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This
Page is an Archive of all news items featured on the Joyland Books News
Page between 1 January and 30 June 2005.
For the latest news, click here.
Legoland on the brink of takeover [12/6/05]
|
The bidding war for Legoland theme
parks is now down to the final three bidders, with the four-park
chain likely to fetch £370m. |
 |
|
The three firms in the running are
American private equity companies Blackstone Group (owner of
UK-based Merlin Entertainments and 50% owner of Universal Studios
Theme Park in Florida) and Apollo Management and London-based
Palamon Capital Partners (owner of the former European arm of Six
Flags theme parks). Dubai International Capital - the owners of
Tussauds Group - were also reportedly a bidder, but are not thought
to have made it through to the final list. A deal is likely to be
signed later this month. |
Big
Wheel Opens at Pleasureland [2/6/05]
|
A new ride will open at Pleasureland on
Saturday. The ride is a unique Big Wheel, which previously operated at
Southsea's Clarence Pier. Unlike most big wheels, this 'Flying Saucers' wheel
also tuns around its base
and is the only wheel of its kind still operating. The wheel is owned by
Blackpool Illuminations Manager, Richard Ryan, who has restored the wheel
over the last few years just outside Blackpool. The ride is identical to the
'Flying Saucers' wheel that operated at Pleasureland during the 1960s and
1970s. For more details on the new wheel, visit the website
www.richardswheel.com.
UPDATE 8/6/05: The Wheel
successfully opened at the weekend and is now open throughout the
2005 season. Click the image for a larger image. |
Above: Richard's Wheel |
Find out more about Pleasureland's original
'Flying Saucers' wheel, and the history of the park in general, in a brand
new book called Pleasureland Memories, which is released in July. More
details of this nostalgic new publication will be added to Joyland over the
next couple of weeks.
Click here if you would like to be informed when the book is
released.
Rush
Opens at Thorpe Park [28/5/05]
|
Thorpe Park's major new ride for 2005,
Rush, opened on Friday. Billed as "the world’s biggest air-powered
speed swing", riders are powerfully launched into the air to swing
to and fro at speeds of up to 40mph and reaching a G-force of 4G.
The park has also opened another major thrill ride, Slammer, for the
2005 season. The opening of Rush will be featured extensively on Sky
News on Bank Holiday Monday 30 May, from 10am. Unconfirmed guests on
the programme are European Coaster Club Chairman Richard Foster and
theme park planning consultant Nick Laister. |
 |
New
DVD Features Two Funfairs [28/5/05]
|
New to Joyland Books is a DVD that
features not one but two well-known East Midlands fairs: Spalding
and Boston May Fair 2005. Starting with the pull-on for Roger Tuby's
Tulip Time Fair in Spalding Town Centre, this is followed by the
rides in action, including George Burrow's 'Cyclone' Twist, David
Cox's Dodgems, Sheldon Dowse's Waltzer, and much more.
The programme then moves to Boston
town centre with the rides pulling on. Billy Crow's 'Equinox' loads
are the first to arrive, followed by many more superb showmen's
loads. Finally, all the major rides are seen in action at this large
street fair, including this year's new attractions, Garry Evans's
'Buzz Bomb' Booster, Walter Murphy's 'Xtreme' Booster and Freddie
Stoke's Superbob.
Click here for more
details. |
 |
Tour
an Abandoned Theme Park on DVD! [26/5/05]
|
Joyland Books has added an extremely
unusual DVD to its expanding selection of
amusement park and
roller
coaster DVDs and videos.
Heritage USA: The Complete Tour takes you
around the site of the now-abandoned theme park, which was once the
third most visited park in the USA. You will get to see exclusive
footage and have all access inside the buildings, hotels, PTL
studios, Heritage Island water park, and much more. As the property
has been closed and has now sat abandoned for years, this DVD will
give you a look at how Heritage USA now resembles more of a ghost
town than a thriving theme park. It also comes with a bonus CD
interview with its former owner, Jim Bakker.
For more details on this fascinating
DVD, click here. |
 |
Blackstone Acquires Merlin [26/5/05]
| Merlin Entertainments
has been acquired by US investment giant Blackstone Capital Partners
for £102.5 million, from Hermes Private Equity. Merlin, based in
Poole, Dorset, is one of Europe’s leading operators of branded
visitor attractions under the Sea Life, Dungeons, Seal Sanctuary and
Earth Explorer brands. The company operates 28 attractions in eight
European countries, and welcomed more than six million visitors in
the year ended February 2005. |
|
The expectation is that Blackstone
will now use Merlin as a stepping stone to enter the European theme
park industry, with the company tipped to be eyeing up the Legoland
theme parks. The acquisition of Legoland would create Europe's
second largest theme park operator after Tussauds Group. Joseph
Baratta, a Senior Managing Director of The Blackstone Group, said
Blackstone was excited about the opportunity to back Merlin in the
further roll-out of its high quality brands across Europe. “We
believe that the European attractions and theme park sector will
enter a period of consolidation in the medium term and that Merlin
is an excellent base from which to pursue follow on acquisition
opportunities.” |
The
British Seaside at the National Maritime Museum [11/5/05]
|
The National
Maritime Museum in Greenwich is holding a nostalgic and historic study day
on 5 June 2005, looking at the British Seaside. John K Walton, seaside historian and
author of ‘The Blackpool Landlady: a social history’, introduces a
highly visual day. Come and explore early unseen film footage of
resorts curated by the National Fairground Archive and find out more
about the lives and characters of itinerant seaside photography from
1850 to the 1950s. Magnum photographer, David Hurn, an animated
speaker, will talk about his exhibited images of North Wales and
there will be a talk about the mass observation project and the
characterful photographs of Tony Ray Jones, who documented our
resorts in the 1960s. To book tickets please call 020 8312 8575 or
email bookings@nmm.ac.uk |
Sunday 5 June, 11.00 – 17.00, £15
(£10 concessions) |
Legoland and Merlin to Merge? [3/5/05]
| Newspaper reports are
suggesting that Legoland Theme Parks and Merlin Entertainments
(operators of the Sea Life and London Dungeon attractions) may be
merged if American investment firm Blackstone Group acquires the two
companies. Blackstone Group, which in the early 1990s co-owned the
Six Flags theme park chain, is reportedly to pay £100m for Merlin.
It is also reportedly about to acquire the Legoland theme parks from
the Danish company Lego. The two companies would then be merged,
consolidating a very fragmented European attractions market.
Merlin is currently owned by Hermes
Private Equity, which paid £72.5m for the company only 14 months
ago. It operates 26 attractions across Europe. Merlin's attractions
entertain about 6m visitors every year. When added to Legoland's
similar visitor numbers, this would create a tourist attraction
operator second only to Tussauds Group in the European market.
Blackstone would be expected to open Sea Life Centres at the
existing Legoland parks. |
Above: Merlin's Dungeon attractions
are based in London, Edinburgh, York and Hamburg. |
Amusement Rides on new DVDs [2/5/05]
| A new range of DVDs
has been added to the ever-expanding Joyland
video and DVD store.
Amusement Rides Volumes 1,
2 and
3 are from the
camera of leading fairground enthusiast David Wragg Jnr. The videos
include both on and off-ride footage and lots of bonus features.
Volume 1 features
rides from around the Midlands, filmed between January and May 2004.
Volume 2 features
a mix of modern and vintage rides, including footage from the huge
coasters of Fantasy Island Theme Park.
Volume 3 features
rides from the back-end run of fairs in 2004, again focussing on the
Midlands. These titles add to the
already massive range of fairground videos and DVDs, which you can
browse from here. And
don't forget, we also stock a large selection of
roller coaster
and amusement park
DVDs and videos. |
|
New
Book Celebrates Fairground Characters [30/4/05]
| A new book
celebrating the wonderful characters that have graced the stage, the
fairgrounds, the lecture halls, the museums, the taverns and the
streets. Written by Ricky Jay, author of Jay's Journal of Anomolies,
this is an informal history of sensational, scientific, silly,
satisfying and startling attractions based on seventeenth,
eighteenth and nineteenth century broadsides from Ricky Jay’s
extraordinary collection. It includes observations on the convention
of promoting such appearances, digressions on the manner and method
of printing advertisements to do so, and insights into the
psychology employed to that end.
Click here
for more details, or here
for more fantastic fairground books. |
|
Rare
Videos Are Latest Addition to Joyland [30/4/05]
| Three rare
second-hand videos, and loads of second-hand books have just been
added to Joyland's Secondhand Shop.
Heading up the list is a video released to celebrate Britain's Year
of the Roller Coaster in 1994,
White Knuckle.
Narrated by Andy Hine of the Roller Coaster Club of Great Britain,
this is a trip on some of the country's most thrilling roller
coasters, including the Pepsi Max Big One, Nemesis, Shockwave and
The Ultimate. We have also added
Extreme Rides, a
guide to thrill rides based on over-the-top pursuits such as
sky-diving, bungee-jumping, white-water rafting and dragstrip
racing. And from the other side of the pond, we have an early 1980s
video called Wild Rides,
which visits some of America's best roller coasters from the decade.
We have also added several more
secondhand books, including the second edition of
the Amusement
Parks Guide;
Dodgem Greaser;
English Fairs
and Markets;
Fair Organs;
A Pictorial
History of the Carousel;
Roller Coasters:
Their Amazing History; and much more. |
|
Pleasure Beach Opens New Park Area [30/4/05]
| A brand new place to
relax and refuel at Britain’s favourite tourist attraction slides
opens its great glass doors in May. Described on the Pleasure Beach
press release as "a cool oasis of calm, style and taste bud
sensations", the Lounge at Pleasure Beach, Blackpool, will offer
visitors a dazzling selection of traditional ice cream treats,
delicious desserts and freshly brewed hot and cold drinks, all with
a contemporary twist. Set under Pleasure Beach’s oldest ride – the
100 year old Sir Hiram Maxim’s Flying Machine – The Lounge perfectly
blends the very latest in cutting edge design with luxurious
products and a totally chilled out vibe. |
|
The Lounge’s huge glass doors also slide
open to reveal a glorious green space in the centre of Pleasure Beach that
is dedicated to the memory of Pleasure Beach Managing Director Amanda
Thompson’s father and grandmother - Pleasure Beach’s former Managing
Director, Geoffrey Thompson OBE and former Chairman, Mrs Lilian Doris
Thompson OBE MBE. Amanda Thompson said: “My grandmother adored ice cream and
I think The Lounge, together with the Memorial Garden, is a wonderful way to
dedicate a fabulous space within the park to her and to my father.”
The Lounge is just one part of Amanda Thompson’s plans to improve the
aesthetics of the park and the whole visitor experience. Right next door to
The Lounge is the brand new Oyster and Champagne bar, offering passers by
and seated guests the very freshest seafood caught that very morning. Quite
a far cry from the traditional theme park image of fast food.
Pleasure Beach Club Announces Park Event [28/4/05]
| The Pleasure Beach
235 Club has announced a major event - the 'Back to basics' weekend
at the Pleasure Beach, Blackpool on May 20-22, 2005. |
|
During the three-day event you will be
treated to exclusive riding, organised meals, superb evening entertainment
and best of all a backstage tour of the park! The aim of this special event
is to take you 'back to basics' and show you how the Pleasure Beach really
works. The backstage tour will take you into the very heart of the park,
over, under and around rides, attractions and places you never normally can
go. Your expert tour guides will show you first-hand what makes some of the
parks greatest rides work - a fascinating tour of the old and the new. This
event is organised by the 235 Club, the Pleasure Beach's very own
enthusiasts organisation! As part of a 2005 re-launch, the 'Back to Basics'
weekend is open to non-members. Please book early to avoid disappointment.
Full details can be found at:
www.235club.co.uk.
Bridlington Wheel Receives Planning Permission [27/4/05]
A London Eye-style attraction looks set to
be constructed at a Bridlington amusement park after the local Council
granted planning permission for the 34 metre ride. Bridlington Town Council
and several local residents objected to the planning application, which was
reported on Joyland Books several days ago. The observation wheel, which
will be called the Eye On The Bay, will have 24 carriages, each with six
seats. Michael Harrison of Harrison Leisure Ltd, operators of the Bayside
Fun Park, said that the ride would be a "major attraction" for the town.
Dreamland 2005 Opening Date Announced [24/5/05]
| The
Save Dreamland Campaign
has announced that Dreamland will open on 21 May for the 2005 season, operated by
showman Harry Ayers. The Scenic Railway will also
be in operation throughout the season. Maintenance work is currently underway,
including annual timber replacement and some repainting. The Scenic will be joined by several major white knuckle thrill rides
plus some smaller children's and family rides. Rides will include Dodgems, Waltzer, Mega Spin, Super Bob, Orbiter,
Drop Tower, Top Buzz and the Log Coaster from Gulliver's Land. Harry Ayers will shortly be
promoting the park with a poster advertising campaign. |
Above: Back in action - the Scenic
Railway at Dreamland, Margate |
All
Change at Grove Land [24/4/05]
| It is all change at
Grove Land Leisure Park in Carmarthenshire for the 2005 season.
Rides such as the Thunderbolt roller coaster and Skyride Enterprise
(both new in 2002) have all been returned to their owner, Bembom
Rides of Margate. This year the park gets a new look as it has been
leased out to the Deakin and Studt fairground families, who will
operate the park for the 2005 season. Rides for this season include
the Terminator, Freak Out, Freefall Tower, Bumper Cars, Bumper Boats
and Waltzer. The park is open from 24 March to 4 September, with
free entry and free parking. All rides are on a token system. |
 |
Gulliver's Milton Keynes to Expand [24/4/05]
Gulliver's Land Theme Park at Milton Keynes
is to more than triple in size, with the opening of a new park called
'Eco-Park'. The park, which will be adjacent to the existing Gulliver's
park, will be based on four themed areas. Rides will include a Dino Safari
Tour, a 4D movie theatre and a wooden roller coaster. Construction has
recently started, and the new park is expected to open in Easter 2007.
Doctor Who Lands at
Brighton Pier [24/4/05]
| Brighton Pier, the
amusement park over the sea, is to be the home of the UK's second
Doctor Who Exhibition. The new series of Doctor Who has been the
surprise hit of 2005, with
viewing figures of over 10 million, and visitors to Brighton Pier
will be able to see an a huge array of material from the big budget
series. The Brighton Exhibition joins the main 5,500 sqft Doctor Who
Exhibition on Blackpool's Golden Mile, which also features props
from the original series. The Brighton Exhibition opens on 14th May,
and new attractions will be added as the television series
progresses. |
Behind the Sofa: Doctor Who comes
to Brighton Pier! |
Massive Big Wheel
Planned for Bridlington amusement park [24/4/05]
A 108-foot high big wheel is planned for
the Bayside Fun Park at Bridlington on the East Yorkshire coast. The wheel -
to be called The Eye On The Bay - will form part of a multi-million pound
development at the park, which will also include a Burger King, an all
weather family amusement centre and will create around 100 new jobs. The
development, from amusement park operator Harrison Leisure Ltd, should
commence construction in October with a 2006 opening. Harrison Leisure has
been operating in Bridlington for twenty years and employs 130 staff in peak
season. It took over the Bayside Fun Park last year, since when it has spent
£2m on new rides and attractions.
Save Dreamland Campaign
Launches Exciting New Vision [24/4/05]
| The campaign to save
Margate's Dreamland Amusement Park recently stepped up a gear with
the launch of a new concept plan by leading theme park designer,
Jean-Marc Toussaint. The plan is backed by the owner of Southend's
Adventure Island theme park, who is hoping to acquire Dreamland and
invest millions of pounds in new rides and attractions.
Click here for more
details of the vision. |
 |
Amusement Park News
Returns [24/4/05]
| After a short break,
Joyland Books will again be featuring all the latest industry news
from the amusement park world. What new rides are planned, which
parks are expanding, which are closing? Find it all here at Joyland! |
New books, new DVDs, the latest
news! |
New
Fairground Videos [10/4/05]
Roller
Coaster DVD Bonanza! [20/3/05]
| Ride some of the most
amazing roller coasters in the world in 3D in this new range of
DVDs. Achterbahnen I
and II are new
releases of the classic US documentaries America's Greatest Roller
Coaster Thrills in 3D volumes 1 and 2. These DVDs takes you
on a journey on some of the fastest, largest, most notorious and
most exciting roller coasters in the USA. The DVDs come with 3D
glasses that will make you feel that you are really riding these
massive wooden and steel monsters. Then you can watch
Achterbahnen III: The
World's Greatest Roller Coaster Thrills in 3D, taking you to
roller coasters in the UK, Germany, Mexico, Australia, Spain and Hong Kong. These
German DVDs come with the original English soundtrack, with an
option to view a German version.
Click here for
details. |
 |
Watch
the History of the Hoppings [20/3/05]
| Never before seen on
television, The Story of the
Hoppings contains treasured moments from the social history
of the North East of England, a journey through Newcastle’s world
famous funfair, held on the Town Moor for over 120 years. Priceless
archive photographs and film provide a unique insight into how the
people of the North East have had all the fun of the fair spanning
three different centuries. Characters from some of the most famous
showmen’s families give revealing accounts of how the Hoppings has
changed over the years and how the latest computer controlled rides
rub shoulders with old favourites like the Waltzer, Dodgems, Ghost
Train and Carousel. The largest travelling fair in Europe has
survived two world wars and a thousand rainy days!
Click here for details. |
 |
Ride
Extreme Thrill Machines on DVD [12/2/05]
| One of Joyland's most popular DVD
titles has been Front
Seat Thrills and its sequel,
Front Seat Thrills 2.
New out is another DVD full of front seat rides on some of the
newest, most exciting rides out there:
Extreme Thrill
Machines. Ride designers are pushing every boundary that a
human can endure when designing roller coasters that take you higher
and faster than you thought you would ever go. On this new DVD, take
a tour of some excellent parks, such as Six Flags Over Texas and
Heide Park in Germany. Enjoy a fascinating aerial tour of Six Flags
Great America. Witness rides like Tower of Terror and North
America's first Half Pipe coaster, or the newest wooden twister,
Thunderhead. Click
here for more information...but don't forget to fasten your
seat belt and hold on tight! |
 |
Fairground Art Reprinted [7/2/05]
Joyland Books is pleased to announce that
the most famous fairground book of them all,
Fairground Art by Geoff Weedon
and Richard Ward, has been reissued in paperback. For more details,
click here.
Book
and DVD Celebrate Amusement Park History [5/2/05]
| Customers with an interest in the
history of amusement parks will be delighted with a newly added book
and DVD celebrating two of America's most fondly remembered parks.
Lincoln Park Remembered
provides wonderful pictures and memories of this New England park
from 1894 to 1987. New out is
a two-hour DVD on the history of Chicago's
Riverview Park. Narrated
by Chuck Wlodarczyk, it features famous rides such as the Bobs,
Fireball, the Chutes and Pair-o-Chutes. It is the companion DVD to
Chuck Wlodarczyk's highly acclaimed book,
Riverview 1904-1967: Gone But Not
Forgotten. |
 |
Rare
Roller Coaster Books Added [29/1/05]
The
Circus Comes to Joyland Books [12/1/05]
Girl
Shows and Side Shows at Joyland! [9/1/05]
| Two books about the fascinating
world of the fairground and carnival sideshow have been added to
Joyland Books, both by the world's leading expert on the subject Al
Stencell. Stencell, known as 'Canada's Barnum', was born in Perth
Ontario, and started his own travelling tent circus in 1973. He is
currently vice-president of the Circus Historical Society.
Seeing is Believing
is a book about the history of
midway attractions (sideshows) and the showmen who presented them on
American midways from the 1870s to World War II.
Girl Show is another unique
exploratioon of fairground sideshows, this book focusing on adult
entertainment. |
 |
New DVDs Added [1/1/05]
January Sale [1/1/05]
Happy
New Year From Joyland Books! [1/1/05]
Happy New Year from all
at Joyland Books. As we enter our fifth full year of operation, Joyland
Books is now established as the world's leading specialist supplier of
amusement park, fairground, circus and seaside-related books, DVDs,
videos and postcards. And what a year 2004 was! Visitors to the main
Joyland Books website in November 2004 (the last full month for which
data is available) were up by 46%. This compares with a 108% increase in
2003 and a 90% increase in 2001. Joyland Books now attracts an average
of 1800 visits per day (the equivalent of many thousands of hits per
day).
 |
Without a doubt, the biggest book
release of 2004 was
From Lamp to Laser:
The Story of the Blackpool Illuminations. The book, which
was released to coincide with the 125th Anniversary of the world
famous Blackpool Lights, was a runaway success, and a fitting
tribute to a show that has quite rightly become something of a
national institution. Other major releases included
The Amusement
Parks of New Jersey and
The Last Sideshow. And
2005 promises to be an even better year with some great new titles
planned. And when a new book or DVD is released, it will be reported
here on the Joyland Books News Page. So add this page to your
Favourites and keep checking back!
Happy New Year to all our customers! |
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