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M&D's

For the South Korean Pop rock group, see M&D.

M&D's Scotland's Theme Park is an amusement park located in Motherwell, North Lanarkshire, Scotland. Bordering on Strathclyde Park, the park contains two operating rollercoasters, two water rides, several fairground rides, and a arcade, a theatre, Cosmic Bowl and an indoor tropical house, Amazonia.[1]

M&D's Scotland's Theme Park
M&D's entrance
LocationMotherwell, Lanarkshire, Scotland
Coordinates55°48′00″N 4°02′23″W / 55.80011°N 4.03966°W / 55.80011; -4.03966
StatusOperating
Opened1996
ClosedUnknown
OwnerM&D Group
Slogan"Scotland's Theme Park"
Attractions
Total41 attractions
Roller coasters2
Water rides1
Websitewww.scotlandsthemepark.com

In 2018, North Lanarkshire Council approved an expansion proposal from the park.[2]

The park went into administration on 23 April 2020, but was purchased on 22 June 2020.[3][4]

Attractions

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M&D's Theme Park has many rides and attractions, including two roller coasters (four just before the faillissement), a log flume, several fairground-type rides, and many more rides designed for young children. Most were travelling rides owned by the park's operators, travelling showmen Matthew and Douglas Taylor.

Roller coasters

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  • Runaway Mine Train: Prior to 2007, this roller coaster had spinning cars and a tire-propelled lift. These were replaced with a traditional fixed train and chain lift in the winter maintenance the train was painted from grey to red
  • Big Apple: A children's roller coaster with a green caterpillar cart and is a good first roller coaster for younger children

Thrill rides

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  • Air Raid:, new for 2024 is an Extreme built by UK manufacturer Tivoli Manufacturing. This is thrill ride in M&D's that spins you all over the place. The ride spent the 2022 season on loan at Alton Towers as Spinjam.
  • Chair Swing: A 32-seat Swing ride
  • Captain's Curse: A Pirate Ship ride. It was absent from the park during the 2007–2008 season for refurbishment.
  • Miami - Rip Tide: A Miami Trip. Replaced 'Fast & Furious'. In the 2022 season of M&D's.

Water rides

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A number of rides at the park are pictured: at the far left is Moby's Revenge, the water slides.
  • Moby's Revenge: A three-lane dinghy water slide. The rightmost slide is a steep, straight chute, the middle slide is a shallower straight slide with dips, and the leftmost one is a spiral slide.

Junior Rides and Attractions

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  • Trampolines: 10 trampoline beds. Roughly around 5 minutes per session
  • Mini Dodgems
  • "Flying Dumbos": an elephant ride that is based of Walt Disney's hit film Dumbo.

Pirate Ship frog hoppers: bounce up and down but the noise it makes can get Annoying at times.

Entertament

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High Diving Pirates: If you go at the right time it will be on it is a show on at summer not on all the time but it is worth it.

Past rides

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  • Kamikaze, a Ranger, closed in 2005.
  • The Bomber Mark 2: A Fabbri Booster. Closed in 2014.
  • The Giant Condor: The only one of its kind in Europe. Riders go up 30 meters in 28 2-seater gondolas. It debuted in the 2015 season as a replacement to The Bomber Mark 2.
  • Space Coaster (formerly called Cobra and then Express): it was sold after the 2015 season to Oakwood Theme Park.
  • Tsunami: Manufactured by Pinfari, was the only inverted roller coaster in Scotland. It closed due to an accident on 26 June 2016. Formally closed on 27 February 2017.
  • Tornado: Was the park's largest roller coaster. Manufactured by Pinfari, with over 1 km of track. The track contains two 360-degree vertical loops in addition to several banked turns, pulling −2 Gs at some points. This ride has a top speed of over 80 km/h.[5] It formerly had a corkscrew which was removed after the 2005 season due to being exceptionally rough. It was sold in November 2020 to Parc d'Attractions Marseillan-Plage.
  • Big Apple (1st): A children's roller coaster, which used to travel through a large fiber glass apple. It was removed in 2021 and relocated to Web Adventure Park.[6]
  • Mad Mouse: A Spinning Wild Mouse roller coaster. 2016-2021.
  • Magic Carpet: Formerly known as "Ali Baba's Carpet" was a Magic Carpet ride, with a capacity of 40 people. The ride reaches a height of 14 m and a top speed of 14 rpm. It was replaced with a newer model in the 2017 season.
  • Fast & Furious: A Miami Trip. It replaced the Magic Carpet at the start of the 2020/21 season.

White Water: a log flume at M&D's for years then was removed in the winter of the 2023 season and was replaced by Space and Air rade

Other attractions

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  • Amazonia: The only indoor rainforest in the whole of Scotland, it contains exotic animals such as the poison dart frog, tarantula and python.
  • Devil's Island: An 18-hole miniature golf course, played over water and in caves.
  • Krazy Congo: Giant indoor soft play-area, for young children.
  • Gamezone: Giant amusement arcade, containing over 150 different games, including the most recently developed games.
  • Alona Hotel: The on-site hotel for visitors staying for a period of time. It contains a glasshouse restaurant and bar and an atrium for views overlooking the Strathclyde Loch.

Incidents and accidents

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Main article: Incidents at European amusement parks § M&D's Motherwell Scotland

In June 2009, six people were stranded on the park's Tornado roller coaster when high winds caused the safety systems to activate.[7]

On 4 July 2011, nine people, ranging in age from 9 to 49, had to be rescued from the Tsunami roller coaster. Due to a mechanical failure on the ride, the group was stranded 60 ft (18.2m) above the ground for a total of eight long hours.[7]

In 2013 there was an incident on the White Water Log Flume where a teenage girl's leg was trapped between a barrier and a splash back on the ride's structure, causing a serious injury.[8]

In August 2015, three people were injured when the White Water Log Flume slipped on its track,[9] and later the same month a 58-year-old woman and three teenagers were forced to walk down from the top of the ride after it got stuck at the highest point.[10]

In March 2016, eight people had to be rescued from the Tornado roller coaster after it became stuck 20 ft (6.09m) above the ground.[11]

On 26 June 2016, the roller coaster Tsunami derailed, injuring eight children and two adults, which make a total of ten people. On the way down it hit the main structure and came to rest on the walkway.[12]

References

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  1. ^ "Theme park's pirates offer egg-stra treats". Evening Times, 3 April 2012 / Caroline Wilson
  2. ^ "M&D's Theme Park Planning Expansion".
  3. ^ "Scotland's largest theme park Glasgow, M&D's goes into administration". Glasgow Times. Retrieved 26 July 2022.
  4. ^ "M&D's theme park saved from administration by a company called Lochview Theme Park". Glasgow Times. Retrieved 26 July 2022.
  5. ^ "Our Selection of the Top Theme Parks in the UK: M&D’s". Weather-Whatever, by Shannon Harto Monday 15 July 2013
  6. ^ "Big Apple - Web Adventure Park (York, North Yorkshire, England, United Kingdom)". rcdb.com. Retrieved 27 July 2022.
  7. ^ a b "BBC News – Nine rescued from Strathclyde Park roller coaster". Bbc.co.uk. 4 July 2011. Retrieved 25 August 2012.
  8. ^ "M&D's left me scarred like a shark victim" Archived 6 August 2016 at the Wayback Machine. Daily Record, 3 July 2016, By Graeme Donohoe
  9. ^ "Children hurt as M&D's ride malfunctions, log flume slid backwards crashing into cart behind" Archived 18 August 2016 at the Wayback Machine. Daily Record, 6 August 2015 By Shirley Bartynek
  10. ^ "M&Ds log flume terror: Gran's horror as she is forced to shuffle down 60ft high rollercoaster" Archived 31 July 2016 at the Wayback Machine. Daily Record, 24 August 2015 By Beverley Lyons
  11. ^ "Eight rescued from roller coaster at M&D's theme park". BBC News. 26 March 2016. Retrieved 27 March 2016.
  12. ^ "Rollercoaster crash: Children among 10 hurt at M&D's theme park". BBC News. 26 June 2016. Retrieved 26 June 2016.
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