An amusement park is a park that features various attractions, such as rides and games, as well as other events for entertainment purposes. A theme park is a type of amusement park that bases its structures and attractions around a central theme, often featuring multiple areas with different themes. Unlike temporary and mobile funfairs and carnivals, amusement parks are stationary and built for long-lasting operation. They are more elaborate than city parks and playgrounds, usually providing attractions that cater to a variety of age groups. While amusement parks often contain themed areas, theme parks place a heavier focus with more intricately-designed themes that revolve around a particular subject or group of subjects.
A helter skelter, or helter-skelter lighthouse, is an amusement ride resembling a lighthouse with a spiral shaped slide built around the tower. Typically, fairgoers climb up a flight of stairs inside the tower and slide down the spiral on the outside using a coir mat. The ride is most prevalent in amusement parks and fairgrounds in the United Kingdom.
A spinning roller coaster is a roller coaster with cars that rotate on a vertical axis.
The Big One, formerly known as the Pepsi Max Big One, is a steel roller coaster located at Pleasure Beach Resort in Blackpool, Lancashire, England. Designed by Ron Toomer and manufactured by Arrow Dynamics, the ride opened to the public on 28 May 1994 as the tallest and steepest roller coaster in the world, featuring a height of 213 feet (65 m) and a drop angle of 65 degrees. It held the title as the tallest until 1996 when Fujiyama opened in Japan. Construction of the ride cost £12 million. The ride was sponsored by Pepsi until 2011, at which time Pepsi Max was removed from the name.
Southport Pleasureland is an amusement park located in Southport, Merseyside, England. The park originally operated from 1913 to 2006 as Pleasureland Theme Park under the ownership of the Blackpool Pleasure Beach company. In 2007, the park re-opened under the ownership of Norman Wallis.
The Grand National is a wooden roller coaster located at Pleasure Beach Resort in Blackpool, Lancashire in the United Kingdom. It was designed and constructed by American engineer Charles Paige in 1935 and is now one of two surviving wooden Möbius Loop roller coasters in the world. Grand National is the only surviving twin-track roller coaster in Britain in which two cars race against one another. This ride has an individual lap bar and seatbelts as the restraints.
Pleasure Beach is the Bridgeport portion of a Connecticut barrier beach that extends 2.5 miles (4 km) westerly from Point No Point. Prior to June, 2014, when Pleasure Beach re-opened, the area was Connecticut's largest and most recent ghost town after it was abandoned in the late 1990s due to a fire on the bridge connecting it to the mainland. It is surrounded on three sides by water.
Since the 1990s, Nickelodeon, a worldwide children's television network and franchise, owned by Paramount Global, has had an involvement in the creation and theming of amusement parks rides.
Big Dipper is a wooden out and back roller coaster at Pleasure Beach Resort, Blackpool, England. Originally built in 1923, it was extended in 1936 and was designated as a Grade II listed building on 19 April 2017. It operates with two trains, each containing three four-bench cars, seating two people per bench. After Scenic Railway, Big Dipper is the second-oldest in-use rollercoaster in Britain. The ride has 1 lapbar per row.
Nickelodeon Streak is a wooden out-and-back roller coaster at Pleasure Beach Resort, Blackpool, England. It was built in 1933 by Charles Paige and uses the lift hill and other parts of the former Velvet Coaster, which was removed in 1932. From 1933 to 2010 it was known simply as Roller Coaster however after Nickelodeon Land was announced the coaster was renamed and rethemed to Nickelodeon Streak. Now removed, a train from the Velvet Coaster used to be preserved on show in the station of Roller Coaster. It is currently the second tallest wooden coaster out of the four wooden coasters at Pleasure Beach Resort.
The Pleasure Beach Great Yarmouth is an amusement park located in the seaside resort town of Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, on the English east coast. It opened in 1909. The largest and most popular ride at the park is the wooden Roller Coaster which opened in 1932. There are also 25 other large rides at the park, as well as children's entertainment, amusement arcades, catering facilities, sweet shops and ice cream parlours.
Blue Flyer is a Wooden roller coaster at Nickelodeon Land, Pleasure Beach Resort in Blackpool, England. It was built in 1934. It is believed to have been built by Charlie Paige. It is a family coaster.
The Steeplechase is a three tracked racing roller coaster at Pleasure Beach Resort, England. It is a custom design made by Arrow Dynamics. The ride was officially opened in 1977 by Grand National winner Red Rum, whose hoof print was also taken and is on display near the ride's exit. It is the only operating steeplechase roller coaster left in the world.
Beaver Creek was a children's amusement park inside Blackpool Pleasure Beach. It closed on 5 September 2010 when Managing Director Amanda Thompson announced that it would be working with Nickelodeon to bring the new Nickelodeon Land. Nickelodeon Land opened in Beaver Creek's place on 5 May 2011.
Pleasure Beach Resort, formerly known as Blackpool Pleasure Beach, is an amusement park situated on Blackpool's South Shore, in the county of Lancashire, North West England. The park was founded in 1896 by A. W. G. Bean and his partner John Outhwaite. The current managing director is Amanda Thompson.
Wallace & Gromit's Thrill-O-Matic is an indoor family dark ride at the Pleasure Beach Resort, an Amusement park in Blackpool, Lancashire, England. It opened in 2013, replacing The Gold Mine ride which opened in 1971 at a cost of £150,000, which closed in 2011. It is based on the Wallace and Gromit films and was opened in April 2013 by Nick Park, Amanda Thompson, Nick Thompson, Nick Farmer and Merlin Crossingham.
William "Geoffrey" Thompson OBE was a British businessman who was the managing director and owner of Blackpool Pleasure Beach, Pleasureland Southport and Frontierland, Morecambe. He rose to his position in 1976 after the death of his father, Leonard Thompson.
Red Arrows Sky Force is a Gerstlauer sky fly ride at Pleasure Beach Resort that opened on 2 May 2015. It stands at 72 feet (22 m) on the site of the former "Bling" ride, a Zierer star shape that was closed in 2011.
ICON is a launched roller coaster at Pleasure Beach Resort in Blackpool, Lancashire, England. Manufactured by Mack Rides of Germany, the ride opened on 25 May 2018 at a total cost of £16.25 million. The ride was marketed as the first multi-launch roller coaster in the United Kingdom, and the first brand new rollercoaster at the park in 24 years. It uses a series of linear magnetic synchronous motors to propel and slow the trains along the track.
