Alton Towers Resort is a theme park and resort complex in Staffordshire, England, near the village of Alton. The park is operated by Merlin Entertainments Group and incorporates a theme park, water park, mini golf and hotel complex.
The Big One, formerly known as the Pepsi Max Big One, is a steel roller coaster located at Pleasure Beach Resort in Blackpool, Lancashire, England. Designed by Ron Toomer and manufactured by Arrow Dynamics, the ride opened to the public on 28 May 1994 as the tallest and steepest roller coaster in the world, featuring a height of 213 feet (65 m) and a drop angle of 65 degrees. It held the title as the tallest until 1996 when Fujiyama opened in Japan. Construction of the ride cost £12 million. The ride was sponsored by Pepsi until 2011, at which time Pepsi Max was removed from the name.
A drop tower is a type of amusement park ride incorporating a central tower structure with one or more gondolas attached. In a typical modern configuration, each gondola carrying riders is lifted to the top of the tower and then released to free fall back down to ground level. This produces a feeling of weightlessness followed by rapid deceleration. A magnetic braking system, or a variation that relies on pistons and air pressure, is used to safely bring the gondola to a complete stop. One of the earliest drop towers configured as an amusement ride was a parachute ride that debuted at the 1939 New York World's Fair, which was inspired by paratrooper training devices used by the Soviet Union in the 1920s.
The Grand National is a wooden roller coaster located at Pleasure Beach Resort in Blackpool, Lancashire in the United Kingdom. It was designed and constructed by American engineer Charles Paige in 1935 and is now one of two surviving wooden Möbius Loop roller coasters in the world. Grand National is the only surviving twin-track roller coaster in Britain in which two cars race against one another. This ride has an individual lap bar and seatbelts as the restraints.
Oblivion is a steel roller coaster located at Alton Towers in Staffordshire, England. The prototype Dive Coaster model from Bolliger & Mabillard opened to the public on 14 March 1998 and was marketed as the "world's first vertical drop roller coaster". With a maximum speed of 68 mph (109.4 km/h), it is the fourth fastest roller coaster in the UK, behind The Big One at Blackpool Pleasure Beach, and Stealth and Hyperia at Thorpe Park.
Frontierland Western Theme Park was a theme park in Morecambe, Lancashire, England, situated on Marine Road West, which operated from 1906 to 7 November 1999, with a final year consisting of only travelling rides in 2000. Frontierland originally operated as West End Amusement Park, Fun City and Morecambe Pleasure Park from 1906 to 1986 before being transformed into Frontierland for the 1987 season, in an attempt to defeat dwindling visitor numbers.
Revolution, formerly Irn Bru Revolution, is an Arrow Development shuttle roller coaster at Pleasure Beach Resort. It was Europe's first fully looping roller coaster. The ride consists of two raised sections of track with a vertical loop in the centre. The train is launched off the first raised platform, into the loop, and up onto the second platform, where it repeats the process in reverse. As a result of the design, riders are required to climb a series of stairs to get to the loading station. Until the introduction of Infusion, it was the park's only looping coaster.
The Freefall is an amusement ride developed by Giovanola and marketed throughout the world by Swiss company, Intamin.
Infusion is an inverted steel roller coaster at Pleasure Beach Resort, Lancashire, England. It is a 689m standard "Mark 3" model Vekoma Suspended Looping Coaster (SLC) and the first to be suspended entirely over water.
The Wild Mouse was a wooden roller coaster located in Pleasure Beach Resort which opened in 1958. It was one of only four remaining wooden Wild Mouse coasters left in the world as of the end of the 2017 season, and was held in very high regard as one of the finest and most extreme examples of Wild Mouse coasters.
Avalanche is a steel bobsled roller coaster at Pleasure Beach Resort in Blackpool, England. It is the first and, as of 2022, the only bobsled roller coaster in the United Kingdom. It was designed for the park by Mack of Germany in 1988.
Blue Flyer is a Wooden roller coaster at Nickelodeon Land, Pleasure Beach Resort in Blackpool, England. It was built in 1934. It is believed to have been built by Charlie Paige. It is a family coaster.
The Steeplechase is a three tracked racing roller coaster at Pleasure Beach Resort, England. It is a custom design made by Arrow Dynamics. The ride was officially opened in 1977 by Grand National winner Red Rum, whose hoof print was also taken and is on display near the ride's exit. It is the only operating steeplechase roller coaster left in the world.
Valhalla is an indoor log flume water ride located at Pleasure Beach Resort in Lancashire, England. Opened on 14 June 2000 at a cost of £15 million, it is one of the longest indoor dark rides in the world, with a ride time of over four minutes. Valhalla features three drops and uses special effects which simulate fire, water, and snow.
Bling was an amusement ride located within Blackpool Pleasure Beach in Lancashire, North West England. The "Star Shape" ride was built by German company Zierer in 2004, the second of three to have been built to date. Bling was one of the newest additions to Pleasure Beach and was situated at the far end of the park adjacent to Burger King. It was the park's fourth tallest ride after the Pepsi Max Big One, Ice Blast and Infusion.
Ghost Train is a dark ride attraction at Pleasure Beach Resort, in Blackpool, Lancashire, England. It opened in 1930 as a single deck 'Pretzel' ride but was rebuilt and designed as an Art Deco double deck in 1936 by Joseph Emberton. It is notable as being the first to use the name of Ghost Train. It has also undergone several refurbishments over its years of operation. Notably by Joeseph Emberton in 1936 and again in 1957 by Jack Ratcliff, where it was moved up slightly from its original location to accommodate the Wild Mouse. This is the version we see today although originally it was not themed at all. It finally got a makeover with 'castle' theming in 1973 and a large skeleton on the top.
Pleasure Beach Resort, formerly known as Blackpool Pleasure Beach, is an amusement park situated on Blackpool's South Shore, in the county of Lancashire, North West England. The park was founded in 1896 by A. W. G. Bean and his partner John Outhwaite. The current managing director is Amanda Thompson.
Wallace & Gromit's Thrill-O-Matic is an indoor family dark ride at the Pleasure Beach Resort, an Amusement park in Blackpool, Lancashire, England. It opened in 2013, replacing The Gold Mine ride which opened in 1971 at a cost of £150,000, which closed in 2011. It is based on the Wallace & Gromit films and was opened in April 2013 by Nick Park, Amanda Thompson, Nick Thompson, Nick Farmer and Merlin Crossingham.
ICON is a launched roller coaster at Pleasure Beach Resort in Blackpool, Lancashire, England. Manufactured by Mack Rides of Germany, the ride opened on 25 May 2018 at a total cost of £16.25 million. The ride was marketed as the first multi-launch roller coaster in the United Kingdom, and the first brand new rollercoaster at the park in 24 years. It uses a series of linear magnetic synchronous motors to propel and slow the trains along the track.
The Disney Skyliner is a gondola lift system, part of the Disney Transport system, that opened on September 29, 2019, at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida. The system is composed of five stations that serve four resorts and two theme parks, with a fleet of over 250 gondola cabins that can accommodate up to ten guests per cabin, or up to six with an open wheelchair or other mobility device. Guests sit on twin, inward-facing, wooden benches.
