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Blackpool Pleasure Beach: 14th & 15th February 2015

Coaster

TS Member
A last minute decision was made to visit Blackpool Pleasure Beach over the weekend, and needless to say I was very excited in the week leading up to it!

We had a fantastic weekend, with two days on park, which was very good operationally considering that it was only the second weekend of it being open and in February. BPB was on a full ride lineup, with the exception of Spongebob's Splash Bash both days and Teacups on the Sunday, so I really can't moan at that! The park feels much fresher, with various things having been refurbished such as the Flying Machines and the removal of the Monorail station, both of which make it look much nicer, and the view from the overpass by Wallace and Gromit is really good now that the station is gone!

Once again I took a few minutes to appreciate the historical aspect of the park, I still think it's great that there are rides from each decade over the last 100 years running alongside each other!

RIDE COUNTS:

Saturday 14th February:

The Big One x2
Grand National x2
Valhalla x1
Wild Mouse x1
Big Dipper x1
Nickelodeon Streak x1
Steeplechase x1
Ice Blast x1
Wallace and Gromit's Thrill O' Matic x1
Ghost Train x1
River Caves x1
Alice in Wonderland x1
TOTAL: 14

Sunday 15th February:

Valhalla x4
The Big One x4
Wild Mouse x2
Grand National x2
Big Dipper x2
Revolution x1
Avalanche x1
Infusion x1
River Caves x1
TOTAL: 18


Highlights:

- Getting back to BPB much sooner than I thought I would.
- Operations were really good considering that it was only February.
- Lots of areas of the park have been refurbished or freshened up, such as the Flying Machines, Big Dipper's 'onion', Alice in Wonderland's exterior, the removal of the Monorail station and various other smaller improvements, which makes the park look much nicer and less cluttered.
- The wooden coasters were running well considering that they have only been running with people in for four days this year, they weren't at their best by any means but they were still great fun! Wild Mouse was starting to get a bit of it's wildness back by the end of Sunday, but I think the National was running the best out of all of them. PMBO was also running really well, I'm not sure why people claim it has no airtime, I definitely got some!
- Cleanliness is something I've noticed has improved a lot in recent years, and this was evident with staff cleaning the trains before opening, and about 10 cleaners getting ready to clean the park after it closed on Saturday. It's great to see them taking things like this seriously, I can't think of many other parks that clean the coaster trains to such an extent every day.
- I was very impressed that they got Revolution back open on Sunday after it stalled on the dip after the first drop, I've seen similar things happen at other parks and they just get left there for the day rather than actually fixing it and getting it back open within an hour!


Lowlights:

- I understand the reasoning behind it (and it's only February), but Infusion only running one train when the queue was going up the stairs was quite poor, I didn't queue for it but saw it and felt sorry for the people in the queue! I went on it first thing on Sunday to avoid the queue.
- Valhalla's water vortex was worse than ever this weekend, why the hell is it even on in February?! Ruined the ride and put me off getting a high ride-count on it, it's still my favourite ride but I just can't understand why they would have it on drenching everyone when it would be just as easy to switch it off.
- The Gourmet Burgers have changed, you now have to pay extra for toppings rather than having set flavours with more toppings for the same amount of money, I wasn't very impressed to be honest, nor with the fact that it took nearly half an hour for them to prepare them, and even then they got the toppings wrong! (I did go back and demand onions! :lol: )
- Leaving!


Finally, a small construction update from Skyforce;













Thanks for reading. :)
 
Anyone who claims that PMBO has airtime is trying so hard to believe that there is some that in their mind they generate it themselves. I've ridden it enough times in enough positions on the train to categorically state there is zero airtime, and there are no points where it feels like you might/should get airtime.

Non-the-less, I enjoyed Pleasure Beach today. It was good to see the park so busy in February and £15 entry was superb!

:)
 
Rise into MCBR's in the front, first drop in the back and sometimes on other hills when its running well. However, aside from the first drop there isn't much airtime when its windy, it has to be a still day when it is running at its best.
I'm not claiming it to be an airtime machine (they have National, Mouse and Rev for that as well as others) but there is some.
 
There is definitely some ejector airtime on the first drop at the back, and painful ejector on the MCBR. That's it though.
 
Fair enough - back section of the train on the first drop (although it is far from enjoyable, it is more caused by the jarring of the train as it turns the corner) and in the front into the midcourse - but again, it is jarring rather than actually enjoyable. The fact it depends where you sit really says it all... but hey - this debate will roll on until the ride is removed.

I did enjoy the park yesterday though - apart from the long (60 min +) queues on Infusion and Big One, I felt that the staffing certainly was much better than in recent years. Friendly for a start!

:)
 
Fair enough - back section of the train on the first drop (although it is far from enjoyable, it is more caused by the jarring of the train as it turns the corner) and in the front into the midcourse - but again, it is jarring rather than actually enjoyable. The fact it depends where you sit really says it all... but hey - this debate will roll on until the ride is removed
I've never found it painful or jarring.
 
At the back? You'd consider the first drop comfortable?

I wouldn't say it causes pain but it is anything but a smooth drop. The airtime comes more from the quick jarring wrench to the right which the back cars make.

I have been on 12 mega/hyper coasters and PMBO is the worst.

Nice views though.
 
At the back? You'd consider the first drop comfortable?

I wouldn't say it causes pain but it is anything but a smooth drop. The airtime comes more from the quick jarring wrench to the right which the back cars make.

I have been on 12 mega/hyper coasters and PMBO is the worst.

Nice views though.
Of course it's not comfortable as such, if I wanted comfort then I'd sit on a sofa, I go on coasters for a thrill. PMBO is not smooth in any way, but that's why I enjoy it, if it was smooth then it would be dull and boring in my opinion, what I meant was that I don't find it painful.
I can't comment on other hyper coasters as I haven't ridden any others, and I've no doubt that there are better ones, but I enjoy PMBO for what it is rather than trying to pick out it's faults.
 
You can go on coasters for a thrill whilst also being comfortable at the same time. PMBO would only be dull and boring if it was smooth because it literally has nothing else to offer other than a stunning view at night in October from atop its lift hill.

We'll do an example close to home. Nick Streak is a thoroughly comfortable coaster that offers the perfect mix of thrills added in for its target audience. Finding the correct balance between comfort and thrills on a coaster is tremendously easy in the industry these days, and once you've been on other hyper coasters (or coasters that are comfortable and thrilling at the same time for that matter), you can't help but see PMBO's flaws because your heart will lie elsewhere.
 
I guess once you have done a dozen other mega/hypers you can't help but notice the failings of PMBO.

If it's all you've done then I guess you'd be unable to appreciate what, say, Intamin are capable of.

:)
 
There's very little point in posting a case for PMBO being a half decent coaster on here, it's never going to get anywhere Jamie so I wouldn't really bother, not a dig at this site it's just the way it is, just like a Towers fan on PBE trying to convince people Rita is good, it gets no where (before anyone complains here, I am not comparing the rides, just making a point that defending certain rides on certain sites doesn't work). I don't want to make excuses for BPB but let's face it, the weather was awful on Saturday and PMBO was always going to suffer, it was pretty boring on Saturday and that's coming from one of its biggest fans, just a shame you never seem to catch it on a good day, whenever TST is at BPB the weather is always rubbish haha.

I can't defend BPB's performance on Saturday, it was painful for me to watch at times.
 
just like a Towers fan on PBE trying to convince people Rita is good

I don't think anyone actually thinks that though. Also, a coaster is inherently bad if it is only even remotely enjoyable on "good days" when the wind and weather have to combine to make it so.
 
I don't think anyone actually thinks that though. Also, a coaster is inherently bad if it is only even remotely enjoyable on "good days" when the wind and weather have to combine to make it so.
But that's more down to Blackpool's weather than the quality of the coaster.
 
Rita? Please.

I've been on 10 Intamin launch coasters.

Rita is the second poorest of them!

It's also in a complete dump of a theme area.

Could someone recommend me the ideal weather when PMBO will live up to Skyrush, Millennium Force, Nitro, Apollos Chariot, Bizarro, Phantoms Revenge, Silver Star, Shambhala, Goliath, Expedition Ge Force, Steel Force, Magnum XL-200. I'd like to ride it when it obviously develops into a beast as obviously on my 15 visits over the years it clearly hasn't been at its best.
 
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Rita? Please.

I've been on 10 Intamin launch coasters.

Rita is the second poorest of them!

It's also in a complete dump of a theme area.

Could someone recommend me the ideal weather when PMBO will live up to Skyrush, Millennium Force, Nitro, Apollos Chariot, Bizarro, Phantoms Revenge, Silver Star, Shambhala, Goliath, Expedition Ge Force, Steel Force, Magnum XL-200. I'd like to ride it when it obviously develops into a beast as obviously on my 15 visits over the years it clearly hasn't been at its best.

I am sorry, remind me when you lot became the spokesmen and women of all Alton Towers fans? Just because AstroDan of TST doesn't like Rita, that doesn't suddenly mean every Towers fan dislikes Rita and while TST collectively may not be its biggest fans, thankfully there's other Towers communities out there who may like it.

I wasn't actually suggesting Rita is a fans favourite, it was the first ride that came to mind which splits opinion, I think anyone reading that post who isn't full of their own importance and isn't instantly looking to pick faults would see what I was getting at, sadly it's seems to have confused you.

PMBO isn't the greatest coaster, that's obvious, it doesn't mean people have to dislike it. It's built beside the Irish Sea, it struggles in high winds and as a result its performance suffers, it's a shame it relies on the weather being clear to be at its best but that's just the way it is.
 
Could someone recommend me the ideal weather when PMBO will live up to Skyrush, Millennium Force, Nitro, Apollos Chariot, Bizarro, Phantoms Revenge, Silver Star, Shambhala, Goliath, Expedition Ge Force, Steel Force, Magnum XL-200. I'd like to ride it when it obviously develops into a beast as obviously on my 15 visits over the years it clearly hasn't been at its best.
I don't see why it has to be better than those coasters to be good though?
That's just like me saying I don't like Colossus because Smiler's better, or Inferno because Nemesis is better, or Megafobia because I prefer Grand National etc. A ride doesn't have to be the best of it's type to be good.
 
You're all skrublords, Rita is amazing and Blackpool is good too.

Come back to me when you can make a ride/park better. Any of you.
 
I don't see why it has to be better than those coasters to be good though?
That's just like me saying I don't like Colossus because Smiler's better, or Inferno because Nemesis is better, or Megafobia because I prefer Grand National etc. A ride doesn't have to be the best of it's type to be good.
Is every coaster in the world good? No.

Based on airtime or intensity, I am afraid PMBO isn't good compared with any of those others. Maybe you would appreciate my views if you had been on others. It is not the same as Nemesis vs Inferno, because Inferno, whilst inferior, is not inherently poor. Pepsi Max offers very little in terms of genuine sensation... does it? There are way better rides at BPB. Maybe you cling to PMBO as it's the last custom coaster installed and I CAN appreciate it's an iconic structure.

My assessment on Rita is based on my experiences of 9 years of meets. I don't know many people at all who rate it highly - even more now that the theming is decaying.

Which Alton Towers fans revere Rita? I'd love to know. Please link so I can have a laugh.

I am not trying to troll anybody here for the record.

:)
 
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Is every coaster in the world good? No.

Based on airtime or intensity, I am afraid PMBO isn't good compared with any of those others. Maybe you would appreciate my views if you had been on others. It is not the same as Nemesis vs Inferno, because Inferno, whilst inferior, is not inherently poor. Pepsi Max offers very little in terms of genuine sensation... does it? There are way better rides at BPB. Maybe you cling to PMBO as it's the last custom coaster installed and I CAN appreciate it's an iconic structure.
Nope, I enjoy PMBO because I find it a good coaster, and as for it being the last custom coaster installed, I don't see that as a problem seeing as they still have more than enough coasters.
 
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