Mark9 Posted September 16, 2012 Report Share Posted September 16, 2012 It's been a long seven years since I last visited the Pleasure Beach. Back when I was a 17 year old I hurt my back viciously on the Big One, got thrilled within an inch of my life on a rainy Grand National, spun on Spin Doctor, Dazzled by Bling and thrown into another galaxy on Space Invader. But how had the park changed since 2005? Compared to my 2005 trip, the weather was beautiful. Sure it was dark and gloomy compared to the sunny South but it wasn't raining which really helped the atmosphere. One thing though, the park was very busy but thanks to the huge amounts of rides, shows and attractions queues were kept on the lowish side. So where to start? Oh yeah The Big One - Sponsored by Pepsi Max Back when my park experience extended to Alton Towers, Drayton, Chessington and Thorpe Park, the Big One was a ride to be admired but after riding it, it quickly became my least favourite rollercoaster. A first drop that felt like my back had been shattered to pieces and air time hills which made rolling down a hill look intense, the Big One was pants. But.. since then I've been on some truly diabolical rollercoasters. Furius Baco, Sequoia Adventure, Shamu Express, Saw the ride have all helped me develop my coasters interests to the point where you know what, The Big One ain't half bad. Sure, it still retains many problems such as the stupidly long drawn out hills or the helix fresh from RCT2. But I really feared that Shambhala would make Big One look worse and it didn't. I came off happy and fulfilled that I enjoyed it because thats what rollercoasters are all about. And plus.. I love its new livery. Big Dipper Last time I visited Blackpool, The Big Dipper was closed all day. This made me upset because it was a ride that I had always known about and I had read the reviews on Coaster Kingdom. My appetite for it remain disappointed. This time though, the ride was up and running and I can confirm my love for this classic attraction. By todays standards it is completely medieval. Tonnerre de Zeus and Megafobia leave it for dust, even Grand National and Nickelodeon Streak make it look a bit old fashioned. But I don't care for that because when seeing that blue train turning around behind the Big Dipper sign, the thought of generations of thrill seekers enjoying a roller coaster by the sea, in the sun, through the ages bought along some real nostalgia. Thats the thing with the Pleasure Beach, you can feel the history eminating from every attraction. Whether its the Derby Racer or the 70's shine of Steeplechase. Big Dipper is little to write home about in that respect. It's a beautiful wooden rollercoaster with gentle air time and roughness. But I love it and would be very upset if the Pleasure Beach ever decided to dismantle it. Grand National Back in 2005 this was easily my favourite attraction at Blackpool and quickly made it into my top five rollercoasters. It was the one I was most worried about riding as memories can cheat. Would it be able to retain its relentlessness and its simple element of racing? Of course it could. For all those that were so desperate for a wooden rollercoaster at Alton or Thorpe, well you could just go to Oakwood or Blackpool for some of the finest wooden roller-coasters invented. Grand National is an absolute wonder of an attraction. Unlike Stampeda which cheats its riders, Grand National keeps the trains together through each turn, every moment, one train pulls ahead of the other before the other makes its presence felt on the next turn around. It's sheer beauty is that the ride is so simple and yet so much fun to ride. The double dip is inspired and I truly love this attraction. Irn Bru Revolution Back in the days when this was orange and blue I really enjoyed the relatively simpleness of the ride. A hill, a vertical loop then all again in reverse. Now in 2012, the ride has had a rather tasteful refurbishment and looks all the better for it. Really fun attraction too actually. More air time in that drop then the whole of some German Intamin and B&M mega coasters. Infusion Compared to our European brothers, we've managed to escape the curse of SLC's quite well. Infusion's only real comparison for me is Blue Tornado at Gardaland. They are both the same ride and well.. To be honest you get what you pay for. Infusion, despite its misgivings is a well paced, fast, action packed rollercoaster and it only really got un-pleasent at the double corkscrew. The rest of it is all pretty manageable with a tightly packed layout showcasing the best of Vekoma ( ). (My JoshC tribute. ) Nickelodeon Streak and Blue Flyer I'd just like to say I'm not a fan of the new colour scheme for Streak. It looks garish in bright orange and green. Rollercoaster is good though if unremarkable. Straddling the perimeter of the back of the park, it is probably the roughest of the larger wooden roller coasters with bruising moments on the first and second drops. The final air time hills towards the end of the layout are very fun. The Blue Flyer (Or as I prefer to call it, Zipper Dipper) is a great starting rollercoaster for children. Nickelodeon land on the whole was very popular on our visit and the park had certainly done the company justice with a large bustling, brightly coloured area. Steeplechase and Wild Mouse I'm really not sure about Steeplechase.It just seems so unwieldy compared to the other Blackpool roller coasters. That being said the concept of danger is probably part of the attractions appeal because it doesn't do much that is particularly remarkable. The same can be said of WIld Mouse which is the perfect small roller coaster. It says a lot for a ride when you can feel the wheels coming off the tracks as it flies around corners at break neck speeds. Definitely should be ridden even if it will probably bruise you. Flying Machines and Derby Racer I love these attractions. They are another example of days gone by and that is why I love them. It may just be me but on Time Machines, I felt like I could hear the screams of thrill seekers 100 years gone by. No other park has given me that feeling of nostalgia and pride, atmosphere and love by a family for their attraction. Whilst other parks may pride themselves by being at the forefront of technology or the best in the country, the Pleasure Beach sits there with rides that bruise you, hurt you, throw you from side to side in their rawness. It astounds me that rides today like Perilous Plunge, Slammer, Big Bad Wolf, even Nemesis are seen as ancient but rides like Big Dipper, Grand National, Flying Machines have been going since before World War 2 and still bring smiles to the faces of many a visitor. And long may that continue. Benin, Mitchada04, Phill Pritchard and 3 others 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benin Posted September 16, 2012 Report Share Posted September 16, 2012 Cba to make my own topic, so I'll just mooch off Mark's (since I went on the same day, just with a coaster group (THE HORROR))... I too haven't been to Blackpool in YEARS (the year Infusion opened), so was interested to see what was new and how bad the fountain situation actually is... My day started with lots of faff and early, as whilst the park might open at 10, EVERYTHING is staggered opening... This is rather weird, but regardless the entrance area is pretty nice now, although Noah's Ark is completely out of place, the open air plaza leading towards Nash or Valhalla is miles better than the Dodgems of old... Wild Mouse was first, and is simply the best ride at the park... Recently I saw an enthusiast question why this "Small wooden coaster in the UK" was placed reasonably high on the Golden Tickets list, and riding it again makes me believe it's not only the heritage behind the ride, but the fact that it is easily the most terrifying coaster in the UK, because no other coaster makes you feel like you will go all Final Destination... It's incredible really, the drops and airtime are all there, with those turns making Rattlesnake look like a B&M... Plus you have to duck below the lifthill in the most literal sense... Brilliant little thing, and well deserves the love... Big Dipper next, and after recent discussions asking should it remain in the park, I feel obliged to say, "yes, it does have a right to remain there", because it really is a fun ride... Sure it's rough, but EVERY SINGLE RIDE at Blackpool is rough in some respect, similarly to Mark, I've done much worse rides for roughness... Dipper is just a simple ride that looks great and is possibly one of the most recognisable landmarks in the UK... River Caves was to be the dark ride of choice next, another classic ride which has definitely seen better days... The theming ideas whilst grand are just unkept and look awful... The cave scene is currently under redevelopment due to Wallace and Gromit, but regardless, it could do with a tart up, with perhaps some full on animatronics to bring it into the 21st century without removing the old ride feel... Some meandering led us to Grand National... Last time I rode it with the new trains, I hated it, and the operations haven't improved much since then... Why oh why did Kumbak decide to follow Vekoma's method of revamping rides? Urgh... However, the actual ride portion was back to the old standard and is easily one of the best coasters in the UK when running well... If only it still had the old operation standards People went on Valhalla next, which I avoided, then lunch/dry-off time was called... Eventually (After searching the entire park) we ended up at Coasters (moved from it's old location by South Entrance, the one issue with having single entrance now is that it has killed the promenade in front of the park), and some food later, it was back into the rides... Onto the Big One, bless it, it's so badly designed and laid out isn't it? That helix is awful, the slow long drawn out hills... However it is the iconic ride of the UK and that first drop is still a complete surprise... The new trains make it look sooooo much better, and overall it is a good ride really... It can be seen as boring (like I have done) but really, it's decent enough... Then Steeplechase... I love it, it's sooooooo H&S evil (like many of Blackpool's rides) and just brilliant at life... Amazing how simple a thing of making a ride duelling can make all the difference... It's a really entertaining ride and a classic... I would be sad to see it go but considering the footprint of the thing it would depend on Blackpool's opinion of it in the end... We ventured into the Maze next, which was a bit rubbish in the end... So we celebrated by going on Avalanche, with the most annoying theme music in the world... It's actually good again, the constant build up of speed is a real asset to the Bobsleigh coasters, making the point of them actually exist... New coloured Rev was next... Coar it looks amazing in grey... Really, really does... The loudness of the speakers in the queue however, as much as I like Ride of the Valkyries, was not amusing... As was the sheer windchill on the platform... However, it is great fun, proving that even the most simplest launch rides can be as good as their modern, more complex counterparts... Airtime, G-Forces, it does exactly what it says on the tin... Nick Land looks really good for the record... It is garish yes, but actually, that suits Blackpool's tackiness down to a tee... Orange Coaster looks awful though... And it lost it tunnel The new loading/off-loading is stupid as well mind... Oh wells... It's not too bad in the end as a ride... Definitely always a hit with the younger audience... After Orange some people went on Infusion (lord knows why) whilst the rest headed towards more dark ride randomness, this time in the shape of the delightful Alice in Wonderland... This ride was built in the 60s and you can see it... It's actually fab, like amazingly so... It's that old school terrifying which makes the old dark rides so unique in comparison to things like Charlie and Tomb Blaster... I really enjoyed it because it was so off the wall... With one of the biggest dark ride innuendos in the country, putting Hocus Pocus Hall to shame... I heartily recommend that people go on it... Darkness had fallen, and we were planning on going on Impossible, but the man was being very meh towards a group of 30+ heading in, so the sensible ones of us went for some last ditch night time Grand National... Oh my... It was storming around the track in such glorious fashion... The two double dip drops were brilliant, and the sheer pace and running of the thing was unbelievable... Shows the difference between old and new designs, few modern woodies can create the out of control experience Nash and the rest of them do, not even rides like Zeus or Megaphobia come close... Overall, it was a good day in the end, the redevelopment of the park is actually a lot more beneficial than enthusiasts give credit for... Whilst Trauma Towers and Bling's spots remain unused, I'm sure they will soon enough... And I LOVE the Fountain Police <3<3 Mitchada04 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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