MackMan
Mega Poster
Pleasure Beach is a trek for me to visit. I have to leave my home town of Crawley to travel to London Euston, then to get the train all the way up Blackpool. It takes around 4-5 hours, and a lot of money. It literally sits 200 miles away on the other side of the damn country, so it is not a common visit for me.
2017 was my last visit, and i enjoyed it. I felt the park oozed charm and had a great selection of cute dark rides, it also really lacked a modern standout. Still though unlike Alton, Pleasure Beach always had such depth outside of their alright coaster collection, whether it'd be a fun flat (skyforce) or the host of retro dark rides. I also really enjoyed Nickledeon Land, the little cheesey slime bucket "shows" mixed with some small fun flats add a fun hub. Riding the splash battle while waiting for our Speedy Pass reservation for Nick Streak was a highlight on this trip (2023).
Now i do not tend to give into capitlistic ways but i bought a speedy pass. Honestly i would say its an okay system. It certainly feels balanced, and restricted. Though it can be a little limiting sometimes, especially as everything always becomes "at capacity". I still do not regret doing it though, it was my birthday and i do not visit the park often. It really helped me knock out the queues, this especially helped with Icon.
Now i'm going to be honest, i skipped some coasters. Big One and Infusion, i hate both, and my partner seemed spooked by both- knowing i wouldn't miss much, i skipped both. Both are awful from memory (Infusion especially), so i did not want to waste my breath. I also due to time, missed on Grand National and Revolution. I remember both as a little rough, but remember both as fun. Valhalla we had a reservation for, but broke just as we were about to board. It did not re-open. Not the best impression for Valhalla to be fair, i am guessing the downtime hasn't improved on the original. It was down for a lot of the day.
Nickledon Streak:
WOW. this felt so smooth- the airtime felt lovely and floaty, the ride didn't feel janky. Nothing too crazy, but an incredibly solid woodie.
Big Dipper:
Meh. Everyone has been saying how smooth this is this year, and how its better than ever! I felt it was kinda rougher than i remembered, and my memories of it being my favourite woodie here evaporated. Its not bad, its just worse than Nick Streak.
Avalanche:
As remembered, it slays. Bobbahn at Europa feels like complete garbage compared to this. Its smooth, fast, and just very well paced.
ICON:
MY FIRST RIDE ON ICON! I know, it opened 5 years ago! But i only had the chance to ride this just last week. So i had heard so much crap about this. Some saying its the best roller coaster of all time, most saying its underwhelming and its crap.
I got off this laughing heavily. Icon is a brilliant coaster, the best in the UK. It has gradual launches, it does not cause black outs, but it is a incredibly fun roller coaster.
I adored the layout- the inversion is beautiful, the S curves are fun and provide some whip, the ride has some pretty good airtime moments, the ride flows into each other amazingly, and it is a long ride. People i think too closely view this as too slow or basically not as good as Intamin, which i say, its different. Intamin try to rip your face off, Mack are more graceful. Icon i felt was running great- nothing felt slow, but the first half certainly is a little tamer but still very fun. It is a perfect coaster in my opinion. Not all rides have to rip your face off to be enjoyable, and for its location it does its job perfectly. I enjoyed the variety it offered- airtime, a really good positive G moment in the second half, whippy laterals, and overall a balanced coaster. Mack restraints also help, my 6'4 partner came off commenting on how it was the "most comfortable" roller coaster he had ridden. I also love the restraints.
Steeplechase:
This is the scariest roller coaster. Barely any restraints, janky rough turns. What a scary ride- i am not sure if i love it, or loathe it. I just scream.
I also would like to mention all the other things you can do in this park. Hot Ice, River Caves, Ghost Train, Alice, Wallace, Puzzle Maze, and honestly just the overall atmopshere here are beyond charming. I did all of these, even at the expense of some of the coasters. It is lovely to just ride all the classics here, and enjoy the vibe of the place. It is by far a lot better than the atmopshere of the Merlin parks. Alton feels like a mission and a fight compared to here.
Anyway- Icon ranks fairly high up for me, i probably feel a little embarassed to put it so high. But i adored it.
2017 was my last visit, and i enjoyed it. I felt the park oozed charm and had a great selection of cute dark rides, it also really lacked a modern standout. Still though unlike Alton, Pleasure Beach always had such depth outside of their alright coaster collection, whether it'd be a fun flat (skyforce) or the host of retro dark rides. I also really enjoyed Nickledeon Land, the little cheesey slime bucket "shows" mixed with some small fun flats add a fun hub. Riding the splash battle while waiting for our Speedy Pass reservation for Nick Streak was a highlight on this trip (2023).
Now i do not tend to give into capitlistic ways but i bought a speedy pass. Honestly i would say its an okay system. It certainly feels balanced, and restricted. Though it can be a little limiting sometimes, especially as everything always becomes "at capacity". I still do not regret doing it though, it was my birthday and i do not visit the park often. It really helped me knock out the queues, this especially helped with Icon.
Now i'm going to be honest, i skipped some coasters. Big One and Infusion, i hate both, and my partner seemed spooked by both- knowing i wouldn't miss much, i skipped both. Both are awful from memory (Infusion especially), so i did not want to waste my breath. I also due to time, missed on Grand National and Revolution. I remember both as a little rough, but remember both as fun. Valhalla we had a reservation for, but broke just as we were about to board. It did not re-open. Not the best impression for Valhalla to be fair, i am guessing the downtime hasn't improved on the original. It was down for a lot of the day.
Nickledon Streak:
WOW. this felt so smooth- the airtime felt lovely and floaty, the ride didn't feel janky. Nothing too crazy, but an incredibly solid woodie.
Big Dipper:
Meh. Everyone has been saying how smooth this is this year, and how its better than ever! I felt it was kinda rougher than i remembered, and my memories of it being my favourite woodie here evaporated. Its not bad, its just worse than Nick Streak.
Avalanche:
As remembered, it slays. Bobbahn at Europa feels like complete garbage compared to this. Its smooth, fast, and just very well paced.
ICON:
MY FIRST RIDE ON ICON! I know, it opened 5 years ago! But i only had the chance to ride this just last week. So i had heard so much crap about this. Some saying its the best roller coaster of all time, most saying its underwhelming and its crap.
I got off this laughing heavily. Icon is a brilliant coaster, the best in the UK. It has gradual launches, it does not cause black outs, but it is a incredibly fun roller coaster.
I adored the layout- the inversion is beautiful, the S curves are fun and provide some whip, the ride has some pretty good airtime moments, the ride flows into each other amazingly, and it is a long ride. People i think too closely view this as too slow or basically not as good as Intamin, which i say, its different. Intamin try to rip your face off, Mack are more graceful. Icon i felt was running great- nothing felt slow, but the first half certainly is a little tamer but still very fun. It is a perfect coaster in my opinion. Not all rides have to rip your face off to be enjoyable, and for its location it does its job perfectly. I enjoyed the variety it offered- airtime, a really good positive G moment in the second half, whippy laterals, and overall a balanced coaster. Mack restraints also help, my 6'4 partner came off commenting on how it was the "most comfortable" roller coaster he had ridden. I also love the restraints.
Steeplechase:
This is the scariest roller coaster. Barely any restraints, janky rough turns. What a scary ride- i am not sure if i love it, or loathe it. I just scream.
I also would like to mention all the other things you can do in this park. Hot Ice, River Caves, Ghost Train, Alice, Wallace, Puzzle Maze, and honestly just the overall atmopshere here are beyond charming. I did all of these, even at the expense of some of the coasters. It is lovely to just ride all the classics here, and enjoy the vibe of the place. It is by far a lot better than the atmopshere of the Merlin parks. Alton feels like a mission and a fight compared to here.
Anyway- Icon ranks fairly high up for me, i probably feel a little embarassed to put it so high. But i adored it.
