Astro Storm is an enclosed, sit down

roller coaster A roller coaster, or rollercoaster, is a type of amusement ride that employs a form of elevated railroad track designed with tight turns, steep slopes, and sometimes inversions. Passengers ride along the track in open cars, and the rides are o ...

Brean Leisure Park Brean Leisure Park is an amusement park in the coastal resort of Brean, near Burnham-on-Sea, Somerset, England. The park covers an area of . Open from March to November every year, the leisure park has also been a concert venue for artists such ...

Brean Brean is a village and civil parish between Weston-super-Mare and Burnham-on-Sea in Somerset, England. The name is derived from "Bryn" Brythonic and Modern Welsh for a hill and it has a population of 635. Close to the village is Brean Down, a pro ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, created by German amusement ride manufacturer

Zierer Zierer Karussell- und Spezialmaschinenbau GmbH & Co. KG (Short name: Zierer ) is a German company located close to Deggendorf. Zierer manufactures Tivoli and Force line of roller coasters, as well as panoramic wheels, wave swingers, flying car ...

. It used to be located at

Pleasure Beach Blackpool Blackpool Pleasure Beach is an amusement park situated on Blackpool's South Shore, in the county of Lancashire, North West England. It operates as a secure facility, and has introduced epayments via smartphones for admission charges, replacin ...

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...

where it was known as ''Space Invader 2''.

History

Space Invader opened on 21 August 1984, and was Blackpool Pleasure Beach's fourth steel roller coaster. The ride itself was constructed by

, a German ride manufacturer. The original ride was similar to the ride as it is today. In 2000, a young boy died after reportedly unbuckling his safety belt from panic. It was refurbished in 2003 by

Kumbak Coasters Kumbak is a Dutch amusement ride manufacturing company. In addition to manufacturing its own rides, the company primarily specialises in changing existing rides and attractions, originally made by other manufacturers. History ''Kumbak'' (origina ...

and reopened in 2004 as "Space Invader 2". In September 2008, the ride closed following a failed evacuation during operating hours. It was removed in June 2010 and announced to be sold to Brean Leisure Park in July 2010. The ride was refurbished and renamed 'Astro Storm' prior to its opening in 2011.

The ride

After leaving the station, cars make a 90° turn to the right and are carried to the top of a chain-lift hill; the cars then descend a 59ft drop in the dark, at an incline angle of 36°. The ride then has several drops, banked turns and helixes, before cars reach the brake run and return to the station to be unloaded. Astro Storm operates single car trains. Riders are arranged in three rows for a total of three riders per car with a T-bar restraint. Before 2003 (when it was the Space Invader at Blackpool), the ride used cars which were able to carry 4 people and riders were restrained by a seatbelt.

Theming

When it was ''Space Invader 2'', the ride was themed around a journey through space and was decorated with glow-in-the-dark pictures of stars, planets, and aliens. The queue and loading area were themed around a space station, with various signs telling riders the wait time to board their ride vehicles. Some parts of the queue were themed around the

Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera multimedia franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop-culture Cultural impact of S ...

films, such as a statue of

Han Solo Han Solo is a fictional character in the '' Star Wars'' franchise created by George Lucas. The character first appeared in the 1977 film '' Star Wars'' portrayed by Harrison Ford, who reprised his role in ''The Empire Strikes Back'' (1980) an ...

stuck in carbonite. ''Astro Storm'' however has a different approach with regard to theming. The queue area (which is now outside) is themed and has a queue line video. This video tells you that "Astro Tours" is going to take you on a journey through space. Once the train starts, you go through a set of doors followed by a screen with a man exclaiming "Abort!". The shouting continues as you go up the chain lift, with it becoming more chaotic as you reach the top. The rider is met with strobe lights and sirens while the rest of the ride is in pitch black. Although there are lighting effects on the trim brakes and additional audio effects.

Incidents

On 21 July 2000, 11-year-old Christopher Sharett died after he fell out of the ride vehicle. Authorities ruled his death as 'accidental' since he panicked and unbuckled his seatbelt before being hit by another cart.

References

{{Authority control Blackpool Pleasure Beach Roller coasters introduced in 1984 Roller coasters in the United Kingdom Amusement rides that closed in 2008