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The water ride that might have been...

The serene water ride at Pleasurewood Hills arrived back in 1983 and was originally an entirely open-air attraction called the "Water Fantasy Ride".


An extensive indoor section was built over much of the ride in 1989 and "Voyage to Aladdin's Cave" was born. Featuring the scary dragon and waterfalls, the ride was a popular favourite for many years.


Between 2002 and 2006 the "Fantasy Boat Ride" took riders through the existing indoor section, but removed the Aladdin story-line. Then in 2006, the attraction was again extensively refurbished to become "Tales of the Coast". Briefly flirting with 3D effects, the ride told the story of "Black Shuck", a local legend about a big black dog.


In 2015, the park put together plans for a further refurbishment which would give the ride a Pirate theme and a new name "Woody's Treasure Hunt". Theming specialists, Studios East Ltd were brought in to expand on Pleasurewood Hills original ideas. However, the decision was ultimately made to demolish the existing attraction and replace with the Waveswinger, which opened during the 2016 season.


Pleasurewood Place have been given the artwork for the proposed attraction. Take a look and tell us what you think;

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Graeme
Graeme
Aug 04, 2023

I started visiting Pleasurewood Hills around 1987 and first knew this as Canal Boat Ride. It was one of my favourite attractions. I loved the Jungle Book-style animals, and the ride was so nice to look at, to me it formed part of the park's overall landscaping. I also enjoyed the conversion to Aladdin's Cave, which I think was one of the country's best storytelling rides. It's a shame the ride system was completely removed, as I think it was worth keeping in some form. Whilst I'm not sure if the pirate theme was the right way to go (I'd personally prefer something like Jungle Cruise), I do think parks need these outdoor scenic boat rides.

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