CGM
TS Member
I rode Icon yesterday and was thoroughly impressed. From an off-ride perspective at the beginning of the day, the train appeared to crawl round at a near constant speed so I wasn't expecting too much from it.
However, the ride really surprised me. The launches may be a bit on the weak side but other than that, the compact layout provides a fast paced, lengthy ride laced with powerful airtime and quick transitions. The highlights are the top hat, the snappy left-right buckel hill over the ride's entrance and the Immelmann which provides some truly surreal forces and visuals as you crest the element. It's amazing how Mack manages to wring so much airtime out of elements that are complete non-events when built by other manufacturers.
Throughout the day, the ride visibly speeds up. By the last few rides, it had become pretty forceful and the airtime even more pronounced. I'm intrigued to see how much the ride speeds up as it ages. If other Macks are anything to go by, it could be by as much as a few seconds.
A lot of comparisons have been made between Icon and Helix, but despite them being the same coaster model, they have quite different characters. Icon is much more similar in feel to Taron, particularly the second half which is full of fast transitions and tight, ground-hugging turns. It still has a distinctly Mack flavour to it though with its two tallest points providing extended bouts of floater airtime. Ultimately, for me at least, Icon isn't quite as good as either of those coasters but it comes much closer to them than you might imagine.
Overall, it's the kind of ride we've been wanting in the UK for years. It's a truly modern coaster with real airtime, lapbar restraints, a decent length of layout and an interesting mix of elements. It feels completely alien in its surroundings at Blackpool and in terms of ride experience is a class apart from anything else at the Pleasure Beach. It's all personal opinion of course, and I'm sure many will disagree, but I think it's a serious rival to Nemesis as the UK's best coaster.
If you have not yet ridden Icon, I would recommend that you put the hype to the back of your head, filter out some of the more outlandish reviews and set your expectations based on the ride's face value. You'll likely enjoy it much more than if you're expecting something on par with Helix.
However, the ride really surprised me. The launches may be a bit on the weak side but other than that, the compact layout provides a fast paced, lengthy ride laced with powerful airtime and quick transitions. The highlights are the top hat, the snappy left-right buckel hill over the ride's entrance and the Immelmann which provides some truly surreal forces and visuals as you crest the element. It's amazing how Mack manages to wring so much airtime out of elements that are complete non-events when built by other manufacturers.
Throughout the day, the ride visibly speeds up. By the last few rides, it had become pretty forceful and the airtime even more pronounced. I'm intrigued to see how much the ride speeds up as it ages. If other Macks are anything to go by, it could be by as much as a few seconds.
A lot of comparisons have been made between Icon and Helix, but despite them being the same coaster model, they have quite different characters. Icon is much more similar in feel to Taron, particularly the second half which is full of fast transitions and tight, ground-hugging turns. It still has a distinctly Mack flavour to it though with its two tallest points providing extended bouts of floater airtime. Ultimately, for me at least, Icon isn't quite as good as either of those coasters but it comes much closer to them than you might imagine.
Overall, it's the kind of ride we've been wanting in the UK for years. It's a truly modern coaster with real airtime, lapbar restraints, a decent length of layout and an interesting mix of elements. It feels completely alien in its surroundings at Blackpool and in terms of ride experience is a class apart from anything else at the Pleasure Beach. It's all personal opinion of course, and I'm sure many will disagree, but I think it's a serious rival to Nemesis as the UK's best coaster.
If you have not yet ridden Icon, I would recommend that you put the hype to the back of your head, filter out some of the more outlandish reviews and set your expectations based on the ride's face value. You'll likely enjoy it much more than if you're expecting something on par with Helix.
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