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Blackpool Pleasure Beach: Icon - 2018 Mack Double Launch Coaster

My predictions for WM and Icon before either opened was that WM would be in the Alton Towers top 5 coasters whilst Icon would be UK top 5.

Having now ridden both I stand by that statement, only just in the case of Icon which is behind Ultimate, Smiler, Nemesis and Stealth. It's really good but just not in the same league as the truly great European rides and not quite as good as I'd hoped. WM on the other hand whilst not great is better than I feared it would be.
 
I would say Icon is definitely one of the best in the UK. But I can see why better travelled people don't rate it so highly. For me it's a great all round coaster but I was disappointed with the intensity of the launches. However at the end of the day it's a unique attraction for the UK and for that reason I'm happy :)

Edit: Also I doubt there's anyone that only likes it because it's a Mack. I'm sure we would be equally happy with an Intamin or S&S launched coaster
 
MakoMania said:
I think that BPB's biggest mistake (other than the very poor marketing campaign) is spending too much on one ride, when really they are not in a financial position to do so.

With the money they have spent on Icon, one ride, they could have bought a Premier Rides Sky Rocket II, an RMC Raptor coaster, a Gravity Group wooden coaster (e.g.-Mine Blower) and a large flat ride.

That's 3 new coasters and one new flat ride all for the price of what they have spent on their one new coaster. Surely when you are as financially squeezed as BPB are at the minute, you should be opting for maximum value attractions. Premier Rides, Gravity Group and RMC are all high quality manufacturers as well.
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And just where in the park would they have put all these new attractions?

What a daft comment to make, a park in Blackpool's situation needs to heavily consider any addition, and you comment about them being in a bad financial position yet suggest they buy in 4 attractions instead of 1? Where the later costs like maintenance would be increased tenfold?

Absolute nonsense post...
 
Benzin said:
And just where in the park would they have put all these new attractions?

What a daft comment to make, a park in Blackpool's situation needs to heavily consider any addition, and you comment about them being in a bad financial position yet suggest they buy in 4 attractions instead of 1? Where the later costs like maintenance would be increased tenfold?

Absolute nonsense post...
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It's not nonsense, it's exactly what Six Flags have done so well.

4× ROI, 4× marketing opportunity. It's not rocket science. Just look at the Six Flags recovery from bankruptcy as a case study :)

There is plenty of room left in the park for development:

Bowl-a-drome
Beach Amusements
Wild Mouse area
Fountain area
Entrance gardens

and that's not to mention if attractions like Ice Blast and Grand Prix are to be retired.
 
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MakoMania said:
No, I like it because it's a great ride, not because it's made by Mack.

Cobra's Curse is not a great coaster, average at best. That's also by Mack.
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I actually rate cobras curse over icon. It does what it claims to do which is be a fun family spinner. Icon states it is balls to the wall thrill and it’s mostly slow launches and lots of plodding.
 
Dave said:
I actually rate cobras curse over icon. It does what it claims to do which is be a fun family spinner. Icon states it is balls to the wall thrill and it’s mostly slow launches and lots of plodding.
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Mark the date folks, Dave defending a SeaWorld owned attraction from me :p

I can see what you're saying though, I agree that Icon is not a very intense experience :)
 
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Icon is slow and kinda boring. But it's the only ride in the UK with any decent airtime, so that makes it a winner for lots of enthusiasts.

Sure you have to wait until after 1.23pm and sit on the back row to experience said airtime, but at least it's there.
 
Dave said:
I like the rides at SeaWorld and busch, just don’t like the Whale shows.
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Have you ridden Mako @Dave? If not, I'm sure you'll love that!

Anyway, I purposely left my first Icon ride until around 2pm because of what people said about it warming up. Well, it was actually partly down to the fact that people said to me that Icon had the highest throughput at BPB, so it wouldn't matter what time I did it, but you get my point. Would you guys say that the ride would have gained a decent amount of speed by 2pm?

RicketyCricket said:
But it's the only ride in the UK with any decent airtime
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Have you ridden Megafobia at Oakwood? But I must admit that besides Megafobia, I agree with your point in general!
 
Ive not done Megaphobia in fairness. Mainly because I can get to the airport and fly to Europa/Phantasialand in the time it takes to drive there!

I've been delaying Oakwood for years... Maybe next year.
 
RicketyCricket said:
Ive not done Megaphobia in fairness. Mainly because I can get to the airport and fly to Europa/Phantasialand in the time it takes to drive there!
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Ah right. Thanks for the clarification @RicketyCricket; in terms of airtime, I'd probably say either Megafobia or Icon wins the UK competition, but I far prefer Icon as an overall ride.
 
There's more airtime on Icon's first hill than all of Megafobia imo. I agree with John that Icon is in the top 5 in the UK (and with the rest of his UK top 5) but isn't close to say, top 10 or 20 in Europe
 
I hope I`m allowed to ask that, cause it`s a little off the main topic: Are there actually any people out there who rode Icon and Blue Fire and preferred Blue Fire?
 
GeorgeT said:
I hope I`m allowed to ask that, cause it`s a little off the main topic: Are there actually any people out there who rode Icon and Blue Fire and preferred Blue Fire?
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I prefer Blue Fire. But only just.

The launch is much more snappy, and the final inversion is possibly my favourite 'coaster moment' out there.
 
MakoMania said:
I think that BPB's biggest mistake (other than the very poor marketing campaign) is spending too much on one ride, when really they are not in a financial position to do so.
With the money they have spent on Icon, one ride, they could have bought a Premier Rides Sky Rocket II, an RMC Raptor coaster, a Gravity Group wooden coaster (e.g.-Mine Blower) and a large flat ride.
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I'm not sure what qualifies anyone to state that they 'can't afford' to build a given ride, unless you have first hand access to their bank account & financial information. Anyway, for ZERO money, other than regular maintenance, etc, they could have KEPT a wooden coaster that they already had and that was totally unique to the UK.
 
MakoMania said:
^You only need to look at BPB's accounts on company house to know their financial state (whilst not disastrous) isn't as healthy as it could be.
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Then adding multiple things that incur additional costs (like any ride) is questionable no?

Maintaining 4 different rides is far more costly than maintaining 1... The required ROI would actually likely be higher as a result...
 
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