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Wild Mouse at BPB Closure - R.I.P. 1958-2017

CrashCoaster

CF Legend
^So you think they are going to open a new coaster in the Mouse's spot in a couple of months? No chance. They won't be able to afford one for another 5 years, at least.
 

Mysterious Sue

Strata Poster
It's totally not just enthusiasts that loved the Mouse. It was well known and loved by the general public. I'd say it was just as recognisable as The Big One.

Obviously I'm still excited about Icon but it's not going to be world-beating is it? Very good, yes, but it seems unlikely it'll beat Helix or Taron. Wild Mouse was the best of its type. The airtime on it was incredible and unlike anything else. Its removal is a sad loss.

Blackpool doesn't have the budget to keep adding new rides (how long has it been since The Big One, or even Infusion's relocation?) Thier appeal is history and quirkiness. The Mouse embodied that. Cretins.
 

roomraider

Best Topic Starter
This is a complete stinker of a thing to do by the park. I loved this ride and the fact its the only one of its kind on this side of the planet makes it so much worse.

If the park had said in April. Get your last rides in before the mouse closes at the end of the year I would have been ok with it. Not happy but I would have understood. But to do this is just an awful awful PR move. I assume they were trying to avoid all the "Save the Mouse Petitions" but its just a vindictive arsehat way of doing things to avoid some annoying petitions (and probably a bucket load of press coverage)

Can see what will happen too.
-Massive Backlash
-Announcement that the classic mouse is coming back for 2020
-BPB Installs Zamperla Steel Mouse calling it the Classic Wild Mouse
-Everyone is happy.
 

Smithy

Strata Poster
I think I will email the park and explain that I am reconsidering visiting this year unless they bring in another new coaster on the level of Icon (since their excuse is making space and the park evolving).

Give your head a wobble.
 

Will

Strata Poster
^
Spot on. Aside from the very last sentence of that post.
[roomraider - though Smithy was right too. Abusing their social media goons will make you feel a little better, but that's literally all it will do]
Although, at least we'd get a cred out of the deal.

Either way, it's one of those rare times when all of us here seem to be in complete agreement. In fact, even my Dad and brothers were outraged.
 
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lachlan

Mega Poster
^So you think they are going to open a new coaster in the Mouse's spot in a couple of months? No chance. They won't be able to afford one for another 5 years, at least.
No, not with Icon - their first proper new coaster since 1994. My point was they won't be able to afford to fill that space with something better so their statement is bull**** and no excuse for removing the ride.

Oh well
 

sandgrown

Mega Poster
I think I will email the park and explain that I am reconsidering visiting this year unless they bring in another new coaster on the level of Icon (since their excuse is making space and the park evolving). Not that an email, or signing a petition, will do anything anyway.

I feel really upset right now, this is not what I needed after a bad day at work

If they want space, there's a massive empty Space Invader mountain to work with, or sod it, rip out the Roller Coaster (it's not the "Nickelodeon Streak", it just isn't), as it's the one wooden ride that nobody local rates. Ironically, the Mouse is the best use of space I can imagine for a thrill ride. So compact but so exciting.

Yeah, they'd better have something good lined up to replace it. They haven't though have they?
 

lachlan

Mega Poster
If they want space, there's a massive empty Space Invader mountain to work with, or sod it, rip out the Roller Coaster (it's not the "Nickelodeon Streak", it just isn't), as it's the one wooden ride that nobody local rates. Ironically, the Mouse is the best use of space I can imagine for a thrill ride. So compact but so exciting.

Yeah, they'd better have something good lined up to replace it. They haven't though have they?
That was my point - they shouldn't have taken it out because there's no chance anything better. So why do they bother saying "changes are what made the park great today" when this is clearly a charge for the worse
 

Matt N

CF Legend
Can see what will happen too.
-Massive Backlash
-Announcement that the classic mouse is coming back for 2020
-BPB Installs Zamperla Steel Mouse calling it the Classic Wild Mouse
-Everyone is happy.
Wouldn't surprise me, as Aussie World actually used this strategy last year when they removed their wooden wild mouse:
https://rcdb.com/1629.htm
https://rcdb.com/14496.htm
EDIT: Just did a quick search of RCDB. Turns out there are now 5 wooden wild mouse coasters operating worldwide.
 

Dipper_Dave

Roller Poster
Can see what will happen too.
-Massive Backlash
-Announcement that the classic mouse is coming back for 2020
-BPB Installs Zamperla Steel Mouse calling it the Classic Wild Mouse
-Everyone is happy.

No, please not a spinning coaster. Just no. If it is mainly clearance envelopes that are the problem (person allegedly having body part contacting part of structure, lifthill headchopper etc), can it not be rebuilt with the same track layout but somehow just a bit more space inbetween everything, structure wise?
 

CrashCoaster

CF Legend
It'd be cool if GCI could work on a wooden wild mouse prototype, modernized but having lots of airtime and laterals. I'd rather them remove the Steeplechase than the Wild Mouse tbh.
 

sandgrown

Mega Poster
They will put some **** spinning ride there, or some walkthrough attraction, or retail and catering. No chance they are going to stick a proper ride in that space.
 

Robbie

Hyper Poster
Weird that we assume that it wasn't a favourite of the non-goons... whenever I find myself talking to random non-goons about Blackpool, the Wild Mouse was always the one ride that they remarked upon (rather than t'Big One which I would have assumed would be the stand-out one).
Mind you, there is someone on that Facebook link saying it's time it was gone as it "felt like I was going to come out on the corner" - which is the point of the ride! It's like saying they should get rid of Valhalla because it makes you wet.
 

Mysterious Sue

Strata Poster
EDIT: Just did a quick search of RCDB. Turns out there are now 5 wooden wild mouse coasters operating worldwide.
Two are actually ghost trains though (debatable as actual creds) and the two in Indonesia are smaller designs (with much smaller drops). There's only the one left in Australia that really compares.
 

CrashCoaster

CF Legend
I think if they put food and drinks in Wild Mouse's location, they will remove the Bowl-a-drome, the current food stalls that are next to it, and maybe even impossible so that they can install a decent-sized coaster.
 

Matt N

CF Legend
Two are actually ghost trains though (debatable as actual creds) and the two in Indonesia are smaller designs (with much smaller drops). There's only the one left in Australia that really compares.
However many genuine ones there are left, what I can safely say is that the wooden wild mouse is a dying breed, as there have been 56 built and only 5 of them still operate, counting the dubious ghost train-type ones.
 

Dipper_Dave

Roller Poster
Mind you, there is someone on that Facebook link saying it's time it was gone as it "felt like I was going to come out on the corner" - which is the point of the ride! It's like saying they should get rid of Valhalla because it makes you wet.

Yes, the precise point of the ride. Not sure non goons would even notice that this is because the 'front' wheels were actually halfway back down the car, hence a chunk of the rodent already being 'over the edge' before the car actually turned.

The problem is, in terms of complaints, accident book entries etc, trip advisor whinges etc, that where do you draw the line? I've had a long slow wait (yes, even longer than normal) in the Nash station whilst the accident book is filled in, etc. and I realise they have to adhere to these processes, but really you could make an argument for a few rides causing you some kind of discomfort or pain. Stuff that we accept and just get on with, but the GP whinge about. Do you think people complain about the the jolt you get on The Big One's first drop on the back row? I doubt it, but even if they did, the park aren't going to take it down are they? It just feels like a victory for anyone who's ever bashed their knee or bruised a rib on the Mouse and complained about it, and a defeat for the vast majority of people who loved the ride experience. A sad day for anyone who truly appreciated a classic and hugely fun ride for what it was.
 
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sandgrown

Mega Poster
I think if they put food and drinks in Wild Mouse's location, they will remove the Bowl-a-drome, the current food stalls that are next to it, and maybe even impossible so that they can install a decent-sized coaster.

That's the Haunted Swing gone as well then. Which would be more of the history trashed.
Actually, I don't know if any of you are old enough to remember, but in that space opposite the Mouse, there used to be a simulator of The Beast. When i was little I was too scared to go on the big rides, so I used to go on that. Presumably Geoffrey Thompson had been over to the USA and impressed enough to pay tribute to it at BPB.
 
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