Ultimate Rollercoaster

there is a lot of talk about other parks but what is planned for yarmouth over the coming year?

> there is a lot of talk about other parks but what is
> planned for yarmouth over the coming year?
>i have heard there building a new rollercoaster that has
two inversions.

awesome hopefully we should have some decent rollercoasters in the area with what they are doing a pleasurewood,
also they are now updating their website do you get the feeling they are playing catchup hehe.

Wasn't Pleasureood supposed to be getting a Gertslauer Euro Fighter? You read so much coaster related news, you start to criss-cross each other.

Tim.

> there is a lot of talk about other parks but what is
> planned for yarmouth over the coming year?

Nothing as usual, I bet. The current rumourmill states there's nothing new and that the ejector seat is still there. Should have proper news in a week or two...

and half the park will still be fenced of or rented out to naff stalls charging a fiver to kick a massive ball through a tiny whole and win the crap they cant sell on shopping channels. at least we know that the wooden rollercoaster will be there.

as they got the planning for the cinema and other developments will they actually update this park and bring it out of the time warp 80's

> as they got the planning for the cinema and other
> developments will they actually update this park and bring
> it out of the time warp 80's

They hope anyway. But other partner companies can't seem to agree, and build never gets starts. Start of 2005 season building work was meant to winter 2005, end of 2004 season it was supposed to start spring 2005, start of 2004 season it was winter 2004, and etc etc for several years now. And yes, build still has not started. No surprise there.

They do need investment in the park though, not just in the various Magic Cities and Merlins.

> They do need investment in the park though, not just in the various Magic Cities and Merlins.

perhaps thats where they see the future and selling the land for flat/appartments

> perhaps thats where they see the future and selling the
> land for flat/appartments

I don't think Great Yarmouth Council would allow that. The land is just rented off them, GYPB doesn't own it. It is rumoured there are people there who would like to "sell" the park (rumoured selling price was £3million last season) but they can't currently.

> I don't think Great Yarmouth Council would allow that. The
> land is just rented off them, GYPB doesn't own it. It is
> rumoured there are people there who would like to
> "sell" the park (rumoured selling price was
> £3million last season) but they can't currently.

I'm glad to hear that. Great Yarmouth is in the Top 3 British seasides, I think, and the Pleasure Beach is an incredibly big part of it.

They just need to buy one of those compact Euro Fighters and they're away!

when they got the planning wasn't it Ster Century cinemas going to be in there, they since have been sold or bought out so could this of been the spanner in the works in the development plans.

> when they got the planning wasn't it Ster Century cinemas
> going to be in there, they since have been sold or bought
> out so could this of been the spanner in the works in the
> development plans.

That, and more the problem with all the arguements and stop-starting over the council's Outer Harbour project. I also heard that the Hilton hotel group who were to run the hotel section wouldn't agree to take part until the Outer Harbour was definately going ahead. ... The Outer Harbour is confirmed, so they say, so... one day they may get somewhere.

Ok, update!

Gossip as of this morning... The ejector seat has gone, and so has the Move It ride. But there is no news about any new ride. Should know within the week or two. Returnee induction is on the 1st so... we'll find out for sure then. I hope there is a new ride of some sort, after having removed two rides.

> Gossip as of this morning... The ejector seat has gone, and
> so has the Move It ride. But there is no news about any new
> ride. Should know within the week or two. Returnee
> induction is on the 1st so... we'll find out for sure then.
> I hope there is a new ride of some sort, after having
> removed two rides.

Would be nice to have a new flat ride to try - hopefully a KMG Freakout, Afterburner or some sort of Gyro Swing! It would be even nicer to have a coaster though. Think they could shift the Twister and Mini Apple elsewhere in the park? Can't be too hard to move, and it'd give them a lot of length, if not width (note the soft toys stall on the left, marking one end of the space available).

Ooo, 2005 season photo! Got any more? :)

> Would be nice to have a new flat ride to try - hopefully a
> KMG Freakout, Afterburner or some sort of Gyro Swing! It
> would be even nicer to have a coaster though. Think they
> could shift the Twister and Mini Apple elsewhere in the
> park? Can't be too hard to move, and it'd give them a lot
> of length, if not width (note the soft toys stall on the
> left, marking one end of the space available).

It would be easy to shift the Twister and Big Apple, they are completely dismantled every winter and put into storage anyway. Only thing is I believe they've started to put the rides back together again... Shall have to find out what they have where the Move It is... (I haven't had the chance to go down there myself yet) Anyway, we vote for something that goes upside down, now they've removed the only rides that did...

> Ooo, 2005 season photo! Got any more? :)

Yeah, quite a few (linked)!

> It would be easy to shift the Twister and Big Apple, they
> are completely dismantled every winter and put into storage
> anyway.

Come to think of it, I remember when Twister was at the south end of the park, behind Roller Coaster.

> Only thing is I believe they've started to put the
> rides back together again... Shall have to find out what
> they have where the Move It is... (I haven't had the chance
> to go down there myself yet) Anyway, we vote for something
> that goes upside down, now they've removed the only rides
> that did...

I like coasters that go upside down, but am not so keen on the inverting flat rides - I like the swinging ones! Oh, that reminds me, I hope the replacement for the Ejector Seat is a Screamin' Swing!

According to First Drop, the thin Gerstlauer EuroFighter (model 320) is 69ft wide. Think it'd fit in where Move It and Twister were? I know they've had a looping coaster between the Roller Coaster and Dodgems before, so it's possible they'd put one there.

I havent actually written anything on here for a while so i thought i would by starting with another hometown park. I think the spin doctor from blackpool would have been a really cool inverting flat ride. Not only that but i also think that the gerstlauer rollercoasters would fit in absoloutely perfectly with the rest of the park.It's too bad that none of these are actually going to fall through. I'm also glad that they got rid of the ejector seat.....ive got to be honest..those types of rides are crap. Unless you are on holiday in spain and its the last resort.lol.

For other suggestions, i also think that a revamp of the log flume wouldnt go down a miss. Perhaps with a bit of theming, bigger drops. longer layout (not extremely compact) and perhaps even a turntable so it has a backwards drop. That would attract people.

Also, i think that even a shuttle loop rollercoaster would do me. The park needs a bit more rollercoasters and perhaps a small yet effective rollercoaster might do that!! But that would probably be a last resort, (gerstlauer is priority) Perhaps a permanent s&s drop tower like the one in blackpool might be the best ride to install. With a powered launch and a large height so it can be seen from the mile long strip. That would be a signature ride!! What do you lot think?

Brad

> For other suggestions, i also think that a revamp of the
> log flume wouldnt go down a miss. Perhaps with a bit of
> theming, bigger drops. longer layout (not extremely
> compact) and perhaps even a turntable so it has a backwards
> drop. That would attract people.

Actually, I was told this by one of the engineers last season but originally the log flume was meant to have theming. The company who were building the log flume went bankrupt and only managed to complete the ride itself, and any theming was forgotten about. That's the story anyway.

> Perhaps a permanent s&s drop tower like the one
> in blackpool might be the best ride to install. With a
> powered launch and a large height so it can be seen from
> the mile long strip. That would be a signature ride!! What
> do you lot think?

I don't know, I was very unimpressed with bppb's drop tower, I actually prefer our Zamperla Sky Drop... If they were going to change the drop tower, I'd rather have one like the Mega Drop from PWH. Still, You can already see the top of the log flume and the Scenic from a fair way down the seafront.

> According to First Drop, the thin Gerstlauer EuroFighter
> (model 320) is 69ft wide. Think it'd fit in where Move It
> and Twister were? I know they've had a looping coaster
> between the Roller Coaster and Dodgems before, so it's
> possible they'd put one there.

Yeah, the old looping star used to be there. It could fit, but still might take up a bit too much space... I'd say the best place for that would be at the bottom of the park, to draw more people down there - at the minute the end of the park is wasted.

Anyway, new gossip as of this morning again (you can tell the season is starting just by the sudden increase in the gossipvines), the rumour which comes from the engineers is that there is going to be two new rides arriving on the park this season - one of which has been described as a "spinning coaster", but the engineers say even they don't know the full details and neither have arrived at the park yet.

> I'm also glad that they got rid of the ejector seat.....ive
> got to be honest..those types of rides are crap. Unless you
> are on holiday in spain and its the last resort.lol.

LOL, I know what you mean.

> For other suggestions, i also think that a revamp of the
> log flume wouldnt go down a miss. Perhaps with a bit of
> theming, bigger drops. longer layout (not extremely
> compact) and perhaps even a turntable so it has a backwards
> drop. That would attract people.

Some excellent ideas there. Personally, from what Pikkukala has said, what I'd do is:

+ Add planned theming to Log Flume (presumably a mountain? - I'd love to see what they intended)
+ Build Mack Water Coaster where Ejector Seat was

Well, I'd build the water coaster where "Battle Boats" were (or whatever they were called) but it would need more of the gardens too.

Water rides seem perfect for this area, as the public seem to like watching the splash. My water coaster would have one of those vertical lifts (like an elevator), then descend down a spiral of track that wraps round the lift. It would also have a lift hill and normal "bunny hop" drop. A bit like Poseidon and Montanha Russa really, but with an elevator lift for the spiral bit.

> Also, i think that even a shuttle loop rollercoaster would
> do me. The park needs a bit more rollercoasters and perhaps
> a small yet effective rollercoaster might do that!! But
> that would probably be a last resort, (gerstlauer is
> priority)

Yeah, I think a Boomerang would work well in the gardens. In fact, once I had a dream years and years ago about roller coasters at Clacton! The gardens are divided up by walls and things, and I dreamt that there was a coaster in three of the gardens - one had a Vekoma Boomerang, one had Flamingo Land's Bullet and I forget the third one (probably a Vekoma Corkscrew - I didn't know many rides at the time!)

For Great Yarmouth, my top choices would probably be:

1. Large model Gerstlauer Launched Coaster
2. Gerstlauer EuroFighter (model 470 or 360)

> Perhaps a permanent s&s drop tower like the one
> in blackpool might be the best ride to install. With a
> powered launch and a large height so it can be seen from
> the mile long strip. That would be a signature ride!! What
> do you lot think?

I know what you mean; taller rides are more iconic.

> Anyway, new gossip as of this morning again (you can tell
> the season is starting just by the sudden increase in the
> gossipvines), the rumour which comes from the engineers is
> that there is going to be two new rides arriving on the
> park this season - one of which has been described as a
> "spinning coaster", but the engineers say even
> they don't know the full details and neither have arrived
> at the park yet.

Wow - that'd be a result! How ironic would it be if it was a Reverchon? ;) I'd prefer a Maurer. I suppose it might be a Fabbri (like Botton's are getting - http://www.rcdb.com/id3422.htm), which would be a bit weak, but at least be something different to try.

Can't wait for my visit!

By the way, if you click this link, especially the 2nd picture, I could really see that fitting in the Gardens:

i would imagine that any new rides would be of the portable kind,100% bet on a reverchon spinning mouse and another flat ride, top buzz 2 is now up north apparently having been sold and the tower may be heading that way too, great yarmouth will never see the like of the bembom brothers again,who constatly fed the park new rides each season,nowhere else in the uk ever saw a 20 car lifting paratrooper!

i think you may find that even though the coaster is listed there is an easy way to get rid of it......you simlpy stop investing in repairs...eventually itll close because of safety fears......then itll rot.....then itll be deemed unsafe and eventually pulled down...meanwhile the ground around is leased out and the value of the property increases.....

i cant see any amusement park operators or owners investing in great yarmouth as the buisness there is poor,after years of neglect the customers have gone and are replaced by asylum seekers and benefit families....funny rhyl,barry island,porthcawl etc all suffering the same fate,the british seaside dayout is a thing of the past.....

wait till the casinos come and see if blackpool pleasure beach commits to new rides or new fruit machines, they are already grooming their customers as we speak......and slowly tidying the park up.....money is where its at and thats all that matters,you will get new attractions but they will be casino style and not amny of them,itll be hotels and high rollers only soon....

> i would imagine that any new rides would be of the portable
> kind,100% bet on a reverchon spinning mouse and another
> flat ride, top buzz 2 is now up north apparently having
> been sold and the tower may be heading that way too, great
> yarmouth will never see the like of the bembom brothers
> again,who constatly fed the park new rides each
> season,nowhere else in the uk ever saw a 20 car lifting
> paratrooper!

chrisp, I think you may be confusing Great Yarmouth with Dreamland, Margate. Was the Paratrooper called Melody Swings? I went on that, but it was definitely at Margate. Also, I'm not aware of Bembom Brothers ever having been involved with Great Yarmouth.

I also believe the tower you're referring to was the Dreamland one, same goes for Top Buzz 2.

> i think you may find that even though the coaster is listed
> there is an easy way to get rid of it......

Don't give them ideas! ;) But seriously, I don't even think it's listed.

> i cant see any amusement park operators or owners investing
> in great yarmouth as the buisness there is poor,after years
> of neglect the customers have gone and are replaced by
> asylum seekers and benefit families....funny rhyl,barry
> island,porthcawl etc all suffering the same fate,the
> british seaside dayout is a thing of the past.....

I think Great Yarmouth is still a very good seaside day out, especially in the summer. I agree Margate is not much good without Dreamland, but Gt Yarmouth's Pleasure Beach is still a full amusement park.

> wait till the casinos come and see if blackpool pleasure
> beach commits to new rides or new fruit machines, they are
> already grooming their customers as we speak......and
> slowly tidying the park up.....money is where its at and
> thats all that matters,you will get new attractions but
> they will be casino style and not amny of them,itll be
> hotels and high rollers only soon....

Now that I wouldn't disagree with. I don't like the way it's going with all this gambling, and I have a suspicion BPB have already let their parks slip too far...

> Wow - that'd be a result! How ironic would it be if it was
> a Reverchon? ;) I'd prefer a Maurer. I suppose it might be
> a Fabbri (like Botton's are getting -
> http://www.rcdb.com/id3422.htm ), which would be a bit
> weak, but at least be something different to try.

Wait a minute - what am I saying! If GYPB really were going to get a brand new spinning coaster, my choice would be a Gerstlauer (I forgot they made them). It would be a Europe First too, I believe.

1. Gerstlauer
2. Maurer

Maurers definitely come in portable variety though (eg. the one at Camelot), so that would be the best "likely" candidate. I think it'd probably be a Reverchon/Zamperla or a Fabbri though.

Finally got the new news for this season. This we've all been told by management:

"The ride is 68ft by 68ft and when built will be seen down the other end of Great Yarmouth seafront. Management are flying out to Sweden to pick up the ride. It has also been confirmed that the ride is second hand and is five years old."

No one has said what the ride is yet. It is being placed in the center of the middle section of the park (close to the sky drop).

The two ride rumour is still going around but management will only confirm the one. Rumours of what the ride(s) are going to be has mainly stuck to "Steel Coaster or Magic Mouse type" with a few rumours of an Afterburner going around too. It has also been rumoured the ride may sit 40 people.

> "The ride is 68ft by 68ft and when built will be seen
> down the other end of Great Yarmouth seafront. Management
> are flying out to Sweden to pick up the ride. It has also
> been confirmed that the ride is second hand and is five
> years old."

Great news! It sounds like something perfectly circular to me (perhaps on a square base). Perhaps it's from Liseberg? They have a 5-sided, Zamperla version of the Afterburner, I think.

> there is a lot of talk about other parks but what is
> planned for yarmouth over the coming year?
hi everyone,
i went down to pleasure beach gt yarmouth today and i spoke to one of there managers, i ask him where the move it was as the park looked empty he said they had sold it and the new ride will be at pleasure beach on the 1st of april but he wouldn't tell me what is was.i also ask him about the new roller coaster he said they have no plans for getting a new roller coaster.

The Move It has been brought by showman Elliott Bibby.

Sorry for the delay,

The ride has been on the park for the last few days, stored in pieces behind the Go-Carts at the back of the park. They are have been planning to put the ride together during this week, but we're still skeptical that the ride is going to fit in the gap left for it. Management, Engineers, and a few unknown suits (probably from wherever in Sweden it was brought) were having a meeting with the tape measures in the area on Sunday. They've been have problems with the Scenic at the weekend so the new ride is likely to be delayed a bit while that is worked on.

Rumours of a second ride arriving during the summer are still circulating, and managers deny it (but they always deny everything). I personally doubt it, but I do like the rumours. Location for a second new ride would be the end of the park.

Axel's of Sweden of presenting their Fabbri Evolution ride for the 2006 season.

The ride has been over in the UK before but only ever been presented on fairground.

was looking at the photo which was posted above now that it has been sold:(
this park needs a signiture ride badly they still seem to rely on the woodie to bring people in (which it does.) most of the rides over the years have been portable rides. if you go where the crowds go, the difference is they have rides designed for the park. surely its not to late to change the pattern at yarmouth it will probably be slow again this year.

So the ride at Great Yarmouth's a Fabbri Evolution? I've found a picture of it (linked). Looks a bit like a ride at Flamingo Land. I have to be honest, it's not really my thing, but it's nice to see new rides.

> this park needs a signiture ride badly they still seem to
> rely on the woodie to bring people in (which it does.) most
> of the rides over the years have been portable rides. if
> you go where the crowds go, the difference is they have
> rides designed for the park. surely its not to late to
> change the pattern at yarmouth it will probably be slow
> again this year.

I agree, but I think they could get away with off-the-shelf coasters if they went with a good enough manufacturer. For instance, most Gerstlauer coasters would be unique to the UK in terms of the actual design.

It's a bit like when Southport built Traumatizer. It's only an SLC, but it really made an impact as we didn't have that design in the UK. It's only the really cheap (£750,000-£1m) coasters like the wild mice that get copied a lot. Off-the-shelf is OK, portable is not so good.

But sorry, I digress! I completely agree with you that Great Yarmouth needs some new signature coasters.

> was looking at the photo which was posted above now that it
> has been sold:(
> this park needs a signiture ride badly they still seem to
> rely on the woodie to bring people in (which it does.) most
> of the rides over the years have been portable rides. if
> you go where the crowds go, the difference is they have
> rides designed for the park. surely its not to late to
> change the pattern at yarmouth it will probably be slow
> again this year.
>

It's been mentioned before. Problem is the park will only get portable rides, for various reasons. They want to keep the "traditional" funfair "feeling" rather than have built rides. The Scenic is the signature ride, so they're not lacking there, it's just the lack of rides to back up the signature. They can and sometimes do currently make extra money by renting rides out for the winter or for a whole season - for example the Mulan/Caterpillar ride went to Japan for the winter a few years back.

> It's been mentioned before. Problem is the park will only
> get portable rides, for various reasons. They want to keep
> the "traditional" funfair "feeling"
> rather than have built rides.

Well, portable rides aren't so bad I suppose. I believe most of the Gerstlauer coasters (Bobsled, Euro Fighter, Launched) have designs that come on a base-frame. They might be too big to travel in the winter (or maybe not), but GYPB would still have the peace of mind of knowing they could sell it on easily without having to dig up foundations.

I can understand the reluctance to actually lay down footers for something, but I think there are good enough coasters nowadays that come on a base-frame. Here's hoping!

new website up and running
http://www.pleasure-beach.co.uk/

> new website up and running
> http://www.pleasure-beach.co.uk/

Wow, that's a good website! The old was wasn't bad, but this is better. Really makes it look like an exciting park to visit.

Ah, I love the Pleasure Beach. Definitely in the Top 5 UK seaside parks. Out of interest, what would people say are the Top 5? I'd say (in no strict order):

Pleasure Beach, Blackpool
Pleasure Beach, Great Yarmouth
Pleasureland, Southport
Fantasy Island, Ingoldmells
Dreamland, Margate (when it's open)

hi all
spent the day here and it was very quite was good fun to chat to thr ride operators, found out that evelution has broken down virtually everyday!
up for sale at the end of the season ... water logs.... time gate trip to egypt this space is going to be converted into arcades. and o surprise evelution.
do you think they want the big wheel to go where the water logs is and why?

* This Post Has Been Modified *

> time gate trip to egypt this space is going to be converted
> into arcades. and o surprise evelution.

I'm surprised they're making more arcades. Not that I dislike them, it's just that when I was there last month I noticed how very old and tired the arcades in the Pleasure Beach were.

I've always thought the Pleasure Beach has never known what to line its walls with. This is a problem for many large seaside parks - look at the way BPB built Ocean Boulevard. With 9 acres to play with, Gt Yarmouth Pleasure Beach must have the same sort of dilemma.

Anyway, it'll be nice to have some new buildings to explore.

> do you think they want the big wheel to go where the water
> logs is and why?

To be honest, I don't know what the water logs are. If it's the pool between the Log Flume and the Gardens then, yes, I think that's where it'll go. The artist's impression certainly showed it there, going by perspective. (Although it seemed the base of the wheel had been "underlayed" behind the Roller Coaster, making it about 500ft tall!)

> To be honest, I don't know what the water logs are. If it's
> the pool between the Log Flume and the Gardens then, yes, I
> think that's where it'll go. The artist's impression
> certainly showed it there, going by perspective. (Although
> it seemed the base of the wheel had been
> "underlayed" behind the Roller Coaster, making it
> about 500ft tall!)
water logs and log flume are the same thing