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Sunday 4th September - Sunshine, Spinning & Midway Madness The sun was out today, no rain at all! In the morning, those of us who weren't doing Sandcastle waterpark returned to the Pleasure Beach with our rainy day tickets. George was living up to his forum name of SmilerGeorge First we did Avalanche (which we didn't have time for on the Saturday as it had a long queue all day), which was faster and more forceful than I remember! Then we re-rode Grand National, Big One and Skyforce - and this time, I managed to nail it! Tips for those who've yet to ride: you have to make sure you're rocking side to side fast enough (faster than in the queueline demonstration video), the first time you go upside down will probably be too slow to start the spinning momentum, so keep rocking until you do a full flip...then hold the wings in place and prepare for insanity! I couldn't believe how fast I was spinning, and I think the wind must have caught me a few times as I suddenly picked up speed at points! I felt a bit out of control at one point and a tiny bit scared (which rarely happens to me on rides!), even though I WAS in control I managed 71 spins on it, coming first place out of our ride Not surprised that I felt a bit odd/tingly for a good 10 minutes afterwards! And it was sunshine and blue skies, I got some good off-ride footage of it Look out for Marc, Alex and Liam on this one! Had a cheeky browse in the gift shop before catching the tram up to the Tower At the 2014 meet, it still had some scaffolding around it, so this was the first time I'd seen it looking nice and restored to its fully glory! Whilst some visited The Dungeons, the rest of us did the Tower Eye. This was more enjoyable than the previous meet, as the glass floor seemed clearer and less scratched It's a shame the stairs to the very top are closed off, and we also saw the new Bar 380 which looked rather small (but I guess they've only got so much room up there). The 4D experience was, of course, great entertainment Much better than the London Eye one! Bar 380: Just chillin' on the glass floor: Had lots of fun sitting on the floor! Great views... After some lunch, it was time for the magnificent Tower Ballroom! It is truly stunning to be in, and breathtaking when you walk in. Even if you're not into dancing or that sort of thing, you can't deny its beauty. It was good to also see the Wurlitzer come up from under the floor too (unfortunately I'd just stopped filming)! I was rather busy filming and eating lunch to dance this time, but Paige had a go and did well at learning to waltz with Peaj He returned to the floor later on (with a younger woman than last year, no old ladies this time!) to cha cha and then do the quickstep - one of my favourite dances to watch on Strictly Our final attraction of the day was the Circus. I really enjoyed this last time and found the audience involvement hilarious, so was looking forward to it. Sadly I felt underwhelmed this time, in terms of comedy anyway - the stunts/tricks were awesome. Although it was funny when Alex was one of the people chosen to participate at one point - I was hoping someone from our group would get picked! We did get a sense that some performers were new and/or that there was a lot of nervousness, as there were a few mistakes. The fire alarm was going off in the background at one point too, which I don't think helped! The fountains at the end were pretty though Before heading back down to the distant land of the south, we went to Coral Island for a bit (for those unaware, it's essentially a large arcade place with some little dark rides and theming). Did the ghost train thingy which wasn't bad! I think the staff member was a tad unimpressed by the swarm of adults coming on Some of the theming: So there you have it! Thanks y'all for reading, hopefully it's been entertaining! For all the photos from the meet: Blackpool Weekend 2016 And finally... My compilation video from the meet