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Old 3 Aug 18, 11:00 AM  
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Indeed, who doesn't love an old-fashioned woody?

I've lived in England all these years...and still have never been to Blackpool. I wouldn't trade R.C., but it would be very nice if I could talk him into a year of theme parks! As you already know, that will NOT be happening.

Great first park; off to the next one.
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Old 19 Aug 18, 04:56 PM  
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Originally Posted by GopherLass View Post
Indeed, who doesn't love an old-fashioned woody?

I've lived in England all these years...and still have never been to Blackpool. I wouldn't trade R.C., but it would be very nice if I could talk him into a year of theme parks! As you already know, that will NOT be happening.

Great first park; off to the next one.
Hi April

Thanks for joining me on this trippie journey

If you'd asked me 10 years ago, I would have said that I hated woodies - but they are some of my favourite coasters now and I'm gutted that I missed the chance to do Gwazi at Busch Gardens.

Blackpool certainly has it's pros and cons, but the Pleasure Beach is a world class park with probably the best operations in the UK (far better than the Merlin parks) - our 2nd day there in July (which I'm just about to post) was absolutely fantastic!

Definitely worth a visit if you can convince RC
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Old 19 Aug 18, 04:57 PM  
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Blackpool Pleasure Beach (Part 2)
Sunday 8th July 2018


It was another glorious Sunday and we made the most of it by heading for another theme park 2 weekends in a row. We were already heading to Blackpool anyway as we were dropping Mom off for a week’s stay, so we were making the most of it with another visit to Blackpool Pleasure Beach so that we could ride Icon.

We’d been watching lots of Vlogs and updates about the UKs first double-launch Mack coaster which had opened in May, and the general consensus so far seemed to be that it was blowing Wicker Man at Alton Towers out of the water, so we couldn’t wait to try it for ourselves.

As usual, the day started with me making up a packed lunch, whilst Rich nipped out to get Diesel and some drinks for the journey.

We got to Mom’s by about 7:30 and were quickly on our way, stopping for a loo / cigarette break at either Sandbach services – I was a bit peckish, so I got a coffee and blueberry muffin from McDonalds – however, when I got to the car I found that I’d been given a chocolate muffin instead. It wasn’t worth going back in for so I “made do” 😊.

It was just after 10 when we arrived at Mom’s hotel – she’s been staying here for years, so it was a quick hello to the owners (who couldn’t get over how tall Tom had got), sorted out Mom’s wifi and we said goodbye for now and arranged to meet her in Coral island at 5pm.

We drove up to the South Carpark by the Premier Inn at Yeadon Way and paid £10 for 12 hours parking (we probably could have got away with £6 for 8 hours, which would have taken us to 4:40pm, but we didn’t want to risk it in case we were a few minutes late).

We walked up the back streets and were walking into the park via the Ice Arena entrance by 11am. Rich had booked our wristbands online – they were reduced to £28 each (from £39) for booking online and had found a further £5 discount code on Hotdeals, so it was a very reasonable £23 each today 😊.

We headed straight for Icon – taking a couple of quick pics on the way...











We queued less than 10 minutes and were on the back 2 rows (me and Tom at the back and Rich in front). It was a brilliant ride – a little bit slower than I had expected but great, and the music was fantastic...



At first, I couldn’t decide if I liked it better than Galactica or not, but we went round for another 2 goes (all on the back 2 rows) and by the time we’d come off ride #3 I’d decided it was my favourite ride in the UK and number 2 overall (Shambhala at PortAventura is still the one to beat). And even better, we’d ridden the best ride in the UK 3 times in 40 minutes!

We had a good look around the gift shop and could have bought loads of merchandise. Tom chose a key ring (about £4) and I picked out a magnet (£6)...







We had a great chat with the girl on the counter about how good the ride and theming of this area was. I told her they had definitely won in the Icon Vs Wicker Man stakes!

When we got outside, Tom told me that as well as giving me the money for his keyring he wanted to pay for my magnet as a treat 😊.

It was almost 12pm by now and we were all hungry, so we grabbed a bench near to Burger King where we could sit and watch Icon going by whilst we enjoyed our picnic of Tuna Sandwiches, Sausage Rolls and various types of crisps...







After lunch we mooched over towards Revolution, checking out The Big One on the way...



They had told us is was out of action when we’d picked up our wristbands and it wasn’t running yet. Rich had seen on Twitter that there had been a power-cut in the park yesterday, and it had been iffy ever since. Sadly, they didn’t get it back up and running, so we’ll have to get it next time .

Whilst we were passing, I fancied a go on the Carousel and Tom joined me – they were playing Disney songs on the Wurlitzer Organ, so I really enjoyed it...



We all went on Revolution next – Rich and Tom made it onto the last row of the train waiting and I went on the next one by myself...







It’s a great classic ride, but I didn’t brace myself very well and banged my leg, which hurt for a couple of hours afterwards.

We all did Steeplechase next - getting another great Icon pic from the queue line..





Usually we each have our own horse on this one, but Rich and I went together which was nice 😙.

We carried on around to Nickleodeon Land next. Having really enjoyed Kong at West Midlands Safari park last weekend, we were keen to give Avatar Airbender a try, but it was temporarily down for a “clean up” , so Tom and I changed into our flip-flops and went on SpongeBob Splash Bash instead. We do love a good splash battle and the way that this one is set up is brilliant because you get constantly squirted at the whole way around – we were soaked by the time we came off 💦💦 and Tom wanted to go back on for another go, so we did! We were dripping wet...



We had a quick ride on Blue Flyer, the went on Dora’s World Voyage – it’s a silly little boat ride, but the song is catchy “in France we say bonjour, bonjour” and it makes a nice little chill out 5 minutes...



We did Nickleodeon Streak next, which was fun and then looked to see if Airbender was back up and running. It was, but had a bit of a queue, so we left it and headed back for another go on Icon...



It was about 1:25pm so probably at park peak, but we still only had to wait 15 minutes – operations at Pleasure Beach are amazing. They had 2 trains running all day and the crew were so quick at loading and unloading 👍🏻. Rich and I were about 3-4 rows from the front, so we got to try it from a different perspective, Tom was towards the back. It’s definitely a ride that gets better as the track warms up as the day goes on!



It was time for another soaking next – on Valhalla, which is Rich’s favourite water ride ever. It had been years since Rich and I had ridden it, and it was Tom’s first time. There was quite a bit of a queue and we ended up waiting about 30 minutes in the hot hot sun – even so, loads of people were buying ponchos - Wimps 😂💦😂...





The ride was great – I don’t quite get the theming, but the effects and drops are brilliant, and we came off absolutely soaked to the skin 💦💦💦 - I even went and stood under the final splash for some extra soaking...





We sat in the sun for a bit and re-sun-sprayed up, then Tom and I went on Derby Racer. Whilst we were waiting, Tom’s shorts were dripping so much that it looked like he was stood having a wee 😂.

Our ride was delayed a couple of minutes by a family trying to argue that their daughter was tall enough to ride – she was obviously stood on her tip toes and still didn’t make the marker. The dad was arguing that it should his choice for her to ride. The operator did really well, calmly asking the dad if he’d be willing to pay his wages when he lost his job for letting her on. They eventually gave up and went off in a huff .

I haven’t been on this ride since I was younger than Tom and was surprised how fast it gets – no wonder it’s not for little ones!

We all had a go on Grand National next, which was a bone rattling as ever, then we headed to infusion at about 3:30pm...



We waited 10 minutes, so it wasn’t too bad, but OMG is was a head-banger. I’d quite enjoyed it when we went on it in February, but now I understood why Vekoma SLCs are widely unpopular in the rollercoaster community – my ears took a real bashing. I think my woolly hat must’ve protected me last time.

We were all thirsty and Tom was a bit peckish, so we went to a counter a got a large Pepsi and 3 donuts for just under a fiver. The server actually gave us a bag of 5 donuts (bonus), so Rich and I got to have one each too. Bizarrely though, they didn’t serve Pepsi Max, even though the post-mix pumps were branded Pepsi Max – the server said that this confuses people all the time.

We just had time for one final ride of the day on Icon – this time we waited 20 minutes, which is still fantastic for such a new and brilliant ride...



This was the best of all 5 rides of the day, and I could’ve quite happily stayed until park closing and just kept going around for re-rides. What a coaster! Well done Amanda Thompson, Mack Rides and the Blackpool team!

👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

We were back at the car for 4:30pm (so we could have gotten away with the cheaper parking) and we drove down and re-parked at the Central carpark (approx. £3.50). We were a bit early for meeting Mom, so popped into the Joke Shop for a mooch – Tom bought himself a laser pen for a couple of quid (after promising he would be careful with it).

We went into Coral Island next and it didn’t take too long to find Mom. We had about 20 minutes or so with her, playing on the 2p machines – which has to be the ultimate Blackpool tradition 😊.

We were on our way home by just after half past 5. I was shocked to realise when I sat down that my pants were still wet from Valahalla, as my shorts had felt dry. We were home (via a quick services stop) in time to cook tea and to wind the cat up with the laser pen light 🐱🐱🐱.

Edited at 06:34 AM.
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Old 7 Oct 18, 06:45 PM  
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Blackpool Zoo & Pleasure Beach Late Night Riding
(Fri 24th & Sat 25th August)


This is a placeholder post for part 3, as i've written up part 4 (next post) whilst it's still fresh in my mind. Also, this one is going to take longer to write as it was an overnight stay and has loads more photos to sort through (I literally took 100s of Icon), which are all still on my camera.

Edited at 09:24 PM.
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Old 7 Oct 18, 06:46 PM  
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Blackpool Pleasure Beach -Part 4
Sunday 31st September 2018


What will (most likely) be our final Blackpool trip of the season was a bit of a bonus. When we'd bought our wristbands online for our August visit, they had come with a free return in September - valid for any day, except for late night riding / fireworks on the 22nd. We just had to book the wristbands in advance.

We decided on the end of the month, and that we'd use the opportunity to return to Pastels for their amazing burgers, and to drive through the Illuminations before heading home.

Our day started like most of this year's theme park days have - making a packed lunch and donning my "uniform" of plaits, hoody and bum-bag...



We set out at 7:30am, and stopped at Sandbach for our usual wee, smoke, Maccy's cappuccino break (which was free as I've been keeping a loyalty card in my bum-bag)...



We arrived at the South Carpark at 10:20, paid £6 for 6 hours, and walked up to the park, via the Ice Arena entrance where, as usual, there was no queue.

Quick loos stops all round, and as there was a relatively short queue, we did the Alice ride first, as we hadn't ridden it yet this year - it was good fun, if a little dated...



Over to Icon for the first ride of the day - the queue was just under 20 mins, and Tom and I waited one extra train so that we could do our first front row. It was amazing - best ride of the year so far, even though the mist wasn't working, being on the front made it even better than before.

We headed straight back on for ride #2, tucking into some sandwiches from our packed lunch in the queue line. This time we went for the back row to do a comparison. It's definitely a front row ride for me, but Rich prefers the back.

We popped into the Chinese Maze for a few mins as we were walking past on the way to Nickelodeon Land. Nick Streak was next - we waited for about 15 mins and (as we usually do on smaller coasters), sat in a row each, but the operators made Tom move to sit next to me. A bit frustrating as the queue was shorter than usual, but never mind.

Tom and I did the Bumper Cars next, then we grabbed a table opposite Avalance / under Revolution and finished off our packed lunch. I grabbed a Hot Vimto (£1.50) to have with mine...





We sat and chilled for a while, then headed back to Icon for ride #3. The queue was around 25 mins by now, so still not too bad.

We looked at the Big Dipper queue and estimated it to be about 45mins, so not worth it, and none of us fancied having our heads bashed on Infusion. Tom wanted to go on Wallace & Gromit, so I went on with him, whilst Rich sat it out on the bench opposite.

A few snaps from the queue line...





We wandered down to the front end of the park next, skipping Ice Blast as again the queue was around 30 mins, and with this being our 4th visit, we weren't too bothered about doing all the rides - we were only really here for Icon!

We had a mooch in the Gift Shop then, as it was starting to spit with rain and we were nearby, we jumped into the queue for River Caves. I think everyone else in the area had the same idea, so we ended up waiting about 20 mins or so. It's a decent little dark ride, and I enjoyed it more than I thought I would.

Back to Icon for the final ride of the day, and probably the season. I was keen to go on for a 5th time, but neither of the boys were that bothered, so we said goodbye to the best ride in the UK and headed towards the exit.

Tom was a bit peckish, so queued for some donuts back down near the River Caves. Unfortunately the machine was down, so we had to go over to the one under the Flying Rockets. He had 3 for £2.75 and Rich and I resisted.

We left the park at 3:30pm, walked a little bit down the prom, and then cut up the side streets back to the car, where we rested for 10 mins before driving down to the Central carpark, paying £3.50 for 4 hours (I think).

The boys wanted to mooch in the Joke Shop, where Tom bought himself a mini catapult for £5 (after promising me he'll be sensible with it).

Then we popped into Coral Island for half an hour, playing the 2p machines and having a go on the Camel Derby.

We mooched up the North Shore and by now it was pretty blustery, so we sheltered for 5 mins in the free part of the Tower...





Tom was asking me why they hadn't updated the carpets in here, so I explained about listed buildings, and took some pics of the lovely tiling, which I'd never really stopped to notice before...







We headed up towards Winter Gardens next and had a quick mooch / loo stop. There was a dance event going on, so it was fairly busy.

It was still only 5:15pm and our Pastels reservation wasn't until 6. We were all starving, so I popped in and asked if we could be seated earlier. It was full (they only have 5 tables), but the server said yes so we sat outside for a bit...





We didn't have to wait too long and were inside and ordering by 5:30. I had the Dirty Derek, Rich went for the Jose (both £7.50 with fries). Tom had the Cheeseburger kids meal (£4.50), and we ordered 2 lots of BBQ chicken strips (£4 each) and Cokes all round.

Tom's burger and the chicken strips came out first and they apologised for the wait for mine and Rich's...





It was ok, we just had the Chicken as a starter instead of a side and ordered an extra Coke for me and Rich to share. Tom had almost finished by the time course arrived...





But they were fantastic and worth the wait. I couldn't quite put my finger on why mine wasn't quite as nice as last time, but it was still up there in the best burgers ever.

Even dragging the meal out we were all done by 6:30 and it was still light out - we all agreed that we weren't bothered about waiting around for the Illuminations and that we'd rather get back on the road. I asked for the bill and it was a bargain at £27.50. We left a £2 tip.

On the way back, we were talking about how cheap it had been, so I brought up the menu online and we worked out that we hadn't been charged for our drinks. As I had the menu up I also looked up my Dirty Derek, and realised that it had been missing the lettuce, tomato and red onion, which is why it wasn't quite as perfect is last time.

We stopped at Knutsford for Rich to get his usual Monster LH to keep him going for the drive home. We were back by 9:30pm.

Another fantastic day. Blackpool Pleasure Beach really has been a gem of a park for us this year. We love Icon - it's a superb ride and has the best operations team in the UK, and we are all very excited to see how it compares with Taron at Phantasialand when we visit in a few weeks time.

Edited at 07:02 PM.
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Old 22 Apr 19, 10:07 PM  
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As Peter is a Lancashire lad he has fond memories of Blackpool Pleasure Beach. He asks if you remember when The Streak used to be called The Rollercoaster?!

As for me, being Queen of Team Wimp, Wallace and Gromit is my fave ride there. I have fond memories of several Dibbcast Grand Days Out, but the bits involving doughnuts and glowtinis are probably more vivid than the rides in my memory. I can still sing you the Dora song though (Ni Hao!)
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Old 28 Apr 19, 02:12 PM  
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Originally Posted by Gill H View Post
As Peter is a Lancashire lad he has fond memories of Blackpool Pleasure Beach. He asks if you remember when The Streak used to be called The Rollercoaster?!

As for me, being Queen of Team Wimp, Wallace and Gromit is my fave ride there. I have fond memories of several Dibbcast Grand Days Out, but the bits involving doughnuts and glowtinis are probably more vivid than the rides in my memory. I can still sing you the Dora song though (Ni Hao!)
Yes, I remember riding Rollercoaster before the Nickelodeon theming - always used to enjoy th indoor one called Space Invador II - it's a pizza buffet now
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