Continuing on from my previous blog, I said we’d started our road trip at Blackpool Pleasure Beach. We were there over two days, and we stopped at Seaforth Guesthouse, which is 10 minutes walk from the entrance. It was a lovely little place, just enough room for the two of us to get all our things in and still have room to maneuver. We’d certainly recommend it for a visit like we did, or even just a weekend away in Blackpool.
Our first day started with a little aerial photography with my drone. I had to get permission to fly from Blackpool Airport, but the process was easy enough and there’s something to be said about contacting air traffic control to ask for permission to take off! Even with permission from the air authority, I didn’t receive anything from Pleasure Beach, so I didn’t fly over it, which is a shame!
Since we’d only visited Pleasure Beach once before, our first day we tried to ride some of the attractions we’d not been on before.
We started on Blue Flyer which is a very tame, quite enjoyable little woodie located in Nickelodeon Land under Nickelodeon Streaks shadow. A really good entry level coaster for young ones to start off on, with a few hills and a camera for on ride photography. A good time overall!
Next we had a go on Infusion which we found is just as bad as everyone has said. A Vekoma SLC usually brings an eye roll, but some have proven to be a good time such as Kumali and Odyssey. This beast wouldn’t be so bad if they changed the restraints so you weren’t always smashing your ears into them! Its certainly a shame as i think Infusion looks excellent, situated over a pool of water and having a lot of watery elements to it. It could be something so much better!
We had our first ride on Big Dipper, which is a good laugh but very brutal. Not quite Grand National levels of assault but it will throw you about, but for me, that’s what you sign up for with a wooden roller coaster approaching 100 years old! A real Pleasure Beach classic, along with Grand National, it needs to be ridden at least once!
I should point out here that Grand National and Big Dipper, although very similar, differ in how they ride quite drastically. Grand National is very jerky and feels like it falls down its drops, where as Big Dipper feels much smoother on its drops, but its turns are much more violent.
Red Arrows Skyforce was next, which took both of us by surprise. Tracy had her reservations initially about it, but once we figured out you can control the rolling, we had a great time on here. The wings either side of the seat have handles on which allow the rider to pivot them, meaning you can control how much you tilt, and eventually roll over. Definitely go for as many spins as you can! We did queue for a long time for this one, but we both thought it was worth it.
Revolution was also a first for us this trip, as it was far too busy on our first visit. Situated just behind Big One, it offers some excellent views over the park as you climb up to the station. The ride itself doesn’t mess about, it launches you out of the station, down a small drop and into a vertical loop before it levels out and does the whole run in reverse. It is surprising how much force it can generate despite only having one element!
River Caves was one of the next rides we tried, and though quite enjoyable and a good ride to cool off on, its one of the weaker rides at Pleasure Beach for us. We both agreed that it was a nice ride but it did seem a bit outdated and not much going on in there. Worth the time we queued but would probably give it a miss next time.
Instead, queue for Ghost Train! Though not the most thrilling, or even particularly scary, it was a good laugh, quirky and has a good few elements to enjoy. We also tried the Chinese Puzzle Maze, which was a nice walk around maze attraction, though we got through it in no time!
Later on in the afternoon we had a go on Derby Racer and Gallopers. Both are a nice pleasant time, nothing thrilling here but both still enjoyable. Gallopers can have special mention for having its organ play renditions of modern music tracks, which was fun to try and figure out what they were!
Our second day started at Icon, which initially wasn’t open, so we got refillable drinks, and by the time we’d gotten back, the queue was open so we entered. As it was the first ride of the day, the queue wasn’t that long and we were in the station in no time at all. Tracy sat Icon out, so I rode alone.
What can be said about Icon that hasn’t already been said? Its an excellent ride, very smooth and well laid out. I do find the launches to be a bit lacking, when compared to Rita and Velocity, but its not fair to compare LSM to hydraulic launches really!
Next we queued for Big One, which once again took a very long time. This was our second ever ride and once again, the queue was lengthy and operations seemed very slow, which is a shame as the ride itself is great fun! A little rattly in places but the new sections have helped to smooth out the experience. The first drop is still glorious, and its subsequent hills and turn around are still a good thrill.
After Big One, we had a go on Nickelodeon Streak. We were expecting something very similar to Big Dipper and Grand National since Nick Streak is around the same age. However it isn’t anything like the other two, being very similar to Blue Flyer, just bigger. It does have a few rough turns but over all a much more pleasant experience from an old woodie than we were expecting. We’ll certainly be making it a staple ride when we go back.
In the afternoon we had our second go on Wallace and Gromit’s Thrill-o-matic which as fans of Wallace and Gromit, and Aardman as a whole, we enjoyed once again. Each subsequent you see more and more details than before. Its a very well themed ride, and a really good time. One of the more commendable things here is that the queue lines have looping videos of the Wallace and Gromit films, so queuing doesn’t feel quite as long as it probably is!
We thoroughly enjoyed our two days at Pleasure Beach, there is so much to do here, and there is something for everyone. From big thrills with Icon and Big One, to calmer rides like Steeplechase and Derby racers!
A little advice I would offer is to make use of lockers if you intend to ride all the woodies in one day as you can’t leave things behind, so you have to take you bags on with you which can spoil the fun if you’re worrying about losing things on ride! You can’t take anything on the steel coasters so there isn’t so much of an issue there.
Don’t rush to Big One or Icon initially as both don’t open straight away, instead, look at Nickelodeon Streak or Big Dipper/Infusion first and go from there. You can always wait for the big two to open, but you could end up wasting a lot of time! We lost time waiting for Icon’s queue to open, despite it saying it would be open from 10, and Big One states in the park that it opens at 11.
As for the water rides, you won’t get wet on River Caves but you will get fairly wet on Rugrats Lost River, as we both did on a previous visit, so do pack accordingly!
After leaving Pleasure Beach, we packed up the car and left for Stafford and our next stop, before Alton Towers….
loopsandlapbars.com 