Tidal Wave (or Oasis presents Tidal Wave for sponsorship purposes) is a giant 'Shoot-the-Chutes' water ride located at

Thorpe Park Thorpe Park Resort, commonly known as Thorpe Park, is an amusement park located in the village of Thorpe between the towns of Chertsey and Staines-upon-Thames in Surrey, England, southwest of Central London. It is operated by Merlin Entertai ...

in Surrey, England, UK. It was opened in 2000 and was

Tussauds Madame Tussauds (, ) is a wax museum founded in 1835 by French wax sculptor Marie Tussaud in London, spawning similar museums in major cities around the world. While it used to be spelled as "Madame Tussaud's"; the apostrophe is no longer us ...

' first major investment in the park before the

Colossus Colossus, Colossos, or the plural Colossi or Colossuses, may refer to: Statues * Any exceptionally large statue ** List of tallest statues ** :Colossal statues * '' Colossus of Barletta'', a bronze statue of an unidentified Roman emperor * '' C ...

rollercoaster in 2002. When the ride was constructed in 2000 it was the tallest water ride in Europe and retained the title until 2002, when Hydro at

Oakwood Theme Park Oakwood Theme Park (formerly Oakwood Leisure Park, Oakwood Coaster Country & Oakwood Park) is a theme park in Pembrokeshire, Wales. Oakwood opened in the late 1980s as a very small family park with BMXs, a wooden fort, a 3D-style cinema expe ...

was opened.

Theme

The ride is set in a 1960s

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian province ...

-style fishing village "Amity Cove", which appears to have been hit by a

tidal wave Tidal wave may refer to: Seas and oceans * A tidal bore, which is a large movement of water formed by the funnelling of the incoming tide into a river or narrow bay * A storm surge, or tidal surge, which can cause waves that breach flood defence ...

. Throughout Amity Cove, a pastiche radio station named "WWTP Radio" plays pop and

surf music Surf music (or surf rock, surf pop, or surf guitar) is a genre of rock music associated with surf culture, particularly as found in Southern California. It was especially popular from 1958 to 1964 in two major forms. The first is instrumental s ...

from the era (for example

The Beach Boys The Beach Boys are an American Rock music, rock band that formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian Wilson, Brian, Dennis Wilson, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and frie ...

and

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...

), along with parody advertisements, news reports and interviews with village characters. The area originally had many scenic features, effects and visual gags on this theme, though today much has disappeared. The ride's queueline is host to a number of partially-ruined buildings, including a bathroom with a leaking shower, an overflowing toilet and a house with a boat stuck in its roof. The station is built at an angle to give the impression that the building is sinking. Upon leaving the ride, guests are led through an open-fronted shack above the end of the track, directly in front of the splash down. As the boat hits the water, the wave travels straight towards this building and often continues on to the pathway behind. Originally around the splash pool were several large effects, such as a giant water tower which released a torrent of water, the sound of a church organ coming from the spire of a sunken church and a gas tank that exploded with a giant flame. The gas tank no longer operates because the cylinders that were used to fuel the flame were removed during the construction of

Stealth Stealth may refer to: Military *Stealth technology, technology used to conceal ships, aircraft, and missiles **Stealth aircraft, aircraft which use stealth technology **Stealth ground vehicle, ground vehicles which use stealth technology ** Stea ...

and never replaced.

Shops

The area also features a few food outlets - a doughnut shop called Amity Naughty Bites and a kebab shop called 'The Amity Kebab Co.' (the Tidal Wave photo unit is located directly above the kebab shop). A small

Ben & Jerry's Ben & Jerry's Homemade Holdings Inc., trading and commonly known as Ben & Jerry's, is an American company that manufactures ice cream, frozen yogurt, and sorbet. Founded in 1978 in Burlington, Vermont, the company went from a single ice cream ...

kiosk is also located at Tidal Wave's exit. In addition, the area houses a

fish and chip Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of liv ...

shop, known as 'Amity Fish & Chips'. There are also shops in Amity, Thorpe Park's largest shop (called Thorpe Mega Store) and there is also a Tickets and Information kiosk next to Tidal Wave's entrance selling Fastrack and Bounce Back tickets. There is also a

KFC KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken) is an American fast food restaurant chain headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, that specializes in fried chicken. It is the world's second-largest restaurant chain (as measured by sales) after McDonald's, with 2 ...

in the area, which fits into the theme as it looks like a 1950s American diner. Inside, there are broken mirrors on the walls and the ceiling appears to be damaged by the tidal wave. The restaurant has a life-sized shark piece of theming that appears to have been slammed into the side of the building. A

Burger King Burger King (BK) is an American-based multinational chain of hamburger fast food restaurants. Headquartered in Miami-Dade County, Florida, the company was founded in 1953 as Insta-Burger King, a Jacksonville, Florida–based restaurant c ...

is also located within the area, and is themed, in a very similar fashion to the KFC, as a 1950s diner.

Sponsorship

From 2006 to 2009, the ride was sponsored by Original Source and then by

Dr. Pepper Dr Pepper is a carbonated soft drink. It was created in the 1880s by pharmacist Charles Alderton in Waco, Texas, and first served around 1885. Dr Pepper was first nationally marketed in the United States in 1904. It is now also sold in Euro ...

from 2010 to 2018. In 2019,

Oasis In ecology, an oasis (; ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environment Stealth Stealth may refer to: Military *Stealth technology, technology used to conceal ships, aircraft, and missiles **Stealth aircraft, aircraft which use stealth technology **Stealth ground vehicle, ground vehicles which use stealth technology ** Stea ...

was the signature attraction in Thorpe Park when it opened and when the

Flying Fish The Exocoetidae are a family of marine fish in the order Beloniformes class Actinopterygii, known colloquially as flying fish or flying cod. About 64 species are grouped in seven to nine genera. While they cannot fly in the same way a bird ...

was relocated in 2007 it was also fitted to the Amity theme. In 2008, Time Voyagers, a new 4D film opened, extending Amity towards a fish and chip restaurant. In 2011,

Storm Surge A storm surge, storm flood, tidal surge, or storm tide is a coastal flood or tsunami-like phenomenon of rising water commonly associated with low-pressure weather systems, such as cyclones. It is measured as the rise in water level above the ...

, a spinning rapids ride opened opposite Tidal Wave.

References

External links

Tidal Wave at Thorpe Park's official website
{{Thorpe Park Resort Thorpe Park water rides Shoot the Chute rides Amusement rides introduced in 2000