• 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: General Discussion

Status
This topic has been locked. No further replies can be posted.
Funcone said:
Drayton Manor certainly had the Black Revolver. It was somewhere around where Air Race is now. Blackpool Pleasure Beach had an enclosed waltzer called Black Hole that got replaced by a 4D cinema?

https://coasterpedia.net/wiki/Black_Hole_(Blackpool_Pleasure_Beach)
Click to expand...

Black Hole used to be in building with the white dome with a sprout on top of it at the top of the ramp going to the Watson Rd overpass. The building was also then used for the on park radio station.
 
D4n said:
The main problem with the park is that their more modern additions have been, for the most part, extremely poor. Rides like Infusion, Steeplechase, Ice Blast and Sky Force are not good. In fact they're the kind of thing somebody would expect from any old tacky seaside amusement park (and we have plenty of those in this country). Icon and Valhalla were the exceptions to this (and of course The Big One has a solid reputation). As much as the park might be aiming to emulate Liseberg, the park just doesn't have the quality attractions of its Swedish counterpart.
Click to expand...
Personally, I don’t think the park’s modern installations have necessarily been poor.

I’m not sure whether you’d agree, but I personally think that for me, a phrase that comes to mind for many of Pleasure Beach’s modern installations is “fantastic in concept, flawed in execution”, and I could even stretch this to some of the park’s more ambitious installations. Examples I’m thinking of here include:
  • Steeplechase: I think the concept behind Steeplechase is very good, and it was built with honourable intentions given the resources and space available at the time, but I’m not sure if it entirely delivers compared to some other family roller coasters I’ve ridden, even ones built in a comparable era. I personally find that the riding position combined with the lateral g-forces and jolts do make it pretty uncomfortable to ride, and I don’t personally think it offers as much in terms of thrills as some other family roller coasters I’ve been on (however, I suppose that isn’t necessarily a bad thing!). Still, I admit that it’s certainly a novel experience, and it almost falls into the classics category, but it’s not one that I particularly enjoy, personally. Probably worth keeping because of the uniqueness, for me, though.
  • The Big One: I must admit that I really do admire the spirit that led to the Big One being built; I absolutely love the fact that the whole ride was started by Geoffrey Thompson going to Cedar Point, riding Magnum XL-200 and going “I want that, but bigger”! However, I’m not sure if the way in which it was executed let it become a worldwide icon in quite the same way as Magnum XL-200 did. Now, I’m not saying that the park did badly with the Big One at all; I personally think the layout deserves more credit than it sometimes gets given the space it was built in and the technology available when the ride was constructed; I’m a little sceptical as to whether BPB could necessarily have pulled off a Magnum-style airtime fest of a layout due to what was over and under it, personally. However, the way in which the layout was executed meant that it never really became quite as popular and revered as Magnum XL-200 did; while I won’t deny that the Big One has been hugely successful for the park, and most visitors do still really enjoy it, I’d guess that it may have been even more successful and had an even wider appeal had it tried to emulate its slightly older American cousin a little more. Magnum remains a pretty highly received coaster worldwide 31 years after opening, while I’d argue that the Big One kind of faded into obscurity a little outside of the UK once it lost that all-important height record.
  • Ice Blast: A drop tower is arguably the perfect fit for Pleasure Beach in terms of the kind of park they are and the circumstances they have to deal with; they’re rides that are tall and pack thrill while taking up very little space. I’d also argue that the S&S Space Shot was a pretty good choice; the shot’n’drop technology was very unique to Britain at the time, and the rides in the USA and elsewhere are reviewed pretty well. However, Blackpool’s version of the ride, while still fun, strangely seemed to feel like a noticeably weaker ride in terms of forces, sensations and overall thrill than the other S&S Space Shot I’ve had the pleasure of riding (Dr Doom’s FearFall at IOA). I’m slightly stumped as to why this is, because two rides of the same type should in theory feel quite similar to each other, however to me, Ice Blast felt noticeably weaker than its Floridian sibling. Personally, I think the park could definitely put a stronger drop tower or even another kind of thrill flat on this space at some point in the future.
  • Valhalla: As with the Big One, I hugely admire the spirit that led to Valhalla’s installation, and I think that the concept is a brilliant one. It’s very, very unique, and I think it did turn out to be far more revered worldwide than the Big One; you only have to look at how many times it’s won the Best Water Ride award at the GTAs! However, while I won’t deny that Valhalla is popular, and a real fan favourite, I have my doubts as to whether it was necessarily a good long-term fit for the park, for various reasons. For starters, I’m not sure if the ride was/is a particularly sustainable one; some of the effects are notoriously unreliable, and the ride also reportedly costs the park an arm and a leg to run. Also, while I know that the ride’s wetness appeals to some people, and is almost part of its spectacle in many ways, many (myself included) find the wetness a little too much, and I have my doubts about the ride’s year-round appeal because of it, something that is arguably quite important for a ride that costs so much to maintain in a park like Blackpool, where the climate is not particularly warm for a large portion of the year. While I admire Valhalla for its ambition and brilliant concept, I do think a more traditional dark ride may perhaps have been a better fit for the park in the long-term, personally.
  • Infusion: OK, I’m probably being too harsh here, as I think this ride more exists at Blackpool because an inverted coaster was going spare at Southport as opposed to because BPB wanted to build an inverted coaster, but while Infusion looks very appealing (I absolutely love the fountains and the colour scheme; great job, BPB!), it is far and away my personal least favourite inverted coaster I’ve been on. In fact, I’d say it’s my least favourite coaster period. The ride is excruciatingly rough, in my opinion, and it also sticks out a little as being the only real common, off-the-shelf ride in a park filled to the brim with some wonderfully unique rides (Actually, I suppose Revolution is off-the-shelf, but I think that type of ride is most definitely a dying breed, while SLCs are still incredibly common). As I said, however, I admit that the park only really put this in because it was going spare from Southport, and they probably didn’t have the financial means to build anything more unique at the time.
  • Skyforce: Now I’ve never actually been on Skyforce myself, but many BPB fans seem to have great disdain towards it as an experience. I must admit that this mystified me a bit, as similar Gerstlauer flat rides elsewhere seem to get far more positive reviews, but from what I’ve heard, I think the wind produced by Blackpool Pleasure Beach’s coastal location can inhibit the ability to get a good spin compared to other locations where the ride type is installed, and the ride’s capacity also seems to be a common line of criticism. It also allegedly didn’t take off to the extent that Blackpool wanted it to in terms of popularity. While the ride is unique to the UK, looks nice (in my opinion), and I am a fan of the ability to tailor your own ride experience, I think that something with a greater degree of consistency and a higher throughput may well have been a better long-term fit for BPB, in my opinion.
  • Icon: Now I have a huge amount of love for Icon; it’s my number 1 UK coaster and I love it to bits! However, I think there is a general mood of disappointment surrounding Icon among most, and it was never really particularly successful for Blackpool, so I do think it is worth talking about. Among most people I speak to about Icon, both inside and outside of the enthusiast community, the general consensus seems to be one of disappointment or apathy, as well as confusion at why some like myself seem to love it so much; overall, most seem pretty apathetic towards Icon as an experience. While I haven’t seen anyone who strongly dislikes or hates Icon, most seem to think that it is a weaker utilisation of the ride technology it uses than similar rides abroad, and as such, I don’t think it ever really gained that widespread popularity & revered status that rides like Helix did. As much as I admire the Thompson family for building such an ambitious ride, and I do personally have a huge amount of love for Icon as a ride experience, if you look to some other coasters recently installed at parks abroad, then I maybe think that there are some more cost-effective rides that could possibly have proven more highly revered and popular among park guests.
So for that reason, I think Blackpool’s heritage and more unique parts are things to be treasured, as I think that it is the combined product of heritage rides as well as some more modern things that make it a really special place as opposed to necessarily any one thing on its own.

I should of course note that these opinions are entirely my own; nobody is right or wrong about this, and I completely appreciate that these rides have many fans! I’m merely airing my own opinions on these rides compared to what I have experienced and what I’ve heard about certain rides abroad; I completely appreciate and understand that these rides are liked by many both inside the enthusiast community and out.
 
jon81uk said:
Given Noaks Ark is SBNO and the Wild Mouse site is sat empty I don't really see how these changes made the park any more modern?
Click to expand...

That’s why I said generally. Examples include the removal of all the historical pictures and concept art in Coasters from its refurb, Whip removal to be replaced by Dodgems, the covering over of the historical murals on the ramp arches facing the Arena, the viewing windows on the Big Dipper bridge at South Entrance covered in white plastic, removal of most of Rover Caves’s exterior themeing etc
 
Matt N said:
Personally, I don’t think the park’s modern installations have necessarily been poor.

I’m not sure whether you’d agree, but I personally think that for me, a phrase that comes to mind for many of Pleasure Beach’s modern installations is “fantastic in concept, flawed in execution”, and I could even stretch this to some of the park’s more ambitious installations. Examples I’m thinking of here include:
  • Steeplechase: I think the concept behind Steeplechase is very good, and it was built with honourable intentions given the resources and space available at the time, but I’m not sure if it entirely delivers compared to some other family roller coasters I’ve ridden, even ones built in a comparable era. I personally find that the riding position combined with the lateral g-forces and jolts do make it pretty uncomfortable to ride, and I don’t personally think it offers as much in terms of thrills as some other family roller coasters I’ve been on (however, I suppose that isn’t necessarily a bad thing!). Still, I admit that it’s certainly a novel experience, and it almost falls into the classics category, but it’s not one that I particularly enjoy, personally. Probably worth keeping because of the uniqueness, for me, though.
  • The Big One: I must admit that I really do admire the spirit that led to the Big One being built; I absolutely love the fact that the whole ride was started by Geoffrey Thompson going to Cedar Point, riding Magnum XL-200 and going “I want that, but bigger”! However, I’m not sure if the way in which it was executed let it become a worldwide icon in quite the same way as Magnum XL-200 did. Now, I’m not saying that the park did badly with the Big One at all; I personally think the layout deserves more credit than it sometimes gets given the space it was built in and the technology available when the ride was constructed; I’m a little sceptical as to whether BPB could necessarily have pulled off a Magnum-style airtime fest of a layout due to what was over and under it, personally. However, the way in which the layout was executed meant that it never really became quite as popular and revered as Magnum XL-200 did; while I won’t deny that the Big One has been hugely successful for the park, and most visitors do still really enjoy it, I’d guess that it may have been even more successful and had an even wider appeal had it tried to emulate its slightly older American cousin a little more. Magnum remains a pretty highly received coaster worldwide 31 years after opening, while I’d argue that the Big One kind of faded into obscurity a little outside of the UK once it lost that all-important height record.
  • Ice Blast: A drop tower is arguably the perfect fit for Pleasure Beach in terms of the kind of park they are and the circumstances they have to deal with; they’re rides that are tall and pack thrill while taking up very little space. I’d also argue that the S&S Space Shot was a pretty good choice; the shot’n’drop technology was very unique to Britain at the time, and the rides in the USA and elsewhere are reviewed pretty well. However, Blackpool’s version of the ride, while still fun, strangely seemed to feel like a noticeably weaker ride in terms of forces, sensations and overall thrill than the other S&S Space Shot I’ve had the pleasure of riding (Dr Doom’s FearFall at IOA). I’m slightly stumped as to why this is, because two rides of the same type should in theory feel quite similar to each other, however to me, Ice Blast felt noticeably weaker than its Floridian sibling. Personally, I think the park could definitely put a stronger drop tower or even another kind of thrill flat on this space at some point in the future.
  • Valhalla: As with the Big One, I hugely admire the spirit that led to Valhalla’s installation, and I think that the concept is a brilliant one. It’s very, very unique, and I think it did turn out to be far more revered worldwide than the Big One; you only have to look at how many times it’s won the Best Water Ride award at the GTAs! However, while I won’t deny that Valhalla is popular, and a real fan favourite, I have my doubts as to whether it was necessarily a good long-term fit for the park, for various reasons. For starters, I’m not sure if the ride was/is a particularly sustainable one; some of the effects are notoriously unreliable, and the ride also reportedly costs the park an arm and a leg to run. Also, while I know that the ride’s wetness appeals to some people, and is almost part of its spectacle in many ways, many (myself included) find the wetness a little too much, and I have my doubts about the ride’s year-round appeal because of it, something that is arguably quite important for a ride that costs so much to maintain in a park like Blackpool, where the climate is not particularly warm for a large portion of the year. While I admire Valhalla for its ambition and brilliant concept, I do think a more traditional dark ride may perhaps have been a better fit for the park in the long-term, personally.
  • Infusion: OK, I’m probably being too harsh here, as I think this ride more exists at Blackpool because an inverted coaster was going spare at Southport as opposed to because BPB wanted to build an inverted coaster, but while Infusion looks very appealing (I absolutely love the fountains and the colour scheme; great job, BPB!), it is far and away my personal least favourite inverted coaster I’ve been on. In fact, I’d say it’s my least favourite coaster period. The ride is excruciatingly rough, in my opinion, and it also sticks out a little as being the only real common, off-the-shelf ride in a park filled to the brim with some wonderfully unique rides (Actually, I suppose Revolution is off-the-shelf, but I think that type of ride is most definitely a dying breed, while SLCs are still incredibly common). As I said, however, I admit that the park only really put this in because it was going spare from Southport, and they probably didn’t have the financial means to build anything more unique at the time.
  • Skyforce: Now I’ve never actually been on Skyforce myself, but many BPB fans seem to have great disdain towards it as an experience. I must admit that this mystified me a bit, as similar Gerstlauer flat rides elsewhere seem to get far more positive reviews, but from what I’ve heard, I think the wind produced by Blackpool Pleasure Beach’s coastal location can inhibit the ability to get a good spin compared to other locations where the ride type is installed, and the ride’s capacity also seems to be a common line of criticism. It also allegedly didn’t take off to the extent that Blackpool wanted it to in terms of popularity. While the ride is unique to the UK, looks nice (in my opinion), and I am a fan of the ability to tailor your own ride experience, I think that something with a greater degree of consistency and a higher throughput may well have been a better long-term fit for BPB, in my opinion.
  • Icon: Now I have a huge amount of love for Icon; it’s my number 1 UK coaster and I love it to bits! However, I think there is a general mood of disappointment surrounding Icon among most, and it was never really particularly successful for Blackpool, so I do think it is worth talking about. Among most people I speak to about Icon, both inside and outside of the enthusiast community, the general consensus seems to be one of disappointment or apathy, as well as confusion at why some like myself seem to love it so much; overall, most seem pretty apathetic towards Icon as an experience. While I haven’t seen anyone who strongly dislikes or hates Icon, most seem to think that it is a weaker utilisation of the ride technology it uses than similar rides abroad, and as such, I don’t think it ever really gained that widespread popularity & revered status that rides like Helix did. As much as I admire the Thompson family for building such an ambitious ride, and I do personally have a huge amount of love for Icon as a ride experience, if you look to some other coasters recently installed at parks abroad, then I maybe think that there are some more cost-effective rides that could possibly have proven more highly revered and popular among park guests.
So for that reason, I think Blackpool’s heritage and more unique parts are things to be treasured, as I think that it is the combined product of heritage rides as well as some more modern things that make it a really special place as opposed to necessarily any one thing on its own.

I should of course note that these opinions are entirely my own; nobody is right or wrong about this, and I completely appreciate that these rides have many fans! I’m merely airing my own opinions on these rides compared to what I have experienced and what I’ve heard about certain rides abroad; I completely appreciate and understand that these rides are liked by many both inside the enthusiast community and out.
Click to expand...
Wow you like your long posts Matt!

Bedtime reading :)

Sent from my ELS-NX9 using Tapatalk
 
I think Oktoberfest events must be the flavour of the month at the moment in UK theme parks, because now Blackpool Pleasure Beach is getting in on some of the German-inspired action! The park is holding an Oktoberfest event on every Saturday in September. Here’s the park’s press release:
Blackpool Pleasure Beach said:
OKTOBERFEST COMES TO BLACKPOOL

Enjoy an amazing day out with all the rides and our Oktoberfest event every Saturday in September.

Join us at Blackpool Pleasure Beach for our Oktoberfest event every Saturday in September!

Included in your admission to the park, our Oktoberfest will be in our new event space “The Hub” and will include everything you would expect; from traditional Bavarian Sausages, Pretzels, and Bavarian Beer on draft - to our resident German Oompah Band - The Amazing Bavarian Stompers!
Click to expand...

Here’s some more info: https://www.thrillnation.net/oktoberfest-event-at-blackpool-pleasure-beach/

I think this should be really good for the Pleasure Beach! Are you excited for the park’s new event?
 
I'm visiting for the late night riding at the end of September so it'll be a nice bonus for me to enjoy. Spending a few days at the park as I've not been since opening weekend so will probably prioritise this and riding in the dark during my visit.
 
Rumours suggest this new event space is where the wild mouse used to be, as staff were seen adding new lighting to that area yesterday. Seems slightly odd when they’re got the massive area where trauma towers used to be, unless they plan to use it all.
 
Sorry to switch it up a bit. Does anyone remember this? Throw back to the photo cover for Playstation. Opening year I think.

FB-IMG-1598207480586.jpg
 
Status
This topic has been locked. No further replies can be posted.
Top