Pleasureland (now rebranded ‘New Pleasureland’) is an amusement park in Southport which is on the Merseyside coast and the amusement park is about half an hour’s drive north from Liverpool.
This amusement park can boast of being one of the longest running amusement parks in the UK as it had been operating from 1912 up until it suddenly closed in September 2006. Its demise was swift with its popular Cyclone rollercoaster being demolished within 2 weeks of closure, in spite of protesters who had climbed to the top of the rollercoaster in a last ditch attempt to save it.
In May 2007, it was announced that Dreamland International were to invest £100 million in the Pleasureland site and two months later, the amusement park re-opened for the summer just for weekends and was renamed ‘New Pleasureland’. Around the same time, developer Urban Splash was chosen for the multimillion pound redevelopment of Southport’s historic sea front.
More demolition and refurbishment work was carried out and in February 2008, landscaping work was completed for the site of the Cyclone Rollercoaster as well as further demolition work being carried out on the site of the old River Caves ride in order to make room for additional new rides.
The amusement park reopened for the 2008 season in March and a new static ride in the form of a swinging pirate ship was introduced to the amusement park in summer 2008.
The amusement park also benefited from the further addition of a new rollercoaster based on the latest Indiana Jones adventure, ‘Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull’. This new ride is located on what was the site of the old Fun House which had been, for many a year, one of the amusement park’s most popular attractions.
Whilst the Pleasureland amusement park has had some major difficulties over the past few years, it was announced in September 2008 that the amusement park would be returning for the 2009 season.
See also:
Amusement Parks: Camelot Theme Park - a Potted History
Amusement Parks : Diggerland - a Potted History
Amusement Parks : Fantasy Island - a Potted History
Amusement parks: Gulliver's World - a Potted History
Amusement Parks: Lightwater Valley - a Potted History
Amusement Parks : Legoland Windsor - a Potted History