Adventure Island (amusement park)

Adventure Island
Location Southend-on-Sea, England
Coordinates 51°31′57″N 0°42′57″E / 51.53250°N 0.71583°E / 51.53250; 0.71583Coordinates: 51°31′57″N 0°42′57″E / 51.53250°N 0.71583°E / 51.53250; 0.71583
Owner Stockvale Ltd
Opened 1976 (1976)
Previous names Peter Pan's Playground, Peter Pan's Adventure Island
Operating season February – November
Rides
Total 33
Roller coasters 5
Water rides 1
Website www.adventureisland.co.uk

Adventure Island is a free-admission amusement park in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, UK which has 32 rides, a gift shop, and catering outlets. The site of the amusement park flanks the north end of Southend Pier and has been an amusement park since 1976 when the land now forming the west side of the park was purchased by the Miller family. The park used to be known as Peter Pan's Playground and latterly Peter Pan's Adventure Island before becoming Adventure Island. The site is owned and managed by Stockvale Limited.

History

Adventure Island at night

Adventure Island started out in 1918 as Sunken Gardens, a sea-side garden that in the 1920s installed a few children's rides. In 1976, the land to the west of the pier was purchased by Philip Miller and his family. They developed the amusement park on the site from the rudimentary original and the entire site was redeveloped extensively.

In 1995 the park was vastly expanded when the land to the east of the pier was purchased to form part of the park.

Complementing the park is the longest pleasure pier in the world (built in 1830 as a wooden pier, rebuilt as a steel pier in 1889); it extends more than a mile (1,34 miles/2,16 km) toward the ocean. The pier train runs the entire length of the pier to the Lifeboat Museum. The park's mascot is called Snappy.

Adventure Island is not divided into specific areas but divides its rides into the following categories: Big Adventure (blue rides), Junior (green rides) and Mini (red rides). The park is separated by into East side of the Pier and West side of the pier.

In 1999, the park debuted the roller coaster Green Scream. It was once described as the park's signature ride but this title has now been taken by Rage. The Green Scream does not have any inversions and the drops are quite tame. The second rollercoaster at the park is the Barnstormer, which opened in 2000. The third rollercoaster is named the Mighty Mini Mega, which opened in 2003. Kiddi Koasta, a children's rollercoaster, opened to the public on 30 April 2011.

The fifth rollercoaster Rage opened in February 2007. It is one of the biggest investments the park has ever made. The ride cost in the region of £3million and is located on the former Raging River Log Flume site, Sky Drop and Vortex were relocated to new positions in the park to make way. The ride is about 75 ft in height and has a 97-degree drop, a vertical lift hill, a vertical loop, a Zero G Roll, and tight turns that make it a short but extreme ride. It has been named Rage after a competition in Southend Echo to decide a name for the ride. The slogan is "For Superheroes only!" which is said before the first drop of the rollercoaster. In 2011 a crow built its nest at the top of the loop gathering attention from tabloid newspapers.

In 2014, Adventure Island demolished the Pirate Boat, which was one of their oldest attractions, to make way for Adventure Inside in spring 2015.

In September 2016, the park retained a top five status in the “Friendliest Park In The World" category at the annual Amusement Today Golden Ticket Awards.

Appearances in TV shows

Adventure Island was seen in the show The Amazing World of Gumball showing Rage and Sky Drop, but Rage being called the Stomach Destroyer.

Rides and attractions

Rollercoasters

Name Picture Type Year Manufacturer Additional information
Barnstormer steel sit down 2000 Zierer Reaches a speed of 24 mph (39 km) on a 728 ft long track (222m) and a height of 29 ft (9m); height limit 1m. Small Tivoli model. It looks quite tame although it has what has been called one of the best helix curves on a mini coaster. The train is half the length of that of the Green Scream and has a fiberglass pilot at the front, a dog at the back, with propellers mounted at each end.
Green Scream steel sit down 1999 Zierer A family rollercoaster; height limit 1m. No inversions and the drops are tame. The Green Scream's train is green with a red interior, apart from the first car which is red and has a fibreglass crocodile to represent Snappy, a park mascot. The back of the rear car has the tail of the crocodile. The train is quite long, comprising 20 cars seating two people each.
Kiddi Koasta steel sit down 2011 Zamperla A children's rollercoaster; height limit 1m. A speedy Coaster which opened to the public on 30 April 2011. This rollercoaster is basically a starter coaster for young children and people who are not used to more larger and faster rollercoasters, due to its gentle drops, twist and turns.
Mighty Mini Mega steel sit down 2003 Pinfari Built on top of the Mega City arcade for added effect; height limit 1m. MM29 model. Has six cars each with two rows of two, seating 24 riders in total. The ride itself is quite short however it is quite intense in some places with a helix towards the end and quite a sharp brake run.
Rage steel sit down 2007 Gerstlauer Reaches a speed of 43 mph (70 km) on an 1184 ft (361m) long track and a height of 72 ft (22m) with 3 inversions (loop, immelmann, zero G roll) and a 97° drop; height limit 1.2m. Eurofighter 320+ model.

Other major rides

Archelon swing
Sk8borda

Children's rides

Other attractions

Formula 1A Karting

Past rides

Some past rides include:

Incidents

In 2013 an incident on Rage occurred where a staff member was checking a guests ride restraints, when another staff member sent the cart off with the staff member still in it. No injuries were recorded but the 4 staff members operating the ride were dismissed for not reporting the incident immediately.

Gallery

Main gallery: Adventure Island at WikiCommons

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Adventure Island (amusement park).
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