Attractiepark Slagharen
Attractie- & Vakantiepark Slagharen is an Amusement park and a holiday resort in Slagharen, located in the Dutch province Overijssel. The park opened in 1963 and was originally named Ponypark Slagharen . The logo contains the English name Slagharen Themepark & Resort.
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| Location | Slagharen, Netherlands |
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| Coordinates | 52°37′28″N 6°33′43″E |
| Theme | Wild west |
| Slogan | Het avontuur gaat door! (The adventure continues) |
| Owner |  Parques Reunidos |
| Opened | 1963 |
| Previous names | Ponypark Slagharen |
| Visitors per annum | 1.052.568 (2017) |
| Area | 83 ha (210 acres) |
| Attractions | |
| Total | 35 |
| Roller coasters | 2 |
| Water rides | 4 |
| Website | http://www.slagharen.com/ |
The Amusement park contains two areas, which are connected by a main street containing shops and restaurants. The park has more than 30 attractions, including 2 Roller coasters. The park contains 6 themed areas: Indian, Yellowstone, New Orleans, Mexican, Wild West and Jules Adventureland (named after the French writer Jules Verne).
In the southern area the entrance can be found. this area also contains the rides: Apollo, Enterprise and Free Fall. The large roller coasters are located in the northern area, this includes Gold Rush, The Wild West Adventure and Tomahawk. The flour mill build in 1859 named De Pionier can also be found here.
Adjacent tot the Main street are the Ferris wheel named Big Wheel and the Sky Tower. A cable car suspended above the Main street connects the northern and southern areas of the park with the stations located at the Apollo and Kids Country. In addition to this, a Monorail acts as a transport ride for quick travels between the different areas of the park
On the holiday resort there are Mobile homes and bungalows for visitors to stay in. A different part of the park is named the Wigwamwereld Slagharen. In this area you can find Tipi tents and a water play area named Sunny Beach. Since 2002 there is also a campground that is owned by Attractiepark Slagharen.
History
1960s
In 1963 a shop keeper named Henk Bemboom built some vacation homes on a piece of farmland around an old farmhouse in Slagharen. As an extra attraction he offered every vacation home a Shetland pony and a small carriage. During Pentecost the holiday park opened with twenty-four homes. During this time Shetland ponies were a rare sight in The Netherlands. Because of this, the park gained a lot of attention. The following year the amount of homes doubled.
In addition to this, the same year, a large outside swimming pool, a playground and a sandpit were added.
During 1965, development started on the amusement park . For the enjoyment of the parks guests, fairground rides were placed in the park. A theater with a Water organ and distorting mirrors were added. The holiday park was expended to 100 homes.
In 1966 Sulky was added in addition to a ponytrack, a bowling-ally and a Diorama.
In 1968 a Dark ride opened named "nautilus". This has now been broken down. When it first opened the ride was named Onderwaterwereld. This served as the third large attraction in the park. the holiday park also expanded further. In 1967 it already contained 160 homes. In 1969 Bumper cars and a Calypso were added. This ride was broken down in 2013.
1970s
The holiday park was further expended to a total of 171 homes in 1970, 183 in 1971 en 302 in 1972. Furthermore, a large restaurant was opened in 1971.
In the years following the park became a fully fletched amusement park. In 1972 Bemboom introduced the principle of a ticket were you would pay once and get unlimited access to all the attractions. Previously visitors would have to pay for every ride. In 1973 the rides Octopus (renamed to "El Torito" in 2016) and Weens Reuzenrad (Ferris wheel) were added to the park. Weens Reuzenrad was later replaced by Chuck Wagon. A large slide named the Mountain Slide was added to the park in 1974. The same year The Lunik was built in the park. In 1975 the park acquired a secondhand 28 meter high watchtower named Zeppelin. The same year 25 new homes were added to the holiday park.
In 1976 a kind of carousel themed after the landing on to moon was added to the park, this was than named Apollo 14. The same year the Dombomolen was added. This year the cable car was also constructed. 5 kilometers away from the park two holiday parks were built, with 185 homes (including ponies).
In 1977 a small Carousel, named Merry go Mad, was added to the park. A new ponyhal, shooting range (Shooting gallery) and the slightly larger rides Enterprise and Tomahawk (a Troika) were also built.
A large monorail was built in the park in 1978. Its track reached almost everywhere in the park. The same year the film theater named El Teatro opened. This film theater has now been transformed into a 4D cinema. In 1979 the large roller coaster named Looping Star (later demolished in 2016) was built. This was the first roller coaster featuring a loop in The Netherlands. Furthermore, the same year the fifty meter high Ferris wheel, Big Wheel was built and Rodeo Rider was added.
Attractions
Roller coasters
- Mine Train
- Thunder Loop (Closed 2 October 2016)
- Gold Rush (Opened 13 April 2017, replacing Thunder Loop)
Water rides
- Expedition Nautilus
- Ripsaw Falls
Other rides
- Apollo
- Big Wheel
- Chuck Wagon
- Eagle
- El Teatro
- Enterprise
- Fogg's Trouble
- Free Fall
- Gallopers
- Kabelbaan
- Loggers Slides
- Magic Bikes
- Merry go Mad
- Monorail
- Mountain Slide
- Indian Pony ride
- Jumbo
- Kids Country
- Octopus
- Old Timer
- Passepartout Explorer
- Phileas Fun House
- Pirate
- Sky Tower
- Tomahawk
- Western Village Theater
- Wild West Adventure
Popular culture
Slagharen was featured in the Trump - commercial "America first, Netherlands second" by Arjen Lubach. Within weeks, the ad generated more than 24 million views on YouTube. In the video they mention two parks as one, Slagharen and PonyParkCity. The video only shows a few seconds worth of footage from Slagharen before quickly changing to show the ponies at PonyParkCity.
References
External links
 Amusement parks in the Netherlands | |
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