Coaster
Mega Poster
What was wrong with how it looked?
In my opinion the removal was bad enough in itself, but the way it was handled was the factor that changed my opinion of the park itself and whether they "cared."
Wild Mouse at BPB Closure - R.I.P. 1958-2017
- Thread starter CrashCoaster
- Start date
In my opinion the removal was bad enough in itself, but the way it was handled was the factor that changed my opinion of the park itself and whether they "cared."
Lofty
CF Legend
Everyone talking to Coaster RN.
And, I think you'll find that I [sadly] read every single one of your posts, hence why I commented and referred to them all in my reply. At the end of the day, you're still annoyed about the way they didn't release that they were going to remove the ride - would you have still been annoyed if they'd announced it? Of course, you would - they literally couldn't have won against people like you.
Coaster
Mega Poster
If the park had announced it, I'd have still been disappointed about its removal but would have understood it was something that had to happen, for whatever reason. My annoyance wouldn't be directed at the park so much, but rather the situation.
Everyone talking to Coaster RN.
And, I think you'll find that I [sadly] read every single one of your posts, hence why I commented and referred to them all in my reply. At the end of the day, you're still annoyed about the way they didn't release that they were going to remove the ride - would you have still been annoyed if they'd announced it? Of course, you would - they literally couldn't have won against people like you.
As it occurred, my opinion changed entirely once I saw how PB handled the situation, at which point they made it appear that little-to-no thought had gone into the decision and that it was just to clear the space for "progress".
So, yes I still would've been disappointed or annoyed to see one of (IMO) the world's best coasters gone, but I wouldn't have "blamed" (for want of a better word) the park anywhere near as much as I do now following their chosen way of announcing it.
jayjay
Giga Poster
To be fair to him for a moment, I think the point he's trying to get at is where the anger would be directed. If I had a terminally diseased dog and the vet told me they'd have to put it down and gave me a last moment, I'd be sad and angry because that's the natural response. If the vet said nothing, pulled out a knife and shanked Rover in the chest, you'd be pretty pissed specifically at the vet.
That said, there's no way they wouldn't consider the "let people down slowly" option, so either the public at large didn't care about Mouse as much as we think they do or there's some other business or logistical reason for doing it.
sandgrown
Mega Poster
If we're upset about it, where else can we moan about it except moan on a rollercoaster message board? Surely not everything you say has to make perfect sense all the time on here. You can have a merely emotional reaction to something and then blather on about it to some twats you don't know in cyberspace.
It's that or wibble to passers-by in the high street.
"THEY TOOK THE MOUSE DOWN YOU KNOW AND I DON'T LIKE IT."
They'd call you Mouse-man and kids would be scared.
Let people be wrong from time-to-time. It's no skin off your noses.
It's that or wibble to passers-by in the high street.
"THEY TOOK THE MOUSE DOWN YOU KNOW AND I DON'T LIKE IT."
They'd call you Mouse-man and kids would be scared.
Let people be wrong from time-to-time. It's no skin off your noses.
sandgrown
Mega Poster
Let's not forget that Stoke-on-Trent is an architectural wonderland, Gaudí meets Mackintosh you could say, stuffed full of 20 year old millionaires, and with the oil reserves of Saudi Arabia.
TommyAlex
Mega Poster
Anyone who knew anything about the Wild Mouse could put two and two together and figure out that the ride was more than likely removed due to a problem with the ride that would be too expensive to fix, rather than for future developments. It had problems and down time all year, and spending so much money on something they can't market as new wouldn't be profitable. It's clear that's probably why the Mouse was removed.
It's just that, in an official public statement, "future developments" sounds a whole lot better than "this ride has a lot of problems we can't afford to fix anymore". And, despite what you seem to think, "future developments" in no way at all suggests there would have been a replacement attraction opening immediately.
It's just that, in an official public statement, "future developments" sounds a whole lot better than "this ride has a lot of problems we can't afford to fix anymore". And, despite what you seem to think, "future developments" in no way at all suggests there would have been a replacement attraction opening immediately.
rob666
Hyper Poster
The new safety features (relating to the new brakes) put additional weight on the cars, this caused the chain to break individual links repeatedly as the cars engaged with the chain.
The attempt to add additional 21st century safety features to an in house built fifty year old compact coaster failed, but they did make repeated attempts to keep the ride open, over its last decade.
The last straw was the modern fashion for litigation, and a very stroppy review on tripe advisor, by a woman who claimed a child in her lap nearly fell out after the belt unbuckled.
They had an awful lot of accident books for the mouse...I know...I watched the ride supervisor filling them out...on a rather regular basis.
You can't just keep on beating your customers up.
Apart from with Infusion and the National.
The closure wasn't very professionally done publicity wise, but the park did all they could to keep the ride open as long as they could.
There is a reason they have nearly all vanished now...they do cause bruises if you aren't carefull.
The attempt to add additional 21st century safety features to an in house built fifty year old compact coaster failed, but they did make repeated attempts to keep the ride open, over its last decade.
The last straw was the modern fashion for litigation, and a very stroppy review on tripe advisor, by a woman who claimed a child in her lap nearly fell out after the belt unbuckled.
They had an awful lot of accident books for the mouse...I know...I watched the ride supervisor filling them out...on a rather regular basis.
You can't just keep on beating your customers up.
Apart from with Infusion and the National.
The closure wasn't very professionally done publicity wise, but the park did all they could to keep the ride open as long as they could.
There is a reason they have nearly all vanished now...they do cause bruises if you aren't carefull.
RevolutionRuleZ
Mega Poster
I can see both sides to this, and I have to admit it still pains me to see that empty gap where the Mouse should be, but then again a new ride wouldn't ease that pain, because it is just as awful seeing Infusion on the Log Flume site.
BPB have for some unknown reason, made a habit of closing down historic rides with no event or send off, which to me is madness in this day and age. Social media the way it is and forums such as this would bring in lots of extra revenue for a last chance to ride a lot of these rides and flog merch to go with it, alas for whatever reason it doesn't happen.
My advice is go, and enjoy what is on offer because we never know what is next. Most people seem to believe the Nash won't last much longer and we have already come dangerously close to loosing the Streak.
As for the Mouse, I honestly believe it wasn't planned to bring it down. The demolition contract was for Trauma Towers and the Mouse was done as an afterthought. I am told Amanda personally saw something happen on the ride (I can only guess what) and it never ran after that, despite the additional seat belts being added.
BPB have for some unknown reason, made a habit of closing down historic rides with no event or send off, which to me is madness in this day and age. Social media the way it is and forums such as this would bring in lots of extra revenue for a last chance to ride a lot of these rides and flog merch to go with it, alas for whatever reason it doesn't happen.
My advice is go, and enjoy what is on offer because we never know what is next. Most people seem to believe the Nash won't last much longer and we have already come dangerously close to loosing the Streak.
As for the Mouse, I honestly believe it wasn't planned to bring it down. The demolition contract was for Trauma Towers and the Mouse was done as an afterthought. I am told Amanda personally saw something happen on the ride (I can only guess what) and it never ran after that, despite the additional seat belts being added.
SilverArrow
Certified Ride Geek
How do you know it was unplanned though? Do you know the inner workings of BPB's management discussions? Pretty obvious it was on the chipping block the season before. It hardly opened. Same as Volcano. Even if it was unplanned, that happens sometimes.
Coaster
Mega Poster
The season before they spent a lot of money on installing a new magnetic brake system, replacing a lot of the walkways around the layout and track/wood replacement.
SilverArrow
Certified Ride Geek
Probably as a last attempt at conforming to modern regulations which the ride wasn't built for.
To me that also shows that they cared about the ride and wanted to save it, contrary to what you said earlier in the thread.
Everyone on here was angry about it but I think everyone has just accepted it and moved on.
Here's a thought: maybe the Building Control inspectors (or whatever the equivalent body is for things like this) condemned the ride in the off-season during their annual inspections? It could have been that the park knew the structure was starting to fail, and were lining up for some work to be done (as suggested by the fact that they were still updating the ride the season before), but when the reports came through the amount of work required became totally unfeasible.
It does seem plausible to me that even the park didn't know the ride was going until the off season.
It does seem plausible to me that even the park didn't know the ride was going until the off season.
TilenB
Strata Poster
Yeah, that's probably the most likely explanation. There was an interview with Amanda Thompson published in the First Drop magazine in early 2018 in which she states they didn't have any immediate intentions to tear the ride down (the interview was likely taken a few months before the ride was demolished).
I loved the mouse (and still do). I didn't like the way they handled its removal at all and for me I visited just once last year, even as season pass holder. I wasn't actively boycotting the park, but had just lost my enthusiasm for the place so didn't see the point in going somewhere just for the sake of it.
The Mouse was built in a different time, a time where H&S was nowhere near as strict as it it now. No ride could be built in the UK now with the low clearances that the mouse had. You could easily reach out and slap the supports if you were that way inclined. One of my guilty pleasures with the Mouse was watching its unsuspecting victims happily queuing for the ride, lulling them into a false sense of security, only for them to be thrown around like rag dolls and come off the ride, rubbing their arms, legs, face, with some in tears. The pure violence of the Mouse was what gave it so much character.
But at the end of the day the park is a business, it has to progress and improve. If the Pleasure Beach hadn't torn down popular rides at other times in its history, then we would have the Switchback and Scenic Railway instead of the Dipper and National, On a side note, this is why I think the mill stone which has been now hung around their necks by an enthusiast when a few of the coasters got grade 2 listed will come back to haunt the park in the future. Sure, the space the Mouse has left hasn't been filled yet, but lets hope that it is.
As much as I hate to say it, removing the mouse would have happened sooner rather than later. I hate to think the amount of money they spent on the ride keeping it going. Financially the Pleasure Beach have a very difficult few years coming up with some quite hefty loans that they have to pay back and they could ill afford to spend more money on a ride which was loved by enthusiasts, but not so much by others. Off topic again, but this season will see the park trying to raise its spend per head to help pay back the hefty debt they have (one such measure is they are introducing daily parking charges for hotel guests, something what even Merlin dont do !!!
)
To conclude, it's sad to know that I will never get to ride the Mouse again, all I now have is memories, pictures and videos. For me it was a truly great ride which had unfortunately come to the end of its time. Long live the Mouse (memories at least)
The Mouse was built in a different time, a time where H&S was nowhere near as strict as it it now. No ride could be built in the UK now with the low clearances that the mouse had. You could easily reach out and slap the supports if you were that way inclined. One of my guilty pleasures with the Mouse was watching its unsuspecting victims happily queuing for the ride, lulling them into a false sense of security, only for them to be thrown around like rag dolls and come off the ride, rubbing their arms, legs, face, with some in tears. The pure violence of the Mouse was what gave it so much character.
But at the end of the day the park is a business, it has to progress and improve. If the Pleasure Beach hadn't torn down popular rides at other times in its history, then we would have the Switchback and Scenic Railway instead of the Dipper and National, On a side note, this is why I think the mill stone which has been now hung around their necks by an enthusiast when a few of the coasters got grade 2 listed will come back to haunt the park in the future. Sure, the space the Mouse has left hasn't been filled yet, but lets hope that it is.
As much as I hate to say it, removing the mouse would have happened sooner rather than later. I hate to think the amount of money they spent on the ride keeping it going. Financially the Pleasure Beach have a very difficult few years coming up with some quite hefty loans that they have to pay back and they could ill afford to spend more money on a ride which was loved by enthusiasts, but not so much by others. Off topic again, but this season will see the park trying to raise its spend per head to help pay back the hefty debt they have (one such measure is they are introducing daily parking charges for hotel guests, something what even Merlin dont do !!!
)To conclude, it's sad to know that I will never get to ride the Mouse again, all I now have is memories, pictures and videos. For me it was a truly great ride which had unfortunately come to the end of its time. Long live the Mouse (memories at least)
rob666
Hyper Poster
The National is listed, so they cannot just decide to pull it down. They are stuck with it, open or closed.
I was told by an extremely solid source that the mouse was gone for good in the early autumn, people on the park who I have known for years would not look me in the eye when I talked to them about it...insisting that no formal decision had been made.
I posted on a couple of sites what I had heard, and got a lot of grief for repeating what I had been told, and accused of making it up.
It never reopened.
As Pete A said, people came off with bruises and tears, regularly.
H&S were satisfied that the ride could reopen, but it ended up extremely costly to run, and the issues with the ride were never resolved to the satisfaction of the parks owners.
You just can't keep throwing money down a hole, you go bust in the end if you do.
I was told by an extremely solid source that the mouse was gone for good in the early autumn, people on the park who I have known for years would not look me in the eye when I talked to them about it...insisting that no formal decision had been made.
I posted on a couple of sites what I had heard, and got a lot of grief for repeating what I had been told, and accused of making it up.
It never reopened.
As Pete A said, people came off with bruises and tears, regularly.
H&S were satisfied that the ride could reopen, but it ended up extremely costly to run, and the issues with the ride were never resolved to the satisfaction of the parks owners.
You just can't keep throwing money down a hole, you go bust in the end if you do.