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Blackpool Pleasure Beach


Dan_Rush

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9 minutes ago, Benin said:

Nash is Grade Listed no? Means that they can't do too much to it (without getting into trouble).

 

It is, but I'm sure that if they really wanted to get rid of it, they'd find a way. And if, theoretically, it was cheaper to pay a fine and deal with the trouble of ripping it down than it was to fix it, it's something they'd consider.

 

In any case, the word from the horse's mouth is that there's "zero" chance it will be ripped down, so that's that I guess:

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

I’ll admit I’m a little unsure what to think about Icon getting spinning cars, personally.

 

On one hand, it’ll certainly be a unique feature for the ride to boast, and will hopefully give it that marketability that it perhaps lacked in its initial years. Time Traveler and Ride to Happiness have also received rave reviews, so hopefully this could boost the ride’s middling reputation among enthusiasts. (Although Time Traveler and RTH use slightly different tech)

 

On the other hand, I personally absolutely love Icon as is, and I think the back row is my favourite row. I’m also not overly keen on spinning coasters, so I’ll admit that I would be quite sad to see my favourite seats go in favour of spinning seats.

 

I’m not really the target audience for this, though, and the park shouldn’t care what I, a statistically insignificant enthusiast who hasn’t visited since 2019, thinks or whether I like spinning coasters or not; I hope it’s a success for them, even if it’s not an idea I’m necessarily sold on from a personal point of view.

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The Big One, Revolution and Steeplechase - the three Arrow coasters - ran brilliantly at Pleasure Beach today despite snow and the temperature being below 0 degrees at points during the day.

 

Big Dipper, Nickelodeon Streak and Infusion were also running very well.

 

Meanwhile, Icon and Avalanche, the Mack coasters, were closed all day.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Exciting new Valhalla info, including a synopsis of the new experience and another promo image.

 

165767313_Valhalla20221.thumb.PNG.0d3f4cdf103eebdd11ca4ea51244229d.PNG

 

Quote

Brave the adventure as you travel through fantastic special effects and extreme elements like no other ride.

This high speed, dark water ride takes you on a journey through scenes of fire, snow, and freezing mists whilst you travel in Viking long boats on this six minute journey complimented by a new stunning soundtrack to complete this multi-sensory experience.

 

719180055_Valhalla20224.thumb.PNG.320bd398cc49e711378b1f9650c5c580.PNG

 

Source: https://www.visitblackpool.com/latest-news/destination-guide-2022/

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  • 1 month later...

Pleasure Beach are doing a lot of good at the moment.  There is a lot to look forward to this year;

 

  • Valhalla 2.0.  Yes, it's taking ages, but it needed doing - back in 2019 it was so poor, I commented at the time that it would be better off closed than open in that state.  So, the fact they are finally doing something with it is very exciting.

 

  • Grand National - I have seen photos over the last few days, and it seems to be getting the Big Dipper treatment (a complete re-track in places) which is excellent.  Station is also getting work as we saw at the end of last year.

 

  • Big One - every year for the last 3 years they have re-tracked significant amounts of it with brand new specially manufactured track, this can't be cheap to do and it's great to see it being looked after so well.

 

Going back to last year, they did;

 

  • Big Dipper - first drop re-track and work on the turnaround by Big Blue made a huge difference.

 

  • River Caves & Alice – significant lighting and scenic presentation improvements.

 

  • Steeplechase – brand new sign in the original style.

 

  • Avalanche bears completely refurbished and full soundtrack restored.

 

  • Mr Funshine back on the arches, a more vibrant brand image, 125 anniversary effort made across the park.

 

The year before we had an upgrade to some Ghost Train scenes, etc.

 

They are investing a lot into improving/sustaining what they have, much better than they were 4 years ago in my view.  It's just unfortunate that the benefits of this year's investment & changes won't be felt by those paying £39 in February.  As season pass-holders we can be patient, but it's a different outlook for 'once a year' guests.

 

I think the biggest annoyance for me (as a season pass holder) this year is potentially having to wait until summer for Valhalla.  It's adding another half a year on top of the two we have already waited - but if it's worth the wait in the end, then fair enough.

 

To conclude though, I do feel that PB are making much better long-term decisions for their existing rides now than they were in 2018/19.  And that's great.

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13 minutes ago, Coaster said:

It's just unfortunate that the benefits of this year's investment & changes won't be felt by those paying £39 in February.  As season pass-holders we can be patient, but it's a different outlook for 'once a year' guests.

 

Whilst I think £39 is very expensive for the February event, I doubt that many visiting Pleasure Beach then are 'once a year' guests tbf. They're obviously capitalising on the big enthusiast following that are visiting then, and just in general being the first park to have big thrill rides open in the county. 

 

As I say, the price is very steep all things considered. And there will no doubt be people who do visit then only going once a year. But the amount of people who do visit for a yearly trip at that time of year and are going for Pleasure Beach solely for a theme park trip are probably minimal. Was only a matter of time before the park started squeezing more money out of guests.

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