The theme park was originally called Britannia Park and opened in 1985, but closed after just 10 weeks with huge debts.
It was then bought by Derbyshire Council for £2.5 million in 1986, and sold to Grenada, which reopened the park under the name ‘The American Adventure’ in June 1987.
The American Adventure was hugely popular in its heyday and new rides were introduced over the years to keep up with the times. Unfortunately the announcement came in 2007 that the park would not be reopening that year, and the rides were sold off to various amusement parks and attractions around the world.
With the news that the United Kingdom is set to become the home of the world’s first ever theme park based on the iconic adventure series Jumanji, we have delved into our archives to take you on a trip down memory lane to The American Adventure, which used to be the place to be years ago.
The new Jumanji theme park will join Chessington’s World of Adventures in spring 2023.
Jumanji is renowned for being a world full of scary and erratic wildlife, difficult challenges and a heap load of adventure. Chessington’s World of Adventures and Sony Entertainment have promised to bring all that to life.
An investment of £17m is being spent on the development of the new attraction, which takes inspiration from the Robin Williams movie which was released in 1995. The Hollywood partnership marks this as the largest investment in the history of the theme park.
When the theme park opens next year, visitors will be welcomed into the mysterious world of Jumanji with an entrance portal totally shrouded in overgrown jungle. From then onwards, they will face a series of story-driven and dramatic adventures.
1. The Missile
The Missile opened in 1989 to much excitement - do you remember riding it? Photo: Submitted
3. The park
The theme park was located in a country park with a large lake in the middle. There were different themed areas with various white-knuckle rides introduced over the years. Which was your favourite? Photo: staff
