Richard Bannister

We had an entire day to appreciate the Pleasure Beach today. Having completed the coasters yesterday evening this meant that there would be no time pressure whatsoever, and consequentially I spent quite a lot of the day relaxing on a park bench. It's as if a week worth of adrenalin had finally run dry on me; I simply didn't have the energy to do anything else!

Rides that get you wet are not a particularly good idea in the English climate, but there's the occasional exception that just has to be ridden. Valhalla was one such ride; an enclosed log flume with excellent special effects; fire, air, water, and, er, more water. Passengers who wish to remain dry are well advised to purchase at least one poncho, and possibly two; mine proved woefully inadequate. The layout also featured some unique surprises which I do not intend to spoil.

Alice, based on Lewis Carroll's famous book, was another interesting attraction. The only thing I'm not entirely convinced of, though, is the choice of background music: the Golden Ticket theme from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Though there is a wonderland connection, I would have thought that one of the later themes from inside the factory might be more suitable?

I also tried out the Ice Blast, essentially a much taller version of the ride that left me jelly-legged in Southport yesterday. As expected this didn't affect me anything like as badly as the first one had, which just goes to show that I'm building up a tolerance for this sort of thing!