Old Photos Thorpe/Chessie/Windsor (photo heavy)

[Mysterious Sue]

Ok so I've had these on fb for ages, but have been meaning to share. Basically, I raided my parent's photo tin and scanned in anything theme park related. Most are of me looking adorably ickle, but there might be a few interesting nuggets in there for anyone wishing to reminisce about the early days of the theme park industry in South East England (also I really miss those warm, red Kodak colours)

Chessington, 1987:

The monorail and entrance looking very clean

Polar bears with the enclosure where you could walk underneath the water

Old Zebra enclosure

Chessington train

Me and Mum outside a portacabin - nice

A slide

The hall before it became Hocus Pocus with the old car park in front

The rockery hasn't changed much

Chessington has always been a place for picnics


I think this was at Margate, but if anyone knows better....(astronaut anyone?)

Thorpe 1988

Me and Dad outside the dome

The old slides that used to take you down from the dome

Sunken Garden

Tea Cups

Street theming

The farm/open air museum


Thorpe Park 1989

Rumba Rapids (or Thunder River as it was then called)

Thorpe's train looking shiny and new

The old pirate scene

First year of Logger's Leap? No theming yet

The old Magic Mill


Windsor Safari Park (now Legoland Windsor)

 

[james6]

Wow thanks for that Some awesome pictures!

Wish rides such as the Skyway look as good now as they did then.

It's reminded me I have a load of pictures from Legoland's opening years which I should upload.

Thanks again

 

[furie]

Wow! I love old photos of these places - brilliant

One thing that always gets me is how much is actually kept. Things the train at Thorpe and the Monorail at Chessington.

Thorpe looked so much better Where was the Magic Mill? My fist trip wasn't until 1997 and I don't remember a great deal about the smaller rides.

How dreadful is the zoo though at Chessington? Those enclosures are dreadful. It was around that time I remember all the stuff started about how bad captivity was for things like polar bears and killer whales and how dreadful a lot of zoos in the UK really were.

 

[peep]

Oh wow, thanks for sharing those pics Sue! Some really interesting ones in there.

 

[Mysterious Sue]

I don't really remember the Magic Mill if I'm honest, but apparently it was where Inferno is now.

There was a huge campaign at one stage against Chessie's zoo - it was pretty bad I think. I don't know if this is true, but I heard that they didn't invest in the zoo for a while as they were trying to phase it out, but then the local council told them they had to keep it, and only then did they start the major renovations. The lion cage is still one of the originals, and that's tiny.

 

[Ollie]

Yeah that boat ride was where Inferno used to be. I like old photos of places like this as you can see first hand how it's changed and recognise different areas of the park. I never knew they used to have slides from the dome at Thorpe. Shame they got rid of them.
And Chessington Zoo back there looks awful. Small enclosures and concrete floors.

 

[mouse]

These pictures are great!
Seeing as I wasn't alive in the 80s it's interesting to see what the parks were like.
Those slides at Thorpe look great!

 

[marc]

Sue that brings back a lot of memories for me

When I 1st went Loggers was not there and the rapids were being built, the new ride was the Tea Cups lol.

 

[slappy mcguire]

I never visited the Southern parks before last year, and in a way I assumed that Chessie was always more safari park with a theme park in it than the other way around, but it goes to show just how subtly the park has evolved. Thorpe on the other hand looked like a place you might actually want to bring kids to, rather than worrying that they may see some of the wildlife mating...

Excellent stuff.

 

[Mysterious Sue]

^Actually, Thorpe used to be the kiddie park as Chessington had the only thrill ride between them in Vampire!

 

[Lucy]

I don't really remember the Magic Mill if I'm honest, but apparently it was where Inferno is now.

Thanks for posting those pics Sue as they bought back memories for me! - The Magic Mill was quite a funny ride especially the part where it wen through an enclosed section and had frogs singing the frog chorus!

 

[marc]

Yes Thorpe was total rubbish and had no good rides Chessington had the better rides and was the better park.

 

[slappy mcguire]

was?

 

[Mark]

^Actually, Thorpe used to be the kiddie park as Chessington had the only thrill ride between them in Vampire!

Indeed, it was like that right up to the early 90s even. Thorpe wasn't really doing anything whilst Chessie was getting Rameses Revenge and then Samurai...

The change came about when the Tussauds Group bought Thorpe and decided that considering Chessingtons strict planning rules etc (not all too dissimilar from Alton) Thorpe would be in a better position to be the Thrill park...

Marc is also right. I remember going to Thorpe a little while after Chessington in my early teens and I was soooo dissapointed. There was nothing there that was remotely exciting back then. My how things change...

Cheers for the photos btw Sue. Like many others I love the history of the parks we all visit now. Its great seeing the changes and how everything has developed. and we all complain about them nowadays lol

 

[Phill Pritchard]

Wow thanks for posting those Sue. That has brought back a lot of memories. I had to sign up to the forum just to thank you, after seeing the link on the CF facebook page.

 

[Mysterious Sue]

Wow, thanks for all the thanks guys! Makes it so worth while. Glad to know you all like reminiscing as much as I do!

And hello Phill! Come stick around, we're a friendly bunch

 

[Phill Pritchard]

Thanks for the friendly welcome.

 

[Mysterious Sue]

No probs.

 

[Hurri]

The junior Pirate Ship is definitely Adventure Island (then called Peter Pan's Playground).

Behind it you can see the 'Play Pod' and the Big Wheel when it had 16 cars, and the astronaut was probably on the Telecombat Jets at that point. He moved on to the Space Chaser roller coaster then later became Elvistein in Beelzee Bob's Trail and now stands under Barnstormer.

 

[Mysterious Sue]

Yay thank you Hurri! The puzzle is solved! It's great that you kept such a track of Adventure Island's history!!