Thank you to Pleasure Beach for inviting us to the media event for the opening of Aviktas! Of course, I’m pregnant so I couldn’t ride however Ant did so I’ll be sharing his thoughts from his experience and my thoughts from a non-rider view.
As with all of our content, it’s all VERY honest from our experience.
The Plaza, Styling & Audio:
Walking up to the area it truly is mind-blowing how much has changed within the space of a few years for this area. This site a few years ago was truly a sorrowful view. It looked exhausted and quite honestly run-down. But now it’s the polar opposite with such an elegant yet intimidating to look at ride swinging into the sky. The planting is stunning, the colour scheme and styling are all gorgeous. It fits that modernised Pleasure Beach we’re gradually beginning to see ever since the Icon opening in 2018. Of course, if you look across to River Caves that’s not as much of a stunning sight. They have painted above the entrance which does look nice but of course, it’s undergoing refurbishment so it’s never going to look tremendous until it’s finished. The added details connecting to the story behind Aviktas is fab to see as well with the little holes on the ramp downwards on River Caves of the snake, the back of buildings also have the snake on. It’s those smaller details that really add the finishing touches.
The audio for Aviktas is fun too. We’re not overly into themed audio to really go into detail but it is good there’s no denying that.
The Throughputs, Queue & Restraints:
The queue line looks quite the experience especially when the sunshine looks a bit like a sun trap. It did take Ant around an hour to actually ride. The throughputs did seem quite slow whether even off-ride watching there was a good few minutes between dispatches. However, it is early doors and the staff are still learning the ropes I’m pretty sure it’ll only get better as time goes on. The number of riders it can seat at one go is exceptional. From Ant’s perspective, the restraints were really comfortable, roomy and sweetened the experience a lot. Whilst waiting off-ride it did seem they can be a little restrictive too which for those who are curious about the sizing of the restraints i something to keep in mind.
The Ride Experience:
All of this from Ant’s perspective. The ride experience is exceedingly smooth it just glides effortlessly through each swing and rotation. The upper parts of the ride are terrifying with the sheer amount of airtime and the crushing sensation as you swing back towards the floor is intense. Unlike other gyro swings, you don’t feel that push of each swing as I said above it’s as smooth as glass with each swing. It does get quite sickly Ants is not a flat ride guy and one ride made him very queasy. All in all, it’s a brilliant addition to the UK flat ride line-up & Pleasure Beach itself. It’s not the best ride (including the coasters) in the UK as there are stronger coasters even Icon is up there. But it 100% IS the best UK flat ride by a mile.
The Future of River Caves…
With a little tease and mention of River Caves during Amanda Thompson’s speech it’s a fair presumption to believe the re-theme is going to be to match Aviktas which makes sense given they are neighbours. I caught a lot of activity amongst the River Caves during this really exciting visit. Let’s hope this project won’t take as many years as it took Valhalla and we will have it back in operation next season. We can’t wait to experience the changes and have always adored this ride so it’s lovely to know it’s more than likely got a secure future.
Overall:
From a non-rider point of view, Aviktas has really altered the game for Pleasure Beach. You can be up the other end of the promenade in Blackpool and it will catch your eye. It’s transformed the skyline more than imaginable. There’s not a single place outside of the park where it hasn’t grabbed my eye. From standing in the plaza it truly is ominous and intimidating to watch how much you have to tilt your head to look at it is wild. There’s something so iconic about the location too especially when you look one direction there’s Infusion & Big Dipper whizzing around then the other end it’s The Big One turnaround and Launch Pad launching. It’s that fresh and modern amongst the classics that makes it feel extra special something Pleasure Beach does beautifully. From Ants perspectives as a rider, it’s truly one of the best investments they’ve made and it really has set the bar high for future flat rides within the UK and for Pleasure Beach it’s a true jewel.
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It’s safe to say I’m VERY excited for when I can eventually ride it and will be sharing a part 2 with my thoughts on the ride experience. Again, thank you to the park for inviting us along to check it out and be part of the launch.
Have you ridden Aviktas yet? What are your thoughts?
Thank you for reading!
