rob666

Come on now Jamie, chin up mate. All down to litigation and insurance costs in the end. You sound like me when I was your age when they closed the Virginia Reel...the ride of my youth. Stuff happens, at least we got a good play on it before it went. Will buy you a drink when we bump into each other in the coaster queues...again. And the wooden pallets are there every closed season, they stack the metal grids for the big fountain on them for maintainance I think.

...and the chavs don't care that you didn't get in, they have made a fiver.

No, it cancels the band for the day, stops the chavs razoring them off and selling them on for a fiver on the prom.

That and my dodgy old mans knees. I do love the view from the platform though.

...only Jamie!

The one coaster at my home park...BPB...that makes me queasy is the Revolution, I often avoid it unless I'm with mates who want to go on. By way of assisting a fellow geek in their studies, I did the ride this week, amusingly, as I was entering the ride, a punter coming down the stairs immediately chucked up behind the entrance flower bed...so it isn't only me! I don't do spinny rides any more as I'm an old git (55), coasters apart that is...I think it is the launch drop on the ride that makes me want to puke, especially with the reverse drop. Good luck with your diss, sounds better than mine.

Doing Steeplechase no handed just takes practice...you need to hold on for the brakes though. Mousey no hands is easy if you are six foot four, just wedge yourself in. Went with my wife Saturday night, fireworks, beer and coasters, heaven.

Really good trip report, BPB is my home (season pass) park, I live half an hour away, so go roughly weekly. I never hold on on the Mouse or Steeplechase Han, I treat the place more of a pub with rides...beer is an essential in Blackpool. Quite right about the Big One, it is all about the first drop, and yes, the front left seat is often the wettest on Valhalla. Shame you missed Revolution, the drop backwards is very good indeed. The BPB staff are very friendly and informal, lots have become mates over the years, because I am very tall they tend to take the p!ss out of me from miles away. Hope Infusion didn't rattle your teeth loose! Wouldn't want any issues there...

Sounds like a good outing to me! It's not like they would have hurt anyone else if they fell off.

I work outdoors gardening all year round, the only difference in winter is I tend to sit on an off-cut of carpet when it is frosty and I'm doing the weeding. The trick to keeping warm is to keep active, once you start to sit and do little physically you get cold, so keep busy. And get to the bloody dentist Han...stop putting it off. Sorry!

I prefer Lightwater valley to Thorpe Park... and I love Infusion at Blackpool.

...and there is always the ignore button...

Oh dear, my first ride at Thorpe was only two years ago, I had a lovely day on a freebie Sun ticket with a great old friend, short queues, no chavs, lovely weather and beer, but I struggle as an old git to remember what I had for breakfast, let alone my first ride! Guessing, I would say it was Colossus, and I enjoyed it, but not as much as Swarm, which was my favourite. And Jamie, don't let the buggers get you down. What they have been saying is completely unacceptable.

Having had the same, I can only say they have very special clamps and pliers to remove roots without cutting deep into the gum, I think they put a special clamping plate around the root then lever against that with complex pliers. If money is a problem you can always go to a dental training hospital, arrange a payment plan or go "Denplan", again the receptionist will help with all this. I once had a root canal treatment that got infected, that puts a broken root in the shade, it took thirteen trips to the excellent dentist to get it fixed, but I didn't lose the tooth. The Valium injection was indeed amazing, absolutely brilliant cocktail of drugs really I think, you keep repeating yourself again and again without realising it to your "appropriate adult" for the two or three hours after the treatment, apparently I told my wife about fifty times that I couldn't eat solids for 24 hours. And one last piece of advice... STOP FIRKING ABOUT IN YOUR GOB WITH BLOODY PLIERS. Apologies for shouting, but this is the Rant topic after all.

Having cured my fear of dentists (and only wish I knew how so I could sell the cure for millions), I can only offer my empathy to you Han 30. Been there, done all of that. Be brave and get a recommendation for a good dentist from a friend or family member, someone you know and trust. Take that person with you to see the dentist's receptionist, and explain all, they will have heard it all before, and will be gentle and kind. Make an appointment for the dreaded deed, and ask if they can give you a Valium injection in the waiting room before you go in to the dentists chair. Half an hour later you will probably be laughing and crying with relief at how easy and painless it all was. Good luck and go for it.

Oh all you lucky people... four hours, five if unlucky on the M6. Always means a stay at the Travelodge in Chertsey, and a night out in "that" London. 2 hours away from the Towers, but only 20 minutes from Blackpool, so that's next years season ticket decided!

As someone who wants to get towed behind the Big One at Blackpool on roller skates, I'd give Colossus a go as a stand up. I've done Shockwave at Drayton no hands and no feet... and my goolies are still sore a decade later. Bring it on.

Smiler was walk on via the single riders queue this afternoon, I'm very pleased to say! Digging of foundations has started on cbeebies hotel, I stumbled onto the building site after walking up to King Ina's rocks, finally searched them out after years of hunting. Lovely but wet afternoon at the towers. Thirteen broken again. M6 as crap as ever.

Walked the prom in Blackpool this afternoon, the sea frontage of the Pleasure Beach looks very run down, a complete sh!thole in fact. I know they have tidied up the inside, but the outside needs a bit of TLC. One or two of the "Ocean Boulevard" buildings have been repainted, but the vast majority of the frontage buildings look in a very poor condition sadly. Further naffed off by the newly reopened Star pub refusing us beer at lunchtime, they opened at 1pm apparently.

58 instead of 60... the driver and conductor have to sit somewhere.

If you want to read Jamie being critical about Blackpool Pleasure Beach go read his messages about it on Pleasure Beach Experience... I've often taken the piss about his grumbles on there, but we are all allowed to voice our opinions on these sites, that is exactly what they are for surely. Anything less would be "completely unacceptable". And Charlie, fanboys, enthusiasts and coaster geeks (I include myself here) aren't always the easiest of people to get on with, and are often the best in the world at making mountains out of molehills, but I wouldn't want to avoid visiting them just to avoid the occasional bitching.

Back to the entrance notice... "ongoing theme of distorted reality", maybe it has been open for weeks and it is all a trick of the mind.

Completely unacceptable Jamie?

Thank you kindly... you have made a fat old man slightly happier, if that is possible. And if Jamie does go to the Towers, I will find out and stalk him all day. Only kidding Jamie... possibly. And I should add that I do love BPB, it is my usual choice of season ticket, this year was a Merlin because of the short queues at the Towers.

No, sorry Charlie I have never had the pleasure of Biggleswading. But I have just googleimaged the place, and Blackpoo is about five leagues above Biggleswade in the dungheap stakes. Just googleimage Blackpoo, I dare you. And back to BPB, it looked very very quiet today.