Flamingo Land is noted for being the only site in the country which contains a theme park , a zoo and a holiday resort all in one location. Flamingo Land's theme park area contains more than one hundred "white knuckle" rides and slides, there are at least five shows (including the favourite sea lion and parrot performances) and the zoo displays wildlife from all over the world. With over 1,000 exotic animals of all varieties, the zoo claims to be the largest of its kind in Europe .

As well as being the largest amusement park in North England by quite a size, the park is also the largest and most popular privately-owned amusement park in the whole United Kingdom , and relies solely on its own revenue (in competition with larger English theme parks that are owned by national corporation s and which rely on capital raised by stock market flotation s, such as Alton Towers and Thorpe Park .)

During the 2005 season (April until October) the park attracted over 1.4 million visitors (up 11% on the previous season); mostly visitors from the North East of England but also including many from the rest of the country and abroad. At any one time were an estimated 4,000 holidaymakers staying in the holiday village .

The park made a profit of over 700 million pounds during the 2005 season.

History of the park

A colony of pink flamingos were among the first animals to be housed on site and, remaining one of the most popular group of animals in the zoo , the flamingos became a kind of mascot for the entire park (hence Pentland Hick's choice of name for the park.) The descendants of the original flamingos are still resident in the zoo today, and the flamingo colony at the park remains the largest in the country.

Throughout the 1960s a small fun fair began to be held on the site, only to steadily gain momentum and bring more and more visitors to the site. In the 1970s , the fun fair was well established and amusement rides had become a permanent fixture of the park simultaneous to the zoo .

Sealion

Bird show

Historically speaking, Neville Wilby was the chief curator of the Zoo from the 1960s onwards, and held this position for 34 years, until he retired in 1996 . He then returned for a few years as a consultant before his death in 2004 . Sean Drayton was the keeper for over thirty years also, roughly simultaneous to Wilby's career. Drayton died in November 2005 . These men, among others, are well known amongst park staff and more established visitors to the park alike, many of the latter having had the childhood experience of feeding the animals or taking care of them under the supervision of these men.

Amenities

On the outskirts of the park lies a nine-hole golf course . Also adjacent to the park runs Costa Beck , a stream with noted crystal-clear water and fly fishing is available by arrangement, usually free of charge . Trout , Dace , Grayling , Salmon , Kingfisher and Pike can all be found in Costa Beck.

Current areas

Plaza