October 4, 20159 yr comment_219628 After the first drop though? It is such a meh. Yeah I agree, after the drop it is 10 minutes of airtime less dullness...
October 4, 20159 yr comment_219632 On 2015-10-4 at 5:51 PM, scarycoasterboy said: Didn't want to put this in the Flume topic as it doesn't really fit there. Yes, all rides might be open at Blackpool at the moment but they aren't struggling, they're in the black apparently. But when they were struggling what did they do? Closed lots down. Monorail because it was expensive to run. And I bet the Flume isn't cheap to run. Trauma Towers still sits there idol and don't forget the lovely fountains. Plus the hate on other places doing staggered openings, Blackpool does it to! Valhalla was open 11:30-5 on a 10-8 day last year. Big One wasn't open till 11 either. That's two of your big stars down. Yes but BPB were making a loss and heavily in debt, I'm sure that Alton will still be running at a profit, just less of one. To address the staggered openings, BPB have made huge improvements this year - Nick land, Derby Racer, Flying Machines and Alice open at 10am, everything else open at 10:30am apart from Valhalla and Grand National which now open at 11am. Still not perfect but much better than before. The Monorail would have cost £800,000 in rennovation costs to keep it running, money which they didn't have at the time (and still don't!) On 2015-10-4 at 5:51 PM, scarycoasterboy said: As for the rides. Valhalla would be so much better at a Park with more money. I know it's expensive for them to run but other parks have expensive rides to. Shall we constantly complain about all the dead effects on Valhalla?. Valhalla is a weird one - today it was the best I've known it in years (in terms of effects) with several 'extra' effects I haven't seen working in years on (such as the ceiling ice misters in the ice room and fire actually on the water on the ring of fire) but yesterday I had one of the worst run-throughs ever on it. With that said, I think any UK park would struggle to maintain the effects in there, they aren't exactly small-scale. (But believe me, I did moan yesterday after queueing 40 minutes for a bad run-through, made up for it today with 11 amazing walk-on rides though!) On 2015-10-4 at 5:51 PM, scarycoasterboy said: Ice blast is pathetic, worst one of those I've done. Infusion, I don't dislike SLCs but the paint is peeling, it wasn't really an investment and with a 20 minute queue and only half an hour till close last year they took the second train off. Wasn't broken, they just wanted to start their checks early. Better to open on one and add a second in my eyes than close the ride to reduce the throughput when demand is still there. Ice Blast has had a huge overhaul and cable replacement and now runs much better with a much more forceful launch and significant airtime at the top. As for Infusion taking a train off with half an hour left, that's a poor show and I haven't seen it happen before, are you definitely sure there wasn't a problem with it? On 2015-10-4 at 5:51 PM, scarycoasterboy said: Heritage is nice, and the classics are alright but you can't live in the past forever. Plus the throughputs are awful at that place. And operations aren't great. Big One is a waste of steel. First drop fab then the monorail comes. Shame they wanted to keep it up high for as long as possible to give a better skyline than build a decent airtime machine from Arrow. All I saw whilst in the station of The Big One today and yesterday was happy smiling faces and great reactions from the GP, I think it's just some theme park enthusiasts who have an issue with the ride to be honest. The same applies for the older rides, the queues (and don't say they're because of throughput - Big Dipper was on two trains on Saturday and was still holding a lengthy queue, but it moved quickly) and happy reactions suggest that they are still very popular. I'm not going to defend throughputs and operations as they have gone downhill hugely, however I would still place them above the likes of Thorpe and Chessie. On 2015-10-4 at 5:51 PM, scarycoasterboy said: And the ridiculous reasoning behind one train in the wind. You clearly don't understand the issue with wind so let me explain it. The Big One runs one train in high winds (exceeding 30/40mph depending on direction) because it has one fast train and two slower trains, this is due to the wheel compounds. On windy days, the slower trains would not make it around the course, simple as that. However on days with no wind at all, the fast train (and slower trains if it's running really fast) E-stop on the final brake run because they are running too fast, which causes delays as they have to wait for the system to reset. The only way they could run two on windy days is to change the entire train's wheels overnight to have two fast ones, which I think they used to do back when it ran three trains, but that was when the park had a turnover of £500,000 per day on an illuminations Saturday so they could afford to! I do know from speaking to the staff that they quite often have to be in for 5/6am on very windy days in order to prepare the ride and train so that it can open even on one train operation, it's not as easy as you would think. On an unrelated note, there seemed to be lots of people wearing Alton Towers ponchos and clothing at BPB this weekend (and in the summer now I think of it), it's probably always been that way and I've just not noticed though!
October 5, 20159 yr comment_219664 Haha we got some strange looks on Thursday at Legoland wondering round with BPB Ponchos on. I was also amazed the number of people who would buy a poncho, ride, then chuck it in the bin on the ride exit, it's how we got our BPB ones, out the bin at the ride exit. I liked the big one, but then speed is my thing, not necessarily inversions, although it is quiet rough, I remember at the time when I came off saying no wonder arrow went bust that would extract my fillings if I still had any left to the Mrs.
October 5, 20159 yr comment_219678 The thing is it's a bold statement to say just enthusiasts don't like it... My dad went on me, he doesn't hate rides and probably only goes on because I like them so much but because of heart problems can't do loads in a day otherwise it messes him up (saw and the swarm seem to be the worst rides for him aha), but yeah he thought the Big one was a pile of s*** (in fact that was his words about most of Blackpool and the pleasure beach - besides te sandcastle waterpark and Merlin attractions, whoops aha), it's great to see other people enjoying it, but honestly for a big ride, the tallest in UK, there's no thrill factor or even enjoyment at all after the first drop which is a shame as I do want to like it, I'm not slating it just for the sake of it.
October 5, 20159 yr comment_219680 My son wasn't overly impressed with the big one either, I could say the same about it the woodies though, each to their own as they say.
October 5, 20159 yr comment_219684 The thing is it's a bold statement to say just enthusiasts don't like it... My dad went on me, he doesn't hate rides and probably only goes on because I like them so much but because of heart problems can't do loads in a day otherwise it messes him up (saw and the swarm seem to be the worst rides for him aha), but yeah he thought the Big one was a pile of s*** (in fact that was his words about most of Blackpool and the pleasure beach - besides te sandcastle waterpark and Merlin attractions, whoops aha), it's great to see other people enjoying it, but honestly for a big ride, the tallest in UK, there's no thrill factor or even enjoyment at all after the first drop which is a shame as I do want to like it, I'm not slating it just for the sake of it.No that's fair enough, he is entitled to his own opinion, just like I am.The point is that the majority of the GP like the ride, as is proven by its popularity and the fact that it still draws people to the park.
October 5, 20159 yr comment_219726 so Project 2017 doesn't appear to be happening now according to RideRater, and that while no year is set, it's likely to be for 2018 for their next big project.
October 9, 20159 yr comment_220275 So I know it's been ten years but the hell with it, on my first visit this thing was SBNO the whole time and it really bothered me. Does anyone know the name of what it was called, it was kind of near Grand National and Flying Machines. Many thanks.
October 9, 20159 yr comment_220277 So I know it's been ten years but the hell with it, on my first visit this thing was SBNO the whole time and it really bothered me. Does anyone know the name of what it was called, it was kind of near Grand National and Flying Machines. Many thanks. I think it was called Vikingar.
October 10, 20159 yr comment_220322 I went on the old one at Rhyl. Was a lot of fun. I did see Vikingar a few times, but SBNO.
October 13, 20159 yr comment_220775 I'm pretty sure it was originally the water chute at Belle Vue Manchester.. Nice ride, fast drop. Was on the site of old fashioned motor boats that ran to the side of the fun house about 40 years ago, oh dear, am I that old?!
November 7, 20159 yr comment_222819 A rival in Blackpool would kill them both. Blackpool as a whole is in decline and having something take away more business from them would be disastrous. I'm with BPB on this one. A rival would damage the town in the long run.
November 19, 20159 yr comment_223664 'Accesso Technology Group PLC on Thursday said it has expanded its contract with Blackpool Pleasure Beach, including the addition of its Accesso Siriusware system for the 2016 holiday season. Accesso, which provides technology systems to leisure and entertainment operators, said Blackpool Pleasure Beach will now being using its ride-reservation system and its point-of-sale and guest management products.'
November 20, 20159 yr comment_223710 Going from this article it seems that this will be to do with their entry ticketing system rather than more Speedy Farce, but it could be both. http://accesso.com/2015/11/accesso-expands-european-presence-with-new-contract-win/
December 10, 20159 yr comment_224504 An interview in which Nick Thompson says that construction of a major new ride will be started at the end of this season and will take "over 18 months to build", and that "it will hopefully be one of the most exciting rides in the world." (Skip to 49 minutes into the clip). He also states that they are doing infrastructure work to the park for next year rather than a new ride, so what that will entail remains to be seen. https://audioboom.com/boos/3809057-blootalk-episode-2-blackpool-special?utm_source=hootsuite
December 10, 20159 yr comment_224505 According to Nick Thompson, Blackpool will be opening a new major ride in April 2017 which is expected to take 18 months to build and be a much bigger addition than sky force and is set to be one of the most exciting rides in the world. Source- Pleasure Beach Experience Definitely very exciting news there!
December 10, 20159 yr comment_224510 Has Nick Thompson said what's happening to BPB? He mentioned it indeed. The full article is here https://m.facebook.com/PBExperience/photos/a.179729955378352.41278.132690813415600/1082607558423916/?type=3&source=48.
December 10, 20159 yr comment_224513 Or if you want from the actual horses mouth on the previous page to this one, kindly posted by Jamie. http://forum.maniahub.com/topic/4442-blackpool-pleasure-beach/?p=224504
December 10, 20159 yr comment_224516 It is exciting news but I'm not overhyped yet - Premier Rides have been mentioned a few times and I really hope it's something better than a Skyrocket II coaster. Something like Full Throttle would be better, but a Mack launched coaster would be a much better investment for BPB in the long run IMO.
December 10, 20159 yr comment_224521 The problem with any launch coaster is its running cost. The position BPB is in I would imagine they would want to have a ride with a low running cost which normally means a conventional chain or tyre drive.
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