I live in Staines and grew up with Thorpe Park from the 80’s and worked there in the late 80’s. I remember it before any rollercoaster was there and before River Rapids, Canada Creek, Loggers Flume Ride etc too. That island on the left was a treasure island pirate ride with a broken in half pirate ship in the middle and a cast member dressed as a pirate jumping out on the track ride going round. Out of the screen shot to the left across the lake was a farm as part of the park. It was quite boring but done excellent fresh ice creams. They had boats going every half an hour from the circle pavilion over there, or there was a train track going past Treasure Island to the farm. Also to the side of the pavilion they had some pedal boat rides. On the top left part there was a large Roman fort with tents leading up with medieval displays inside. It was very chilled with the model village that you mentioned still there in the centre area too. The main ride was a lovely haunted dark ride in the middle. There was a 180 large screen to the right near Saw showing rollercoaster and other pov stuff on its 180 cinema screen, and wonky bikes track next to it, as well as a large Chinese boat restaurant which closed in the 80’s but still sat there for years after alongside sitting on the lake. The whole park had this really relaxed vibe about it and had its own unique charm which changed when they went the rollercoaster route.
Really good video. It’s a shame Google maps doesn’t have better quality photos. And more regular photos. The memories of this park back in the 90s all the way to today and how it’s changed. It’s really good to see the areal views to try and price it all together.
There's big rumours that 2025 will be Amity Beach's last year, there's posters for fright nights saying "final beach party, 2025" and also loads of rumours and little videos from Merlin's John Burton that an RMC coaster is on the horizon, potentially filling the islands next to Swarm. So even more big changes coming in the next 2-3 years
Originally they were planning to open a new coaster just a year after swarm on the other island next to swarm island but it never happened so the plans were scrapped and swarm was the only addition
I live in Staines and grew up with Thorpe Park from the 80’s and worked there in the late 80’s. I remember it before any rollercoaster was there and before River Rapids, Canada Creek, Loggers Flume Ride etc too. That island on the left was a treasure island pirate ride with a broken in half pirate ship in the middle and a cast member dressed as a pirate jumping out on the track ride going round. Out of the screen shot to the left across the lake was a farm as part of the park. It was quite boring but done excellent fresh ice creams. They had boats going every half an hour from the circle pavilion over there, or there was a train track going past Treasure Island to the farm. Also to the side of the pavilion they had some pedal boat rides.
On the top left part there was a large Roman fort with tents leading up with medieval displays inside. It was very chilled with the model village that you mentioned still there in the centre area too. The main ride was a lovely haunted dark ride in the middle. There was a 180 large screen to the right near Saw showing rollercoaster and other pov stuff on its 180 cinema screen, and wonky bikes track next to it, as well as a large Chinese boat restaurant which closed in the 80’s but still sat there for years after alongside sitting on the lake.
The whole park had this really relaxed vibe about it and had its own unique charm which changed when they went the rollercoaster route.
Loved reading this!! Thank you for taking the time to write this down 😊
Your videos are really well paced and informative, keep it up
Thank you so much!
Really good video. It’s a shame Google maps doesn’t have better quality photos. And more regular photos.
The memories of this park back in the 90s all the way to today and how it’s changed. It’s really good to see the areal views to try and price it all together.
Thank you! It’s crazy to see how much things have transformed over the years
There's big rumours that 2025 will be Amity Beach's last year, there's posters for fright nights saying "final beach party, 2025" and also loads of rumours and little videos from Merlin's John Burton that an RMC coaster is on the horizon, potentially filling the islands next to Swarm.
So even more big changes coming in the next 2-3 years
Thanks for the info, I’m intrigued to see what happens!
Originally they were planning to open a new coaster just a year after swarm on the other island next to swarm island but it never happened so the plans were scrapped and swarm was the only addition
Do you have any more information on this? Thanks
No it was 2015, and the reason why it got scrapped was because swarm didn't make enough money for the park
Has its got any earlier shots in the 90s i dont have a pc
Not that I could see on Google Earth, but I’m hoping there might be some more elsewhere!