Blackpool Pleasure Beach: 2023 Discussion

[rob666]

Just been looking at the road situation before nipping out to a pub lunch.
Ouch...M6 closed both ways in Preston, all day.
M55 backed up, as all traffic is going through Preston.
Milk truck hopped the central reservation.
Large number of secondary bumps in the stopped traffic.

 

[Rick]

I took the dog to the beach this morning and the traffic was insane.

Is the park dead today? If so I might pop down for the last hour.

 

[b2311e]

It's not bad. Big one is shut and unlikely to open. Quieter than last week

 

[Benjsh]

Seventeen million on Icon.
Lots of effort on cleaning up the park.
And those torture devices have been torturing people for sixty , seventy, even a hundred years.
And lots complained when the worst offender was removed.
People keep riding them, not just thoosies.

That was 2018 and was their first major addition for over a decade. Just further backing up my point really. Icon is a decent coaster and definitely the best they have but even then it's hardly amazing by industry standards.

How many of these rides are best in class in Europe these days let alone the world? None really. They don't have any coasters that make the top 20 in Europe for me. They don't have any flats that do either. Dark rides are okay, albeit most quite old, and obviously Valhalla is great when everything is working.

It's nowhere near the 8th best as poster above suggested. Those trip advisor ratings are incredibly suspicious if you ask me.

Sorry just not a fan. I like a park with modern rides that are comfortable, reliable and can run multiple trains. Blackpool fails with most of this.

I do think sentiment plays way too much of a role among enthusiasts over PB. Take the wild mouse for example. The outcry when that thing was demolished and yet every time I rode it I felt like I was going around a Knackered track on a shopping trolley. It was a dreadful ride. Historic and unique perhaps but still a terrible ride experience unless you love being slammed into corners and getting minor whiplash.

Sorry for the rant but Blackpool just doesn't live up to my standards anymore. Liseberg is a far far far better park. Why? They have got a lot of their modern investments correct.

 

[Thameslink Rail]

The Milky Way Adventure Park in Devon is the tenth best park in the world on Trip Advisor. Doesn't change the fact it's a small kiddie park with only a handful of rides.

 

[rob666]

I took the dog to the beach this morning and the traffic was insane.

Is the park dead today? If so I might pop down for the last hour.

The traffic is still crazy Rick.
The gridlock runs as far as Lancaster, Ribchester!!!, M6/61 junction, Kirkham on the 55.
Might be quicker walking the dog to the Beach from home today.

 

[Rick]

The traffic is still crazy Rick.
The gridlock runs as far as Lancaster, Ribchester!!!, M6/61 junction, Kirkham on the 55.
Might be quicker walking the dog to the Beach from home today.

All good. 35 mins instead of 25 and jackpot parking space to boot.

BPK has gone up £2 in the past week or two. Now £15.95 (£14.35 with a season pass).

They have also started doing an upsell dessert which is an interesting move at an all you can eat buffet.



I didn't realise the park was open until six ...

 

[b2311e]

They snuck the 6pm close in quite late. I think next weekend is as well

 

[MarkR77]

Im in Blackpool for the first time in forever mid July but dates are showing a warning about school visits. Will me and the wee ones actually get on anything or is this a no go ?

 

[rob666]

Little ones probably fine.
Big rides...take a cattle prod to be on the safe side.

 

[shakey]

All good. 35 mins instead of 25 and jackpot parking space to boot.

BPK has gone up £2 in the past week or two. Now £15.95 (£14.35 with a season pass).

They have also started doing an upsell dessert which is an interesting move at an all you can eat buffet.



I didn't realise the park was open until six ...

£16 is a lot for a pizza. Does that include a drink ?

Still probably cheaper to nip round the corner to pizza hut.

Sent from my Pixel 6 Pro using Tapatalk

 

[Alexsniff7]

£16 is a lot for a pizza. Does that include a drink ?

Still probably cheaper to nip round the corner to pizza hut.

Sent from my Pixel 6 Pro using Tapatalk

it's a pizza buffet (me thinks)

 

[Maelstrom]

£16 is a lot for a pizza. Does that include a drink ?

Still probably cheaper to nip round the corner to pizza hut.

Sent from my Pixel 6 Pro using Tapatalk

Pizza Hut weekend lunch time buffet is £16.99 without a drink.

 

[rob666]

£14:35 if you remember your season pass though shakey...
No chance of that.

 

[Rick]

I think it's pretty solid for the price, really. It's all you can eat pizza (and garlic bread), plus salad bar and unlimited soft drinks.

The last time I got Pizza Hut buffet on Ocean Boulevard (last season) it was mid-week and was £9.99 for the buffet and a bottomless drink was £3.69. According to their website, it appears to be the same now, with the weekend buffet as per @Maelstrom's weekend pricing (£16.99 + drink) above. Therefore, Pizza Hut is cheaper than the in park option during the week and more expensive at the weekend.

Interestingly, the comparable Aramark option at Alton Towers (Explorers) is £17 on the price boards (more than BPK), but MAP discount is 20%, therefore if you have a pass it actually works out cheaper than BPK with a pass ... £13.60 vs. £14.35.

As I said when eating at Explorers (only six days ago, the shame!), I think the two offerings are pretty similar, it's definitely easier to get served at Alton (pay on entry), but the Pleasure Beach has Pepsi products, which I prefer ... but I guess that's a whole other thread.

What I don't know ... is if you opt for a beer or something else from the (extensive) bar at BPK, do you pay for a soft drink that you don't drink, or is there some sort of upgrade option ?

 

[rob666]

If they have a bottomless beer option it could end up as good value.

 

[Rick]

Here are some Big Dipper photos (spread across two posts), for your viewing pleasure - it looks fantastic and pretty much ready to roll ...


I assume the second train is ready and is in the garage. The station has certainly had a spruce up, the fountain needs some water but apart from that ... all looks good.


I am not sure if the lights have been replaced, or cleaned - also the neon has been cleaned up too. Also, a seagull.


From the Pleasure Beach Express, you get a sense of how clean the whole ride looks. Also, when you come to try and take some photos to share with fellow nerds on the internet, you realise how difficult it is to photograph the from any static vantage point.


Similar view. I was trying to recall if some of the lift was painted a different colour when Icon went in ? It all looks white now.


Looks brand new.


Running out of things to say now. Did the ops cabin used to be blue ?

 

[shakey]

I always think the all you can eat buffets are not as good a value as they make them out to be.

I mean the last thing you want after eating a load of pizza is another pizza !

Same for any type of buffet really. A standard meal is usually enough to fill you up , without eating more just for the sake of it.

The chicken and chips in Loki's seems like a lot better value to me.




Sent from my Pixel 6 Pro using Tapatalk

 

[shakey]

Here are some Big Dipper photos (spread across two posts), for your viewing pleasure - it looks fantastic and pretty much ready to roll ...


I assume the second train is ready and is in the garage. The station has certainly had a spruce up, the fountain needs some water but apart from that ... all looks good.


I am not sure if the lights have been replaced, or cleaned - also the neon has been cleaned up too. Also, a seagull.


From the Pleasure Beach Express, you get a sense of how clean the whole ride looks. Also, when you come to try and take some photos to share with fellow nerds on the internet, you realise how difficult it is to photograph the from any static vantage point.


Similar view. I was trying to recall if some of the lift was painted a different colour when Icon went in ? It all looks white now.


Looks brand new.


Running out of things to say now. Did the ops cabin used to be blue ?

Get the damn thing open !!!!

Sent from my Pixel 6 Pro using Tapatalk

 

[Rick]

Men only.


On Star Hill, they haven't pained the track, but I think that they have done the supports, which is probably a pretty rational thing to do.


On the turnaround there is mishmash of old and new.


More old and new.


As you would expect, they have only replaced the top two layers of track.


I was expecting, perhaps naively, that the lattice that holds up the 'thing' would be covered, but perhaps this is the final product ? One assumes that they are not going to put mirrors on it after the headaches with the ones on the Go Kart section of Icon.