Hello and welcome to Blackpool Pleasure Beach and today we're at the media event for Icon,
Blackpool's newest and greatest roller coaster addition at the cost of 16.25 million pounds.
So as you can see behind me, Icon is in full force today and members of the media are being
given the chance to ride it so we've come here to do just that as well.
Creation of the ride first started possibly around as early as 7 years ago and following that
myself and the fifth generation of the business started going around looking at coasters around the world
and it was actually the engineers finally deciding on the best manufacturer possible to make this ride
and that was their decision to go with Mack and make this ride.
Icon is said to be exactly that - the icon of Blackpool Pleasure Beach
and for Blackpool themselves - it's their biggest edition ever and they
want it to be the flagship of the park.
You think of Blackpool Pleasure Beach, you think of The Big One
but Blackpool want that to change entirely. They want this thing behind me, this new
fantastic rollercoaster to be their icon and to be their
centrepiece that everyone thinks of.
Investing 16 million pounds in a new ride is a great opportunity to reengage with
thrill-seekers and, you know, it's been a few years since we've had a thrill-seeker ride of this nature and we are investing an
awful lot of money in excess of 1.2
million pounds on advertising across the whole of the UK to make sure everybody knows that there's a
new reason to come to Blackpool in 2018.
So, really, the question is, does it live up to what it's all about? - and the answer is yes.
Icon is a fantastic roller coaster with two launches, a whole lot of track and a very quite lengthy ride experience.
Snappy,
exciting,
iconic!
I do think it's the best coaster in Blackpool without a doubt,
The Big One, very exciting ride, Revolution is a lot of people's favourite ride here, but look at it - this thing's absolutely beautiful
and a real significant investment I think for the Pleasure Beach. They've always had a philosophy here of
trying to put the park at the forefront of the amusement park industry
and they're certainly doing that I think with this investment, it's the right thing for the park.
Big challenge for Mack Rides and also Blackpool to fit such a ride in such a narrow
space - I mean, we talk about big amusement
parks, which have usually lots of space, but looking here at Blackpool, we have a very narrow
space and when you look at the length of the ride and it's a very very long ride and has very diverse elements it has
two launches, to fit and squeeze all that in
into this existing surface
and with all those rides existing I think that it's been really an achievement
of the engineers and the team here at Blackpool.
The important thing to know is that Icon's launches aren't the main aspect
of the ride - they're just something that allows you to gain energy, just like the chain lift is to a normal roller coaster,
launches are to Icon. They're nothing special - you'll find much better launches on the likes of Stealth and Rita
but the launches on Icon give you enough energy to navigate the track and
experience the ride.
So straight after the first launch, you navigate the top hat right behind me and especially if you're in the back rows that first drop down
the top hat element gives you a fantastic boost of ejector air time and that's met by a large number of twists and turns,
especially underneath Steeplechase,
there's an S-bend element and then it's into the second major element of the ride, and that's its heartline roll
which, riders slowly - very slowly -
navigate and you get a fantastic sensation of hang time.
For me that is one of the best points of the ride, that hang time going through that slow inversion is a fantastic element
and that's met by the second launch and this launch is
arguably the stronger of the two and really the more exciting one. The first launch you're very slow
to take off. It's very gradual, whereas the second you're rolling into it straight away,
you hit the launch and you basically speed up to a decent speed, then you enter the Immelmann and again
there's some decent hang time on that Immelmann there so that's another fantastic element.
And that's met by a second large drop and the second half of the ride,
which is entirely made up of these random twists and turn sections
And for me, you're definitely being thrown about in that section,
and it is much more intense and much more interesting compared to the first half.
So, half-wise I feel like the second half is much more superior to the first. The second half, again, has some fantastic
airtime, it has some decent forces. Ultimately, it's just a fun part to be in.
Icon is a ride by Mack Rides.
And, many will know that Mack Rides don't produce the most forceful coasters and Icon is
exactly the same. The launches are not forceful, most of the ride isn't forceful - there's some
forceful elements to it, but it's much more about being a
enjoyable ride that most members of the family can enjoy, and that's exactly what Icon is. It's a ride for everyone - a thrill
ride for everyone. It's not the most intense thrill ride and it's not a family coaster - it blurs the line between the two,
allowing a large number of people to ride it and a large number people to enjoy it. It's definitely a rerideable coaster and it's definitely
one that everyone can enjoy.
Will it become the icon of Blackpool Pleasure Beach? Who knows? Let's hope it does just for its namesake.
But really, you should head down to Blackpool, you should come and ride Icon - it's a fantastic addition -
easily the best in the park and some are even saying the best in the UK. So come
down, ride it yourself, formulate your own opinions, and let me know what you think about Icon in the comments below.
Thank you for watching and I'll see you all next time.
captions by Elliot - twitter.com/inFusion__