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Valhalla at Blackpool Pleasure Beach to be refurbished for 2023

Coaster

Mega Poster
One thing we can take from the poster is that it seemingly goes some way towards confirming a darker colour scheme for the ride in its new iteration.

The boats are shown as being black and gold here. This would tie in with the fact that the station has almost been fully painted over in black - or at least, it had been on my most recent visit to PB in October.

I'm not sure how I feel about this, but I will of course reserve judgement until the finished product.

I do feel that a dull colour scheme would be poor considering how much scenic detail the boats and station had originally. There's the scenic paintwork on the dragon's head; the eyes, mouth, sides of the neck etc. and all of the carvings on the station.

I'll be disappointed if all of the little details are missing and a grey/black colour scheme has been plastered over everything.
 

Coaster

Mega Poster
Exciting new Valhalla info including a synopsis of the new experience and another promo image.

Valhalla 2022 s1.png

Brave the adventure as you travel through fantastic special effects and extreme elements like no other ride.

This high speed, dark water ride takes you on a journey through scenes of fire, snow, and freezing mists whilst you travel in Viking long boats on this six minute journey complimented by a new stunning soundtrack to complete this multi-sensory experience.

Valhalla 2022 sw4.png

Source: https://www.visitblackpool.com/latest-news/destination-guide-2022/
 

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Sandman

Giga Poster
The poster looks good.

However, being a pessimistic person I'm kinda focused on the fact the station looks like a bland revamp. Looks like a black shed when compared to the lovely Russian original. Additionally, I am not a big fan of The Notable Stranger's catalogue of music - and I'm pretty sure he's the man behind the soundtrack.

Meh.
 

Trax

Hyper Poster
Did BPB published an official opening date?
I am thinking of using some spare time in May to fly over there again and give the revamped Vallhalla a try, but on some pages they say something about Summer 2022 - which sounds not really reasonable, given the fact that they had 2 years and that it's usually better to test something outside of the peak-season.
 

Sandman

Giga Poster
Did BPB published an official opening date?
I am thinking of using some spare time in May to fly over there again and give the revamped Vallhalla a try, but on some pages they say something about Summer 2022 - which sounds not really reasonable, given the fact that they had 2 years and that it's usually better to test something outside of the peak-season.

No official date but it will most likely be summer.
Don't get your hopes up ;)
 

Matt N

CF Legend
BPB often opens stuff at the end of May, on the same bank holiday weekend. I’m not saying Valhalla will necessarily follow this rule, but for what it’s worth, both Icon and SkyForce opened on this weekend (Icon on Friday 25th May 2018, SkyForce on Monday 25th May 2015).
 

Nicky Borrill

Strata Poster
New promotional picture. Still no re-opening date, "summer 2022" is the official line at the moment.
PBE put a post up yesterday indicating it was opening on opening day 🤷🏻‍♂️ At least I thought I read it like that, will try and find it…

Edit: never mind, it’s just worded in a slightly naughty way advertising feb white knuckle weekends in the same paragraph as the reimagining… It actually states ‘summer’ for both additions :(

*PRESS RELEASE*

Blackpool Pleasure Beach reopens for the 2022 season with the first of the parks White Knuckle Weekends on Saturday 12th February. 2022 is set to be an exciting year for guests visiting the park. A number of new additions to the park will see the world’s best water ride is reimagined, the UK’s first double-launch rollercoaster gets twisted and the world’s longest-running ice show is back with a new production.

Valhalla

Valhalla is back for the 2022 summer season at Blackpool Pleasure Beach. Brave the adventure as you travel through the Best Water Ride in the World, as voted for an amazing six consecutive years in the Golden Ticket Awards. These global awards recognise and shine a spotlight on the ‘best of the best in the international theme park world.

Get ready to experience fantastic special effects and extreme elements like no other ride. This high-speed, multi-sensory dark water ride takes you on a journey through scenes of fire, snow and freezing mists whilst you travel in Viking longboats on this six-minute journey. Complemented by a new stunning soundtrack to complete this multi-sensory experience – get ready to brave Valhalla – Back for 2022!

ENSŌ - ICON with a twist

The UK’s first and only double launch rollercoaster ICON is getting twisted this/next Summer with ENSŌ. In a first for Europe, ICON’s rear seats have been adapted so that riders can spin and twist freely during the ride’s existing thrilling duration.

ICON’s exhilarating high speed accelerations, electrifying twists and turns and heart stopping interactions will all be turned up to a whole new level by ENSŌ.

ICON launches riders with the same acceleration as a Formula One car, rising and swooping through numerous interactions with other rides before hitting a second launch which powers riders high above Blackpool Pleasure Beach. ENSŌ magnifies these thrills and creates a whole new experience for those who dare to get twisted.

Hot Ice - Rapture

Take your seats and enjoy the must-see ice skating spectacular, Hot Ice, and this year’s show Rapture. Taking place in the purpose-built ice theatre, Pleasure Beach Arena, Hot Ice is the world’s longest-running ice show and this, its 86th year, promises to be as fast-paced and beautifully spectacular as ever.

Walk The Big One XL

Blackpool Pleasure Beach is giving guests the chance to experience the UK’s tallest rollercoaster like never before. Walk the Big One XL takes participants on a guided tour of the Big One which covers many ups and downs of the famous 235ft tall ride and will take them to places the public will have never been before.

Building on the success of the existing Walk The Big One experience, which allows guests to climb the lifthill of the ride, Walk The Big One XL takes in even more of the ride.

For more information on Blackpool Pleasure Beach, or to book eTickets, please visit www.blackpoolpleasurebeach.com
 
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Sandman

Giga Poster
I feel that if BPB were hoping to really recapture the public's imagination with the whole Valhalla refurb (or 're-imagining') then there's been a considerable missed opportunity on the marketing side. They really haven't put out much other than a couple of easily produced social media posts.

Like, if somebody like myself (who actually follows all their social pages and visits enthusiast pages for updates) has seen very little mention of this new and improved Valhalla, then so have the thousands of regular joes who really need to be reached to make this work financially. We all know Valhalla literally haemorrhages money and unless they've entirely stripped it of practical effects, it will continue to do so.

I know I've been fairly negative on this thread a few times now, but I find the whole thing perplexing. I'm incredibly curious as to the extent and quality of the work undertaken on Valhalla.
 

Nicky Borrill

Strata Poster
I feel that if BPB were hoping to really recapture the public's imagination with the whole Valhalla refurb (or 're-imagining') then there's been a considerable missed opportunity on the marketing side. They really haven't put out much other than a couple of easily produced social media posts.

Like, if somebody like myself (who actually follows all their social pages and visits enthusiast pages for updates) has seen very little mention of this new and improved Valhalla, then so have the thousands of regular joes who really need to be reached to make this work financially. We all know Valhalla literally haemorrhages money and unless they've entirely stripped it of practical effects, it will continue to do so.

I know I've been fairly negative on this thread a few times now, but I find the whole thing perplexing. I'm incredibly curious as to the extent and quality of the work undertaken on Valhalla.
Can we honestly see the fire returning? The way gas prices have gone... If costs were bad before, they will be crippling now...
 

rob666

Hyper Poster
Been spotted by PBE on one of their recent vlogs.
Smaller flames, up by the reversing point "window"...probably closer to you for a similar effect.
Mandy is in charge, have faith.
Fountains and glitter.
It has been worked on through the covid closures.
 

Coaster

Mega Poster
In relation to the fire, I'm only guessing here, but would you not think that in 22 years progression of technology, there would be cheaper ways to run similar effects? For example, more "gas-efficient" tech that produces a similar effect but uses far less resources?
 

Sandman

Giga Poster
Been spotted by PBE on one of their recent vlogs.
Smaller flames, up by the reversing point "window"...probably closer to you for a similar effect.
Mandy is in charge, have faith.
Fountains and glitter.

Yeah I have noticed that footage of some 'fire' testing too. That's what makes this incredibly perplexing.

I like Mandy and many of the investment she has made at the park. However, I thought the exterior revamp of Valhalla a few years back was a serious downgrade. Icon (as enjoyable as it is) doesn't look very aesthetically pleasing to me. The station looks unremarkable and the weird, tacky green astroturf (if we can call it that) looks like it was shipped down the road from Home Bargains. River Caves is quite a sorry state right now too. Don't know why they've removed all the external theming.

I think this needs to be way more ambitious otherwise this 're-imagining' is just going to be seen as a downgrade for financial sake.
 
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