It was my understanding that the board of directors was in place so that no totalitarianism could ensue. We've all seen the video of Mandy riding Cheetah Hunt and deeming it awful and from memory "never again" A few years on we get Icon - a more vigorous version. That's not Mandy, her input on Icon is stated on record as being "A Japanese-like Zen garden when you exit the ride" THAT is Mandy.
I feel Nick and other high level staff may have wore her down into agreeing that the park
needs something to draw the crowds like PMBO did. Whilst I admire her business acumen - she's reduce the £30million+ debt by half over the last decade - she is not one to take risks like her Father. Valhalla & PMBO were the creation of someone who didn't see limitations, he only saw vision, excitement and fun no matter the cost. He took risks and they, on the whole, paid off but they were not financially viable or evidently feasible - PMBO was the brainchild of a trip to Cedarpoint and him wanting 'bigger and better' version of Magnum XL and whilst it was a HUGE success, it was terrible in its execution. It was a subcontracted nightmare - constant modifications
(shame the wild mouse never got those) crashes, injuries, structural issues and massive design flaws. There's not many rollercoasters in the world that you see on the front page of a local newspaper where a women is clutching part of a wheel assembly in her hands as she returned to her car and found it embedded in her windscreen after PMBO had passed through the MCBR (one of the many reasons it’s checked twice a day for potential ‘wheel-fly-off-syndrome’)
BUT.......
I believe it went something like...
(from Alton) “In 1994 we’re bringing you the best new attractions and you’ll hear nothing but Alton Towers” *
paraphrasing ‘Pleasure Beach delivers a 235ft (213*) hyper coaster to p**s on Alton’s and the rest of the world’s chips.
(Okay they had the last laugh as Nemesis is bae, but still)
Dare I mention Valhalla, the greatest 'fluke' in Pleasure Beach history. Placed in the space of the Fun House which was built from the imagination of a great man. Sure, it was built with pieces left over from the park and Geoffrey refused to the take the advise of Intamin in that there was not enough space for 'run offs' which is why the ride is SO wet compared to a normal log flume. The ride was built without a theme in mind and was decided at the last second. There was no market research involved, it was purely, ‘we have the space let’s go epic’ He thought adding a Tesla coil to a water ride was a great idea and it had one, it was leagues above anything seen at the time, he managed to cram a world class water ride into a space we only can conceive nowadays days by The Smiler. The risk paid off yet again. Of course it fell to pieces and was a hazardous nightmare. It also contributed to the great gas and water shortage of Blackpool South for many years but it was worth it.
I admire Mandy for the huge responsibility she took on but she doesn’t have her father’s sense of risk, or adventure. She is quite happy to rest on her laurels and transform the park into a showcase of aesthetics, all the while the main draw and attraction to the park dwindles because there’s nothing world class being built or attempted, how long can a park rest on what it used to be famous for.
I grew up and even lived right behind the Pleasure Beach as a child – I watched the Fun House burn from my bathroom window, I snuck in to the park in closed season via the Black Hole toilet entrance and released the Wild Mouse cars from the station to the lift and was chased by security, I ventured through the open door in the Watson Road tunnel because it was open and wandered through the River Caves and Gold Mine undergrowth and I built scale models in School of PMBO and Playstation. I was on park when it was open past midnight where they would be finded by the council for noise breaches but they went ahead and opened past 11pm because the money they made outweighed the fine. I rode PMBO at the age of 12 on a ‘soft opening’ before it opened to the public and I sat at the very back
(forced and with the old neck snapper drop) I was paid money by my friends at the time to ride Playstation on early evening soft opening because nobody dared to ride it. The park was my playground from a very early age and was a huge part of my life, heck I even coined the phrase ‘Mandy Land’© 10 years ago and it’s stuck and is used throughout the community today and there’s not a PBE member who can top my History with Pleasure Beach.
(if they think they do they’re just jelly)
(I think there was a point to all this during my drunken rambling)
Oh yes, Mandy has transformed the park for the better, I think. It has evolved with the times but I’m saddened because in doing so it’s lost the risk taking, the ‘I’m going to build the best and f**k everyone else’. Icon is a by-product of necessity
(build a new coaster or you become Camelot 2.0) and the relationship with Mack. I really hope Mandy was told by the board
“Stop making everything ****ing pretty, we NEED a new f***ing coaster, for god’s sake Amanda, we neeeed a new machine!!!!” (Yes, I’m also the uploader of that fateful video that’s prevalent for Mandy quotes) Link at the end.
Wild Mouse you say? I’ve said my piece. You do what you like love, it’s your park but we’re your paying public and although I have the upmost respect for you in ways, in others you pale in comparison. It’s time you realised what made Pleasure Beach World class and respect how it got there.
Predictions...
Mack have done a deal for another ride to be placed in the park be it coaster or other ride and we’ll see that in the next few years. It’s a bulk Merlin-esq deal for sure.
I can’t believe this took me hours to type up on-and-off whilst doing stuff. I guess I love Mandy Land more than I thought
(apologies if you read it all lol but I did say there was my video - Search on YouTube - Amanda Thompson And her Wrath - enjoy those curtains) 
