Infusion is an
inverted steel roller coaster
A roller coaster, or rollercoaster, is a type of amusement ride that employs a form of elevated railroad track designed with tight turns, steep slopes, and sometimes inversions. Passengers ride along the track in open cars, and the rides ar ...
at
Blackpool Pleasure Beach
Blackpool Pleasure Beach is an amusement park situated on Blackpool's South Shore, in the county of Lancashire, North West England. It operates as a secure facility, and has introduced epayments via smartphones for admission charges, replacin ...
,
Lancashire, England
Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly.
The non-metropolitan county of Lancashir ...
. It is a 689m standard "Mark 3" model
Vekoma
Vekoma Rides Manufacturing is a Dutch amusement ride manufacturer. Vekoma is syllabic abbreviation of Veld Koning Machinefabriek (Veld Koning Machine Factory) which was established in 1926 by Hendrik op het Veld.
History
The company originally m ...
Suspended Looping Coaster
The Suspended Looping Coaster (or SLC, as referred to by coaster enthusiasts) is a model of steel inverted roller coaster built by Vekoma. There are at least 39 different installations across the world. The minimum rider height requirement is . ...
(SLC) and the first to be suspended entirely over water.
History
Infusion was relocated from
Pleasureland Southport
Southport Pleasureland is an amusement park located in Southport, Merseyside, England. The park originally operated from 1913 to 2006 as Pleasureland Theme Park under the ownership of the Blackpool Pleasure Beach company. In 2007, the park re-o ...
, Blackpool Pleasure Beach's sister park, where it was known as "Traumatizer". The attraction first opened at its original location in 1999. When Pleasureland closed in 2006, the ride was moved to Pleasure Beach, where it has operated since 2007. The original ride featured a red track with teal supports; however, the track has since been repainted blue. The ride cost a total of £8 million to construct.
Characteristics
Infusion operates two seating trains. Each train has eight cars that seat two passengers, allowing a maximum capacity of 16 people per train. The track is approximately 2,260 feet long and the lift is 109 feet high. Infusion's maximum capacity is 832 passengers per hour.
Design & Layout
The ride begins with the train climbing a lift hill before arching into a steep curved incline. The train rises up into a ''butterfly loop''- two half loops connected by a corkscrew - before pulling upwards into a banked apex. From here the train drops sharply into a ''sidewinder'' - a loop that transitions into a corkscrew. A tight helix follows, providing a near miss with the ''Big Dipper'', before the train straightens itself and pulls into a double inline twist. From here the train rolls into a 90 degree turn before pulling downwards and ascending into the brakes. Two 90 degree turns return the train to the station.
Marketing & Reception
The ride was the subject of a large marketing campaign and featured on
BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
Newsround
''Newsround'' (stylised as ''newsround'', and originally called ''John Craven's Newsround'' before his departure in 1989) is a BBC children's news programme, which has run continuously since 4 April 1972. It was one of the world's first tele ...
, the
Daily Star and
Daily Express newspapers and
GMTV
GMTV (an acronym for Good Morning Television), now legally known as ITV Breakfast Broadcasting Limited, was the name of the national Channel 3 breakfast television contractor/licensee, broadcasting in the United Kingdom from 1 January 1993 ...
.
The ride has been used in television shows and advertisements. The ride was featured in a
Specsavers
Specsavers Optical Group Ltd is a British multinational optical retail chain, which operates mainly in the UK, Ireland, Australasia and the Nordic countries. The chain offers optometry and optician services for eyesight testing and sells glass ...
advertisement when two elderly people rode the ride after mistaking the ride's seats for a park bench.
References
External links
Pleasure Beach, Blackpool websitePress releaseBBC News "Pleasure Beach's New Thrill Ride
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Steel roller coasters
Blackpool Pleasure Beach
Roller coasters in the United Kingdom
Roller coasters introduced in 2007