Shockwave Posted February 27, 2006 Share Posted February 27, 2006 For the first few weekends of opening, Blackpool are offering great discount on their unlimited ride wristbands. The park is open for 8 hours from 11-7pm. Not all the rides are open, and lines are pretty long, but there's more than enough open to get value for money. The overwhelming factor today was the heat, or lack of it. It was really really cold with temperatures approaching 0 Celsius! The new park logo is everywhere, and I really like the look of it. But I can't help eeeeeeeelongating all the letters that have been stretched! You'll see what I mean. I had another fun day out, and here's the photos from the trip. Part one of two: Going down... It was busy enough for Rollercoaster to run two trains today. Avalanche and Spin Doctor had some big lines today. Headchopper! Duck! Emma & The Boy on Big Dipper. But depsite the length of the line, good operations meant we were only queuing for 15-20 mins tops to get on. HOLY CRAP! That is a huge queue! OK, so let's finally get some rides in! Magic Mountain's Revolution isn't the only one currently closed for a paint job! The mandatory "Coasters" shot. The Big One was looking pretty big today. And we're nearly there! Uh-oh - maybe this year's Americans are here early! For those who did the 2002 ACE trip, do yourselves a favour and don't look at the bottom of the brown sign. Supeeersaaaver Weekenddds everyone! We're on our way! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Posted February 27, 2006 Share Posted February 27, 2006 The sea air is not good to my hair... Very fun day. Very cold aswell! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carnage Posted February 27, 2006 Share Posted February 27, 2006 It's a miracle you made it there driving on the wrong side of the road and all. Thanks for the pics, I'm looking forward to this park in June. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DerekRx Posted February 27, 2006 Share Posted February 27, 2006 Thanks for the photos, Tom! I'm very excited about heading back there in June, though the crowds have me somewhat frightened. Funniest part is, there actually IS a crowd, even though its bitter cold out. If only some northern US parks would take the hint and open as we're all jonesing for a coaster ride! Looking forward to the rest... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smells_like_team_disney Posted February 27, 2006 Share Posted February 27, 2006 It's a miracle you made it there driving on the wrong side of the road and all. I gotta admit, those pics threw me off at first, before I finally realized it's in the UK. Gotta love driving on the wrong side of the road. Quick question: Has the Big One aged gracefully or is it as rough as most decade-old Arrow hypers out there? Awesome photos, can't wait for the second set. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoasterCrazy Posted February 28, 2006 Share Posted February 28, 2006 Thanks for posting the awesome Photo TR Tom!!! I'm looking forward to visiting BPB in June! I just hope the park isn't very crowed the day that we visit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shockwave Posted February 28, 2006 Author Share Posted February 28, 2006 The Big One isn't smooth by any means, but I've been on a lot worse rides. Above all, it's really fun. The first drop at the back is simply incredible. The park should be nice and quiet in mid-June. Ok, part two of two is here! Get those hairdryers ready, those passengers are frozen solid! The massive structure of the Big One's northern turnaround. Final photos. The Big Dipper was really awesome today. And the crazy frog was still crazy. All 25 billion of them! Wild Mouse was still wild. And Bill!!! And bugs with bongs. And stoned rabbits. But this one had camp gorillas. Argh! There's no escape from Magic Mountain! The Flying Machines are no longer sponsored by Ryanair. And we nearly broke the River Caves with our "fat boat"! They knew Emma was coming! We did a few classics as well. And this ride should be up and running by then as well! Derek's favourite ride was closed today. Don't worry, it should be open by June! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homer Posted February 28, 2006 Share Posted February 28, 2006 Holy crap, thats a buttload of Crazy Frogs! Anyways, Tom, sounded like you had a great time despite the weather. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DerekRx Posted February 28, 2006 Share Posted February 28, 2006 woohoo for love on the vertical loop! Awesome follow-up, Tom! I almost died when I saw the "Bill" picture! I'm really glad to see them have such a great turnout for opening weekend. I guess American's are a bunch of wimps when it comes to this sort of thing, even I'd have to be pretty dedicated to go to a park when the temps were below freezing. I can't wait for June and Blackpool, at least then the temps will be above freezing....barely! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meteornotes Posted February 28, 2006 Share Posted February 28, 2006 OK, who's up for a side trip to the Jesus Coffee Shop?!? That looks awesome. Who knew Jesus liked a good latte... dt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fatality Posted February 28, 2006 Share Posted February 28, 2006 Great Photos. They were very interesting. Did it rain at all ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nrthwnd Posted February 28, 2006 Share Posted February 28, 2006 Woot! And many thanks for the shout-out, heh heh heh. Wow. I am sooooo envious of you guys living so close to BBP. So kool that is. What was that indoor boat ride? I haven't got them all memorized just yet, lol. Gimme time here, k? I DO want to have a go at all the old cheesy dark rides, incl. the Ghost Train, and Valhalla, of course. Kewl! Thanks for sharing the pix, guys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robbeal Posted February 28, 2006 Share Posted February 28, 2006 Aha, tracked your photos down Tom! I knew they'd be somewhere, you were snapping like a madman all day. Good selection you've got there. The queues looked bad but generally moved pretty quickly, so it wasn't too painful. Magic Mountain really is still pretty messed up, even if they got rid of the most racist parts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nemesis-storm Posted February 28, 2006 Share Posted February 28, 2006 OMG look at that queue for the Big Dipper. I think i'd rather pay the full cost of a writstband and wait 1 or 2 trains than queue that long. The park must of been heaving People have said to me that the Pleasure Beach gets busy on these cheap wristband days, they were not kidding !! My kind of queue for the 'dipper' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrissie Posted February 28, 2006 Share Posted February 28, 2006 Great Photos Tom! They have made me want to take the pilgramage 2 Blackpool Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
verticalzero Posted February 28, 2006 Share Posted February 28, 2006 Thanks for the great photo's hopefully all the coasters are "greasted" so they fly round the track. Blackpool is one of my fav places in the UK, it's 4 hour drive from my house but worth it when I see the Grand National, Wild Mouse. Will the "Nash" be re-painted as it does need a lick of "White Paint" soon. I'll offer to paint it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SharkTums Posted February 28, 2006 Share Posted February 28, 2006 More comments... - Is that Jesus Coffee shop near a little chinese place? - Where are all of the Steeplechase pictures!?!? - I want a crazy frog!!!! - Fat Boat will get to be redone, with robb soon! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carnage Posted February 28, 2006 Share Posted February 28, 2006 ^ Let see how many fatboats we can produce on the UK trip. Though nothing will compare to rolling back the kiddy coaster at Quassy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Posted February 28, 2006 Share Posted February 28, 2006 More comments... - Is that Jesus Coffee shop near a little chinese place? - Where are all of the Steeplechase pictures!?!? - I want a crazy frog!!!! - Fat Boat will get to be redone, with robb soon! It's very hard to ge Steeplechase photos. You have to hang on for dear life round those corners! The queue's were rather large that day. More so than last year, but when the prices go back up to normal it should be quieter. Plus a few rides which eat up the queues like Valhalla, Irn Bru and Log Flume were shut. Rollercoaster still has no restraints! There were alot of rumours of seatbelts being installed but no such thing has happened. I love the way so many of the rides at Blackpool have no airgates. The Rollercoaster has about a foot wide station platform for you to wait on.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shockwave Posted February 28, 2006 Author Share Posted February 28, 2006 Where are all of the Steeplechase pictures!?!? My camera battery died before we got to it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Musical Pete Posted February 28, 2006 Share Posted February 28, 2006 Rollercoaster still has no restraints! There were alot of rumours of seatbelts being installed but no such thing has happened. An unused car has a belt fitted as a test but they're not happy with the design so haven't belted the operational cars yet. They will get belted, but exactly when isn't clear. Whether they'll be of any use I don't know.. if people are intent on standing and a belt can be undone, then they'll do it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pkdcoaster Posted February 28, 2006 Share Posted February 28, 2006 Holy crap! I knew they reprofiled the first drop on BIG ONE but I did not know they did the turnaround also. Was it really rough or something..it was crazily shaped. What year did these reprofiles take place...most of my footage of the ride is from '94 and '95 The first drop still looks like it has a killer whip to it. do you have a POV pic going into the turnaround? Thanks, JEFF Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nrthwnd Posted February 28, 2006 Share Posted February 28, 2006 - I want a crazy frog!!!! I smell the first in a series of "TPR UK Tour Official Cheesy Souvenirs". (Secretly, I want one too.... they just look so uuuugly! In a cute sort of fashion, heh heh.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cerberus Posted February 28, 2006 Share Posted February 28, 2006 Woo, photos of the day starting to surface. Good ones, too. Cool I dunno if it was just because I was fearing the worst on the journey there, but I never thought the cold or the queues were that bad. The operations were excellent. Anyway, it was all really fun! Joey broke the first rule of coaster enthusiasm-ing. He lost his camera over the side of the Big One! Where was health + safety?! It almost hit three nuns, six orphan children, a Nobel peace prize winner and the Queen! Such irresponsibility. We need more seatbelts and catchment nets... I've got TONS of funny footage, so I'll put a video together soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Posted February 28, 2006 Share Posted February 28, 2006 Tim.. I loved your hat! *flicks ear* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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