First look at £3.5bn London Resort theme park due to open in 2024 - and it's less than 2 hours from Portsmouth

The London Resort which will feature rides inspired by BBC, ITV and Paramount Pictures properties is set to be built in Swanscombe, Kent.

Described as one of the most ambitious theme park projects ever in Europe it is scheduled to open in 2024 with work due to begin in 2021.

New futuristic visuals give a look at what the London Resort will look like when it opens in five years time.

With developers saying that they hint at the ‘next generation’ rides and unique experiences people can expect when the park opens in 2024.

The plan is for the attraction to eventually be a two-park resort with the first stage of the theme park due in 2024 featuring six lands.

It will then be followed by a second stage which is scheduled to be complete in 2029 and the finished attraction will sit on a 535-acre site, the equivalent of 136 Wembley Stadiums.

It is expected that around 70 per cent of attractions will be undercover.

PY Gerbeau, Chief Executive of London Resort Company Holdings (LRCH) said: ‘We are creating a first-class theme park. A destination that maximises all the new, immersive and interactive technologies and experiences in the world.

‘We have three guidelines we work to when it comes to developing attractions.

‘Number one is innovation. We’re not here to copy what’s been done before even if it has been successful.

‘Number two is relevance. We need to consider that the customers of today will not be the customers of 2024. And the third is flexibility. We need to create a park that can evolve and adapt easily.’

What are the six lands due to open in 2024?

The entrance to The London Resort will be via a grand plaza that leads visitors and hotel guests through ‘The High Street’. Full of shops, restaurants, hotels, a Convention Centre and a first-class waterpark.

Visitors can start their journey in The Studios, a gritty, modern-day warehouse district that practically roars with the exhilarating thrills of big, blockbuster features. A winning combination of explosive action, high-octane car chases and high-stakes espionage.

Just to the north lies The Woods, an enchanted realm where springtime reigns eternal and the boundary between reality and fantasy dissolves. Here, the young and young-at-heart will be invited to step through the pages of a storybook and embark on adventures that put a fresh spin on beloved bedtime stories, fables and fairy tales.

From the Woods, the journey continues through the ages into The Kingdom, an immersive realm of swords, sorcery, dragons & legend. This is England as a dark and ancient land, a place of threatening and imposing castles and mystical Arthurian legends.

To the north lay The Isles, a land of giant creatures, mythical beasts and adventures at the crossroads of imagination and reality. Fantastic jaw dropping architecture will combine with magnificent rides and 21st century technology.

The past begins to blend with the future in The Jungle. Ancient ruins of a mysterious long-lost Mesoamerican civilisation are seen pushing up through treetops. Here, an overgrown environment, brimming with ancient secrets, surprising discoveries and strange mystical artefacts will be transported to the present by inquisitive explorers – young and old.

The final land, dedicated to futuristic experiences, alien encounters and big thrill rides, The Starport is a bustling 23rd century landing zone. It will launch visitors into thrilling science-fiction adventures that are out of this world, leaving them mesmerised at things that should be impossible but are not.

The London Resort will be the first European development of its kind to be built from scratch since the opening of Disneyland Paris in 1992.