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Blackpool Pleasure Beach: General Discussion

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From 6 hours away, that's probably my tipping point reached. I've not been for a couple of years as wife's pregnancy followed by first year baby meant it wasn't going to happen. This year I was hoping to head back and try Icon but that journey isn't worth it with my two favourites gone since my last visit.

No Mouse, no Valhalla, no desire to bother from me.

I just hope this doesn't involve ripping out the (admittedly expensive) fire effects. If it does I'd probably rather they didn't bother saving it.
 
I mean let's be honest it bloody needs some TLC. Last time I rode it hardly anything worked and you could say way too much of the shed from the inside. It needs taking down so you don't get as wet and generally just needs refurbing to its former glory.
 
But will they be able to address one of the biggest problems which is the wetness?

The water fall tunnel is an easy fix, just remove it.

But how do they solve the lakes in the bottom of the boats or the tipping in of water on the tight turns?

Can't see them changing the ride system itself but could they solve the problem with different boats?

Or are we essentially just going to get the same wetness levels but with less effects?





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They could fix the boats so that they drain properly, that shouldn't be a problem. And I think there's something they can do to the splashdowns to make the water go outwards as opposed to towards the boat but I could be wrong.
 
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Good on that bloke who first reported this on twitter a couple of months back - @AttractionImages

He took a lot of stick from the high and mighty theme park community over that.

I'm convinced they're going to completely massacre Valhalla. Any expensive effects will be removed and replaced with lasers and cardboard cutouts.
 
No idea how accurate this is but according to this issue of Airtime magazine from 2000, the gas bill was around £250,000 a year!

Also funny to see how sneaky marketing was even back then with their "temperatures between -20 degrees centigrade and 110 degrees" of course the second figure actually being degrees Fahrenheit which nobody here uses.
 
I think this refurbishment could do very good things for Valhalla; a year is a hefty period of time, and there's a lot of scope with the ride system!

How come no one seems very optimistic about this refurbishment, out of interest? There are much simpler ways to do some of the things that Valhalla does these days that are arguably just as effective, so if they were able to maintain the visual spectacle of the ride and solve some of the ride system's flaws while reducing running costs and increasing reliability, surely that can only be a good thing?
 
Matt N said:
I think this refurbishment could do very good things for Valhalla; a year is a hefty period of time, and there's a lot of scope with the ride system!

How come no one seems very optimistic about this refurbishment, out of interest? There are much simpler ways to do some of the things that Valhalla does these days that are arguably just as effective, so if they were able to maintain the visual spectacle of the ride and solve some of the ride system's flaws while reducing running costs and increasing reliability, surely that can only be a good thing?
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Blackpool has a history of removing attractions with zero communication and while I don't think they'll remove Vahalla, I'm not optimistic that'll get any better considering how vague they're being about it. To me it sounds like they don't think it's worth operating in its current state so they've closed it while they make a plan for running it cheaper.

If they can find a way to use less natural gas I'd be happy as it'd be more eco friendly, and would look better than having it turned off like during my last visit.
 
pluk said:
For the love of Geoffrey, wake up to the reality of the current UK theme park industry and Blackpool, would you?
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I know that Blackpool don't have loads of money at the moment, but surely if they save a bit of money on operating costs, it could fund a good refurbishment?
 
I wouldn't be surprised if they replace the fire effects with fake fire effects, i.e. Wicker Man's break run. For a ride that rarely gets a queue, the expense and the speed you fly past them at, I think it would be a good shout tbh.
 
RicketyCricket said:
Good on that bloke who first reported this on twitter a couple of months back - @AttractionImages

He took a lot of stick from the high and mighty theme park community over that.

I'm convinced they're going to completely massacre Valhalla. Any expensive effects will be removed and replaced with lasers and cardboard cutouts.
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The original laser effect on the first drop was one of the best effects on the ride, dropping through the laser floor was amazing...shame it only lasted the first season.
 
Matt N said:
I know that Blackpool don't have loads of money at the moment, but surely if they save a bit of money on operating costs, it could fund a good refurbishment?
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Pleasure Beach opened a multi million pound roller coaster last year, the fact that they are having to close one of their biggest and most popular rides less than two seasons after that is worrying. Icon should have brought the park forward but it feels as though it's going further and further backward.

I'm predicting that the huge impact of this won't really hit PB until summer next year. It will be unbearable, imagine a day when it's too windy for The Big One to run; that's already two major attractions out of service, plus the Wild Mouse would have made 3. Also worth bearing in mind that Grand National is now the only major ride operating in the entirety of North Park. Imagine the queues for Rugrats next year...

Was Icon really worth all this?
 
Coaster said:
Pleasure Beach opened a multi million pound roller coaster last year, the fact that they are having to close one of their biggest and most popular rides less than two seasons after that is worrying. Icon should have brought the park forward but it feels as though it's going further and further backward.

I'm predicting that the huge impact of this won't really hit PB until summer next year. It will be unbearable, imagine a day when it's too windy for The Big One to run; that's already two major attractions out of service, plus the Wild Mouse would have made 3. Also worth bearing in mind that Grand National is now the only major ride operating in the entirety of North Park. Imagine the queues for Rugrats next year...

Was Icon really worth all this?
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I admit, as much as I adore Icon; I think the park may have punched a little above their financial weight buying it. It wasn't too long ago that the park was struggling quite majorly, and Mack are one of the most expensive manufacturers on the market right now; maybe something a little cheaper from a manufacturer like Gerstlauer or Vekoma would have been a better buy? Whichever way you put it, Icon doesn't seem to have paid off for them in the way in which they'd hoped, and unfortunately, £16m is a very large amount of money to have something not pay off, especially if you're not funded by a huge corporate company like Merlin.

However, I do think we should have a little faith in Blackpool here. Even if Valhalla isn't the world's most earth-shattering water ride when it reopens, the intention to make it a little bit more magical certainly seems to be there, even if it is partially fuelled by keeping the ride sustainable and reliable in the long term. The park is clearly having to examine their operating costs somewhat, and Valhalla is one of the park's most expensive rides to run, so if they can find a way to make the ride cheaper to run while still maintaining the guest experience, surely that's a win-win situation?
 
For me, as somebody who lives three hours away from the park and has now ridden Icon a few times, the closure of Valhalla means the park wont be getting any money from me next season.

Depending on the state of the ride when it re-opens, it may well be a long time before I go again. Wild Mouse and Valhalla were always my main reasons for making the pilgrimage.

If I want to ride a Mack Megacoaster I'd rather save a few extra quid and head to Germany / Sweden.
 
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