Planning Updates from Thorpe Park & Chessington this week

In this last week there have been planning updates for both Chessington and Thorpe Park and whilst these aren’t huge I wanted to mention them, so here’s you’re planning update!

Thorpe Park – Transformation of Amity Beach

Thorpe Park submitted plans a while back to change the Depth-charge side of Amity Beach into an entertainment plaza. The plans have since been scaled back due to the entertainment cuts at Merlin however, were approved this week by Runnymede Council.

This means at some point in the future we will see a new entertainment plaza for Thorpe Park. The location of this being close to the Dome will mean it should be able to be used for hotel guests alongside park events such as Fright Nights.

In my opinion, if this becomes the entertainment hub over the current stage locations the park has used near Ghost Train then will will improve capacity for entertainment and reduce crowding.

Chessington submit plans for a new lorikeet enclosure

As part of the redevelopment of Wild Asia to become Minecraft land for 2027 Chessington’s lorikeet’s were set to become homeless and whilst I’m sure they were positive about the opportunity to become ‘free as a bird’ it turns out Chessington have got other ideas!

This week’s planning application shows that Chessington want to build an enclosed building that guests can enter to experience lorikeets, Australian pigeons and some other animals close-up.

Chessington are planning to put this enclosure close to ZUFARI and will see the demolition of the existing Flamingo house. This new enclosure will also include a large netted-over area guests can enter to enjoy the birds.

This seems to continue a theme of separating the animals and theme park areas at Chessington which fits with what seems to be becoming Chessington World of IPs…although mandrils roaming Jumanji land would have created an authentic experience!

Other plans on the horizon?

With Universal Studios UK set to begin construction for a 2031 opening and Thorpe Park finally removing Slammer during the closed season earlier this year I don’t think these are the last planning applications we’ll see in the near future. The rumours are that Universal UK plans will be submitted in the next couple of months and I think we’ll also see developments at Thorpe Park over the next few years so they can be in a position to really compete with Universal!