[RCT3] Longley Beach Theme Park - Park Sold to US Investors

[A5H]

Welcome to the beautiful town of Longley, situated in the south of England. Longley has long been known for it's beautiful beaches, however in recent years the town has slowly lost it's appeal, and many local businesses suffering from poor tourism.

 

 

'The Boardwalk' has also suffered, at a time when the shops were packed and the beach was full. However recently it's not half as busy as before.

 

 

Amazingly, some companies have faith in this little beach town, with a well known hotel franchise opening a brand new 160 room hotel along side the beach and The Boardwalk.

 

 

Another company has also decided to take the chance and build a small shopping centre in the area, work has already begun!

 

 

And of course now we bring you to the main attraction for Longley. Longley Beach Theme Park...

 

 

Longley Beach Theme Park was opening in 1990, by Michael Baker, with the support of his family. However, over the last 22 years it hasn't exactly grown. It has been the same small 'theme park' now for six years without a single addition, and well... let's just say most of the rides could certainly use a lick of paint at the least. However, I have decided to follow this park as a sort of blog for the future, if it has one. I'm Ash Jones, and let me show you around my local 'theme park'.

 

The park has been struggling in terms of numbers for a couple of years now, with only two rollercoasters and a handful of small rides, it doesn't exactly scream excitement.

 

'Boomerang' is the biggest rollercoaster here, it was opened way back in 1992 and it has been rumoured as the next ride to close here for a few years now, but it's still very popular!

 

'Wild Mouse' is the other rollercoaster. It has been here since the park opened and was the first ride to be installed. In recent years it has really started to struggle, there are quite a few days each season where the ride is shut for 'maintenance'.

 

A couple more of the older rides here, both aren't exactly popular anymore.

 

 

Amazingly, the newest ride in the park is the Chairswing, which opened in 2006. Yeah, you can probably start to tell now how much the park is struggling.

 

'Slingshot!' Yeah... I never have, and never will go on this, with the state of the park, I'm surprised there hasn't been an accident on here already...

 

'Rot8' is another newish ride, it opened in 2005 replacing the older launched drop tower.

 

The Main Street is where you can find food, souvenirs, Dodgems and Toilets.

 

As you can probably tell, the park is tiny. However if the tourism doesn't pick up and Mr.Baker doesn't invest in the park, the size could be the least of it's worries. Only time will tell.

Edited November 17, 2013 by A5H

[A.J.]

Image height and width tags do not work here. is all you need. Make sure you preview your posts.

Edited November 25, 2012 by A.J.

[boxopen]

Awesome park! I love the whole dying amusement park story.

[CorkscrewFoley]

Looks great so far, I definitely want to see where this goes.

[fraroc]

I like it a lot, but in real life, Vekoma Boomerangs have at least 6 or 7 cars in the train, yours only has 4

 

Keep it up!

[Kinderly]

^Well it is only a small ocean side park.

 

 

Looks like a great park! I just think there could be a little more detail from your buildings.

[A5H]

Thank you all for your replies

I can't wait to share this story more with you!

 

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July 2012

 

So I've been down to the park today, I'm not going to lie, it's really not looking good. Schools have now broke up for summer and still there isn't a large number of visitors.

 

Yes it's this bad... I arrived at just after 11am and this was the number of people entering the park...

 

The queue for 'Boomerang' was still pretty long, we queued nearly 15 minutes for it.

 

I don't like how quiet the park is getting. This is when it's the summer holidays, I dread to imagine what it'll be like come September.

 

I did however see one of the Park Managers having a look around today, first off he was looking at the guest services building, hmm, enough room for something new maybe?

 

God knows what was going on here, improvements? problems? possible replacements?

 

Not a massive update for you all, but hey, not exactly a lot going on at the park right now.

 

I'm definitely keeping an eye on what the manager was looking around for today, probably nothing knowing this place.

[Christopoll]

Looking great so far, I like the dying theme park storyline you're making.

[A5H]

September 2012

 

Well, the summer has been and gone, and what I'm about to show you might upset you as much as it did me when I visited yesterday. Remember I said it was getting pretty bad? Well...

 

I went up to the park yesterday because it was my school teacher training day, I arrived to find the boardwalk looking, kind of empty...

 

Walking in to the park you can see just how empty it is. Although I have noticed the old customer service building has vanished.

 

I don't want to jump to conclusions, but could we actually finally see something getting done in this place?!

 

I do believe there were more staff in the park today than there were customers, the park can't continue like this surely?

 

Boomerang's queue was... erm... non existent. It was literally walk on all day.

 

The park has almost lost it's theme park feel, it feels more like a cheap, walk about for people now. People are walking around and they're not even that bothered about the rides, well... after an hour you've been on everything enough times to be fed up of the rides.

 

Anyway, I'll be visiting for the Bonfire Night Spectacular on November 5th, which is also the last day of the season, let's hope the numbers pick up for a great end to the season, the Bonfire Night Spectacular is usually quite popular.

[A5H]

No Comments?

 

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November 5th 2012

 

 

Hey Guys,

I've just got back from the Longley Beach Theme Park Firework Spectacular. I was pleasantly surprised at just how many people came out to the park today. Sadly, the weather was dreadful today, but it didn't ruin the mood, everyone was so happy, even the staff were in a great mood, but that might be because it was the last day of the season?

 

I arrived at the park around 11am, although the boardwalk wasn't packed, there were a lot more people arriving compared to normal.

 

The view across the sea wasn't very pleasant.

 

It turns out the location of the fireworks was where the old customer services building used to be, I certainly hope that wasn't the only reason they've cleared out that space.

 

It was almost a little too busy...

 

The evening arrived, the rain stayed but the rides continued to run!

 

 

 

Once it was time for the firework show, almost all of the rides closed temporarily, this cause a little bit of a stir between some of the customers who were only really there for the late ride times. But anyway, the show began and all I can say is wow...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So that's it... End of the season, even though in general the park has slowly died this season, it must have had an amazing last day, the numbers alone were huge!

 

I can't wait to see what next season brings, even though I worry it could be the parks last. Only time will tell I guess... See you all soon!

[coasterbill]

Very cool!

 

The Boomerang only having a 4 car train is killing me though.

[molemaster43]

I think you need some more bathrooms

 

Good job, though

[Christopoll]

Nice fireworks! I'm looking forward to the next season!

[A5H]

Something interesting has been leaked on the internet today. It has apparently been snapped from the Longley Town Council direct from Longley Beach Theme Park.

 

The whole application hasn't been photographed, so it doesn't give us a huge amount of detail, but make of it what you will!

 

[Voxelmatic]

Lol, "erection"

I'm always happy when a new coaster is under construction. But what could it be...

[intaminfan98]

This seems very interesting. hopefully it is Hershey Park style and is a nice size coaster over the paths.

[A5H]

Hey Guys,

So over recent weeks there has been a lot of rumours going around about what's going on at the park so I emailed the park asking about what is planned to be installed, they did eventually reply and simply said to keep checking the website over the next 24 hours, I did and this is what I eventually found!

 

 

 

 

 

According to the website, the park is very excited about the new 'area' which is being added to the park for next year, so the original planning application seems it didn't reveal everything, and we can clearly see from the first concept there is more than just a rollercoaster being added!

 

I have since emailed asking if there's any chance I could get a look around in the near future at the developments, we shall see in the near future hopefully!

[A5H]

Preview Day!

 

Along with our new season tickets this season, we got an invite to the special 'Preview Day' to see the new additions to the park before anyone else. So, I wasn't going to turn down an offer like that!

 

There was a fair few people going in today, it seems finally adding new stuff to the park has attracted a few more season ticket sales!

 

Security manned the entrance, in case non season ticket holders tried sneaking in.

 

Quite impressive...

 

The Burger King has been moved from opposite the carousel to a new location opposite Boomerang.

 

'Trebuchet' is the new rollercoaster added to the park, a Half Pipe coaster!

 

The older rides have been given new paint jobs...

 

So has Boomerang!

 

The entrance to 'Trebuchet'

 

A new toilet building has been placed along side the entrance.

 

Trebuchet was testing all day, they obviously don't want those opening day hiccups.

 

The Dodgems building has been completely rebuilt. Fits in with the area well now!

 

Everything was testing today, apart from Wild Mouse... All the cars are gone?

 

'The Punisher' is another new addition this year. They were also testing this all morning.

 

Finally I'll give you an overview of the whole new area, I can't wait to get on these new rides and try them out in three weeks time when the park opens for a new season!

 

 

 

See you all again very soon!

 

Comments and Feedback Welcome!

[historyfreak92]

Ohh, I don't know what to say? But I like that Burger King Logo!

[A5H]

Longley Shopping Centre plans fall through!

 

 

So, just when the area was looking like it might start to pick up, the plans for the new Longley Shopping Centre have fell through, resulting in the building site being left empty for the time being until a new buyer is found.

 

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In other news...

 

Opening Day Season 2

 

So here it is, opening day, three weeks on and I'm back to finally get on these new rides.

 

From the outside, the numbers look promising!

 

Yeah, it's pretty busy in here, although for mid-March, it's surprisingly warm, so I'm not surprised!

 

Punisher was very popular, although over the course of the day I did see several people throwing up after going on it.

 

So... Wild Mouse wasn't open. I did actually look around for someone to ask why the ride wasn't open. But didn't see anybody who seemed to have an answer.

 

Although... If it was only a technical issue, the cars would be back on the track... right?

 

'Trebuchet' didn't run smoothly all day. The ride closed a total of three times during the day for technical issues. I did however get on it twice... It's amazing!

 

The queue for 'Boomerang' was long as always, it has always been quite a popular rollercoaster.

 

So that brings an end to the first day of the new season. I no doubt will be visiting a few times again this season, I'll be sure to keep you updated!

 

Feedback and Comments welcome!

[6flagsbrad]

To be honest, I'm not a huge fan of the new castle area. Although you did an excellent job with it, that area doesn't seem to really fit with the rest of the park. Otherwise, I love how this park is coming together.

[B.A.B]

I also agree with how the castle area doesn't fit well with your park. You should theme other areas in your park or something for the castle area doesn't look so out of place.

[-Edge of Beast-]

I'd say if you keep the castle area, at least make some of the theme merge with the normal theme park atmosphere. Don't make the castle buildings stand alone as the only theming, so maybe mash other types of architecture with it or add some trees at least.

 

But yeah, looks pretty good!

[A5H]

Longley Beach Theme Park Purchase Old Construction Site.

 

Just when I thought Longley Beach was going down hill, they surprise us all with the purchase of the derelict construction site on Pawley Street, Although the site has already been turned in to a car park for visitors to the theme park, the site has been labelled a 'site for future development'. So, who knows what we're going to see in the future. However, we can see some development already happening on the site, along with the all new car park.

 

 

 

The rumours currently circulating are that this new building may be the site of a hotel linked to the theme park, however I don't see the point considering there is a new built hotel from a well known franchise directly behind it.

 

As you can see, the theme park is only a 5 minute walk away, so it's quite a decent location, although some locals are not happy about some of the traffic building up during the mornings when some visitors arrive.

 

The development site is going up quite quick, although who knows what it's going to be right now.

 

I didn't visit the park today, however as I walked past the boardwalk I saw something quite interesting down outside the park. It was working on 'Wild Mouse', can't be sure whether they're fixing it, or removing it?

 

Anyway, I'll be visiting again very soon so we can find out what happens with the wild mouse and the future development site.

Thanks For Reading!

[A5H]

Hey Guys, I've been down to Longley Beach again today, things are changing massively around there now, I'm sure you'll be able to tell for yourself when you see the pictures...

 

The building in the car park has been finished, and what's that coming from the side of the building?

 

A monorail has been built going from the car park across to the park! However, judging by some locals and the newspaper, it hasn't gone down well!

 

The boardwalk has a new look!

 

It was pretty busy in the park today, however the park is in all sorts of mess at the minute, Wild Mouse has been removed and the new monorail station has replaced it, although work is still going on there...

 

 

A view from above the car park.

 

According to reports, guests can buy tickets from the monorail station in the car park, and in order to get in to the actual monorail platform, every guest will need to go through turnstiles using their tickets, seeing at the monorail takes guests right in to the park.

 

Anyway, apparently the monorail will not be open for this season, apparently it is all planned for next season, there are also rumours spreading that the boardwalk is getting a make over, with joint funding from the council and Longley Beach Theme Park, only time will tell I guess!