Camelot to close

stevencaine · Camelot to close

Camelot theme park has gone into receivership and is unlikely to open for the 2009 season Crying or Very sad

stevencaine

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/lancashire/7868241.stm

Rogue

Can't say I'm suprised to be honest, but still sad news.

I hope it gets bought out though so it can continue to run.

adey

this is very sad news. Sad

Auntie Murial

I really do hope it gets purchased also, i would hate for my beloved Rack to go anywhere else.

Such a lovely little park with alot of charm

coastergraham

Sadly this had been coming for a long time and the purchase of Knightmare speeded it up imo as they could ill afford to lease the ride or run it.

If Camelot had invested well since the days of Granada ownership then Knightmare would have been a superb ride for them to have, but Camelot became the theme park that time had forgotten with its run down look.

To me there was very little point putting such a great white knuckle ride into a park with nothing else for thrill fan.

and so another North West park bites the dust, plus with things at BPB looking shaky things look grim around here at the moment.

Magic

Indeed sad news, especially for all those who relied on it for employment.

I went there last year and was very disappointed by how it was being run. Knightmare was on single train operation, dispatching every 6 minutes. The very short queue was nearly 2 hours long. Complaints to customer service were met with a, that's tough, attitude. We left the park after 3 hours and only 1 ride.

So if it does re-open then I hope it is operated to a higher standard. And as already said opens with another white knuckle ride to support Knightmare.

bluea61

It is a real shame for the people who will lose jobs, but it is no real suprise. The park is very dated and the rides don't look very visually appealling. Knightmare was by far the best ride in the park and would have been the only real reason to go and visit. Although the Disel Dragon was cool!!

I wonder if a buyer is not found for a park what will happen to Knightmare? How long was the lease for? There are definitely a few parks in the UK then would suit that size and scale ride. Pleasurewood Hills or Flamingo Land maybe. Hayling Island?! Smile

mophead

I think the defining aspect in the problems with Camelot was that despite being almost next to the motorway it was not accessible and quite hard to get to. That coupled with the way in which the park was run.

Knightmare shouldn't have cost the park very much to build as it was bought from Japan by a business man who agreed to store it in a field behind the park and sell it for a huge profit. He then realised no one was going to pay much money for it in it's current state and paid for it to be built and restored at the park. The park then just leased it.

ForeverBlue

They announced in 2006 that they would probably close within 5 years, not exactly good for business!

The Park Hall hotel is part of Camelot, but will continue to trade even though it is in receivership....hopefully they can salvage the park too.

stealth fan

I know it was'nt the best park in the UK, it was very handy for a visit heading to the Blackpool Bash last year, and Knightmare is a great coaster.
I'm hoping the park does stay open, but if not then I hope a new home can be found for Knightmare, and not to go the same way as Corkscrew.

towerofterror1989

just found this out too. very sad news. Had a feeling it would happen this year. I visited many times last year and you just knew from a single visit that it would close this year.

very sad news. Only one major theme park left now. and Gulliver's World.

Fairwell Camelot. Miss you.

1983 - 2009

I think the staying open of Camelot depended on The Knightmare. Sadly that did not help declining visitors and financial trouble.

May Camelot rest in peace.

very sad for me, i loved Camelot. will be missed forever. the north west's last theme park.

i wish THe Tower of Terror and Knightmare both operated at Camelot. May have saved the park. miss the park already.

smiler

This just shows guys that as coaster people we are we need to show parks like this are support. Yeah may not be the best park in the world but do haver some great rides there tho. All this support will show the park how much we care for them. During the winter season when parks open just bits and bobs of the park go down do some rides just for something to do show support keep the parks open.

marshall hill

Having never visited what was the park like ? Were there many rides coz they were allways low profile

Happy Helen

I have never visited that park either and the rides do look low profile.

towerofterror1989

Camelot had many rides, mostly aged at family members.

from 1983, the rides were as folllows:

The Knightmare (1983 powered coaster)
Space Mountain (1985, the Knightmare rethemed with mountain)
Dragon Flyer 1985
Sir Lancelot's Leap 1985
Kingdom in the Clouds Ferris Wheel 1985
Pirate Galleon 1988
The Beast (re-named from Space Mountain) 1988
Log Flume Camelot Cascade 1986 (approx)
Caterpillar Capers apple coaster 1985
1989 The Tower of Terror (leased coaster with £300,000 castle over the loop, the park's most popular coaster and increased park popularity by over 500,000 visitors (totalling 1.2 million in 1990). sadly no decent new rides followed the success of Tower of Terror and by the time of it's move to Scotland, Camelot visitors were down to less than 500,000 in 2000.
2007 The Knightmare, replacement for Gauntlet, which replaced The Tower of Terror. park visitor numbers now down to 300,000 per year. most of which were local visitors or school trips.

25th birthday of Camelot theme park in 2008. The Knightmare made no impact on visitor numbers, not compared to what Granada's Tower of Terror did, and the decline continued in 2008. and as we now know, the closure was imminant.

It's just funny reading that the council said they are upset at the downfall of Camelot. So why, if they are so upset did they not support the park when they applied to build a Vekoma Inverted Boomerang coaster, back in 2001, just after Prime Resorts bought the park from Granada PLC.

If they had been allowed to build this coaster, Camelot would most likely still open in 2009.

Thanks Chorley Borough Council, as usual the demise was started by them.

bluea61

I guess it was similar in scale to American Adventure, nothing spectacular just the odd good ride with a show in the centre. Similar to AA in that you got to one end of the park and would have to come back the same way!

Knightmare is one of the most intense coaster I've done. It rained the day we were there and just seemed to get faster and faster. Totally insane.

Steven Burns

I`m gutted. Always knew the park was poorly run and full of Chavez. But i always kinda liked it.
Its always a visit when doing the Blackpool Bash and was planing another visit to Knightmare in April. What will i do now? No Southport and no Camelot and 99.9% of the Pleasure Beach closed lol

bradpeet

Alton Towers are offering free admission to anybody who has pre-booked tickets for Camelot.

http://www.altontowers.com/pages/Camelot

Nice gesture (and good publicity) although somehow I doubt many people will have pre-booked tickets for Camelot this early in the year.

bluea61

Clever move, I think your probably right but they are probably trying to grab the market that has been left by Camelot before they decide to go to Blackpool. Excellent idea for publicity as it'll probably make the BBC News Website.

I see they have already taken down the online booking on the site and from last minute!!

Paul H.

Fond memories of this park...close to home and where we first took our boys to ride coasters 1994/1995....great family rides and the King Arthur jousting...cheesy but good fun!

Magic

The hotel has now been sold. A different party is in negotiations to buy the land and assets of the theme park.

marshall hill

WildMouse

According to Camelot's website, the park will be re-opening on the 23rd of May.

http://www.camelotthemepark.co.uk/opening_times/

Steven Burns

Thats a good first sign. Just sad about the date being after the Bash. I normaly make it my Friday trip to the event.

marshall hill

Yes park has new owner , i wish them well

adey

thats good news lets just hope they pump some much needed money into the place.

Death