Frontierland, Morecambe
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| Location | Morecambe, Lancashire, England |
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| Coordinates | 54°04′07″N 2°52′34″W / 54.06872°N 2.87601°WCoordinates: 54°04′07″N 2°52′34″W / 54.06872°N 2.87601°W |
| Owner | BPB.Ltd (1909-1999) Morrisons Plc (2001-2009) |
| Previous names | West End Amusement Park Fun City Morecambe Pleasure Park |
| Operating season | No longer operational |
Frontierland Western Theme Park was a theme park at Morecambe, Lancashire, England, situated on Marine Road West, which operated from 1906 to 7 November 1999, with a final year consisting of only travelling rides in 2000. Frontierland originally operated as West End Amusement Park, Fun City and Morecambe Pleasure Park from 1906 to 1986 before being transformed into Frontierland for the 1987 season in an attempt to defeat dwindling visitor numbers.
In 2000, Frontierland was officially closed down by Geoffrey Thompson, managing director of Blackpool Pleasure Beach. All of the rides, excluding the Polo Tower and Log Flume were demolished or dismantled and sold on. The Rattler was moved to the Pleasure Beach whilst "The Wild Mouse" (later called "Runaway Mine Train" for the new-look Frontierland) and the Chair-O-Planes were moved to Pleasureland Southport, which later closed down in 2006. Unlike Pleasureland, Frontierland was never resurrected and the site remained wasteland until 2007, when three outlets were built. These large outlets were positioned at the back of the park, an area that previously featured the Stampede, Tea Cups and Parrots ride.
A brief history of the Frontierland site can be found at the Morecambe Today website.
The Thompson family, owners of Pleasure Beach Blackpool, purchased the park in 1936, when it was called West End Amusement Park. The owners, who also owned Pleasureland Southport, which closed in 2006, introduced new rides each year until visitor numbers began to dwindle. A number of tactics were used to save the park, however most failed eventually. Rides such as a 150-foot (46 m) Big Wheel were introduced but were quickly taken down due to neighbouring complaints.
In 1986, visitor numbers were at an all-time low so Geoffrey Thompson, owner of the park decided to give the ten acre site a complete overhaul. This involved turning the park into Frontierland which would hopefully see guests flock back to Morecambe. This worked for a few years but once again, numbers dropped, so in 1989, the Sky Ride was introduced – a cable car system that would allow people to fly over the park and out over the promenade before turning around and going back to the station. The ride was initially a big success and once again, visitors flocked to the park. In 1991, visitor numbers were back down to their low standard and investment wasn’t being put into the park so freely as two previous attempts had backfired massively.
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