American Adventure Theme Park

American Adventure Theme Park was an American-themed theme park located in Derbyshire, England, UK.

History

It was originally opened by the British Coal Board as "Britannia Park" in 1985, however the park only lasted 20 weeks due to financial problems.^[1] The park was reopened as American Adventure, a Wild West theme park by Park Hall Leisure (then owners of Camelot Theme Park) in June 1987.^[2] Park Hall Leisure itself was a subsidiary of Granada.^[3]^[4]

In 1997 the park was sold to a new company called Ventureworld, headed by former Trentham Estate and Alton Towers boss John Broome. This resulted in a name change to "American Adventure World" for the park. After only a couple of seasons John Broome left the park, and it was sold to Leisure Parcs, with the park's name reverting to "American Adventure". Attendance figures dropped sharply during the early 2000s, and very little investment was made into the park. The final season for the park was 2006, which was by now concentrating on smaller children, with old thrill rides such as "The Missile" roller coaster and Nightmare Niagra left standing but not operating. The closure was due to low visitor numbers.

In January 2007, it was announced that the park would not be reopening.^[5]

The area where the park stood has since been redeveloped as housing and a care home.^[6]

Past coasters

Class	Name	Manufacturer	Type	Opened	Closed	Fate
Powered	Buffalo Ride	Zamperla	Sit-Down	June 1987	2006	Relocated to Twinlakes Park
Roller	Mini Mine Rush	Zamperla	Kiddie	April 8, 2006	2006	Relocated to Flamingo Land
Roller	Missile	Vekoma	Shuttle	July 4, 1989	2004	Relocated to Pleasurewood Hills
Powered	Runaway Train	Big Country Motioneering	Sit-Down	June 1987	2006	Travelling UK
Roller	Twin Looper	Soquet	Sit-Down	1995	2006	Relocated to Śląskie Wesołe Miasteczko

Closed attractions

Name	Manufacturer	Type	Opened	Closed	Fate
Asteroid	Sam Ward	Round-Up	1992	1992	Travelling UK
Balloon Ride	Zamperla	Balloon Race	1988	2006	Relocated to Billing Aquadrome
Boston Tea Party	SDC	Trabant/Satellite	1987	1988	Relocated to West Midland Safari Park
Bronco Buggies	Zamperla	Jump Around	2005	2006	Relocated to West Midland Safari Park
Canyon Trip	Vekoma	Canyon Trip	1991	1993	Relocated to Camelot Theme Park
Carousel	I.E. Park	Junior Carousel	2000s	2006	Relocated to West Midland Safari Park
Carousel Round-Up	Zamperla	Junior Carousel	1987	1990s	Relocated to Camelot Theme Park
Century 2000	J. Bakker Denies	Ramba Zamba	1985	1985	Relocated to Barry Island Pleasure Park
Custer's Carousel	Chance Rides	Carousel	Unknown	2006	Relocated to Flambards Theme Park
Cyber Storm	C&S	Dodgems	1997	2006	Relocated to Flamingo Land
Dive Bomber	Lusse	Roll-O-Plane	1991	1994	Sold to John H. Rundle
Dodgems	Unknown	Dodgems	1985	1985	Unknown
Dream Dancer	R.J. Lakin	Waltzer	1991	1997	Relocated to Great Yarmouth Pleasure Beach
Fire Brigade	Zamperla	Fire Brigade	2005	2006	Relocated to West Midland Safari Park
Flying Island	Vekoma	Flying Island	1998	1999	Exported
G-Force	HUSS	Ben Hur	1989	1991/2	Sold
Giant Slide	Harry Steer Engineering	Giant Slide	1985	1985	Reused at park
Helter Skelter	Supercar	Helter Skelter	1988	2006	Travelling UK
High Sierra	Zamperla	Ferris Wheel	1987	2006	Relocated to Billing Aquadrome
Hully Gully	A.R.M.	Trabant/Satellite	1985	1985	Exported Australia
Junior Clipper	Modern Products	Junior Pirate Ship	1987	2006	Relocated to Robin Hoods Wheelgate Park
Miniature Railroad	Severn Lamb	Miniature Railway	1985	1985	SBNO (later reused)
Nightmare Niagra	Big Country Motioneering	Log Flume	1987	2003	SBNO (later scrapped)
Rio Grande Train	Zamperla	Junior Railway	1987	2006	Relocated to Flambards Theme Park
Rockin' Tug	Zamperla	Rockin' Tug	2006	2006	Relocated to Flambards Theme Park
Rocky Mountain Rapids	Big Country Motioneering	River Rapids	1988	2006	Scrapped
Round-Up	Hrubetz	Round-Up	1985	1985	Sold
Santa-Fe Railroad	Severn Lamb	Miniature Railway	1987	2006	Relocated to Twinlakes Park
Skycoaster	Sky Fun 1 Inc.	Skycoaster	1997	2006	Sold
Snake Island	Zapfun	Tube Slide	1987	2006	Unknown
Starbase Slide	Harry Steer Engineering	Giant Slide	1987	2003	Scrapped
Tennessee Tentacles	Soriani & Moser	Polyp	1987	2006	Relocated to Haghtanak Park
Yankee Clipper	Zamperla	Pirate Ship	1987	2006	Relocated to Twinlakes Park

References

↑ http://www.heanorhistory.org.uk/britanniapark.htm
↑ https://www.ripleyandheanornews.co.uk/news/ventureworld-s-american-dream-is-now-finally-over-1-719209
↑ "Theme-park role for Bovis". Manchester Evening News. 1989-01-17. p. 18. Retrieved 2024-07-30.
↑ "Courting financiers to join the very latest roller-coaster ride". The Guardian. 1987-12-31. p. 23. Retrieved 2024-07-30.
↑ "Theme park will close its doors". BBC News. 2007-01-04. Retrieved 2025-02-27.
↑ "American Adventure: 'Our housing estate used to be a theme park'". BBC News. 2025-02-01. Retrieved 2025-02-27.

External links

American Adventure Theme Park on the Roller Coaster DataBase.

[1] ttp://www.heanorhistory.org.uk/britanniapark.htm

[2] ttps://www.ripleyandheanornews.co.uk/news/ventureworld-s-american-dream-is-now-finally-over-1-719209

[3] "Theme-park role for Bovis". Manchester Evening News. 1989-01-17. p. 18. Retrieved 2024-07-30.

[4] "Courting financiers to join the very latest roller-coaster ride". The Guardian. 1987-12-31. p. 23. Retrieved 2024-07-30.

[5] "Theme park will close its doors". BBC News. 2007-01-04. Retrieved 2025-02-27.

[6] "American Adventure: 'Our housing estate used to be a theme park'". BBC News. 2025-02-01. Retrieved 2025-02-27.

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