Archive for RCCGB FORUM Message Board for Members of the Roller Coaster Club of Great Britain to discuss club events and all things theme park related.
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ForeverBlue
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Amanda Thompson to buy Camelot?!We have just spoken to someone, who has told us the following. We don't know how "good" this information is, but when you think about it, it kind of stacks up.
Amanda Thompson, is apparently planning to buy Camelot. She then intends to strip the PB of it's better rides & install them there. We have been told that she likes the fact it is isolated, so she will have a "captive audience", paying their £30-40 & staying all day, using her eateries etc & not having the option to leave the park for a cheaper dining/drinking place. She will then close the PB & sell it on.
All the performers accommodation that the PB owned in surrounding roads is now rented out to the general public, so there is obviously no intention of staging any shows at all.
As we said, we don't know if this is 100% correct, but there is usually no smoke without fire & it would explain the distinct lack of interest that Ms Thompson has shown in BPB.
On the plus side though. All of us that are upset that so many rides have been closed due to cost cutting measures will be pleased to learn that the Pleasure beach have scraped together enough money to build 2 new fountains! Talk about getting their priorities wrong! 
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Rogue
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Interesting news.
As you say there is no smoke without fire and will be interesting to see what happens both in the near and distant future.
I really hope the Pleasure Beach doesn't become another Southport 
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Auntie Murial
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stevencaine
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have to agree That cant be true surely its a crazy idea
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ForeverBlue
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As we have said, we don't know how true it is.......but anything is possible on planet amanda.
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Auntie Murial
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| ForeverBlue wrote: | | As we have said, we don't know how true it is.......but anything is possible on planet amanda. |
I totally agree, anything is possible. i am just speechless about the prospect but can see it happening.
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bradpeet
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| Quote: | | Amanda Thompson, is apparently planning to buy Camelot. She then intends to strip the PB of it's better rides & install them there. We have been told that she likes the fact it is isolated, so she will have a "captive audience", paying their £30-40 & staying all day |
I think she's got a better crystal ball than we have if this does prove to be true 
But this does sound like speculation to me. Some of the changes that have been made do suggest that she would indeed prefer somewhere like the Camelot site, and she is not always complimentary in her comments about the actual resort of Blackpool. But just how much planning would such a move take? It is literally days since the closure of Camelot was announced, even though there has been speculation for well over a year about its future.
My gut feeling is this is somebody putting 2 and 2 together - but only time will tell.
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Kirk
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come on this is purely tales in the wind at present! i'm not a fan of Amanda she's killing BPB, what do you except coming from someone who was handed such wealth for nothing! she's going to destroy the thompson family legacy!
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bluea61
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That would be a shock, I wonder what planning regulations they have on the camelot site? And I wonder which rides they would consider moving.
I guess if it is true then she probably sees places like AT and thinks of the commercial prospect of it. But surely if she sells BPB she will be directly sompeting with her old business? Unless by sell she means just the land.
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towerofterror1989
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Camelot has two height restrictions:
For the lowest section of the park, where the Ferris Wheel, Jousting Tournament and Pirate Galleon are, there is a height restriction of around 160ft, without going above the trees or being seen outside the park. at the top of the park where The Knightmare is the height restriction is between 75ft and 90ft, the max height of any coaster that has been built up there.
so really it does not have too many restrictions, unless the council refuses to let the park build anything, like they did in 2001, when they wanted a Vekoma inverted Boomerang coaster for replacement of the tower of terror.
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Magic
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I find this hard to believe. I was under the impression PBB is strapped for cash, so wouldn't imagine they'd buy a park that has been struggling as this would be a further financial burden. That's why they closed Southport, it was draining the funds.
If anything I could imagine Amanda wanting to buy some of the rides from Camelot, she'd could buy a few rides at a bargain price. Being relatively local the relocation costs would be reasonable. The likes of The Rack, kiddie coaster, mini ferris wheel could all slot into PBB fairly easily. Maybe Knightmare could fit in quite easily too.
The shows are Amanda's true love, put on by her own company Stageworks. If the shows are dark in 2009 then you know PBB must be strapped for cash. She wouldn't shut them unless it was truely necessary. I suspect Amanda would rather keep the shows going than buy and operate another theme park.
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marshall hill
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| towerofterror1989 wrote: | Camelot has two height restrictions:
For the lowest section of the park, where the Ferris Wheel, Jousting Tournament and Pirate Galleon are, there is a height restriction of around 160ft, without going above the trees or being seen outside the park. at the top of the park where The Knightmare is the height restriction is between 75ft and 90ft, the max height of any coaster that has been built up there.
so really it does not have too many restrictions, unless the council refuses to let the park build anything, like they did in 2001, when they wanted a Vekoma inverted Boomerang coaster for replacement of the tower of terror. |
Most parks are covered by a general develoment order under which you can go to 25meters on any ride with out permisson . There is a side issue to this under which say you were granted permisson to have something say 35meters high you could build other rides to that hight without further permisson being required , and as they say not a lot of peaple know that ! !
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Paul H.
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| towerofterror1989 wrote: | Camelot has two height restrictions:
For the lowest section of the park, where the Ferris Wheel, Jousting Tournament and Pirate Galleon are, there is a height restriction of around 160ft, without going above the trees or being seen outside the park. at the top of the park where The Knightmare is the height restriction is between 75ft and 90ft, the max height of any coaster that has been built up there.
so really it does not have too many restrictions, unless the council refuses to let the park build anything, like they did in 2001, when they wanted a Vekoma inverted Boomerang coaster for replacement of the tower of terror. |
I know Alton Towers has problems with the local council but as far as I am aware BPB and Camelot are covered by the same Council....they obviously don't mind 235 feet (above sea level) in Blackpool but not in the countryside next to the M6? 
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nemesis scribe
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| ForeverBlue wrote: | | As we have said, we don't know how true it is.......but anything is possible on planet amanda. |
People . . . . any news from the Sparkroyd MUST be true . . . . . i want to believe . . . .
Trust no one . . . 
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coastergraham
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| Paul H. wrote: |
I know Alton Towers has problems with the local council but as far as I am aware BPB and Camelot are covered by the same Council....they obviously don't mind 235 feet (above sea level) in Blackpool but not in the countryside next to the M6? |
Due to an old agreement with land usage for Blackpool Council BPB are allowed to build pretty much what they want, the only limit to them is aviation authority clearance with the airport not being too far away. Sadly BPB is unique in this matter, hence why Camelot and others would struggle to get planning permission.
As for Amanda Thompson buying Camelot, I just don't see it happening at all.
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David Ellis
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| Paul H. wrote: | | I know Alton Towers has problems with the local council but as far as I am aware BPB and Camelot are covered by the same Council....they obviously don't mind 235 feet (above sea level) in Blackpool but not in the countryside next to the M6? |
No, they are covered by different councils. Chorley Borough Council covers Camelot. As Graham mentioned, due to the development around Watson Road, where PBB allowed the council to build a road through the Pleasure Beach site, in return they got freedom to build pretty much to any height with no planning restriction. I can't see Amanda moving any tall rides out of Blackpool.
David.
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