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‘The Big One’ is a Pepsi Max sponsored roller coaster at the Blackpool Pleasure Beach resort in North-West England (UK).
I think The Big One is probably the highest coaster I’ve ever been on. Although other coasters may come close, because it’s located on the Blackpool coast, the wind coming in off the sea makes you feel as though you’re at the top of an Himalayan abyss.
This coaster is prone to being closed due to high winds in the vicinity. The first couple of times I was in the area since it was opened, I didn’t get on, but it was worth the wait…
This is perhaps a slightly unusual post for me; a sport, or more specifically, a football post.
Back in the day, my father-in-law used to play junior football. By all accounts he was a bit special as a left back and always been a big fan of football at all levels.
We knew he played for a few clubs before hanging up his boots to raise his family. Money was tight and a steady job had to take priority over his passion for the game.
We were going through some boxes of old photos recently and happened upon something genuinely interesting from 60 years ago…
Until I went on Montu at Busch Gardens in Florida, Nemesis at Alton Towers in England was probably my favourite coaster.
Over the years, I’ve been To Alton Towers many, many times and whenever I’m there, I always make a point of having at least a couple of goes on this fabulous coaster.
Alton Towers is situated in the heart of the Staffordshire countryside in England, about equidistant between Derby and Stoke-On-Trent, if you happen to know that neck of the woods.
You drive on some winding roads through some really beautiful countryside to get from the motorway to the park.
One of my favourite coasters to date is Montu at Busch Gardens in Tampa, Florida.
Busch Gardens is about 90 minutes drive from Disneyworld in Florida and for the coaster fans amongst you, well worth the visit. It’s a dual-type park with one half being a nature reserve/animal park and the other half dedicated to your more typical entertainment-type theme park, with coasters!
It’s quite a few years since I was there, but I can still remember the coasters like it was last year. I went on them with my fellow coaster-obsessive daughter and for Montu, we were very fortunate to hit it at a time when the ride was uncharacteristically quiet, so we went on this at least five times consecutively.
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The Wild Mouse is a bit of an unusual roller coaster.
It’s more of a genre than a specific coaster. The Wild Mouse (or Crazy Mouse, depending on the translation – there are many of them all over the world) is a tightly confined coaster, taking up a small physical space, and typically taking the form of a cuboid.
This review is specifically about the Wild Mouse at Blackpool Pleasure Beach. It’s the kind of thing legend, or at least folklore is made of. It’s been there since 1958, albeit with some modifications since then. But that makes it over 50 years old! And still running.
The Tower of Terror ‘coaster’ is in Disney’s Hollywood Studios theme park, Orlando Florida. To give it its full title, it’s called “The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror“.
If you’re old enough, you may have seen The Twilight Zone, an American TV show hosted by Rod Serling which originally aired between 1959-64. I’m not old enough to have seen the original, but I remember enjoying the re-runs of this ‘horror’ show in the UK while I was young.
This ride centers round the Hollywood Tower Hotel, a fictional hotel featured in a specially commissioned mini-episode of the Twilight Zone show.
The Expedition Everest coaster is in Disney’s Animal Kingdom (in the Asia section), Orlando Florida. To give it its full title, it’s called “Expedition Everest – Legend of the Forbidden Mountain”.
Another heavily themed ride, as you’d expect in Disney, with the queue management area kitted out like a base-camp in the Himalayas with plenty of lore about the Yeti on the walls.
When you get to the front of the queue, you can catch a glimpse of the trains and can see that it’s only a lap-bar holding you in. It makes you wonder if this is all going to be a bit tame, but not to worry…
For anyone who may not know, a big thing for SeaWorld is its association with Killer Whales or Orca to give them their Sunday name.
So much so, their logo even incorporates this magnificent creature, as you can see.
SeaWorld has a general sea-related theme running through the park and the majority of the various shows and attractions, including sea-lions, dolphins and sea-otters, culminating in the main attraction; the Shamu Show. So called because of Shamu, the Killer Whale.
Shamu is of course a generic name, a brand if you like, as it can be any one of a number of Orca from the SeaWorld ‘cast’ that take the role in the show itself. Over the years, various Shamu have perished and been replaced with yet more. The show must go on.
In days gone by, the measure of a man was perhaps in his hunting prowess.
Going out into the wilderness, facing daily danger to bring food back to his tribe and family.
As the years have gone by, the measure has changed. With the advent of shops and supermarkets, modern man no longer has to stalk and hunt his prey.
So other measures have variously been used; His educational status, the money he earns, the clothes he wears, the car he drives. You name it.
Now I reckon there’s a new, modern-day candidate for the measure.
A coaster this time from Disney’s Hollywood Studios, Orlando Florida. Also known as the Rock ‘n’ Roller Roller Coaster featuring Aerosmith.
I first went on this coaster back in 2003, with my eldest last time we were in Florida, and a couple of times again this time in 2009 with my new first-time 8-year-old coaster buddy.
This is a heavily themed ride, featuring a lot of music-related imagery, loud music; Aerosmith of course, and Rock ‘n’ Roll memorabilia all around the ride. Apparently in this attraction, the coaster was built first and then the building was constructed around it.