-
ℹ️ Heads up...
This is a popular topic that is fast moving Guest - before posting, please ensure that you check out the first post in the topic for a quick reminder of guidelines, and importantly a summary of the known facts and information so far. Thanks.
Blackpool Pleasure Beach: 2024 Discussion
- Thread starter Quantum
- Start date
Must include fountain or fountains within the layout.
ScottishChris
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Legend
I absolutely love speculation - it is so much more interesting and exciting than the rides we actually get. Remember the buzz around Wickerman's lifthill bump?
As stated previously, BPB's investments are usually done through borrowing. As such, I would imagine a 'big' attraction is more likely to get funded than something small.
Looking at the packages of land for a coaster, a Skyrocket 2 or a Zamperla Double Heart could be possibilities. The Skyrocket 2 particularly could be interesting as it seems to be scale-able to a parks requirement. the ones with lighting packages look pretty amazing too. I would still like to see an Intamin Gyrodrop in the UK though - and it would make more sense at Blackpool IMO.
With the nonsense that Amanda spouts though, it does make you wonder what the true future attraction could be. Icon was 4 or 5 years in the planning - does this mean we are looking at a 2029 opening day? They park (if it is a coaster or major ride) would normally need to have a slot booked with a manufacturer by now, even if we are looking at a 5 year lead time. We have seen ground markings - so something is clearly afoot. You do wonder, though, is Amanda being Amanda is talking cr*p and something is planned and the design almost agreed, or is it the case that they all just don't have a clue whats happening.
As stated previously, BPB's investments are usually done through borrowing. As such, I would imagine a 'big' attraction is more likely to get funded than something small.
Looking at the packages of land for a coaster, a Skyrocket 2 or a Zamperla Double Heart could be possibilities. The Skyrocket 2 particularly could be interesting as it seems to be scale-able to a parks requirement. the ones with lighting packages look pretty amazing too. I would still like to see an Intamin Gyrodrop in the UK though - and it would make more sense at Blackpool IMO.
With the nonsense that Amanda spouts though, it does make you wonder what the true future attraction could be. Icon was 4 or 5 years in the planning - does this mean we are looking at a 2029 opening day? They park (if it is a coaster or major ride) would normally need to have a slot booked with a manufacturer by now, even if we are looking at a 5 year lead time. We have seen ground markings - so something is clearly afoot. You do wonder, though, is Amanda being Amanda is talking cr*p and something is planned and the design almost agreed, or is it the case that they all just don't have a clue whats happening.
Skyscraper
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Nemesis
S&S 4D Freespin would fit well too as I've mentioned in the past.
Dipper_Dave
TS Member
Katy
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Wildfire (Kolmården)
If we're on S&S 4D, I'd love to see a nice big S&S 4th Dimension coaster, like X2.
While there's not that big a plot used by Grand Prix if they think big then that doesn't matter - supports can go pretty much anywhere that doesn't interfere with another ride's clearance envelope, and they can take the track over the overpass into North park if they want to.
RicketyCricket
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Taron
All this new coaster talk and the impact of Hyperion really hits home just how much of a flop Icon has been.
They named it Icon and built a completely forgettable ride.
It didn't even have to be a giant, record breaking coaster. They could have built something like Taiga or Gotham City Escape within that budget and people would be flocking back to ride it regularly.
They named it Icon and built a completely forgettable ride.
It didn't even have to be a giant, record breaking coaster. They could have built something like Taiga or Gotham City Escape within that budget and people would be flocking back to ride it regularly.
I can honestly say...it was our shakey.
Again.
Katy
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Wildfire (Kolmården)
Icon is a good ride, but everyone was hoping for an extreme thrill coaster and we got a family thrill. Would have been so good if it was something like a swing launch with a huge spike going up against PMBO, top hat over the overpass. Ah well I can dream.
It'd be unique to the country, but given how bad BPB are at marketing I'm not sure how they'd convey that to the general public.
ScottishChris
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Legend
Icon is a good number of enthusiasts favorite coaster. The ride isn't a flop, its pretty widely enjoyed. It is the marketing & promotion of the ride which was (and still is) a flop.
I think this was one of the main issues. BPB actually stated at one point it was designed for the family market, but pretty much everything they said after this was a mix of messages. At one point they were trying to tell us it was one of the highest thrill coasters in the world. It does make me think about Wickerman though, that is as family as it gets, but people think it is a thrill coaster - but that suits their family demographic. Towers got the marketing right with that one.
RicketyCricket
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Taron
Flop is probably a bit strong, but definitely a missed opportunity.
It could/should have been a lot better and if it was, they wouldn't need to worry about what's opening at Thorpe this year.
Matt N
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Shambhala (PortAventura Park)
I personally like Icon a fair amount more than most... and even I'd have to disagree with that statement. As much as I personally love it, I accept that that is quite a minority opinion these days.
If we're talking in terms of general reverence, I'd argue that Icon was definitely a flop, or at very least a disappointment compared to common expectations. In the months before it was built, there was lots of hyperbolic talk about how it would be "the best coaster in the UK", how it would "have Europe and the world looking at Blackpool in jealousy", how it would "annihilate Alton Towers' poxy little family GCI", how it would be "the UK's answer to Maverick at Cedar Point", how it would "represent a new dawn for Blackpool Pleasure Beach and blow the UK coaster industry wide open" and numerous other hyped comments. The hype for Icon was off the charts compared to any UK coaster before or since, and before it opened, there seemed to be a common consensus that the ride would blow the UK coaster industry wide open and give us a modern, universally revered ride to compete with the various European heavyweights.
When it opened, I think it's fair to say that none of those things happened. There were some very positive reviews initially, but these faded away over time. While popular belief at the time was that Icon would endure and be revered forever more and Wicker Man would be a flash in the pan that was only liked for the first few months, I'd actually argue that the opposite occurred. Love for Icon seemed to absolutely fall off a cliff after its first year or so. Don't get me wrong, the ride has its fans, but many seem apathetic towards it at best and actually quite negative towards it at worst. I dare say that even for many of the ride's biggest fans (a group I count myself among), it is more of a "UK-class" ride than the "European-class" or "world-class" ride that everyone expected it to be before it opened. Even among people who relatively like Icon, you don't often see it being a list topper once the scope of said lists expands beyond our shores. I love Icon to bits, I think it's a phenomenal ride, and it is my UK #1, but even for me, it's on the precipice of being turfed out of my top 10 this year (in the #9 spot, to be exact). And I should add that I've only done 111 coasters, which isn't exactly a massive total compared to some.
I can't speak too much for non-enthusiast reception, as I live nowhere near Blackpool and the park isn't too well known or visited down here in Gloucestershire, but in terms of my own family, it was a mixed picture. My sister absolutely loved it and declared it her new #1 when we rode in 2018, but my parents rode it with me in both 2018 and 2019 and were both largely apathetic towards it. My dad, a man who rode the similarly double-launched VelociCoaster in Florida last year, instantly declared it his new #1 and called it "an absolute revelation", said that "The thing that impressed me most about Icon was the cool baggage system in the station, which speaks volumes about my thoughts on the actual ride". My mum, who doesn't even overly like ridiculously intense rides (she doesn't like Nemesis or Oblivion, for instance), said that "A good coaster makes me laugh and scream lots. Nothing about Icon made me laugh or scream. I didn't particularly like it". I know that for both of them, it's not even Blackpool Pleasure Beach's strongest coaster. I know for a fact that both of them far prefer Wicker Man. And to be honest, I myself am not that far off preferring Wicker Man... it only sits a spot below Icon for me, and on a particularly good day for Wicker, I could see an argument for it narrowly usurping Icon.
In terms of its commercial success, I'm not sure if Blackpool would necessarily have had automatic success with Icon had they built something more widely revered. They could have built the best ride on Earth, and it may have made little difference if they'd marketed it the same as they marketed Icon. With that said, it may have helped, particularly if the ride had been a bit bigger and more impactful to sell itself a bit more.
Last edited:
PhalanaxOperativeA1127
TS Member
Went up to Blackpool in 2018 on an Alton / Blackpool double header to try out their respective new coasters. Being as far south as you can get, getting to Blackpool is very difficult so imagine my displeasure when Icon was closed on my visit.
Been stewing away ever since, one thing and another has meant I've not had another opportunity but finally getting up there over Easter to finally ride it.
Must say I'm really looking forward to trying it out. Maybe it's for the best I've waited as the hype isn't as much as it was in 2018 so my expectations are slightly more tempered than they were back then
Been stewing away ever since, one thing and another has meant I've not had another opportunity but finally getting up there over Easter to finally ride it.
Must say I'm really looking forward to trying it out. Maybe it's for the best I've waited as the hype isn't as much as it was in 2018 so my expectations are slightly more tempered than they were back then
shakey
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Wild Mouse - Blackpool - :(
It was absolutely 100% a flop.
The park were expecting a big increase in footfall in 2018 but instead the opposite happened and the park was visibly quieter than the previous year.
I was expecting long queues for Icon in its first year but the queues never really materialised apart from the very occasional busy day.
It was the same in 2019 and the only busy year the park has had since Icon was in 2021, the year of the staycation when everywhere was busy.
Was it poor marketing? A backlash over the wildmouse? Or just an over hyped coaster that turned out to be slightly underwhelming?
Whatever the reason, I think it's safe to say that the park are extremely disappointed with the outcome.
Sent from my Pixel 6 Pro using Tapatalk
If some of the park managers (from that time)* say off the record that it was a massive flop, then I think we can call it a flop.
It was designed to bring massive new numbers to the park, it failed to do that, unquestionably.
That lesson has been learned by the owner.
There will be no new big attraction in the south of the park, other than the possibility of a new ice arena/dark ride combination...in about a decade.
Dodgy "We are the best and biggest" speech from the dodgy park owner, nothing but words to cover up a shambolic opening and further closure of rides.
There will be no development of big new rides for a decade, mismanagement means there is little in the pot for anything new and big.
*edited to cover current arses...this was icon yrs 1 and 2.
It was designed to bring massive new numbers to the park, it failed to do that, unquestionably.
That lesson has been learned by the owner.
There will be no new big attraction in the south of the park, other than the possibility of a new ice arena/dark ride combination...in about a decade.
Dodgy "We are the best and biggest" speech from the dodgy park owner, nothing but words to cover up a shambolic opening and further closure of rides.
There will be no development of big new rides for a decade, mismanagement means there is little in the pot for anything new and big.
*edited to cover current arses...this was icon yrs 1 and 2.
Last edited:
