September 13, 20159 yr comment_217444 I know PBB are doing some things to clean the place up, but to me the whole park is just messy and gross. Plus no rides really stand out for me, although I've never ridden Valhalla. Saying that, Valhalla doesn't look as good as Chiapas was in my opinion! Valhalla's rock tunnels with four straight walls and right angles aren't very convincing.
September 13, 20159 yr comment_217448 Just wait until 2017 though at PBP, if everything rumoured so far is correct, we will have another fantastic big coaster in the UK (one that could even knock Nemy off the top spot for some). Love this comment - still 18 months away from a possible roller coaster possibly opening at a UK park and it's already being described as a possible Nemesis beater.
September 13, 20159 yr comment_217449 Love this comment - still 18 months away from a possible roller coaster possibly opening at a UK park and it's already being described as a possible Nemesis beater.Well if it's anything like Helix or Blue Fire, that is a possibility, but we will have to wait and see, 'speculation'. Very big emphasis on the 'could beat'.
September 13, 20159 yr comment_217450 I know PBB are doing some things to clean the place up, but to me the whole park is just messy and gross. Plus no rides really stand out for me, although I've never ridden Valhalla. Saying that, Valhalla doesn't look as good as Chiapas was in my opinion! Valhalla's rock tunnels with four straight walls and right angles aren't very convincing. I don't see how it's messy and gross at all to be honest. The park has been cleaned up a lot in the past few years, and the interaction between coasters is part of why I like the park so much. As for Valhalla, you can't judge a ride if you haven't been on it. BPB offer a unique variety of rides from across the last century which have been well preserved, how many parks have such a vast collection of historical rides coupled with newer ones?
September 13, 20159 yr comment_217453 Well if it's anything like Helix or Blue Fire, that is a possibility, but we will have to wait and see, 'speculation'. Very big emphasis on the 'could beat'. We don't even know WHAT the thing is... Nothing has been confirmed, so until then, it can be treated as "absolutely nothing"... Still waiting on the 500ft coaster that went out to sea tbh... I don't see how it's messy and gross at all to be honest. The park has been cleaned up a lot in the past few years, and the interaction between coasters is part of why I like the park so much. As for Valhalla, you can't judge a ride if you haven't been on it. BPB offer a unique variety of rides from across the last century which have been well preserved, how many parks have such a vast collection of historical rides coupled with newer ones? Kennywood and Knoebels are two I can name... Let's be honest though, Blackpool have removed pretty much all of their historical rides in recent years bar the coasters and about 3 dark rides (Gold Mine got a massive update and cannot be classed as 'classic' anymore)... Vast equates to a ghost train, Alice and River Caves, plus National (ruined by Kumbak) and the other woodies... Bring back Turtle Chase, Whip, Millenium Bug, etc.
September 13, 20159 yr comment_217454 I can see where Altitude is coming from. The park comes across a little bare, or skeletal to be honest. I know that this is partly because of the amount of wood they have and how much space this takes up which removes the availability for greenery or theming, however alot of it is just concrete. I appreciate the nostalgic approach PBB have however their newer rides are just as ugly and without reason too. Little effort is put in to cover up the beasty bits (excluding valhalla and avalanche) but the rest of it is just metal, concrete or wood with no effort to make it slightly more pleasing to the eye (unless you love looking at coaster works, which some hardcore enthusiasts might, but me... not so much).
September 13, 20159 yr comment_217455 Kennywood and Knoebels are two I can name... Let's be honest though, Blackpool have removed pretty much all of their historical rides in recent years bar the coasters and about 3 dark rides (Gold Mine got a massive update and cannot be classed as 'classic' anymore)... Vast equates to a ghost train, Alice and River Caves, plus National (ruined by Kumbak) and the other woodies... Bring back Turtle Chase, Whip, Millenium Bug, etc. Don't even get me started on the number of classic rides that have been removed, it is a disgrace. However, things like the Gold Mine were revamped in the name of progress which I don't have an issue with, it's the removal of rides like the Water Chute, Noah's Ark, Turtle Chase and several others that I have an issue with. But, the park still offers several historical attractions (five wooden coasters, Flying Machines, River Caves, Derby Racer, Ghost Train, Vintage Carousel, Steeplechase) amongst newer ones. Little effort is put in to cover up the beasty bits (excluding valhalla and avalanche) but the rest of it is just metal, concrete or wood with no effort to make it slightly more pleasing to the eye (unless you love looking at coaster works, which some hardcore enthusiasts might, but me... not so much). I don't see what they could do to cover up the "beasty bits" of them, I have no issue with the way the rides at BPB are presented to be honest. There are several areas of foilage in the park, but with such little space I'd rather they filled it with rides! It's also worth remembering that they are an amusement park, not a theme park.
September 13, 20159 yr comment_217456 I don't see how it's messy and gross at all to be honest. The park has been cleaned up a lot in the past few years, and the interaction between coasters is part of why I like the park so much. As for Valhalla, you can't judge a ride if you haven't been on it. I can judge the theming, actually. The tunnels look awful in my opinion. I said Pleasure Beach is messy because all the rides are crammed on top of one another and there's a lot of wood/metal and not a lot of greenery compared to other parks I've visited.
September 13, 20159 yr comment_217457 I can judge the theming, actually. The tunnels look awful in my opinion. I said Pleasure Beach is messy because all the rides are crammed on top of one another and there's a lot of wood/metal and not a lot of greenery compared to other parks I've visited. You can't judge any rides fully without experiencing them for yourself, especially not dark rides! I don't see what's wrong with the tunnels anyway. The rides being close together is something I like about the park anyway, it makes it unique (and easier to get a higher ridecount! ) I think a lot of people are too picky about the park to be honest, it is an amusement park after all. I do criticise them about lots of things, but compared to other parks in the UK their presentation is much better IMO, and people not liking the rides is simply down to their personal opinions.
September 13, 20159 yr comment_217459 Excuse the rushed screenshot, but if you think this is a convincing cave then you're lying to yourself And yes I know I haven't experienced this ride in person, but details like that don't scream 'World's best water ride' to me.
September 13, 20159 yr comment_217460 Excuse the rushed screenshot, but if you think this is a convincing cave then you're lying to yourself And yes I know I haven't experienced this ride in person, but details like that don't scream 'World's best water ride' to me. Well it's more convincing than Zufari's, at least they bothered with a roof! Being more serious though, I'm not even sure if that is supposed to be a cave, it's supposed to be two waterfalls. EDIT: The plans state it as "two cascading waterfalls", so it's not supposed to be a cave. Whereas this scene is supposed to be a cave, and it looks much more realistic. I haven't ridden Chiapas (or any water ride outside the UK) and whilst it looks fantastic, Valhalla combines a complete dark ride with a very good water ride, whereas Chiapas is a very well themed log flume, but one that takes place mostly outside without any of the high budget effects that Valhalla has.
September 13, 20159 yr comment_217461 Take your own advice and don't judge a ride until you've done it.
September 13, 20159 yr comment_217462 Well it's more convincing than Zufari's, at least they bothered with a roof! Being more serious though, I'm not even sure if that is supposed to be a cave, it's supposed to be two waterfalls. EDIT: The plans state it as "two cascading waterfalls", so it's not supposed to be a cave. Whereas this scene is supposed to be a cave, and it looks much more realistic. I haven't ridden Chiapas (or any water ride outside the UK) and whilst it looks fantastic, Valhalla combines a complete dark ride with a very good water ride, whereas Chiapas is a very well themed log flume, but one that takes place mostly outside without any of the high budget effects that Valhalla has. Comparing a ride to one at Chessington isn't saying much nowadays haha. As for the "two waterfalls", it's a cave/tunnel with rocks that look awful. The water just appears from nowhere and looks completely unnatural! The screenshot you posted above does look natural and looks fab. I don't get why they couldn't make the entire ride look that great. After all it is the "best in the world". As for Chiapas, I know it's different but I'd say it's slightly more polished from what I can see. However as you said, it's not a dark ride so in terms of ride experience it's hard to compare. However everywhere you look on Chiapas, it's seamless and looks natural. There are several areas of foilage in the park, but with such little space I'd rather they filled it with rides! It's also worth remembering that they are an amusement park, not a theme park. True, but amusement parks don't have to look grotty as well as just bland!
September 13, 20159 yr comment_217464 Take your own advice and don't judge a ride until you've done it. I'm not judging it, I'm just saying that it takes place mostly outdoors rather than indoors and isn't a dark ride. True, but amusement parks don't have to look grotty as well as just bland! And Marc, as I said, I'm not judging the ride, I'm judging the parts of unpolished theming. It doesn't look grotty though, it's been cleaned up a lot in the last few years but a park that's over 100 years old isn't going to look brand new! As for it being "concrete", they actually replaced the flooring of about 80% of the park a few years back which is why there's all the nice different types of block paving rather than boring concrete everywhere. As for "unpolished theming", I have no issue with that section of the ride whatsoever and find it funny that you highlight that but completely miss the bin-bag tunnel!
September 13, 20159 yr comment_217465 Hahaha touché. I saw that tunnel but I thought it was too ghastly to mention!
September 13, 20159 yr comment_217466 Hahaha touché. I saw that tunnel but I thought it was too ghastly to mention! To be fair you only see it for a second, but it is still naff and should be pitch black at least. Valhalla is not a perfect dark ride, with one of the main issues being that the non-themed parts of the ride are hidden by effects which don't always work, but remember that the award was for water ride and in terms of dark rides in the UK it still comes out trumps above the rest IMO.
September 13, 20159 yr comment_217467 I'm not judging it, I'm just saying that it takes place mostly outdoors rather than indoors and isn't a dark ride. But if we're judging Valhalla as a water ride, which is where this whole conversation stemmed from, then its merits as a dark ride surely mean nothing? I haven't ridden Valhalla for the record, but it'd take an awful lot for it to beat Chiapas for me.
September 13, 20159 yr comment_217471 I'm not judging it, I'm just saying that it takes place mostly outdoors rather than indoors and isn't a dark ride. Fine, lets remember that Chiapas doesn't even try to be a dark/water ride hybrid and is a pure water ride. Ah Chiapas.
September 13, 20159 yr comment_217472 It makes me sad I won't be returning to Chiapas until Taron opens next year The music, the airtime hill, the smell of chlorine <3
September 13, 20159 yr comment_217473 Fine, lets remember that Chiapas doesn't even try to be a dark/water ride hybrid and is a pure water ride. Ah Chiapas. Yes, I know it doesn't, but let's also remember that this is a BPB topic. Just to clear things up, I'm not trying to say that Valhalla is better than Chiapas, in fact I would like to ride the latter to make up my own mind about which ride I prefer.
September 13, 20159 yr comment_217474 Yes, I know it doesn't, but let's also remember that this is a BPB topic. Just to clear things up, I'm not trying to say that Valhalla is better than Chiapas, in fact I would like to ride the latter to make up my own mind about which ride I prefer. Most active topic of the day award from Golden Ticket!
September 14, 20159 yr comment_217503 Valhalla has won best water ride in the world in the Golden Ticket Awards! Well deserved IMO, it's a fantastic ride. Its a great ride and all, and it is probaly the best water ride in the uk. But the world..shows how silly the golden ticket awards are.
September 14, 20159 yr comment_217505 Its a great ride and all, and it is probaly the best water ride in the uk. But the world..shows how silly the golden ticket awards are. Even in the UK, there's stiff competition from the likes of Storm Surge.
September 14, 20159 yr comment_217507 I've found out that a lot of the voting is done by ACE members... ACE had a trip to the UK this year... The likes of Towers and Blackpool haven't been in the top 10 Best Park for years... Similarly Nemesis and Valhalla in their respective categories... Shows how easily these things can be manipulated by recent trips...
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