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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…
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…
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.
Another coaster from SeaWorld Orlando. This one predates Manta by quite a few years but that in no way diminishes its quality as a great coaster.
I first went on this coaster back in 2003, with my eldest last time we were in Florida, and again this time in 2009.
I didn’t have to wait very long at all to get onto this one. Again, as a single rider it was fairly easy to get onto the back row of the coaster, the position of choice for the true coaster-fan.
My recent visit to Florida re-established my love of roller-coasters. My youngest has inherited the coaster-gene, so looks like I’ll have a coaster-buddy for some time to come.
As a result, I thought I would perhaps do a series of mini-reviews of coasters/rides I’ve been on over the years.
I’ll start with the newest coaster at Orlando at time of writing; Manta, at SeaWorld Orlando, which opened on 21 May 2009.
I rode this coaster on 6 July 2009, less than 2 months after opening. Unfortunately the height requirement ruled out my new buddy, so as a single rider, I braved the 40 minute queue in the baking sun.
I’ve not posted for a couple of weeks because I was on holiday in the US.
Back home now, happy but exhausted. More of that in future posts, so watch this space for my 2p on the Disney experience, the US in general and the start of a series of posts on my love of coasters.
For now, I am delighted to announce that on 6 July 2009, the puzzle site of choice for discerning riddle lovers everywhere, bimbogami, passed the 2000** user mark.
For anyone reading this blog an not familiar with bimbogami, please let me explain…