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Blackpool Pleasure Beach | Icon | Mack Multi-Launch

So it's opening day and I am at the park. Icon's queue is only 15 minutes. Strange. They are running it well though, operations wise.

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Is it running all 3 trains? Did they have an opening ceremony before the ride opened this morning? And finally, is the rattle very noticable?
 
Pretty sure it's running on two. No rattle, not sure where that came from and no there was no opening ceremony, but PB told everyone the ride won't open until one. They lied for crowd control.

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I wonder if the park would ever consider increasing the launch speeds, if they do indeed have the ability to do so? Might be an extra marketing angle to it, like, if in a few weeks/months/year they publicly announce that Icon is now faster for an even more intense ride? That would certainly help recapture people that have already ridden the coaster whilst also attracting some of the doubters?
 
El_Toro said:
I wonder if the park would ever consider increasing the launch speeds, if they do indeed have the ability to do so? Might be an extra marketing angle to it, like, if in a few weeks/months/year they publicly announce that Icon is now faster for an even more intense ride? That would certainly help recapture people that have already ridden the coaster whilst also attracting some of the doubters?
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Has any park ever done this? Always wondered whether it was a thing that parks could do.

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^ they didn’t increase the actual speed of the coaster though, just the acceleration.

Icon does appear like it could do with a bit more speed, it looks like it crawls through the roll.
 
Pretty sure the original markings said 100 kmph launch. So it's possible if the hardware wasn't changed. I believe the launch speed is already variable depending on wind speed and direction anyway

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The sibling has been sending me smug messages from Blackpool today, he states it's dead and the ride is eating through what little queue there is, meaning it's a ten minute wait at most. He also said he was underwhelmed by the first ride, but then tried again nearer the back of the train and was more impressed. As basically everyone has said then, it's a grower. Also, sounds like they didn't need to worry about crowd control...
 
Hoping to head up on Monday.

Expecting a fast and intense ride...

Then out of the car and onto Icon. I’ve not done Helix yet but whilst Blue Fire is pretty tame, it’s a nice smooth and enjoyable coaster. If it’s at least on par, with perhaps a bit more airtime than BF, that’s fine by me.
 
Admittedly, the setting helps it a lot, but Blue Fire is great, which is what a lot of people keep forgetting.
If Icon can get anywhere close to Blue Fire, they've got a hit on their hands to my mind. At the risk of sounding like a stuck record though, I still don't see it matching Helix. Helix is special.
 
Another thing I noticed - or perhaps didn’t - was the interactions with other rides. It does snake very well around Steeplechase but not on a “near miss” scale like Big One and Dipper’s interactions. I know Icon is not billed as a “near miss” coaster but I’m pointing it out anyway. The drop into the misty tunnel is fab though!
 
After 19 rides today, from 12pm onwards the ride was absolute hauled!

The airtime was ridiculous, just kept getting better and better. It seemed to be the general consensus that once it’s warmed up it’s easily the best U.K. coaster.
 
I agree
owentaylor121 said:
After 19 rides today, from 12pm onwards the ride was absolute hauled!

The airtime was ridiculous, just kept getting better and better. It seemed to be the general consensus that once it’s warmed up it’s easily the best U.K. coaster.
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See this having to wait for a coaster to warm up before it's good is just awful, how will it perform in winter, its been 24 degrees lately.
I understand the whole science of it, but it can't be a mediocre ride in the morning, then the best in the UK in the afternoon!

I need to ride it a second time, I just realy wasn't blown away during my first ride, and it annoys me I can't feel the same way everyone else does
 
Been riding it all day, here's my thoughts:

The difference between when this is warmed up and earlier on in the day is absolutely huge. When we rode it the first time, it was around 11.30am and we were placed in the middle of the train - the ride was alright? Very mediocre with floater airtime and a pop or two of ejector for a split second. It was safe to say that I was absolutely underwhelmed by it and thought it was going to be a flop, so decided to head straight back around for a front-row ride. This was a huge improvement with some stronger and more sustainable ejector through points int he ride, but it was still absolutely underwhelming for what seemed like an eternity waiting from concept to reality.

Decided to do other bits in the park and then come back later on to ride it again (the queue was at most a 15 minute wait throughout the entire day with it having fantastic operations). This would've been around 2.30pm and we managed to grab a back row ride on it - already a huge difference. Really strong airtime throughout, laterals and strong positive - one of the best moments at the back is leaving the Immelmann when you receive really strong ejector at a funky angle before snapping up into the overbank and airtime hill with equally powerful ejector.

Just before leaving at around 4.30pm we rode it another two times - one at the back and one at the front. These were absolutely fantastic. A great ride on both areas, really enjoyed it and I'll be honest - I actually preferred these two rides to daytime rides on Helix, without question.

I suppose overall, I think it's a really good addition to the park and during afternoon operations, the coaster really stands its ground as one of the best coasters (if not, THE) in the UK for me. It offers something we just don't have yet, a coaster with airtime, strong positive G's, smooth and re-rideable. It really does, for me, fill the gap in the UK market for a solid thrill coaster and I'm more than happy that it's less than an hour from my house.
 
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