Coaster

TRIP REPORT - 6th and 8th April 2013 Firstly, I would just like to mention that after not being able to visit Pleasure Beach for a whole year it was amazing to be back at the park for two days! I now prefer the woodies to the steelies overall, although PMBO is still the best coaster in my opinion (Just!) Although the ride operation was an absoloute farce on both of the days I was there. (Now known in our family as "The sandbag ride" hehe). I was very dissapointed, I only go once a year so only getting on three times in two days was not good. (Was closed for most of Saturday and then half a train open on Monday. Not acceptable.) Grand National and The Mouse were both running brilliantly both days (although people who visit reguarly may disagree) and were the coasters I enjoyed the most this time. They are both brilliantly fast and much more fun than any steel coaster. Wallace and Gromit is a fantastic addition to the park and is great for people of all ages. Whilst it isn't a special effect machine it does have some very good scenes and is well paced throughout - with a few small drops/downhill sections (the same as Goldmine.) Last but not least, Valhalla. I know it has it's haters, but for me it is absoloutley brilliant. The way it combines so many different things, the amazing soundtrack and everything about it makes it my favourite ride still. (I still think the wetness is too much though - it alienates the customers that go on it whereas otherwise they might reride - although it didn't put me off ) Also, the ride was running absoloutley brilliantly on both days with the only effect down being the fire on the actual water and the occasional bit of fire not going off. (The ring of fire was on for all 12 goes ) RIDECOUNT OVER TWO DAYS: Valhalla x12 (Great ride and we got our first breakdown! Although it was only before the first chainlift and for a few minutes we still counted it as one!) Grand National x6 Wild Mouse x5 Revolution x5 Wallace and Gromit - Thrill O Matic x4 (Fantastic new addition to the park) Big Dipper x4 Steeplechase x4 Big One x3 (Not happy about this - we managed nearly 20 last year with proper operation of the ride.) Ghost Train x3 Avalanche x2 Nickelodeon Streak x2 Derby Racer x1 Ice Blast x1 (Good ride, running better this year but I wasn't queueing for it when the woodies had shorter queues!) Infusion x1 (Not because I don't like it, but I can go on rides similar to that at Thorpe park which I live near to. I wanted to go on the woodies which I don't get to go on enough!) River Caves x1 There were probably a few more rides but I can't remember them off the top of my head. So my overall opinion of Blackpool Pleasure Beach: Absoloutley the best park I have ever been to - everything about it is amazing and there is no other park like it. It is without doubt the best park in the UK - it has everything. (Although it would have been nice for The Big One to have been on two trains, not half a train!)

Fastest ride at Thorpe Park - 7/10

That's fair enough then, I never realised that it cost that much to run

The game poorly makes it look like there are 7 secret elements! Also, to the people saying there won't be one, why would the game say there was?

I still haven't experienced a rollback

A poor show - it should be open until The Smiler opens.

Having all those stops seems silly when travelling forwards. I know they are neccesary, but the final two sections which consist of about five seconds of ride time between the brake sections are just stupid now.

Last season it was outside the toilets/Burger King and was much better there in my opinion.

It is worth mentioning that the piece of theming from Vampire (with the horse) has now been placed near to where the train stops to head up the second lift hill.

It depends on weather and how many rides are open. Yesterday the park wasn't actually that busy but the queues were quite long because a lot of rides were closed and most of the rides open were not being run at full capacity, therefore throughput was bad.

The Halloween loop didn't work outside Bubbleworks though. I remember being in the queue when they were playing that and seeing a lot of young children leaving the queue upset because the music set a scary atmosphere for a family ride and they were scared.

Trip report from Wednesday 3rd April 2013 TIME IN PARK: 10:00am - 3:00pm A very poor day at Thorpe today. - Colossus and Saw: The Ride down all day (don't know if they opened after 3pm or not.) - Nemesis Inferno on one train operation until 11:15am with a 1 hour queue. - X on two trains because the other's weren't ready yet. - Rush, Slammer and Stealth were all down for part of the day. - General operations were slacking a bit with stacking on The Swarm and no sense of urgency whatsoever. - Heaters in Calypso BBQ were not working at all, quite appauling considering the weather! RIDECOUNT: The Swarm x2 (Once backwards, once forwards) Stealth x1 Nemesis Inferno x1 X x1 Loggers Leap x1 Rumba Rapids x1 Very poor day, would not have been happy if I had paid full price or even half for price for park admission. (Merlin annual pass holder so won't be making any form of complaint, however one would have been warranted with the poor operations seen today.) I do understand that the weather affects rides like Saw and Colossus, but the lack of urgency and one train operation on some rides was not acceptable.

Speed is a brilliant coaster and far better than Saw in my opinion. I would go as far to say that it is more intense than Nemesis.

Back to the future is my favourite film by far (all three).

Pizza Hut, KFC or Burger King. Not a fan of McDonald's, the meals are too small for me!

I might actually use that offer to try my first tea/coffee.

Very poor, in my opinion Wingrider trains have to be well themed (like The Swarm) otherwise they look awful.

That's a very good deal. (When booked online, £35 at the gate ) There is a better offer though - if you are going on holiday to the park and plan to visit two days then the "Big Value Pass" is a great price. Priced at £50, it gives you two wristbands to be used on seperate days as well as a Pleasure beach pass (allows you to enter the park without going on any rides), Ripley's believe it or not admission, two rounds of Pleasure beach adventure golf, an Ice skating session at the Arena and admission to Pasaje Del Terror. You can find out more about the pass here: https://www.blackpoolpleasurebeach.com/book-online/wristbands It's a great offer considering that, aside from money off wristbands you save £32.48 off the adult admission fees of the other things included in the Big Value Pass - not to mention the fact that you save £10 on wristbands.

If you are a fan of water/dark rides then I reccomend Valhalla. It's an amazing experience (yes not everyone likes it buy hey ho) with fantastic effects and drops etc... One thing though - wear your own waterproof, then buy one of the ponchos from there (not too expensive if I remember rightly) and wear that on top. You do get rather wet, but it is worth it for the experience. Also The Big One and all of the woodies. (From what I have heard about Stampida it is much rougher than the Blackpool ones, although I have not ridden it myself so don't take my word for it). Start of with Nickelodeon Streak/Blue Flyer, then Big Dipper, then if you like them go onto Grand National and Wild Mouse. Also don't forget their new ride for 2013, Wallace and Gromit! Hope this helps

Thorpe should invest in new trains for Colossus. It is a great ride (some people don't think so but everyone has opinions) and it is a shame that it is ruined by the awful trains. If they got new trains, possibly with lapbars if that is possible, but at least with different restraints and more leg room then it would be a much better ride.

It used to, but not with the p**s poor operations we see nowadays.

I have never even tried Tea or Coffee. Don't really know why lol

I meant the first drop, but the buildup to it is all part of it in my opinion. I do not think that the lift hill is world class. Lol.

Sounds like a great day, did you notice if there were any effects not working on Valhalla?

It goes down to opinion. Nobody can state that it is "good" or "bad", they can only give their own opinion. Personally I think it is fantastic - my favourite rollercoaster and much better than anything at Thorpe Park or Alton Towers. The first minute of the ride is world class. The first drop is absoloutley amazing, and the build up to it is all part of the experience. I like the rest of the ride, whilst it doesn't have the sheer intensity of the first drop it is still great fun, and if it is not a windy day then you are still travelling at a very fast speed so it's very thrilling. The drops being flat doesn't affect the ride experience too much in my opinion, although some people beg to differ. So yeah, in my opinion it is a world class coaster and worth the trip to Blackpool to ride it.