Thorpe Park Radio was the park’s own on-site radio station that played chart music and ride & show adverts to guests in the ride queues.
Location:
Then – The station was situated on the ground floor of a building that looked out towards the Teacup Ride.
Now – This is now the cream coloured building near Storm in a Teacup in Calypso Quay.
Thorpe Park Radio played music, adverts & jingles for rides and attractions at the park. Some of these pre-recorded adverts and jingles featured the park’s mascots The Thorpe Park Rangers. The presenters would also make announcements about show times for that day and information about things going on around the park.
Thorpe Park Radio was broadcast to the queue lines and other public areas around the park. However some of the top rides at the time for example Depth Charge and Loggers Leap would promote themselves using pre-recorded output that was also played out of the Thorpe Park Radio studio.
The station used to play a wide and varied mix of classic hits and more recent chart releases. The music would start before the park opened, playing to staff as they prepared for all the guests, right through to closing time. From around 4pm the presenters were encouraged to slow down the pace of the music to help encourage guests to leave the park.
Thorpe Park Radio was effectively closed down by the Performing Rights Society before the 1997 season. Unfortunately they had now decided that the station was playing more than just background music and it was more like a proper radio station. The new music licensing fees imposed were too high at the time for the park to keep the station on-air.
Here is a link to an article about the station written by former Thorpe Park Radio presenter Nik Rawlinson. It was first published on the late ReRide.net site on 12/03/2002: http://web.archive.org/web/20070830073249/www.reride.net/parks/thorpepark/radio.html
Memories of Thorpe Park Radio:
Photos:
Related Links:
Location:
Then – The station was situated on the ground floor of a building that looked out towards the Teacup Ride.
Now – This is now the cream coloured building near Storm in a Teacup in Calypso Quay.
Thorpe Park Radio played music, adverts & jingles for rides and attractions at the park. Some of these pre-recorded adverts and jingles featured the park’s mascots The Thorpe Park Rangers. The presenters would also make announcements about show times for that day and information about things going on around the park.
Thorpe Park Radio was broadcast to the queue lines and other public areas around the park. However some of the top rides at the time for example Depth Charge and Loggers Leap would promote themselves using pre-recorded output that was also played out of the Thorpe Park Radio studio.
The station used to play a wide and varied mix of classic hits and more recent chart releases. The music would start before the park opened, playing to staff as they prepared for all the guests, right through to closing time. From around 4pm the presenters were encouraged to slow down the pace of the music to help encourage guests to leave the park.
Thorpe Park Radio was effectively closed down by the Performing Rights Society before the 1997 season. Unfortunately they had now decided that the station was playing more than just background music and it was more like a proper radio station. The new music licensing fees imposed were too high at the time for the park to keep the station on-air.
Here is a link to an article about the station written by former Thorpe Park Radio presenter Nik Rawlinson. It was first published on the late ReRide.net site on 12/03/2002: http://web.archive.org/web/20070830073249/www.reride.net/parks/thorpepark/radio.html
Memories of Thorpe Park Radio:
Photos:
Related Links:
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Google Street View - Link to Google street view showing the old Thorpe Park Radio building’s location near Storm in a Teacup in Calypso Quay.
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Thorpe Park Radio ( ? - 1996)
The old Thorpe Park Radio station building, taken in 2010.
The old Thorpe Park Radio station building, taken in 2010.
A PPL window sticker that can still be seen on the door to the right of the station window, taken in 2011.
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