Thunder Looper was added to the park in 1990, located in the previously unused area beyond Skyride’s turn station.

Fact File

  • Location: Thunder Valley / Forbidden Valley
  • Manufacturer: Schwarzkopf
  • Length: 220m
  • Speed: 53mph
  • Height: 53m
  • Weight: 190 tonnes
  • Capacity per train: 28
  • Number of trains: 1
  • Capacity per hour: 1400
  • Opening Year: 1990
  • Closing Year: 1996

The ride started with a boost into a giant loop, then after doing a loop the train went up a hill until it had slowed down and began to descend backwards, through the loop and into the station.

Its large hourly capacity meant that queues were always short, but the more people rode it the more of a thrill it became, especially on wet days when that extra slip made that large increase in speed.

It was removed from the park at the end of 1996 for several reasons. Firstly it could be seen over the tree line of the park resulting in complaints from local residents. It was also quite a noisy attraction, to the dismay of the locals and nearby nature, especially the cows which actually ended up calving at the wrong time of year.