Adventure Island
Adventure Island is a theme park in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England. The site of the theme park flanks the north end of Southend Pier and has been a theme park since 1976 when the land now forming the west side of the park was purchased by the Miller family. The park used to be known as Peter Pan's Playground and later Peter Pan's Adventure Island before becoming Adventure Island. The site is owned and managed by Stockvale Limited. The park contains thirty six rides, retail outlets, and numerous catering outlets.
Adventure Island started out in 1918 as Sunken Gardens, a sea-side garden that in the 1920s installed a few children's rides. In 1976, the land to the west of the pier was purchased by the Miller family. They developed the amusement park on the site from the rudimentary original and the entire site was redeveloped extensively.
In 1995 the park was vastly expanded when the land to the east of the pier was purchased to form part of the park.
Complementing the park is Southend Pier, the longest pleasure pier in the world (built in 1830 as a wooden pier, rebuilt as a steel pier in 1889); it extends more than a mile (1,34 miles/2,16 km) toward the ocean. The pier train runs the entire length of the pier to the Lifeboat Museum. The park's mascots are called Snappy, Rage Man, Jakey and Jan.
In 1999, the park debuted the roller coaster Green Scream. It was once described as the park's signature ride, but this title has now been taken by Rage. The Green Scream does not have any inversions and the drops are quite tame. The second roller coaster at the park is the Barnstormer, which opened in 2000. The third roller coaster seen here is named the Mighty Mini Mega, which opened in 2002. Kiddi Koasta, a children's roller coaster, opened to the public on 30 April 2011.
The fifth roller coaster, Rage, opened in February 2007. It is one of the biggest investments the park has ever made. The ride cost in the region of £3 million and is located on the former Raging River Log Flume site. The Sky Drop and Vortex rides were relocated to new positions in the park to make way. The ride is about 75 feet (23 m) in height and has a 97 degree drop, a vertical lift hill, a vertical loop, a zero-g roll and tight turns. It was named Rage after a competition in the newspaper Southend Echo to decide a name for the ride. The slogan is "For Superheroes only!" which is said before the first drop of the roller coaster.
In September 2016 the park retained a top five status in the "Friendliest Park In The World" category at the annual Amusement Today Golden Ticket Awards.
Mighty Mini Mega located on top of the Mega City arcade for added effect but was originally built on ground level with the arcade being built after and then the ride was placed on top. It has six cars each with two rows of two, seating 24 riders in total. The ride itself is short, however it is quite intense in some places with a helix towards the end and quite a sharp brake run.
Adventure Island's Big Wheel towers over 50ft in the air above Southend sea front. The classic ferris wheel attraction features eight pods which each seat around four or five passengers. While the colour scheme of the pods themselves has changed over the years, the main wheel structure has remained painted white. From the top, the Big Wheel provides some great views over Southend Pier and out to sea. On clear days it is even possible to see across to the Kent Coast opposite.
Dodgems is a Dodgems track built by French manufacturer Reverchon. Bumper cars or dodgems are the generic names for a type of flat amusement ride consisting of multiple small electrically powered cars which draw power from the floor and/or ceiling, and which are turned on and off remotely by an operator. Bumper cars were not intended to be bumped, hence the original name “Dodgem.” They are also known as bumping cars, dodging cars and dashing cars.
The cars are commonly powered by one of three methods. The oldest and most common method, the Over Head System (OHS), uses a conductive floor and ceiling with opposing power polarities. Contacts under the vehicle touch the floor while a pole-mounted contact shoe touches the ceiling, forming a complete circuit.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adventure_Island_(amusement_park)
www.themeparkjames.co.uk/theme-parks/europe/uk/adventure-...
coasterpedia.net/wiki/Dodgems_(Adventure_Island)
Adventure Island
Adventure Island is a theme park in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England. The site of the theme park flanks the north end of Southend Pier and has been a theme park since 1976 when the land now forming the west side of the park was purchased by the Miller family. The park used to be known as Peter Pan's Playground and later Peter Pan's Adventure Island before becoming Adventure Island. The site is owned and managed by Stockvale Limited. The park contains thirty six rides, retail outlets, and numerous catering outlets.
Adventure Island started out in 1918 as Sunken Gardens, a sea-side garden that in the 1920s installed a few children's rides. In 1976, the land to the west of the pier was purchased by the Miller family. They developed the amusement park on the site from the rudimentary original and the entire site was redeveloped extensively.
In 1995 the park was vastly expanded when the land to the east of the pier was purchased to form part of the park.
Complementing the park is Southend Pier, the longest pleasure pier in the world (built in 1830 as a wooden pier, rebuilt as a steel pier in 1889); it extends more than a mile (1,34 miles/2,16 km) toward the ocean. The pier train runs the entire length of the pier to the Lifeboat Museum. The park's mascots are called Snappy, Rage Man, Jakey and Jan.
In 1999, the park debuted the roller coaster Green Scream. It was once described as the park's signature ride, but this title has now been taken by Rage. The Green Scream does not have any inversions and the drops are quite tame. The second roller coaster at the park is the Barnstormer, which opened in 2000. The third roller coaster seen here is named the Mighty Mini Mega, which opened in 2002. Kiddi Koasta, a children's roller coaster, opened to the public on 30 April 2011.
The fifth roller coaster, Rage, opened in February 2007. It is one of the biggest investments the park has ever made. The ride cost in the region of £3 million and is located on the former Raging River Log Flume site. The Sky Drop and Vortex rides were relocated to new positions in the park to make way. The ride is about 75 feet (23 m) in height and has a 97 degree drop, a vertical lift hill, a vertical loop, a zero-g roll and tight turns. It was named Rage after a competition in the newspaper Southend Echo to decide a name for the ride. The slogan is "For Superheroes only!" which is said before the first drop of the roller coaster.
In September 2016 the park retained a top five status in the "Friendliest Park In The World" category at the annual Amusement Today Golden Ticket Awards.
Mighty Mini Mega located on top of the Mega City arcade for added effect but was originally built on ground level with the arcade being built after and then the ride was placed on top. It has six cars each with two rows of two, seating 24 riders in total. The ride itself is short, however it is quite intense in some places with a helix towards the end and quite a sharp brake run.
Adventure Island's Big Wheel towers over 50ft in the air above Southend sea front. The classic ferris wheel attraction features eight pods which each seat around four or five passengers. While the colour scheme of the pods themselves has changed over the years, the main wheel structure has remained painted white. From the top, the Big Wheel provides some great views over Southend Pier and out to sea. On clear days it is even possible to see across to the Kent Coast opposite.
Dodgems is a Dodgems track built by French manufacturer Reverchon. Bumper cars or dodgems are the generic names for a type of flat amusement ride consisting of multiple small electrically powered cars which draw power from the floor and/or ceiling, and which are turned on and off remotely by an operator. Bumper cars were not intended to be bumped, hence the original name “Dodgem.” They are also known as bumping cars, dodging cars and dashing cars.
The cars are commonly powered by one of three methods. The oldest and most common method, the Over Head System (OHS), uses a conductive floor and ceiling with opposing power polarities. Contacts under the vehicle touch the floor while a pole-mounted contact shoe touches the ceiling, forming a complete circuit.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adventure_Island_(amusement_park)
www.themeparkjames.co.uk/theme-parks/europe/uk/adventure-...
coasterpedia.net/wiki/Dodgems_(Adventure_Island)