I was just looking at the Pleasure Beach coaster ranking I just posted, and I was thinking about my placement of the Big Dipper and the Big One, next to each other.
Firstly, I decided to swap them round, so that Big One is now #5 and Dipper is now #6, but that's besides the point. In case you don't want to go back to the first page, my BPB coaster ranking is currently as follows (I'll add ratings relative to the rest of my count and overall placements too; for reference, my current coaster count is 74):
- Icon (10/10, #2 overall)
- Avalanche (7/10, #21 overall)
- Revolution (6/10, #33 overall)
- Nickelodeon Streak (6/10, #35 overall)
- Big One (4/10, #47 overall)
- Big Dipper (4/10, #50 overall)
- Blue Flyer (4/10, #53 overall)
- Grand National (2/10, #64 overall)
- Steeplechase Right (2/10, #66 overall)
- Infusion (1/10, #74 overall)
Secondly, I was thinking to myself; I know I've only had two visits to Blackpool Pleasure Beach, so it might be unfair to make this judgement, but I think they may possibly have the most temperamental roller coaster lineup of any theme park I've ever visited; from my experience, some of their rides are extremely variable in terms of the experience they offer. I say this because Icon aside, these rankings would have been quite different if they were based purely upon my first visit to the park in August 2018. From memory of how the rides rode when I first rode them in 2018, I'd probably go with something like:
- Icon
- Big Dipper
- Nickelodeon Streak
- Revolution
- Avalanche
- Blue Flyer
- Grand National
- Big One
- Steeplechase Right
- Infusion
As you can see, a revisit to the park a year later in different conditions, and the removal of that first timer's novelty that the rides had in 2018, caused a surprising amount of movement that I don't think I've ever seen upon revisiting any other park before. In terms of the most notable ones;
- I actually rather liked Dipper in 2018, and my 2018 ride was probably worth a 7 or 8/10, but it was quite noticeably rougher in 2019, and I enjoyed it far less, so it dropped down to #6 and a 4/10.
- Big One seemed pretty slow and surprisingly painful in 2018, so it was very low in my BPB rankings at the time. In 2019, it seemed as though it was running quite a bit better; although still pretty rough and not something I hugely enjoyed, it wasn't as bad as it was in 2018, and it seemed a bit faster and more forceful in places too, so jumped up to #5 and a 4/10.
- Nick Streak dropped a little in 2019; it just didn't seem quite as thrilling.
- Avalanche went up by a fair bit in 2019; it just seemed far more fun than I'd remembered in 2018.
- Out of the rides I rode in both 2018 and 2019, Icon, Nash and Revolution seemed like the most consistent; their general ride experiences seemed fairly similar to how they were in 2018, on the whole. I should point out that I did not actually ride Blue Flyer, Steeplechase or Infusion on my 2019 visit, which is why their placements are broadly the same.
To be fair, this may be down to the type of rides Blackpool has, or the fact that I lack experience with Blackpool compared to some other UK parks, but it was certainly an observation that intrigued me, I'll admit.
While we're analysing Blackpool's coaster selection, I should also say that I think it's rather polarising. For the most part, I think the park's rides generally appeal to those with a very particular type of coaster taste; my personal taste in coasters doesn't really align with this, so I generally rank the individual coasters at the park quite lowly, Icon aside. The only coaster that makes my top 10% (top 7) is Icon at #2, the only coaster that makes my top 25% (top 18) is Icon at #2, the only two coasters that make my UK top 10 are Icon at #1 and Avalanche just sneaking in at #10, and even if I go as broad as my top 50% (top 37), only 4 out of the 9 non-kiddie coasters make it in (for purposes of fairness, I excluded Blue Flyer); Icon at #2, Avalanche at #21, Revolution at #33 and Streak at #35. I can certainly see the appeal of Blackpool's coasters, and the quantity and density of them alone makes the park very appealing, but I'm not sure the park's coaster selection appeals to me in terms of ride experience and personal enjoyment quite as much as that of some other theme parks.
Do you agree with my comments? Do you think the park's coaster selection is temperamental, and do you think it's polarising?
