    thorpe park resort, commonly referred to as thorpe park, is a theme park and temporary hotel complex in between the towns of chertsey and staines, surrey, england, uk. it is operated and owned by merlin entertainments. after demolition of the thorpe park estate in the 1930s, the site became a gravel pit. thorpe park was built in 1979 on the gravel pit which was partially flooded, creating a water-based theme for the park. this essentially allows guests to view the park as an island, which is where the 'island like no other' slogan originates from. major attractions include colossus, nemesis inferno, stealth, saw - the ride, and the swarm the park is mainly geared towards a young adult/teenage audience due to the vast majority of signature attractions being roller coasters and thrill rides. ==history== thumb|right|200px|thorpe park lake in july 1979, the year the park opened to the public the demolition of the thorpe park estate in the 1930s site the site transform into a gravel pit, originally owned by ready mixed concrete limited. in the late 1970s they decided to flood part of the site and create an educational theme park. the park opened as a small attraction, building slowly up to rmcs first large installation of "x:\no way out" in 1996. in 1998, the tussauds group bought the park (they also owned the nearby chessington world of adventures). from the outset the park started opening key attractions such as tidal wave in 2000, colossus in 2002, nemesis inferno in 2003 and stealth in 2006. in 2007, merlin entertainments (a subsidiary of blackstone investment group) bought the tussauds group; the attraction target market was moved towards a teenage audience with large investment in the form of rides such as 
1979_establishments_in_England Amusement_parks_in_England Buildings_and_structures_in_Surrey Merlin_Entertainments_Group Parks_and_attractions_with_Angry_Birds_exhibits Thorpe_Park Visitor_attractions_in_London