Valhalla at Blackpool Pleasure Beach Construction Updates and Rumours

Keeping up to date with all things Valhalla 2022 at Blackpool Pleasure Beach we bring you all the latest updates, progress reports and rumours about the upcoming reimagined dark ride.

In 2000 Valhalla was born replacing the former Fun House which sadly burned down in 1991.

Themed around the journey to Valhalla well known in Norse mythology the ride goes on for a total of around 6 minutes traveling through 16 various scenes.

It is one of the longest dark rides in the ride and has constantly been voted as one of the best water rides in the world by The Amusement Golden Ticket Awards winning in 2015, 2018 and 2019.

Valhalla incorporates fire, water and ice in an elemental fusion which provides a unique and incredible experience that fans all across the world love to experience.

After rough running costs of £147,000 a month in peak season and the ongoing demand to keep this ride going despite making constant cutbacks to effects, audio and more, something had to be done.

On December 20th, 2019 it was announced that the ride would be undergoing a reimagining in an attempt to make it more cost-effective to run.

What follows on this page are rumours and updates as and when we receive them about the ride reimagining.

If you know of anything i’ve missed to add to the timeline (including specific dates) please do get in touch via our contact form page as I guarantee you that i’ll have missed something off!

Gaps in months/dates will be filled in as and when information becomes available.

Rumours / speculation will be written in red to distinguish between the facts.

Valhalla 2022 Blackpool Pleasure Beach Timeline

Before our progress journey begins take a look at this epic POV from The Roller Ghoster of the original incarnation of the ride.

November 2019

Managing Director Amanda Thompson addresses rumours that Valhalla may be closing permanently or will not be operating in the 2020 season.

In light of the speculation she released the following statement:

“Certainly nothing has been decided yet. We are looking at ways to reimagine the ride, but more importantly we are looking at trying to make it more sustainable. Sustainability is essential for the future of this ride. I can assure you Valhalla is here to stay.”

December 2019

On November 20th Blackpool Pleasure Beach releases the following statement in regards to Valhalla:

“Blackpool Pleasure Beach is proud to announce that the ride Valhalla is being given a sprinkling of magic christmas dust and will experience a reimagining during the 2020 season with the ride reopening in 2021, in time for Blackpool Pleasure Beach’s 125th Anniversary Year.”

January – March 2019 – Rumours

Valhalla creative concepts began and underwent various revisions to be discussed with the team.

A title of Valhalla: Journey Beyond was rumoured to be the name of the new imagining and creative concepts were developed around this new idea.

Journey Beyond was rumoured to be in its second revision a week before the country went into lockdown.

The tagline ‘Journey Beyond’ was eventually scrapped potentially due to the name clash with Galactica at Alton Towers as their tagline is also ‘Journey Beyond’.

The new tagline was then rumoured to be called ‘Brave the Adventure’

It was at this time when the pandemic hit and the park was shut down as a result on March 20th in accordance with government guidelines after a statement was released by the park saying they would not be opening for the following weekend (21st and 22nd) and will remain closed for the foreseeable.

All work on Valhalla ceased as a result but guests who did visit in February / March saw that boards had been erected around the Valhalla station with various artwork depicting the imagining with a ‘Opening 2021’ tagline at the bottom.

On July 4th, 2020 the park was allowed to reopen.

July 2020 

Over the months that fans were allowed to revisit there wasn’t much going on around the building with many assuming that most of the work was taking place within the show building.

In late July people were hopping onto The Flying Machines ride so they could see over the erected boards around the Valhalla station and noticed that work was happening around the station area which looked to be a potential station extension.

August – September 2020

With news few and far between from the park and the rumour mill dead in the water it wasn’t until August 23rd that Adam Slevin made a cryptic tweet with simply #V.

Adam Slevin of Turbofizz Theatrics Ltd has worked on The Smiler at Alton Towers and specialises in Audio Visual solutions.

Using sound, light and imagination Adam has done work for other Merlin parks and attractions including Thorpe Park making soundtracks and atmospheres in addition to script writing

Adam works solely with designers and project managers on coasters, dark rides, aquariums and more themed environments.

No one knew any of the wiser until on that very same day The Notable Stranger also posted a tweet with just simply #V.

The Notable Stranger is a music composer best known for composing The Big One theme and the absolutely phenomenal theme to ICON.

It wasn’t until months later in November when various staff members at Pleasure Beach (and the official account themselves) started using #V in various messages to fans.

This confirmed Adam Slevin’s involvement in the Valhalla project and also confirmed that Valhalla would be receiving some form of audio input or complete theme redesign from The Notable Stranger.

It could be a few effects or it could be a complete new soundtrack. Confirmation of this is still unknown.

November 2020

Various photos surfaced online of the Valhalla boats that have been removed from the show building with many commenting that they looked repainted with a few changes being made to certain rails.

I can’t possibly comment on this as I haven’t got a clue about anything like that but if that’s the case then it seems the original boats will be sticking around but would most certainly need to be altered in order to combat a flooding issue that plagued the old boats.

Whenever riders would jump into the boat to start the ride the boats were already full of inches of water resulting in a very unpleasant experience before the ride even began!

I always remember riding it once with my legs in the air to avoid the giant puddle under my feet, it was NOT fun on those steep drops let me tell you!

I personally think there will be new boats and a comment made by Mr.Slevin on social media joked that ‘the boat designs’ had been leaked when someone sent him a picture of the ark at the park entrance.

If there were no boat designs in the pipeline would this have been mentioned?

I think not.

On November 11th Amanda Thompson posted an image on social media with the caption ‘They Are Still Reimagining’.

Work was still going on behind the scenes but with the large delay due to the lockdown it wasn’t long before the inevitable news came to light.

The very next day on November 12th was the announcement that Valhalla would be delayed until 2022 but with the tagline (potentially) Brave The Adventure appearing under the Valhalla logo.

Valhalla 2022 at Blackpool Pleasure Beach was now official as fans would sadly have to wait a whole year (again) to experience this ride.

I personally think with a whole year given for this ride to be worked on and reopening in 2022 rather than an end of 2021 launch I think we’re in for a bigger reimagining than we all expected.

Not just a few changes to make the ride more sustainable I think we could be in for an extensive redesign or rehaul of the ride, the theming and potentially even the ride system if infact the boats are to be changed.

Could we see the backwards drop replaced?

After this poster was released many staff members and the official page were using the hashtag #BraveTheAdventure across social media.

The rumour from January had been confirmed that Brave The Adventure was to be used in some way shape or form for marketing purposes.

December 2020

Amanda Thompson was speaking on the I’m4Fun podcast and said that Valhalla would be made to be ecologically sound, energy-efficient and ‘greener’ and that this reimagining will certainly make you ‘less wet’ than the previous version that made you feel like you were taking a Viking themed bath!

March 2021

Turntable looks to be staying but the park is waiting on track pieces.

Various scenes have been swapped around and the eco-friendly direction of the ride seems to be a main priority with less gas being used throughout the attraction being key. Information that we already knew previously.

The ending fire effect is also set to stay but with an alternative way of creating the fire to once again save energy and reduce cost.

Adam Slevin who is heading the creative team on the project shared this little tease on Twitter today (18/03/2021).

The rumoured ‘Brave the Adventure’ title looks to be the official name although this hasn’t been confirmed by the park only added to certain marketing teasers including social media banners.

The tweet showed what looked like fog/projector light which would confirm the parks rumoured heavy use of projection mapping throughout the attraction to modernise the effects.

Wouldn’t it be cool to float through the water, fog lies ahead and on the water stands a projection within the fog of a Viking warrior. Now that would be spectacular! Valhalla 2022 at Blackpool Pleasure Beach is shaping up to be something special!

Unsure if Aromaprime were involved in the original incarnation of the ride it seems as though the company is keeping tabs on the build and all updates from the park and all those involved. This would suggest that Aromaprime scents will be a key feature to the new reimagining bringing alive the various viking / shipwreck / seabreeze scents we’ve come to expect from their wonderful offerings. I could see a Alton Towers Darkest Depths type aroma suiting Valhalla rather well.

June 2021

After months of silence, Blackpool Pleasure Beach conducted a Tik Tok Q&A with the creative lead behind the project Adam Slevin who answered a few fan questions in regards to the Valhalla project.

Those questions were:

Will the fire effects feature?

Answer – A resounding yes.

There will be a large number of special and physical effects within the ride and one of those will be fire!

Has the layout changed at all?

Answer – You may notice a difference

Will there be a new soundtrack?

Answer – Yes there will be a new soundtrack and it is being worked on as we speak by someone very ‘notable’.

We already know it’s The Notable Stranger, he confirmed it on Twitter. Stop being mysterious!

July 2021

Adam Slevin shared a chilling poster of a skull with the tag line ‘Where Only the Bravest Dare’

Could this be Valhalla’s new slogan?

Either way, the skull looks epic.

September 2021

Other than a video of Valhalla water flowing in a sneaky Twitter post there wasn’t too much to share from August.

The ride has been testing with two styles of boats.

One being an original boat (minus the dragon head at the front) and another purple style boat although this could just be an undercoat for a repainted original boat.

Amanda Thompson also discussed in a Twitter message that some of the things that she wanted for Valhalla will not come to fruition although further detail on this was never clarified.

We know there will be a slight layout change but the turntable was still in place when testing footage was captured and uploaded online.

Fast forward a week and Valhalla picked up a Golden Ticket 2021 award for the worlds best water ride despite it being closed for the entire 2021 season.

A very strange award to win that’s for sure so either they know something we don’t about the refurbishment or other water rides in the world just can’t beat the famous Viking water ride even when its closed!

October 2021

21st – Pleasure Beach announced their Golden Ticket Award win along with an image of a large Valhalla ‘V’ in the background along with a viking axe lying on the table.

Theming goals aplenty as that axe looks stunning!

I wish they put as much effort into their theming of Valhalla during their Journey to Hell events unless all the money went on Valhalla with nothing left over for the Halloween event?

23rd – Pleasure Beach took to social media and posted the following:

Trying to #shield you from the #V secrets is proving harder than we thought…

For a split second I thought that these were the shields that were on the sides of the Valhalla boats but the sizing seems way off.

This looks like some interior theming or maybe even some station theming rather than individual boat theming but as far as hiding secrets Blackpool Pleasure Beach is doing quite a good job at the moment!

Piece by piece details are being revealed and 2022 will be an ever so exciting year for the park as a legendary ride returns.

26th – Valhalla boats have been spotted at the park but one has been painted black all over and looks to have a few new refurbished bits and pieces added to it. They certainly look like the old boats repainted and not completely new boats as per original speculation.

November 2021

Nov 6th – A rumour is going around that the Valhalla reimagining will be delayed until Summer 2022. 

Once this has been officially confirmed by Blackpool Pleasure Beach I won’t post further comment.

Nov 10th – A poster was released by the park with the brand new graphics and the black repainted/refurbed boats that have been spotted at the theme park over the last few weeks.

These new darker themed boats also support a rumour that has been doing the rounds in regards to the re-theme of the ride which is as follows:

The rumour stated that the ride would follow a much more linear story than its previous ‘room after room’ disjointed experience without a story of note.

Valhalla will be a darker experience, much more like a horror story as you sail through the afterlife towards hell.

New effects will be involved and a few have never before been seen on a dark ride before.

The boat drainage is an ongoing issue that the park is actively addressing and this could be another reason for the potential ride opening delay.

Nov 22nd –

A new teaser image has been added on social media by the Pleasure Beach which shows this lighting / fog combo scene in the shape of the V ride logo.

December 2021

December is a time when the park shuts for winter maintenance and all goes quiet in terms of updates taking place within the park for quite some time.

Unless you happen to be staying at the Pleasure Beach hotels with a park view room or are passing on a lucky day we won’t find out too much about the ongoing park developments let alone Valhalla’s but we have a little something.

December 14th – A brand new poster has been released for Valhalla in the Blackpool tourism guide for 2022. The new poster contains some new elements and hints as to what special effects will be involved in the ride with many lasers or potentially projections showing two new additions to the original poster.

Within the guide reads the following text:

Brace the adventure as you travel through fantastic special effects and extreme elements like no other ride.

This high speed, dark water ride takes you on a journey through scenes of fire, snow and freezing mists whilst you travel in Viking long boats on this six minute journey complemented by a new stunning soundtrack to complete this multi-sensory experience

This is the first time the soundtrack has been officially confirmed in press format even though this was confirmed AGES ago!

It’s also nice to see that the fire, snow and mist effects are staying. We just hope it’s real fire and not some simulated effect to combat the sustainability issues the ride was plagued with in regard to the fire.

January 2022

Rumour has it that work on Valhalla is still way behind schedule but the park are still aiming for a summer 2022 opening. It is also rumoured that the soundtrack for the ride has now been completed.

Pleasure Beach Experience also headed to the park to film a winter maintenance video and caught footage of some fire effects being tested in the turn-table section of the ride.

Fire effects weren’t featured in this particular area of the ride so it’s interesting to see how the turntable section will be different when the ride opens.

There has been confirmation of a slight rework of the ride layout so maybe this is the area in which that layout is altered?

February 2022

Despite work being a little behind (if the rumours are to be believed) a teaser trailer was released by Blackpool Pleasure Beach on Friday 4th February.

Brave the adventure 🔥 #Valhalla2022 pic.twitter.com/yt2WgbwWUW

— Pleasure Beach🎢 (@Pleasure_Beach) February 4, 2022

Monday, February 13th

Today Blackpool Pleasure Beach uploaded the following images from the art department who are working hard to bring some of the decorations/set details to life.

The detail on some of these pieces wouldn’t look out of place at Weta Workshop!

March 2022

March 24th – During the BPB season launch a whole range of brand new 2022 additions were discussed and Valhalla was certainly a hot topic of conversation.

During the season launch, Adam Slevin discussed the project and revealed that there have been new scenes added to the ride whilst old existing scenes have been refurbished.

A state of the art show control system has been implemented along with new walkways for the maintenance team.

Fire effects were confirmed to remain (which we all knew anyway) and in regards to the storyline, a reference to the TV show ‘Vikings’ was discussed in terms of a similar vibe that this particular installation of the ride.

Components for the ride from America and Europe during covid had delayed the ride considerably but a summer 2022 opening is still on the cards.

All of the information that was relayed at the season launch event was already known to us (see all the updates above) but to have it all in one place and digestible for attendees was great to have and confirmation of the project still on track for a summer opening is always great news to hear.

April-May 2022

Tik Tok is alive with behind the scenes photos, scenery updates, construction updates and even a behind the scenes shot of the Valhalla trailer being shot.

Pleasure Beach are keeping everyone updated on their official Tik Tok account with Jayson sharing numerous videos with ever-increasing frequency keeping us all updated on the amazing work that is going on behind the scenes on this amazing ride.

Construction is still active with many visits to the park showing high activity around the Valhalla building and turnaround section.

Scaffolding was meant to be coming down in late April and the boats were also scheduled to be lifted in around the same time but visiting only yesterday (April 30th) there were no boats, no water and scaffolding was still very much present with lots of work still to be done on the turnaround section.

September 2022

With absolutely nothing in the way of an update over the summer for the opening date of the ride it’s safe to say the ride once again has been delayed. With zero communication from the park, this is quite worrying with an opening date completely up in the air.

Rumours are swirling that the ride itself will not be much different than what it was originally. Sustainability is the key factor and rumours of an ice sculpture/ice mist around the brand new turntable (completely replaced) have been doing the rounds on social media. In terms of the ride, most things will be kept the same other than the addition of projection mapping and a unique effect which is set to impress.

With such a large undertaken still left on the project it is rumoured that we will know the new opening date after IAPPA in a few days time. March 2023 is looking like the most popular reopening date amongst enthusiasts. 

November 2022

March 2023 is the confirmed opening date for Valhalla, the news was released at a fashion show displaying the latest BPB merchandise and gave guests the opportunity to see and purchase Valhalla merchandise before its official release.

Video of the fashion show can be found HERE

Merchandise will be taking centre stage at Pleasure Beach in 2023 with a new shop being located in the ticket centre along with a manager hired specifically to look after ride parts and their sale through the store.

November 13th – Images surface online of brand new signage that has been added to the front of the ride and social media goes nuts. PROGRESS IS BEING MADE!

November 26th

Pleasure Beach owner Amanda Thompson took to Twitter to post a very eye-opening series of Tweets regarding the Valhalla delay stating that she thought that the ride would have been ready last season.

Thompson said the delays were due to technical and logistical issues (no doubt because of the pandemic) but she also stated that progress had been ‘hidden’ from her by park staff.

Thompson also stated that the ride as far as she knew was going to open this weekend, the final Saturday and Sunday of the 2022 calendar with the ride stating that it would be open in 2022 all year.

She claimed that certain things were beyond her control and she was fed up with a ‘drama’ that is not her doing.

Admitting she has kept out of this project entirely she also admitted she was upset and disappointed that the ride is still not open.

Fans took to social media to voice their opinions utterly confused that the owner of the theme park had absolutely no idea what was going on with the ride and its progress.

December 20th

Rumour has it that the ride will be opening on the first week of April with all boats now on site and with the introduction of a new restaurant and bar themed around the ride.

March 2023

It was announced at the 2023 season launch that Valhalla would be open for technical rehearsals on April 7th and a trailer was released to mark the announcement.

We can only hope the ride is better than the trailer (and poster) that have been released for the ride…