February 4, 20205 yr comment_268551 It would be a shame to see this ride go its a real asset to the park and something the UK park industry really lacks in two aspects is water rides and immersive dark rides, I could understand from a financial point of view but having ridden it a few years back it was a highlight of the park for me and great ride.
February 4, 20205 yr comment_268553 So long as it actually reopens and they don't lie and say it's going to make a return and then keep it closed for years before finally announcing it's dead after it's been rotting away for a period, I'll be happy as Larry. Although I can't see ANYONE being that unprofessional to do that.
February 4, 20205 yr comment_268559 Whilst we cannot really analyse the running cost figures for Valhalla, the evidence is there to suggest it took its toll on the park. Pleasure Beach in the 90s was thriving, busy and appeared to be making money. Whilst Valhalla was a hugely popular and world-renowned ride when it opened, it also marked the start of the park's decline. Valhalla opened in 2000, in 2001 three rides went SBNO. The high running cost and poor reliability of Valhalla took its toll and combined with the introduction of wristbands it's plausible to believe that the park could have gone from profitable to losing money rapidly. You only have to look at how many rides have gone from Pleasure Beach since 2000 with no replacement to see that the park has not been in a healthy state for a long time. Whilst this can't all be attibuted to Valhalla, it was definitely after it opened that things took a turn for the worst. Also consider, between 1994 and 2000 PB invested in The Big One, Ice Blast and Valhalla. Before PMBO they were also investing pretty well. After Valhalla, it took 18 years before a new investment on the same scale was made. And the opening of this saw another coaster removed and overall park standards continue to drop. Says it all really. Original Valhalla had a constantly cold room with ice and real snow being sprayed from the ceiling, much more fire than nowadays and a multitude of other effects (tesla coil, a better steam effect to the one used now) and with it originally running more boats and therefore triggering each effect more often, it's easy to see why the running costs were high. The ride system itself is also flawed, maintenance heavy and I can imagine uses an awful lot of power. The boats smash against the concrete/metal sides of the trough all the time which can't be good for maintenance. It's also had a number of quite concerning issues, particuarly in the last few years. It's difficult (for me anyway) to watch that documentary and not be a bit sad at how bad PB let the ride get. It isn't even always the expensive things, little details like the style of lighting used or much more foilage in the ice room which has since been torn out and replaced with artificial Christmas trees. The ride has been treated so carelessly as a themed experience and it's such a shame because I genuinely believe it'd still be up there as one of the world's best dark rides if it had been looked after properly. As for whether it will ever reopen, I really don't know. Let's not forget that Pleasure Beach told us the Wild Mouse was closed for "maintenance" before tearing it down in the closed season. If Valhalla does reopen, I think it's likely to be a very cut back version compared with how it was even in 2019 (which was terrible!). Expect to see the fire replaced with timed lighting/smoke, no steam or ice, etc. Lots more dark sections. Personally I'd rather see the ride replaced than reopened in a much less impressive state. If it opens after a year's closure with the majority of effects removed, that won't go down well at all. That said, the park have promised that it will reopen in 2021 so they'd have a backlash if it didn't anyway.
February 6, 20205 yr comment_268589 Personally I havnt heard anything to suggest the fire is gonna be removed or that reducing the operating cost is what caused the closure. While Valhalla is expensive and probably didnt make as much money as they predicted with the wristband introduction, dont forget the whole of Blackpool took a massive decline during the 2000s. This probably had a bigger impact than just Valhalla and resulted in many of the things you list like the lack of big new rides in that time
February 6, 20205 yr comment_268591 BPB certainly has it’s share of issues like any park does. On the plus note, The Big One has had some retracking in places, so should be a little less rough. Images from Pleasure Beach Experience.
February 6, 20205 yr comment_268594 Arrow track is so cool looking! I'm glad that The Big One is being looked after to prolong it as it is rather than getting another manufacturer to completely retrack it; I see so many people calling for it to be "RMC'd" or replaced entirely but I'd hate to see either of those things happen. The Big One is, IMO, such a special coaster. It has character, I like the unusual layout and it also still has the best first drop I've ever ridden. Everyone raves about B&M hyper coasters, I rode two in America and found them bland and unremarkable. Rides like PMBO and Magnum have something different about them - the sound of the lifthill, design of the trains, the random bumps in the track are all part of it! In my opinion, there is something special about rides from The Big One's era that modern coasters can't match.
February 6, 20205 yr comment_268600 2 hours ago, Coaster said: In my opinion, there is something special about rides from The Big One's era that modern coasters can't match. CAD mostly
February 6, 20205 yr comment_268607 2 hours ago, Benin said: CAD mostly Exactly my point! 😁 New technology produces perfected designs which can be recreated over and over but you'd never get another ride like PMBO built nowadays and you'd never get another first drop quite like that one. I have huge appreciation for rides like The Big One and (as a more extreme example) The Ultimate which aren't perfected, the random transitions and strange layouts are what makes them different!
February 19, 20205 yr comment_268843 Taziker Industrial have written a fantastic article on the retracking of The Big One - lots of good info! https://ti.uk.com/case-studies/the-big-one-rollercoaster
March 1, 20205 yr comment_269069 BPB are selling full monorail cars on the online shop. https://retail.blackpoolpleasurebeach.com/product/monorail-car-rock-fm/
March 8, 20205 yr comment_269170 Pleasure Beach was awesome this weekend. Big One open all day yesterday and most of today even with some fairly high winds, 2 trains on some of the coasters and a lovely atmosphere on park. The service was great, staff were all very friendly and helpful. Ghost Train has some amazing new scenes and lighting improvements throughout the ride, bringing out some of the UV in detail that it hasn't been seen in for years! River Caves also has some changes and improvements to the lighting, and looks in pretty good condition inside. Audio in Angkor Wat keeps cutting out though. Overall the most enjoyable weekend I've had at Pleasure Beach in a few years. There's a much nicer atmosphere about the place than it's had for a while.
March 8, 20205 yr comment_269171 But but, how are these forum members gonna cynically mock your posts now?
March 8, 20205 yr comment_269174 1 hour ago, SteveJ said: But but, how are these forum members gonna cynically mock your posts now? You can always just put a rating on the posts out of 5. Last time I did that though I was told off, so I won't be doing that anymore.
March 8, 20205 yr comment_269176 1 hour ago, SteveJ said: But but, how are these forum members gonna cynically mock your posts now? I'm sure they'll manage!
March 8, 20205 yr comment_269180 I just like Blackpool Pleasure Beach anyway. Sure it’s not the best park out there by any means, but the park atmosphere, variety of rides and everything just make for a well rounded park and it’s probably the nearest thing we’ve got to the likes of Cedar Point or Kennywood. I am quite aware this well depress some. I do think the Big One recently has been riding the best it ever has done too.
June 19, 20205 yr comment_270373 Pleasure Beach have extended their season and will now close on the 13th December (weekends only Nov-Dec) and have also extended season passes free of charge. They are also offering the option to defer 2020 season passes to 2021 or receive a (not yet announced) discount from next year's passes. The promenade illuminations are also being extended until 3rd January. All in all, an excellent response to a difficult situation in my eyes.
June 19, 20205 yr comment_270375 An interesting and promising move from Blackpool and the pleasure beach. Really hope this works out for them!
June 19, 20205 yr comment_270376 Good shout for the park, even if the bitter winter winds might be slightly off putting.
June 19, 20205 yr comment_270386 I have fears for how well they'll be able to operate their rides in December, but guess we'll see. Wonder if they'll still manage to host a February event given they'll have much less time for winter maintenance? Think the thing that's surprised me the most now I've digested the news is the fact they're not pushing the season till the New Year. I'd have thought they could try and push that Christmas/New Year week a bit more if they wanted to. I guess it's risky as it's hard to tell what demand could be like, but I still thought it'd've been worth a shot.
June 20, 20205 yr comment_270399 I doubt anyone wants to spend Christmas time at Blackpool willingly.
June 20, 20205 yr comment_270406 17 hours ago, JoshC. said: I have fears for how well they'll be able to operate their rides in December, but guess we'll see. Wonder if they'll still manage to host a February event given they'll have much less time for winter maintenance? Think the thing that's surprised me the most now I've digested the news is the fact they're not pushing the season till the New Year. I'd have thought they could try and push that Christmas/New Year week a bit more if they wanted to. I guess it's risky as it's hard to tell what demand could be like, but I still thought it'd've been worth a shot. TBF Blackpool has the same average temperature in December as in February (technically better as day time temperature the same as February but night temperature 1 degree better) so if it manages February just fine I'm sure December will be also fine in terms of temperature. Precipitation however, significantly worse and the west of the UK gets enough rain at the best of times!
June 23, 20205 yr comment_270493 I mean, she wasn't really wearing it properly, so it was bound to fall. But it raises a great point of how many people actually know how to wear one properly, as you say. From what I've seen at parks across Europe, and from people I've spoken to, you can easily wear masks on rides and have them stay in place the entire time. And let's not forget people have done this in Asia before coronavirus anyways. 1 hour ago, Ivsetti said: I think the biggest shame is that not a single park in the world commissioned a scientific study as to the effectiveness of spread of COVID-19 from sneezing whilst a ride is travelling at various speeds in motion (because it'd come out as negative for parks?). It's not something that any park could really do. To commission such a study would be very expensive. It would be difficult to find people who could do this (ie - are properly qualified to give an opinion and conduct any research) as well as people who would (anyone who could would likely be putting their efforts into something which has wider appeal / more useful to the public). Also, such a study would be insanely difficult. People are less likely to cough or sneeze whilst a roller coaster is in motion, so that means you need to focus on studying people's screams and breathing. It's less known how droplets spread during these situation, as generally speaking there's less droplets and they're less regularly spread out. You then need to take into account the speed of a ride, direction of travel, etc. As these things are ever-changing, it means you have to do millions more calculations compared to, say, how you'd model it for someone riding a bike. As a result, any study that could be conducted would likely just reaffirm the benefits of wearing a mask (in that it would use the same ideas as in any other study of motion, from riding a bike to standing still), and demonstrate how a suitably fitted mask can stay on whilst riding a ride. And why bother with a study to show that?
June 23, 20205 yr comment_270494 Probably produced in a way too to add a bit of drama to the video in the hopes of it going viral
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