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Blackpool Pleasure Beach: General Discussion

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RicketyCricket said:
Big One offered the worst ride I've ever had on a rollercoaster, it was that bad. I remember it being rough but this was something else. Infusion felt like Octonauts in comparison.
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If you thought Big One was rough then it is a good job you didn't get a ride on the Grand National !

First time I have ever heard Infusion compared with Octonauts :)
 
Benjsh said:
I think once you ride Helix Matt you will probably realise what people say about ICON. Personally I really like it and it's definitely in my top 3 or 4 UK coasters. However it's nowhere near my top 10 or even 20 worldwide.
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Would it be a fair assessment if I was to say that Icon is to Mack Launch Coasters what Cheetah Hunt is to Intamin Blitz Coasters?
 
I feel like I post this every few months, but while I like Icon, I think it was such a missed opportunity for a coaster that we all waited the best past of twenty-five years for. A perfectly good coaster in a park that really needed to build a great one.
 
Matt N said:
Would it be a fair assessment if I was to say that Icon is to Mack Launch Coasters what Cheetah Hunt is to Intamin Blitz Coasters?
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No because you have to remember, there are Mack Multi-launches out there like Star Trek and the one at Nigoland and Copperhead Strike which from what I've heard don't live up to Icon let alone Helix or Blue Fire (maybe Copperhead Strike on reflection) but I'd more compare it to ispeed at Miribilandia in terms of what it is: Good but not the best!
 
I actually really like icon, and what I love is how i don’t find that people over-rate it or under-rate it. It’s not the most brilliant, fast, airtime filled coaster out there but it’s a good, solid, really fun ride- and probably the best coaster the UK has to offer in reality.

But what I love is people don’t go round saying it’s “world beating” because it’s not, and people don’t go round saying it’s rubbish because it’s not. It’s just classed as what it is, a really good fun coaster with plenty of hangtime and airtime moments and it’s just all round really enjoyable, got good operations and a lovely soundtrack to go with it. It’s exactly what blackpool needed as a new investment.

I’ve done helix and I’ve done blue fire. I actually really enjoy blue fire and think it’s really under-rated (most enthusiasts hate on it) and to contradict that I actually find helix really over-rated.

I don’t find helix, icon or blue fire “world-class”. That’s just what I think about Mack mega coasters, they are good solid coasters with plenty of hangtime and airtime but they will never compare to an intamin Blitz coaster like taron or taiga (or hopefully the new velocicoaster). Just my take on it anyway.
 
I think the main issue Icon suffered with when it was being constructed is that a Mack mega coaster in the UK was one of those hypothetical installations that every enthusiast seemed to fantasise about ever since the likes of Helix popped up. And when it was announced, people naturally assumed it would be like Helix, and many Helix comparisons were made during construction.

I remember there was a tremendous amount of hype surrounding it ever since it was first rumoured in 2015. There was a lot of hyperbole thrown around, such as; “it’s going to demolish everything else in the UK by a country mile”, “the whole world will be looking at Blackpool in jealousy when this opens”, “this has the potential to be better than Helix”, “this will rank comfortably among Europe’s very top coasters”, “Merlin have got a shock coming when this opens, because their poxy little family GCI will get annihilated by the greatest roller coaster ever built in the UK”. Well, the comments were something along those lines, anyway. People were expecting this tremendous ride that would bring huge success to Blackpool in the same manner that the Big One did 24 years prior and put a huge dent in Merlin’s crown. People expected (or perhaps almost hoped) that Wicker Man would fail miserably for Alton Towers, while Icon would be one of the country’s greatest ever successes for Blackpool Pleasure Beach.

And then when it opened, it didn’t really live up to that level of hype. The ride was good, but seemingly more comparable to Blue Fire than Helix, if most reviews are anything to go by. And while Blue Fire is seemingly far from a poor ride, this meant that a lot of enthusiasts were pretty disappointed with how Icon turned out, as I think many people were expecting the next Helix from it.

One thing I find rather interesting is that as well as Wicker Man seemingly being a far more successful installation commercially, I’d argue that it also seems to be getting reviewed far more positively in the long term than Icon. Many people expected Icon to be a long-term hit, with hype for Wicker Man evaporating within weeks of opening, but I’d almost argue it’s worked out the opposite way.

I fear that a similar thing will happen if this country ever gets an RMC. I think it’ll naturally get compared to things like Steel Vengeance, so if the ride opens and is more comparable to one of the company’s weaker coasters, then I fear that there might be disappointment. I’m not saying that one of this country’s parks couldn’t pull a Steel Vengeance out of their pockets, but I do fear that a hypothetical UK RMC could fare similarly to Icon in terms of reviews if it falls even slightly short of the upper echelons of RMC coasters.
 
Matt N said:
Would it be a fair assessment if I was to say that Icon is to Mack Launch Coasters what Cheetah Hunt is to Intamin Blitz Coasters?
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Quite possibly......however I love Cheetah Hunt for the area it's in and I'm a big BGT fan too so I'm probably a bit biased with that one.

ICON is a really solid coaster. Deliver everything it's meant to. I have just ridden so many coasters now that it just doesn't make me go "WOW". I can see why a lot of UK enthusiasts who perhaps haven't been on too many overseas rides would love it though.
 
Matt N said:
I think the main issue Icon suffered with when it was being constructed is that a Mack mega coaster in the UK was one of those hypothetical installations that every enthusiast seemed to fantasise about ever since the likes of Helix popped up. And when it was announced, people naturally assumed it would be like Helix, and many Helix comparisons were made during construction.

I remember there was a tremendous amount of hype surrounding it ever since it was first rumoured in 2015. There was a lot of hyperbole thrown around, such as; “it’s going to demolish everything else in the UK by a country mile”, “the whole world will be looking at Blackpool in jealousy when this opens”, “this has the potential to be better than Helix”, “this will rank comfortably among Europe’s very top coasters”, “Merlin have got a shock coming when this opens, because their poxy little family GCI will get annihilated by the greatest roller coaster ever built in the UK”. Well, the comments were something along those lines, anyway. People were expecting this tremendous ride that would bring huge success to Blackpool in the same manner that the Big One did 24 years prior and put a huge dent in Merlin’s crown. People expected (or perhaps almost hoped) that Wicker Man would fail miserably for Alton Towers, while Icon would be one of the country’s greatest ever successes for Blackpool Pleasure Beach.

And then when it opened, it didn’t really live up to that level of hype. The ride was good, but seemingly more comparable to Blue Fire than Helix, if most reviews are anything to go by. And while Blue Fire is seemingly far from a poor ride, this meant that a lot of enthusiasts were pretty disappointed with how Icon turned out, as I think many people were expecting the next Helix from it.

One thing I find rather interesting is that as well as Wicker Man seemingly being a far more successful installation commercially, I’d argue that it also seems to be getting reviewed far more positively in the long term than Icon. Many people expected Icon to be a long-term hit, with hype for Wicker Man evaporating within weeks of opening, but I’d almost argue it’s worked out the opposite way.
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Tbh, the most it really is is probably the UK's coaster (opinion dependant) and the new icon of Blackpool but i feel that Wicker Man and Icon both succeeded somehow and of course it wasn't going to be Blue Fire or Helix, however it's a ride we're very lucky to have in the U.K. along with Wicker Man and i feel like some people don't appreciate them enough especially as we've now got a modern wooden coaster and a double-launch rollercoaster. Yes they're no Taiga, Helix or Taron and definitely no Troy or El Toro but they're good for the UK standards!
 
Benjsh said:
Quite possibly......however I love Cheetah Hunt for the area it's in and I'm a big BGT fan too so I'm probably a bit biased with that one.

ICON is a really solid coaster. Deliver everything it's meant to. I have just ridden so many coasters now that it just doesn't make me go "WOW". I can see why a lot of UK enthusiasts who perhaps haven't been on too many overseas rides would love it though.
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I’m not saying that Cheetah Hunt is a poor ride by any means, as I do remember enjoying it (if it didn’t have the OTSRs, I think I’d have enjoyed it a lot more), but I see both almost consistently being ranked towards the bottom of the list for their respective coaster types.
 
Icon is great as it is the best steel coaster that the pleasure beach owns. However when you start to compare it to other UK steel coasters outside the pleasure beach, then it's nothing to write home about
 
RoyJess said:
Icon is great as it is the best steel coaster that the pleasure beach owns. However when you start to compare it to other UK steel coasters outside the pleasure beach, then it's nothing to write home about
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I don’t know what steel coaster in the UK beats icon.

You can argue nemesis (I’m not a personal fan of it), but apart from that, icon is at the front of the pack.
 
Prior to both rides opening, I'd anticipated Icon being firmly in the UK top 5 and WM being firmly in the Alton Towers top 5.

I'm still fairly happy with that initial guess, even though I consider Icon slightly weaker than I'd anticipated and WM considerably better. For the record, I'd put Icon behind the likes of Nemesis, Smiler, Ultimate and Stealth,
 
John said:
For the record, I'd put Icon behind the likes of Nemesis, Smiler, Ultimate and Stealth,
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I would hardly call stealth a good coaster. Sure it’s thrilling but it’s way too short to be classed as a top coaster.

Smiler is one of the worst coasters I’ve ever been on, let alone in the UK. The only thing it has going for it is a long ride time, but that’s filled with head-banging and rattling the whole time. In my opinion one of the worst gerst infinity coasters designed and poor choice of restraints with OSTRS compared to kärnans lapbars. It’s a gimmick and that’s the best I can call it- all merlin wanted was the inversion record.

Nemesis- it’s smooth, it’s long, it’s well-paced, but I was extremely underwhelmed. Perhaps because of all the hype from uk enthusiasts, but I found it somewhat “boring”. Inferno, black mamba and Osiris all top it for me.

I haven’t done the ultimate so I can’t comment.

So yeah, in my opinion, icon is easily the UKs best coaster. Long ride time, double launch, smooth, no rattling or jerking, plenty of airtime and hang time and just an all round good fun coaster coupled with a good soundtrack. Not to mention it probably has the best operations out of any UK coaster as well which is a massive factor for me.

I haven’t ridden wickerman as I have no interest in going to merlin parks anymore really, but in my opinion icon is the best uk coaster and nothing comes close, but it’s certainly not world beating.
 
Icon fits the bill as a modern family coaster, but it isn't anywhere near as good as it could have been in my opinion. The layout is strong, but it's taken too slowly for it to have the impact it could have had with the quick transitions and airtime moments.

Personally speaking, it's not anywhere close to my favourite coaster in the UK, I rate it below The Big One, Grand National, Big Dipper, Revolution and Avalanche at BPB alone.
 
Pleasure Beach Valhalla said:
No because you have to remember, there are Mack Multi-launches out there like Star Trek and the one at Nigoland and Copperhead Strike which from what I've heard don't live up to Icon let alone Helix or Blue Fire (maybe Copperhead Strike on reflection) but I'd more compare it to ispeed at Miribilandia in terms of what it is: Good but not the best!
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I haven’t ridden Copperhead Strike, but Star Trek at Movie park and AlpinaBlitz in Nigloland are better than Icon in my opinion. Both have decent airtime (which Icon lacks), and are fun rides, though nothing world beating.

Icon spends most of its time meandering around doing very little to keep you entertained. Sure it has the odd moment that’s fun but it’s mostly a lot of meh. Icon could have been amazing if it was a touch faster but unfortunately it’s a missed opportunity.
 
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