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Blackpool Pleasure Beach March 2016 Trip Reports

Rachel

Coaster MILF
Thank you to everyone for another fabulous weekend and thank you to Ian for organising the day and for the stick of rock :)

I'd been to Blackpool once before on a really quiet day so luckily had all the creds, if I hadn't i'd of had some serious cred anxiety as the place was a lot busier than expected! We started the day with a ride on Grand National - it was rougher than I remember but didn't induce too much of a headache. Next was Wild Mouse, which I braved on my own for the first time, the drops are still terrifying!

Most of the bigger coasters had a long queue so we headed over to Nickelodeon land to ride the 2 smaller woodies. I forgot just how short Blue Flyer was.

Final ride before lunch was Steeplechase, where a game of Chinese Whispers was had. No one seemed to have any idea what anyone else was saying, ending in the most random things being shouted out! I got on the red track, which meant I got my one and only plus 1 of the weekend.

The group split for lunch and Frank and I headed over over to the pizza pasta buffet. We rushed through our food, as we only had half an hour, only to go back over to the noodle place and find everyone still queuing lol.

Once everyone has finally eaten their food it was a choice of Big Dipper, Infusion or Wallace and Gromit. I went for the Big Dipper and maintain the opinion that its the best coaster in the park, some small little pops of airtime and fairly smooth. We all gooned out at the big empty space in the middle of the park.

Next it was time for the Big one, the queue was the longest of of the day but the time passed quickly with talk of all things goony. I still think the coaster is such a disappointment, the first drop is amazing but then rest is just so 'meh'. Such a shame.

Everyone went on Revolution next, I skipped it and headed for Avalanche. It still surprises me how much speed this picks up, a really decent coaster, if a little short.

Final ride of the day was Valhalla. I didn't think much of this ride the first time, so was eager to try it again with CFers to see if my opinion would change. It didn't. I think my problem is that i'm too concerned with when I'm next going to get wet, so I don't actually pay any attention to anything else. Ah well, never mind.

The day had come to an end but I was looking forward to my first night out in Blackpool. It didn't disappoint, we ended up in a bar with the bitchiest fab DJ, good music and Ben's amazing Irish dancing :lol: .

It wasn't part of the Live, but I did go to Alton the next day so I'll just write a few words about that. The place was dead, I think the longest queue of the day was for the Runaway Train. It was good to see the Smiler back up and running, however I still think its crap and sickly. Nemesis was running a bit....tame? It didn't pack the same punch that it normally does first thing in the morning, however a later ride and it was slightly more aggressive. Hopefully it will warm up over the season and be amazing again by the time I go back later this year. Anyway a fairly chilled out day to end the weekend and we left around 4 to make the long drive home.

Another brilliant weekend with CF and it was really nice to see some new faces (and new to me faces!). See you all next time :--D
 

Mysterious Sue

Strata Poster
I made it, so you know it's gonna be a bit dodge. But still, have a video :D

[youtubevid]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FD6Boms-0iA[/youtubevid]
 

Ian

From CoasterForce
Staff member
Administrator
Moderator
Social Media Team
^ LOL! I tried to guess what tune people were annoying Stone Cold before it ended...I didn't.
 

Ian

From CoasterForce
Staff member
Administrator
Moderator
Social Media Team
I'm looking, as always, to make it as affordable as possible. I have emailed the parks and still waiting replies. It's odd that they've taken this long. I guess that doesn't stop me looking at hotels though.
 

caffeine_demon

Strata Poster
Ian said:
I'm looking, as always, to make it as affordable as possible. I have emailed the parks and still waiting replies. It's odd that they've taken this long. I guess that doesn't stop me looking at hotels though.

should this be in the live dates topic??
 

Ben

CF Legend
Blackpool was a fab weekend.

The hotel of peaches on Friday was fab, the park was fab, the amazing drag bar on Saturday night was fab.

Lovely to see lots of new people around and hope y'all come back!
 

jayjay

Giga Poster
Fab weekend as always!

I stayed at my parents' house over the Friday night, getting a lift with Sue and Neal. Neal was very pleased to find out I live near a carvery (it has a giant cuddly toy turtle).

Travel complications meant I got the train in. The Pleasure Beach train is not an experience I particularly recommend, unless you thought the bus to Thorpe just didn't have enough irritating teenagers. Got there to discover that the ticket queue was going to be a massive burden (indeed it was, and several people ended up missing the initial meetup because of it).

Fueled up on doughnuts and coconut ice, the day started on Grand National. Still decent fun, save for that moment at the bottom of the first drop where it attempts to hammer your spine up through your back. Next, confirmation that Wild Mouse is still my favourite ride at Blackpool. I think Orange was next up, which was OK but still orange and not called Rollercoaster. I decided to sit out Blue and moved on to Steeplechase, where I partnered Owain.

Steeplechase was followed by the largest queue of the day, for the [strike]Big One[/strike] Noodle Bar. Dear Blackpool, we all love freshly cooked food, but having two chefs cook a series of five minute meals each makes for a tortuously slow throughput. The noodles were tasty in fairness. People took the decision to branch off and do Infusion/Big Dipper/Wallace and Gromit while I sat down with some of the others. After regrouping, it was now time to brave the long queue for the [strike]Noodle Bar[/strike] Big One. Two more of my favourites followed in Revolution and Avalanche. The very brave decision was taken to finish a cold March afternoon on Valhalla. Since I last rode, there were new fire effects and the tunnel of fountains was pouring water over everyone rather than forming a beautiful cascade (Amanda would be disappointed). Luckily, I was just a few minutes walk from my hotel (handily located just behind Spoons).

The rest of the night was spent eating, drinking and confusing Richard by being capable of having fun. Thanks to everyone who turned up (especially all the new people). Thank you Ian for organising. See everyone again soon <3
 
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