Camelot Theme Park

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Camelot Theme Park

Camelot's logo, 2006
Location	Charnock Richard, Lancashire, England
Website	www.camelotthemepark.co.uk
Owner	Prime Resorts
Opened	1984
Operating season	April - October
Rides	26 attractions in total 5 roller coasters 2 water rides
Slogan	The land of great knights, and amazing days!

Camelot Theme Park is a resort and Theme Park in Charnock Richard, Chorley, Lancashire, England based on the legend of Camelot. The site is owned by Prime Resorts. The park is home to many rides, taking a target audience of families and younger children, however the park also boasts numerous thrill rides and rollercoasters, including 'Whirlwind' a Maurer Sohn spinning coaster and Excalibur 2.

The park opened in 1984 and has been operating seasonally since then. In 1986 it was bought out by Granada Television, and operated by them alongside its now defunct sister parks American Adventure and Granada Studios Tour. In June 1998 the park was subject to a management buyout in which the park went to the current owners Prime Resorts.

Contents 1 Past 1.1 Ride Removals 1.2 Accidents 2 Present 2.1 Rides 2.2 Shows 2.3 Declining attendance 3 Future 3.1 Closure 3.2 New Rides 4 Criticism 5 References

[edit] Past

[edit] Ride Removals

• Tower of Terror was a steel sit-down roller coaster manufactured by Schwarzkopf. It was removed in 2000 to make way for a Vekoma Invertigo, and also due to cost issues as the ride was leased along with the original Excalibur from the Bembom Brothers. However, planning permission was denied for this ride so the park was forced to replace the ride with a Pinfari ZL42, which is still operating at the park and is called "The Gauntlet". While the ride was being taken down, a polystyrene castle which was part of the rides theming was burned down when some sparks from a saw hit it. The ride itself was unscathed, and is now operating as Twist N' Shout at Henk Bembom's Loudoun Castle.

• Excalibur Was removed with the Tower of Terror. It stood originally on the site of the Whirlwind, however the space the Tower of Terror originally took up was more than enough space for the replacement Gauntnet Pinfari rollercoaster and the Excalibur 2 (Fabbri Evolution). This left a site vacant, which was later used for the Whirlwind

• Venom was a steel powered dark-roller coaster. It was removed in 2005 due to increasing safety regulations with indoor rollercoasters. While operated, the ride was enclosed inside a building and kept in the dark. When first opened, the ride was originally called "The Beast" and kept inside a mountain themed building. This building was removed in 2001 to make way for an extension to the castle, which would have created a new indoor entertainment center. However, when it became apparent the park could close within the next few years the plans were largely scaled back, leaving room for the ride to stay. The building and ride were then rebuilt, but was themed as a snake, in a snakes lair. The ride is now owned by Williams Amusements and the castle was extended to include the new indoor entertainment centre and Dodgems ride.

• The Sorcerer was a roller coaster manufactured by Pinfari. It was installed in 1995 however removed in 1997 to make way for The Quintain. The park also considered it too small a rollercoaster and it was not as popular with guests as the park hoped. Its presence was faded by the ever popular Tower of Terror

• The Quintain was a Huss Flipper and was removed before the 2006 season started and was replaced by a carousel. It was thought by many guests that the ride was not suitable for the target audience of the park.

• The Gauntlet, a Pinfari ZL42, was removed after the 2006 season in order to make room for Knightmare. The ride was renowned for operational problems and midway through the 2005 season, a non standard train was purchased to replace the ageing original trains. During 2005 the ride experienced significant downtime. A worker also once died while maintaining it.

• Carousel, the smaller of the two Carousels in the park was removed after the 2006 season due to its age and being shaded by the much more extravigant carousel located close by. The Junior Galleon has been moved to the front of the Playland building to occupy the Carousels central spot.

• Leverets, A small childrens ride located at the side of the Rack (previous locations include the side of the original Excalibur, and at the front of the park - under a different name). It was removed after the 2006 season due to the cars and track becoming unreliable. The ride was often closed as it was unprofitable to open due to its poor throughput and low popularity with guests. The ride has not been replaced.

[edit] Accidents

• On the 22nd October 2001 a park employee was struck by The Gauntlet roller coaster and was killed ^[1]. The park was fined £40,000 as the park had no written safety procedures for its staff ^[2].
• On the 18th April 2004 a boy was hit by a bus in the theme parks car park and was killed ^[3]. The driver was charged with death by dangerous driving ^[4], the case was later dropped due to legal arguments ^[5].

[edit] Present

[edit] Rides

• Knightmare a custom Schwarzkopf / Zierer roller coaster.
• Excalibur 2 a Fabbri Evolution.
• Whirlwind a Maurer Söhne Xtended SC 2000.
• The Rack a Vekoma Canyon Trip.
• Dragon Flyer an on-site made diesel powered roller coaster.
• Junior Dragon Coaster.
• Caterpillar Capers a Pinfari Big Apple MB28.
• The Galleon a swinging pirate ship.
• Falcon’s Flight Zamperla Balloon Ride.
• Go Karts (extra charge).
• Pendragon’s Plunge A three tube water slide.
• Log Flume.
• Cup & Sorcerer a teacup ride.
• Kingdom in the Clouds a Ferris wheel.
• Bertie’s Driving School (extra charge).
• Playland Express.
• Junior Galleon- Small version of the Galleon ride.
• Sir Lancelot’s Chargers a two tier carousel.
• Junior jousting horses.
• Human cannonball.
• Clown around.
• Sky divers.
• Towers of Fun A soft play area.
• Jousting Knight Dodgems.
• Merlin’s Indoor Playland.
• Dungeons of Doom a haunted house ride.

[edit] Shows

• Jousting Tournament A live joust performed by Camelots own knights, led by an actor playing King Arthur. Performed in the Avalon Arena.
• Merlin's Magic Show Performed in Merlin's castle this show demonstrates some of Merlin's magical skills
• Merlin's School of Wizardry Performed in Merlin's castle, Merlin's School of Wizardry teaches some of Merlin's magic to the audience.
• Cats of the Round Table An animatronic cats show in the dark. Visitors can witness singing and dancing cats in the old family resteraunt, located at the front of the park.

[edit] Declining attendance

Camelot has seen a major downturn in attendance in recent years. In 1995, Camelot's attendance was 500,000 visitors throughout the season ^[6]. In 2005 Camelot's attendance was only 336,204 visitors ^[7].

[edit] Future

[edit] Closure

It is believed Camelot will close within the next 7-10 years due to dropping attendance figures and lack of income. This is dependent on Prime Resorts obtaining planning permission for a new housing and leisure development ^[8]. Currently, the park owners deny any chance of closure in the near future, issuing that the park is taking on major new projects ^[9].

[edit] New Rides

Camelot is opening a new ride for the 2007 season ^[10]. The ride is currently under construction and will be completed for a late Spring 2007 opening. This will be the biggle single investment in Camelot since its opening. The new ride is a rollercoaster named Knightmare and is the relocated BMRX Coaster from Kobe Portopialand in Japan. The roller coaster was also recently rated 36th best steel coaster in the Mitch Hawker poll.

[edit] Criticism

In a survey of healthy food available at leading tourist attractions in the UK, Camelot came joint bottom scoring only one point ^[11].

[edit] References