Thorpe Parks History Thorpe Park has a very interesting history. It previously  was the site of a limestone quarry for concrete. When the Quarry closed in the early 1970s the company that owned it decided upon using it as a place to dump fill dirt until a leisure park could be built upon the newly levelled land. Residents opposed this plan seeing the concept as neither economically viable nor a good idea for the neighbourhood seeing how large the quarry was. It was then decided to fill the large quarry with water so that a park could still be built within the newly formed lagoon. This plan met little resistance and went forward. Thorpe Park was opened in 1979 with the infamous Earl Louis Mountbatten of Burma in attendance.  Some of the first attractions to open at the newly commissioned park included a 180 degree Cinema  and Aircraft Display, numerous water sports and activities, and the Mountbatten Pavilion 1981 brought the park's first roller coaster Space Station Zero. In 1986 several new attractions were christened including a mini-golf known simply as Crazy Golf and a Roller Skating Rink. in 1987 when it opened the Teacup Ride and spent roughly two million pounds on a brand new rapids ride named Thunder River. The year after the park finished its brand new 630 seat Palladium Theatre.   Time Line of Thorpe Park Pre-1987 A few attractions including the Cinema, Magic Mill, Waterbus services, Model World, Railway, Teacups, Nature Trails and Sunken Gardens.   1987 Thunder River water ride opened. Space Station Zero opened.   1988 Palladium Theatre opened.   1989 Canada Creek area opened. Loggers Leap (largest log flume in the UK) opened. Rocky Express opened.   1990 Re-themed Space Station Zero into the Flying Fish. Carousel Kingdom opened. The Rangers Show opened. Drive in the country opened.   1991 Fantasy Reef area refurbished. Depth Charge opened.   1992 Children's' area refurbished. Viking Rowers opened. Hudson River Rafters opened.   1993 Calgary Stampede opened. Virtual Reality Centre opened. Magic Mill closed.   1994 Ranger County area opened. Carousel opened. Mr. Monkey's Banana Ride opened.   1995 Mr Rabbit's Tropical Travels opened. Miss Hippo's Fungle Safari opened. Drive in the country closed.   1996 X:/ No Way Out, the worlds first dark backwards rollercoaster opened.   1997 No new rides   1998 The Tussauds Group purchase the park. Palladium Theatre closed. Ranger Show closed. Dare Devil Drivers opened. Wet Wet Wet! opened. Water Slides opened.   1999 Pirates 4D opened. Carousel Kingdom closed. Viking Rowers closed.   2000 Tidal Wave, the tallest ride in the park, opened. The Enterprise opened. Dare Devil Drivers closed. Bumper Boats closed. Wicked Witch's Haunt closed in July after being damaged by fire   2001 Mr Rabbit's Tropical Travels closed Thunder River closed. The Enterprise renamed Zodiac. Detonator, a freefall tower, opened. Vortex opened.   2002 Colossus, with a record-breaking 10 inversions, opened. Safari High Dive show opened for one season. Thunder River re-opened as Ribena Rumba Rapids.   2003 Calgary Stampede closed. Pirates 4D closed. Nemesis Inferno opened. Also Quantum, a 'magic carpet' ride, opened. Eclipse, a ferris wheel, opened. Spiderman show opened.   2004 Samurai, moved from Chessington, opened. Calgary Stampede closed. New Spiderman show opened.