Ride tickets are £6 for adults and kids over 1.4m in height. £5 for concessions and £36 for a private gondola and for the really extravagant £40 for the private VIP gondola. Each gondola seats 6 people apart from the VIP one which only seats 4.

The wheel is 60 metres high but because of its elevated position it stands 80 metres about ground level.

The Wheel takes 10 riggers a week to build and is transported from site to site on 11 trucks.

On the day we rode it the wind was very strong and the gondolas do rock about a fair bit especially a height. but saying that we really enjoyed it and the great views of the city and would definitely ride again on my next visit to Liverpool.

Follow the post below and take a look at the rest of the photographs and video to accompany this.

Geek Shot.

Here’s a video to accompany the photographs.

Click here to view the embedded video.

If you have any comment please use the comments below alternatively drop me an email using the contact form.

Thanks for reading

]]> http://www.ridemad.com/big-wheel-at-liverpool-one-liverpool/feed 0 http://www.ridemad.com/nemesis-at-alton-towers-behind-the-scenes http://www.ridemad.com/nemesis-at-alton-towers-behind-the-scenes#comments Wed, 12 Nov 2008 11:35:22 +0000 Admin http://ridemad.com/?p=217

opened in 1994 Nemesis at a cost of ten million pounds quickly became a favourite coaster amongst enthusiasts and the public alike.

I dont count coasters or number of rides on a particular coaster but if i were to look back over the years to 1994 my count would be well into the hundreds if not more.

A trip to Alton towers just isnt the same without a ride on Nemesis for me and many other enthusiasts. I hope you enjoy the photographs.

Some ride stats.
Height 43ft
Drop 104ft
Length 2,349ft
Max speed 50mph
Inversions 4
Duration 1m 20secs.
Capacity 1,400 riders per hour.

We were fortunate enough to have a behind the scenes tour of the ride in July 2007, this was an organised tour arranged by the park and these are the pictures taken on that event.

Bottom of the Nemesis lift hill looking up.

Bottom of the Nemesis lift hill looking up.

Part way up the Nemesis lift hill.

A picture taken from part way up the Nemesis lift hill.

Looking back near the top of the lift hil..

Just about at the top of the lift hil.

View from the top of the Nemesis lift hill looking down. It was all too much for Andy.

Nemesis loop taken from the top of the lift hill.

Looking at the station from the rear of the ride entrance.

From in front of the control desk looking back.

Something for the wheel geeks.

Nemesis Control panel/ops seat.

Outside the rear of the entrance looking at the train storage/maintenance area.

Ready to go in the maintenance area.

Looking back at the final brakes, notice the track has moved.

Thanks for looking.

l would like to thank a freind of mine Gordon Clinton-Lindop for allowing me to use these photographs of American adventure.

They were taken during the 1990 season and I know from comments to the site and emails its a park allot of people have missed.

I only got to visit the park once during its operation and that was the year before it closed.

The Vekoma boomerang coaster featured on the left  hand side was once classed as Britains best coaster after it opened in 1989.

For anyone that have never been to American Adventure theme park, it was built on the site of an old open cast coal mine and centered around a huge lake in the middle of the park. Some people believe the demise of the park came in 2005 when they re-themed the park as a family park and got rid of the white knuckle rides  including the Vekoma Boomerang coaster they named “the missile’.

Bottom of the first hill, beginning the slow pull back.

Buffalo ride.

I’m guessing this photograph was taken from the wheel. In the distance the log ride and balloons (far left)

Helter Skelter.

A view across the huge lake.

Thanks again to Gordon Clinton-Lindop for the use of the photographs.

To see my previous trip report from American Adventure click here.

If you want to comment on this please use the comment form, contact form or join the ridemad discussion forums.

Thanks for reading.

Ever since Southport Pleasureland closed back on Septmber 5th 2006 the fun house has stayed open honouring parties and bookings that were made when the park was in operation.

Unfortunately this all came to an end on the 31st March 2007 when the fun house held its final party.

As a member of Club Pleasure Beach I was invited to the final ever party in the fun house, it was an invite I couldnt afford to turn down having visited the park and fun house for as long as I can remember.

I dont recall many early memories of the fun house apart from the social mixer, joy wheel and the rotating barrel, I dont even think I walked around the interior completely until a few years ago, but I must have as a nosey child.

It was arranged so that the club and a number of guests including former pleasureland staff would have the fun house to ourselves between 6pm and 9pm on the Saturday evening, in total about 50 people attended the event.

Ok heres a few pictures and a quick tour of the fun house.

The Joywheel.

The Joywheel is a huge spining wheel. the idea is to sit as central as possible to avoid being span off into the soft cushioning. Obviously its alot more difficult than it looks or sounds and a skilled operator can have you off and in a heap in seconds.

My 2 kids, the older one was the final one to stay on the Joy wheel that evening. Anyone on the wheel to long is encouraged to put their hands on their heads, its not long before they are joining the rest of the riders in a heap.

Social Mixer.

This is a great ride, everyone sits around the edge of ride and then its starts to spin. Gravity soon takes over and you become stuck against the wall, a game they play is trying to get someone to touch the centre of the mixer.

Rotating Barrel.

This is great fun to watch, you get everything from kids trying to run through it to grown ups ending up in a heap on the base of it. Anyone who is tall can do a handstand in the barrel and it looks quite cool, been a 5ft 4inch shorty its something I didnt consider.

As you would expect from a fun house there are all sorts of moving floors, shaky steps, slides, bouncy castle and other stunts to make you feel uneasy on your feet.

Wobbly steps.

looking down from the top.

The view from the top of the steps.

At the top of the fun house there was some other activities and a small soft play area for the children.

Walking further around the top of the funhouse towards the slide.

The top of the slide.

Wobbly planks move back and forward.

a nice view of the joy wheel from the top of the fun house.

Back down to ground level they had a inflatable castle that made the trip over from frontierland.

I havent a clue what this is , i think you roll coins round it.

A wooden Maze, similar to whats installed in Noahs Ark at blackpool.

They also held a charity auction with various club members picking up some items and merchandise, I got a pleasureland fleece for £5.

Various ride signs and pictures from the ghost train.

Overall we had a great night with some great company, Id like to thank everyone invovled in arranging this and wish the pleasureland staff the best of luck.

If you want to use any photographs on this blog please get in touch paul@ridemad.com im quite happy to share and have high resolution copies of everything used, to see the complete gallery visit the Ridemad Gallery

Thanks for Reading.

After months of thinking about this wheel and never doing anything about it, I thought it was finally time to get my act together and make the trip up to York and try it for myself.

We couldnt have asked for better weather although cold the skies were blue and there was no sign of any rain. Admission costs are £6 per adult, £4 for children with under 4′s free, you can also hire a pirvate “VIP” pod with tinted windows and a DVD sound system (some people have more money than sense), they say on busy days you could be sat in a pod with strangers but today it was busy (for a Saturday in Jan) and we sat on our own with most pods containing 2 or 3 people. Queue time approx 20 minutes. Im sure it gets mad in the summer

The Queue area, they load a few at a time.

A nice view of the Minster from this height.

Closer up view of the Pods, theres 54 in total.

Looking up before entering the queue line, its impressive.

Some general going round views. it lasts for about 13 minutes.

The wheel is 54 metres high and has a impressive diameter of 50 metres. it weighs 365 tonnes.

Anyone interested in going i would recomend this trip, its on the site of the national railway museum so combine the 2 for a great day out.

any comments please email paul@ridemad.com, Please dont steal the pictures, if you want any just ask

Thanks for reading.