Wallace & Gromit's Thrill-O-Matic

Wallace & Gromit's Thrill-O-Matic is an indoor family dark ride at the Pleasure Beach Resort, an Amusement park in Blackpool, Lancashire, England. It opened in 2013, replacing The Gold Mine ride which opened in 1971 at a cost of £150,000, which closed in 2011. It is based on the Wallace & Gromit films[1] and was opened in April 2013 by Nick Park, Amanda Thompson, Nick Thompson, Nick Farmer and Merlin Crossingham.

Wallace & Gromit's Thrill-O-Matic
The facade for Wallace & Gromit's Thrill-O-Matic
Pleasure Beach Resort
StatusOperating
Cost£5.25 million
Opening date29 April 2013 (2013-04-29)
ReplacedThe Gold Mine
Ride statistics
Attraction typeTrack-based
ManufacturerWGH Transportation Engineering
DesignerFarmer Attraction Development
Modelindoor
ThemeWallace and Gromit
Length275 m (902 ft)
VehiclesSlipper-themed vehicles. Riders are arranged 2 across in 2 rows for a total of 4 riders per vehicle.
DurationApproximately 4 minutes
Height restriction90 cm (2 ft 11 in)
ThemingAardman Animations
KD Theming Technologies
Paragon Creative
Scenes20

Design and ride experience

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The ride, which cost £5.25 million, was created by Pleasure Beach Resort design in association with the creators of Wallace and Gromit, Aardman Animations. The ride's cars are designed to resemble one of Wallace's slippers. The ride lasts almost four minutes, and features scenes and audio from the Wallace and Gromit films A Grand Day Out, The Wrong Trousers, A Close Shave, The Curse of the Were-Rabbit and A Matter of Loaf and Death. The ride shares exactly the same track layout as the previous Gold Mine Ride, where riders experience small drops and sound effects throughout the ride.[2]

The ride exits into a gift shop with Wallace and Gromit merchandise, including T-shirts, toys, mugs, hoodies and keyrings.[3] A concession operated by Picsolve allows on-ride photos to be purchased.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Wallace And Gromit Head To The Beach". Coventry Telegraph. 15 August 2012. Retrieved 29 August 2012.
  2. ^ "Wallace & Gromit at Pleasure Beach". Park World Magazine: 7. September 2012.
  3. ^ "Wallace and Gromit are coming to Blackpool Pleasure Beach!". PRWeb. 15 August 2012. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 29 August 2012.