Ride the mine train into the heart of Blackpool's gold mine...
Ride the mine train into the heart of Blackpool's gold mine...
| Theme Park | Blackpool Pleasure Beach |
|---|---|
| Type | Dark Ride |
| Audience | Families |
| Opened | 1971 |
| Closed | 2011 |
| Manufacturer | Arrow Development |
Gold Mine
Gold Mine was a classic dark ride at Blackpool Pleasure Beach, which operated between 1971 and 2011 before it was rethemed into Wallace & Gromit: Thrill-O-Matic.
The ride was built by Arrow together with an in-house design team, and took at least partial inspiration from the Calico Mine Ride at Knott's Berry Farm in California.
Visitors would sit on a train which would take them into the show building, through "underground" tunnels past scenes of the gold mine's miners at work. Highlights included parts of the ride which would pass through a cafe and over a section of the River Caves.
While Gold Mine could never match the immersive theming of modern dark rides, it was oddly engrossing. It was a ride which was a perfect fit for the classic charmingly slightly ramshackle Blackpool Pleasure Beach of old and, although the Wallace and Gromit makeover is well done, the classic Gold Mine is much missed.
