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Blackpool Pleasure Beach: Icon - 2018 Mack Double Launch Coaster

IanSR said:
Nobody knows. All the non-geek GP I know, know about Wickerman, they have no clue there's another new ride at BPB.
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Have to agree. I only know about Icon because of this forum and other theme park related content that I follow.

I appreciate Blackpool isn't very local to me but I would still expect to have seen or heard something. I've seen plenty of adverts on TV for Wicker Man and even heard a radio advert for it the other day, but not seen or heard anything about Icon. Pleasure Beach really need to get the word out there!
 
As Pleasure Beach is the “UK’s most favourite Theme Park” maybe they are just counting on word of mouth and hoping those vloggers get the message out there.
 
It's almost as if they weren't expecting huge queues. The queue line is small, and there was virtually no overspill all weekend, certainly none on opening day.

It would be interesting to know what they would consider to be a success for the ride.
 
Not seen much in Yorkshire and the Facebook advert that keeps popping up has Ice blast (or whatever it’s called now) on it.
 
Marketing not their strong point and never has been either.

Ultimately people go to Blackpool for a variety of reasons. Its a seaside resort and probably the most famous of the lot so it doesn't need a lot of advertising.

Towers is different because it's not like there is anything else there. There's the park + hotels and waterpark and not much else.

The marketing in and around Blackpool for ICON is quite strong for example
 
Plus the ride is putting through more people in 10 minutes than Wicker Man was getting through in an hour when it first opened.

Ahhh, the good ole opening weekend of 240 people per hour, happy times those were :)
 
There's no USP for this ride. Say what you like about the culture of 'hard sell' that Merlin have created at Alton and Thorpe, but in the UK, rides do well when they have an angle to push. Icon may be quality, but it's not going to naturally drag people to the park. Besides, it's been so long since BPB have installed anything major, it's not as if visitors are expecting it as Alton's in-built repeat crowd do. I'm not suggesting that BPB don't have loyal customers for other reasons, but they need to let people know this is existing and open if we want to see any of those three planned ride investments over the next ten years...
 
I think BPB's ineffective marketing strategy, poor customer service (at times) and demolition of the Wild Mouse all go towards the lower-than-hoped-for crowds for Icon. They advertise it well in Blackpool, but don't cater for walk-ups with their currently business strategy, which only focuses on online bookings. I did actually see a TV advert for Icon a few weeks back (bear in mind I live 5 hours away from the park!) but haven't since.

In terms of the ride itself, it has been running very efficiently but even so, I would have expected much bigger crowds for the opening weekend.

I do hope Icon is a success, it's a brilliant ride built purely for quality.
 
With the per train capacity it can only really be getting 900-1000pph, hardly a throughput machine (still much better than Towers is managing at the mo)
 
I've seen the Icon TV advert about as much as the Wickerman advert (probably about 4 times) but no idea what channel it was on.

The train lights and mist were both on when I dropped in on the way back from work, unfortunately Icon was having problems (train stuck on pre-launch, eventually got it to go and the ride re-opened then same thing happened about 30 minutes later, only took about 5 minutes to fix that time)
 
The queue was never out of the opening gates yesterday and from the steps near there it took around 20 minutes, maybe less and never more than 30 minutes.

Remember, Blackpool also has a lower capacity than Towers and I'd say over 700 is great there. Only bad things are a wait for 12 trains on icon feels the same as a wait for 3 on Nash, so it makes the other rides seem even slower. Also, last time I rode the big one it felt really smooth, rode icon beforehand yesterday, hopped on the big one and its seats are poorly designed, my back barely fits in the gaps in the seats, Nd they aren't comfy, my feet don't fit comfortably on the floor and I'm only 5'7, my 6'1 cousin could barely squeeze into and out of the train, and afterwards the contrast between the two coasters made me feel like I needed a Chiropractor. :( least fun ride I've ever had on it, and the Nash is more comfy, and actually a top coaster for me.
 
Ryan B said:
Remember, Blackpool also has a lower capacity than Towers and I'd say over 700 is great there. Only bad things are a wait for 12 trains on icon feels the same as a wait for 3 on Nash, so it makes the other rides seem even slower. Also, last time I rode the big one it felt really smooth, rode icon beforehand yesterday, hopped on the big one and its seats are poorly designed, my back barely fits in the gaps in the seats, Nd they aren't comfy, my feet don't fit comfortably on the floor and I'm only 5'7, my 6'1 cousin could barely squeeze into and out of the train, and afterwards the contrast between the two coasters made me feel like I needed a Chiropractor. :( least fun ride I've ever had on it, and the Nash is more comfy, and actually a top coaster for me.
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If you're the same height as me and found Big One's cars uncomfortable, and your 6'1" cousin could barely fit, then I really worry for my 6'6" dad...
 
Maybe they’re waiting until the summer to launch a full on ad campaign and going with the word of mouth approach for the first month or so.

Plus I’d say UKs first double launch coaster is a pretty good USP.
 
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