animals. It was once the largest private zoo in England. After Goddard died in 1946, the Pearson Publishing Company took over the zoo and managed it until 1978, when The Tussauds Group, a subsidiary of the Pearson Group, took control. Founding of theme park In 1984, due to the zoo's declining attendance, Tussauds's commissioned John Wardley to come up with plans to revitalize the park. Wardley had a huge influence on the rides being created at both Chessington and its sister parks Thorpe Park and Alton Towers. The decision was made to open a theme park to complement the zoo, and so Chessington World of Adventures was born. On 7 July 1987 Chessington World of Adventures opened to the public in a ceremony including Prince Edward. The park was built on a relatively small budget of around £12 million, to test the still-emerging theme park market. In its first year, the park opened with the roller coaster Runaway Mine Train, the log flume Dragon River, the monorail Safari Skyway, the dark ride The 5th Dimension, and the Chessington Railroad as the main attractions (all supplied by the German ride manufacturer Heinrich Mack GmbH & Co). Smuggler's Galleon (a swinging ride) reached heights of 20 meters; it was later renamed Black Buccaneer. The new park development adopted a pay-once price structure as opposed to the fairground's former pay-per-ride format. Other support rides were also opened and the park opened five themed areas: Calamity Canyon, Mystic East, Market Square, Toy Town and Circus World. The 1990 season expanded Chessington with the opening of the Transylvania area, featuring The Vampire (opening and still operating as the only suspended rollercoaster outside of America) and Prof. Burp's Bubble Works. Both of these major rides had a significant and positive impact on the park's popularity. By this time Smugglers' Galleon and the Smugglers' Cove area had been created. The 1995 season arrived with Rameses Revenge, the park's first inverting ride. Rameses Revenge was new in the Forbidden Kingdom area; an area which had opened the previous year in conjunction with the Terror Tomb dark ride. Also new for 1995 was Seastorm in Pirates' Cove, and the Carousel, located next to the explorer gate. In 1999, Chessington opened the hardcore thrill ride Samurai in the Mystic East. 1999 also saw the rename of Calamity Canyon into Mexicana, following the opening of Rattlesnake the year before. Beanoland, bringing