During the planning stages of Valhalla, the park settled upon a Viking theme for the epic dark ride. At the time, it was said that this was at least in part, inspired by the former Maelstrom ride at Disney’s EPCOT.
The Vikings have many local connections to Lancashire, with evidence that they came as far as Preston, a short distance from Blackpool. Located on the shore of the Irish sea, not far from the Ribble estuary, the area where the park sits would historically have been witness to longboats plying their trade from Viking population centres including York and Dublin.
On 15 May 1840 on the southern bank of a bend of the River Ribble near Preston, a vast Viking bounty of more than 8,600 items, including silver coins, English and Carolingian jewellery, hacksilver and ingots was discovered. The Cuerdale Hoard in weight and number of pieces is second only to the Spillings Hoard found on Gotland, Sweden.
The ride’s original queue area made reference to the Cuerdale Hoard and also used Orson Welles’ narration from the 1958 film ‘The Vikings’ on signage in the area.
As part of the ride’s 2023 reimagining the minor nods to history were largely displaced with new and improved theming and effects, encapsulating a more edgy aesthetic.