Phantom Fantasia
| Phantom Fantasia | |
|---|---|
| Thorpe Park | |
| Status | Closed |
| Opening date | 1983 (as Phantom Fantasia) 1994 (as Wicked Witches Haunt) |
| Closing date | 21 July 2000 |
| Replaced by | Detonator |
| General statistics | |
| Attraction type | Dark ride |
| Manufacturer | Mack Rides |
| Designer | Golding Leisure Design International (1983) Rex Studios (1994) |
| Theme | Haunted |
| Vehicle type | Endless transit system |
| Duration | 5 minutes |
Phantom Fantasia, later renamed Wicked Witches Haunt, was a dark ride opened in 1983 at Thorpe Park in Surrey, England. It took riders through a series of large animated horror scenes and illusions. The ride used an endless transit system manufactured by Mack Rides in Germany. The ride was refurbished in 1994 with a new blacklight style and was renamed 'Wicked Witches Haunt'. It was demolished following a fire in 2000.[1][2]
History
Phantom Fantasia was opened in 1983 as part of the Central Park area, Thorpe Park's first large development into a theme park.[3][4] It was produced by Golding Leisure Design.[1] The ride system was supplied my MACK rides and was an endless convoy system with clamshell-like cars that rotated to face each scene.[2]
The ride featured many animated characters, including a hunchback swinging from a bone chandelier, a torture chamber run by evil puppet people, a ghoulish seance with a levitating table, a pit and the pendulum scene, Henry VIII dining at his banquet table while ghosts of his six wives appear and disappear around him (using a Pepper's ghost effect), a knights crypt, a long-legged horror climbing out a well, a Victorian street scene featuring Sweeney Todd and Mrs Lovett's shop windows (could you spot the pies with fingers sticking out them), a black magic necromancer brewing a potion with his familiars, two witches around a cauldron in their cave, Mary Queen of Scots holding her severed head in her arms, and a ballroom of eighteenth-century bewigged and costumed waltzing skeletons.[2][4]
Wicked Witches Haunt
The ride was refurbished as Wicked Witches Haunt in 1994 with a scenic overhaul in UV. A number of animated witch figures were added, along with a new soundtrack and final scene featuring giant spiders. On-ride photography was also added.[5][2]
The attraction was destroyed by a large fire in 2000 and subsequently demolished. The cause of the fire was never publicly announced.[6][7]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Phantom Fantasia DRDB". Dark Ride Database. Dark Ride Database. Retrieved 4 June 2026.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 "Phantom Phantasia / Wicked Witches Haunt". Attraction Source. Attraction Source. Retrieved 30 August 2026.
- ↑ "Theme Park History & Heritage". Thorpe Park. Thorpe Park. Retrieved 10 June 2026.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Two Faces of Thorpe Park". Surrey Herald. 11 August 1983.
- ↑ "Wicked Witches Haunt DRDb". Dark Ride Database. Dark Ride Database. Retrieved 10 June 2026.
- ↑ "Thorpe Park Fire Destroys Attractions". The Independent. The Independent. Retrieved 10 June 2026.
- ↑ BBC News. "Fire hits London theme park". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 30 August 2026.
External links
| Amity | |
|---|---|
| Lost City | |
| Old Town | |
| Swarm Island | |
| The Jungle | |
| Angry Birds Land | |
| The Dock Yard | |
| Former | |
| See also | |
This article "Phantom Fantasia" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:Phantom Fantasia. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.
- Closed amusement attractions
- Amusement rides that closed in 2000
- Amusement rides by name
- 1983 establishments in England
- 2000 disestablishments in England
- Amusement rides introduced in 1983
- Amusement rides closed in 2000
- Amusement rides manufactured by Mack Rides
- Animatronic attractions
- Dark rides
- Demolished buildings and structures in Surrey
- Haunted attractions (simulated)
