Flamingo Land Resort is located in North Yorkshire, England. Also on site is a gym, a leisure centre, a spa, a golf course and holiday accommodation.
Flamingo Land Resort began in 1959, when an old, small and bankrupt country club was bought up by a resident of Scarborough; an entrepreneur in the cinema and theatre industry by the name of Edwin Pentland Hick. Hick named the site The Yorkshire Zoological Gardens and initially covered a mere nine acres of land. However Hick had grand ideas for the park; a vision which he had since military service during World War II. Hick has been described as both an eccentric and a visionary by his critics. He originally rented animals until receipts allowed him to buy more.
Hick wanted to have dolphins in his park, which at that time were not found anywhere in captivity in the UK. In 1963 he organized expeditions to many locations around the world to capture bottlenose dolphins and sperm whales, including to the Indian Ocean and off the coast of Greenland. Hick was commended for his treatment of the animals, which were fed well and kept in expansive enclosures. One of the dolphins was named Sooty after Corbett's creation.
A colony of pink flamingos were among the first animals to be housed on site and, remaining one of the most popular group of animals in the zoo, the flamingos became a kind of mascot for the entire park (hence Pentland Hick's final choice of name for the park.) The descendants of the original flamingos are still resident in the zoo today, and the flamingo colony at the park remains the largest in the country.
Throughout the 1960s a small fun fair began to be held on the site, yet another idea of Hick's, only to steadily gain momentum and bring more and more visitors to the site. In the 1970s, the fun fair was well established and amusement rides had become a permanent fixture of the park simultaneous to the zoo, becoming the first site in all Europe to combine the two attractions in one location.
Pentland Hick, believing his "vision" complete, floated the company on the London Stock Exchange as Associated Pleasure Parks in 1965, and officially renamed the site Flamingo Park Zoo on Monday 12 July 1968. The ownership of the site began to shift about with the steady growth of the park, eventually being sold in full to Scotia Leisure Ltd, a company which dealt mainly with bingo halls and package holidays.
However a director of that leisure company was Robert Gibb, who cared for the park greatly and decided to buy the park from the company in 1978, shortly before Scotia Leisure collapsed due to an embezzlement scandal that also left Pentland Hick broke. Hick abandoned the park, moving into theatre and television scriptwriting, and becoming an author. Meanwhile, his protégé Robert Gibb set up his own board of directors for the park and formed Flamingo Land Ltd.
Gibb renamed the park Flamingo Land Theme Park and Zoo and developed the complex so that it was more suited to be a nation-wide instead of a local tourist attraction, including developing the growth of the amusement rides and the uniqueness of the animals cared for in the zoo. It was slow process, but a successful one. The year 1991 (whilst still under Robert Gibb's management) was one of the most productive in the park's history; it was in this year that the famous rides Bullet and Thunder Mountain were constructed.
Robert Gibb died in a car accident in 1995. His son Gordon Gibb, only 18 at the time, took control of the park with the rest of family, later becoming the chief executive of Flamingo Land Ltd.
]]
One time[] Flamingo Land claimed to be the largest animal holder of its kind[] in Europe, housing over 1,000 animals. Flamingo Land houses exotic birds, rare fish and sea-life, mammals and reptiles. Some animals include camels, zebras, bison, guanaco, red deer, hippos, giraffes, meerkats, monkeys, lions, rhinoceros, tigers, sea lions, birds of paradise, and peacocks. The park take part in breeding programmes an example of which is the Mangabeys featured in the 2006 series of ITV1 show 'Theme Park'. It also has a TV channel on Youtube and the website . Flamingoland Official TV is updated every month
Flamingo Land has connections to other parks in the country:
Many years ago[] one of the older Flamingo Land elephants, Jangoli went on to give birth to at Chester Zoo - in this manner the elephants at Chester Zoo are descendants of Flamingo Land's elephants. One of the parks current giraffes is also from Chester Zoo.
The park's male, 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.
The parks emphasis is on their collection of African Animals, housed in the Lost Kingdom and African Plains. The parks water ride was designed to give a safari experience before its final drop, and meanders through Savannah style grasslands with Giraffe, Ostrich, Zebra, Hippo and Rhino. The ' Forgotten City Lion Reserve' is also located in the middle of the ride.
The park has a large holiday village with static caravans and log cabins. Within the holiday village there are leisure facilities including a leisure centre, a swimming pool and a café.
On the outskirts of the park lies a nine-hole golf course. Also adjacent to the park runs Costa Beck, a stream locally noted with crystal-clear water and fly fishing is available here free to those staying in the holiday village.Trout, Dace, Grayling, Salmon, Kingfisher and Pike can all be found in Costa Beck.
Also in the holiday village is the American bar entertainments venue which is exclusive for caravan owners and people staying on site over night. It is a venue capable of holding over 1000 people and boast a large stage and great resident shows as well as light entertainments and visiting caberets. Various artists have performed there over the past years, for example in 2009: X factor finalists such as Maria Lawson, Same difference and Ben Mills among some others, also soap stars presented in 2009 included Ryan Thomas and Mark Hancock. Chesney Hawkes also appeared on the showbar stage during this season. The venue is only open when the holiday park itself is from March til early November each year.
In 2009 Entertainments staff consisted of a show team of 6 female dancers, 2 female vocalists and 1 male vocalist who did the resident shows in the later evening. Also present were 3-4 coat style entertainers and 2 night time presenters Strawberry Dan and Lee Oliver.
The main day visitors entrance. Contains food outlets, gift shops, cash machines, pay-to-play game stalls, the Flying Clowns ride and The Wave Swinger ride, as well as the New for 2009 Postman Pat Show which previously was the Professor Bubbles Show. Also for the '09 season was the introduction of Pitchers Sports Bar open all day for guests but provided throughout the night for people staying in the holiday park where shows are on-stage until closing.
This area is themed as a busy city. It contains such rides as Velocity, Navigator, Wild Mouse and Corkscrew. Corkscrew was first built in 1980 with a design similar to the Corkscrew at Alton Towers it has operated since 1983. This area of the park has received a lot of attention throughout the seasons with the addition of Velocity, a boosterbike roller coaster manufactured by Vekoma rides and it is the only Motorbike Launch Rollercoaster in the UK. New for 2008 in this area is the 4D cinema, which screened the "Haunted Lighthouse" film which was also at Busch Gardens Africa and various SeaWorld parks, and features interactive features to immerse the experience. 2009 saw the Haunted Lighthouse replaced by Spongebob Squarepants 4D.
This area is themed on the ocean and a seaside resort with such themed stores and Pizza Buffet Restaurant called the 'Jolly Sailor's Restaurant. There is also the Jolly Sailor Takeaway (for takeaway pizzas) and the 'Something Fishy Takeaway' providing traditional fish and chips. It contains Britain's second highest drop tower, Cliff Hanger, which is themed as a lighthouse, although it now only has its trademark red and white panels on the lower part of the tower after complaints it spoilt the views from outside the park (it is now painted a 'blend away' grey on the top half).
This area was introduced for summer 2007. "Splish Splash" is 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 is located in this area of the park, a Top Swing built by Fabbri. The ride has a large swing through station and sits over a lake with water jet effects.
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. Over the last few years this part of the park has been slowly fazed out to make way for "Muddy Duck Farm" an area themed around the farm animals. Furthermore, a safari type ride (like Lost River Ride) has been made (but more child-friendly) is the Tractor Ride where children 'drive' the tractors around the farm animals pens. This area holds a new ride "Helitoys", which takes the centrepiece of the area. The go-gator coaster has been moved to the old "monsters explorium" site which was cleared at the end of 2007 to make way for new rides. Another New For 2009 Venue is the Coach House Pub which is a traditional family pub serving traditional English country-side food such as chicken and beef dinners and Lasagne Meals
Holds Flamingo Lands most ambitious projects ever with such rides as Lost River Ride and Voodoo. In 2006 Kumali was built in this area. Made by Vekoma Rides, Kumali reaches over there lakes at 75 feet high and reaches speeds of 56 mph. In 2009, a new roller coaster Mumbo Jumbo opened, manufactured by S&S. It has the steepest drop in the world at 112 degrees and has a Max G-Force of 4G's.
An all animal area containing various animal paddocks and is located in a quiet secluded area of the park.
Installed in 2002 it is the UK's only S&S combo drop tower ride. The ride is themed like a lighthouse. At 180 feet (55 m) it is the tallest drop tower ride in the UK. During its opening year the ride was very highly themed with red and white stripes up the tower and a red light upon the top. Unfortunately the light and top 80% of the cladding had to be removed due to complaints that the ride spoilt the view of the outstanding area of natural beauty in which Flamingo Land sits. All that remains now are the lower parts of the cladding and basethemeing (including rock and storm battered boat details).
This ride is special in that it has multiple modes. The car can operate up and down like a standard S&S Tower, where it is launched upwards to the top, it freefalls and is launched halfway, then is lowered and stopped. It can also be switched onto "Combo Mode", where it is launched as usual, then launched again when the car reaches the bottom of the tower, and is lifted to the very top of the tower, where 4 brakes clamp onto special steel brake fins, and clamp it there for a predetermined amount of time. The thrill is you do not know when it will drop, there are no telltale sounds or movements. It is then actually launched downwards faster than gravity, is launched back up halfway, then is lowered to the ground.
Installed 2005 it is the UK's only motorbike launch coaster and is the tallest and fastest of its kind in the world. It takes just 2.8 seconds to reach a speed of up to 60 mph. The ride opened during the summer on 2 July, with a concert at the park called "Velocity 2005 : Party in the Park". Velocity is one of the main attractions and proves to be very popular with many guests.
Installed 2005 it was the first 'Mega' "Disk 'O'" type of ride ever to be built. The ride is very popular with Teenagers and young Adults. You have to be 4' / 1.21m to ride Navigator.
, opened in 2006]]
Installed 2006 Kumali is a Vekoma Suspended Looping Coaster (SLC). The ride is a custom layout with some new elements for Vekoma SLCs, including the cobra-roll which Flamingo Land wished to be out over a lake. It is named after one of the zoo's lions. In 2008 Flamingo Land added video recorders to each car so riders can purchase their own video of them on the ride as well as the on-ride photo. The themed Kumali ride music was written and produced by ElectricStreetPolice, a British TV composer by the name of Paul Bickerdike. Kumali is currently only one of three operating Vekoma SLC's in the UK. The Jubilee Odyssey at Fantasy Island UK in Ingoldmells, Skegness is the largest and the other Infusion at Pleasure Beach, Blackpool is the smallest.
One of the first rides to arrive at Flamingo Land, but still an all time favourite, it was installed in 1983 it is standard Vekoma Corkscrew coaster, it is situated in the metropolis area of the park, it is almost identical to the model which existed at Alton Towers until the end of 2008, as well as having the same name.
Installed 1997 is a steel Wild Mouse roller coaster, manufactured by Maurer Söhne of Germany. In 2007, new themed music and announcements were added. The ride was given a new-look in 2008 season including a repaint with a light blue track and dark red support's also a new station building. A photo is taken on a dip near the end of the ride and video cameras are also installed in the front and back of each car. Photo's and DVD's of the ride can be purchased at the booth next to the ride's exit.
Installed in July 2007 Splash Battle was 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. The submarines have water cannons to hit these targets, but can also be used to aim at other riders, and even people walking nearby the ride. Subsequently, those who choose not to ride do have water cannons on the land, in which they can aim at riders but by doing this they put themselves at risk of being soaked by the rides and also the large volcano the stands in the center of the lake which erupts every 20 minutes.
Flip Flop is suspended over a man made lake and features two large ship funnels on either side of the station. These funnels have water jets inside of them. The ride is a Top Swing, designed and built by Fabbri.
The Lost River Ride is manufactured by BEAR Rides, and was installed 2004. It is a boat ride that gently meanders through animal enclosures such as rhinos, hippoes, giraffes and lions. The ride has speakers at the side of the river playing sound effects, and at one point stops riders near the "African Plains" area. This part has a "Tour Guide" on the speakers, giving riders information on the animals. The ride also features a 60 ft (18 m) drop at the end to soak guests.
On 4 July 2009, Mumbo Jumbo was opened to the public. The ride contains an angled drop of 112 degrees taking the honour off of Indiana Beach's Steel Hawg for the steepest roller coaster in the world. Flamingo Land expects Mumbo Jumbo to become one of the more popular rides at the resort. The Tidal Wave was removed to make way for this new ride, which cost £4 million. Riders will experience forces in excess of 4G and the ride's highest point is 30 metres high. Mumbo Jumbo is located between the Cliffhanger and the Kumali.
Sky Flyer is a double inverted swinging ship style ride. It was opened to the public in 2004 and is located in the splosh zone, neighbouring Splash battle and Flip flop.
The face of the park is constantly changing, with old amusement rides being removed and new ones being constructed. Thrill rides of yesteryear include:
| Title | Years present | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Magnum Force | 2000-2005 | A Triple Loop Coaster built by Anton Schwarzkopf, originally toured German funfairs as Dreier Looping. Now located at La Feria Chapultepec Magico, Mexico City. |
| The Bullet | 1991-2005 | Unique 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. Now in storage, awaiting sale. |
| Thunder Mountain | 1991-2004 | Enclosed within a rock themed structure to create a dark coaster. The track system was Pinfari Z40. |
| Top Gun | 1996-2004 | Unique attraction where riders sat inside two seater plane themed cars. The cars span around the center 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 based on the film of the same name. |
| Klondike Creek | 1999-2003 | Triple drop log flume with a mine theme, believed to have been extended with sections of the removed Drayton Manor log flume. It was an aging ride and was removed when the Lost River was built (a more modern water ride). |
| Crazy Loop | 1986-1995 | The parks first ever coaster, was relocated to sister park Pleasure Island. |
| Tidal Wave | 2008 | Removed to make way for Mumbo Jumbo. |
| Terroriser/Circulator | 1995-2007 | Designed by Fabbri of Italy, this ride operated under two different names and in two different locations during its time at the park. It was named Terroriser (occasionally written "Terror Riser") from 1995-2004 operating in the Plaza area of the park. In 2005, Terroriser was renamed to the Circulator, and relocated to the then-newly themed area, Metropolis. The ride left the park at the end of the 2007 season, and was moved to its "sister" park, Pleasure Island, where it is operating under its third name under the company - Obliterator. |
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 new area "The Little Monsters Den of Mischief" including attractions such as "Mischief Mansion".
The series in 2004 particularly followed the development of the new water ride, The Lost River, which replaced the previous log flume Klondike Creek. The Lost River was Flamingo Land's most ambitious project ever when it was undertaken in 2004. The water ride was a concept attraction which was to form the centre piece of the Lost Kingdom themed area of the park. The idea was to create a safari style ride which also had a thrill element.
2006 saw the third series of the popular ITV1 show. This particularly followed the construction of the parks new coaster for that season, Kumali.
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 surgerys and in his role at head vet at Flamingo Land. There have been multiple series which were aired on ITV1 and are aften repeated on the digital channel Sky Real Lives.
In one episode on 'Chucklevision', The Chuckle Brothers visit Flamingo Land in search of a pair of underpants which they believe to be of great value. The ride they predominantly ride during the episode appears to be the Corkscrew.
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 was a popular and long running discussion based website about the park with news, construction, history, pictures, reviews and multimedia. The site closed at the end of the parks 2009 season. Go Flamingo, opened in its place.
Go Flamingo opened after the departure of Talk Flamingo in October 2009. It features a discussion board ran by the parks fans. It has yet to achieve the height of Talk Flamingo's popularity, but never the less, it is becoming more and more active over recent months.
Flamingoland Official TV is also available on the website and on Youtube providing monthly updates on what's going on at Flamingoland . Currently there are 16 editions to watch with exclusive close up footage of the animals , new arrivals and the rides and attractions . You can see everything from a baby tapir to POV shots from the test run of Mumbo Jumbo
