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Southport Pleasureland

Here's a video look back, for anyone interested...
http://youtu.be/BfUOW5qnSVw

I went last year for the first time in seven years, and it was sad to see the state the place is now in, especially the staff.
There's still four coasters, which was a start, but the fact that they still had Traumatizer on their advertising signs outside told me a lot. It may not have been one of the UK greats, but taking the chainsaw to Cyclone was one of Mandy's worse decisions, and Traumatizer's simply not been the same since it made the journey up the M6 (it used to be rideable!).
Whilst I'm glad it still exists in some form or another, and a couple of the old attractions are still running - the current incarnation of the park is depressing and I shan't be back any time soon.
 
I went twice last summer, with a service user from work.

To be honest, there was more there than I expected! We did have fun, to an extent. But the place wasn't in a good state, and a couple of the rides had to be pushed to get them going!

I'm about to move about 5 minutes walk from the park, so might go and have another look ;)
 
Does anybody have any idea what's going on with their 'Speed Loop' attraction (an off-the-shelf Pinfari with one inversion)?

It arrived on park over 10 months ago now and has been fully constructed for quite some time. The park were hyping it up as their first inverting coaster since Traumatiser left the park.

But it has been SBNO ever since. Seems very strange to be to the trouble of building the coaster only to decide not to bother opening it, so I wonder if there's some kind of structural problem with the ride?

This is the attraction - https://rcdb.com/14086.htm - listed as under construction, opening 2017, here but, like I say, it has been fully constructed for almost a year now.
 
It's actually been there for around 17 months now, it arrived and got put up in at the very beginning of 2016.

It was having a lot of work done to it in 2016, randomly sections of the train would be in a different locations around the track. But this year the loop was dismantled and laid on the floor...

Essentially, god knows what's going on with it. And just for reference, word is that this is the old Gauntlet coaster from Camelot.
 
It would be really good if they do get Knightmare, but isn't it in terrible condition after being SBNO and left to rot since Camelot closed?
 
Knightmare track has now also been spotted at Southport Pleasureland:

19884420_268532866957210_4785779068482624955_n.jpg

Source: Diary of a RollerCoaster Girl

Would be great if it was to get a new lease of life!

:)
 
While I still wouldn't want to get my hopes up on it, it's interesting to see stuff moving over to Pleasureland. Yes the track and trains are in a state (to say the least!), but the bonus is this is a 30 year old ride. The guts of the ride are much less reliant on complex electronics and much more mechanical compared to more modern rides. Bit of elbow grease with a brillo pad and it'll be good as new :p.

One thing I'm unsure of is whether they will require planning permission or not for Knightmare. Height wise it's much smaller (about 26m) than the planning permission they obtained for a ferris wheel (40m) last year. Bearing in mind Traumatizer was larger at about 33ish, I can't see it being an issue if they did need to obtain it.

Whatever is happening, it's a *little* more positive than what we had been seeing, from the ride being sat rusting at Camelot to the train taking a nose dive onto the road after being mysteriously moved. At least so far it's ended up somewhere other than a scrap yard!
 
I drive past that thing nearly every day and it appears intact from the motorway so I guess that track is from lower down the in the layout. It's an interesting move, one to keep your eye on.

Also with regards to planning permission, I recall some kind of exception at Camelot due to the fact the main body of the ride sits on a frame - are there not only footers on the turnaround? It's been a while...
 
I have a soft spot for Knightmare and I'd like to see it refurbed and up and running, It would definitely warrant a trip to Southport where up until now I have had no reason to visit at all.
 
Lofty over on CoasterForce has said that they have indeed bought Knightmare for £800,000 and the track is going to be refurbished in Thronton, just outside of Blackpool.

Excellent news, Knightmare is a really good coaster and I am pleased that its life will continue in the UK!

:)
 
Having never ridden Knightmare at Camelot (and having never been to Camelot itself, but that's beside the point :p), this is great news. Southport Pleasureland for TS North next year in conjunction with Mandyland, anyone?
 
I rode it a lot (in work time!) through its time at Camelot, good ride, strange layout, funky non inverting "reverse loop" going in from the top.
Can't wait to ride it again.
 
Southport Pleasureland are missing a big opportunity next week... The Open Golf championship is coming to Southport and going to bring hundreds of thousands of golf fans (as well as young children) to Southport and when is Pleasureland open? Saturday and Sunday...

(I'm actually just really annoyed it's not open during the week when I'm going to The Open) :D
 
Had a look on their website at their current attractions; how on earth can they justify £35 (£25 in advance) for unlimited rides for 4 HOURS! - Mandy charges £22 for 12 hours of unlimited rides. How much are the rides individually, anyone know?
 
Fantastic if they get it up and running, it's a brilliant coaster. Hope they ditch the seatbelts though.

It's been gone that long and Camelot that small that more people on this website have probably ridden it's cousin in Grona Lund :p
 
Fantastic if they get it up and running, it's a brilliant coaster. Hope they ditch the seatbelts though.

It's been gone that long and Camelot that small that more people on this website have probably ridden it's cousin in Grona Lund :p
Quite. :p Having ridden Jetline just over a year ago, I'm quite looking forward to finally getting the chance to ride Knightmare.
 
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