Back Stage Technologies were pleased to have been involved with the special effects on the new rollercoaster ICON at Blackpool Pleasure Beach. The £16.25m Icon coaster is a double launch coaster and guests can experience the G-force, as felt by a Formula 1 car – twice!
Icon Blackpool – specifications
Icon Blackpool reaches heights of 88.5 feet and drops 82 feet and has had over 44800 man-hours devoted to its development.
Koolfog – high pressure water-based fog
BST were asked to design and install the Koolfog™, high-pressure, water fog system. The system was designed to fill the valleys and drops the ride enters, with thick, opaque, fog. Filling these areas with fog meant the riders could not see where they were going! Obscuring the riders visibility disorientates them which subsequently increases the thrill!
The Koolfog collects in, and fills, the huge pits through which the ride travels. As the vehicles speed through the pits they entrain the fog with them which then bursts skywards as the vehicle exits.
This Koolfog system is currently the largest, high-pressure, water fog system on any UK theme park attraction. In fact, BPB now only run ½ the system at any one time as it produces so much fog that the gift shop disappears if the system runs at full output!
Koolfog was an ideal choice for this attraction as it is unaffected by weather. Koolfog can be used in sunshine as well as rain. The system has no external moving parts so is completely weather proof. Koolfog is also environmentally friendly as its only consumable is water. No chemicals are used to produce the fog. The running costs are also reduced when compared with traditional smoke machines as there are no chemicals to buy. Also, maintenance is reduced as there are no, external, moving parts.
Expansion
As of May 2023, some of the Icon Koolfog system has been repurposed and is now installed on Valhalla. This attraction was Blackpool’s reinvented dark ride for 2023.