I’ll happily admit that I am a gigantic nerd. I run a movie site, I collect movie props, I will happily binge watch Big Bang Theory until I know every word by heart. I have no shame in that. One thing I never thought I would collect thou is roller coaster parts. Blackpool Pleasure Beach ride parts to be exact!
Around early 2018 and I’d still never been on The Smiler at Alton Towers and only braved other coasters after a couple of drinks. I wasn’t the biggest fan of heights either. Fast forward to 2019 and I made a pledge to ride the top 10 tallest coasters in the country. As we visited every park in the UK this year containing those rides my fear of heights remains but my love of coasters grew and grew with every ride.
In 2019 alone i’ve been to the Pleasure Beach at least 10 times minimum (that I can remember). It wasn’t until last month that someone told me about a shop underneath the Flying Machines ride. I had absolutely no idea as we always seem to walk straight past it and deeper into the park. In this very shop they sell ride parts. Pieces of actual coasters at the park and even older rides that are no longer standing. This love of coasters and the park being so open to allowing these slices of history into public hands was endearing.
No other theme park in the country (that I know of) sells ride parts. Being a collector and with my new found love of roller coasters I had to get something. It was around this time of debating in the last few days that Blackpool Pleasure Beach announced their new online retail store. I had a browse and instantly saw something that caught my eye. I hit the purchase button and 3 days later (today). It arrived.
Blackpool Pleasure Beach Ride Parts Unboxing
So as you can see from the video I got my hands on an actual upstop wheel from Big Dipper. This wheel would run alongside the running wheels to stop the train from derailing over hills. As you can see the wheel has been extensively used and that adds to the magic of the piece. Now in the movie prop collecting community you’d be paying a pretty penny for a piece of history like that. This thou however, £20.
Not only are they selling older rides they even have pieces taken from the brand new ride ICON during winter maintenance. All items on sale are under £50 except for a Big One Tow Bar (must be picked up in person) and actual coaster trains and monorail carts themselves!
If you’re a collector like me and would love to own a piece of theme park history you can’t get much better than this. Affordable and incredible!
Head on over to https://retail.blackpoolpleasurebeach.com/product-category/ride-parts/ and see what Blackpool Pleasure Beach ride parts they’ve got in stock! Remember there are many more parts for sale at the park itself in the store underneath the Flying Machines. I’ll try to not walk past the shop myself next time I visit!
