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Blackpool Pleasure Beach: 2023 Discussion

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Enter Valhalla said:
I didn’t want to get involved in this Towers vs Blackpool discussion because it’s all subjective, but I’m sorry, I can’t let this slide.

Alton Towers has a waterpark, a spa, a mini golf course and multiple hotels. That’s what makes it a resort and they are right to brand themselves as that. There’s lots of things to do in Blackpool itself besides BPB but these things are nothing to do with the park. Alton Towers has plenty of non theme park options and to suggest that BPB has more is just laughable.
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But none of the above are included in your park ticket. Which makes them comparable.
 
siralgenon said:
But none of the above are included in your park ticket. Which makes them comparable.
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We compare the actual theme parks nothing else. Where you can have the best pint does not determine if its a good theme park. Deciding which park is the best based on just having drinks is like judging a shopping centre on which toilets are the best
 
Ethan said:
We compare the actual theme parks nothing else. Where you can have the best pint does not determine if its a good theme park. Deciding which park is the best based on just having drinks is like judging a shopping centre on which toilets are the best
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I've never mentioned drinks. I'm saying the waterpark and golf at Towers are not included in the park ticket.
 
Ethan said:
In my opinion the cost of getting in should reflect the value of the rides and attractions you can experience. The only coaster I enjoy at Blackpool is Icon, which is an elite ride have to admit. The rest just aren't for me so I wouldn't be too happy paying £35 entry. Thorpe have 5 solid coasters and a good range of flats too. Likewise towers have some great coasters but also good dark rides. I'm a coaster person and to say 2 of the best rides at Blackpool, valhalla and wallace and gromit, aren't even coasters says a lot about the coasters they do have. Maybe Icon being so smooth just makes everything else look like trash I'm not sure
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But let’s say you did just ride Icon all day and got seven rides in, that’s still only £5 a time which is about right. Although theme parks might seem expensive at £30-40 it’s often not too bad per ride.
 
jon81uk said:
But let’s say you did just ride Icon all day and got seven rides in, that’s still only £5 a time which is about right. Although theme parks might seem expensive at £30-40 it’s often not too bad per rid
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True I hadn't thought about it that way. I suppose you're definitely more likely to get on more rides at Blackpool
 
Ethan said:
Never been in the tavern at towers in my life. I go for the rides not to have some pints. If I wanted to chill and just have some drinks why would I travel to a theme park
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This is where experiences really do become subjective!

A nice pint really is part of the experience for me. The rides, the on-park entertainment, the food, the drink, the souvenir range on offer, the quality of the theming around the park. Every aspect for me makes the experience as a whole. That’s probably why I spend most of my pennies going to Europe.

A pint at the BBQ for me, under the Revolution, watching everyone on the rides whilst in that tiny pocket of relative calm is perfect. Those couple of trees rustling over head, kids off to ride Avatar. Just love it!

When I go to Disney World, the day I spend touring their themed bars across the resorts is as much part of my holiday as riding Space Mountain.

Back to Blackpool, the park is a package for me. Maybe some nostalgia too. I‘m not saying improvements can’t me made, but then everywhere can be improved.
 
MarkR77 said:
This is where experiences really do become subjective!

A nice pint really is part of the experience for me. The rides, the on-park entertainment, the food, the drink, the souvenir range on offer, the quality of the theming around the park. Every aspect for me makes the experience as a whole. That’s probably why I spend most of my pennies going to Europe.

A pint at the BBQ for me, under the Revolution, watching everyone on the rides whilst in that tiny pocket of relative calm is perfect. Those couple of trees rustling over head, kids off to ride Avatar. Just love it!

When I go to Disney World, the day I spend touring their themed bars across the resorts is as much part of my holiday as riding Space Mountain.

Back to Blackpool, the park is a package for me. Maybe some nostalgia too. I‘m not saying improvements can’t me made, but then everywhere can be improved.
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Don't forget the random chats with strangers...
 
Each to their own, and of course, whether something is “worth it” is only a question that you personally can answer. Everyone values different things in these parks.

However, I feel that saying that Blackpool shouldn’t charge £35 because Icon is the only ride there that you personally like would dismiss their plethora of other major rides. Say what you will about them, but from a purely objective standpoint, Blackpool has a lot of major rides compared to most other parks in this country; in fact, I think it may actually have the most rides of any park in the country (correct me if I’m wrong there) and the joint highest number of coasters (and that’s even before you consider that some count Steeplechase as 3 credits and National as 2). That alone makes it warrant a higher entry fee than most parks in the country on the basis of “major stuff to do”, in my view.

Personally, Blackpool is not my favourite UK park. That title goes to Alton Towers. In terms of coaster selection, I would at very least say that I prefer Alton and Thorpe, and I don’t disagree that Icon is the only ride there that I personally rate overly highly. However, I personally struggle to argue against the breadth and variety of Blackpool’s ride selection, and I do think that the park has a very unique atmosphere and appeal; it’s completely different to Alton Towers or Thorpe Park, but I love the unique historical feel and the visual eye candy of all of the rides stacked on top of each other!

I’m not really someone who considers the quality of pints on offer as a big part of the theme park experience either, seeing as I don’t drink alcohol and I don’t go to parks to sit in a bar. With that being said, everyone likes different things in these parks, and I think that often, a park’s overall quality is determined by far more than the quality of its coaster selection.
 
Pleasure Beach is clearly the much superior park because Towers doesn’t have a Wetherspoons right next it.

Trifling matters like ride lineup pale in to insignificance when it comes to the fact that you can get a Spoons brekkie before you go in and a cheeky £2.49 pint of Ruddles to wash it down. Merlin need to up their game here.
 
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