"And now it's time to experience Vertical Reality ..."
Name Big One Former Name(s) Pepsi Max Big One Project Name(s) Project Monster, Project 94 Soft Opening 28 May 1994 Official Opening 28 June 1994 Cost £12 million Manufacturer Arrow Dynamics Designer Ron Toomer Structural Engineers Allot & Lomax Model Hyper Coaster Height 213ft Length 5,497ft G-Force 3.5G
There are few roller coasters anywhere in the world that are as imposing as the Big One. It towers over the Irish sea and every other structure in the park, weaving between attractions and even crossing over a public road. Launched in 1994 in a blaze of glory, it was the tallest, fastest and steepest roller coaster in the world.
Geoffrey Thompson, the park’s Managing Director had ridden Magnum XL-200 at Cedar Point, Ohio in 1989 and immediately concluded that it would serve as inspiration for the next Pleasure Beach roller coaster. Magnum was lauded as the first roller coaster to reach 200ft and is credited with starting the ‘coaster wars’ of the 1990s and early 2000s where parks around the world competed to break records.
The design and build of the Big One was a collaboration between several organisations and individuals. Among others, Geoffrey Thompson provided the vision and concept, Arrow Dynamics provided the ride system with structural engineering from Allot & Lomax and steel fabrication was completed in Bolton by Watson Steel.
Construction of the ride presented numerous challenges, like Magnum XL-200, the Big One was to be built on land that was largely a beach less than one hundred years previous, requiring huge civil works to be completed before any vertical construction could begin. This was time consuming, complicated and expensive. The ride’s initial £5m budget nearly tripled during the construction process and represented the largest single investment in the Pleasure Beach’s ninety-eight year history.
❓Did You Know❓
The Big One, Icon, Valhalla & Launch Pad have soundtracks that can be heard in their queues and stations, each was especially composed by The Notable Stranger who is a longstanding contributor to the Hot Ice Show.
The tightly packed site meant that the Big One was going to have to navigate around various buildings, plus the Monorail, Log Flume, Grand National station, Big Dipper, Pleasure Beach Express and Steeplechase. The iconic Space Tower was relocated to Frontierland at Morecambe to make way for the ride.
Taking riders to heights of over 200ft above the sea, the ride features a number of drops in a layout that keeps the train higher than would be typical throughout its run, providing a number of long shallow drops that are unique to this ride model.
The Big One played a starring role in what was dubbed ‘The Year of the Roller Coaster’, so called because three huge roller coasters on an unprecedented scale were to debut in the UK within the space of a couple of months. Opening alongside the Big One were Nemesis at Alton Towers and Shockwave at Drayton Manor.
Modifications were made to the ride in 1995 and 1997, with alternations made to both the first drop and the iconic turnaround over the Grand National station to improve performance and operations.
In 2013, the park first gave guests the opportunity to climb to the summit of the ride to heights where ‘only seagulls dare’.