Blackpool Pleasure Beach is a place I rarely get too simply because I live so far away(Its a good 4-5hrs for me) and thats not accounting for Traffic on the M6. Now the last time I was at Blackpool was in May 2001, so to finally get back upto Blackpool after another 4 years(This time with the ECC) was exciting indeed. So after battling through loads of traffic after a brief stop over at Alton Towers, I finally made it to my hotel at around 6.30 on the Friday, I felt exausted on arrival, but managed a walk up the Tower and into a Arcade called Coral Island.An Arcade wouldnt really be my choice of something to do on arrival, but I wanted to do this, because this Arcade is quite unique.

For starters, Its Massive(The Biggest Arcade alongside Blackpool Beach I believe) and it feels like a mini theme park inside,as there are various kiddie rides inside, plus a Ghost Train. Sadly The Ghost Train was closed, but I wanted to try out the other half Kiddie/Half Dark Ride(I forget the name now though) Basiclly Travelling in cars way above the arcade, you're taken around a small course around the arcade, and then it goes into a small dark ride section which consists of fairy tale themeing etc, Its nothing fancy, but not bad for a ride of its size, and before you know it, the ride is over, Not bad for £1 I guess, but more of a shame the Ghost Train was closed which is what I really came to try, But never mind, next time I return, I will be back.

After a ride back to the Pleasure Beach on the Trams, and a meet up in the Big Blue Hotel with the Other ECC members, I went back to my hotel just after 10, and crashed out ready for the next big day at the Pleasure Beach

Saturday 2nd July

After an early morning breakfast, it was time to meet up with the club at Coasters(The name of the Bar) We were about to start our ERS, but were told that due to some problems on the Big One with changing some brakes, it was'nt going to be ready,so they switched our Sunday ERS(National,Wild Mouse) to today instead, and The Big One/SteepleChase ERS would be on Sunday,There was also another suprise in store for us in that Our first ERS would be 1hr 30 mins as the park wouldnt be opening till 11AM.

The Nash seemed to be running very well especially more towards the front for some reason, and it was definatly one of the best ERS's I've experienced, Amazing how you can just reach out to the other train and hold hands with others going up the lift hill, also the person who designed that double dip on the dash should be congratulated, Its an insane element, but its absolutly brilliant,makes the ride worthwhile each and everytime,A great ride from when I remember it last.

The Wild Mouse was calling now, and although I didnt think I would ride this(Hated it the last time) I did take one ride, and it actually didnt seem too bad,the plan is definatly to lean and prepare for the turns, and its OK,certaintly didnt feel extreme as to when I rode it 4 years ago, I also saw 1 member ride this about 6 times in a row.

Although the park was now opening, it was now hard trying to find rides open, Blackpool seem to have a strange attitude of opening their rides 30mins after offical park opening,Ride after ride we encounted after the ERS was closed, so we were basiclly hanging around for 30 mins for something different to ride, Only the Nash and Wild Mouse were really open for the time being. Still we made our way to SteepleChase and waited for it to open, always a good ride this one, Its not the tallest and it may not be the fastest, but its great fun, a shame all 3 tracks were not running(2 at present) but there were later in the day.

Revolution is always a good ride mainly because its the only looping coaster here, I know its short, and the launch seems rather tame these day, but its still a short and fun ride, and leaving your harness a little loose gives crazy airtime off the drop.Next was Avalanche, I always love a good bobsled, and this is one of the best I feel, Granted its short, but it always seems to give out a good thrill, picks up speed very well throughout, and then ends with 2 nice helix's.

Finally the Big One was running, so we took a ride, I had a feeling the queue would be long with 1 train operation, and a queue out the station, however supringly, it moved quite quickly, and I think we were on in 20-25 mins or so. Definatly the shock ride of the day this one, for some reason, it was'nt feeling rough today(The Ride was shocking from what I remember in 2001) but I didnt get any jolty feeling down the drop, and it felt pleasently smooth, Infact I didnt really feel any kind of roughness anywhere and just felt very good.

After lunch of chicken,Beans and Chips(All very nice) We took a quick ride on the Dodgems(Awesome as usual) and then it was onto Valhalla,It was a lovely day so I risked going on without any kind of protection, Still a good ride as usual, but some effects are indeed not working anymore, and this kinda ruins it complety, Also the Waterjets that go over you after a drop(aka BubbleWorks Finale) are now all messed up, and some fire right into the boat setting you soaked, I think overall I still enjoy this ride, but it deserves better care than this(Certaintly not the 2001 days that I remember it from)

After a crazy take over on Alice's Wonderland ride,we headed for more thrills on the Ghost Train, I quite like this little ride mainly for its little drop half way through,and the station isnt badly themed either,Also you gotta laugh at the number of cars running, there's so many there is always a big queue of cars just waiting to start the ride. RollerCoaster was next, always a unique ride because it has no restraints(YEP NONE) and I believe its the only Coaster in the world that doesnt,Makes you wonder how this ride gets past Its Health and Safety Review each year, Do BPB just bribe them in order to skip it??Anyway its still a good ride,nice first drop, lots of nice hills with airtime, and still very smooth indeed.

Next we gave Zipper Dipper a go, I missed this little woodie last time so it would be nice to get a ride, of course its nothing special, but its a really good little ride, and the kids love it, it also contains a tunnel section inside The Space Invader Building. Magic Mountain was next, a curious little dark ride for Kids, The Ride Op thought I was mad riding this, but its not a bad little ride really, Its a train ride which goes round slowly, and there's some good themeing in there,dont remember too much else though.

Finally it was time for Spaced Invader 2, The Ride had a makeover a few years ago because of "an incident" with new themeing inside and new trains, couldnt really see what was new inside, but it was certaintly a lot more lighter inside, and the new trains were quite nice(The Previous Trains had OTSR for a while).

Finally it was time for our next ERS on The Big Dipper at 6.30PM, Orginally we were told this was for 30 mins, but the park increased it to 1hr, and kept away the public too as the park was still open, another excellent ride this one, but certaintly felt rough towards the back, The front was excellent though so took most of my rides up there

I tryed to find what I hadnt done yet so it was River Caves Next,Just your standard Boat Ride, but full of nice themeing throughout, theres also a nice little splashdown at the end, although you dont get wet.Gold Mine was also nearby so took 1 ride, a very average dark ride full of mining scenes, and although themeing not bad felt lacking in most parts. Trauma Towers was next, an excellent walk through style haunted house attraction for the first part, and the second part consists of a ride consisting of a Huge Round Bowl which you all sit down,and then It spins round while the ride jumps up and down, there's also great themeing all around the room, and Blackpool have done a good job here combining the two.

2 More things to try were the Grand Prix and Noah's Ark,Grand Prix was closed last time so I had to take a ride, supringly its quite good, Its a nice long course that at one point takes you down towards The Big One, and the Camera that takes your photo is nicely themed to a Speed Camera.Noah's Ark was next,an excellent walk through type fun house all themed in an Ark, some good dark sections,moving platforms etc, It would be excellent to go and Try KennyWood's Version on the US trip next year to compare it though.

After a long day, I decided against seeing a show(Eclipse)and head back to my Hotel even though I had a ticket(Oh Well it was free anyway) however I think I wish I did now as reports flew nothing went quite right in the show(in other words, It was Cock up central) Oh Well, never mind, there's always tomorrow

Sunday 3rd July

After another meeting at Coasters, We headed off for our ERS which this time was on The Big One and SteepleChase,and once again because the park was'nt opening till 11AM, we were promised another 1hr 30 mins ERS, we were also promised 2 trains on the Big One(COOL) However in the end, we only had one but thankfully it did not matter as we could still pretty much stay in our seats for the entire time, The Big One was operating well in the morning, but was rather cold 200 ft up, I was wearing my shorts, and was thinking it would be a bad mistake, but thankfully the weather for the rest of the day was'nt too bad,SteepleChase was also operating well with the ride ops just letting us take multiple rides.

At 11AM, the Park opened, and again we had to wait for the rest of the rides to open at 11.30AM, Lunch was at 12.30, so we didnt have time for many rides, however I did manage a quick ride on Spaced Invader,Avalanche and then I went for a ride on the Monorail to take some photos around the park,One thing it did go nearby was Vikenger(sp) This is the old Water Chute Ride which did actually reopen for a while last year but alas, its closed again and probably perminatly now, Its in quite a bad state now and in need of serious repair(You will see in the Pictures) I suspect Blackpool will get rid of it soon.

after Lunch, Many Members decided to head off home as it was the offical end of the trip, however there was still quite a few around who stayed to the end,me being one of them as I was spending Sunday night here as well, so it was now time for basiclly any re-rides and anything else we might have missed the first time. I think we managed everything else at least once again including Valhalla,National,Trauma Towers,Big Dipper,Big One,SteepleChase,Avalanche,RollerCoaster,River Caves,Gold Mine,Revolution.

3 Attractions were missed yetserday though, One was Impossible which was closed for most of yesterday, this is a combined Mirror Maze/Haunted Swing Ride which again were seperate attractions before Blacpool combined them, again its not a bad attraction, but the haunted swing part was'nt great. Another thing missed was the Log Ride, I was'nt sure weather to ride this as I got soaked last time I did it, but thankfully it was'nt too bad this time,ride op was being a bit mean as he made me and another member ride with 2 people of the public even though there was no queue, Now I could understand if it was busy, but it made no sense, I tryed to talk some sense into him, but he wouldnt listern and kept insisting I get into the other boat, supringly its quite a good ride, certaintly delivers quite a bit of speed throughout, and the final drop thankfully didnt get me as wet as I thought it would.

There was Also the Train ride which I had not tryed the day before, not a bad ride round the park, and there's some nice themeing in parts with some dinosaurs. After another exausting day at the park, I took in a show this time with some other ECC members who had stayed on, we saw Mystique this time, and not bad for £5 either(which was Upgrade price with a Wristband, usual price £18) this was basiclly a Magic/Comedy/Illusion show and was very good too,Nothing went wrong I'm pleased to say, but like Eclipse, I also heard this show had the odd hiccup last night as well(why do I always miss things like this) after the show, it was straight back to the Hotel for another night preparing for the long drive home the next day.

So Overall, Its been a fantastic trip, It was great to finally join up with the Club in Blackpool, and the ERS's and Lunches made it 2 great days out in the park, Crowds were quite busy on both days, but nothing ever generated a really huge queue, With Free entry to the park, the park is always made to look busier than it really is. So Thanks go out to everyone I met up within the 2 days, and Thanks to John and everyone else organising a great trip, and I certaintly hope to be back for more next year I hope.

Finally If you've made this through this mammoth Trip Report, You can now enjoy the Pictures from the park of which there is 129(My Biggest Single Park Update yet) so ENJOY

Continue to the Pictures