Mark's Parks home

UK Theme Parks

  • Chessington to auction Scorpion Express Memorabilia
    8th March 2025

    Chessington to auction Scorpion Express Memorabilia

    Starting on Monday at 10am Chessington World of Adventures will be holding a series of auctions on their online store for various pieces of memorabilia from their Scorpion Express ride which has now been dismantled to make way for their new Project Play. You can read more about that here. Scorpion Express operated at the […]

  • Oakwood Theme Park in Wales Closes with Immediate Effect
    4th March 2025

    Oakwood Theme Park in Wales Closes with Immediate Effect

    In shock news this afternoon Oakwood Theme Park in Wales have published a news article on their site stating the immediate closure of the park for the 2025 season leaving the future uncertain. In the blog the park’s parent company state: “It is with much sadness that we have to announce the immediate closure of […]

  • Chessington’s ‘Project Play’ gets the go-ahead
    20th February 2025

    Chessington’s ‘Project Play’ gets the go-ahead

    I reported a while back that Chessington had submitted planning permission to re-develop the Mexicana area of the park. Yesterday, that planning permission was granted by Kingston upon Thames Borough Council. You can see the full planning application here. What next? It’s been reported that some preliminary work has already started in the Mexicana area […]

  • Is a Universal Studios UK announcement finally going to happen?
    16th February 2025

    Is a Universal Studios UK announcement finally going to happen?

    Theme Park enthusiasts across the country have been waiting for further news on a Universal Studios UK announcement for a while now. There was initially some hope that it would be part of the Chancellor’s announcements for growth a few weeks ago but despite mentions of Bedford during the speech there was no mention of […]

  • What is going on with Merlin?
    12th February 2025

    What is going on with Merlin?

    It’s no secret that Merlin have got some financial issues after running a huge loss, seeing lower visitors than expected at their new Korea and New York Legoland parks plus visitors spending less money when visiting their parks. In the last few days however news of further cut-backs have come for Merlin’s UK parks. In […]

  • Has the Eagles Claw left Lightwater Valley?
    4th February 2025

    Has the Eagles Claw left Lightwater Valley?

    Lightwater Valley, once a fantastic park in Yorkshire has been through quite a journey over the last few years since The Brighton Pier Group took over. During that time as they have tried to refocus the struggling park to be aimed at families they have removed a number of rides but most notably The Raptor, […]

  • Could Universal Studios UK get the green light by the end of January?
    21st January 2025

    Could Universal Studios UK get the green light by the end of January?

    It’s no secret that Universal Studios have purchased a huge amount of land near Bedford and have been going through a consultation process around opening a new Universal Studios Resort in the UK which is incredibly exciting, not least because the UK economy really needs it plus it would make Merlin work harder to compete. […]

  • Alton Towers Confirms Toxicator
    14th January 2025

    Alton Towers Confirms Toxicator

    In the worst kept secret name in theme park history Alton Towers confirmed yesterday that their new Top Spin ride will be called Toxicator alongside confirming a few other details. Alongside the trailer Alton Towers said: “Toxicator is ready to whip up a dizzying vortex of fear in the heart of the Forbidden Valley. Hang […]

  • Will Drayton Manor reopen Pirates Adventure?
    5th January 2025

    Will Drayton Manor reopen Pirates Adventure?

    Drayton Manor has had some great investments over the last few years with the opening of Vikings, the new site-down train on Shockwave (now, The Wave) and the opening of Gold Rush and the re-themeing of the area surrounding that but one area of the park remains untouched, the pirates area. In this blog I’ll […]

  • Alton Towers to build a new roller coaster for 2026!
    28th December 2024

    Alton Towers to build a new roller coaster for 2026!

    The week before Christmas saw a flurry of announcements from theme parks in the UK including Chessington submit planning permission for Project Play. Alton Towers also posted on their social media that they have submitted planning permission for a new roller coaster with a planned opening of 2026. Before you get too excited, no, this […]

  • Chessington apply for planning permission for project refresh and renew
    22nd November 2024

    Chessington apply for planning permission for project refresh and renew

    Yesterday was a busy day for Merlin Parks submitting planning permission applications, not only did Thorpe Park apply to finally remove The Slammer but (more excitingly), Chessington have applied for planning permission to redo Wild Asia including their new roller coaster which is expected to be themed around Minecraft. Chessington have said this will be […]

  • Thorpe Park Submits Planning Permission to remove The Slammer
    22nd November 2024

    Thorpe Park Submits Planning Permission to remove The Slammer

    Yesterday Thorpe Park submitted planning permission to Runnymede Borough Council to remove The Slammer from the park. This follows on from Thorpe Park’s recent submission to change Amity Beach into an entertainment area (these plans haven’t made it into Runnymede’s November planning committee meeting so I expect we’ll see them discussed in December. The planning […]

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