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Blackpool Pleasure Beach: General Discussion

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Two of my friends who went to Pleasure Beach yesterday said the big one was running unusually rough. They commented that alot of people were complaining and maintenance were checking over the trains when they were in the station.

They both claim to have back pains today as a result of the ride. These are two seasoned coaster riders, thoughts on this?
I enjoy the big one, but it does make me a little nervous when they’re always checking the wheels.
 
@Matt N AKA 'self-confessed coaster pansy', given this admission, I'm surprised you like any BPB coasters apart from Icon. At the end of the day I guess we all either like something or don't (I hate all evil spinning rides), and some of us are no doubt hardened to 'rough' coasters due to decades of riding them. It doesn't mean that we don't occasionally have a terrible ride though, but for the most part I love the woodies & The Big One (when it is actually running, mostly when I'm not there). BPB would suck without the woodies and if every coaster was as smooth as Icon I think that would be rather boring. . . even though I already said that I love Mako, I'm not sure I'd want a BPB full of silky smooth coasters
I’m not saying I want the woodies, Steeplechase or the Big One removed, not at all! They give the park its unique flavour, and the only ride I would actively want removed from Blackpool is Infusion, as it’s probably my least favourite coaster I’ve ever been on, and you can find many others with the same layout across the world! But I do think with a little refurbishment, some of the rides could maintain their unique character while being more enjoyable. For example, if the wooden coasters got a little retracking and perhaps new trains, but keeping the same layout, then they would still hold their unique charm, but would be a lot less rough.

In terms of the other BPB coasters, Icon is by far my favourite there, and I do think it’s the only ride there I really “love”, but I do also really enjoy Avalanche, and Revolution is quite good as well, and surprisingly smooth for an Arrow coaster of its age; I love the sharp pops of airtime you get coming off the launch sections! Nickelodeon Streak is fun, and less rough than the other woodies, but definitely more of a family/junior coaster. Blue Flyer is also less rough, but that is definitely firmly in kiddie coaster territory.

For me, I grew up visiting parks like Alton Towers, and the theme parks in Orlando, where I was mostly treated to relatively smooth, modern coasters, which might perhaps explain why I’m not as accustomed to BPB’s selection as some. I’m not saying that a ride goes down to the bottom of my rankings as soon as there’s any kind of rattle, as there is a level of roughness I can cope with, but a notable few of BPB’s coasters are rides I personally find too rough to enjoy. Maybe I would have a higher roughness tolerance had I grown up visiting Blackpool?
 
Scenic Railway is too slow to be rough, as are most of the older woodies in the UK.

Personally I'd love to see one of either Dipper or Grand National get RMC'd or a GCI re-track. That would instantly give the park a potentially world class attraction without having to knock anything down.

I do agree though there is a certain charm to the old painful woodies, they're always a good laugh. I love a back row ride on Grand National.
 
Scenic Railway is too slow to be rough, as are most of the older woodies in the UK.

Personally I'd love to see one of either Dipper or Grand National get RMC'd or a GCI re-track. That would instantly give the park a potentially world class attraction without having to knock anything down.

I do agree though there is a certain charm to the old painful woodies, they're always a good laugh. I love a back row ride on Grand National.
Not sure if they could get permission to modify a listed building in that way.
 
For historical perspective...
The reel, rough, rough as hell by the end.
Mouse, a little bit on the rough side, sometimes.
Belle Vue scenic...pretty smooth.
Texas Tornado, smoothish, but could be rough.
Southport Cyclone, a little rough, very slow towards the end.
The last three were smooth enough to ride for hours at a time, oh those were the days.
Belle VueScenic...a shilling a ride, rerides 6d, or 2.5p, those were the days.
 
Double post again, but a thrilling mystery for you...

Not seen myself, and last seen on south park personally back in the seventies when they built the Steeplechase.
But a return to the fold, a welcome return, and the source is no less solid than the delightful staff at Crevettes.
But what???
News at noon...
 
Bunny rabbits.
Now theres something to look for going under the dipper on Icon.
Been around the tram terminus for years, corona has given them a nice quiet time to return inland across the prom.
 
On the earlier discussion of Grand National, I have my suspicions that the current trains may be in part what make it so rough nowadays, as here’s a POV recorded by Sean Flaharty in 2002, when the ride still had the old trains, and I personally think it looks a lot smoother:

Did anyone who was able to ride with the old trains find it smoother, or is it just Sean’s great recording that makes it look really smooth?
 
The old trains with no belts or lapbars were best of all though.
Grand National with no restraints? I can’t even begin to comprehend the amount of airtime that would have!

For all its flaws, I think the actual layout of Grand National is actually a pretty fantastic one; if it was smoother, I think it would be one of my favourite UK coasters, as it’s paced very well and there’s a tremendous amount of ejector airtime on offer!
 
Wasn’t/Isn’t the issue the new trains due to their extra weight?

I’m sure I read it at the time of the fire in 2004 that when the new PTC trains were ordered there were worries that because the trains were heavier/more parts to them the airtime would reduce, extra strain on the supports/foundations which would increase the roughness.

Admittedly it’s always one of these hard ones to judge as the old trains might not have fared too well 16 years later but although I love the Grand National it hasn’t been quite the same since 2005
 
Was it windy / potentially running the fast train with the hard wheels? Think how different Smiler is now compared to when it opened.


45m of 1600m+ was re-tracked ...

The variation in the ride experience is largely down to the train that you're riding but more importantly the quality of the wheel set that you're nearest to. It absolutely eats wheels, they try their best to keep on top of it - but inevitably cost plays a part and there are some none perfect (but safe) wheels running from time to time.

It's essentially a 200ft mine train, but the technology doesn't scale well because the quirky transitions you feel on a mine train can be painful at three or four times the speed, with the vibration magnified four fold.

Also. That design of track, is arguably a pretty bad type of track design. It is pretty much impossible to get a smooth ride out of that track design. Something to do with how the coaster sits inside the track. Also the reason why Vekoma had a reputation for being rough.

I love the look of the Arrow / Old Vekoma track. Buy it is a terrible design. Vekoma thankfully moved away from it.
 
Apparently Millennium at Fantasy Island is very smooth, so I don’t think it’s impossible to get a smooth ride out of the Arrow/Vekoma track design. But I suppose Millennium is also a few years younger than the Big One and nowhere near as large, so there’s naturally going to be less roughness.

I’m not sure what causes the Big One to be rough, however; it could be what @Rick said about the Arrow hyper coaster ride system in general, but apparently Magnum XL-200 at Cedar Point rides far more smoothly than the Big One. It’s a real mystery...
 
Magnum is fairly aggressive, but it does ride differently to the Big One, less vibration. Desperado is a mixed bag, there are portions of it where it is very smooth, but others where it rides pretty grim. Titan was dull and rough.
 
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