Eight rides at one of the most popular amusement parks in Kent are set to reopen, bosses have announced.

The attractions at Dreamland Margate will be made available for revellers to enjoy throughout the summer holidays, from July 10.

However, a handful of other rides, including the Scenic Railway, will not return to operation until next year.

A spokesman explained: "This wasn’t an easy decision to make, especially as the full detail of post-lockdown government guidelines for visitor attractions are still unknown.

"However, it is now clear that if we were to open all our amusement park rides as we do in usual years, the park would have to operate in such a way that the visitor experience would be greatly diminished and generate too great a loss.

"Even after social distancing regulations are due to lift on June 21, further rules will probably be enforced and could restrict the capacity of large visitor attractions by up to 50%."

The spokesman also stresses that the outlay caused by running all of its rides "at a time of such uncertainty" would constitute a "poor business decision".

Joining established classics such as the Waltzer, Scrambler Twist and Gallopers will be the newly restored Ghost Train, which was originally built in the 1960s.

The Toytown Carousel and Austin Cars will be ready for younger riders while all the family can enjoy The Rocking Tug and our brand-new Giant Dodgem Track with a whopping 20 superfast cars.

This comes as the 100-year-old site readies itself to finally reopen it's outdoor Scenic Stage and indoor event venues next Thursday.

Dreamland bosses say the amusement park will "no longer be open to all", as it will be forced to adopt a ticketed entry system, in line with the NHS's test and trace system.

"This effectively means returning to a pre-book, no re-admission model which we know is deeply unpopular with our visitors," the spokesman added.

"The amusement park’s atmosphere is at its best and Dreamland thrives when the site is busy with high volumes of guests, freely coming and going.

"The team is busy with major plans to raise significant funds to open up more areas in the future including the Dreamland Cinema building and the development of the seafront hotel.

"Despite the challenges of the pandemic, we remain in a good position and are fully focused on a positive 2021 and beyond.”

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