M&D's

M&D's Scotland's Theme Park

M&D's entrance
Slogan "Scotland's Theme Park"
Location Motherwell, Lanarkshire, Scotland
Coordinates 55°48′00″N 4°02′23″W / 55.80011°N 4.03966°W / 55.80011; -4.03966Coordinates: 55°48′00″N 4°02′23″W / 55.80011°N 4.03966°W / 55.80011; -4.03966
Owner M&D Group
Opened 1996
Operating season Complex open all year around. Theme Park open March – October
Rides
Total 40 attractions
Roller coasters 4
Water rides 2
Website www.scotlandsthemepark.com

M&D's Scotland's Theme Park is an amusement park located in Motherwell, North Lanarkshire, Scotland. Bordering on Strathclyde Park, the park contains four operating rollercoasters, two water rides, several fairground rides, an arcade, a theatre, ten-pin bowling and an indoor tropical house, Amazonia.[1]. In 2018, North Lanarkshire Council approved an expansion proposal from the park, including plans for a new rollercoaster, a new themed area, and an expansion to an existing hotel.[2].

Attractions

M&D's Theme Park claims to have over 40 rides and attractions, including four roller coasters, a log flume and several fairground type rides in addition to a number of rides designed for young children. Most are travelling rides owned by the parks operators, Matthew and Douglas Taylor.

Roller coasters

pictured is the Tornado, the park's largest roller coaster
  • Tornado: The park's largest roller coaster. Manufactured by Pinfari, with over 1 km of track. The track contains two 360-degree vertical loops in addition to several banked turns, pulling −2Gs at some points. This ride has a top speed of over 80 km/h.[3] It formerly had a corkscrew which was removed after the 2005 season due to being exceptionally rough.
  • Mad Mouse: The latest roller coaster to enter the park, this spinning Mad Mouse used to be one of M&D's travelling rides. It was built by Fabbri and debuted in 2016.
  • Big Apple: One of the junior roller coasters in M&D's. Aimed at small children, this roller coaster travels significantly slower than the other rides with a figure-of-eight track 300m long. The highlight of this ride is arguably the giant fibreglass apple it travels through.
  • Runaway Mine Train: Another children's roller coaster. This ride has a track just over 200m long, featuring several dips and turns. Prior to 2007 the train had spinning cars, however this has now been replaced with a traditional fixed train and a traditional chain lift instead of the tire propelled one.

Thrill rides

Ferris wheel
  • Wave Swinger: The Wave Swinger is a traditional chair swing featuring 32 tilting chairs. The chairs, suspended by chains, are swung round at speed, with the ride reaching up to 14 revolutions per minute. The ride is constructed in a way that the chairs climb and fall as they swing round.
  • Captain's Curse: The Captain's Curse is a pirate ship themed ride in M&D's. It was absent from the park during 2007–2008 season for refurbishment.
  • Magic Carpet: The Magic Carpet, also known as "Ali Baba's Carpet" seats up to 40 people. The ride reaches a height of 14m at the top of a revolution, and swings at 14 full revolutions per minute. The seats are fixed facing forward while rising and falling, travelling round in a loop. It was replaced with a newer model of the ride in the 2017 season.
  • The Giant Condor: The only one of its kind in Europe. Riders go up 30 metres in 28 2-seater gondolas. Debuted in the 2015 season.

Water rides

A number of rides at the park are pictured: at the far left is Moby's Revenge, the water slides.
  • Moby's Revenge: Moby's Revenge is a three-in-one water slide. The rightmost slide is a steep, straight chute, whereas the leftmost one is a winding spiral slide. The path in the centre is a straight chute similar to the one on the left, however this slide is not quite as steep and features several 'waves'.
  • White Water: The largest water ride in the theme park. White water is a log flume, featuring two drops of up to 20m. This ride reaches speeds of up to 70 km/h at points. Souvenir photographs are also available to purchase at the end of the ride.

Junior Rides and Attractions

  • Trampolines: 10 trampoline beds. Roughly around 5 minutes per session
  • Mini Dodgems
  • Other smaller rides include "Taxis", "Sea Storm" and "Flying Jumbos"

Past rides

  • Kamikaze which was replaced by The Runaway Mine Train
  • The Bomber Mark 2 which was replaced by the Giant Condor
  • Space Coaster (formerly called Cobra and then Express) left after the 2015 season and is now being set up at Oakwood Theme Park as of July 2016.
  • Tsunami which was scrapped in 2017 due to the derailment in 2016

Other attractions

  • Amazonia: The only indoor rainforest in the whole of Scotland, it contains exotic animals such as the poison dart frog, tarantula and python.
  • Devil's Island: An 18-hole miniature golf course, played over water and in caves.
  • Krazy Congo: Giant indoor soft play-area, for young children.
  • Gamezone: Giant amusement arcade, containing over 150 different games, including the most recently developed games.
  • Alona Hotel The on-site hotel for visitors staying for a period of time. It contains a glasshouse restaurant and bar and an atrium for views overlooking the Strathclyde Loch.

Food and drink

Cosmic Bowl is Scotland's first glow in the dark bowling alley.
  • The Family Restaurant: Formally Bizarre, is a family friendly restaurant with bar.
  • Downtown USA: A 1960s styled diner serves American food and drink, and is decorated with Harley Davidsons and an authentic Italian carousel. The diner is also home to a 'Wimpy Bar' and 'Pancake Palace'.
  • Cosmic Bowl: Cosmic Bowl is Scotlands first glow in the dark bowling alley. It contains a restaurant and 'inside out' bar. There is also arcade games such as Time Crisis, basketball & air hockey.
  • Inside Out: The theme parks sports bar. 'Inside Out' shows a variety of sports on 6 LCD widescreens. The bar also has its own beer garden, which overlooks strathclyde loch.
  • Diamond Lil's: An American Pool Bar. The bar contains 8 Pool tables, 2 Snooker Tables and a bar that is open at peak times, Diamond Lils is now open to anyone over 18.
  • Guiseppi's: The parks Italian coffee shop and ice cream parlour. The bar looks out over Strathclyde Loch and serves a range of coffee's, ice cream, milkshakes and sandwiches, made with traditional Italian ingredients.

Incidents and accidents

In June 2009, six people were stranded on the park's Tornado roller coaster when high winds caused safety systems to activate.[4]

On 4 July 2011, nine people, ranging in age from 9 to 49, had to be rescued from the Tsunami roller coaster, after a mechanical failure on the ride left them stranded 60 ft (18.2m) above the ground for up to eight hours.[4]

In 2013 approximately there was an incident on the White Water Log Flume in which a teenage girl's leg was trapped between a barrier and a splashback on the ride's structure, causing a serious injury.[5]

In August 2015, three people were injured when the White Water Log Flume slipped on its track,[6] and later the same month a 58-year-old woman and three teenagers were forced to walk down from the top of the ride after it stuck at the highest point.[7]

In March 2016, eight people had to be rescued from the Tornado roller coaster after it became stuck 20 ft (6.09m) above the ground at the theme park.[8]

On 26 June 2016, the roller coaster Tsunami derailed, injuring seven children and two adults. On the way down it hit the main structure and came to rest on the walkway.[9][10]

References

  1. ↑ "Theme park's pirates offer egg-stra treats". Evening Times, 3 April 2012 / Caroline Wilson
  2. ↑ "M&D’s Theme Park Planning Expansion ". Themeparks-UK
  3. ↑ "Our Selection of the Top Theme Parks in the UK: M&D’s". Weather-Whatever, by Shannon Harto Monday 15 July 2013
  4. 1 2 "BBC News – Nine rescued from Strathclyde Park roller coaster". Bbc.co.uk. 4 July 2011. Retrieved 25 August 2012.
  5. ↑ "M&D's left me scarred like a shark victim" Archived 6 August 2016 at the Wayback Machine.. Daily Record, 3 July 2016, By Graeme Donohoe
  6. ↑ "Children hurt as M&D's ride malfunctions, log flume slid backwards crashing into cart behind" Archived 18 August 2016 at the Wayback Machine.. Daily Record, 6 August 2015 By Shirley Bartynek
  7. ↑ "M&Ds log flume terror: Gran's horror as she is forced to shuffle down 60ft high rollercoaster" Archived 31 July 2016 at the Wayback Machine.. Daily Record, 24 August 2015 By Beverley Lyons
  8. ↑ "Eight rescued from roller coaster at M&D's theme park". BBC News. Retrieved 27 March 2016.
  9. ↑ "Rollercoaster crash: Children among 10 hurt at M&D's theme park". Retrieved 26 June 2016.
  10. ↑ "Scottish roller-coaster derails 65 feet above ground, injuring 11". Toronto Star, 27 June 2016, Peter Holley.
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