Location | Chertsey and Staines, Surrey, England |
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Coordinates | 51°24′17″N 0°30′47″W / 51.40472°N 0.51306°W |
Status | Operating |
Opened | 24 May 1979 |
Owner | LXi REIT[1] |
Operated by | Merlin Entertainments |
General manager | Neil Poulter (Divisional Director) |
Slogan | The Home Of Feel-Good Thrills |
Operating season | Theme Park March – November Thorpe Shark Cabins March – November / December (private events) Thorpe Park Marquee March – November / December (private events) |
Attendance | 2023: 1,500,000 (23%) |
Area | 410 acres (1.7 km2; 170 ha) *Total combined area including Lakes and all back of house areas |
Attractions | |
Total | 27 |
Roller coasters | 8 |
Water rides | 4 |
Website | www |
Thorpe Park, formerly also known as Thorpe Park Resort, is a theme park located in the village of Thorpe between the towns of Chertsey and Staines-upon-Thames in Surrey, England, 20 miles (32 km) southwest of Central London. It is operated by Merlin Entertainments and includes rides, themed cabins, live events and Hyperia, the United Kingdom's tallest and fastest rollercoaster at over 236ft and 129kmph, it also includes Europe's tallest element and the worlds first outer banked airtime hill. In 2019, Thorpe Park was the UK's third most visited theme park (1.9 million visitors), behind Alton Towers and Legoland Windsor.[2] However, in 2020, due to the coronavirus pandemic, the park only had a 125-day operation season, along with limited capacity, leading to massively reduced visitor numbers.
After demolition of the Thorpe Park Estate in the 1930s, the site became a gravel pit, but in the early 1970s part of that gravel pit was flooded, creating a unique water-based environment for the park, with the intention of building a leisure attraction on it. Thorpe Park resort was built on that site in 1979, and being partially flooded it allowed visitors to view Thorpe Park as an island. It has since grown into a major theme park in the UK and one of the top 10 theme parks in Europe Major attractions include Tidal Wave, a large water ride; Ghost Train, a dark ride; as well as a number of rollercoasters including Colossus, Nemesis Inferno, Stealth, Saw – The Ride, The Swarm, The Walking Dead: The Ride, and Hyperia.