Blackpool Pleasure Beach commonly referred to as Pleasure Beach Resort or simply Pleasure Beach is an amusement park situated along the Fylde coast in Blackpool, Lancashire, England. The park was founded in 1896 and has been owned and operated by the Thompson family since its inception. It is one of the most visited tourist attractions in the United Kingdom, and one of the top twenty most visited amusement parks in the world, with a peak estimate of 5.5 million visitors in 2007. In 2014 it was voted as the best theme park in the United Kingdom and the ninth best park in Europe by the Travelers' Choice Awards.
The park is host to many records, including the largest number of roller coasters of any park in the United Kingdom with ten, of which five are wooden: the Big Dipper, Blue Flyer, Grand National, Nickelodeon Streak and Wild Mouse. Many of the roller coasters in the park are record breaking attractions. When it opened in 1994, the Big One was the tallest and fastest roller coaster in the world. It was also the steepest, with an incline angle of 65° and one of the longest, measuring 5497ft. Currently, the ride holds the record as the tallest roller coaster in the United Kingdom, standing at 213ft, with a first drop of 205ft.
Pleasure Beach is one of only two parks left in the world to operate a traditional wooden Wild Mouse coaster, the other being Luna Park Sydney in Australia. The ride was built entirely in house, post-World War II but is currently under maintenance. The Grand National is one of only three Möbius Loop coasters in existence, where a singular track "loops" around itself, offering a facsimile out-and-back layout and creating a "racing" effect on two parallel tracks. The park was also the first in Europe to introduce a fully inverting steel coaster, Revolution and is the last remaining park in the world to still operate a Steeplechase roller coaster. Sir Hiram Maxims Captive Flying Machine is the oldest amusement park ride in Europe having opened in August 1904. Recent records include Valhalla
which at a cost of £15million was until 2016 the biggest and most expensive indoor dark ride in the world. Valhalla won "Best Water Ride" at the 2016 Golden Ticket awards. The park also operates a Nickelodeon Land and the world's only Wallace & Gromit ride, the Thrill-O-Matic. The latest record is taken by the Red Arrows Sky Force, a Gerstlauer Sky Fly thrill ride which is the first ride of its kind in the United Kingdom. In October 2016, the park officially unveiled its plans for a £16.25 million double-launched coaster under the codename "Construction MMXVIII". The coaster will be manufactered by Mack Rides in Germany and is expected to open in Spring 2018. The coaster's name was revealed to be Icon on 11th April 2017.