yorkie360

Very nice pictures, coaster-inc. You've found some great spots to point a camera at - looks like there a quite a few of new signature shots. I'm really surprised to see so many some great alignments with PMBO and Big Dipper .. didn't think they would work out as well as they do. Oh, and are those water jets sticking out of the turquoise pool, I wonder?

Gisco, I'm certainly no expert, but I think the points are valid. Please let me know if you think I'm wrong!

I grew up with annual visits to BPB and I guess I'm a little biassed towards keeping the old rides. I love B&M's and other modern coasters, but I can't really think of one modern ride (ie. last 20 years) that's been well executed at this park. I think the Revolution and Steeplechase fit in reasonably well, but pretty much everything else built since has been pretty poor .. be it Space Invader, the Big One or Valhalla. The Big One to me is the ultimate waste of space and money .. the first drop is the only good thing about it - it's just a modern scenic railway which cost way too much and overshadows the rest of the park. And believe me, I'm a big fan of BIG coasters. BPB will never be a Alton Towers or Six Flags, and the only way it'll ever survive in the long-term is to preserve the old woodies and dark rides which will retain the old character, and swap out the modern coasters & rides from time to time.

I find this a little distressing .. stressing ROI over sentimentality. It's sentimentality that allows a 100 year old park like this survive .. people come to BPB not just for the rides but also for the history. If you take away too many old rides that don't perform like they used to, you'll just end up with a Six Flags Over Lancashire, and no real character. Good interview, by the way.

Here are a few more pictures of the demo .. http://www.flickr.com/photos/donnah/391451265/in/pool-rollercoasters/

Looks like I can make it. I've scheduled a business trip to SoCal around that time specifically so I can come along. This would be my first visit to any kind of organized coaster event, and my first ERT for sure. Looking forward to it very much!

Oh .. this is good. It seems that BPB really did some exhaustive research before they named their coaster. Top search results for 'blackpool infusion' takes you to .. "the ultimate wet & dry swingers club"! And they have the URL http://www.infusionblackpool.co.uk too (nsfw text).

Thanks for the link to the image, Ed. The rendering looks funny to me, since all of the coaster will be obscured by the Big Dipper, unless they're going to tear that down too. Or, maybe they're shifting the pedestrian walkway to the other side of the Big Dipper, but there's probably not enough room for that.

I just got an email from Club Pleasurebeach announcing the name and the theming of the relocated Traumatizer .. "INFUSION – Immerse your Senses! A brand new steel beast is growing day by day at Pleasure Beach, Blackpool. Get ready for a totally new age experience for white knuckle thrill seekers at Britain's favourite tourist attraction with cascading walls of water and sky high, heart-stopping, fabulous fun! Five incredible loops and rolls, a looming lake glitters below, a deliciously wicked double line twist and awesome water effects all in one cool suspended looping coaster. INFUSION… An exhilarating infusion of the elements, soars to amazing heights and takes riders through a whirlwind water experience to amaze and astound the senses. Suspend your disbelief on 2,200 ft of twisting steel track with a whole new edge. Pleasure Beach Managing Director, Amanda Thompson, said: "Infusion is yet another example of major investment at Pleasure Beach. I know white knuckle fans will love this new addition to the park and so will our six million visitors a year who enjoy our unique mix of modern thrill machines and traditional rides." Engineers have worked hard to transform the old Log Flume lake in record-breaking time to accommodate the relocated coaster that was previously at home in Southport. Alterations have been made to existing Pleasure Beach attractions to enable the looping coaster to swoop and dive on the former Log Flume site. Club Pleasure Beach members can enjoy an exclusive tour of Infusion’s construction site on December 2nd as part of the Winter Chill event." So along with the name change, does this mean they're dropping the Tizer sponsorship for a Tetley Tea partnership?

A huge thanks to Paul (Nemesis) for brining this issue to our attention in the Flickr Rollercoaster Group, and for resolving it .. all in a matter of hours. This is an example of how well and how widely the Flickr Rollercoaster Group's images are regarded - particularly the quality & quantity of those submitted by Paul. Kudos to Matthew Greene, too, for acting on our complaints so quickly.

There's a joke in there somewhere about getting wet riding the Beaver Creek Flume, but I'm too polite to consider it. Hmm.

I bet opinions of the flume are divided by age .. if you never saw it before the Big One and Ocean Boulevard went up, then you probably wouldn't give a toss whether or not it got pulled down. Back in the 70s & 80s it was better positioned, sighted, and looked more exciting. Anyone wanna do a survey??

It's definitely gonna be a shame to lose it, but it was effectively ruined when they built the Big One and Ocean Boulevard around the edge .. so not so big a deal any more. I guess I'm more excited about what could be to come, but agree it would be a good idea to make sure we can get some good final photos and an on-ride video before the demo crew come in. Can anyone oblige? Anyone got any old pre-90s flume shots? I'm still peeved that there are so few photos of the old BPB virginia reel around, and it would be a shame if the same was true of the flume.

I'm not too sure that's a fair comment, but let's not get into that here. No casualties on the Ultimate, at least ..

Funny enough, I was working with British Rail engineers at the time .. and as a result, I'm surprised the thing ever got built. At least it wasn't designed by Virgin Train engineers .. the thing with Virgin Trains is no matter how hard you try, you can never go all the way on them.