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Blackpool Pleasure Beach: General Discussion

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John_P said:
I believe the idea was it would launch along Watson Road over the road before going up the top hat were the 'supports' can be seen on the prom to this day. It certainly would've been some sight if it had happened.

They used to have a very basic model of a strata coaster in the education centre but whether that was the final plan who knows.
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I wonder - assuming they would have been allowed to do it - how much something like that would have cost?

More or less than the £16.5m they spent on Icon ?

It would almost certainly have been more successful in terms of punters through the gates, whatever the ride experience or reliability was.

I still think the next coaster - in what is likely to be the distant future - should be bigger than the big one. Something like that would sell itself, no need for all that marketing stuff that they are so poor at!
 
Well butter me. It's like some kind of subtle memorial to what could have been, with it being paved. Are the other two paved areas, support markings as well? It looks like it would have made some kind of tripod type structure.
 
Sharko said:
Well butter me. It's like some kind of subtle memorial to what could have been, with it being paved. Are the other two paved areas, support markings as well? It looks like it would have made some kind of tripod type structure.
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Thats the rumour. But it could just be that Blackpool Council decided on a circular paving pattern and then someone on the internet made something up about a coaster high hat.
 
shakey said:
I wonder - assuming they would have been allowed to do it - how much something like that would have cost?

More or less than the £16.5m they spent on Icon ?

It would almost certainly have been more successful in terms of punters through the gates, whatever the ride experience or reliability was.

I still think the next coaster - in what is likely to be the distant future - should be bigger than the big one. Something like that would sell itself, no need for all that marketing stuff that they are so poor at!
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Well Stealth apparently cost £12 million when that was constructed, and Top Thrill Dragster and Kingda Ka mention $25 million (and the £ was much stronger back then). I'd imagine that the dates we're talking about sadly line up with around the time Geoffrey Thompson passed away and the banks came calling regarding the loans which kiboshed any chance of it happening.

Not really sure how a 300+ foot tall roller coaster would do against the Irish Sea, not to mention how temperamental those hydraulic launch coasters can be.
 
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Hi everyone, some sad news. Saw Scott from Club Pleasure Beach this afternoon has posted the very sad news that Brian Watson (Big One Brian) has recently passed away. Always loved his massive enthusiasm for the park, and of course his big one ride count of over 10,000. And was always happy to talk about his times visiting and of course working at the park.

He'll be a sorely missed sight around the park and at enthusiast events.

RIP Brian
 
John_P said:
Hi everyone, some sad news. Saw Scott from Club Pleasure Beach this afternoon has posted the very sad news that Brian Watson (Big One Brian) has recently passed away. Always loved his massive enthusiasm for the park, and of course his big one ride count of over 10,000. And was always happy to talk about his times visiting and of course working at the park.

He'll be a sorely missed sight around the park and at enthusiast events.

RIP Brian
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Oh no. We hadn’t seen him there for a while and the last couple of times we did he was struggling and kept having to stop to catch his breath. Shared a Big One ride with him a couple of times, followed by him ticking another ride off in his notebook on the exit ramp. He was always pleasant to chat to, he once said that when working The Big One, he didn’t need to go to a gym as he got plenty of exercise shifting sandbags on and off the train.

RIP coaster legend Brian.
 
I have never met Brian before, so i show my respect as a general enthusiast. As 2020 has brought the world crumbling around everyone, there is nothing more inspiring than a person who has a huge passion for what they do, but also wants to share that passion with other people. The world can't be losing people like Brian, we need more of them. Heroes don't always wear capes.

RIP Brian.
 
Big loss for the community, like others above I didn’t have the fortune to meet Brian, but always heard and read some really inspiring and fun filled story’s about him, a Big one ERT in his honour next year would be a nice way to celebrate a life well lived! RIP Brian.
 
Yh a lot ERT
Connor98 said:
Big loss for the community, like others above I didn’t have the fortune to meet Brian, but always heard and read some really inspiring and fun filled story’s about him, a Big one ERT in his honour next year would be a nice way to celebrate a life well lived! RIP Brian.
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Yh a lot of us need to pay our respects for him by either leaving flowers by The Big One in memory of him or maybe an ERT like @Connor98 suggested would be nice or we should ride it all day :)
 
I rode with Brian once, didn't know of him beforehand but he showed me his little log book (wish I could remember what number ride I had with him!) and we spoke about the Mack that was to become Icon. Seemed like a lovely bloke.
 
Very sad to hear the news. First remember him working Trauma Towers during its early days. He went out of his way to scare people in the dining hall corridor. A real fixture of the park.

Shared a few laps with him on the Big One over the years.

Great man. Ride on, old boy.
 
Chaykin said:
Rode once next to Brian - whilst having a very nice chat during the ride. Really sad to hear he's passed away. May he rest in peace.

On the other hand - don't think I've seen "The Twins" recently a BPB. Are they still around?
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I saw them (unsurprisingly) queueing for the Big One during the late night riding event at the end of September. Hadn't seen them for a while before that though.
 
I just had a thought; you know how loads of people always say about how something should be done to Grand National? Well, I have an idea of something cost-effective and marketable they could possibly do.

I’m not suggesting they RMC it, but would it be a possibility to see GCI’s Titan Track installed on it, along with some new trains? They (Pleasure Beach) wouldn’t need to change the layout (I must admit, despite not being a fan of the ride at all, I’m a huge fan of its layout), and they possibly wouldn’t even need to retrack the entire thing, but it would make a huge improvement, in my opinion, while being cheaper than something like an RMC conversion and keeping more of the essence of the ride. Also, it would be the first ride in Europe to actually utilise this track type.

What are your thoughts?
 
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