Menu
What's new
By:
Filters

Blackpool Pleasure Beach | Icon | Mack Multi-Launch

Smithy said:
But they won't go to the park and ride it. That's the point. Look at ATI's post for a perfect example of that. Because it doesn't do the "biggest/tallest/fastest", some people just aren't interested because they've been conditioned to think that a good ride has to have those features.


The general public don't know what Helix is. You could chuck Helix or even Taron in the middle of BPB and people would probably say it looks :emoji_poop:. As I said above, hopefully the likes of Icon and Wickerman start to change the public perception that a ride HAS to be biggest/tallest/fastest to be good and word-of-mouth feedback about how good it is starts to convince nay-sayers to give it a go.
Click to expand...

I agree with this. However, the Pleasure Beach have been guilty of pushing this attitude as much as anyone. When it was Geoffrey and not Mandy in charge, he was very keen on pushing superlatives for ride descriptions. The Revolution was the first looping coaster in the UK (right?), the Log Flume was the longest of its type in the world, the Big One was the tallest and fastest, and so on. Merlin's advertising team then pushed that to the next level but it's not all their fault.

In a perfect world BPB could do a bit of both - a record breaker here, and a purist ride there, but I can't see where the money will come from to do anything major after Icon. I hope it's a success, and I hope the "slow-burner" theory is right. I feel a touch pessimistic right now though. That's why I hope it can stand on its own merits, even if it's just for the enthusiasts. The real disappointment will be if it doesn't get anywhere near Taron and Helix, nor offer the Kingda Ka thrills your average kid in the street wants.
 
Yeah it's all a bit chicken or egg, you can blame the public for only wanting gimmicks or you can blame the parks for relying on them as a USP, it's probably a bit of both.

Slow burner is actually the perfect way to sum up how I think (and hope) this ride will go. I'm quietly confident that when people ride it, they'll appreciate the quality of it and be enticed to encourage others to try it too (speaking from experience too because before I'd ridden Balder I was no fan of woodies, now it's my go-to when people ask for my favourite and I try my best to convince them how good they can be) which should help them draw people in. It's just getting that initial wave of people in in the first place.
 
The wickerman povs got similar comments. (Didn't properly watch them but saw comments.) People saying it looked crap and boring and basically the same as thirteen etc etc. Apparently they also expected to actually be singed by fire too.

The UK public are not familiar with airtime or airtime-focused coasters which both icon and wickerman are. Heck, even Orlando had minimal airtime before mako so the average Joe is just going to think height/inversions/speed = a good coaster.

Let's hope the UK gets a nice introduction to airtime this year. Finally.
 
If Wickerman is supposed to be an airtime focused coaster then it really fails at that lol

Maybe if they named it "The Bigger One" instead of Icon people would think differently
 
What is even funnier about this is the same members of the public were calling the Wild Mouse dangerous and too rough.

You know, the Wild Mouse that had a top speed of 14mph and a high point of around 35ft was too much for the little snowflakes, yet this, with its 50mph launches and almost 90ft drops isn' enough....muppets.
 
ash said:
What is even funnier about this is the same members of the public were calling the Wild Mouse dangerous and too rough.

You know, the Wild Mouse that had a top speed of 14mph and a high point of around 35ft was too much for the little snowflakes, yet this, with its 50mph launches and almost 90ft drops isn' enough....muppets.
Click to expand...

Those are very probably completely different persons, that we lump together since they both belong under the umbrella term "GP". Some faint at the sight at anything more intense than a merry-go-round, others want as much speed and height as possible. But since they're both non-enthusiasts, we tend to regard them as completely unison.
 
Thing is, comments on Facebook don't give us a realistic indication of how the ride will do. I mean, yeah there are people who will say it doesn't look as good as "such and such" on Facebook. That's not the general consensus really though. Also, a lot of those moaners probably have no intention of visiting Blackpool regardless, others will STILL come out despite their criticism (that's the world we live in). To be honest, look at the droves that turned up for nearly every late night close at BPB... essentially just to ride the same old rides they've been going on for 20+ years. A new major coaster (regardless of gimmick) will go down well. It's not like we get massive new coasters every year, so not like Icon has a HUGE standard to meet.

Smithy said:
The general public don't know what Helix is. You could chuck Helix or even Taron in the middle of BPB and people would probably say it looks :emoji_poop:..
Click to expand...

The point I was making above was that in terms of solid overall coasters, this is the closest the GP will get to something that goons mutually adore (aka Helix). I actually remember in 2007 BPB was pretty rammed with Infusion opening, so I'm not too doubtful that Icon will pull in a crowd...probably more so in Summer when everybody is looking for a day out etc.
 
Pear said:
If Wickerman is supposed to be an airtime focused coaster then it really fails at that lol

Maybe if they named it "The Bigger One" instead of Icon people would think differently
Click to expand...
Well most good woodies feature some kind of airtime. Whether wickerman actually has any if another story.
 
Last edited:
Wicker Man apparently features some good moments of airtime according to those who have ridden.

Anyway, one thing we can reassure ourselves about with regards to Icon's reception by the general public is that people commenting negative things in a Facebook comments section probably won't be riding. Even if they are, then I think that the main problem is that we in the UK haven't really had any major coasters lately that have disproven the general public's theory that rides are only worth riding if they are the tallest/fastest/longest etc. A lot of British coasters built in recent times have had some sort of USP/gimmick associated with them. I don't think the GP can really be blamed for having that mentality when the majority of recent coasters in Britain have had that sort of mentality in the design stages. I would more blame Alton Towers/the Merlin parks for the GP having that mentality, as they seem extremely desperate for firsts in their rides. (See Galactica/Wicker Man for reference) I would guess that if you showed the British GP a video of great-looking coaster like Mako, Taron, Helix etc. they would be underwhelmed. For example, if an American watched a POV of Lightning Rod at Dollywood, their response would probably be something like "Wow!" "Looks amazing!" "I so need to ride that!" or similar, whereas a British person watching the same POV would probably go something like "Oh no! It's wooden! Wood is dangerous!" or "Where are the loop-the-loops?" or similar. I really hope that Icon and Wicker Man banish these theories and prove to the British public that records are not everything. While admittedly, the GP are a lot more intelligent than enthusiasts often credit them for, there are some who still live by this mentality. Is it the same in other major countries, or is it only the UK?
 
Look at how many visitors Blackpool & Alton Towers in comparison to the amount of people commenting under their posts of new rides, maybe like 1% or lower?

They'll vote with their feet, and once a few ride say how amazing it is then people will spread via word of mouth. Look at Stealth at Thorpe Park, it looks boring, no loops, just a launch, HOWEVER it is widely talked about by the GP because of the launch and in case it 'breaks' and rolls back.

I think the visitors to the parks who have never ridden a double launched roller coaster or a twister style wooden roller coaster will love it.
 
^Wow you're quick! Haha. It does seem quite slow through some of the first half but I would imagine with time it'll pick up more speed, it was very interesting watching it today. They stopped testing by the time I'd moved position to film, but I'll back there soon.
 
Annoying how most of these videos don't show the second half at all, even though you can see some of it... Ah well, the ride looks pretty fun at the moment. I appreciate the effort though (to whoever filmed).
 
Scott88 said:
^Wow you're quick! Haha. It does seem quite slow through some of the first half but I would imagine with time it'll pick up more speed, it was very interesting watching it today. They stopped testing by the time I'd moved position to film, but I'll back there soon.
Click to expand...
I assume it's running slower today due to the cold, it seemed like it compared to what I saw on the news. Hopefully in the summer the ride will be running faster, but the second half of the ride is definitely more superior than the first. I'd say the first is kind of like Helix, and the second half is reminiscent of DC Rivals.
Ethan said:
Annoying how most of these videos don't show the second half at all, even though you can see some of it... Ah well, the ride looks pretty fun at the moment. I appreciate the effort though (to whoever filmed).
Click to expand...
The person who posted directly above you filmed. ;)​
 
ATI said:
I assume it's running slower today due to the cold, it seemed like it compared to what I saw on the news. Hopefully in the summer the ride will be running faster, but the second half of the ride is definitely more superior than the first. I'd say the first is kind of like Helix, and the second half is reminiscent of DC Rivals.

The person who posted directly above you filmed. ;)​
Click to expand...
Have you actually BEEN on Helix btw?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top