Flamingo Land Resort

Flamingo Land Resort

Park logo
Slogan	"Wild Animals, Wilder Rides"
Location	Kirby Misperton, North Yorkshire, England, United Kingdom
Coordinates	54°12′35″N 0°48′30″W / 54.2097°N 0.8082°W / 54.2097; -0.8082Coordinates: 54°12′35″N 0°48′30″W / 54.2097°N 0.8082°W / 54.2097; -0.8082
Opened	1959
Previous names	Yorkshire Zoo, Flamingo Park
Operating season	March–November
Area	375 acres (152 ha)
Rides
Total	52
Roller coasters	9
Water rides	2
Website	www.flamingoland.co.uk

Flamingo Land is a theme park, zoo, and resort located in North Yorkshire, England.

History

Flamingo Land Resort was established in 1959 when a cinema entrepreneur, Edwin Pentland Hick, sold his cinema chain and used the funds to purchase a bankrupt country club to use the land for a zoo.^[1] The site, which occupied nine acres, was initially called The Yorkshire Zoological Gardens. A colony of flamingos were among the first animals to be housed on site.^[1]

In 1963, the gardens became home to the UK's first captive bottlenose dolphins - one of whom was given the name Sooty after the children's TV puppet. During the 1960s a small funfair began to be held on the site. In 1965 the company was floated on the London Stock Exchange as Associated Pleasure Parks and, in 1968, the park was renamed to Flamingo Park Zoo.

In the 1970s, amusement rides had become a permanent fixture of the park along with the zoo, becoming the first site in Europe to combine the attractions in one location.

The park was losing money by 1974 and underwent a major revamp when it was renamed Flamingo Land. More emphasis was placed on the "day out" experience - with fairground rides, a haunted castle, model railway and a jungle cruise raft ride on the lake. Despite a more professional marketing approach which saw regular guest appearances by celebrities and stars of the day (including the racehorse Red Rum), Flamingo Land continued to lose money.

The owners, Scotia Leisure Ltd., sold the site in 1978 to Robert Gibb - himself a former director at Scotia leisure. He put a team in place to develop the complex as a national, rather than local, tourist attraction, including investing in amusement rides. Many staff were made redundant with most re-engaged on seasonal contracts.

The rides Bullet and Thunder Mountain were constructed in 1991.^[1]

In 1995 Robert Gibb died in a car accident and his son Gordon Gibb, only 18 at the time, and his two sisters, Vicky and Melanie, took over the running of the park.^[1]

Attractions

Some of the major attractions at Flamingo Land include:^[2]

• Hero - Suspended Flying Coaster new for 2013 in Metropolis area of the park. The ride was declared SBNO on 22 May 2015 when a piece of foot rail came loose and struck riders, but re-opened after a thin safety net was added under the track where it passes over the queue.
• Pterodactyl – A Zamperla Vertical Swing installed in 2012 in the new Prime evil land – adapted to 'Dino-Stone Park' for the 2013 season.
• Mumbo Jumbo – Opened in Summer 2009, this roller coaster was recognised at the time by the Guinness World Records as having the steepest drop.
• Flip Flop – Suspended over an artificial lake and features two large ship funnels on either side of the station.
• Kumali – Installed 2006, this is a Suspended Looping Coaster.
• Navigator – Installed 2005, it was the first 'Mega' "Disk 'O'" type of ride ever to be built.
• Velocity – was constructed in 2005, replacing the Thunder Mountain attraction. It was built by Vekoma, a manufacturer based in the Netherlands. The ride was the first booster bike ride in the United Kingdom, and is the tallest and fastest of its type in the world. It is estimated to have cost around UK£7 million. Velocity features a unique restraint design created specifically for Flamingo Land Resort. This leaves your upper body to move freely.
• Cliffhanger – Opened in 2002, this is the first and tallest S&S Combo Tower in the United Kingdom.

Also on the site is a gym, a leisure centre, a spa, a golf course and a large collection of log cabins and static caravans.

Pleasure Island

Flamingo Land also operated Pleasure Island Family Theme Park in Cleethorpes from its opening on 23 May 1993 until April 2010, when it became independent.^[3]

On the former site of Cleethorpes Zoo, construction for an amusement park was begun in the 1990s by RKF Entertainment. During this time RKF went into administration and Robert Gibb purchased the site as a second park to Flamingo Land. When his son Gordon Gibb became chief executive of the company, his sister Vicky Gibb and later other sister Melanie Wood took the responsibility for the Cleethorpes park.

In 2010 Melanie Wood attained her goal of taking ownership of the park, separate from the rest of the family company. Pleasure Island is now operated by Dewarsavile Enterprises Ltd, directed by Wood. This marked the end of the association between Pleasure Island and Flamingo Land.

Animals

General overview

Flamingo Land once claimed to be the largest animal holder of its kind in Europe, housing over 1,000 animals. Flamingo Land houses exotic animals, including camels, brazilian tapirs, zebras, Vicuñas, hippopotamus, giraffes, meerkats, baboons, chimpanzees, lions, rhinoceros, tigers, sea lions, parrots, and peafowl. The park takes part in breeding programmes an example of which is the Mangabeys featured in the 2006 series of ITV1 show 'Theme Park'. In June 2010, Flamingoland started work on a new penguin enclosure, the first stages of which were completed in August 2010.

Affiliations

Flamingo Land is a member of the British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums (BIAZA)^[4] and the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA),^[5] and has connections to other parks in the country:

• One of the older Flamingo Land elephants, Jangoli, went on to give birth to calves at Chester Zoo.
• The park's male lion, lioness and her cubs were originally located at Longleat Safari Park before moving to Flamingo Land to start a new pride.
• Chessington World of Adventures was also once the home of one of the park's sea lions, Clive.

African Animals

The park's emphasis is on their collection of African animals, housed in the Lost Kingdom and African Plains. The Lost River Ride was designed to give a safari experience before its final drop, and meanders through Savannah-style grasslands with giraffe, ostrich, zebra, hippotamus and rhinoceros. The Forgotten City Lion Reserve is also located in the middle of the ride.

Holiday village

The park has a large holiday village with static caravans and log cabins, a leisure centre, a swimming pool, and a café.

Also in the holiday village is the CLUB, an entertainments venue which is exclusive for caravan owners and people staying on site overnight. It is a venue capable of holding over 1000 people and boasts a large stage and resident shows as well as light entertainment performed by visiting cabaret acts.

Theme park

In the past, Flamingo Land never contained any themed areas and was very much an amusement park. Since the beginning of the 21st century, the park has developed several themed areas.

River Side One

An area known as River Side One opened in 2014. This part of the resort is open to all visitors. The area has bars and it also features an outdoor stage. The area also includes the theme parks resort hotel and includes the Balloons ride which has been upgraded.

Plaza

Lower Metropolis contains food outlets such as the Metropolis Bar and Grill, gift shops, cash machines, pay-to-play game stalls, the Flying Clowns ride as well as the Mia and Mylo Show.

Metropolis

Upper Metropolis is themed as a busy city and contains such rides as Velocity and Navigator.

Seaside Adventure

This area is themed on the ocean and a seaside resort with themed stores and restaurants. It contains Cliff Hanger, the highest drop tower and the only S&S Combo Tower in the UK Professor Bubbles Seaside Adventure Ride, Frog Hopper and the Carousel.

Splosh!

This area was introduced for the summer of 2007 and features a water playground with squirting jets and water dropping palm trees. Splash Battle is a submarine themed ride where ride cars and off ride posts around the ride are equipped with water cannons. The thrill ride Flip Flop and the 4D cinema are also located in this area of the park.

Swooosh

This flight themed area features three rides: Red Baron (formerly part of Muddy Duck Farm) and a family roller coaster called Zooom.

Dino Stone Park

Dino Stone Park is a prehistoric dinosaur themed land which features five rides including the high altitude star flyer ride, 'Pterodactyl' and spinning family coaster called 'Twistosaurus'. It opened in 2013.

Muddy Duck Farm

Formally known as the 'Little Monsters Den of Mischief', this area is mainly aimed at children, and includes the attractions Little Monster's Wacky Races and Mischief Mansion. This part of the park has been slowly phased out to make way for an area themed around farm animals, such as the Tractor Ride where children 'drive' the tractors around the farm animals' pens.

Lost Kingdom Reserve

This area contains such rides as Lost River Ride, Kumali, and Voodoo. When it was built in 2009, Mumbo Jumbo had the steepest drop of any roller coaster in the world, at 112 degrees.

African Plains

This is an all-animal area containing various animal paddocks and is located in a quiet, secluded area of the zoo. The monorail offers a bird's eye view of the animals, as does the elevated pathway that goes over a small lake to the Penguin Coast.

Children's Planet

This children's area was opened in 2011 and combines both play areas and animal enclosures.

• 
  Mumbo Jumbo
• 
  Velocity
• 
  Kumali

Roller coasters

#	Name	Type	Opened	Manufacturer	Themed Land	Description
1	Kumali	steel inverted	2006	Vekoma	Lost Kingdom	Reaches a speed of 55 mph (88 km) on a 2203 ft long track (672 m) and a height of 118 ft (36 m) with 4 inversions (loop, cobra roll, zero g-roll); height limit 1.37 m. Train 2x10, SLC shenlin model.
2	Velocity	steel sitdown	2 July 2005	Vekoma	Metropolis	A motorbike launched coaster that reaches a speed of 54 mph (87 km) on a 2109 ft long track (643 m) and a height of 57 ft (18 m); height limit 1.37 m.
3	Mumbo Jumbo	steel sit down	4 July 2009	S&S Worldwide	Lost Kingdom	The steepest roller coaster in the UK, reaches a speed of 41 mph (66 km) and a height of 98 ft (30 m); height limit 1.21 m. Train 2x6, El Loco model.
4	Hero	Flying	16 July 2013	Zamperla	Metropolis	Suspended above the busy streets of Metropolis, on the site of the old Wild Mouse. Identical layout to Soarin' Eagle to Luna Park in Coney Island.
5	Zooom	steel suspended	2011	Zamperla	Swooosh	An aeroplane-themed junior suspended coaster. Train 2x5, Air Force model.
6	Twistosaurus	steel sit down	25 May 2013	Zamperla	Dino Stone Park	Twisting around the old Jurassic jungle. Family spinning roller coaster.
7	Runaway Mine Train	steel sit down	2007	Zamperla	Metropolis	A junior mine-style coaster for children; height limit 1m. Train 2x6, 80STD Gravity Coaster.
8	Dino Roller	steel sit down	1988	Cavazza Diego	Dino Stone Park	Train 2x10, super Nessi junior coaster was originally named as Dragon Coaster has been rethemed in 2013 as Dino Roller as part of Dino Stone Park.
9	Go Gator	steel sit down	1982	Wisdom Rides	Muddy Ducky Farm	A very small coaster intended for younger children. Train 2x7, go gator model.

Thrill rides

#	Name	Opened	Manufacturer	Themed Land	Additional Information
10	Cliff Hanger	2002	S&S Worldwide	Seaside Adventure	The UK's only S&S combo drop tower ride. The ride is themed like a lighthouse, and is the tallest drop tower in the UK at 180 ft (60 m); height limit 1.3m. The ride was installed by Ride Entertainment Group.[6] A year after it was installed, the park had to remove the red and white cladding due to complaints from neighbours.[7]
11	Navigator	April 2005	Zamperla	Metropolis	The first 'Mega' "Disk 'O'" type of ride ever to be built; height limit 1.21 m.
12	Flip Flop	2007	Fabbri	Splosh!	A gyro swing over a man made lake with water effects; height limit 1.3 m
13	Pterodactyl	July 2012	Zamperla	Dino Stone Park	A 151 ft (46m) tall vertical spinning swing tower; height limit 1.21 m

Water rides

#	Name	Opened	Manufacturer	Themed Land	Description
14	Splash Battle	2007	Preston & Barbieri	Splosh!	The first interactive water ride in the UK. Ride cars themed as submarines travel along a track where targets must be hit to prevent the riders from being soaked; height limit 90 cm.
15	Lost River Ride	2004	Bear Rides	Lost Kingdom	A 335 m spillwater ride that gently meanders through animal enclosures such as rhinos, hippos, giraffes and lions before taking an 18 m high plunge into a pool of water; height limit none / 1.2 m without adult supervision.
Lost River

Other rides and attractions

#	Name	Opened	Themed Land	Description
16	Voodoo	2003	Lost Kingdom	A HUSS swinging Pirate ship ride; height limit 1.07 m.
18	Little Monsters Den of Mischief	2001	Muddy Duck Farm	A ghost train suitable for families, it features horror characters including Frankenstein's monster, ghost, yeti, Dracula, and mummy as kids.
19	Cycle Monorail		Metropolis	A monorail where visitors can cycle on the track.
21	Balloon Race	1987	Metropolis	A balloon themed gondola.
22	Rotataur	? To 1998 & 2006 To Present Day	Dino Stone Park	A wheel themed Zamperla Ferris wheel, originally named Wagon Wheel.
23	Tractor Ride	2006	Muddy Duck Farm	A Metallbau Emmeln Tractor ride; height limit 1.07 m.
24	Professor Bubbles Seaside Adventure	1990	Seaside Adventure	Children's track ride. Manufactured by Modern Products.
26	Gallopers	1984	Seaside Adventure	A set of Savage gallopers, previously located at Butlin's, Filey.
27	Vortex (formerly Rockin' Tug)	2005	Metropolis	A Zamperla rockin' tug ride; height limit 90 cm.
28	Frog Hopper		Seaside Adventure	Junior drop tower; height limit 90 cm.
29	Helitoys	2001	Muddy Duck Farm	Helicopter ride for kids; height limit 90 cm.
30	Fun Slides		Muddy Duck Farm	Slides for kids.
31	Swoosh Air		Swoosh	Airplanes; height limit 90 cm.
32	Pedaloes	2013	Lost Kingdom	Pedal boats; height limit 1.21 m.
33	Wacky Races	1985	Muddy Duck Farm	On track Ford T-models, manufactured by Big Country Motioneering. Height limit 1.07 m.
34	Jungle Carousel	2007	Muddy Duck Farm	Carousel.
35	Flying Clowns		Plaza	Suspended roundabout.
36	Spotted Cow Ride	1990,s	The Zoo	Junior carousel.	2007
37	Crazy Combat	?	Splosh!	Laser battle pay to use
38	Frank's Exploratorium	2001	Muddy Duck Farm	Magic House to explore; height limit none / 1.07 m alone.
39	Cable Cars		Lost Kingdom	Takes guests on a chair lift for an elevated view of the park each gondola is a different African animal ; height limit none / 1.4 m alone.
40	People Mover	1990	Seaside Adventure	Travels from Seaside Adventure to Muddy Duck Farm. Built by Severn Lamb. Height limit none / 1.3 m alone.
41	Daktari Express		Lost Kingdom	Train ride that takes visitors around the zoo; height limit none / 1.3 m alone.
42	Zoo Monorail	1984	The Zoo	Gives a bird's eye view of the animals. Built by Big Country Motioneering. Height limit none / 1.3 m alone
43	HMS Bounty		Splosh!	Indoor play area.
44	Pink Elephants		Metropolis	Roundabout.
45	Playground	2011	Children's Planet	Play area.
46	Reptile Encounter	2011	Children's Planet	Reptiles.
47	Sand Play	2011	Children's Planet	Sand play area.
48	Splish Splosh	2007	Splosh!	Water play area.
49	Spotted Cow Ride		The Zoo	Roundabout.
50	The Swan		The Zoo	Roundabout.
51	Otter Water Play	2011	Children's Planet	Water play area.
52	Cyclosaurus	2013	Dino Stone Park	Small cycling roundabout

The zoo

There are more 120 different species of animals in the park, including hippos, camels, meerkats, reptiles, exotic birds, giraffes, lions, chimpanzees, tigers, sea lions, baboons, zebras, rare fish, penguins, otters, and many others.

New for 2015 are the Black rhinos

Shows

• Bird Show – exotic birds at the Zoo.
• Mia and Mylo Shows – children's show at Metropolis.
• Sea Lion Show – sea lion show at the Zoo.

Past rides and attractions

#	Name	Opened	Closed	Description
1	Magnum Force	2000	2005	A Triple Loop Coaster built by Anton Schwarzkopf that originally toured German funfairs as Dreier Looping & Sunway Lagoon, Malaysia. Now located at La Feria Chapultepec Magico, Mexico City under the name Montaña Infinitum.
2	The Bullet	1991	2005	A shuttle loop style coaster designed by Schwarzkopf. Originally known as Wiener Looping and previously operated in Austria, Florida, and on the German travelling funfair circuit before arriving at Flamingo Land. The ride was sold in 2012 to Selva Magica in Mexico, and opened in December 2013.
3	Corkscrew	1990	2011	A Vekoma corkscrew roller coaster that was one of the first rides to arrive at Flamingo Land, originally from Spanish City, Whitley Bay (1983 to 1989). The ride was dismantled in January 2012 and was relocated to Luna Park Cap d'Agde in France.
4	Thunder Mountain	1991	2004	Enclosed within a rock themed structure to create a dark roller coaster. The track system was a Pinfari Z40.
13	Sky Flyer	1993	2015	A Vekoma double inverted swinging ship style ride, formerly located in the Swoosh area. Relocated to Pleasure Island Theme Park.
5	Flying Trapeze	1998	2001	The four man bob coaster was built by Zierer was previously operated in Trentham, Alton Towers, Pleasure Island before arriving in Flamingo Land and it is now in Loudoun Castle as SBNO since 2010.
6	Crazy Loop	1986	1995	A coaster was built by Pinfari was relocated to former sister park Pleasure Island. It has been operating as Shockwave in Brean Leisure Park since 2003.
7	Wild Mouse	1997	2012	A Maurer Söhne Wilde Maus Classic roller coaster. Removed in 2012 to make way for the new flying coaster, Hero, and now operates in Pleasurewood Hills under the name of Marble Madness.
8	Top Gun	1996	2004	Unique attraction where riders sat inside two-seater plane themed cars that spun around the centre tower while moving toward the top. The riders could choose to turn their cars up-side down during the ride. It was built by Intamin and based on the film of the same name. Relocated from Kings Island, USA.
9	Klondike Creek	1980s	2003	Triple drop log flume with a mine theme, believed to have been extended with sections of the removed Drayton Manor log flume in 1999. It was removed when the Lost River was built.
10	Waikiki Wave/Tidal Wave	1993	2008	Vekoma Waikiki Wave ride, removed to make way for Mumbo Jumbo.
11	Terroriser/Circulator	1995	2007	A Fabbri Group evolution ride, moved to Pleasure Island in 2007.
12	Enterprise	c.'84-'86	1994	A HUSS Park Attractions Enterprise (ride). Previously operated at Blackpool Pleasure Beach from 1979.
13	Junior Driving School	1999	2012	A ride in which kids could drive electric buses.
14	Circus World	1990	2000	A circus show which featured acrobats and animals.
15	Dolphin Show		2001
16	Log Flume		1998	An original water ride.
17	Dive Booster			A spinning thrill ride
18	Waltzer	1991	2006	An A.R.M. waltzer ride.
19	Zig Zag	1994	2006	A P.W.S. twist ride.
20	Formula Car			A go karts ride.
21	Cine 180			A cinema.
22	Flying Carpet	1991	1992	A Weber 1001 Nacht. Later operated at Pleasure Island Family Theme Park from 1993 to 2001.
23	Ferris wheel
24	High Flying Jets	1982	2003	Lang Wheels manufactured 'vampire' jets. Previously located at Peter Pan's Playground, Brighton.
25	Century 2000	1980s	1995	A Bakker Denies ramba zamba ride. Currently operates at Pleasure Island Family Theme Park.
26	Razzle Dazzle	1986	1993	An A.R.M. satellite/trabant ride. Currently operates at Pleasure Island Family Theme Park.
27	Sherlock Showtime	1996	2000
28	Clown Slide	1990		A Modern Products astroglide slide.
29	Dead Man's Drop			A near-vertical steep slide that was located in the current Exploratorium.
30	Rock A-fire Explosion			Animatronic robot band entertainment show.
31	Gravitron	1994	1994	An A.R.M. manufactured rotor ride.
32	Flamingo Star	1995	2004	A HUSS Park Attractions Tri-Star. Operated at Alton Towers from 1991 to 1992. Moved to Pleasure Island.
33	Octopus	1987	1994	A Robles Bouso polyp ride. Previously operated at Coney Beach Pleasure Park. Moved to Pleasure Island in 1995.
34	UFO	1995	2004	A HUSS Park Attractions UFO. Was sold to showman John Wesseldine.
35	Rock Slide		2013	An Ivan Bennett astroglide slide. Last located at Seaside Adventure beside the Cliff Hanger.

Flamingo Land in the media

Theme Park on ITV

Theme Park is an ITV docusoap shown in the Yorkshire and Tyne Tees Regions, following the behind the scenes activities of Flamingo Land. The first series was broadcast in 2001 and a prominent part of the show was the building of the new area The Little Monsters Den of Mischief. The series in 2004 followed the development of the new water ride, The Lost River, which replaced the previous log flume, Klondike Creek. 2006 saw the third series of the popular ITV1 show, and followed the construction of the park's new coaster, Kumali.

Zoo Vet

The park's animal collection has also been a main feature of Zoo Vet at Large, which follows vet Matt Brash, both at his North Yorkshire surgeries and in his role as head vet at Flamingo Land. There have been multiple series which aired on ITV1 and are often repeated on the digital channel Sky Real Lives.

ChuckleVision

In an episode of ChuckleVision called "Romany Days", The Chuckle Brothers visit Flamingo Land in search of a pair of underpants which they believe to be of great value. The coaster they predominantly ride during the episode appears to be the Crazy Loop.

ITV Weather Sponsorship

Flamingo Land took up the sponsorship of ITV Yorkshire weather in June 2007 and ITV Tyne Tees weather in July 2007. The campaign ran until the end of the season. This sponsorship was renewed with both ITV regions in March 2008 at the start of the new season.

Talk Flamingo

Talk Flamingo was a long-running, discussion-based website about the park with news, construction, history, pictures, reviews and multimedia. The site closed at the end of the park's 2009 season.

Udzungwa Forest Project (UFP)

Flamingo Land's wildlife management initiative operates in the villages closest to the Magombera forest with the aim to maintain tropical rainforest in Eastern Tanzania. The purpose of the project is to provide villagers with a long-term fuel alternative through education and research, therefore reducing firewood collection within the forest, and thus the pressures placed upon the local environment.

(Hull City A.F.C.) & (Middlesbrough's)

It was announced that Flamingo Land would be the new sponsors of the 2015-16 Championship season of football.

Controversy

In 2012, park owner Gordon Gibb appeared in court charged with the assault of a ticket seller outside the entrance of the park.^[8]

In 2014, a family lost their legal battle with Flamingo Land and nearly lost their home due to legal costs. A dispute arose after the park refused to allow the family to sit outside a restaurant to eat. Three of the four family members have disabilities and they wished to eat outside because their daughter, Melissa, has downs syndrome and autism and thus struggles with crowded situations. Flamingo Land insisted they ate inside on health and safety grounds.^[9]

On 22 May 2015, a teenage girl was injured and had to be taken to hospital when a footrail fell from a car of the Hero roller coaster and cut her in the head. Another person was treated at the scene. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) launched an investigation into the incident. Hero reopened in early June.^[10][11]

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Flamingo Land.

• Flamingo Land Park & Resort – main website for the Park and Resort.