I was able to visit pleasure beach in 2020 and also in 2019. Both times I got many rides on icon but last year I got the chance to have an hour ERS on it and it was the best hour I have ever spent at pleasure beach. we were in the park at 9.30 and got an hour to ride it was many times as we could. I got 3 or 4 rides (there was a little bit of a queue) and although it hadn't warmed up yet, I really liked it. That was my first experience of the coaster.
I spent the rest of the Saturday getting on the rest of the coasters, and came back at the end of the day for one last ride on icon. And as it was the end of the day, it hard properly warmed up and was incredible to ride. We also spent has the Sunday on park too; we would have spent longer if it weren't for the 5 hour train journey home! We got and hour ERS on big dipper, the big one and blue flyer which were also very good. I also got to visit pleasure beach in 2020 in August on my road trip which was very fun and was a chance to get the rest of the credits in park. I've now ridden icon 6 times, most of which were in the morning. The coaster definitely doesn't have very punchy launches and they are very weak in the morning when the coaster hasn't warmed up yet, but because it is the only multi launch coaster I have currently been on, I don't have much to compare it to.
The ride has great pacing, with lots of different elements, although it slightly loses it's speed towards the end. My favourite sections are the jr. immelman (the most photogenic coaster element) and the second launch. It's layout has definitely taken inspiration from cheetah hunt at Busch Gardens Tampa but in a more compact space. The ride features one inversion (an in-line twist) and a bank angle of 120 degrees. It has a 1.3m height restriction so is perfect as a first thrill ride for older children. The coaster opened in 2018 and when it opened rankings of pleasure beach immediately soared as it was the first of it's kind in the UK and blew people away. It is a very controversial coaster though, with many people complaining about it's lack of speed and forces, but i personally don't think the coaster needs more forces than it has, and as a multi-launch, the launches speed only need to last half the layout, so they don't need to be fast.
The coaster doesn't have a storyline, but has a stylised station (a metal box) and trains. The design for the trains were created custom by Liseberg, then Mack bought the design for the trains and put them on icon. I don't think the park would have suited a storyline driven coaster as it is more of an amusement park than a theme park.
All in all, icon is an incredible coaster that brought up people's opinions of pleasure beach and brought more people to the park. I think if the park had invested into an Intamin blitz instead, it could of had more inversions and been more thrill based or they could have still used a Mack multi launch but made it longer and put more into the layout so it is more similar to Helix at Liseberg. But in the end, it was a new investment into a UK park that hadn't had a new coaster recently, so it's a positive thing. Overall, I would give Icon a score of 9/10.
Cleo
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