Themeparksandy1981
TS Member
I think there pricing is stupid like if I go with my wife and 2 kids aged 10 and 3 I have to pay £144 and petrol and parking brings it up to £200 for a day out before u include food and drink.
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Blackpool Pleasure Beach: 2023 Discussion
- Thread starter rob666
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It could easily be The full day tickets are all that’s advertised, but on the day deals are released through local advertising staff / banners on the promenade, digital advertising which can be accessed quickly and relatively cheaply
If the park saw just 100 or so £10-20 tickets with potential additional spend and upsell extensions to timed access, food drinks. Its better than just the income from 400 people on park at £40, whom likely booked before they even arrived in Blackpool.
Im not suggesting advertising on the website etc
I'm suggesting on the day promos to get people through the door, am I suggesting it should run every day ? No.
But from an economic point of view it seems the beach needs additional revenue when times are hard for everyone, yet outside of the park its very busy. The park need to access some of that revenue potential when the full day price doesn't appeal to the majority of visitors to the resort.
Its simple business in 2022 adapt and take the revenue potentially there or be left behind to fail
Shaggy_Dog_
TS Member
I get the idea that you are suggesting but I just don’t think it would work for a park like Pleasure Beach.
Some amusement parks however do offer timed “sessions”, for example Yarmouth Pleasure Beach is open each day for a certain amount of sessions that last for either three or four hours and cost £15. So for example the first session might be from 11am-2pm and when it gets to 2pm that’s it, everything shuts down and everyone has to leave before the next session starts at say 2.45-5.45pm. So on the one hand they do make the park more attractive to casual visitors that might just want to stop off for a few hours and not spend as much money as they would compared to a park with a full day ticket system (however it’s worth noting that non-riders still have to pay the same price).
But by its nature Pleasure Beach is a larger park than Yarmouth and has many more rides. It’s easily the kind of place you can spend a full day out at. Personally I’d think that a £39 online purchased ticket to ride the more interesting attractions at Blackpool from 10pm-5pm offers a vastly superior value for money than riding Yarmouth’s attractions for three hours at £15. But I can appreciate though how the On The Day Price of £46 at Blackpool would really put off casual passers by.
I think there are a couple of things that Pleasure Beach could do that would maybe address this. Firstly they could look at removing the premium for buying a ticket on the day at the gate, there’s no real need for it to cost so much more over booking online in advance, just make the standard price £39 or whatever and knock off a couple of quid for booking online, simple.
The other thing that Pleasure Beach could do is to run spilt sessions during the day (similar to the system Yarmouth have) but logistically I’m not sure how that would work. It lends itself more to a smaller amusement park where there is less to do and not so much desire to spend a whole day there. You’d also then have the issue of guests who turn up halfway through sessions and then how do you handle that? Perhaps the best way for Pleasure Beach to handle the issue of attracting families such as non-riding grandparents taking kids would be to look at a similar system to Fantasy Island with its priced tiers of wristbands for family rides and thrill rides. That would mean that everyone could get a full day there at a price they feel comfortable with dependent on what type of attractions they want to ride.
MattyH
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- GIIBBB
Tim
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Air / Blue Fire
Just back from the Pleasure Beach. Only managed an hour and a half in the end, after getting stuck in traffic and losing the 2 extra hours they were meant to be open today.
But overall it was quite a good trip! 7 rides and it was only Icon I queued for.
Based on this trip I'd definitely say a 2-3 hour pass has potential, but only if the rides are practically walk on like I had this evening. I was quite happy to leave once I got on 7 rides but only 5 and I might have left a bit underwhelmed.
But overall it was quite a good trip! 7 rides and it was only Icon I queued for.
Based on this trip I'd definitely say a 2-3 hour pass has potential, but only if the rides are practically walk on like I had this evening. I was quite happy to leave once I got on 7 rides but only 5 and I might have left a bit underwhelmed.
Poisson
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- The Giant Squid
Meanwhile Towers got 90 mins on The Smiler, 65 on Wicker Man, 60 on 13, 60 on Rita, rest of the coasters were 30+If there were any doubt as to why the hours have been cut so dramatically today, the current longest queues:
Just because POP only works for "proper" theme parks, I think it harms places like the PB. The mindset isn't there to spend full whack on entry for all members of a party. As much as Mandy wants people to be in the mindset of paying for a full day, if the market doesn't want it then the Beach will lose out.
You probably wouldn't be in Staines/Chessington/Alton/Ower randomly on a day out, but you'd be in Blackpool/Southend/Skegness/Ingoldmells on a day out and fancy a ride or 3. That's the difference and that's what PB fail to realise.
djtruefitt
TS Team
You’ll generally find most seaside parks do wristband/tokens as the kind of guests will just want to wonder round, and possibly not spend all day their, especially if they are only in the area for the day or a couple of days.
I get why they got rid of the free entry, to get rid of the trouble and people just clogging the park up but not spending anything , but they should bring back the entry price and ride tokens. Especially as they still insist you scan your ticket on every ride for no apparent reason.
They should trial some random free entry days and see how well the park does from secondary spending and ride tickets,
Matt N
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Mako (SeaWorld Orlando)
One issue Blackpool Pleasure Beach perhaps faces is the type of visitors they get and their purpose for visiting the park.
The impression I get is that their current pricing style is targeted towards wanting people to come to Blackpool solely for the Pleasure Beach and to treat the park in the same way as any other British theme park. That in itself is fair enough; most other British theme parks function this way.
However, I do think BPB’s location changes a lot. As posters further up have said, POP works for Alton, Thorpe, Paultons etc because they’re not in areas where they’re likely to get much passing custom or non-rider custom. Most people don’t do day trips or family holidays to Alton or Staines and briefly pop into Alton Towers or Thorpe Park while they’re there. Those parks are the destination.
I gather that Blackpool Pleasure Beach, on the other hand, is merely a peripheral attraction within the wider Blackpool package for many of those who visit. By and large, I'd guess that not too many people outside of enthusiast circles go to Blackpool with the sole intention of visiting Blackpool Pleasure Beach. I'd wager that most BPB visitors visit the park because it's in Blackpool, and one of a wide variety of activities that make up a stereotypical family holiday or day trip to Blackpool. As such, they likely get a lot more quick passing custom than rural theme parks, as well as a lot more non-rider custom (You're not likely to take non-riders to Alton Towers, but might non-riders be tagging along on a day out in Blackpool or a Blackpool beach holiday where others in the party want to visit the Pleasure Beach? Absolutely.).
As such, I reckon a hybrid model would play to their strengths a little more than solely using POP. But what do I know; I’m not a BPB accountant, so I’m probably talking rubbish!
The impression I get is that their current pricing style is targeted towards wanting people to come to Blackpool solely for the Pleasure Beach and to treat the park in the same way as any other British theme park. That in itself is fair enough; most other British theme parks function this way.
However, I do think BPB’s location changes a lot. As posters further up have said, POP works for Alton, Thorpe, Paultons etc because they’re not in areas where they’re likely to get much passing custom or non-rider custom. Most people don’t do day trips or family holidays to Alton or Staines and briefly pop into Alton Towers or Thorpe Park while they’re there. Those parks are the destination.
I gather that Blackpool Pleasure Beach, on the other hand, is merely a peripheral attraction within the wider Blackpool package for many of those who visit. By and large, I'd guess that not too many people outside of enthusiast circles go to Blackpool with the sole intention of visiting Blackpool Pleasure Beach. I'd wager that most BPB visitors visit the park because it's in Blackpool, and one of a wide variety of activities that make up a stereotypical family holiday or day trip to Blackpool. As such, they likely get a lot more quick passing custom than rural theme parks, as well as a lot more non-rider custom (You're not likely to take non-riders to Alton Towers, but might non-riders be tagging along on a day out in Blackpool or a Blackpool beach holiday where others in the party want to visit the Pleasure Beach? Absolutely.).
As such, I reckon a hybrid model would play to their strengths a little more than solely using POP. But what do I know; I’m not a BPB accountant, so I’m probably talking rubbish!
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But the BPB accountants (or Mandy) must be talking rubbish if they remain a very quiet park with very high attendance cost, with no option other than take it or leave it.
People are leaving it.
Time to accept that the current pricing policy has failed post covid.
Usual Beach, give them a couple of years to sort their next steps, there is always another council baleout if things get too tricky.
People are leaving it.
Time to accept that the current pricing policy has failed post covid.
Usual Beach, give them a couple of years to sort their next steps, there is always another council baleout if things get too tricky.
Cheeky bustard...another decade to go mate.
Just.
Poisson
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- The Giant Squid
Mhmm we believe you....
venny
TS Member
There are some incredible management decisions being made at the moment - pricing, operations, opening hours…
I can’t help but think a combination of greed, poor strategy and the current environment are the perfect storm for the park.
Amazingly, there’s also still pretty much full radio silence on Valhalla. Surely they should be starting a marketing build for what we’re led to believe is a major renovation? The parallels with the Icon marketing debacle are worrying and they appear to have learned nothing.
I can’t help but think a combination of greed, poor strategy and the current environment are the perfect storm for the park.
Amazingly, there’s also still pretty much full radio silence on Valhalla. Surely they should be starting a marketing build for what we’re led to believe is a major renovation? The parallels with the Icon marketing debacle are worrying and they appear to have learned nothing.
Themeparksandy1981
TS Member
My sister went to Blackpool with some friends for the weekend and went on Icon and loved it so much paid £15 to ride enso which she thought was even better. It’s the 1st time she’s been in 20 Years and she asked a member of staff where the entrance for Noah’s ark was and the member of staff told her it was just part of the entrance feature which she explained it use to be a fun house and the girl had no clue it was a attraction.
Just so you can tell her, the entrance moved over the years, from dead centre at the entrance booths, to further to the right when the first bit was shortened.
Long walk through with wonky stairs and minor air jets and a little electric shock on the handrail.
Smelt of rot and wee.
C ticket burner on a rainy day.
I don't weep for it like the Reel.
Long walk through with wonky stairs and minor air jets and a little electric shock on the handrail.
Smelt of rot and wee.
C ticket burner on a rainy day.
I don't weep for it like the Reel.
Rick
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Crux
I think there's some truth in this but it's worth reflecting on the same things that make it unaffordable for guests mean it's increasingly unaffordable for a family business to supply.
Energy, staffing, F&B stock costs etc are all increasing at unprecedented levels.
I think there is probably consensus that the park need to respond to that, the debate is regarding how they do it.
Their current (I hesitate to use the word) strategy seems to be on less people paying more on the gate (where there is 100% margin) vs. people paying less on the gate to make it up on secondary spend (which has ever decreasing margins).
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shakey
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Wild Mouse - Blackpool - :(
I suppose the big question is, would they get twice as many paying guests if they charged half the price ?
Rick
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Crux
And as importantly ...
- What is the revenue advantage from twice as many people ? Are you selling lots of food or just confiscating twice as many picnics ?
- In the current climate, what is the cost disadvantage in having twice as many people on park ?
Dave
TS Founding Member
Secondary spend is the revenue advantage, plus ultimately a higher gate take.
Not many of the beaches rides have adaptable throughputs based on staffing (such as Air or Oblivion which can stand down a station and save on staffing costs). So cost doesn’t really change if you get a few thousand more people on park but revenue will increase.
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