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Blackpool Pleasure Beach: General Discussion

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I'm surprised people ride Valhalla so much, I visit about 5 times a year and I've not ridden it in at least two years. Nothing wrong with the ride, I love water rides, but I don't see the enjoyment in being THAT wet all day.
 
siralgenon said:
I'm surprised people ride Valhalla so much, I visit about 5 times a year and I've not ridden it in at least two years. Nothing wrong with the ride, I love water rides, but I don't see the enjoyment in being THAT wet all day.
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Same here really. It’s not Florida or Spain. It’s the north west coast of England, you don’t simply dry off whilst walking round the park. Once your shoes get wrecked it does spoil your day somewhat. I’ve done the change of clothes in lockers thing, and can rarely even be bothered with that anymore.

The Log Flume was ace, you got wet but not absurdly soaked and actually could dry off without too much difficulty. And some people still weep for a ride that closed in 1982. . .
 
Yup, In the beginning it was ace.
But still too wet, from ride number one on the first weekend.
Effects failed very quickly, to become a variable ride where about 50% of the effects failed every ride.
The laser floor was brilliant, and I imagine pretty cheap.
So bring it back Mandy.
Icon is a nice rest with a quite good view thank you, just made for my retirement.
And I still weep for the Reel.
Clue there Matt.
 
speedy said:
I'll take Icon over Valhalla any day. I enjoyed Valhalla but wish I had the chance to experience it back in 2000
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I personally would as well. As much as Valhalla had some really good effects, I think it was just too absurdly wet for me to want to reride on a frequent basis. I don't even think it's the quantity of wetness; I don't know why, but the way in which Valhalla soaks you seems somewhat less enjoyable than on similarly wet water rides elsewhere. I know that its obscene wetness is part of what makes it such a spectacle, but I don't think that style of experience really appeals to me as much as some other rides. Valhalla as a dark ride has a lot going for it that I really like, but the obscene soaking sort of put me off reriding it. I may have to try it again post-refurbishment in 2021, however...

I know some don't like it, but I personally find Icon a simply wonderful experience that has me laughing and smiling every time it hits the brake run! It might help that I've only ever ridden Icon in the afternoon and evening after it's warmed up, but the airtime, the smoothness, the pace and the overall fun factor and rerideability of the coaster all make it my personal favourite coaster in the UK, and my second favourite roller coaster I've ever ridden behind only Mako at SeaWorld Orlando!
 
Re the wetness of the ride, a year or two ago didn’t someone contact the people who installed the water vortex to ask if the current experience is how it’s meant to be? And if I remember right they replied saying no and all that’s needed it’s regular maintenance of the pipes and nozzles and you wouldn’t actually get wet at all while going through the vortex.

I can’t help but be negative, it was obvious from day one when the rumour came out that it was true it was going to be SBNO for 2020 then “nothing decided” (to limit damage on the season pass sales?) Clearly budgets need to be cut and you have to ask how can you improve the experience without cutting essential effects like fire & ice?
 
Simple answer why I dislike it in there Matt...it is so bloody cold in there for about fifty of fifty two weeks in the year.
Wet in a fridge is bad!
The original boat drain system never worked.
The water vortex soaked you from ride number one, as did the top sharp right on the end of the last lift hill.
And the ice room ...I saw actual falling snow in there twice in total!
Never saw that work properly between May and September after the first couple of seasons.
And big water canons with good mist and lighting could cut the gas bill by at least fifty percent.
If we don't see lots of people working on it through the summer, it could be gone.
 
Oh, and health and safety regulations would smack its legs until they were bright red.
Would kill the mythical beast before its rebirth.
Probably.
 
ringo said:
Re the wetness of the ride, a year or two ago didn’t someone contact the people who installed the water vortex to ask if the current experience is how it’s meant to be? And if I remember right they replied saying no and all that’s needed it’s regular maintenance of the pipes and nozzles and you wouldn’t actually get wet at all while going through the vortex.
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Yeah, there is a video here of the water tunnel being tested. The water vortex definitely didn't always soak riders, but it has done for years now. It was always hit and miss but I definitely remember going on it and it working as intended.



The snow misters from the ceiling in the ice room have worked very occasionally since the 2011/12 refurbishment so they definitely can when PB want them to. Sadly they completely butchered the lighting in that scene during the refurbishment, it can be seen at its best at 3:30 in this video;



Here's the new lighting for comparison;



It's crazy that scenic presentation can be allowed to fall that much on what should be one of the world's best dark rides. The old lighting was very clever as it highlighted the scenery and ice/snow whilst hiding the small "boxy" nature of the room, whereas the current lighting makes it obvious that the backdrop is just Christmas trees and flat walls/ceilings.

This like this really need to be addressed during the year's closure, IMO.
 
To be fair to them, if they are able to keep the ride as an effective themed experience while reducing costs, then that would be a good alternative and a win-win situation for guests and accountants alike; maybe they could put some mist and lighting in the ice room to replace the snow if need be? And they also could replace the fire effects with timed smoke and lighting as well as some LCDs, sort of like what they do on Wicker Man. It seems to work quite effectively there, so I don't see why it couldn't work on Valhalla. I think the key thing here is keeping the experience intact while making it simpler and less expensive to maintain, and if they are able to do that effectively, then I think they could have a real winner on their hands.

Out of interest, are there any videos online that show the ride when it opened, with all of the effects working? There are some apparent effects that I don't think I've ever seen working properly in any Valhalla videos I've watched, such as the ring of fire, the laser floor, the trommel tunnel and the tesla coil, amongst others.
 
ringo said:
Re the wetness of the ride, a year or two ago didn’t someone contact the people who installed the water vortex to ask if the current experience is how it’s meant to be? And if I remember right they replied saying no and all that’s needed it’s regular maintenance of the pipes and nozzles and you wouldn’t actually get wet at all while going through the vortex.

I can’t help but be negative, it was obvious from day one when the rumour came out that it was true it was going to be SBNO for 2020 then “nothing decided” (to limit damage on the season pass sales?) Clearly budgets need to be cut and you have to ask how can you improve the experience without cutting essential effects like fire & ice?
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At least I’m not the only cynic who thought the timing was suspicious around the season pass early offer!
 
Matt N said:
And they also could replace the fire effects with timed smoke and lighting as well as some LCDs, sort of like what they do on Wicker Man. It seems to work quite effectively there, so I don't see why it couldn't work on Valhalla.
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The Wicker man TVs add nothing to the spectacle, they're pretty rubbish and nothing like real flames. It would be a travesty to see the impressive flames replaced by screens in Valhalla.

Maybe some of the flames should be reduced and replaced by other effects while keeping the best flame moments and not lose the impact of the ride.
 
Personally I would like BPB to simply be more honest about things like this. Next seasons opening days & times, along with planned major ride closures, should be announced before people are able to buy / renew season passes. If a given ride is somebody’s favourite, and forms a big part of their visits, they may well have chosen not to renew, if they knew in advance that their favourite ride would be SBNO for an entire season. I mean come on, they have known for more than a few days that a major ride was going to be out of action for a whole season.

The water vortex is absolutely crap, when it is not operating as intended. If the water is able to make the full arc over the boat, great. But dumping water in riders laps because it’s not able to work properly is just stupid. This effect should be removed ASAP unless it can be made way more reliable.

I’ve said this before, but: I appreciate that it’s a water ride and of course riders should expect to get wet to some degree. I fully expect to get wet at the bottom of a water ride drop. Where it ceases to be enjoyable is getting your feet totally submerged the second you board the boat, having the aforementioned deluge dumped in your lap in the tunnel, and buckets of water enter the boat on corners because the boats take them so badly.
 
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