Launch Pad (Pleasure Beach Resort)
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| Launch Pad | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Pleasure Beach Resort | |
| Cost | £2,000,000 |
| Opening date | 1997 |
| Ride statistics | |
| Attraction type | Space Shot |
| Manufacturer | S&S Worldwide |
| Height | 180 ft (55 m) |
| Speed | 80 mph (130 km/h) |
| G-force | 4.5[1] |
| Height restriction | 52 in (132 cm) |
Launch Pad (formerly Ice Blast, Tango Ice Blast and PlayStation: The Ride!), is a S&S Worldwide drop tower ride located at Pleasure Beach Resort in Blackpool, England. It is named after the drink of the same name. This ride also replaced a flatride in the park called Monster. The ride was closed for the 2024 season, and is set to reopen with a new name - Launch Pad for the 2025 season.
History
[edit]Prior to 1997, Blackpool Pleasure Beach decided to build a Launched Freefall ride in the park. When Sony approached the park as a sponsor for the ride, it was decided that the ride would tie in with the current success from the marketing of Sony PlayStation products.
Shortly after being built, the tower was painted white, with the interior structure painted red and the platform grey, black and amber, the colours associated with PlayStation. Banners advertising PlayStation were placed on the car and the top of the tower also sported the such logo. Naturally, the ride was named PlayStation: The Ride. The ride opened in the Pleasure Beach in 1997, it was the first Tower ride in the UK.
In 2002, the ride was renamed Ice Blast following a new sponsor and in 2004 was named Tango Ice Blast, in conjunction with the drink of the same name. The ride is notably similar to the Lucozade Space Shot that was located in Pleasureland Southport. The ride has undergone numerous changes including installing a new seating arrangement which was originally 3x3 across on all sides to 2x4 across. It is the 2nd tallest drop tower ride in the United Kingdom after The Volcano at Fantasy Island, but is the fastest.
On the day in which the 2024 season began, the 2nd March 2024, Amanda Thompson, Director of Pleasure Beach Resort announced that the ride would be closed for the majority of the 2024 season. This is due to a fault on the ride which means a part is broken. The park is awaiting a new part, and all branding was removed as well as the queue rails. However recently a spokesperson for Blackpool Pleasure Beach has announced that the ride will remain after renovation (which has resulted in many layers of scaffolding being erected, which is promising for the future of the park.)
On the 10th December 2024, the park announced that Ice Blast would be rethemed to Launch Pad for the 2025 season. The ride is set to receive new theming and branding as well as a new pressure cylinder, thrusting riders with more force than experienced in recent years. The ride has been repainted to a blue colour scheme, with red accents.[2]
Ride experience
[edit]Riders are restrained using over the shoulder restraints and a seatbelt. There is a blast of air which sends the gondola to the top of the tower, this is followed by a second blast, in which the gondola reaches 2/3 of the way up the tower, there is then a small blast of air sending the gondola 1/3 of the way up the tower. During the descent, the riders might experience weightlessness for a brief second.
References
[edit]- ^ "Educational Info Pack" (PDF). Blackpool Pleasure Beach. p. 10. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 July 2011. Retrieved 22 June 2010.
- ^ "Pleasure Beach Announce Launch Pad".