Reserve is also located in the middle of the ride.

Holiday village

The park has a large holiday village with static caravans and log cabins, a leisure centre, a swimming pool, and a café.

Also in the holiday village is the CLUB, an entertainments venue which is exclusive for caravan owners and people staying on site overnight. It is a venue capable of holding over 1000 people and boasts a large stage and resident shows as well as light entertainment performed by visiting cabaret acts.

Theme Park

In the past, Flamingo Land never contained any themed areas and was very much an amusement park. Since the beginning of the 21st century, the park has developed several themed areas.

River Side One

An area known as River Side One opened in 2014. This part of the resort is open to all visitors. The area has bars and it also features an outdoor stage. The area also includes the theme parks resort hotel and includes the Balloons ride which has been upgraded.

Plaza

Lower Metropolis contains food outlets such as the Metropolis Bar and Grill, gift shops, cash machines, pay-to-play game stalls, the Flying Clowns ride as well as the Mia and Mylo Show.

Metropolis

Upper Metropolis is themed as a busy city and contains such rides as Velocity and Navigator.

Seaside Adventure

This area is themed on the ocean and a seaside resort with themed stores and restaurants. It contains Cliff Hanger, the highest drop tower and the only S&S Combo Tower in the UK Professor Bubbles Seaside Adventure Ride, Frog Hopper and the Carousel.

Splosh!

This area was introduced for the summer of 2007 and features a water playground with squirting jets and water dropping palm trees. Splash Battle is a submarine themed ride where ride cars and off ride posts around the ride are equipped with water cannons. The thrill ride Flip Flop and the 4D cinema are also located in this area of the park.

Swooosh

This flight themed area features three rides: Red Baron (formerly part of Muddy Duck Farm) and a family roller coaster called Zooom.

Dino Stone Park

Dino Stone Park is a prehistoric dinosaur themed land which features five rides including the high altitude star flyer ride, 'Pterodactyl' and spinning family coaster called 'Twistosaurus'. It opened in 2013.

Muddy Duck Farm

Formally known as the 'Little Monsters Den of Mischief', this area is mainly aimed at children, and includes the attractions Little Monster's Wacky Races and Mischief Mansion. This part of the park has been slowly phased out to make way for an area themed around farm animals, such as the Tractor Ride where children 'drive' the tractors around the farm animals' pens.

Lost Kingdom Reserve

This area contains such rides as Lost River Ride, Kumali, and Voodoo. When it was built in 2009, Mumbo Jumbo had the steepest drop of any roller coaster in the world, at 112 degrees.

African Plains

This is an all-animal area containing various animal paddocks and is located in a quiet, secluded area of the zoo. The monorail offers a bird's eye view of the animals, as does the elevated pathway that goes over a small lake to the Penguin Coast.

Children's Planet

This children's area was opened in 2011 and combines both play areas and animal enclosures.

Roller Coasters

# Name Type Opened Manufacturer Themed Land Description
1 Kumali steel inverted 2006 Vekoma Lost Kingdom Reaches a speed of 55 mph (88 km) on a 2203 ft long track (672 m) and a height of 118 ft (36 m) with 4 inversions (loop, cobra roll, zero g-roll); height limit 1.37 m. Train 2x10, SLC shenlin model.
2 Velocity steel sitdown 2005 Vekoma Metropolis A motorbike launched coaster that reaches a speed of 54 mph (87 km) on a 2109 ft long track (643 m) and a height of 57 ft (18 m); height limit 1.37 m.
3 Mumbo Jumbo steel sit down 2009 S&S Worldwide Lost Kingdom The steepest roller coaster in the UK, reaches a speed of 41 mph (66 km) and a height of 98 ft (30 m); height limit 1.21 m. Train 2x6, El Loco model.
4 Hero Flying 16 July 2013 Zamperla Metropolis Suspended above the busy streets of Metropolis, on the site of the old Wild Mouse. Identical layout to Soarin' Eagle to Luna Park in Coney Island.
5 Zooom steel suspended 2011 Zamperla Swooosh An aeroplane-themed junior suspended coaster. Train 2x5, Air Force model.
6 Twistosaurus steel sit down 2013 Zamperla Dino Stone Park Twisting around the old Jurassic jungle. Family spinning roller coaster.
7 Runaway Mine Train steel sit down 2007 Zamperla Metropolis A junior mine-style coaster for children; height limit 1m. Train 2x6, 80STD Gravity Coaster.
8 Dino Roller steel sit down 1988 Cavazza Diego Dino Stone Park Train 2x10, super Nessi junior coaster was originally named as Dragon Coaster has been rethemed in 2013 as Dino Roller as part of Dino Stone Park.
9 Go Gator steel sit down 1982 Wisdom Rides Muddy Ducky Farm A very small coaster intended for younger children. Train 2x7, go gator model.

Thrill Rides

# Name Opened Manufacturer Themed Land Additional Information
10 Cliff Hanger 2002 S&S Worldwide Seaside Adventure The UK's only S&S combo drop tower ride. The ride is themed like a lighthouse, and is the tallest drop tower in the UK at 180 ft (60 m); height limit 1.3m. The ride was installed by Ride Entertainment Group.[6] A year after it was installed, the park had to remove the red and white cladding due to complaints from neighbours.[7]
11 Navigator 2005 Zamperla Metropolis The first 'Mega' "Disk 'O'" type of ride ever to be built; height limit 1.21 m.
12 Flip Flop 2002 Fabbri Splosh! A gyro swing over a man made lake with water effects; height limit 1.3 m
13 Pterodactyl July 2012 Zamperla Dino Stone Park A 151 ft (46m) tall vertical spinning swing tower; height limit 1.21 m

Water Rides

# Name Opened Manufacturer Themed Land Description
14 Splash Battle 2007 Preston & Barbieri Splosh! The first interactive water ride in the UK. Ride cars themed as submarines travel along a track where targets must be hit to prevent the riders from being soaked; height limit 90 cm.
15 Lost River Ride 2004 Bear Rides Lost Kingdom A 335 m spillwater ride that gently meanders through animal enclosures such as rhinos, hippos, giraffes and lions before taking an 18 m high plunge into a pool of water; height limit none / 1.2 m without adult supervision.

Other rides and attractions

# Name Opened Themed Land Description
16 Voodoo 2003 Lost Kingdom A HUSS swinging Pirate ship ride; height limit 1.07 m.
18 Little Monsters Den of Mischief 2001 Muddy Duck Farm A ghost train suitable for families, it features horror characters including Frankenstein's monster, ghost, yeti, Dracula, and mummy as kids.
19 Cycle Monorail Metropolis A monorail where visitors can cycle on the track.
21 Balloon Race 1987 Metropolis A balloon themed gondola.
22 Rotataur 2005 Dino Stone Park A wheel themed Zamperla Ferris wheel, originally named Wagon Wheel.
23 Tractor Ride 2006 Muddy Duck Farm A Metallbau Emmeln Tractor ride; height limit 1.07 m.
24 Professor Bubbles Seaside Adventure 1990 Seaside Adventure Children's track ride. Manufactured by Modern Products.
26 Gallopers 1984 Seaside Adventure A set of Savage gallopers, previously located at Butlin's, Filey.
27 Vortex (formerly Rockin' Tug) 2005 Metropolis A Zamperla rockin' tug ride; height limit 90 cm.
28 Frog Hopper Seaside Adventure Junior drop tower; height limit 90 cm.
29 Helitoys 2001 Muddy Duck Farm Helicopter ride for kids; height limit 90 cm.
30 Fun Slides Muddy Duck Farm Slides for kids.
31 Swoosh Air Swoosh Airplanes; height limit 90 cm.
32 Pedaloes 2013 Lost Kingdom Pedal boats; height limit 1.21 m.
33 Wacky Races 1985 Muddy Duck Farm On track Ford T-models, manufactured by Big Country Motioneering. Height limit 1.07 m.
34 Jungle Carousel Muddy Duck Farm Carousel.
35 Flying Clowns Plaza Suspended roundabout.
36 Spotted Cow Ride The Zoo Junior carousel.
37 Crazy Combat Splosh! Laser battle pay to use
38 Frank's Exploratorium 2008 Muddy Duck Farm Magic House to explore; height limit none / 1.07 m alone.
39 Cable Cars Lost Kingdom Takes guests on a chair lift for an elevated view of the park each gondola is a different African animal ; height limit none / 1.4 m alone.
40 People Mover 1990 Seaside Adventure Travels from Seaside Adventure to Muddy Duck Farm. Built by Severn Lamb. Height limit none / 1.3 m alone.
41 Daktari Express Lost Kingdom Train ride that takes visitors around the zoo; height limit none / 1.3 m alone.
42 Zoo Monorail 1984 The Zoo Gives a bird's eye view of the animals. Built by Big Country Motioneering. Height limit none / 1.3 m alone
43 HMS Bounty Splosh! Indoor play area.
44 Pink Elephants Metropolis Roundabout.
45 Playground 2011 Children's Planet Play area.
46 Reptile Encounter 2011 Children's Planet Reptiles.
47 Sand Play 2011 Children's Planet Sand play area.
48 Splish Splosh 2007 Splosh! Water play area.
49 Spotted Cow Ride The Zoo Roundabout.
50 The Swan The Zoo Roundabout.
51 Otter Water Play 2011 Children's Planet Water play area.
52 Cyclosaurus 2013 Dino Stone Park Small cycling roundabout

The zoo

There are more 120 different species of animals in the park, including hippos, camels, meerkats, reptiles, exotic birds, giraffes, lions, chimpanzees, tigers, sea lions, baboons, zebras, rare fish, penguins, otters, and many others.

New for 2015 are the Black rhinos

Shows

Past rides and attractions

# Name Opened Closed Description
1 Magnum Force 2000 2005 A Triple Loop Coaster built by Anton Schwarzkopf that originally toured German funfairs as Dreier Looping & Sunway Lagoon, Malaysia. Now located at La Feria Chapultepec Magico, Mexico City under the name Montaña Infinitum.
2 The Bullet 1991 2005 A shuttle loop style coaster designed by Schwarzkopf. Originally known as Wiener Looping and previously operated in Austria, Florida, and on the German travelling funfair circuit before arriving at Flamingo Land. The ride was sold in 2012 to Selva Magica in Mexico, and opened in December 2013.
3 Corkscrew 1990 2011 A Vekoma corkscrew roller coaster that was one of the first rides to arrive at Flamingo Land, originally from Spanish City, Whitley Bay (1983 to 1989). The ride was dismantled in January 2012 and was relocated to Luna Park Cap d'Agde in France.
4 Thunder Mountain 1991 2004 Enclosed within a rock themed structure to create a dark roller coaster. The track system was a Pinfari Z40.
13 Sky Flyer 1993 2015 A Vekoma double inverted swinging ship style ride, formerly located in the Swoosh area. Relocated to Pleasure Island Theme Park.
5 Flying Trapeze 1998 2001 The four man bob coaster was built by Zierer was previously operated in Trentham, Alton Towers, Pleasure Island before arriving in Flamingo Land and it is now in Loudoun Castle as SBNO since 2010.
6 Crazy Loop 1986 1995 A coaster was built by Pinfari was relocated to former sister park Pleasure Island. It has been operating as Shockwave in Brean Leisure Park since 2003.
7 Wild Mouse 1997 2012 A Maurer Söhne Wilde Maus Classic roller coaster. Removed in 2012 to make way for the new flying coaster, Hero, and now operates in Pleasurewood Hills under the name of Marble Madness.
8 Top Gun 1996 2004 Unique attraction where riders sat inside two-seater plane themed cars that spun around the centre tower while moving toward the top. The riders could choose to turn their cars up-side down during the ride. It was built by Intamin and based on the film of the same name. Relocated from Kings Island, USA.
9 Klondike Creek 1980s 2003 Triple drop log flume with a mine theme, believed to have been extended with sections of the removed Drayton Manor log flume in 1999. It was removed when the Lost River was built.
10 Waikiki Wave/Tidal Wave 1993 2008 Vekoma Waikiki Wave ride, removed to make way for Mumbo Jumbo.
11 Terroriser/Circulator 1995 2007 A Fabbri Group evolution ride, moved to Pleasure Island in 2007.
12 Enterprise c.'84-'86 1994 A HUSS Park Attractions Enterprise (ride). Previously operated at Blackpool Pleasure Beach from 1979.
13 Junior Driving School 1999 2012 A ride in which kids couls drive electric buses.
14 Circus World 1990 2000 A circus show which featured acrobats and animals.
15 Dolphin Show 2001
16 Log Flume 1998 An original water ride.
17 Dive Booster A spinning thrill ride
18 Waltzer 1991 2006 An A.R.M. waltzer ride.
19 Zig Zag 1994 2006 A P.W.S. twist ride.
20 Formula Car A go karts ride.
21 Cine 180 A cinema.
22 Flying Carpet 1991 1992 A Weber 1001 Nacht. Later operated at Pleasure Island Family Theme Park from 1993 to 2001.
23 Ferris wheel
24 High Flying Jets 1982 2003 Lang Wheels manufactured 'vampire' jets. Previously located at Peter Pan's Playground, Brighton.
25 Century 2000 1980s 1995 A Bakker Denies ramba zamba ride. Currently operates at Pleasure Island Family Theme Park.
26 Razzle Dazzle 1986 1993 An A.R.M. satellite/trabant ride. Currently operates at Pleasure Island Family Theme Park.
27 Sherlock Showtime 1996 2000
28 Clown Slide 1990 A Modern Products astroglide slide.
29 Dead Man's Drop A near-vertical steep slide that was located in the current Exploratorium.
30 Rock A-fire Explosion Animatronic robot band entertainment show.
31 Gravitron 1994 1994 An A.R.M. manufactured rotor ride.
32 Flamingo Star 1995 2004 A HUSS Park Attractions Tri-Star. Operated at Alton Towers from 1991 to 1992. Moved to Pleasure Island.
33 Octopus 1987 1994 A Robles Bouso polyp ride. Previously operated at Coney Beach Pleasure Park. Moved to Pleasure Island in 1995.
34 UFO 1995 2004 A HUSS Park Attractions UFO. Was sold to showman John Wesseldine.
35 Rock Slide 2013 An Ivan Bennett astroglide slide. Last located at Seaside Adventure beside the Cliff Hanger.

Flamingo Land in the media

Theme Park on ITV

Theme Park is an ITV docusoap shown in the Yorkshire and Tyne Tees Regions, following the behind the scenes activities of Flamingo Land. The first series was broadcast in 2001 and a prominent part of the show was the building of the new area The Little Monsters Den of Mischief. The series in 2004 followed the development of the new water ride, The Lost River, which replaced the previous log flume, Klondike Creek. 2006 saw the third series of the popular ITV1 show, and followed the construction of the park's new coaster, Kumali.

Zoo Vet

The park's animal collection has also been a main feature of Zoo Vet at Large, which follows vet Matt Brash, both at his North Yorkshire surgeries and in his role as head vet at Flamingo Land. There have been multiple series which aired on ITV1 and are often repeated on the digital channel Sky Real Lives.

ChuckleVision

In an episode of ChuckleVision called "Romany Days", The Chuckle Brothers visit Flamingo Land in search of a pair of underpants which they believe to be of great value. The coaster they predominantly ride during the episode appears to be the Crazy Loop.

ITV Weather Sponsorship

Flamingo Land took up the sponsorship of ITV Yorkshire weather in June 2007 and ITV Tyne Tees weather in July 2007. The campaign ran until the end of the season. This sponsorship was renewed with both ITV regions in March 2008 at the start of the new season.

Talk Flamingo

Talk Flamingo was a long-running, discussion-based website about the park with news, construction, history, pictures, reviews and multimedia. The site closed at the end of the park's 2009 season.

Udzungwa Forest Project (UFP)

Flamingo Land's wildlife management initiative operates in the villages closest to the Magombera forest with the aim to maintain tropical rainforest in Eastern Tanzania. The purpose of the project is to provide villagers with a long-term fuel alternative through education and research, therefore reducing firewood collection within the forest, and thus the pressures placed upon the local environment.

Hull City A.F.C.

It was announced that Flamingo Land would be the new sponsors of the 2015-16 Championship season for the football club Hull City.

Controversy

In 2012, park owner Gordon Gibb appeared in court charged with the assault of a ticket seller outside the entrance of the park.[8]

In 2014, a family lost their legal battle with Flamingo Land and nearly lost their home due to legal costs. A dispute arose after the park refused to allow the family to sit outside a restaurant to eat. Three of the four family members have disabilities and they wished to eat outside because their daughter, Melissa, has downs syndrome and autism and thus struggles with crowded situations. Flamingo Land insisted they ate inside on health and safety grounds.[9]

On 22 May 2015, a teenage girl was injured and had to be taken to hospital when a footrail fell from a car of the Hero roller coaster and cut her in the head. Another person was treated at the scene. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) launched an investigation into the incident. Hero reopened in early June.[10][11]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "History of Flamingo land". Retrieved 15 February 2014.
  2. ↑ "Flamingo Land Theme Park & Zoo". rcdb.com. Roller Coaster DataBase. Retrieved 15 September 2011.
  3. ↑ "Reopening secures theme park jobs". BBC News. 26 April 2010.
  4. ↑ "BIAZA Zoos and Aquariums". biaza.org.uk. BIAZA. Retrieved 5 March 2012.
  5. ↑ "EAZA Member Zoos & Aquariums". eaza.net. EAZA. Retrieved 5 March 2012.
  6. ↑ "Projects". Ride Entertainment Group. Retrieved 22 November 2013.
  7. ↑ "Park must 'tone down' ride". BBC News. Retrieved 10 July 2015.
  8. ↑ "Flamingo Land boss charged with assaulting ticket seller". Retrieved 4 May 2015.
  9. ↑ "Kilmarnock family involved in legal row with Flamingo Land almost lost home after being forced to pay rival's legal fees". STV News. Retrieved 4 May 2015.
  10. ↑ "Girl, 15, hurt in Flamingo Land rollercoaster accident". BBC News. Retrieved 26 June 2015.
  11. ↑ Brown, Mike. "Flamingo Land's Hero ride re-opens as accident probe continues". Retrieved 26 June 2015.

External links

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