If you’ve got vertigo, look away now. Because the UK’s tallest swing ride is opening in Blackpool next year, and it looks... terrifying.
From 2026, adrenaline junkies and speed freaks will be able to ride the 138-foot-tall (that’s 42 metres, and the same height as what is considered to be the world’s first skyscraper, the Home Insurance Building in Chicago) Aviktas swing at Pleasure Beach in Blackpool. Riders will be flung into the air with views of the famous Big One rollercoaster and the sea, if they can focus their eyes for a second to catch it.
The ‘tallest of its kind’ ride (in Britain, at least) will seat 40 people, and have a giant spinning pendulum that swings riders 120 degrees with their legs dangling. Gulp.
Aviktas still has a way to go to compete with the world’s tallest swing ride, the Bollywood Skyflyer at Bollywood Parks in Dubai which stands at a whopping 460-feet-tall (140 meters). However, the new Blackpool attraction is nearly double the height of other swing rides in the UK, like Drayton Manor’s 74-foot-tall Maelstrom.
Pleasure Beach has just released the first CGI video of how the ride is going to look.
Amanda Thompson OBE, chief executive of Pleasure Beach Resort said: ‘We’re known for going big at Pleasure Beach, and Aviktas is exactly that.
‘We hope by releasing this video, guests will be able to understand the mammoth scale of our new investment, and the huge impact it’ll have on our park and the industry as a whole. This ride will be colossal, daunting, exhilarating and an incredible addition to the town.’
Aviktas will open in 2026, with exact dates revealed on the Pleasure Beach social media accounts closer to the time.
It’s official: four of the best theme parks in the world are in the UK.
A new scenic bus links three of England’s most popular seaside towns.
Stay in the loop: sign up to our free Time Out UK newsletter for the latest UK news and the best stuff happening across the country.