Camelot Theme Park Goes Into Receivership

[marc]

I was going to try and go this year on one of my trips up north.

This year its expected not many people will leave the uk for holidays, so they may have had a good year so its a shame if they can not open.

Sad thing is I dont think they will be the only park to have problems this year.

 

[furie]

Obviously it's sad to see the park go, but it was dreadful.

I'm not saying that the market is great, but other parks around it can seem to manage fine, and they don't have the advantage of being visible from the M6!!!

The problem was - once you've been, you don;t want to return.

I quite liked the quirky nature of the park, but I hated the grotty, run-down problem it had. They never seemed to tackle root issues and the park was tatty and poorly maintained.

It was the theme park equivalent of a 60's council tower block in Manchester - Knightmare was a new mural on the front porch, while the residents drink brown water, have to negotiate filth and the cold whistles through their doors. An army of door to door salesmen are constantly harassing the residents in a bid to try and make the tiniest bit of money.

I went "pre-CF" and vowed not to return. I only did because of the CF Live in 2007. I once again vowed not to return until I had heard of some kind of improvement. Maybe last year they'd hired somebody to clean the toilets? Or remove the mold ridden, festering old theming? From the sounds of things though, they didn't.

The park had such potential, but it needed to get it right at the basic level. If people don't feel comfortable in a place, they won't return. Investment in rides placed on top of a mire of dirt won't get your return custom.

 

[Emmett]

I blame it on the chips. Nobody would want to go back for the crappy food they were handing out.

Apart from Knightmare the rest of the park was pretty poor and I couldn't wait until I got out of the place when I visited. The horse show thing seemed the best part but people can probably go and see that somewhere else rather than wasting their money there.

I heard before the land was in big demand by developers but with the economy at the state it is now, who knows what they will do with the place now.

 

[marc]

Knightmare would be great for a number of parks ranging from Drayton, Oakwood etc all the way to Blackpool.

I do hope someone buys this coaster I would hate to see yet another one lost.

 

[gavin]

One of my first park memories is of a school trip to Camelot when I was eight. Absolutely loved the place back then. So, I'll miss out on a couple of their "new" coasters, but if I'm honest I'm glad I never went back, and I can remember it as it was.

 

[nadroJ]

I visited this park after the Blackpool Live last year, mainly for the credits but also to revisit somewhere I hadn't been since my childhood.

Like many are saying, Knightmare was it's only redeeming aspect. Whilst there I saw so many broken down rides, grotty and unmaintained 'theming', grumpy staff and someone stealing plugs (?).

It seemed like it must have had charm a long time ago but overall it was just grotty and made me feel dirty.

I'm just glad I got the credits while I did =]

 

[Mackem Lad]

For those asking "Who'd buy Knightmare?" may need to know that the ride isn't owned by Camelot.

They rented it from a private contractor.

Lightwater Valley have been keeping tabs on the situation apparently.

 

[Martyn B]

Discounting Knightmare, this park was really pretty bad, and after my one visit, I couldn't see me ever visiting again.

My thoughts exactly.

I'm surprised it had lasted this long to be honest. When I visited in August 2007, it was pretty empty and it was a lovely hot sunny day on the August bank holiday. It was really difficult to find any good things about this park, even with Knightmare and Whirlwind, it still wasn't worth re-visiting.

Hope they can find a new home, though I'm sure Whirlwind definatly will.

 

[Gangster4Life]

If I had the money I'd buy Knightmare, The Rack, Whirlwind, and Galleon and I'd place 'em in my own park. :--D

 

[Dave]

Hope they can find a new home, though I'm sure Whirlwind definatly will.

I hope Whirlwind burns in hell, piece of ****.

 

[luke8]

Whirlwind is indeed a piece of toss. But it has more of a chance of being sold than Knightmare.

WW will end up on a fair circuit somewhere in Europe, Knightmare however won't find a buyer, I don't think.

I've spoke to managers alot this past season and I know it costs almost 3 times the amount Whirlwind does to run. hence the 1 train operation all year.

Who wants to buy an un-painted, rusty coaster from like 1980, when they can get a decent cheap Vekoma or something for the same price?

Having said that, It's a quality coaster. I love it to bits, especially when Camelot couldn't be bothered/afford to run any of the trim brakes - it used to fly around like mad!

The Rack is awful I hope it dies a horrible gruesome death in a srcapyard. Same with the DISGUSTING Excalibur 2 contraption.

But there's rides like Galleon, The Water Slide things and the Dragon Flyer which were classics. been around for years and were still attracting big queues throughout 2008.

I think it's good in a way that Camelot have closed now. Otherwise soon enough there was going to be a nasty accident at the park. Either:

1. Eating at the proven to be Mouse Infested Wimpy.
2. On the dreadful Rack, that had LARGE bolts visibly missing the past 4 seasons.
3. On Knightmare when the breaks were off. Clearly dangerous.

If they'd operated another year, the risks of a big law suit/sue-ing would be huge. The park wasn't safe, despite it's charm.


Camelot is like American Adventure II in a way. Bolts missing, rusty rides, dirty, poor reliability and tacky theming in it's last year or two.

It's terribly upsetting for such a long-term visitor like myself but it was inevitable.

 

[Ben]

I've spoke to managers alot this past season and I know it costs almost 3 times the amount Whirlwind does to run. hence the 1 train operation all year.

Most of the year. It ran two when I visited.

 

[Jools]

It's quite a shame really, but I went just in time :--D

Knightmare was good, as was Whirlwind, I hope they find buyers, I'm looking to Chessington to buy Knightmare and maybe Whirlwind would do good at Drayton :?

It's good to dream.

 

[MouseAT]

Damn, I'm glad I visited last season.

As most people have already said, the park wasn't particularly pleasant to visit. I was easily done with the place after around four hours on site, and that was with stupid numbers of re-rides on Whirlwind and Knightmare. Basically, the park had been run down into the ground, and was running on borrowed time.

Knightmare and Whirlwind were both entertaining enough layouts, but both were let down by excessive roughness. I found that on both rides I was holding on to minimize the battering, rather than just throwing my arms up and enjoying the experience.

When your signature rides are deteriorating that badly and the rest of the park is a dump, it's hardly surprising that they couldn't compete. I seem to remember the tickets being fairly expensive too - certainly more expensive than Lightwater Valley was, anyway.

 

[Anonymous]

I have been waiting for it to go for some time now. I havnt seen any news of it in town but still not sad to see it go. I havnt been there since the 07 live event.


Who would buy Knightmare though.

I think Pleasurewood Hills should snap it up on the cheap - more than likely had all the referb work done - All they would need to do is paint it and give it a really crap name like all they're other rides - Would make a great addition to their Boomerang and other schwazkopf

 

[Jools]

I have been waiting for it to go for some time now. I havnt seen any news of it in town but still not sad to see it go. I havnt been there since the 07 live event.


Who would buy Knightmare though.

I think Pleasurewood Hills should snap it up on the cheap - more than likely had all the referb work done - All they would need to do is paint it and give it a really crap name like all they're other rides - Would make a great addition to their Boomerang and other schwazkopf

Pleasurewood Hills has not enough space or money for Knightmare, plus with Wipeout I can't see them getting a major coaster in the next 5 years, plus thy have Enigma already.

 

[luke8]

I'm not sure how LWV could afford such a costly ride. It'd need painting and alot of work done before it opened, and then running costs.

Mind you, Knightmare and The Ultimate; What a line-up!

 

[DjTommyB]

Damn, never got chance to visit the place but oh well. I just hope someone does buy Knightmare so I can experience it. The rest of the rides at Camelot I'm not too fussed about.

 

[Mackem Lad]

I'm not sure how LWV could afford such a costly ride. It'd need painting and alot of work done before it opened, and then running costs.

Mind you, Knightmare and The Ultimate; What a line-up!

They wouldn't need to buy it.

It would be rented.

I'm positive that it was bought by a private contractor when it was originally up for sale.

 

[Stone Cold]

I don't like to see parks disappear at the best of times, but I will take some solace in the fact that the demise of Camelot will hopefully mean an increase in visitor numbers at Blackpool, although I don't imagine it to be significant, as I expect those who visit Camelot probably also visit Blackpool anyway.