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Blackpool Pleasure Beach: Icon - 2018 Mack Double Launch Coaster

shakey said:
What's a thrill coaster and what isn't ? Depends on your own perspective.
There are plenty of adults that won't even ride The Streak at PB but then there are 8 year old's that will happily ride the Big One.

I would class Th13teen as a thrill ride. It attracts younger kids simply because the height restrictions allow it.

SW8 will count as a thrill ride IMO, although I would expect the height restrictions to allow more younger kids to ride it than most of the other coaster at AT, and that is exactly what they need to attract a broader age range.
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I don't think the argument you make of how adults don't want to ride Nickelodeon Streak, and kids want to ride The Big One really proves anything. Lots of adults hate riding Nemesis and Oblivion, but a lot of kids (abliet slightly older, around 10) love riding them. Likewise a lot of adults like gentle rides and kids find them boring.

I'm not saying you're wrong, but I really can't see Th13teen as a thrill coaster. Besides the drop, what other elements does the ride have that indicate that it's a thrill coaster? Let's meet half way and say it's "family-thrill" ay?" :p

From Towers' perspective, yeah SW8 probably will count as a thrill ride. But it's likely it won't be that thrilling as the other proper thrill coasters. Again, like Th13teen it could be family-thrill at most.
 
Poisson said:
Good point by @Dave , Bandit at Movie Park looks harmless in photos but causes major discomfort in life. Same as Ultimate looks massively uncomfortable and isn't.
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My knees disagree with you on the Ultimate but Diogo has since schooled me on how to sit in it properly so I think a reride is in order :) You are right though the ride itself is great for a woodie considering its age.

Spike said:
To be fair to Alton, they are trying something which goes against all of the market research data they've done over the years. A woodie has always been a 'no no' from market research, so installing a massive RMC is a risk for them. Also, we've recently had The Smiler so was anyone expecting another high thrill coaster so soon? When built, It will have taken Mandy Land 24 years to install a new coaster, where as Alton have installed solidly for those 2 1/2 decades.
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Fully agree that this is the best thing AT could have done with the Smiler incident still lingering in peoples afterthoughts. Letting other parks building thrill rides will take the spotlight on the "dangerous" rides and AT can comeback with a bang a little further down the line. I doubt we'll see a thrill coaster at Alton until at least 2021, unless we get a water coaster instead of a flume.

I think the Blackpool layout looks great without being stunning and ride interaction will great as well. The biggest let down for me is that this is unlikely to be themed or will feature Cu Chulainn-esque theming which starts and stops at the queue entrance. I'm not expecting Taron levels of theming but I expect very little from BPB in this regard.
 
TedTheHuman said:
I don't think the argument you make of how adults don't want to ride Nickelodeon Streak, and kids want to ride The Big One really proves anything. Lots of adults hate riding Nemesis and Oblivion, but a lot of kids (abliet slightly older, around 10) love riding them. Likewise a lot of adults like gentle rides and kids find them boring.
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I think it proves the point I was trying to make in that it is very difficult to have an exact cut off point to when a family ride becomes a thrill ride because everyone has different limits. The only criteria I would go on is that if the ride is suitable for almost everyone then that is a family ride.

Anyway back to the Mack coaster, I really hope this ride gets the crowds back at PB and I hope they can be on the ball with ride operations when that happens. My only concern is the £16.25m price tag. PB don't have quite as big pockets as Merlin so the investment is not without it's risks.
 
shakey said:
I think it proves the point I was trying to make in that it is very difficult to have an exact cut off point to when a family ride becomes a thrill ride because everyone has different limits. The only criteria I would go on is that if the ride is suitable for almost everyone then that is a family ride.
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That's fair enough. It's interesting though how in the past we always associated a thrill coaster being something that has a 1.4M height restriction, but in recent years Mack have designed their mega coasters 1.3M, the limit you mentioned has gotten tighter in recent years it seems!
 
Martin said:
It's more the fact that Blackpool are showing ambition with this, Towers are not with SW8.
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I don't want to hijack this thread for SW8 but how are they not?

It's a family coaster, not everything at any theme park is going to be for the thrill market and even before the Smiler incident SW8 was always going to be a family coaster.

Blackpools ride is far more exciting for our demographic, it's also a Mack which this forum has a particular love of. I am relatively confident I will prefer this to SW8 but I don't have a problem yet with the stuff we have seen for that ride (other than it's a little short).

Ambition isn't always about the biggest and the fastest, to me that's where both towers and Blackpool have gone wrong in the past. The year will be a win if we get a well themed family woody at towers (no guarantee it will be) and we get a thrilling mid sized launch coaster at Blackpool (no guarantee it will be).

It will be a curious year.
 
Right, SW8 VS Project 2018.

Whilst the latter is certainly the most exciting (at least I would say), both projects are delivering rides we've wanted in these parks for a number of years now.

Project 2018, will give Blackpool a much needed major headliner and coaster the place has needed for years, offering something both interesting and very different.

Whilst the ride may not quite make Helix or even Blue Fire levels, it is definitely the most exciting addition to the UK for a long time and features an exciting layout.

SW8, the UK is finally getting a new woodie, a modern woodie with some newer elements. It's a shame the layout is a little short and mediocre, but hopefully if they can theme this well and add some theatre to it, the ride could be something special.

It will more-so be more like White Lighting and Joris, as opposed to Wodan and Troy.

Drayton need to do something. I will not be happy if we see another Thomas ride.
 
^ Surely they've already bought out all of Zamperla's catalogue?? ;)

I'm hoping this announcement will make Merlin rethink SW8 into being a bit better.... I'm mean, they even admitted when announcing The Smiler that they needed to start making better coasters... let's hope they haven't forgotten that they said that already.

As for Project 2018, going by the rides I've been on so far, this looks like it's going to be a good solid 7/10 ride. Nothing amazing, just good fun. Top speed is a little disappointing if I'm honest. Isn't Air faster? XD
 
AliceHL91 said:
I'm glad about the slower launches. Fast launches crammed into relatively small spaces are just horrible.. *ahem* Rita *ahem*
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That's half the fun for me - that rush in the pit of your stomach going from '0-100'** in 2 seconds is brilliant!

**kmph
 
A great article on Construction 2018 by Park World, including a description of the layout by who I assume is one of the designers:
Park World said:
Blackpool Pleasure Beach has revealed details of its first new rollercoaster for over a decade, and it’s a biggie. Opening in 2018, the £16.25 million ($21m/€19m) Construction MMXVIII (18) by Mack Rides will be the UK’s first double launch coaster, featuring well over 1km of track.

The landlocked British seaside amusement park, which enjoys a reputation as one of the world’s most “ride intensive” parks, has a habit of placing attractions over, under and alongside one another. The new rollercoaster continues that tradition, travelling across a large area of the park from near start of the Big Dipper right over to the Steeplechase, interacting with these and three further coasters a total of 15 times. During an experience lasting two minutes (or 161 seconds including loading), passengers in each of the three 16-seater trains will reach speeds of up to 80kmh/55mph as they run through a succession of elements including two inversions, travelling up to a maximum height of 88.5ft (27m).

“We have been working on this concept for five years now and are delighted to be able share our plans,” says Blackpool Pleasure Beach deputy managing director, Nick Thompson. “Construction 2018 will be fast, adrenalin fuelled and exhilarating but also smooth and comfortable. We expect to see thrill-seekers flock to the park to experience this UK first.”

The multi-million attraction represents perhaps the pinnacle of a long professional relationship and friendship between the Thompson family in Blackpool and the Mack family, who as well as building rides famously operate Europa-Park near Freiburg. Between them the two families have more than 350 years’ history in the amusement industry. A team from the Pleasure Beach, together with a handful of selected media representatives, travelled to Germany recently to visit the Mack Rides factory in Waldkirch and then sample several attractions at Europa-Park including Blue Fire, which features a similar LSM launch system to Construction 18, albeit with just the one launch.

During the Blackpool Pleasure Beach press conference at Mack Rides HQ, Roland Mack commented that he was “very jealous of Blackpool for having a better rollercoaster than Europa-Park, but added that, “we are extremely proud to supply this fantastic theme park with such an impressive ride and are excited to open a new chapter in our common history of two great family companies. We are convinced that the Thompson family and the Pleasure Beach have a true winner on their hands and will create many happy faces with this new coaster.”

Construction 18 – the attraction’s working name – will feature a total of 1,144m of track, making it almost 200m longer than Blue Fire, but over 200m shorter than Helix at Liseberg (Gothenburg), another ride with which it shares several similarities. To plot the coaster’s course, and gain an accurate picture of surrounding attractions which were built long before the days of computer modelling, the park was 3D laser scanned.

Here Gordt describes the full layout for Park World readers: “We race out of the station and through the first LSM launch section – going from 0-80kmh/55mph with a maximum acceleration of -4.3G – and then heading directly after that into a top hat which is 27m (approx 85ft) and then we have very first interaction with Big One as we cross below the lift hill with a very tight clearance envelope. The next element is one of the most complicated because we have the inclined loop and cross over our own ride [Avalanche/Mack Boblsed]. After that we have banking which changes from 70 to 80°, an angle change of 150° at very high speed, and also we are passing two existing rides, the Big Dipper and Steeplechase, which the Pleasure Beach is doing some ground work on so that the ride can travel under it. This is followed by an S-bend section, which you pass through at 70kmh/45mph, then going back where we came from and passing again the Big Dipper and Steeplechase, then we have an interlocking zero G roll with inclined looping above the walkway of the park.

The next element will be the second launch, where we accelerate again to 85kmh, but this time the train is already moving. Then it’s straight into an Immelmann loop and after that very high banked turn (120°) followed by several airtime humps and a very high helix. After that there will be several more airtime humps and new key element, an outside banked airtime hump with approximately 30° banking to the wrong side, which gives a very crazy ride experience. It’s always important to have a good finale, so at the end we will have a ‘high five’ interaction with the Big Dipper, where riders on the two coasters can salute each other if the trains are passing at the right time. Then we hit the final brake before returning to the station. The average speed throughout the ride will be 60kmh (c.40mph); there will be no time to relax!”

Blackpool Pleasure Beach’s last new rollercoaster was Infusion, a Vekoma Suspended Looping Coaster that was given an extensive refurbishment after being removed from its former home of Pleasureland in Southport (once a sister park to Pleasure Beach). The last brand new coaster was the Big One, the Arrow-designed mega coaster introduced by the late Geoffrey Thompson in 1994 and which still serves as the park’s signature attraction and a local seaside landmark.

In adding a new coaster after all these years, the Thompsons had many choices, but for Nick Thompson a launch coaster was a no-brainer: “Having been on many launch coasters around the world and spoken to friends, colleagues and people on the park that have too, I believe they are one of the most exciting ride developments of recent times. The exhilaration of the launch – which will be the same as a that felt by the driver of a Formula 1 car or four times that experienced in a Lamborghini Gallardo – will be just so exciting and exhilarating. To have a double launch makes it even better.”

“This will actually be our second launch coaster,” adds Amanda Thompson OBE, Pleasure Beach managing director. “When we put in the Revolution [the UK’s first looping coaster] back in 1979 that was really taking things to the next level, but things have since got bigger and bigger and there are more exciting rides around the world. By working closely with Mack Rides and our own engineers we have been able to create something that will be our best ever, a really exciting, stimulating ride that will blow everyone’s mind when it opens.”

Set for a spring 2018 debut, construction on the new coaster is expected to start on site at Blackpool Pleasure Beach once the 2016 season comes to a close in November. Sign up for updates via blackpoolpleasurebeach.com/construction/

A separate story on the special relationship between the Mack and Thompson families will follow in an upcoming issue of Park World.
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Launch speeds seem to be higher than initially stated which is good with the second launch reaching almost 53mph.

:)
 
Temleh on CF and PBE reckons that it was originally going to be 100KPH, so they may increase that figure in future marketing or they've reduced the speed to save some pennies
 
Dar said:
Temleh on CF and PBE reckons that it was originally going to be 100KPH, so they may increase that figure in future marketing or they've reduced the speed to save some pennies
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Assuming that the layout hasn't changed at all then I can't imagine that the speed would be reduced to save money. If it is a layout designed for 100kph launches but speeds are actually going to be around 85kph then that is asking for disappointment.

:)
 
BPB are kings of saving money in strange ways and building strange things
 
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