Trip Report - Blackpool Pleasure Beach
30th April 2006
Arrived: 10:00 Departed: 21:30
Well since I've only got "into" theme parks over the past few years, I haven't really been to Blackpool solely for the Pleasure Beach. So this weekend we decided to pay a visit.
We were working on the usual idea that as it's bank holiday it should be relatively quiet. If it did happen to be busy, we at least should be able to get a decent amount of rides in due to the longer published opening hours (10:30am until 9:00pm if I remember rightly). And boy did it pay off!
We arrived in Blackpool around 9:45ish and took a drive down the promenade before parking up just opposite BPB in the south car park - plenty of spaces there, things were looking good. On parking up, we could see Spin Doctor was already in operation along with Ice Blast, complete with passengers. It was looking as though the park had opened a little earlier.
We had BOGOF vouchers from the offer on the BPB website, so it cost �29 for two tickets, an absolute bargain and ever so slightly cheaper than AT's �15 lastminute.com offer which had been running. We queued for around 10-15 minutes to get our tickets from the ever so happy looking (not) staff and then through security, who were doing the security checks through the metal detectors at the gates.
Now I can't remember the exact order we went on the rides once we got into the place itself (mainly due to the long day we had and the sheer number of rides we went on), so I'll post my ride count then a quick review of each ride in no particular order. Many of the rides are the first time I've been on them since i normally visit closed season when the majority of rides are undergoing maintenance.
Ride Counts:
Pepsi Max Big One X4
Rollercoaster X1
Grand National X1
Derby Racers X1
Impossible X1
Avalanche X2
Big dipper X3
Steeplechase X2
Revolution X2
Log Flume X1
Valahalla X2
Ice Blast X1
Space Invaders X1
Gold Mine X1
River Caves X1
Wild Mouse X1
Ghost Train X1
Total Ride Count 26
What was closed:
Carousel - It's in bits at the moment with the horses hiding under Steeplechase - I'm pretty sure it's undergoing maintenance rather than being closed.
Monorail - This was due to the scaffolding up around the white tower at the entrance blocking the track route.
Grand National - Didn't open until 3:30pm ish (see below)
Ride Reviews:
Pepsi Max Big One:
Now I know many people have negative comments to make about this ride, often forgetting about the positives. Personally, I love the ride - the only thing that lets it down is the final helix towards the end which is so unbelievably slow. The queues were really small, waiting for one train to leave before you could get onto the next one coming in (around 5 mins at most). The four rides I had on this coaster brought my total ride count on this ride into double figures. I still absolutely LOVE that first drop, especially at the front. I managed to ride front row which was superb earlier on, with back row on the later rides. Now I don't normally enjoy "rough" rides but I love the relentlessness of this thing up until just after the major drops towards the beginning. It was a little too rough for my liking at the back, but still an absolute joy to ride, and also gives the opportunity for stupid poses at the end on the on ride photo!
Rollercoaster:
I think we queued for around 5 minutes for this one. Nothing too much to add except that it's a great "family" coaster. Not too rough with enough thrills to please both enthusiast and beginner.
Grand National:
Oh dear oh dear. Those poor ride ops! Nash didn't open until around 3:30pm today due to what looked to be even more testing and practice runs by the ops. They all looked pretty annoyed with the whole situation at the moment. This was one of the larger queues of the day, waiting around 20-30 minutes before being at the air gates ready to load. Now, this is where the fun starts. The new system is quite frankly terrible. The train unloads as normal just before entering the loading area. Now I noticed a few times, the trains were stopping just before hitting the block which raises the new lap bars. This was causing the trains having to shuffle forwards inch by inch, air brakes going all the time before finally lining up to release the bars. Once the train moved forwards to the loading area, the fun starts again. Watching the train slowly inch forwards, along with the short sharp hissing noises of the air brakes, really starts to get on your nerves after a while (worse than Spinball if that's possible!). Eventually, around 30 second later, the long hissing sound of the air brakes signals the train is finally lined up and the air gates open, often resulting in a quick sarcy cheer from the crowd.
This was my first ever ride on Nash and I loved it. I wish I had the chance to ride it before the new trains came in along with new lap bars though.
Speaking of the new trains, they seem a little cramped (although I am probbly slightly larger than the average person) due to the dividers but can't be helped I suppose. We tried for a re-ride but unfortunately due to the slow loading times, the queues had closed earlier than normal. Hopefully once they get the teething problems sorted out, the four train operation should improve things a great deal.
Derby Racers:
No queue on this one so a quick ride on this classic. I always seem to nearly fall off the thing though! Still, it was great all the same.
Impossible:
Now this is basically a kids attraction but we went on anyway since again there were no queues. A haunted swing at the end, not a patch on Hex but still was ok. For some reason I felt more disorientated on this one than Hex - probably due to it being in a more enclosed space.
Avalanche:
I've always loved this ride, it's the only bobsleigh ride I've ever been on. It still attracts the crowds as well with a small queue of 5-10 mins due to one train operation later in the day. It's nice to go on something thats fast, no brake runs until the end, and has plenty of twists and turns. All in all a superb ride.
Big Dipper:
What can I say about this one? Three rides on this one and I sitll wanted to go on again! It's definitely one of my favourites, a decent amount of airtime and of course its a woodie
A few queues on this one, no more than 15 minutes or so though.Steeplechase:
It's still a classic after all these years. Running all three tracks earlier in the day with two later on. the ride was walk on with the two rides we had on it and its a great one to go on to have a laugh with friends.
Revolution:
I've been on this one loads of times, but the launch feels considerably different after experiencing Rita and even Velocity at FL. Still, great to loop backwards again after the loss of The Bullet at Flamingo Land, one of my all time faves.
Log Flume:
Eeek this things faster than I thought. Absolutely great fun, a bit painful with someone sat in front of you with your legs squashed against the side bars though. We thought we'd got away with stying relatively dry , until the final drop absolutely drenched us when the boat lent towards the right and water came flooding in!
Valahalla:
The two rides I had on this today were my first. What can I say? An absolutely awesome dark ride, with (so I've been reliably informed) the majority of the effects working. The first ride we got relatively soaked but the second we ended up absolutely drenched! If this ride were possibly a little drier, it would be superb. But with the weather as it was yesterday, maybe it wasn't such a good diea to go on it, especially twice! Alton Towers - THIS is how you do a dark ride!
Ice Blast:
Despite being on a number of tower rides in the past, this was my first time on Blackpool's space shot ride Ice Blast. Personally, I found it extremely boring. I found the launch to be not powerful enough and the drop back down incredibly poor. I know I know, BPB's was one of the first in the UK, but I'd be hugely dissappointed if I queued for the thing during the Summer months. It's also looking incredibly old and quite frankly tatty, especially the restraints.
Space Invaders:
I think this was the longest queue, I forgot how long the queue line actually is inside the building. We ended up queueing for around 20 mins. A decent ride for kids I suppose.
Gold Mine:
Another kids ride, but decided to go on it since there was no queue. Kids would love it, I felt I'd wasted precious ride time
River Caves:
Very boring ride but made all the more fun by a friend moving from side to side in our boat, almost capsizing us. A great laugh and again no queue.
Wild Mouse:
This one's got a kick in it! A slow throughput due to the 2 person 4 car operation meant a queue for around 10 minutes. This is the first time I've been on a "woodie" Wild Mouse and it was really good. A bit painful on some of the corners but a great laugh as you look out for your friends racing around the track.
Ghost Train:
Pretty boring really, but still adds to the ride count!
Overall Thoughts:
I was amazed at how quiet the park was, with relatively no queue times. I suppose now that the full pricing has come into effect, things will quieten down until the warmer weather now. Maybe the old Bank Holiday thing had a part to play in it as well.
Park wise, the place was relatively clean, but some places could do with a good painting. It was great to see staff constantly going around cleaning up the park.
Speaking of staff, I found a lot of them seemed down in the dumps, with a don't care attitude, not seeming welcoming at all. Now I know this is often something seen and criticised at BPB but with this being the build up to the Summer season, I'd expect folk to be a little more chirpy.
Still an extremely good trip especially for the price. Chucked in with that, a massive ride count, probably the biggest we'll have in one day for a long time. BPB is still one of my favourites due to the old rides they still operate and the fact you don't have to walk far to get to the next ride!
The only things to let the trip down was the weather which was cloudy and drizzly all day. It was still relatively warm with the sun trying to get out now and again throughout the day. Also, the fact that they're so damn strict on closing times!
Next Trip
Alton Towers 9th May!
