2024 is set to be a bumper year for UK theme park fans, with the nation’s height record beaten for the first time since 1994, the rebirth of Nemesis following its refurbishment, a new duelling roller coaster for LEGOLAND Windsor, and the very intriguing-looking new coaster opening at Drayton Manor! It can be hard to keep abreast of what’s known about all of these exciting new additions, and perhaps some you haven’t heard of yet. So, let’s get stuck into the Attraction Source Guide to the UK and Ireland’s new attractions of 2024!
Alton Towers
Nemesis
Probably the most talked about project all year, Nemesis Reborn will be opening at the start of this season at Alton Towers! Sporting a whole new look, Nemesis returns to the theme park line-up painted black with red veins, and a revamped station, along with fully refurbished trains in a new colour scheme.
From the latest updates, we can ascertain that the Phalanx have not been totally honest about their intentions with the Nemesis creature, and instead of wanting to control it for the good of humanity, we now know they have been trying to mutate it into a mighty weapon! Nothing in Forbidden Valley is safe, but my gosh is it exciting!
Nemesis will reopen on 16th March along with the rest of the theme park.
Bluey
Bluey, the Blue Heeler dog, will be joining the line up at CBeebies Land from 23rd March! This is just one of the exciting additions to CBeebies Land for the 2024 season as part of its 10 Years Celebration which are set to include added live entertainment, activities, and special guests.
Project Ocean
We know only very limited information about what this project will involve and entail, but what we do know is that Alton Towers have recently submitted a planning application to build a new permanent flat ride on the old site of Ripsaw in Forbidden Valley.
The ride will sit atop a 4.8m tall building, standing in total at 18m from the ground, and featuring what appears to be back to back seating with two entrance gates and one exit gate. Naturally, rumours began flooding in that Alton Towers would be returning to its roots and building a new version of Ripsaw utilising the latest Huss Suspended Top Spin for this plot, but as of right now the planned ride is unknown.
Project Ocean is due to receive a decision on its planning application by 2nd April. Although a 2025 opening seeming more likely, an opening later in 2024 can’t be completely ruled out…
What’s Coming Back?
A notable absence from Alton Towers for most of last season was Hex: The Legend of the Towers. This Vekoma Mad House attraction is a staple of many people’s visits to the Resort, and it’s very exciting that Alton Towers have announced that this ride is set to return for the 2024 season. We can’t wait to walk through the doors into this attraction once again to come face to face with a branch of the old oak tree!
No announcement has been provided by the park of when Hex will reopen at the resort, but we assume it will be from the beginning of the season given the removal of the ride from the Resort’s ride availability page.
Similarly absent last year was the Skyride. However, unlike Hex, Alton Towers have yet to make any comment on the return of this attraction, and it remains listed on the ride availability page for the resort. It is expected that the ride will return in the 2024 season as much work has been ongoing on the attraction’s station buildings over the closed season, but for now we are waiting for more information from the Resort about the plans for Skyride’s future!
Thorpe Park
Hyperia
Due to open at Thorpe Park this year is Hyperia, a Mack Hyper Coaster that is set to break both the UK height and speed records! With construction due to be completed shortly at time of writing, the true scale of this roller coaster is now very apparent. With the slogan ‘find your fearless’, this roller coaster is going to test the nerves of many with its huge twisted vertical drop, giant inversions, and massive scale!
Hyperia is unlike any other hyper coaster in the world, which are typically characterised by long flowing layouts packed with airtime hills. Where as Hyperia looks to prioritise death-defying inversions and punchy elements inspired by RMC and modern Intamin launch coasters. Hyperia looks set to be one of the UK’s best roller coasters, providing an experience unlike anything you can currently ride in the world!
Hyperia is due to open in Spring 2024 – at present an exact date has not been announced.
Big Easy Boulevard
Big Easy Boulevard is a much-needed re-theme of Thorpe Park’s Angry Birds Land. Detonator is receiving a firework-focused retheme, King Pig’s Wild Hog Dodgems are being rethemed to Big Easy Bumpers, and the 4D Cinema has updated frontage to the Sunset Cinema! Overall, the area is receiving a whole new look, with the Angry Birds decals being replaced by a vibrant and bright New Orleans aesthetic – a look that helps the area fit much more comfortably into the surrounding Amity-themed areas!
An official announcement hasn’t been made, but it’s expected that Big Easy Boulevard and the rides within it will open with the rest of the park on 23rd March!
LEGOLAND Windsor
Minifigure Speedway
Set to dominate the landscape around DUPLO Valley, the world’s first LEGO duelling coaster will open at LEGOLAND Windsor this Easter! As guests race each other on these duelling Zierer roller coasters, they’ll pass the world’s largest Minifigure! Roxie – the not-so-mini Minifigure – stands 30ft tall, weighs in at over 6 tonnes and provides a stunning centrepiece to this exciting new attraction!
Though we don’t yet have an exact opening date, Minifigure Speedway is set to open ‘this Easter’.
LEGOLAND Woodland Village
Not content with duelling roller coasters, LEGOLAND Windsor will also open a new accommodation option later this spring! LEGOLAND Woodland Village will offer 150 lodges just a 5-minute walk from the theme park. Guests can choose between standard and premium lodges, as well as ‘barrels’, similar in style to the Stargazing Pods found at Alton Towers Resort. At the heart of the village sits The Clubhouse Restaurant and Bar, offering campfire-style dining under a twinkling canopy.
LEGOLAND Woodland Village will open on 24th May.
Drayton Manor
The Wave
Drayton Manor are doing their bit to bring that 1994 nostalgia this season with a new version of Shockwave, the 30-year-old Intamin stand-up coaster! The modified experience will see the coaster given a new name and theme alongside new sit-down trains. Featuring lapbar restraints, these trains will allow younger guests than ever before to experience the coaster, with a height restriction of just 1.2m. We can’t wait to experience that zero-G roll with a lapbar!
Drayton Manor has announced the roller coaster will be called The Wave, but as of yet an opening date for the attraction has not been announced.
Western Themed Area
Since being purchased by Looping Group in 2020, Drayton Manor have continued to enhance the themed experiences within the park, with the addition of both Adventure Cove (2021) and Vikings (2022). This investment continues in 2024 with the addition of what looks to be a Wild West-themed area. Home to both new and old attractions, the highly-themed land will feature The Haunting, a re-imagined version of the former Drunken Barrels, the 4D Cinema (with a new on-theme film) and of course, quite an exciting new attraction…
Intamin Lift and Launch Coaster
In 2024, Drayton Manor are set to open their first roller coaster since 2011’s Accelerator, and they’re going all in! According to Victoria Lynn, Managing Director of Drayton Manor Resort, the upcoming Intamin Lift and Launch coaster is set to offer a fully themed family thrill experience, including both a traditional lift hill as well as launch, and even altering the ride cycle at different times of day! With a layout that’s had fans scratching their heads for months, this is set to be one of the most unique rides in the UK!
While the wider area will open with the rest of the theme park on 24th March, the coaster will follow a little later in the season.
Emerald Park
Tir na nÓg
The Land of the Young (as Tir na nÓg means if you don’t speak Gaelic) is a new themed area opening at Emerald Park this year. Although not strictly in the UK, the park’s location just outside of Dublin potentially makes it accessible to many UK enthusiasts. The land will feature two brand-new large Vekoma roller coasters – a Vekoma Suspended Thrill Coaster (STC) and a Vekoma Family Boomerang. These will interact at various points of their layouts, in a not-dissimilar fashion to Volldampf and Hals-Über-Kopft at Erlebnispark Tripsdrill in Baden-Württenburg, Germany.
The park has announced that the Vekoma STC will feature 5 inversions, be 32m tall, 750m long, and reach a speed of 90km/h and that the Family Boomerang will be 25m tall, 450m long, and reach speeds of 60km/h. From concept art and the model of the themed area released by the park, we can ascertain that the rides will feature theming pieces including a castle tower that the spike of the Family Boomerang will rise from, castle-inspired station design, and trenches that the rides dive in and out of across their layout. Overall, the themed area looks to be spectacular, with two rides that you know are going to be strong given what Vekoma are creating at the moment – it’s really exciting to see Emerald Park really taking it up a notch!
The park has announced the rides will open in Spring 2024, but as yet an exact date is unknown.
Paultons Park
Splash Lagoon
New for 2024 at Paultons Park is Splash Lagoon, a junior log flume situated in the Lost Kingdom area of the park. Splash Lagoon takes riders through gentle rapids, past prehistoric giants and down a drop! This log flume is an exciting addition to the park – with Raging River Flume no longer in keeping with the aesthetic the park is going for, Splash Lagoon looks set to reflect the focus of recent years on theming and storytelling.
Splash Lagoon is currently testing and set to open in May 2024.
New Indoor Attraction
Whilst it is not known if this attraction is due to open in 2024, what is known is something incredibly spooky is going on at the site of the old 4D cinema. With the park showcasing a futuristic weapon and a ghostly figure, alongside filing a trademark for “Ghostly Manor” on February 16th, this seems to suggest that a haunted dark ride attraction is on the near horizon for the park!
There has been no suggestion this ride will open in 2024, but it sure is exciting to think that it could open for Halloween…
Lightwater Valley
Lightwater Valley has announced that for the 2024 season, they will be opening a new roller coaster, The Rocket! Very little is known about this addition, but what we do know is it will have a 1.1m height restriction (1.2m unaccompanied), and that it will have ‘gravity-defying twists, turns and spins’, being described as being ‘perfect for the older kids looking for adrenaline’.
In addition to The Rocket, Lightwater Valley will be opening Jeep Safari, which will see guests go ‘off-grid’ on a ‘4×4 jeep expedition and come face to face with some of the largest and most fearsome African Animals’. Jeep Safari will have a 0.9m height restriction!
Expected opening dates have not been provided by Lightwater Valley.
Adventure Island
Adventure Island will be opening a brand-new drop tower for the 2024 season – Vertigo! Built by SBF Visa and standing at 38m tall, this drop tower will be taller than the park’s City Wheel. This ride will be the tallest of its type in the country, with rides manufactured by the same company in the UK, such as Magma (Paultons Park) and Croc Drop (Chessington World of Adventures) being of the 25m variation.
Adventure Island have yet to announce an opening date for their new drop tower.
Blackgang Chine
For 2024, Blackgang Chine have announced they will be adding The Jolly Robin, a swinging ship that was formerly at Robin Hill as Colossus. With the concept art showing a large whale-like creature, and the addition arriving into the park’s Pirate Cove themed area, there is a lot to be excited about for the future of this park after the addition of Extinction 360 last year!
As yet no announcement has been made about the opening date but the park have stated they will publicise it on social media, and be running a first-rider competition!
Fantasy Island
Fantasy Island are building a Reverchon Spinning Coaster for the 2024 season. Sporting blue track, white supports and the classic spinning coaster layout, rumours suggest it may receive an XXL extension for the summer, but upon opening it will be a standard wild mouse layout!
The roller coaster is nearing completion of construction, and it’s expected the ride will open with the park on 16th March.
West Midlands Safari Park
For 2024, and following the removal of Wild River Rafting, West Midlands Safari Park are building Jungle Jeeps! This attraction is a family car ride, taking adventurers on a journey through the jungle! This ride accompanies the park’s investment in a rebrand, new lodges and accommodation, as well as an expansion to the park’s African Walking Trail and a refresh of the playground!
The park has announced that Jungle Jeeps will be opening in summer 2024!
With so much happening across the UK, it really is an exciting time to be a theme park enthusiast here! From smaller parks increasing their offering, to huge record-smashing additions, there’s so much to be excited about for the season ahead! With Alton Towers kicking things off on 16th March with the first new attraction opening of the year, you’ll be able to get abreast of all the latest news with Attraction Source and our sister site TowersTimes!
What attraction are you most excited for this year? Let us know on our social media channels!
