Blackpool’s Pleasure Beach Resort has unveiled the eagerly-awaited transformation of one of its most famous rides, which has been re-imagined for a new generation.
May 7 marked the official opening of Launch Pad, after Pleasure Beach spent the last year completely revamping the 210 foot ride.
May 7 marked the official opening of Launch Pad, after Pleasure Beach spent the last year completely revamping the 210 foot ride.
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00:00Good morning everyone and welcome to a very sunny Blackpool. I need you all to take one look at that sky because you may never see it again.
00:26It's not often this sunny for so long here but I have to say that we have to be one of the most sustainable parks that there is because I and all the team here spend a lot of time taking care of our rides and actually reimagining is good for our industry, really good, really powerful for our industry because it's sustainable.
00:51And it really, really helps parks reinvent things, reimagine things. I know everyone wants something bigger, faster, newer but when you do something like this it becomes new again.
01:04And it's something to really shout about. And I really, really advise everyone who works in parks to take a good look at perhaps redesigning areas of parks.
01:15Really taking a good look because that's really good for our future, for our industry and really understanding that sustainability is very, very valuable.
01:25And I would like to say a huge thank you to all of you here because you're all designers, you're all fabulous at what you do and I just need you anything you want to say to me you just say.
01:36And if I can't promise everything, but I love being with creative people and for me having TEA here today is magnificent and it's a huge honour that we could actually open Launchpad today.
01:51I can tell you that was not planned. That is an accident, but a great one. And I think it's fantastic that the press can see so many people from around the world enjoying Pleasure Beach because it really shows what an international park it is and what value it holds within the industry.
02:09Because Pleasure Beach has been here since 1896. That's a long time. And I think a lot of people from around the world maybe not have visited here, but now today they're here for the first time.
02:22So we're bringing people from around the world to spectacular Blackpools and I think that we're going to have a great day today and I hope that you all enjoy your time here, whether you're from the press or from TEA.
02:34Have a fabulous day at Pleasure Beach today. Thank you all.
02:39That, Blackpool have outdone themselves this time. The new stylisation of beaming at the time is just so good for this park. The ride experience, one of the best in the park, is so good.
03:04The weightlessness, the speed, you really feel the speed on it and the weightlessness. It's just incredible.
03:09And I'm still shaking. I was so nervous going on it. I'm proud of myself. The views from the top, brilliant.
03:17Really thrilling. Really thrilling. A real good stomach turner.
03:22Yeah, definitely.
03:31It's a really fun ride. Really good. Very forceful on the way up. I thought you'd get thrown out of your seat more at the top, but it's more floaty, which is better for me personally.
03:39And really enjoyed it. Really, really good.
03:41Yeah, really, really good. I like the new, like, audio and stuff as well and the smoke.
03:44No, it's really, really good. Enjoyed it.
03:46Very good.
03:46So, we discussed our tower ride for probably about two years and we knew we wanted to keep it. We knew we wanted to plus the experience. And just when we started thinking about it, the idea of sort of space travel and rocket launches, as we kept saying the word launch, when it launches. So, sort of, you get to launch pad, you know, and it just worked.
04:07And then we started thinking about the style of the ride and we wanted to add some theatrics to the experience as well. So, we love theatre at Pleasure Beach. So, we've got new audio, we've got a smoke effect before the ride starts. So, we've really plus the experience and coupled with our new pressure tank, which is capable of delivering greater pressure than before, we can get a really fantastic launch.
04:29And it's really, I went on the thawning and yesterday, because I love going on them. It's such a fantastic experience and it's great to have it back.
04:36So, with launch pad, a lot of it starts, once we had the name and an idea of styling, it then starts with colours. So, I actually spent quite a lot of time going through colours and we sprayed a lot of colours onto metal samples.
04:49And before the park opened last year in the morning, I'd bring them down to the ride and offer them up against the tower, see what they look like in the sunlight.
04:55So, eventually we ended up with a colour scheme and then everything else followed, our signage, etc. followed. We then started thinking about what it should sound like. So, the idea of the voiceover and the smoke and then Glenn Robertson, the Notable Stranger, wrote us a soundtrack for the ride. So, again, it's got another fantastic soundtrack and it just adds to the excitement of the ride.
05:16So, it's quite, it can be quite an organic process. It is an organic process. Realistically, for something like this, we've been working on it, I would say, for a year and a half to two years.
05:27And it goes through phases. Obviously, we start a design stage, that gets done, then we move on to the actual doing of it. And sometimes we revisit stuff. Sometimes an idea comes up and you think, if we could just add that.
05:39And generally, we try our best to add it. Sometimes you have to work with your gut instinct. It's amazing. As I tell you, I've really missed, while it's been closed, I've missed the sound of the ride.
05:48You know, when the pressure vessel fills and it releases, it's there. That's been a sound I've missed. And now it's back. And to see people on it today, hear them screaming, hear it doing its thing. That's just thrilling.
05:59And I'm so pleased it's here. And it's now here and open. Every day we're open. So, we're very happy.
06:06Well, you've kind of joined us at the end of an 18-month, two-year project to turn what was our Ice Blast Ride into a fantastic new experience for guests.
06:17Which is Launchpad today. And I've made that sound really easy. But actually, it's been quite a lot of hard work.
06:25Actually, I get the easy bit because I'm the ops guy. So, I get the ride kind of handed to me right near the end.
06:31And I have to train all the staff and make sure that the team are doing what they need to. And we get the fun bit. So, we're riding the ride and getting it all ready for guests.
06:40It's engineering that get the technical bit that actually do the hard work.
06:45And they changed the entire pressure cylinder on the ride, which is the big white tube in the middle.
06:52And we took that out and replaced it with a brand new one.
06:55And again, I've made that sound really easy. But it involves a massive crane because the ride is 185 feet tall.
07:02And they crane that new pressure cylinder in, in sections. So, it's like a gigantic game of Jenga.
07:08What that means is that when you go on the ride, which hopefully we're seeing today, you get a high thrill at the top of the ride.
07:17When you get that amazing moment of weightlessness. And that's kind of what inspires the space theme for the ride.
07:24Yeah. So, everyone's searching for airtime if you're a coaster or thrill fan.
07:31And it means that you get that sustained moment of weightlessness where you literally leave the seat for a second.
07:38Fairly safely, I should add. And it's all to do with the forces involved with the ride.
07:43When you've got a shot like this, you're basically going from nought to over 40 miles an hour within a second.
07:53And you have g-forces of like 4G as you're going up.
07:57And then, obviously, that's what gives you when it stops at the top.
08:01Or that's what gives you that stomach and mouth feeling.
08:04It's a big thing, actually, with this ride. Because of where it is.
08:07When it's height, the second tallest ride in the park is only the big one that's taller.
08:11And the noise, because of that air pressure. I mean, you've obviously pointed that out.
08:16And it's positioned right as you come into the park.
08:19And so, all of that going on means that as you come into the park, it's exciting.
08:25And then, the great thing I think about what we've done with this ride is it's now equally as a thrilling ride to go on.
08:32It's a great ride to watch as well when it does that launch.
08:36It's a real spectator, right, with the countdown and the smoke and all the drama around it.
08:42So, hopefully, we've really brought the area back to life.
08:46And I think we've delivered something that our guests are really going to enjoy, hopefully.
08:50I've been on it quite a few times.
08:52I've just been on it. I've been on it twice today.
08:55Actually, three times now. Three times today.
08:58And I did get a preview during the testing for it.
09:02So, doing the ride handover.
09:04So, yeah, I've probably ridden it more than most people.
09:08But I guess that goes with my job. That's one of the perks.
09:11Yeah, so, reimagining rides is something we've been doing for a few years now.
09:14So, obviously, we've reimagined Valhalla.
09:17Now, we've reimagined Warnshire Pad today with its grand opening.
09:19So, it's a really good way for us to rejuvenate the park, to take an existing ride that people love and just to improve on it.
09:28It's quite sustainable, as well, as Amanda alluded to in her speech earlier.
09:32It helps us give guests not new reasons to visit, but an additional reason to visit, to experience the ride that they know and love, but in a return to its former glory.
09:43So, having been on it prior to and after its reimagining, I can certainly tell you that the kick at the top is definitely back to how it originally was in 1997.
09:50Yeah, so, as the director of the park, we're always looking at what we can do to improve on it.
09:55We've got a five and ten year plan.
09:57What the, you've just mentioned, the river caves and gyro swing are obviously the short term that we've discussed.
10:02There's lots more. There's lots of rides in folders, secret folders on computers that we're looking at for the future.
10:08So, we're always looking forward. If we decide now to do something, it's going to be five years down the line.
10:13So, we've always got to be ahead of the game.
10:15And the two that we've announced there, in terms of the gyro swing coming in here next year, as well as the reimagining river caves,
10:20are just the next two in a long line of what's coming in here at Westreach.