UK theme park releases first pictures of record-breaking £8,720,000 new ride

It’s almost double the height of the current record-holder (Picture: Pleasure Beach Resort)

In less than two weeks, Pleasure Beach Resort in Blackpool launches a record-breaking new ride — and to get thrillseekers excited ahead of opening, it’s shared an exclusive sneak peek.

Aviktas, which was officially announced last summer, will welcome its first 40 riders on Thursday May 21, catapulting them 138ft into the air at angles of up to 120°.

Set to become the largest gyro swing in the UK, the attraction towers over the seaside town’s skyline, just beside the famous Big One and Infusion coasters.

For context, it’s almost double the height of the current tallest spinning pendulum ride — Drayton Manor’s Maelstrom at approximately 74ft — and surpasses the likes of Thorpe Park’s The Swarm and Flamingo Land’s Kumali.

Designed to provide a ‘weightless’ sensation at the top of its arc, it makes those on board ‘feel as though they are being swung over the sea’, with ‘epic views’ across the Fylde Coast.

While visitors may have caught a a glimpse of Aviktas’s scale during recent tests, as it’s largely shielded from public view behind fencing and hoarding, these images offer a preview of the final construction in all its glory.

Aviktas swings riders 138ft into the air (Picture: Pleasure Beach Resort) This makes it the tallest gyro swing in the UK (Picture: Pleasure Beach Resort)

The £8.72 million project sits on the former site of the Bowladrome, an arcade and entertainment venue that stood from the 1960s, before being demolished in March 2025.

The area has since undergone a dramatic transformation, with Avitkas’s four 16-tonne legs erected in November and its first swing taking place earlier this year. 

Alongside these latest pictures, Pleasure Beach also released the official soundtrack for the ride on streaming platforms; an atmospheric little number composed by Glenn Robertson, the musician behind the scores for ICON, Launch Pad and the Big One.

It’s been years in the making (Picture: Pleasure Beach Resort) A mural painted by local artist, Steve Hallam, looms over the site (Picture: Pleasure Beach Resort)

Amanda Thompson OBE, the company’s CEO, said: ‘This isn’t just a new ride for Pleasure Beach, it’s a completely unique experience to UK theme parks as a whole. We have a history of going big and this certainly is no exception.

‘We’re in the final stages now. The finishing touches are being added and we’re making sure everything is ready for its opening on the 21st.’

Desperate to see if Avitkas lives up to the hype? You may be able to jump the queue, with adrenaline-lovers now being offered the chance to become one of the first to ride it.

As part of its VIP preview event, Pleasure Beach has ‘a limited number’ of tickets available for this exclusive experience this Wednesday (May 13), priced from £50 each.

Avitkas sits where the former Bowladrome once was (Picture: Pleasure Beach Resort) It’ll open in June, marking Pleasure Beach’s 130th birthday (Picture: Pleasure Beach Resort)

With the resort celebrating its 130th birthday, having recently launched its reimagined 210ft Launch Pad ride, it’s a big year for Blackpool Pleasure Beach.

However, this comes just months after it closed classic attractions including Eddie Stobart Conboy and Alpine Rally for the 2025 season, and faced criticism for introducing a new £25 ‘non-rider’ entrance fee.

Following the latter, a spokesperson told Metro: ‘The cost of operating a clean, tidy and safe environment has increased significantly over the years.

‘We really value guest feedback and introduced the Non Rider eTicket in response to this, in a way that is viable for us… and are really pleased to be the only major UK park offering non-riders a lower priced ticket.’

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