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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Travel
Milo Boyd

First look at the UK’s 'wettest rollercoaster' as it opens in time for half term

The UK’s wettest rollercoaster has officially reopened at Blackpool Pleasure Beach after a long time out of the splashing game.

The highly-anticipated reimagining of the Valhalla ride will see thrill-seekers thrown around more than four minutes of high-speed action, seeing them surrounded by fire, water, snow and thunder and lightning.

They’ll make the half mile journey on a Viking longboat into a parallel world to reach Valhalla, experiencing plunging temperatures of -20°C and highs of more than 43°C.

The ride includes a reservoir holding over one and a half million gallons of water – enough to fill more than two Olympic sized swimming pools.

The ride promises to soak thrill-seekers (Gerard Campbell)

Amanda Thompson OBE, CEO of Blackpool Pleasure Beach, said: “We’re delighted to finally be able to share a glimpse into all our hard work. The new ride is absolutely sensational and will definitely leave riders wanting more.

“Those who remember the original ride may recognise some of its best-loved features, but this reimagining of Valhalla offers a totally new immersive experience that will leave riders eager to return.”

If you are a fun lover than there are plenty of rides at the Pleasure Beach that will get your pulse racing, including the Big One, a huge steel coaster that was the tallest and fastest in the world when it was built in 1994.

The ride has been relaunched this week (Gerard Campbell)

Nearby is ICON, the UK’s first and only double-launch rollercoaster which has specially adapte rear seats so that riders can spin and twist freely during the ride’s duration.

Another classic ride is the Grand National, which is Europe’s only twin-track racing coaster that pits thrill-seekers against one another down a Mobius loop and double-dip drop.

If you are less keen on being thrown around and reaching terrifyingly high speeds, there are also plenty of less intense rides at the Pleasure Beach.

These include the Wallace and Gromit ride, Alice in Wonderland, the Ghost Train and the swirling, spinning Flying Machines.

The ride reopened on April 10 (Gerard Campbell)

Theme park enthusiasts got even more thrills than they were likely looking for last month when The famous rollercoaster ride 'The Big One' in Blackpool stopped mid-ride for the second time in two weeks.

Passengers on the famous and once record-breaking rollercoaster were seen making their way down in similar scenes to earlier this month.

Visitors to the Pleasure Beach were pictured walking down a massive flight of stairs to vacate the ride when the ride stopped just after 3pm on Sunday, the Manchester Evening News (MEN) reported.

Witness Cammy told the MEN: “It was only just after 3pm that we saw it had stuck. It was one carriage on the tracks and we could see people walking down off the ride.

“We’ve already been to the Pleasure Beach, thankfully. My partner and her little sister went on the Big One earlier in the day.”

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