Black Buccaneer was a swinging

pirate ship Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and other valuable goods. Those who conduct acts of piracy are called pirates, v ...

that operated at

Chessington World of Adventures Resort Chessington World of Adventures Resort is a theme park, zoo and hotel complex in Chessington, Greater London, England, around southwest of Central London. The complex opened as Chessington Zoo in 1931, with the theme park being developed along ...

in southwest

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

from 1988 to 2018 in the Pirates' Cove section of the park. After operating for 30 years, the ride has been replaced by

Blue Barnacle Blue Barnacle is a Metallbau Emmeln swinging pirate ship which opened in April 2021 at Chessington World of Adventures in southwest London, England as a replacement for the now defunct Black Buccaneer. The ride forms part of the Shipwreck Coast ...

in 2021.

History

Black Buccaneer was originally manufactured by

Huss Rides HUSS Park Attractions ( legal name: Huss Park Attractions GmbH) is a company that specializes in developing and manufacturing amusement rides at a factory in Budapest, Hungary. History of the original Huss Company HUSS Maschinenfabrik was a G ...

in 1984, however opened at the park as Smugglers Galleon in 1988. In 1998, the ride was rebranded to Black Buccaneer as it was most famously known. The ride received a soundtrack in late 2013 and the surrounding buildings were refurbished in 2014. During the 2016 season, frequent rainfall meant the motor underneath the ride flooded, causing the attraction to close for around a month. For the start of the 2017 season, the ride received a new coat of paint and a single rider queue. From the start of the 2018 season until July, the attraction sat dismantled on land near Seastorm. After spending the 2018 Winters Tail event operating the ride closed for normal winter maintenance, however at the start of the 2019 season it was announced as opening late alongside three other rides. Whilst the other rides opened after a month, Black Buccaneer remained in pieces and was not re-built. It was eventually removed from the queue time boards, park app and website before Chessington confirmed on social media that the ride will not operate for at least the 2019 season. After much speculation, it was announced the ride would be replaced for 2020 with a new ship called

. Work, however, stopped due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, delaying construction completion to April 2021.

Description

The ride was themed as a

and sat 45 riders per cycle in 9 rows of 5, before swinging back and forth at heights of up to 60 feet. It was painted black (hence the name) before later being changed to silver to expose any cracks. ;Restrictions You had to be a minimum of 1m tall to ride. Anyone under 1.3 meters had to be accompanied by an adult. In the 2016 season, a rule was added in which people 16 years or older had to be seated on the edges of each row, which meant anyone under 16 had to be seated in the middle. This saw queue times increase.

Gallery

References

External links

* 1988 establishments in England 2018 disestablishments in England Chessington World of Adventures past rides Amusement rides introduced in 1988 Amusement rides that closed in 2018 Former buildings and structures in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames Amusement rides manufactured by HUSS Park Attractions {{Amusement-ride-stub