Blackpool’s Pleasure Beach theme park has unveiled plans for a new £8.72 million attraction, set to be the UK’s largest swinging pendulum ride.
Preparation work for the Gyro Swing by Intamin, a creator of record-breaking amusement rides, has already started with the demolition of the park’s former Bowl-A-Drome building.
The upcoming attraction, dubbed Project MMXXVI, is a giant spinning pendulum that swings 120 degrees and reaches 138 feet at its highest point.
It can seat 40 riders who face outwards with their legs dangling to experience a feeling of flying over the sea due to the ride’s location at the north of the theme park.
The UK is home to one other swinging pendulum ride; Drayton Manor’s Maelstrom, which is around 74 feet high.
Blackpool Pleasure Beach said its new Gyro Swing will be almost double that height.
£8.72m swinging pendulum ride
CEO of Pleasure Beach Resort, Amanda Thompson, said: “We’re thrilled to confirm the addition of a Gyro Swing at Pleasure Beach Resort, with work already underway.
“We’re well known for doing things on a large scale, so becoming home to the largest Gyro Swing in the UK made complete sense.”
The Gyro Swing is “one of the most exciting flat rides in existence – it’s dynamic, fast, and incredibly high, as well as being completely weightless at the top”, Thompson said.
“It will be a fantastic addition to our ride line-up and we can’t wait to see people’s reactions when they experience it for the first time,” she added.
Blackpool Pleasure Beach previously teased the new addition when Thorpe Park opened Hyperia, which took the title of the UK’s tallest coaster from Pleasure Beach’s The Big One.
In response, Pleasure Beach sent a digital van that read: “We’ll just have to come up with something else then, won’t we?”
In more news, Pleasure Beach is reimagining and rebranding its iconic Ice Blast ride, which will reopen this spring as Launch Pad.
Additionally, the River Caves ride will be reimagined at Blackpool Pleasure Beach.
Images courtesy of Blackpool Pleasure Beach
