Matt N
CF Legend
Hi guys. Sorry to bore you with another of my trip reports, but today, I visited somewhere that I have wanted to visit for many years for the first ever time; Blackpool Pleasure Beach. Now this had been promised to me due to our family Florida holiday being delayed until 2019, so my family decided to go while we were on holiday in the Lake District. Anyway, we left our house in Ambleside at about 8:15am, so we arrived at BPB at about 9:30am. Now, our day at BPB was a day full of pleasant surprises, the first of which being that the park gates opened at around 9:45am, despite the park being advertised as opening at 10am. This was excellent timing for us to go to our first ride of the day...
Ice Blast
Now, I had not heard glowing reviews of Ice Blast, but I decided to give it a go anyway. And it was actually a nice surprise! Despite not being quite as vigorous as Dr Doom's FearFall at Islands of Adventure, Ice Blast was still good fun, in my opinion! I do have a soft spot for shot towers, even though I do personally prefer the straightforward drop towers, so I naturally enjoyed Ice Blast! It was a real thrill being shot 180ft above Blackpool, and some lovely views were taken in at the top! So it was a lovely start to our day at Blackpool Pleasure Beach, in my opinion. After stepping off Ice Blast, we headed over to Nickelodeon Land for our first coaster credit of the day...
Nickelodeon Streak
I wasn't sure what to expect from Nickelodeon Streak, as I had never ridden a vintage wooden coaster before. This particular coaster opened in 1933, so it was quite a departure from other woodies I'd ridden (the oldest woodie I'd ridden before today was Megafobia at Oakwood, which opened in 1996!). And you know what; it was surprisingly fab! The ride kept a good pace to it, in my opinion, there were some good drops, and it was actually quite smooth considering it's 85 years old, in my opinion! Also, I did like how the cars were cushioned; they almost looked a bit like sofas, in my opinion! I found this on all of BPB's vintage woodies; was this something they liked doing in the 1930s, out of interest? All in all, the Streak was a pleasant surprise, in my opinion! After Streak, we headed a short distance to our next coaster...
Blue Flyer
Blue Flyer was quite a unique credit for me to get; a wooden kiddie coaster! I had no idea what to expect, so I went on with an open mind. And it was good fun, although I didn't think it was quite as smooth as the Streak, and it was less comfortable due to the cars being a lot smaller than Streak's. The ride was a decent little kiddie coaster in my opinion, though! It was actually a decent length for a kiddie coaster, I thought it kept a good pace to it and it was a nice little ride for the younger kids! It's not going to make any top coaster lists any time soon, but when viewed in isolation, Blue Flyer is a lovely step up wooden coaster for younger children, in my opinion! Might I add that the queue was also walk on, and it would turn out that none of BPB's queues would be overly long! Anyway, after Blue Flyer, we left Nickelodeon Land to go and ride our next ride...
Steeplechase
Steeplechase really is quite the oddity, isn't it? Me and my mum rode the yellow side (which I think is the far right, correct me if I'm wrong.), and I personally found it quite a strange coaster! For starters, the seating position is bizarre, and reminded me more of one of those powered pony rides than any coaster I've ridden! After me and my mum were secured onto our horse, we headed up the lift hill. And then we were whacked around some very tight hairpin curves and down some small dips. My mum liked it for how odd it was, but I wasn't personally a huge fan because I personally thought that the ride hurt me a lot, especially around the curves. It reminded me quite a bit of Rattlesnake at Chessington, a ride that I'm not a fan of. Despite me disliking Steeplechase, I'm glad I rode it, as it's certainly a unique experience, and it is the only one of its kind in the world, after all! After Steeplechase, we headed to our next ride, where I would hit the momentous milestone of the 50th coaster. For this milestone, I chose...
Big One
I decided to choose Big One to be the big 50th coaster simply because it's a very iconic ride for both Blackpool and the UK; it's the UK's tallest coaster, it was once the world's tallest and steepest coaster; I personally think I chose well in that regard! However, I had heard mixed reviews of Big One, with quite a few people saying that the ride lacked airtime. I did hear one review that said the ride had more airtime than Mako, however, so I remained cautiously optimistic. My dad was saying to me that he predicted that the ride would be in my top 5. My anticipation was high, and it was unfortunately drawn out, as the ride experienced a breakdown for roughly 15 minutes. Despite this, I wouldn't say I had sky high expectations for Big One. So what did I think of the ride? Well... the first drop was pretty good, I suppose. And the ride kept a good pace to it, in my opinion. But other than that, I wasn't a huge fan of the Big One, if I'm being honest. As most reviews had implied, the ride did not have much (if any) airtime. However, a nasty surprise that the ride had up its sleeves which I didn't see coming was its roughness. Let's just say; if I had ridden the Big One blindfolded, I genuinely think I would have mistaken it for one of the park's 1930s wooden coasters if we were judging it off of smoothness alone. It was shaking and jolting its way around the course, and it did not sound particularly healthy off-ride, in my opinion! So overall, I wasn't a huge fan of the Big One. Despite this, I still appreciate and admire it because of what it did for Blackpool and the UK industry, and I'm very glad I chose it to be my 50th coaster! Besides, I was probably being a bit harsh on it; it is one of the older hyper coasters, after all! So I apologise for that. My family, despite its roughness, seemed to like the ride far more than I did. Anyway, after Big One, my family and I had some lunch...
For lunch, we headed to the Big Pizza Kitchen, which was lovely! It was an all you can eat buffet with some delicious food, and the restaurant looked lovely, too! Everyone in my family seemed to enjoy it, so that was a plus! After lunch, we were going to do Icon, but my mum decided that she wanted to do something slightly less thrilling straight after lunch, so we instead did...
Avalanche
Blackpool is a park full of oddities, in my opinion, because Avalanche turned out to be an interesting ride compared to others I've ridden! It was my first ever bobsled coaster, so I didn't know what to expect from Avalanche. I must say that Avalanche's theming is very nice! There's a beautiful Swiss-inspired station and some really cute bear animatronics outside! So a good start to Avalanche! Anyway, the ride itself was quite strange, although it was a better strange than Steeplechase, in my opinion! I found Avalanche to be a good, fun family coaster, personally! It started off quite slowly, but it really picked up some speed by the end! Overall, I personally enjoyed it, and I think my mum and my sister did, too! Although my sister did say that Avalanche felt a bit unsafe when she was on it, but I'm sure she meant it in a good way! Anyway, after Avalanche, we headed to our next ride, and arguably my most anticipated ride of BPB...
Icon
I actually wrote a separate Icon review, so here's a link to it if you'd like to read that: http://coasterforce.com/forums/thre...mack-multi-launch.39216/page-130#post-1033796
But if you don't want to read it, then I'll keep it brief and say; Icon is an absolutely breathtaking coaster experience not to be missed! My personal favourite UK coaster and my number 2 coaster overall! My family seemed to love it too, with my sister declaring that it had beaten The Smiler to her number 1 spot! After leaving Icon in high spirits, we headed to our next ride...
Big Dipper
Now, I was interested to ride Big Dipper, as it is the oldest of BPB's woodies and I had heard very mixed reviews of it, with some praising it and some criticising it. I know it's only small, but I must say that I liked the big water feature in Big Dipper's station! A really nice touch, in my opinion! Anyway, before I ramble on about water features, I noticed that like all of Blackpool's other vintage woodies, Big Dipper had cushioned trains, which again looked like sofas, in my opinion! So what did I think to the ride? Well, I found it to be a really pleasant surprise! It was a bit rough and jolty round the edges, but nothing unbearable! The coaster was also nice and long, and actually had some good little pops of airtime! Not Icon level airtime, but still noticeable, in my opinion! So I must say I quite liked this 1923 classic! In terms of how Dipper ranks against Blackpool's other wooden coasters, I'd personally put it below Streak, but above the other two. Overall, I was very pleasantly surprised with Big Dipper, and I rather enjoyed it! The rest of my family seemed to really like it, too! So after the pleasant surprise that was Big Dipper, we headed towards our next ride...
Infusion
My sister thought that Infusion looked good, so we headed towards it and got in line. Now, despite their reputation, I was interested to ride a Vekoma SLC for the first time to see for myself what they were truly like. First impressions were good; the ride looks lovely over the water with all of the fountains spraying under it, and the station looks OK, too! Me and my sister ended up going in row 2, so I was hopeful that the ride wouldn't be too rough in this particular seat. So how was the ride? Well... it somehow ended up being worse than I'd envisaged, despite my expectations being reasonably low. As I was looking down at the lovely lake that the ride is situated over, we plunged down the first drop, and my head started bashing madly on the restraint. This bashing got progressively worse as the ride went on, to the point where I couldn't wait to get off. By the time I exited Infusion, I had very red, achy ears. I'm now going to make a very bold statement... I genuinely think Infusion is my least favourite coaster. Yes, I genuinely think I prefer Colossus at Thorpe Park to Infusion, and that's saying something. So what I'm basically trying to say about Infusion is; while it looks nice, it isn't quite as nice to ride. Anyway, after our experience on Infusion, me and my sister met back up with my mum and dad and headed to our next ride...
Grand National
I was interested to ride Grand National, because it is one of very few remaining Mobius Loop coasters in the world. I was unfortunately only able to get on the left side, but I still think I got a good taste for what Nash is like. Again, Grand National had cushioned seats, but it had different lap bars to the other woodies and hard seat dividers instead of soft ones. Anyway, before I ramble on about seat dividers; what did I think of the ride? Well, it was fast-paced, and it had some decent airtime, but it was extremely rough and jolty, n my opinion, to the point where I couldn't really enjoy it. I know these older wooden coasters are supposed to be rough and violent, but I personally prefer rides with a good balance between smoothness and thrill which is probably why I like Icon so much! I apologise if I'm not appreciating these older woodies like they deserve to be appreciated, but I don't think the more brutal ones are really my sort of ride. My parents liked it, however, and said that they liked how different Blackpool's woodies were. So I reckon it's just that that more violent kind of ride isn't the sort I normally like. Anyway, after Grand National, we headed to our final coaster of the day...
Revolution
I had heard mixed opinions on Revolution, so I was interested to ride it to see for myself what it was like. I have to say that the ride looks very dominating with its grey colour scheme and unique station design; this is despite being in the shadow of Big One. When we were in the station, I did have to giggle when the announcements said "Prepare for the most thrilling and exciting ride of your life!" Also, I found the Arrow looper cars to be marginally better than many had portrayed them to be, although that may have been down to the fact that Revolution is a much shorter ride than many Arrow loopers. So what did I think to Revolution? I actually rather liked it! It was pretty smooth, in my opinion, the launches were OK and there were some decent forces through the loop! Also, I liked the little airtime moments coming out of the launches! Overall, I personally found Revolution pretty fun! My sister wasn't quite so keen, however; she didn't seem to like the backwards launch! After Revolution, we headed to our next ride...
A reride on the wonderful Icon! It was still awesome, and I thought it felt a little tiny bit faster than it had done a couple of hours prior. After that, we headed to our final ride of the day (or so we thought...)…
Valhalla
I was really looking forward to Valhalla; after hearing about its many GTA wins and the huge praise that people lavish upon it, I wanted to see it for myself. However, the ride looked strangely quiet when we approached it... and it later turned out that the ride was closed. So we decided to end our day there, as it was around 5pm by this point and my parents had had enough, despite liking the park. Due to this, my suggestion of a 3rd Icon ride was unfortunately turned down. So we decided to head to the Ice Bar for a refreshing drink to conclude our day at BPB...
So, in conclusion...
I had a wonderful day at Blackpool Pleasure Beach! I couldn't have asked for a better first visit, and the park had surprises around every corner! I must admit that Blackpool surpassed my expectations, and my expectations were quite a bit higher than my family's! So much so that I would probably put Blackpool Pleasure Beach among my top 5 parks I've visited, and 2nd only to Alton Towers in terms of the UK! I was simply mesmerised by how they managed to cram so many rides into such a small space, and I liked how quickly you could get between rides! Also, the operations were fantastic; all coasters bar the ones that only have one train were running a minimum of 2 trains, and the queues moved very quickly! So, in conclusion, I had a simply fabulous day at the Pleasure Beach; if you haven't visited yet, then I would definitely recommend a visit! Icon alone is worth the visit, and the park's other rides are awesome in their own right! I'd been waiting since 2013 to go to Blackpool Pleasure Beach, and it did not disappoint! Next up; Alton Towers on Saturday and Sunday! I can't wait!
P.S. Sorry for long report. Also, sorry if this report is badly written or if I'm too harsh on any of the park's rides.
Ice Blast
Now, I had not heard glowing reviews of Ice Blast, but I decided to give it a go anyway. And it was actually a nice surprise! Despite not being quite as vigorous as Dr Doom's FearFall at Islands of Adventure, Ice Blast was still good fun, in my opinion! I do have a soft spot for shot towers, even though I do personally prefer the straightforward drop towers, so I naturally enjoyed Ice Blast! It was a real thrill being shot 180ft above Blackpool, and some lovely views were taken in at the top! So it was a lovely start to our day at Blackpool Pleasure Beach, in my opinion. After stepping off Ice Blast, we headed over to Nickelodeon Land for our first coaster credit of the day...
Nickelodeon Streak
I wasn't sure what to expect from Nickelodeon Streak, as I had never ridden a vintage wooden coaster before. This particular coaster opened in 1933, so it was quite a departure from other woodies I'd ridden (the oldest woodie I'd ridden before today was Megafobia at Oakwood, which opened in 1996!). And you know what; it was surprisingly fab! The ride kept a good pace to it, in my opinion, there were some good drops, and it was actually quite smooth considering it's 85 years old, in my opinion! Also, I did like how the cars were cushioned; they almost looked a bit like sofas, in my opinion! I found this on all of BPB's vintage woodies; was this something they liked doing in the 1930s, out of interest? All in all, the Streak was a pleasant surprise, in my opinion! After Streak, we headed a short distance to our next coaster...
Blue Flyer
Blue Flyer was quite a unique credit for me to get; a wooden kiddie coaster! I had no idea what to expect, so I went on with an open mind. And it was good fun, although I didn't think it was quite as smooth as the Streak, and it was less comfortable due to the cars being a lot smaller than Streak's. The ride was a decent little kiddie coaster in my opinion, though! It was actually a decent length for a kiddie coaster, I thought it kept a good pace to it and it was a nice little ride for the younger kids! It's not going to make any top coaster lists any time soon, but when viewed in isolation, Blue Flyer is a lovely step up wooden coaster for younger children, in my opinion! Might I add that the queue was also walk on, and it would turn out that none of BPB's queues would be overly long! Anyway, after Blue Flyer, we left Nickelodeon Land to go and ride our next ride...
Steeplechase
Steeplechase really is quite the oddity, isn't it? Me and my mum rode the yellow side (which I think is the far right, correct me if I'm wrong.), and I personally found it quite a strange coaster! For starters, the seating position is bizarre, and reminded me more of one of those powered pony rides than any coaster I've ridden! After me and my mum were secured onto our horse, we headed up the lift hill. And then we were whacked around some very tight hairpin curves and down some small dips. My mum liked it for how odd it was, but I wasn't personally a huge fan because I personally thought that the ride hurt me a lot, especially around the curves. It reminded me quite a bit of Rattlesnake at Chessington, a ride that I'm not a fan of. Despite me disliking Steeplechase, I'm glad I rode it, as it's certainly a unique experience, and it is the only one of its kind in the world, after all! After Steeplechase, we headed to our next ride, where I would hit the momentous milestone of the 50th coaster. For this milestone, I chose...
Big One
I decided to choose Big One to be the big 50th coaster simply because it's a very iconic ride for both Blackpool and the UK; it's the UK's tallest coaster, it was once the world's tallest and steepest coaster; I personally think I chose well in that regard! However, I had heard mixed reviews of Big One, with quite a few people saying that the ride lacked airtime. I did hear one review that said the ride had more airtime than Mako, however, so I remained cautiously optimistic. My dad was saying to me that he predicted that the ride would be in my top 5. My anticipation was high, and it was unfortunately drawn out, as the ride experienced a breakdown for roughly 15 minutes. Despite this, I wouldn't say I had sky high expectations for Big One. So what did I think of the ride? Well... the first drop was pretty good, I suppose. And the ride kept a good pace to it, in my opinion. But other than that, I wasn't a huge fan of the Big One, if I'm being honest. As most reviews had implied, the ride did not have much (if any) airtime. However, a nasty surprise that the ride had up its sleeves which I didn't see coming was its roughness. Let's just say; if I had ridden the Big One blindfolded, I genuinely think I would have mistaken it for one of the park's 1930s wooden coasters if we were judging it off of smoothness alone. It was shaking and jolting its way around the course, and it did not sound particularly healthy off-ride, in my opinion! So overall, I wasn't a huge fan of the Big One. Despite this, I still appreciate and admire it because of what it did for Blackpool and the UK industry, and I'm very glad I chose it to be my 50th coaster! Besides, I was probably being a bit harsh on it; it is one of the older hyper coasters, after all! So I apologise for that. My family, despite its roughness, seemed to like the ride far more than I did. Anyway, after Big One, my family and I had some lunch...
For lunch, we headed to the Big Pizza Kitchen, which was lovely! It was an all you can eat buffet with some delicious food, and the restaurant looked lovely, too! Everyone in my family seemed to enjoy it, so that was a plus! After lunch, we were going to do Icon, but my mum decided that she wanted to do something slightly less thrilling straight after lunch, so we instead did...
Avalanche
Blackpool is a park full of oddities, in my opinion, because Avalanche turned out to be an interesting ride compared to others I've ridden! It was my first ever bobsled coaster, so I didn't know what to expect from Avalanche. I must say that Avalanche's theming is very nice! There's a beautiful Swiss-inspired station and some really cute bear animatronics outside! So a good start to Avalanche! Anyway, the ride itself was quite strange, although it was a better strange than Steeplechase, in my opinion! I found Avalanche to be a good, fun family coaster, personally! It started off quite slowly, but it really picked up some speed by the end! Overall, I personally enjoyed it, and I think my mum and my sister did, too! Although my sister did say that Avalanche felt a bit unsafe when she was on it, but I'm sure she meant it in a good way! Anyway, after Avalanche, we headed to our next ride, and arguably my most anticipated ride of BPB...
Icon
I actually wrote a separate Icon review, so here's a link to it if you'd like to read that: http://coasterforce.com/forums/thre...mack-multi-launch.39216/page-130#post-1033796
But if you don't want to read it, then I'll keep it brief and say; Icon is an absolutely breathtaking coaster experience not to be missed! My personal favourite UK coaster and my number 2 coaster overall! My family seemed to love it too, with my sister declaring that it had beaten The Smiler to her number 1 spot! After leaving Icon in high spirits, we headed to our next ride...
Big Dipper
Now, I was interested to ride Big Dipper, as it is the oldest of BPB's woodies and I had heard very mixed reviews of it, with some praising it and some criticising it. I know it's only small, but I must say that I liked the big water feature in Big Dipper's station! A really nice touch, in my opinion! Anyway, before I ramble on about water features, I noticed that like all of Blackpool's other vintage woodies, Big Dipper had cushioned trains, which again looked like sofas, in my opinion! So what did I think to the ride? Well, I found it to be a really pleasant surprise! It was a bit rough and jolty round the edges, but nothing unbearable! The coaster was also nice and long, and actually had some good little pops of airtime! Not Icon level airtime, but still noticeable, in my opinion! So I must say I quite liked this 1923 classic! In terms of how Dipper ranks against Blackpool's other wooden coasters, I'd personally put it below Streak, but above the other two. Overall, I was very pleasantly surprised with Big Dipper, and I rather enjoyed it! The rest of my family seemed to really like it, too! So after the pleasant surprise that was Big Dipper, we headed towards our next ride...
Infusion
My sister thought that Infusion looked good, so we headed towards it and got in line. Now, despite their reputation, I was interested to ride a Vekoma SLC for the first time to see for myself what they were truly like. First impressions were good; the ride looks lovely over the water with all of the fountains spraying under it, and the station looks OK, too! Me and my sister ended up going in row 2, so I was hopeful that the ride wouldn't be too rough in this particular seat. So how was the ride? Well... it somehow ended up being worse than I'd envisaged, despite my expectations being reasonably low. As I was looking down at the lovely lake that the ride is situated over, we plunged down the first drop, and my head started bashing madly on the restraint. This bashing got progressively worse as the ride went on, to the point where I couldn't wait to get off. By the time I exited Infusion, I had very red, achy ears. I'm now going to make a very bold statement... I genuinely think Infusion is my least favourite coaster. Yes, I genuinely think I prefer Colossus at Thorpe Park to Infusion, and that's saying something. So what I'm basically trying to say about Infusion is; while it looks nice, it isn't quite as nice to ride. Anyway, after our experience on Infusion, me and my sister met back up with my mum and dad and headed to our next ride...
Grand National
I was interested to ride Grand National, because it is one of very few remaining Mobius Loop coasters in the world. I was unfortunately only able to get on the left side, but I still think I got a good taste for what Nash is like. Again, Grand National had cushioned seats, but it had different lap bars to the other woodies and hard seat dividers instead of soft ones. Anyway, before I ramble on about seat dividers; what did I think of the ride? Well, it was fast-paced, and it had some decent airtime, but it was extremely rough and jolty, n my opinion, to the point where I couldn't really enjoy it. I know these older wooden coasters are supposed to be rough and violent, but I personally prefer rides with a good balance between smoothness and thrill which is probably why I like Icon so much! I apologise if I'm not appreciating these older woodies like they deserve to be appreciated, but I don't think the more brutal ones are really my sort of ride. My parents liked it, however, and said that they liked how different Blackpool's woodies were. So I reckon it's just that that more violent kind of ride isn't the sort I normally like. Anyway, after Grand National, we headed to our final coaster of the day...
Revolution
I had heard mixed opinions on Revolution, so I was interested to ride it to see for myself what it was like. I have to say that the ride looks very dominating with its grey colour scheme and unique station design; this is despite being in the shadow of Big One. When we were in the station, I did have to giggle when the announcements said "Prepare for the most thrilling and exciting ride of your life!" Also, I found the Arrow looper cars to be marginally better than many had portrayed them to be, although that may have been down to the fact that Revolution is a much shorter ride than many Arrow loopers. So what did I think to Revolution? I actually rather liked it! It was pretty smooth, in my opinion, the launches were OK and there were some decent forces through the loop! Also, I liked the little airtime moments coming out of the launches! Overall, I personally found Revolution pretty fun! My sister wasn't quite so keen, however; she didn't seem to like the backwards launch! After Revolution, we headed to our next ride...
A reride on the wonderful Icon! It was still awesome, and I thought it felt a little tiny bit faster than it had done a couple of hours prior. After that, we headed to our final ride of the day (or so we thought...)…
Valhalla
I was really looking forward to Valhalla; after hearing about its many GTA wins and the huge praise that people lavish upon it, I wanted to see it for myself. However, the ride looked strangely quiet when we approached it... and it later turned out that the ride was closed. So we decided to end our day there, as it was around 5pm by this point and my parents had had enough, despite liking the park. Due to this, my suggestion of a 3rd Icon ride was unfortunately turned down. So we decided to head to the Ice Bar for a refreshing drink to conclude our day at BPB...
So, in conclusion...
I had a wonderful day at Blackpool Pleasure Beach! I couldn't have asked for a better first visit, and the park had surprises around every corner! I must admit that Blackpool surpassed my expectations, and my expectations were quite a bit higher than my family's! So much so that I would probably put Blackpool Pleasure Beach among my top 5 parks I've visited, and 2nd only to Alton Towers in terms of the UK! I was simply mesmerised by how they managed to cram so many rides into such a small space, and I liked how quickly you could get between rides! Also, the operations were fantastic; all coasters bar the ones that only have one train were running a minimum of 2 trains, and the queues moved very quickly! So, in conclusion, I had a simply fabulous day at the Pleasure Beach; if you haven't visited yet, then I would definitely recommend a visit! Icon alone is worth the visit, and the park's other rides are awesome in their own right! I'd been waiting since 2013 to go to Blackpool Pleasure Beach, and it did not disappoint! Next up; Alton Towers on Saturday and Sunday! I can't wait!
P.S. Sorry for long report. Also, sorry if this report is badly written or if I'm too harsh on any of the park's rides.
