Steeplechase may refer to:
Thorpe Park, formerly also known as Thorpe Park Resort, is a theme park located in the village of Thorpe between the towns of Chertsey and Staines-upon-Thames in Surrey, England, 20 miles (32 km) southwest of Central London. It is operated by Merlin Entertainments and includes rides, themed cabins, live events and as of Spring 2024, Hyperia, the United Kingdom's tallest and fastest rollercoaster. In 2019 Thorpe Park was the UK's third most visited theme park, behind Alton Towers and Legoland Windsor. However, in 2020, due to the coronavirus pandemic, the park only had a 125-day operation season, along with limited capacity, leading to massively reduced visitor numbers.
Arrow Dynamics was an American manufacturing and engineering company that specialized in designing and building amusement park rides, especially roller coasters. Based in Clearfield, Utah, the company was the successor to Arrow Development (1946–1981) and Arrow Huss (1981–1986), which were responsible for several influential advancements in the amusement and theme park industries. Among the most significant was tubular steel track, which provided a smoother ride than the railroad style rails commonly used prior to the 1960s on wooden roller coasters. The Matterhorn Bobsleds at Disneyland, built in 1959, was Arrow's first roller coaster project.
A roller coaster train is a vehicle made up of two or more cars connected by specialized joints which transports passengers around a roller coaster's circuit. Roller coasters usually have various safety features, including specialized wheels and restraints.
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.
Ronald Valentine Toomer was an American roller coaster designer credited for designing 93 roller coasters around the world. He graduated from the University of Nevada, Reno in 1961 with a degree in mechanical engineering and was a part of the design team responsible for the Apollo spacecraft heat shield.
Virginia Reel was an older style of spinning roller coaster characterized by spinning circular "tubs" that zig-zagged down a flat-bottomed track.
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.
Oblivion is a steel roller coaster located at Alton Towers in Staffordshire, England. The prototype Dive Coaster model from Bolliger & Mabillard opened to the public on 14 March 1998 and was marketed as the "world's first vertical drop roller coaster". With a maximum speed of 68 mph (109.4 km/h), it is the third fastest roller coaster in the UK, behind The Big One at Blackpool Pleasure Beach and Stealth at Thorpe Park.
This is a summary of notable incidents that have taken place at various European amusement parks, water parks, or theme parks. This list is not intended to be a comprehensive list of every such event, but only those that have a significant impact on the parks or park owners, or are otherwise significantly newsworthy.
Infusion is an inverted steel roller coaster at Pleasure Beach Resort, Lancashire, England. It is a 689m standard "Mark 3" model Vekoma Suspended Looping Coaster (SLC) and the first to be suspended entirely over water.
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.
The Wild Mouse was a wooden roller coaster located in Pleasure Beach Resort which opened in 1958. It was one of only four remaining wooden Wild Mouse coasters left in the world as of the end of the 2017 season, and was held in very high regard as one of the finest and most extreme examples of Wild Mouse coasters.
Avalanche is a steel bobsled roller coaster at Pleasure Beach Resort in Blackpool, England. It is the first and, as of 2022, the only bobsled roller coaster in the United Kingdom. It was designed for the park by Mack of Germany in 1988.
A Steeplechase roller coaster is a type of roller coaster that has several side-by-side tracks in a dueling "racing" arrangement. Riders straddle horse-shaped single cars and launch simultaneously, as from a horse-race starting line.
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.
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.
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 is the first multi-launch roller coaster in the United Kingdom, and the first brand new rollercoaster at the park in 16 years. It uses a series of linear magnetic synchronous motors to propel and slow the trains along the track.
