Beth's Blackpool Birthday

Last week was my birthday; we went to Blackpool Pleasure Beach.

The view from the train station:

We had to walk most of the way around the place to get inside, but it's still way closer than Blackpool North station (which is also a nice way to get there - have a nice walk or take the tram down the sea front).

First off, the Wild Mouse. That's it, behind that fountain:

I always think the Wild Mouse is a good ride to start on at Blackpool, not least because it's right near the entrance. It's a jerky little coaster, taking you round a lot of 90 degree corners without slowing. It hurts, or so I'm told by everyone I've ever taken on that coaster (I never warn them). It gets the adrenaline pumping.

Next, The Big Dipper:

This is a fun ride. It's an old wooden roller coaster. This coaster is 92 years old; under its current design it's 79 years old.
The fun thing about wooden roller coasters, I find, is the rickety sound they make as you ride. It feels somewhat unstable (it's NOT - it's perfectly safe). A must ride at Blackpool, really, just because of how famous it is.

Next ride - Infusion. Fun fact: this exact ride used to be the Traumatizer in another theme park called Southport Pleasureland. Pleasureland was owned by the same family who own Blackpool Pleasurebeach until Pleasureland went bankrupt in 2006. The coaster was relocated to Blackpool and renamed Infusion. Pleasureland was reopened in 2007 by a company called Funporium.

Infusion is epic! It's one of those coasters with the track above the train, such is the fashion these days. Lots of loops and upside downs. Not so many dips and dives. It's more of a disorienting feel than thrilling, I thought. I found it pretty chilled out. James did not - he found the experience of being suspended in the way one finds themselves on a suspended roller coaster to be quite scary. I suppose he thinks it's scary in the way I think coasters made of wood are scary.

And next, why you go to the theme park when kids are at school - behold the queue for our next ride: 

Avalanche is so much fun!! It is advertised as the UK's only bobsled coaster. The sled is carried to the top of the track, then released onto a slope and it carries you down under it's own weight.

It's fast. It's twisty and turny and bumpy and exciting. Because the coaster doesn't use a traditional track, it feels unpredictable in the way the thing moves (it is slightly different each ride because of the difference in weight distribution).

Next up, the Revolution. This used to be called the Irn Bru Revolution, sponsored by Barr Irn Bru (for those of you in the States, this is a soda drink of Scottish origin, which, rumour has it, is not legal in the US because of one of the additives included) until they pulled out of the sponsorship for some unknown reason. So the pleasurebeach people had to paint over the orange and blue tracks and make it boring grey.

It's a big loop-de-loop (or however one is supposed to spell that). That's all. You go through the loop once and stop for a few seconds. Then you go through it again, backwards. End of ride. It is a rush. There is no part of this ride that does not feed the adrenaline producing glands in the brain.

After all that, we thought it was time for something a little more chilled out. This little ride in Nickelodeon Land is sponsored by Avatar.

The track looks like a skating half pipe. The moving part is a big disk that spins as the whole thing moves up and down the track.

It's rhythmic, it's chilled. At least that's what I thought. You face outwards on this ride, meaning that you can't see all of the bits that are keeping you on the ride and not flying off due to the lovely lovely centrifugal forces. If you like to see the bits on the ride that keep you safe, apparently this is scary. (If you think suspension coasters like Infusion are scary because there's nothing supporting your feet, you might find this less than relaxing as well - you might say something like 'You said that would be chilled; it's the worst one yet!')

I think our next ride might be the ride that my friend Max referred to as 'the new Big Dipper'. It started operating in 1933 and was called simply 'Roller Coaster' until 2010, after which it was painted orange and renamed the Nickelodeon Streak.

It's quite a long ride - the whole of Nickelodeon Land is built inside its perimeter, which is neat. We got to look at little rides that our inner children wanted to play on (before we remembered that we had a limited amount of time to enjoy the big rides). I think this is exactly the kind of ride that turned my eight year old self into the thrill seeker I apparently am today. (Bear in mind that when I thought of that line I was considering the fact that I thought infusion was chilled.)

Next, the Rugrats log flume.

Not a good picture, sorry. I was a bit too busy enjoying my birthday out at the Pleasure Beach to worry too much about photos.
I wasn't very impressed by this ride. We were kind of bored. Had we taken with us a small child, they might have enjoyed it. That is, of course, assuming that the child wants to be completely soaked from head to toe on a day out in Blackpool.
As I say, the ride was boring. Until we landed at the end of the slope. I don't think I have ever come away from a log flume quite that drenched. I was not best pleased.

As we were all wet through anyway, we thought now might be the time to ride Valhalla.

But then we saw how waterlogged people were walking away from the ride and decided against it. Sorry to disappoint.

Next up:

Yes, a merry-go-round. But with a difference. The Derby Racer goes pretty fast (for what it is). Not only that, you know how traditional carousels have that bar sticking up through the horse, right to the ceiling? You don't really think about that until you're on one where you get to lean over the 'horse' and hold onto handles by its ears. It's somehow closer to intense, this way. I kinda felt like if I didn't pay attention, I might be at slight risk of falling off. My point is, this isn't a little kid's ride. This is a carousel for adults.

Next, nostalgia for Gina - The Alice Ride:

Think ghost train, without the ghosts. Instead of a spooky theme, it's Alice in Wonder Land. Except that for some unknown reason the music was the song 'I've Got a Golden Ticket' from the film 'Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory' (that's the old old film, not the new Tim Burton one).
What can I say? It was a pleasant children's ride. I look forward to taking my children on it one day. And there's an awesome photopoint for your scrap books.

And after that we went on the Pepsi Max Big One (behold, the queue)

The Big One is the tallest roller coaster in the UK. By about 5 feet. When it was built, it was the tallest and fastest coaster in the world. It is a fun ride. Matt suffers from Vertigo but he still really enjoyed this ride. If you're not scared of heights, the view from the top is awesome. not because it's particularly pretty, just because you can see so far. It's really windy up there too, then when you zoom down the big drop it feels faster than it is because of all the wind on your face.

And finally, Ice Blast. This used to be the PS2, now it's sponsored by Tango Ice Blast. 

It was a little bit of a let down, actually. Some of these rides shoot you up and then drop you, others lift you more slowly and then shoot you down. This shoots you up, but not all that quickly if my memory of similar rides is anything to go off. Then you sort of bounce for a bit, and it sets you down gently. If you've seen rides like this and been scared to try them, start with this one - it'll give you a feel for the way it moves, but if you've been on better ones I doubt you'll get any kind of a rush from this.

Well, that's that. We went on a couple of rides again - Avalanche, The Big One and Airbender (the latter, sans James). 

Then we wandered down the road and found a nice pub for food and a couple of drinks before heading home to pass out from exhaustion.

The End.