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Rank the Blackpool Pleasure Beach coasters

Matt N

Matt N

CF Legend
Hi guys. Sorry if we've already got a thread like this, but as we've got coaster ranking threads for many other parks, I thought I'd make one for the Pleasure Beach. I'll get the ball rolling with my personal rankings, which may be a little controversial to some:
  1. Icon
  2. Nickelodeon Streak
  3. Big Dipper
  4. Revolution
  5. Avalanche
  6. Blue Flyer
  7. Grand National
  8. Big One
  9. Steeplechase
  10. Infusion
I would be interested to see how you guys rank them!
 
Matt N said:
2. Nickelodeon Streak
Click to expand...
Woah now that is controversial, you must like gentle rides!

I'll include a couple of past creds too:
  1. (Wild Mouse)
  2. Grand National (stop complaining about the roughness you wimps)
  3. Icon
  4. Big One
  5. Revolution (it has some lovely ejector airtime)
  6. Big Dipper
  7. Nickelodeon Streak
  8. Steeplechase
  9. Avalanche (by far the dullest layout of the 4 Mack bobsleds I've done)
  10. Infusion
  11. (Space Invader)
  12. Blue Flyer (great for a kiddie cred, don't get me wrong!)
 
1. Wild Mouse
2. Revolution
3. Big Dipper
4. Nickelodeon Streak
5. Big One
6. Steeplechase
7. Blue Flyer
8. Infusion
9. Grand National (biggest piece of **** I've done so far)
 
1. Icon
2. Revolution
3. Wild Mouse
4. Grand National
5. Big One
6. Big Dipper
7. Avalanche
8. Nickelodeon Streak
9. Steeplechase
10. Space Invader
11. Infusion
12. Blue Flyer
 
(1. Wild Mouse :()
2. Icon
3. Big One
4. Grand National
5. Steeplechase
6. Revolution
7. Big Dipper
8. Avalanche
9. Nick Streak
10. Blue Flyer
11. Infusion
 
Wild Mouse
Icon
Revolution
Grand National
Nickelodeon Streak
Big One
Avalanche
Blue Flyer
Space Invader II
Steeplechase
Big Dipper
Circus Clown
Infusion

Yay :)
 
  1. Icon
  2. Wild Mouse
  3. Grand National
  4. Revolution
  5. Avalanche
  6. Nickelodeon Streak
  7. Steeplechase
  8. Big One
  9. Big Dipper
  10. Space Invader
  11. Infusion
  12. Blue Flyer
 
Icon
Revolution
Avalanche
Infusion
Big One
Big Dipper
Nickelodeon Streak
Steeplechase
Grand National
Space Invader II
Wild Mouse
Blue Flyer
 
Peet said:
Woah now that is controversial, you must like gentle rides!
Click to expand...
The reason I personally liked Nick Streak 2nd best out of all of Blackpool's coasters is because I personally like rides that strike a good balance between smoothness and thrill, which is why I like Icon as much as I do! Anyway, I personally found Nickelodeon Streak to keep a good pace during the ride and I actually found it quite smooth (relative to the rest of BPB's woodies, anyway!). It's no Wicker Man or Megafobia for me, but it's still an enjoyable coaster, in my opinion! I don't personally like comparing Blackpool's woodies to something like Wicker Man, as they're a very different breed of ride to one another, but I personally prefer the Wicker Man style to the BPB style, if you get what I mean.
 
Icon
(Wild Mouse)
Grand National

The rest is a bit hmm... I can’t really differentiate the quality - it all ‘bleghnds’ together. Icon really highlights how mediocre the rest of the coaster selection is at BPB.
 
Grand National (pre-21st Century)
(Wild Mouse)
Icon
Grand National (now)
Big One
Big Dipper
Revolution
Avalanche
Tokyado Express
Roller Coaster (**** OFF "Nickelodeon Streak")
Infusion
Steeplechase

I'm not including the Zipper Dipper in the list as I think it's a bit daft to judge a ride that's explicitly made for 7 year olds against the others. I went on Space Invader (1) in about 1986 and can't remember what it was like anymore.
 
Not done Icon yet but...

1. Grand National
2. Wild Mouse
3. Big Dipper
4. Infusion
5. Nickelodean Streak
6. Revolution
7. The Big One
8. Steeplechase
9. Avalanche
10. Blue Flyer

Bring it.
 
1: Wild Mouse (RIP)
2: ICON
3: Steeplechase
4: Grand National
5: Streak
6: Big Dipper
7: Avalanche
8: Big One
9: Revolution
10: Blue Flyer
11: Infusion
 
Who else here is old enough to remember the National at its best? It was even better than the Mouse and must have had miles more airtime than any other coaster in the UK.
Don't forget that they've changed the restraints too. You had just one lap-bar between two people before. You spent most of the time out of your seat.
It seems mental to me that in some of the reviews of Icon, it's praised for it's airtime. It doesn't really have any apart from the top hat, and if you think it does it's because you're used to rides that don't have much.

It's a sad state of affairs, when the corporate-whore rebranded Roller Coaster is considered the best woodie at the park. It was always the ****test - EXCEPT for the fact that it didn't have any restraints at all in the 90s. That's right - not even a little shared lap-bar. A reflection of how tame it was, but also something to give you a mild thrill. The National and Big Dipper were no rougher than the Roller Coaster really, but they were much more fun.

When the three rides are working the way they are supposed to, the hierarchy is very clear. National is much better than the Big Dipper, which is much better than the Roller Coaster. It's sad that poor maintenance has blurred the lines between them so much. They are the most historic coasters in the country, and they should be kept in excellent condition, even if the National Lottery has to cough up for it.
 
1. Icon
2. Revolution (previous fave)
3. (Would have been mouse probably)
4. Avalanche (yay)
5. Nick Streak (it's way smoother than the dipper and nash and has some good airtime)

Everything after this is all sort of joint in a muddle, except infusion which is banished to the end.

6. Big one???? (haven't done it in the while)
7. Steeplechase (hard to rate)
8. Big Dipper (was so rough when I did it the a couple of weeks go, especially at the bottom of the first drop)
9. Nash (painful but insane)
10. Blue Flyer (haven't done it in a while but remember thinking it was ok, just obviously small)
11. Infusion (gross)
 
Last edited:
Matt N said:
Hi guys. Sorry if we've already got a thread like this, but as we've got coaster ranking threads for many other parks, I thought I'd make one for the Pleasure Beach. I'll get the ball rolling with my personal rankings, which may be a little controversial to some:
  1. Icon
  2. Nickelodeon Streak
  3. Big Dipper
  4. Revolution
  5. Avalanche
  6. Blue Flyer
  7. Grand National
  8. Big One
  9. Steeplechase
  10. Infusion
I would be interested to see how you guys rank them!
Click to expand...
Right, after having a little think about my overall coaster rankings and a revisit to the park in August, I have an updated list for my Blackpool rankings. Do bear in mind that the rating out of 10 I give is relative to my entire count, and the ranking is out of all 67 coasters I've ridden:
(Moved rides are in italics)
  1. Icon - I still adore this coaster just as much as when I rode it last year! While the launches aren't the fastest in the world, Icon more than makes up for this with a plethora of other wonderful elements; there's absolutely buckets of ejector airtime, some good, whippy laterals, some great hangtime, and I just overall feel that it's such a smooth, rerideable, thrilling coaster that just keeps me coming back for more every time I visit Blackpool! 10/10 (#2 in overall rankings)
  2. Avalanche - I enjoyed Avalanche more than I expected to last time I went to Blackpool, but it grew on me even more this time! It may not be the fastest coaster or the most intense coaster, but I just love how purely fun it is! It actually builds up some surprising speed and force by the time it reaches the end of its circuit, and I even remember getting some little pops of airtime! Overall, I think Avalanche is just a great family coaster! 6/10 (#26 in overall rankings)
  3. Big One - Well, well, well; my opinion of this ride is an interesting story! When I first rode it in August 2018, I wasn't a fan of it at all and was really quite underwhelmed by it, but it grew on me quite a bit when I rerode in 2019! Even though I would still enjoy the ride a lot more if it was smoother, I didn't think the Big One felt quite as rough when I rode it in 2019, which meant that I enjoyed it a lot more and could focus more on the positive attributes of the ride. The first drop is fantastic and starts the ride off with a huge bang, and even though it may not have the most relentless pacing, I do think it manages to maintain a very good sense of speed throughout! Yes, the Big One isn't the smoothest or most comfortable by any means, and I am still yet to feel any airtime on it, but I think that it does quite a few things very well and is a real iconic staple of Blackpool! 6/10 (#27 in overall rankings)
  4. Revolution - Even though it's not the longest ride by any means, Revolution packs a surprising punch into its length! The loop packs some good forces, and there are some really good pops of airtime going in and out of the electric winches! It's also surprisingly smooth for an Arrow coaster of its age! Overall, while Revolution isn't my favourite coaster by any means, it's certainly quite a novel and fun experience! 6/10 (#32 in overall rankings)
  5. Nickelodeon Streak - Even though it didn't impress me quite as much as it did in 2018, I still think Nickelodeon Streak is a fun little wooden coaster for families! It is probably the smoothest of Blackpool's woodies by some distance, and it does have 1 or 2 light pops of airtime in places! Overall, a perfectly fun family wooden coaster! 5/10 (#39 in overall rankings)
  6. Blue Flyer - Blue Flyer is perfectly fun for what it is! While it may not have any airtime or breathtaking g-forces, it's a perfectly fun wooden coaster for the youngest visitors to Blackpool and I can't really think of any major criticism considering its target audience! 4/10 (#45 in overall rankings)
  7. Big Dipper - I must admit, I was a bit disappointed with Big Dipper in 2019 after enjoying it more than I expected to in 2018. While the layout itself was as good as before, with more airtime than I remembered, it was quite a lot rougher this time, and I think I found it somewhat too rough to fully enjoy this time. Thankfully, it's nowhere near the level of Grand National or Infusion's roughness, but I still found it too rough to properly enjoy this time. 3/10 (#53 in overall rankings)
  8. Steeplechase (Right) - Steeplechase is certainly quite a unique ride experience, and I'm glad it's still operating for that reason, but I think I found it too jerky to really enjoy when I rode it in 2018. I must admit, I found it quite painful around some of the corners, but I'm glad that Blackpool have kept this classic going, especially as it's the only one left in the world now! 2/10 (#61 in overall rankings)
  9. Grand National - Despite my very low ranking of it, there is only really one key reason I don't enjoy Grand National, as it has quite a lot going for it; the pacing is brilliant, it's probably second only to Icon as far as airtime in Blackpool goes and I'd actually say it probably has my favourite layout of any Blackpool wooden coaster. However, the one key thing holding Grand National back in my rankings is that it is perhaps joint with Infusion as the roughest coaster I have ever ridden. I must admit that even though I know these coasters are perfectly safe and I won't come to any harm on them, I was genuinely a tad worried for my spine going down the first drop and over the ride's hills due to the amount the ride was jolting and banging me about, and I genuinely felt in pain coming into the brake run. I can definitely see the appeal if you have a higher roughness tolerance than myself, but as it stands, Grand National isn't really my sort of thing at all. 1/10 (#66 in overall rankings)
  10. Infusion - I did not ride this coaster in 2019, but after my one and only ride in 2018, I can quite comfortably declare Infusion my least favourite coaster I've ever been on out of the 67 I've ridden. It's a real shame, as I never like doing that to anything, and Infusion actually has some things going for it; it looks nice from off-ride and I don't think the SLC layout is a bad one at all. For me, it's just that the constant headbanging from when you go down the first drop right up to when you hit the brake run isn't something I found enjoyable at all. 1/10 (#67 in overall rankings)
Even though it might not seem like I talk too highly of Blackpool's coaster selection on the whole, I really do adore it as a park, and it is perhaps proof that you cannot define a park on its coaster selection alone. I absolutely love the mix of old and new and just the general atmosphere of the place! Also, as much as some of the coasters aren't to my personal taste, I don't think I would want to see any of them removed, as they are all classics and all have their rightful place within the park.
 
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