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Blackpool Pleasure Beach | Icon | Mack Multi-Launch

Pear said:
I've ridden Riddler at SFNE and with the new trains the ride is really fun now. It's a bit shuffly still but it doesn't hurt cause there's no headbanging and the ride has some good forces as well.
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I rode it last year with the new trains before the retheme and it was still a rattly, juddery piece of ****. It was my least favourite SLC until I re-rode Infusion a few days ago. :(

MakoMania said:
If Big Dipper is boring then Wicker Man is a complete snoozefest.
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This is just complete bollocks. I don't think Wicker Man is amazing by any means but Big Dipper is a convoluted lift system, one half decent drop and a small hill both ruined by the roughness, and then a tedious meander to the end of the park and back. The best bit about Big dipper now is the station! ;)
 
I actually really like the big dipper. I don't thinks it's too rough and I think the airtime towards the back is fab despite its bumpy nature. It's one of my favourites at the pleasure beach

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Big Dipper and Grand National were running so bad yesterday, really really bad. They need considerably TLC or RMC, either/or.
 
I get that the back row of Grand National is a bit rough, but other than that I have no idea why people say Big Dipper/Grand National are so rough. I ride both of them frequently and I almost never experience any pain whatsoever and I think they are both fantastic classic wooden coasters and definitely more exciting rides than Wicker Man without a doubt.
 
They were rough throughout the entire layout, yesterday, there's absolutely no debating it. Most guests coming off saying 'that hurt' or 'I didn't really like that' etc. speaks volumes.
 
Anyone up for a new, station to station POV of Icon?
Video by Coastervideos.

Bear in mind this was filmed in the morning when the ride was testing before it opened for the day, it is running an empty train and hasn't had time to warm up yet, so it will look slower.
 
Lofty said:
They were rough throughout the entire layout, yesterday, there's absolutely no debating it. Most guests coming off saying 'that hurt' or 'I didn't really like that' etc. speaks volumes.
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I am going to deny it, there's a reason that Big Dipper still has the 3rd highest ridership in the park after nearly 100 years.

Some days they can be bumpier than others, but (for me at least) bumpy doesn't equate to pain. I don't think Infusion is painful either though, or The Smiler/SAW. Only painful coaster I've ever been on is Colossus at Thorpe.
 
Highly doubt they'd go near Big Dipper or Grand National with an RMC mindset, most they'd get is a retracking. If this park ever does get an RMC I'd wager it's a ground-up.
 
I would love to see a compact gravity group woodie there, something like mineblower or twister.

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Yup, needless half hour queues...queue runs very slow on one, boring as hell for the punters and staff.
Typical Beach operations on a quiet day.
 
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It probably is a wheel change, although I doubt they'd change from polyurethane to nylon. And why would they need to do a wheel change when the ride hasn't even been open a month?
 
More than likely just tweaking and tinkering of the wheel assembly (tightening etc.) as opposed to change of material.
 
Icon most certainly is not rough. It has the "Mack Rattle" associated with coasters like Helix and Blue Fire but it honestly isn't rough.

I have ridden Icon around 50 times now in every single seat including numerous rides at the back and it is insanely re-rideable. The Intamin trains on Taron vibrate with much more ferocity than any Mack Multilaunch and that coaster is held up as one of the best out there. After numerous rides on Taron it started to give me a headache (despite being my favourite coaster). I have never had this on Icon.

It is a marmite coaster at the moment with some enthusiasts calling it the best in the UK and others saying they don't rate it at all. I think personally that it is up there with the best. It's well paced, looks stunning, has moments of unexpected force (even more forceful than Helix) and more importantly it is FUN which a lot of coasters lack. Also, as with all the coasters at Pleasure Beach it is STUNNING to ride at night. It takes on a completely new atmosphere and presence. I was lucky enough to ride it just before 10pm and it was immensely enjoyable.

The problem with Icon is that people have either 1) judged it before they have ridden it and have therefore made their mind up before even stepping on the park or 2) ridden it with such high expectations that anything less than perfect means it is a "disappointing coaster" etc. If people regarded it as a fun family-friendly coaster with sections of awesome intensity and good pacing rather than a Helix/Taron crossover then they might enjoy and appreciate it more. It was never going to be the best coaster in the world but it's certainly the best in the UK (with exception from maybe Nemesis).
 
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