The above Planning Application images have been taken
and altered from Runnymede
Online.
Concept
Art:
Early
2007:
Late
2007:
Early
2008:
Late
2008:
Marketing
for the ride:
From
13th July 08, Thorpe Park began a series of videos that would
be uploaded to YouTube every month on the 13th of every month,
to create hype around the ride. Videos released appear below
- including the name reveal on 13th October!
Here's what could have been - one of the competing ideas for the 2009 investment was a Great Coasters International Inc wooden rollercoaster to sit in the space that SAW - The Ride now occupies!
The ride plans look hugely exciting - tracking through the Logger's Leap tunnel and a station fly-by and fly-under! If you've been on GCII's Millennium Flyer trains you'll know just how improved wooden coasters are these days, when compared to, say, rides like the Big Dipper at Blackpool Pleasure Beach (opened in 1923!). Unfortunately, much to the enthusiast's chagrin, UK parks are reluctant to build wooden coasters, due to the fear that such rides would be hard to market to the UK audience. Wooden rides are seen as outdated and tame - but this often couldn't be further from the truth. With the UK's only decent wooden offering being 1996's Megafobia at Oakwood, here's hoping that Thorpe Park revisit these plans in the near future...
2008
Closure
of Miss Hippo's Fungle Safari (1995 - 2008):
2009
Old
Thorpe entrance signage:
30th Anniversary Flowerbed (1979 - 2009):
2010
Closure of Octopus Gardens (1992 - 2010):
Old Thorpe Mega Store facade:
View from the Dome Panorama:
Storm Surge Construction
Planning
Application Images:
The above Planning Application images have been taken
and altered from Runnymede
Online.
