After rumours swirled of Ice Blast’s future back in 2023 with even meetings rumoured to have been held about its removal, guests were shocked to find the S&S Shot Tower still standing at the end of the 2024 season.
Plans had drastically changed and the Ice Blast tower is now undergoing a revamp and a repaint to a new blue colour to prepare for a new rebrand / retheme.
Ice Blast has been operating at Pleasure Beach since 1997 and you’d think this refurb would be quite an extensive one given how old the ride is already so expect some major changes.
I’m hoping the seats are changed to the S&S tilting ones as not only would we then get a refurbed ride but a whole new ride experience for people to enjoy, essentially making it a brand new flat ride.
With the arrival of an Intamin GyroSwing on the way it would be nice if the ride formerly known as Ice Blast underwent such a drastic change.
It seems as though the theme of this brand-new ride will be space and that the new name for the ride will be ‘Launch Pad’ as confirmed in the Blackpool tourism guide for 2025.
The wording for the ride doesn’t seem to indicate the seat change / altered ride experience that I was so desperately hoping for though.
It’s worded as follows:
The ride has been closed for the past year to allow work to take place and has a brand new pressure cylinder which will transform the current ride experience, seeing riders catapult vertically up a 210ft tower at 80mph before being thrust down again in a free-fall descent. The ride will be re-themed and will re-open under the name Launch Pad for the 2025 season.
There is also a photo that accompanies the small segment which depicts a dark blue, white and red accented Tower which looks much more eye-catching than what it was before but still utilises the same colours that the ride is known for.
I am slightly confused at why they’ve added a space-themed ride outside of a Viking-themed water ride and a Viking-themed bar but it’s also next to The Flying Machine which has themed rockets so maybe, just maybe, I can forgive them for that one.
They certainly missed a trick not adding the GyroSwing outside of Valhalla and theming it around Vikings as it could have very easily complimented the Viking space that makes up the majority of that area.
Amanda Thompson OBE, CEO of Pleasure Beach Resort, said:
“Earlier this year we announced that we are focusing on constantly evolving and renewing our ride offering, and confirmed our intention to make some exciting announcements in the future.
The new era of Launch Pad is only the first, and we’re looking forward to everything the future holds at Pleasure Beach Resort.”
Karl Murphy, director of engineering at Pleasure Beach Resort, added:
“A new cylinder might not sound much on paper, but it will make a huge difference in terms of the ride experience. Riders can expect to feel their stomachs drop to the floor with the increased force and experience moments of weightlessness.
That, coupled with Launch Pad’s re-theming, makes for a very thrilling new era indeed.”
