Grand Pier Weston Super Mare

[evil cod]

About 8 years ago I would of been excited but since about every city and afew towns in the country has had one of these visit by now they are getting a little old. Though I think its the same one as was in Hyde Park over christmas, in which case the VIP capsule (the black on you can see at the top of the picture) is very cool as it has a glass floor!

Thanks for the picture updates though it interesting to see it go up.

[ThrillJunkie]

Another Update

The mood in and around Weston is feeling very different today as the town wakes up after along winter and starts to prepare for the biggest weekend of the year so far. With lots of building work and painting and preparation being done throughout the town and the sunshine burning away the mist.


Found the following articles in the local mercury you might be intrested to read.

Weston Wheel

WESTON wheel has been taking shape on the seafront today (Thurs).

The giant observation wheel is being put together on the Beach Lawns.

Following a 5 day, near 400 mile road trip from Glasgow, the 15 vehicle convoy arrived at Weston-super-Mare Tuesday morning.

The construction is now underway with the aim of completing the build phase in as little as seven days.

A 16 man crew is orchestrating the installation of the 2000 component, 150 ton wheel which is due to open to the public in time for Easter, Bank Holiday weekend.

Avon Fire and Rescue Service will be onsite tomorrow to fill two huge water ballast tanks which form part of the structure.

Due to demand, advance tickets are now on sale at the Tourist Information Centre and the box offices of The Playhouse theatre and the Winter Gardens

For advance tickets, call the booking line on 01934 645544 or the Tourist Information Centre on 01934 888800.

Tickets:

Standard £5

Children (3-12) £3

Children (1-3) £1

Children (under 1) Free

Over 60's £4

Family ticket £12

(4 people, minimum of 1 child)

Private and VIP capsules are also available.

[url=http://www.thewestonmercury.co.uk/conte" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;]http://www.thewestonmercury.co.uk/conte[/url] ... :48:21:510

And an arcle about the rebuilding of the pier:

WORK could start on creating Weston's new Grand Pier on Monday.

Attraction co-owner Kerry Michael is hoping to appoint a contractor for the initial strengthening of the structure within days.

Just two weeks after plans for the £34million pound state-of-the-art pier were given a firm go-ahead, workers are preparing to move on-site and start piecing together the exciting new landmark.

Mr Michael is just waiting for the necessary licences from the Marine Fisheries Agency before the ball can start rolling.

Next Friday the jack-up barge required for the strengthening work will be delivered and the appointment of a main contractor can start.

In the meantime Mr Michael continues to search for more exciting rides for the pier, travelling to Germany last week to source attractions for visitors to enjoy.

[url=http://www.thewestonmercury.co.uk/conte" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;]http://www.thewestonmercury.co.uk/conte[/url] ... :53:24:953

Any comments welcome and will be intrested to read your thoughts.

Have a good weekend 8)

[Sam]

**HOT OFF THE PRESSES**

Was just listening to a new Radio 4 documentary about the rebuilding of the Western-Super-Mare pier. They interviewed the new owners, and they seemed to absolutely confirm Roboarms (or as they called it, "Robocoasters") will be coming to the pier. They said they will form a central pinnacle point of a large atrium, with people able to watch from above. Each one will have the choice of an intensity level from 1 to 5. They said something along the lines of that they don't want to compete with Alton Towers, because of the space, but want 1 or 2 attractions of a similar quality.

[Jimsmells]

Ohh they are painful but so fun at the same time. They take up a bit of room though, is there enough room for them?

[ThrillJunkie]

They could probably fit about 2 in there but they have got lots of other attractions going in there also. Any idea on how many?

Works coming along nicely now. All remains of the old pier has been removed, Strengthening to the supports is almost complete and they have now got 3 cranes on site to start the main construction in the next few weeks.

Exciting stuff

If anyones interested this is the site at the moment:

Delivery of new support beams


Pier Entrance


Pier From Road


Pier From Other Side

[Eirdy]

Welcome to the Grand Pier Discussion!
This thread is only about Westons grand pier.
Q & A welcome!

I'l start off by asking what that ugly grey support is near the road end on the covered part of the promenade.

Are they ever going to get any new rides?

Thanks, smilealways.

[Themeparksandy1981]

I so wanted to go on the go kart track there. I was there Sept 2012 and I had my at the time 2 month old with me as my misses and her mum went round the shops but what I saw of it by the queue line it looked fast and run.

[JammyBand]

I have a Youtube video showing the Grand Pier! It shows all of the rides and attractions is has, including the kuka Robot arm! (Robo-coaster). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJLKhXWJV2Y Its a really modern pier filled with attractions and its well worth a visit!

[DeanGaryCox]

Before the pier was burnt down, they rarely had anything new for years, unless they replaced something eventually (from what i can remember, used to go there quite a lot when i was younger)... since it was rebuilt it is far more advanced in terms of rides, but with the limited space, can't see them adding any new/more rides without replacing existing ones which isn't going to happen in the foreseeable future - the only thing i know they've changed is the Psychedelia attraction to a mirrors, illusions and facts walkthrough .

[ThrillJunkie]

I'l start off by asking what that ugly grey support is near the road end on the covered part of the promenade.

Hey Smilealways,

Well done for noticing the grey support. I swear nobody else notices this. As you have guessed it is indeed a ride support.

I can confirm this was originally supposed to have been a ride support for a Zamperla "Surf's Up" ride.
http://www.zamperla.com/en/zamperla-det ... s-surfs_up

Planning permission for this ride was granted in the same application as the pier rebuild back in 2009. Sadly the manufacturer couldn't supply and install this ride before the piers delayed reopening on the 23rd October 2010.

Then again in 2011 the pier owners officially announced that the ride would open for Summer 2011 but this never happened (not sure why).

This isn't the only ride support that got installed but never got used. At the back of the pier there are foundations for a 300m viewing tower that was supposed to be built during the rebuild but again due to delays this attraction never got installed. Now sadly the supports can never be used.

If I had to guess why these attractions never got installed I'd say it was due to them being outdoors. High winds and cold temperatures would reduce the times these rides could operate.

I've got the original plans somewhere if you wanted to see how they would have looked.

[Sam198]

^ Could someone inform me as to the exact whereabouts of the support? I was aware of the cancelled Zamperla and the observation tower plans, but I'm ashamed to say (as an enthusiast) that until now I've never had the desire to go in search of evidence of them...

[ThrillJunkie]

Sam the supports for the "Surf's Up" ride are located above the enclosed walkway at the shore end of the pier waist.

Here's a photo of it during construction in 2009


The supports for the viewing tower are at the very far end of the pier. If you go through the "Pit Stop" cafe there will be a glass corridor that seems to lead no where. This was originally designed to be the entrance of the view tower. At the end of this corridor, below in the sand is where the tower supports sit.



Hope this helps 

[Sam198]

The supports for the viewing tower are at the very far end of the pier. If you go through the "Pit Stop" cafe there will be a glass corridor that seems to lead no where. This was originally designed to be the entrance of the view tower. At the end of this corridor, below in the sand is where the tower supports sit.

Ohh, I must have seen those a hundred times now, but never really given them a second thought...

I'll pop along later in the week to check out the Surf's Up suuport structure.

Thanks! :P

[ThrillJunkie]

It looks like the original plans for these attractions are still online.

Surf's Up Ride:
http://wam.n-somerset.gov.uk/MULTIWAM/d ... ageCount=1

Viewing Tower
http://wam.n-somerset.gov.uk/MULTIWAM/d ... ageCount=1

Also I totally forgot about the 3rd attraction that never got built. The Dragster ride.

[JammyBand]

Also I totally forgot about the 3rd attraction that never got built. The Dragster ride.

What's that? I heard about the observation tower, but not the Surf's up and the Dragster ride!

[ThrillJunkie]

The Dragster ride was an attraction that was going to be built above the undercover walkway at the pavilion end. Sadly this attraction was not granted planning permission. Details about this ride was quite limited but it was going to be a themed racing attraction.

But as you may or may not know most of the attractions on the pier was actually manufactured by the same company, A small company called "Gravitron" who are based in Stroud. This company manufactured The electric Go-Karts, The Ghost Train, The land trains, the old psychedelia walk through, The Fun House, The Helter Skelter and The Mirror Maze.

On their company website they also offer an attraction they call "Dragster". I could be jumping to conclusions but I highly expect this is the ride that the Pier submitted to the local council for planning permission.

Information on this attraction can be found here:
http://www.gravitron.co.uk/Rides/Dragsters.htm

[JammyBand]

The Dragster ride was an attraction that was going to be built above the undercover walkway at the pavilion end. Sadly this attraction was not granted planning permission. Details about this ride was quite limited but it was going to be a themed racing attraction.

But as you may or may not know most of the attractions on the pier was actually manufactured by the same company, A small company called "Gravitron" who are based in Stroud. This company manufactured The electric Go-Karts, The Ghost Train, The land trains, the old psychedelia walk through, The Fun House, The Helter Skelter and The Mirror Maze.

On their company website they also offer an attraction they call "Dragster". I could be jumping to conclusions but I highly expect this is the ride that the Pier submitted to the local council for planning permission.

Information on this attraction can be found here:
http://www.gravitron.co.uk/Rides/Dragsters.htm

Ahh OK. It really, really annoying that they didn't manage to get all of these attractions put in. 3 major attractions were cancelled. It is really cool as it is, but these rides would have made it even more exciting!

[Eirdy]

Thank you Thrilljunkie, You know so much about parks in my area, I am guessing you live in somerset?

[ThrillJunkie]

You guess correct smilewalways.

I actually live just outside of Bristol but work in Weston so I pass the pier virtually everyday. When the pier was being rebuilt I was taking photo's most days and studying the submitted plans carefully (well back then I was an apprentice with time to spare  ) and as Brean is my closest park I spent allot of my child hood down there (I loved the rides and my parents loved the Monday Market, Win/Win )

[Eirdy]

Cool. Did you have an apprenticeship at weston pier or work there, or is that just my misreading!