Project ENSO Blackpool Pleasure Beach looks to be underway for a 2022 release as ICON will receive a HybridTrain conversion.
In a cryptic post that went up on Twitter yesterday, the title reveal of ENSO (Japanese for circle) points towards the Mack conversion HybridTrain first seen on the Blue Fire Mega coaster at Europa Park.
Mack Rides has developed an enhancement that adds spinning seats onto existing Mack Rides Coasters.
These seats are specifically situated on the back row of the coaster which moves freely with the movement of the coaster.
— ?Pleasure Beach? (@Pleasure_Beach) November 5, 2021
Pleasure Beach fanatics were worried that the whole rollercoaster trains would be given the spinning seat conversion but a back-row only conversion is a much better option although queuing will be an issue.
Imagine a separate queue line for a back-seat ride during a weekend? It would be absolute mayhem!
A whole new range of ENSO merchandise at Blackpool Pleasure Beach will also be available next year but as far as that goes, we don’t know anything more than that.
With the Grand National TLC, the Valhalla Reimagining (which may be slightly delayed until Summer, but more on that another time) and now ENSO 2022 is looking to be a great year for Blackpool Pleasure Beach.
Update: 18/11/2021 – Blackpool Pleasure Beach announce ENSO officially in a press release and some extra information, see below.
Blackpool Pleasure Beach’s Managing Director, Amanda Thompson OBE, met with Mack Rides Chief Executive Officer, Christian von Elverfeldt, and Chief Officer Sales and Marketing, Thorsten Koebele at the recent IAAPA (International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions) Expo in Orlando to sign the deal.
On signing this contact with Mack Rides, Amanda Thompson OBE comments, “We are delighted to once again be working with Mack Rides. We have a longstanding relationship with the Mack family and this continues the strong links between our two families. ENSŌ promises to be a thrilling addition to ICON and I can’t wait to see everyone get twisted next year.”
ENSŌ is a sacred symbol in Zen Buddhism meaning circle, or sometimes, circle of togetherness.
It is traditionally drawn using only one brushstroke as a meditative practice in letting go of the mind and allowing the body to create, as the singular brushstroke allows for no modifications.
Like the symbol, it is named after, once you climb aboard the ride, clear your mind and allow your body to experience the intense, thrilling experiences of ENSŌ. Dare to get twisted!
There is an uncharge to ride ENSŌ with 2 levels of access. One will be a standard method that allows guests to access the new experience by queuing as normal and there will also be a VIP access which will mean that you can gain access to the ride almost straight away.
Both can be booked via the Blackpool Pleasure Beach app although no official cost has been released for either option.
Insiders at the park have stated that ENSŌ will have a separate queue line for the back row and the spinning seats will be featured on one train only at this moment in time. That very train is still in Germany at this moment in time and as a result, will not be available when the park opens to the public in February.
A separate queue line will be set up for the experience but if the queue line is empty the seats can be locked in a no spinning position and can be used as normal seats for capacity reasons.
It is also rumoured that a percentage of the money made will be shared with ride manufacturers Mack.
We have no official confirmation of this as of yet from the park but our sources are usually right on the money with these things.
It would certainly be a strange decision to charge for an ‘all-day’ pass for some spinning seats at the back of a coaster unless the VIP option is just a one-shot price then this makes much more sense.
Update – March 15th – Blackpool Pleasure Beach shared a video of the final checks of the brand new spinning seats which give us our first glimpse at ENSŌ before it’s shipped from Germany to Blackpool.
