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Blackpool Pleasure Beach | Icon | Mack Multi-Launch

I don't know anything about any 'reduction in speed' but the current RCDB stats speak for themselves:
Helix: 62.1 mph
Taron: 72.7 mph
Icon: 49.7 mph

I know, speed isn't everything. And we should always wait for the final result. But...
 
Mysterious Sue said:
Helix: 62.1 mph
Taron: 72.7 mph
Icon: 49.7 mph
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Anyone know the speed of Tarons first launch? Think it would be interesting to compare that with Icons speed. Also although Helix has a relatively high top speed I'd imagine this comes during one of the lower parts of the layout, and therefore could potentially have a substantially lower average speed.

A much more worrying comparison is to Star Trek at MoviePark which has a top speed of 55.9 mph which seems slow in POV's and Offride shots but when ridden doesn't feel particularly slow.

Just praying the park arent stingey with the electricity bills and end up launching as slowly as possible.

Whilst i think it does look incredible i can see peoples worries about the speed but renderings are awful at conveying a true sense of that, i do think the POV looks really good, add to that the interaction with the area and other creds and I cant see this coaster not being at least my UK number 1.
 
So Helix is just over 10mph faster than Icon. I usually find that to an extent once you hit about 45mph speed doesn't matter too much and it's more about the ride elements and how they've been designed.

Basically what I'm trying to say is that a 50mph ride can feel faster than an 80mph ride with good track profiling.
 
ATI said:
And what do you mean, speed reduction?
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Temleh said:
Where have Pleasure Beach announced a reduction in speed? It's something that was fabricated on another forum and for whatever reason has gained traction as though it is an actual fact!
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I believe when it was first announced the speed was in the 50 something mph range, then when officially announced by Blackpool the number went down. But I can't be arsed to trail through 60 odd pages to find it. Maybe someone else can be bothered, or remembers. Blackpool probably never gave the first number out, and may have been internet rumour, God knows, I just remember discussing it at the time.

It is the slowest of the 3 big ones though, and while speed isn't everything at all. I bet the first half of this is nowhere near it's top speed.
 
Mysterious Sue said:
Mack launches compared to Intamin launches. It's never going to be as intense. (Plus, zero theming).
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Thanks for the "you are wrong because (insert totally unrelated stuff)". We were comparing layouts, especially the first half of it (the part between the two launches). We all know that neither the launches nor the theming are ever going to be comparable with Taron's.
 
Chris Brown said:
Anyone know the speed of Tarons first launch? Think it would be interesting to compare that with Icons speed. Also although Helix has a relatively high top speed I'd imagine this comes during one of the lower parts of the layout, and therefore could potentially have a substantially lower average speed.

A much more worrying comparison is to Star Trek at MoviePark which has a top speed of 55.9 mph which seems slow in POV's and Offride shots but when ridden doesn't feel particularly slow.

Just praying the park arent stingey with the electricity bills and end up launching as slowly as possible.

Whilst i think it does look incredible i can see peoples worries about the speed but renderings are awful at conveying a true sense of that, i do think the POV looks really good, add to that the interaction with the area and other creds and I cant see this coaster not being at least my UK number 1.
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As a matter of fact, the first launch of Helix reaches a top speed of 80kmh, the speed of Icon. And it goes quite fast there, so it should be alright.
 
DelPiero said:
I believe when it was first announced the speed was in the 50 something mph range, then when officially announced by Blackpool the number went down. But I can't be arsed to trail through 60 odd pages to find it. Maybe someone else can be bothered, or remembers. Blackpool probably never gave the first number out, and may have been internet rumour, God knows, I just remember discussing it at the time.

It is the slowest of the 3 big ones though, and while speed isn't everything at all. I bet the first half of this is nowhere near it's top speed.
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Icon's speed has been unchanged since the initial announcement in September 2016.
 
balrog said:
Thanks for the "you are wrong because (insert totally unrelated stuff)". We were comparing layouts, especially the first half of it (the part between the two launches). We all know that neither the launches nor the theming are ever going to be comparable with Taron's.
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But the intensity of the launches affects the speed of the rest of the layout!

I never tell anyone they're wrong (I'm not one of those cretins), just having a discussion. I'm just finding it hard to compare and find Icon come out on top. We'll all find out for real soon enough but if we don't debate the pointless then what on earth is this forum for?
 
Mysterious Sue said:
But the intensity of the launches affects the speed of the rest of the layout!

I never tell anyone they're wrong (I'm not one of those cretins), just having a discussion. I'm just finding it hard to compare and find Icon come out on top. We'll all find out for real soon enough but if we don't debate the pointless then what on earth is this forum for?
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Sorry, I think we just completely misunderstood each other :).

The intensity of the launch doesn't affect in fine the speed of the rest of the layout : when designing a rollercoaster, if you want the train to get to a certain speed using a launch, there is two factors you can play with : launch length and acceleration rate. The intensity of the launch being given by the acceleration rate. The thing is, when you design a layout, the train has to have a given speed to go through it and offer the intended sensations, so whatever is your acceleration rate, you want your train to exit the launch at a certain speed. Therefore, you adjust the launch length. Mack rides LSM launch have lower acceleration rates than Intamins, but that doesn't mean they are necessarily slower, just that their launches are longer. So Mack launch coaster layouts are not bound to be less intense rides than Intamin ones, even if their launches are less intense.
 
I think Icon will be pretty special because of all of the interactions with other rides, it won't be the best in the UK but it will be pretty good. Construction updates seem to have dried up for a while.
I know I should be really looking forward to riding but now all I can think of is the gaping hole next to River Caves that I'll have to walk past to get to it :-(
 
Last edited:
...then go past Alice and the Arena ramp then!
Construction took a long Christmas break, so they only started work again yesterday.
 
Mysterious Sue said:
But the intensity of the launches affects the speed of the rest of the layout!

I never tell anyone they're wrong (I'm not one of those cretins), just having a discussion. I'm just finding it hard to compare and find Icon come out on top. We'll all find out for real soon enough but if we don't debate the pointless then what on earth is this forum for?
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Taron's first launch feels fast due to the track and rock all around you. Then the second one might as well be going to hyperspace, so intense but fantastic.

Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk
 
Helix's launches do not feel like launches, they feel like gentle pushes to get you to the correct speed. The good thing that goes in the favour of Icon is that both launches are significantly shorter than Helix's, not to mention the first launch is from a static starting point. I think the first launch won't have a 'kick' ala Intamin launch, but it'll feel just like Blue Fire's, so you get an initial burst of speed then it takes a few beats to hit it's maximum speed. But at the end of the day, this coaster isn't really about the launches, is it? It's about the second half ;)
 
Lofty said:
Helix's launches do not feel like launches, they feel like gentle pushes to get you to the correct speed. The good thing that goes in the favour of Icon is that both launches are significantly shorter than Helix's, not to mention the first launch is from a static starting point. I think the first launch won't have a 'kick' ala Intamin launch, but it'll feel just like Blue Fire's, so you get an initial burst of speed then it takes a few beats to hit it's maximum speed. But at the end of the day, this coaster isn't really about the launches, is it? It's about the second half ;)
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Also, Icon's highest point is 40ft smaller than Helix's, and it's almost 1000ft shorter than Helix. Icon also stays closer to the ground more than Helix, so they are really hoping to milk every inch of that 49mph top speed. It honestly shouldn't feel sluggish, the speed makes more sense in the context of the layout.
 
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