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I finally was able to scratch off a major piece of my bucket list today with a somewhat whirlwind unplanned trip to Carowinds. My plan was to spend the weekend at King's Dominion, but with Pantherian suddenly not opening I had the crazy idea to drive 5 hours to Charlotte this morning, spend 6 hours at the park, and start driving the 13 hours back home tonight. My wife was surprisingly on board and replied with "well you've been talking about that place for 10 years" so we decided to do it. Arrived around noon and headed straight to Fury. This was the main reason for the trip and why would I start anywhere else. After waiting in line for about 20 minutes (and opening queue times to discover that this would be the shortest line in the park for some reason) I decided to purchase Fastlane because who knows when I'll ever be back here. Anyway, of course I built this thing up a little too much in my head. I know it's a lot of people's #1 steel and I get it. But I crave intensity and airtime, and while this has a little bit of both, it's not as in your face as Pantherian, Steel Vengeance, etc. I look at it as B&M's Millennium Force...another ride I absolutely love, but barely cracks my top 10 while being a lot of people's #1. I rode 5 times, lucking out with the front or back each time. Not sure which I preferred...the airtime and speed were great up front but a couple of the elements definitely hit better in the back. On one ride I didn't feel the trims engage at all and we f*cking SAILED through the speed hills at the end. As for the rest of the park: The Top Scan (whatever it's called): Glad to finally ride one here after getting teased by the one at Lagoon which decided to break down just before I went to ride it. I guess it's one of those rides that looks cooler than it is. The cycle just kind of sucks. It spins once or twice and then stops for 10 seconds and you just hang there. Then rinse and repeat a few times. Copperhead Strike: I loved this ride but wasn't a big fan of the restraints which I felt were a little male unfriendly. But the hang time filled inversions were a blast and the pops of ejector were crazy. Very slow moving Fastlane line (regular line pushed 2 hours) or I would've rerode for sure. Wish there were more of these Macks in America. Afterburn: Basically Montu's little brother. Nice intense old school B&M Invert just the way I like it. The tunnels and trenches went a long way to enhance the Montu vibes. Thunder Striker: This is heavily bitched about among coaster enthusiasts and after riding it I have no idea why. Sure, the layout isn't very inspiring but even with the trims every hill absolutely launches you out of your seat. The airtime is just as good as Diamondback. Why is this ride bitched about so much?!? Goldrusher: Basically a couple long helices and that's all. More interesting than Cedar Creek Mine Ride and Trailblazer but not sure how many other mine trains it can compare to. Vortex: Not awful but not my favorite ride by any means. I miss Green Lantern it didn't deserve the hate or the fate. Cyclone: Almost avoided it as it broke down but was open when I was about to leave the park after reriding Fury a few more times. I wish it stayed broken down for my own sake. It's not THE worst Arrow corkscrew coaster I've ridden, but...just...no. Hurler: It's really not that bad. First half is fun with some good airtime pops and fast turns. Second half jackhammered a bit. But I couldn't help but imagine Twisted Timbers elements coming up at me as we rattled through the course. Flying Cobras was down most of the day...no big loss. Ricochet not on Fastlane and I didn't feel like waiting an hour for a basic mouse, no big loss there either. Didn't feel like whoring the Hang'n'bang or the kiddie coasters. This park is obviously very top heavy with a terrific top 4 and then a bunch of crap after that, but that top 4 is among the best in the country. Not sure if I'll make it back in the next several years, but damn am I happy to have finally made it. Do have to mention one of the major cons of this park and that is the groupers. I've never liked not having a choice of seat (luckily as a single rider with Fastlane I pretty much mostly got front or back on everything anyway) but it's even worse when they're terrible at their job. Entire rows going empty on Thunder Striker every ride. Groupers on Fury and Afterburn not putting groups of 2 with other groups of 2 and causing 6-8 seats to go empty every ride. Sometimes they were so slow that the last 2 or 3 rows would go unfilled. This park was by far the strictest about no choice of seats. Parks like Universal, Disney, and Cedar Point scratch the happy medium of having groupers make sure they fill the train as best as possible but also almost always accommodating requests. Or better yet...just let people into the station until every row fills up like Six Flags parks do and call it a day. I noticed this at Kings Island a little bit a few years ago but Carowinds was the absolute worst with this. Kings Dominion doesn't group at all. It annoys the crap out of me seeing 1/4 of the train go out empty when there's a 2 hour line. Sorry for the rant Overall though I am glad I followed through with my insane idea and made the spur of the moment trip to the park. It's hard to know when I'll ever get back since it's just not near much else, but hopefully it's in the cards someday.

Day 10 (pt 1) full day at Blackpool Pleasure Beach - and getting to ride my holy grail. tho I was so excited I had some trouble sleeping, I actually did wake up before my alarm (and well before park open). Checking the weather, it said overcast (and windy - oh no!).. but a quick peek out the window jumpstarted everything - there was an Employee walking the track of Big Dipper! that was an excellent sign, that they were planning on opening things. as I started to get dressed for breakfast, I heard some commotion outside the window, and looking out again, Icon was testing! (that was our ERT coaster for this morning.. . so I giddily snapped some pics to send to the group - for those who hadn't been in the rooms to hear/see it). a peek out the windows at breakfast confirmed it was really windy today still. . . just look at those waves. and there was no movement at all on "the Big One" - a coaster that is often closed due to winds apparently. but at least we had two full days at the park. . . so I was hopefull, and dug into breakfast. the group met our "park guide" at the back/resort gate (which wasn't really open, but they opened it for us which was great), and we headed into the empty park and towards Icon. you can tell how bundled up everyone is, that the day started out a bit chilly. I love going into a park before it's open, as lots of opportunities for pics without a lot of people in them. (so yet another reason I love going on trips with TPR) great sign, Big Dipper was now testing. (as well as ICON, as you can see the train behind Big Dipper's train) it really is quite a lovely park, and they crammed so much in! it's hard to believe there were a few big rides that had been removed (the Wild Mouse, the Motorway) or were down for refurb (an indoor tunnel of love type ride thru caves, the drop tower) during our visit, as there was so much still to do. swimming Jockys ? I have no idea but it was interesting scenery. since everything is built in and around (and thru) other things, the queue lines too weave a lot. this is part of the Icon Queue, but you can also see Infusion (blue track), Big Dipper (wood track), and Big One (red track) in this pic. fairly non-descript station on the outside - they let the ride speak for itself. parts of Avalanche, and the loop from Revolution are visible from the Icon queue line. Nick and Jere ready for their back seat ride. this is train 1. On the other train, they have replaced the last car with two spinning seats, and they consider this a separate ride, called "Enzo" (it's an upcharge) TPR train, ready for launch. for a coaster with multiple launches, this coaster really doesn't have a lot of speed. . .it really feels like it's just "meandering".. . but it somehow really WORKS for this ride. adding a ton of hang time, and making the coaster incredibly re-rideable. I liked it a lot. on the bridge after I rode a few times, I snapped pics from over the 1st launch, and managed to catch the other train with the "Enzo" spinning seats in the back car. (those that rode it that way said it was fun) I liked it best in the front row. . .but as noted, it was an enjoyable coaster regardless and a great way to start off our day this pic is courtesy of either Elissa or Jack Crouse. happy train of TPR riders by the time we finished our ERT, the grounds were open and folks had started to show up - even if none of the rides were open. but I was about to get a surprise when we were informed we were now headed over to Steeplechase for some pre park opening rides (I seriously was so excited I was afraid to go to the bathroom in fear of missing something) seriously. . holy grail. a ride I *never* thought I'd ever get to see, let alone ride. and it turned out that Elissa & Robb had mentioned to the park folks that for a couple of us on this trip, we had come on the trip *specifically* for Steeplechase (that would be me and Jonathan). and the park responded by opening all 3 rails for us! From what I was told, typically they only run 2 rails, and the Gold one rarely operates. so.. apologies for all the Steeplechase pics. . . I actually culled them and am only posting a few, relative to how many I tool. . LOL at only 2 riders per horse, and nothing underneath you for most of the ride.. it truly is both an exciting AND terrifying experience. I think most of the folks liked it tho. I was absolutely giddy, and even tho I think I only "won" once? I rode it a LOT. . . not just today, but tomorrow too - when the operators recognized us at the SteepleChase superfans from the prior day and let Jonathan and I do solo rides on the horses for a few laps without having to go back thru the line but yes, I was able to get at least 10 rides, across all 3 rails, during our surprise pre-park open rides today. again, the below pics are courtesy of either Elissa or Jack. once I got my excitement to calm down (and after a bathroom break, finally), we split off for the rest of the day. we didn't have any evening ERT, so the day was ours to do with as we pleased (some people went across to the South Pier to ride the spinning mouse), although the Resort was hosting an opening night gala for the "Ice on Fire" ice skating show, and the park had offered us all tickets if anyone wanted to go. I planned to go, cause why not?, and then headed to explore the park with a smaller group of about 5-6 folks. first stop was Revolution, an Arrow shuttle loop from 1979. yup, one of the classics, where you have to climb the stairs to the top so the train can make the loop what's nice, is from this tower, in the center of the park really, you get some crazy nice views (yeah, that's one of the park's 3 carousels behind us). looking towards the water. . directly in front of us is the Big One's station - with the first drop way back in the distance behind Avalanche. it was, indeed, closed today - too windy for the Big One. (fingers crossed for Tomorrow for some ERT on it) Nickelodeon Streak - the orange woodie that rings the Northern part of the park also runs right along Revolution's queue tower a beautiful view of Steeplechase station, and some of the track, and the Big Blue hotel - where we're staying. Nickelodeon Streak's turnaround, and looking over the town of Blackpool with the clouds burning off, it really was quite lovely here. continuing our way counter-clockwise around the outer perimeter of the park, we came to Nickelodeon Universe area next. and there were characters out for photo ops. I asked the handlers if they could take a pic for me, and this cheeky bastard said sure - then flipped the camera and took a selfie (gotta wonder how often he does that to folks.. but he didn't realize that I was there for two days, and when I saw him the next day would embarrass him so badly in front of his co-workers (who thought it was hysterical) that I doubt he does it much again). anyways. . here's the pic he took that he thought I wouldnt' notice. and here's the real pic, after I handed him the camera back, making sure it was pointing the correct way. I think this is from Avatar? hell if I know. .it's a character photo op!! in this section before you get to Nickelodeon Streak, you come across Blue Flyer - a PTC junior coaster, that's been in the park since 1934 adults were welcome to ride, so we got in line. and saw that several other TPR folks also had the same idea hey Jonathan, Shane, Adam, and David it was adorable, and actually had a few pops of airtime. and I love that the pic says "my first rollercoaster" lookie. . Bert is the filling in a Nick Oreo Sammich cookie. looking around Nickelodeon land, most of the rides seemed to be of the "spin and puke" variety or "get wet" variety. . tho the Streak coaster loomed large over everything. they only had one train on this, so this was probably the longest line we stood in today. and unfortunately it was crammed full of teenagers who were acting up almost the whole time we were in the line. this is also one of the oldest coasters in the park, as the lift hill and turnaround were originally part of "the Velvet Coaster" that was built in 1909. . but it was rebuilt and christened "Roller Coaster" in 1932, before being renamed the Nickelodeon Streak (slime streak?) in the 2010's. that's a long way of saying it's a bit of a rough thing, and even tho we waited for it, it was one and done for me. the kids (with the pliable bodies) seemed to love it tho. I LOVED this operator. . she was "take no shit" from the teenagers, and yelled at them for throwing water - and would not let them ride until they apologized to us for splashing us with water while in line. so of course, I wanted a pic with this wonderful woman. Andrew and Stacy were in the train behind mine. . so was able to get a pic of them as they went by. leaving the area. . this is another one of the 'wet" rides I liked the Rugrats theming. . but seemed a bit too chilly to get wet - at least at the moment. day 1 to be continued. . .

I understand with the contract the park is on they aren't going to get anything great (sadly), but they have done quite a bit of work maintaining/improving the rides they have. I will always applaud this, but why isn't any of it ever discussed on socials? GP isn't going to know Predator got Titan Track bc there are fake balloons in front of the track section. This Mind Eraser work could have been a perfect opportunity to market the new trains and "snoother" ride experience. Radio silence.

Yeah when I was waiting for Jersey Devil when it was down the one guy said something new was replacing Ka. I inquired and he claimed it would be record breaking "the park wants the height record back" I said that one in Saudi Arabia is I think over 600 feet and he shrugged "I dont know, just they say it will retake the record" while I've gotten some legit insight from park employees before needless to say that one....yeeah not gunna bank on it LOL That said, seeing a big open area was not just weird but made me realize how much space was there. Whatever is going there it can certainly be something big. So I knew there was risk going opening day, (esp with a new ride) but it was too nice the weather, and my schedule won't have a weekday I could take off until May so why not? Got a pass, can go anytime and bail if the day is bust. .....Kinda was. Even going in knowing "OK ops will not be great, there will be rides down, various issues, rides have been removed etc" it was still kinda rough. A lot of food places/stalls weren't even open, ops were indeed rough(er than I prepared for) and except Nitro and maybe Batman I think everything went down once. And of course the biggie: Flash.... was going down basically all day. Not streaky, but like every 4 rides going down. At one point I figured **** it, I'll go for it, they say 2 hour wait but as it goes down maybe people will leave and it'll balance out. Was kinda working but as 2 hours neared I was still a bit away, and after it went down the FIRST loaded train after its last test cycle I bailed. Ride looks sick. The hangtime looks epic and just such a unique and interesting layout. The one person I bumped into who rode (dont think many did today) said has good air and the back end is very interesting. Maybe in a few weeks it'll be running smoother. That said there was redemption for Jersey Devil. I lucked out and was the first person to catch it upon reopening (was down for I think 2 hours) so got 3 in a row. Front row, near back, and back row. Front was fun but a tad lackluster, as I felt last time, but near the back holy hell that was wild. Back row was insane! Also felt El Toro wasn't as rough as its been in recent years, maybe just memory lapse, and in back Nitro is still a damn solid ride given its age. OH! Also got stuck on the lift of Superman and goodness that was...uncomfortable XD All in all OK day, looking forward to future visits.

Day 10 (pt 2) full day at Blackpool Pleasure Beach as we came up the stairs from the Nickelodeon section, I saw Wallace (of Wallace and Grommit) out and went to say hi and get a pic, only to be informed that if you want a picture of them, you must purchase the opportunity. I politely declined, and we continued past the Wallace & Grommit ride (I'd ride it tomorrow. . long line at the moment) and headed towards one of the park's other classic woodies: the Big Dipper, a PTC built in 1923 I *love* the classic feel of the thing. and it's right next to Infusion and the Big One in the middle of everything. the inside of the station is charmingly retro. . and hey, look. . there's Stacy and Andrew in line up ahead of us. Bert, Nick, Doug, Nick. the windows in the queue for Big Dipper give one a fantastic view of Infusion's 1st drop thru the windows. too bad it's a Vekoma SLC. . but hey, it LOOKS good almost our turn. . a bit rough, as one would expect from a coaster this old, but really quite a decent ride and I enjoyed it. pic is courtesy of Andrew I believe. since we were RIGHT NEXT DOOR to it. . we gritted our teeth and headed over to Infusion. as noted. . at least it *looks* fantastic. Especially built over a water feature. already dreading this decision. . . but at least there's not much of a line. smiling BEFORE we ride it. . . . oooo. . .a train? where is the station for that? made a mental note to look for it. yeah. . it rides like a Vekoma SLC. one and done. . . but I rode it. having ringed the outside of the park, we headed into the center, where the Avalanche Bobsled is located. charmingly themed over here. ' and you get really close to Revolution's loop feature. aha! . . crossing over the bridge to get to the Avalanche entrance, I discovered the train station. . in an odd place, with an entrance from the actual bridge. noted for later! this was closed today, and tho it was small, it was quite lovely. sadly, I think this is one of the 3 smaller rides the park announced has been removed to make space for a new ride coming in. (come to think of it. . all 3 smaller rides they said they were removing, never opened the two days we were there, and were closeby the shut down car tracks.. so must be something big coming into this area) I'm ready for a bobsled ride! it was among the smoother of the bobsleds I've ridden. and I did go back and ride it the next day too. Lots of Photo Ops spread among the park. . even of many of them didn't make a lot of sense. I got Nick to pose too, after being my photographer. I believe I had reached out to Stacy and she and I made our way to the train station - as she loves this kind of stuff too. the train really does weave all in and out of everything at the park, and gives some really interesting views/perspectives of things. well worth a ride, if you go to this park. you get REALLY close to some of the coasters too. . . and it passes right in front of our hotel (and spoiler. .. right there is that wonky as hell transition on the Big One that WILL mess up your back if you aren't prepared for it. . . every time we rode the next day. . right THERE). looking up. .there's my room! LOL. . with the curtains open on the top floor. the tunnel at the end of Big One, where it dives underneath Nickelodeon Streak's structure after a wonderful, relaxing, train ride, I was ready to hit the grouping of Dark Rides (Alice's Wonderland, Ghost Trains, and the park's Racing Derby are all right next to each other in an area of the park). Alice in particular is sorta/kinda like the Disneyland ride, but there are many differences. great photo op, even if it looks like I'm creeping out the Mad Hatter while the March Hare is tickling Andrew's armpit. no one wanted to be the Caterpillar.. but I wasn't gonna pass up being Alice! or riding a horsie on the Derby Racer I LOVED this. . . but I will admit that tho it ran faster than Cedar Downs? I don't recall these horses moving back and forth. So between the two? Cedar Downs takes it as the better ride. but still, I'll ride this over almost any other ride, any day. Hey Stacy! stopped to watch the racing trains on Grand National. . .another PTC coaster from 1935. this one looked very very rough, and tho i did ride one side of it today, it bothered my hurt rib (damaged at Barrie Island), so never did go back to ride the other side. the suspended ships are near the main entrance tho. . and those were a lot of fun. back to Alice for another ride (of course). hmmm. . per this sign, this ride opened in 1962. . Disneyland's opened in 1958. Maybe the similarities aren't such a coincidence? and then it was time for Ghost Train! I'd held off on this, as I'd heard it was a good one, so was saving it. it was SO good, y'all. I rode this at least 10 times during my visit to the park. just kept going back to it. I loved it. the themed benches over here are great too! so good. .and so many pops of air! no idea who to thank for this. Stacy? it was getting towards the end of the day, and so it was time to ride the infamous "Valhalla" I don't want to ruin it, so all I'll say is that it's a very, VERY good dark ride, and a very, VERY wet water ride all at once. yeah. . even completely covered with a TPR rain poncho, still soaked completely thru. but we knew we were in trouble when they were using a wetvac to suction out water from every boat as they came back thru the station. . LOL SO good tho. actually rode it again the next day too. we were so wet from Valhalla, we went and rode Derby Racer a few times in an attempt to dry off (and it worked, since it spins so fast) since Stacy is in this pic with me, assuming this pic is thanks to Andrew? and with that (and slightly drier) our first day at the park was over, as it was time to shut down. it was still early. . maybe 5pm? but we went around to the front of the park, and I got this pic of the main entrance. From what I was told, this park used to have a Noah's Ark (like Kennywood has), but it was decommissioned many years ago. instead of destroying it tho, they moved it over the main entrance. so it's no longer an attraction one can walk thru, but the Ark does still "float" up and down, and most of the figures from it are around the base. so that's rather cool that they kept the history. waiting for the reception area for "hot ice" to open. it was a lovely set up, with a coffee shop, and bar in the outer entry area. it was opening night, so some folks did dress up - and I felt a little bit under-dressed - but enough of the TPR folks went that I didn't really stand out. TPR representing at the "Hot Ice Show" at Blackpool Pleasure Beach opening night. I have to imagine that we had been asked to take no pictures (as it was opening night), as I don't seem to have a single picture from the performance (and yes, they really DID set the ice on fire, and there was a lot of skating tricks done). there clearly was also an issue as the intermission seemed to talk almost an hour between acts, and when act II did start there was suddenly an odd number of women vs men skaters - so I think someone must have gotten hurt during the 1st act, and that's why the delay in act II starting. for what it was, it was enjoyable, and it's always fun to hang out with TPR folks. (and as Stacy and I are showing, they DID serve alcohol. . so it was a nice enough way to spend the evening before heading back to the hotel for shower, and sleep.. .. tho I'm almost 100% positive, we DIDN'T go back to the hotel, but instead went across the street to the casino for food and some gambling) but with that, Day 1 of Blackpool Pleasure Beach was done, and I had fulfilled a quest.. I was gonna sleep well tonight.

^ I saw that, too. Great Adventure is talking a big game about 2026, but for all we know it could be breaking the record for longest wacky worm. The thing that gives me pause about that article is that there are no facts, no evidence, just "i know a guy who said this thing." Also it states that they're in contact with various amusement companies and waiting on the right bidder, so that means it's a concept that's about to become as real as Orlando's Polercoaster.

Day 9 (evening) arrival in Blackpool, and checking into the Big Blue hotel, and checking out the pleasure piers! although I don't recall how long the drive was from Gulliver's World to Blackpool, I do know we departed Gulliver's around 5:30, and I think we got to Blackpool a few hours later? it was too late for the park to be open (the UK parks all seemed to close pretty early), but there was still plenty of sunlight as we got towards the area. I know for sure that my excitement skyrocketed when I spotted the famous "Blackpool Tower" off in the distance: and this giant Blackpool Sculpture - that I'm sure if in the perfect spot, can line up the tower with it. before too long, we pulled up to our Hotel for the next 3 days. Actually on site, and overlooking the park (the arrangements here were incredible - HUGE thank you to both Robb & Elissa for this planning as well as the fantastic staff at the hotel !). we were going to staying at "Big Blue" very quickly we got our room keys and headed off to our rooms - tho a bunch of us had planned to meet back down in the lobby in about 40 minutes to go walk along the sea-shore to check out the pleasure piers, and what kind of dinner we might be able to find in Blackpool. my room was pretty amazing, and I remembered to actually take pics of it upon arrival. looking back from the end of the main entrance hall towards the door. that blue area on the right? a separate kids area! with bunk beds and even video games to keep the kiddos occupied now facing towards the room. . on the left is the bathroom and straight ahead is the large bedroom area I'm just too uncoordinated to use these 1/2 shower designs. . I always end up spraying water all over the bathroom! but otherwise, a beautiful bathroom. and a large room how was the view? as I mentioned above. . HOLY CRAP !!! and overlooking my holy grail too, Steeplechase. I simply cannot express enough thanks to Elissa and the universe that I ended up in this room. in this view there are pieces of EIGHT coasters (10 if you count each of Steeplechase's tracks): Infusion Big One Big Dipper Icon Avalanche Steeplechase Revolution & Nickelodeon Streak looking to the right to see more of the hotel. . tho we're in the "middle" section, which has best views of the park. it was overcast and quite windy - no impact today, as the park was closed for the day already. but it worried me a little bit for the next few days. what a view. . .if I hadn't had to go to the lobby to meet up, I would have stood here for a long, long time. meeting up, about 7 of us headed out to walk around the outskirts of the park, and along the seawall, to check out the 3 Blackpool Pleasure Piers. (it ended up being way, way further than it looked, LOL. .and I did end up taking a taxi back later after dinner instead of walking back) the park is on our right, but all along the "ground level" of the parks, are related tourist attractions and things that were quite interesting - even if none of them were open one of the park entrances from the Seawall side. Hot Ice was the show that was opening on our 1st day in the park, and we'd been invited to go watch it after park close. it was. . . . interesting. more about that tomorrow. peeking past the closed gates, that's the main park entrance, and the down for refurb drop tower right at the park front. looking across at the SeaWall was the Blackpool indoor waterpark. we crossed the street over to the seawall side, but looking back across at the Blackpool Pleasure Beach, main entrance. never did see that Casino they are advertising open but we did have dinner in the tower restaurant noted there on the 2nd night. a peek at the park map for the indoor water park. it looked like a pretty decent one, but since I was there for the theme park, I didn't even consider taking any time from the park days to go to the water park. next to the waterpark, however, was another casino. . and this one was open (and ended up in there a couple of times, to play some slots or grab a late night snack). it's nothing at all like a USA Casino - I don't think it was 24 hours - but the food was decent and served late. and the handful of slots and table games were acceptable. . tho more along the lines of what you'd see at a small off strip casino in vegas, with just a handful of options. I believe this was an "adult entertainment" bar, but loved the name "the Velvet Coaster" pics of businesses across from the seawall side of Blackpool coming up to the South Pier, you can see the Blackpool Tower off in the distance. not a whole lot open on the pier, as I think it was just too windy (and a bit too early, as this seemed really targeted towards teenagers and young adults who wanted to party) the tide was pretty far out at this point too.. that's the back of the waterpark, and behind it (and across the street) is the lift and 1st drop for the Big one. further out on the long pier and you can get a great view of the Big One. later, ALL that sand would be under water as the tide comes in some really classic carnival rides were on the pier. . tho as noted, not many things were open just yet. I think they were waiting for it to get a bit darker so the lights would really advertise the rides. tho some things were open, and had people riding them - despite the cold wind. the main draw to the South Pier is this Spinning Wild Mouse, all the way at the end of the pier over the water. too windy and was told it wouldn't operate tonight - tho it did run the next day and a bunch of TPR folks made the trek across to get the credit. this freaked me out a bit, but I did it.. . the wild mouse is placed on grating at the end of the pier. so, yeah.. you can walk out over the open sea beneath you. . . I did it - it goes all the way around the mouse and comes out on the other side from the end of the pier a look towards the Central pier, that was further North, going towards the Blackpool Tower. the Central Pier has a Ferris wheel on it, that WAS operating, despite the wind. but it was way too shaky for me to attempt - tho really, I would have gone on it if anyone else had wanted to. photo op with the two Nicks ? yes please! back onto the seawall, and moving towards Central Pier hmm. . .doesn't really look "fun". . looks perhaps a bit sad? but nearer the Tower, and by the Central Pier, it certainly got more festive, with way more "touristy" stuff. . such as Ripley's, and Madame Trussaud's, etc. . the entrance to the Central Pier not sure if there was a festival coming, or they had just put up some more art installations, but this was rather cool. stepping onto the Central Pier. .this one had a bit more traffic. just look at those waves tho.. yeah, it was windy! looking back towards Blackpool Pleasure Beach. . even I was surprised how far we had walked. the rides were reasonably priced here. . tho they were much more family friendly rides than the more extreme ones that had been on the South Pier. as said, these Ferris Wheel cars were really swinging in the breeze. . it just didn't seem safe enough ooo. . a "Grease" related diner? (but the actual food looked . . um.. . not great - so didn't eat there). Loved the advertising for it tho. that's the North Pier over there. . . but by now my feet were starting to hurt (it had been a long day), so I decided I didn't really NEED to go down to that pier. but "KandyLand" across the street? yeah. .that I could manage. yes, I bought a bunch of stuff at KandyLand. and it still amuses me greatly that the "Fudge for a Fat Bastard" was being sold right next to "a Present for my Beautiful Grandma". . .Bwaa-haa-haaaaa oh my. . I was Sooooooooooo tempted! LOL. . but I behaved. we wandered towards what seemed to be a tourist center near the tower base, that also had St Johns Church - a beautiful church dating back to 1821 (and I believe it was Nick who enjoys photographing churches and pointed it out to us). "THE Chinese Buffet" wasn't gonna be a choice for dinner, as it looked like it hadn't been open in a while. . but someone had discovered there was a Nando's nearby where the church was, and we agreed that would be a good place to head. turned out they were packed, but we went ahead and made a reservation for 45 minutes later (and said hi to the group of other TPR folks that were already there eating) and went to check out the church / area until they had a table ready for us. most everything over here was closed already, as it was kinda late. some great graffiti here. (tho I wasn't about to go down an alley to get a better pic) the Church really is beautiful. .and the way the sun was lighting it up really made it worth the visit. eventually we went back to Nandos and had a great meal. Some were gonna head back along the seawall, but I was so wiped, I opted for a cab, and Nick rode with me. so we made it back to the hotel relatively quickly. a hot shower, and laying out clothes for my first big day in the park tomorrow, and I was ready for bed. but not before spending some time looking out at my view again in the evening shadows as I was finally about to turn off the lights, Andy (I think) sent back these shots he had taken from the walk back along the seawall during sunset. these are spectacular shots. . so I saved them to my phone and am sharing here too: look how much the tide has come in! it's actually lapping those steps now! very very windy. and because Big One is in the background? this must be a shot taken of the Central Pier from the North Pier (the one I didn't go to) yeah. . look how rough that sea is. . and how high the water has gotten! and with that? I was off to bed. . and said a little prayer that it wasn't too windy tomorrow to impact our day. I will try to get up 1st day at Blackpool Pleasure Beach within the next 36 hours!