Phantom Fantasia

Phantom Fantasia, later renamed Wicked Witches Haunt, was a dark ride opened in 1983 at Thorpe Park in Surrey, England. It took riders through a series of large animated horror scenes and illusions. The ride was designed by Colchester-based production studio Sparks, while the endless transit system was manufactured by Mack Rides in Germany. The ride was refurbished with a UV treatment in 1994. It permanently closed following a fire in 2000.

History

Phantom Fantasia was opened in 1983 in the Central Area at Thorpe Park.^[1] It was produced by British designer Keith Sparks and his Colchester studio, although he had left the company before the ride's completion. It featured many animated characters, including a hunchback swinging from a bone chandelier, a torture chamber, a ghoulish seance with a levitating table, Henry VIII dining at his banquet table while ghosts of his six wives appear and disappear around him (using a Pepper's ghost effect), a crypt, a Victorian street scene featuring Sweeny Todd and mrs Lovett's shop windows, a black magic alchemist/necromancer brewing a potion, two witches around a cauldron in their cave, Mary Queen of Scotts holding her decapitated head in her arms and a ballroom of eighteenth century-dressed waltzing skeletons.^[2]

The ride was re-themed to Wicked Witches Haunt in 1994, following a total scenic overhaul by Rex Studios with Keith Sparks' involvement. This project saw all the scenes retreated for ultraviolet lighting, a number of witch animatronic figures placed throughout, a new soundtrack and a new finale scene set in a web-covered dungeon featuring large spiders. On-ride photography was also added ^[3] The ride was destroyed by a large fire in 2000.^[4]

References

External Links

• Full on-ride recording of Wicked Witches Haunt