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Blackpool Pleasure Beach: General Discussion

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The issue with Valhalla was it was built for the pay per ride market were it was a Double A ticket, or about £4 per go. In the era its mainly operated in with a wristband system (I remember them using them in 2001) it's operating costs must be crippling. Let's not forget the original structure at the front of the ride even used some of the replaced Big One track.

Whilst I'd very much take the idea the park would make Valhalla sbno for a full season it does certainly need some work on it.

They certainly shouldn't be operating it during the Wow weekends either.

The main issue as people have stated is you just get too wet on the thing, I don't remember going on it once in 2019. Travelling home dropping wet, and with water logged shoes is no fun.
 
My interest in riding Valhalla has waned to almost none at all. The sheer monsoon of water dumped into your lap as you pass through the water vortex is utterly ridiculous. Also, I believe this is something to do with the wrong type of boats (against what was intended for that model of ride) being used in the trough or something like that, but the jerky turns at the top of each lift hill and after the turntable are awful. Thus a knee bashing and buckets of water hurled into the boat ensue.

Yes, its a water ride, and whilst I expect to get wet at the bottom of a drop, its those random and unnecessary drenchings that annoy the crap out of me. I've never cared about effects working or not, I just think its a good ride, spoilt by the stupid water tunnel and tight knee-bashing shoe-soaking corners that the boat can't handle. At least the mice could take 180 degree hairpin bends well.

Does it really need an overhaul major enough to leave it SBNO for a whole season though? Whilst I personally won't miss it, it will make the already half-dead North park very sparse, and will also push up all the other queues, especially in Spring & Summer. Which in turn could boost speedy pass sales, and shutting it for a season would save the park a (viking) boatload of money. Its beginning to make sense now :D
 
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Plastic Person said:
Gawd love GWT, but he didn't half make some short-sighted investments, impressive as they were. Then again, they have had two decades of business from Valhalla.
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20 years, is that good? Sounds like a (good) Dingoland ride tenure to me. Many of the best rides at BPB have been thrilling punters for the best part of a century!
 
If anyone is getting drench on Valhalla, then you must be wearing the wrong clothes.

I still wear my £12 waterproof set (over trousers and Jacket) from EBay on all water rides and during heavy rain. I must be one of the few people that can do multiple re-rides on Valhalla (and Thorpe Park Tidal wave) and still come off the rides bone dry :)

I love Valhalla even in it current form and would hate to see it go
 
RoyJess said:
If anyone is getting drench on Valhalla, then you must be wearing the wrong clothes.

I still wear my £12 waterproof set (over trousers and Jacket) from EBay on all water rides and during heavy rain. I must be one of the few people that can do multiple re-rides on Valhalla (and Thorpe Park Tidal wave) and still come off the rides bone dry :)

I love Valhalla even in it current form and would hate to see it go
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Last two goes I have either have had large waves slop over the side of the boat going round corners causing instant soaking or water come down the neck of my hood. It's Popeye situation where waterproofs make little difference in soak level.

My solution is a second set of clothes but not many of the GP know what they are in store for
 
Doublethink said:
Last two goes I have either have had large waves slop over the side of the boat going round corners causing instant soaking or water come down the neck of my hood. It's Popeye situation where waterproofs make little difference in soak level.

My solution is a second set of clothes but not many of the GP know what they are in store for
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You are still wearing them incorrectly, I just grab the neck of my waterproof jacket and pull it tight. Keep legs towards the middle of the boat so water don't splash down your shoes, arms kept at the correct angle so the water don't enter through the arms. After 19 years of riding the Valhalla, and many more years of riding other drenching rides, you get to know exactly how to hold your limbs and how to wear your waterproofs to ensure that any openings are not open to a bucket full of water.
 
Doublethink said:
Last two goes I have either have had large waves slop over the side of the boat going round corners causing instant soaking or water come down the neck of my hood. It's Popeye situation where waterproofs make little difference in soak level.

My solution is a second set of clothes but not many of the GP know what they are in store for
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Exactly. The corner wave slopping really is bonkers. At least after a ride on Popeye you're in a warm country. This Summer I did a couple of water ride sessions on nice quiet evenings in IOA: Popeye once or twice, Jurassic Park once, Ripsaw Falls twice (what a ride). Utterly soaked. T-shirt, swimming trunks & sandals on. Enduring the epic walk back to the car and short drive back to hotel was just about bearable. There is no way I would come off Valhalla in Blackpool and arrive home an hour later like a drowned rat without changing.

A couple of seasons ago, I realised I hadn't been on Valhalla for several years so decided to make up for lost time, push the boat out, go with full golf waterproofs & wellies & ride it as many times as I could stand, with change of clothes in locker just in case. Unfortunately I was yet to learn what @RoyJess has said about the neck of your jacket. My feet were bone dry in the wellies, but something, what surely must have been the vortex, I forget, sent water pouring down the gap round my jacket neck, down my back and into my duds. So, with full waterproofs on, I still ended up changing my t-shirt and undercrackers. 6 walk-on rides back to back and I'd had enough, felt like a block of ice.

Great tip about pulling your jacket neck tight. Also, I pull my knees in if only to stop them getting a killer bashing on the boat sides. I generally only go on these days if the kids want to, but even then I'm reluctant. Dragging 3 sets of spare clothes & shoes about or having to get a locker (I am a Yorkshireman, remember) is just a pain. I never remember getting an unbearable soaking on Log Flume. There was nothing to complain about with that ride. No effects to go wrong. You got a great view on it too. How I miss it.
 
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I've tried multiple ways of not getting soaked including different types of waterproof clothing. But with the sheer volume of water bombarding you it always manages to find it's way in somehow and seems pretty much like a pointless task. I can liken it to lowering yourself into a bath fully clothed.

I can't be bothered to walk around wearing wellies and waterproofs all day, nor can I be bothered to carry them around with me/mess around with lockers as I always travel light at theme parks.

I'm now at the point where I just ride it before park closing and keep a change of clothes/shoes in the car to get changed into for the drive home.

Having said this I do love Valhalla and would be gutted to see it go. It's one of those rides where you know what you're in for when you go on it, if you don't want to get soaked then don't bother
 
AliceHL91 said:
I've tried multiple ways of not getting soaked including different types of waterproof clothing. But with the sheer volume of water bombarding you it always manages to find it's way in somehow and seems pretty much like a pointless task. I can liken it to lowering yourself into a bath fully clothed.

I can't be bothered to walk around wearing wellies and waterproofs all day, nor can I be bothered to carry them around with me/mess around with lockers as I always travel light at theme parks.

I'm now at the point where I just ride it before park closing and keep a change of clothes/shoes in the car to get changed into for the drive home.

Having said this I do love Valhalla and would be gutted to see it go. It's one of those rides where you know what you're in for when you go on it, if you don't want to get soaked then don't bother
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I fully agree it's a fabulous ride and I would be sad to see it go on the other hand I can understand this ride is a nightmare to keep running on any kind of acceptable level of working effects especially if rumours are true with this being £1 million to run per year.

For reference the amazingly well regarded Lech Coaster by verkoma cost Legendia just over £3 million to build and if serious costluy work is required to keep Valhalla going..... Well I feel the crowds would find a Lech clone more attractive
 
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Doublethink said:
I fully agree it's a fabulous ride and I would be sad to see it go on the other hand I can understand this ride is a nightmare to keep running on any kind of acceptable level of working effects especially if rumours are true with this being £1 million to run per year.

For reference the amazingly well regarded Lech Coaster by verkoma cost Legendia just over £3 million to build and of serious expansive work is required to keep Valhalla going..... Well I feel the crowds would find a Lech clone more attractive
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Yeah, given the amount it costs to run, they could replace it with a lower maintenance water ride or a coaster. Its a good ride but I'm surprised it has won that golden ticket award so many times.
 
Dipper_Dave said:
Yeah, given the amount it costs to run, they could replace it with a lower maintenance water ride or a coaster. Its a good ride but I'm surprised it has won that golden ticket award so many times.
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Verkoma have been making some brilliant rides recently and would love to see PB get a nice modern verkoma model- even the maligned SLC's with the new trains with vest restraints are pretty good. Formula and Lech were amazing coasters that cost nothing compared to a similar coaster from Mac rides or Intamin
 
I think some people are missing the point here. You shouldn't have to dress for an arctic crab fishing trip to go on a theme park ride!

As a dark ride I'm a big fan, but the insane wetness puts me off. If they could restore the sets and effects to their former glory ... reliably ... While some how reducing the wetness, then the ride should have plenty of life left in it. How, I don't know. New boats? Magnetic brakes on the drops? Answers on a postcard.
 
I can't see Please Beach selling annual passes now without announcing such a huge thing as Valhalla being closed for the whole season. It would have been announced by now officially in my opinion. But then again, they are selling them at a reduced rate so that could be a clue.
 
Luke Foley said:
I can't see Please Beach selling annual passes now without announcing such a huge thing as Valhalla being closed for the whole season. It would have been announced by now officially in my opinion. But then again, they are selling them at a reduced rate so that could be a clue.
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I think you're giving Pleasure Beach too much credit.

This is the park that demolished Wild Mouse without so much as a whisper and then rushed out a statement afterwards which actually made the situation worse!

They had already sold season passes for 2018 and I believe had already started taking bookings for WOW Weekends before anyone knew it was gone.

I don't believe this rumour about Valhalla without reliable confirmation, but at the same time, closing a ride without any prior notice is absolutely what Pleasure Beach would do.
 
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