Blackpool Pleasure Beach: 2023 Discussion

[Ethan]

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.

You know what I appreciate how you middle aged folks get enjoyment out of the simplest things. Hope I'm like that

 

[rob666]

Oh to be middle aged...
I will be in Crevettes at six and seven pm, to buy strangers beer and give mouse wheels away.
If they let me in with wheels...
Sorry, no mobile, but happy to follow other meet up instructions.
Come on Ethan, free beer for young uns.

 

[Dipper_Dave]

You know what I appreciate how you middle aged folks get enjoyment out of the simplest things. Hope I'm like that

Wanted to quote your other post too about not going to a theme park to drink, but not sure how to multi quote from different pages or if you even can. . .

At your age I’d have been all about hammering the rides, barely stopping to think about food & drink. Enjoy whilst you have the youth, energy, stamina & inclination to do that.

Wait until you are over 40/50/60 (delete as appropriate) like some of us. Then you’ll understand the need to pace your day and why we CBA waiting in long coaster queues and will go on (almost) any old ride we can if it’s got a short queue, then go for another beer!

 

[rob666]

...and then the toilet.
I feel drifting on the dodgems coming on.

 

[Ethan]

Wanted to quote your other post too about not going to a theme park to drink, but not sure how to multi quote from different pages or if you even can. . .

At your age I’d have been all about hammering the rides, barely stopping to think about food & drink. Enjoy whilst you have the youth, energy, stamina & inclination to do that.

Wait until you are over 40/50/60 (delete as appropriate) like some of us. Then you’ll understand the need to pace your day and why we CBA waiting in long coaster queues and will go on (almost) any old ride we can if it’s got a short queue, then go for another beer!

Oh for sure I'll make the most of it while I can. Despite only being early 20s I still can't do what I could at 17/18. Back then I could ride anything with ease but I certainly can't do that with flats and fun fair rides anymore unfortunately. Coasters I'm still fine with thankfully, although lapping Smiler is starting to hit me so will be interesting to see how many goes I can do on Nemmy next year before having to stop

 

[Benjsh]

I do like the easy getaway from pleasure beach compared to towers. I can be in the car and on the motorway within 10 mins of leaving the park.

Spoons being nearby is also great as it's far better than themepark food and also more reasonably priced too.

As a park itself though it doesn't even compare to Towers. The ride hardware isnt in same league for me.

 

[Enter Valhalla]

Let’s not forget, the original point that was made here, before we went off on a tangent about resort status and Wetherspoons, is that BPB charging the same price as Alton Towers is unreasonable.

As far as I’m concerned, that point still stands and I’ve yet to hear anything to convince me that it’s reasonable for BPB to be changing as much as Alton Towers when AT not only has a better ride line up, it also has a better full park package, as well as lots more ‘extras’ than BPB such as the Gardens and the Towers ruins themselves. If you’re honestly trying to tell me that the hedge maze behind Steeplechase is compatible to the AT gardens, then that’s just ridiculous.

Also I personally prefer the Tavern at AT to the weird bars at BPB, most of which look like they’ve not had a refurb since the 80s.

 

[Benjsh]

Blackpool have missed a massive trick when it comes to ride hardware. Towers do coasters better than PB and always will, mainly due to having much deeper pockets.

The one area where Towers is appalling is flat rides and PB really haven't exploited this to their benefit at all. The only modern flat ride they have installed (sky force) is absolutely awful too.

They should have had a Gyro Swing and 1 or 2 other enjoyable modern flats by now. Could have made them stand out a bit more and offer something a bit different.

 

[Ethan]

As far as I’m concerned, that point still stands and I’ve yet to hear anything to convince me that it’s reasonable for BPB to be changing as much as Alton Towers when AT not only has a better ride line up, it also has a better full park package, as well as lots more ‘extras’ than BPB such as the Gardens and the Towers ruins themselves. If you’re honestly trying to tell me that the hedge maze behind Steeplechase is compatible to the AT gardens, then that’s just ridiculous.

Exactly this. If we look at it in a different way though. I'd argue that in the theme park industry, where admission is never usually cheap, I'd say the price to get into Blackpool is maybe more realistic than Towers. Reason I say that is because I actually think Towers is an absolute bargain at £35-£39. Its a theme park at the top level within the industry and there's no way they should be charging under £40 if the likes of Disney are £90+ or whatever it is. Now I'm not saying Towers is on Disneys level but if they get away with charging that then surely Towers could get away with charging more. To me if you're paying the same amount to get in the likes of Blackpool, Flamingo land as you are Towers there's definitely something wrong. Either the likes of Blackpool charge too much or Towers charge too little

 

[Matt N]

Always quality over quantity

For you personally, that may be true, but quality is very subjective, so I’d argue that seeing as most of BPB’s coasters are at least somewhat sizeable major attractions, you could feasibly equate the two parks with each other coaster-wise. If it was like Flamingo Land, where they technically have the same number of coasters as Towers and Blackpool but 5 of them are kiddie coasters, I would agree more, but most of Blackpool’s coasters are what you could consider major attractions.

We can debate the quality of those coasters all day, but if you list out the coasters that Blackpool has, the park, from an objective standpoint, has a pretty impressive coaster selection, in my view. If you described a park with a hyper coaster, a multi-launch coaster, an inverted coaster, a shuttle loop coaster, a bobsled coaster, a unique Arrow concept and one of the world’s largest selections of wooden roller coasters, I’d say that that stacks up very respectably with numerous other parks across Europe and the world. It certainly could give Towers a run for its money from a purely objective standpoint, in my view.

In terms of how that links in with the original debate; I’d argue that the variety and size of major coaster selection that Blackpool has is broadly comparable with that of Alton Towers, so that does give them ammunition to justify charging a comparable entry fee before you even consider non-coaster rides. Alton Towers has a fair lineup of dark rides, with 4 on offer now that Sub-Terra has reopened, but Blackpool also has a fair number of dark rides. Blackpool is arguably ahead in terms of both non-children’s flat rides and water rides, with Blackpool having SkyForce, Ice Blast and numerous heritage flat rides while Alton Towers only has The Blade, Marauder’s Mayhem and the RetroSquad rides, and Blackpool having Valhalla, Rugrats Lost River and SpongeBob Splash Bash while Alton Towers only has Congo River Rapids and Battle Galleons. Overall, I would make the argument that Blackpool has a more well-rounded ride lineup than Alton Towers if one talks objectively.

I do get that Alton Towers’ rides are newer, and that for some (myself included), they are a fair bit more highly rated, but I can’t deny that Blackpool objectively offers an impressively varied and expansive attraction lineup, and that does give them some justification to charge a comparable fee to Alton Towers, in my view.

As far as I’m concerned, that point still stands and I’ve yet to hear anything to convince me that it’s reasonable for BPB to be changing as much as Alton Towers when AT not only has a better ride line up, it also has a better full park package, as well as lots more ‘extras’ than BPB such as the Gardens and the Towers ruins themselves. If you’re honestly trying to tell me that the hedge maze behind Steeplechase is compatible to the AT gardens, then that’s just ridiculous.

Out of interest, what standpoint are you saying that Alton Towers has a “better” ride lineup from? Is this an objective standpoint, or based on your personal views on Alton Towers and BPB’s rides?

I would argue that from an objective standpoint, Blackpool has a more well-rounded and expansive ride lineup than Alton Towers, even if many of Alton Towers’ coasters in particular may rate more highly for some than BPB’s.

 

[Ethan]

For you personally, that may be true, but quality is very subjective, so I’d argue that seeing as most of BPB’s coasters are at least somewhat sizeable major attractions, you could feasibly equate the two parks with each other coaster-wise. If it was like Flamingo Land, where they technically have the same number of coasters as Towers and Blackpool but 5 of them are kiddie coasters, I would agree more, but most of Blackpool’s coasters are what you could consider major attractions.

So are you trying to say that National, Big dipper, Nick streak, Infusion, Revolution, Avalanche and Big one are as good as Galactica, Nemesis, Oblivion, Rita, Th13teen and Wicker man

 

[Matt N]

So are you trying to say that National, Big dipper, Nick streak, Infusion, Revolution, Avalanche and Big one are as good as Galactica, Nemesis, Oblivion, Rita, Th13teen and Wicker man

Not necessarily. Quality is very subjective, hence why I don’t think you can use it to determine a park’s entry price (which is where the original debate stemmed from).

I’m simply saying that whatever you or I personally think of them, the Blackpool coasters you’ve listed are what you could feasibly consider major attractions in the same vein as Alton Towers’, and from an objective standpoint, the park does have a very respectable coaster lineup, in my view.

 

[Shaggy_Dog_]

To me if you're paying the same amount to get in the likes of Blackpool, Flamingo land as you are Towers there's definitely something wrong. Either the likes of Blackpool charge too much or Towers charge too little

Without wishing to derail this thread, I’m not sure that really holds up. Towers has an on the day gate price of £68 which is probably the most expensive in the UK (followed very closely by the other Merlin parks). However a massive part of Merlin’s strategy are BOGOF offers and the selling of the various passes which have the effect of bringing in a massive number of people in to their parks at certain times, and some would argue too many and at the detriment of guest experience when combined with the selling of Fastrack and how that relates to guests that aren’t using it.

Towers might work out cheaper to get in to but that doesn’t mean too much if you are going to be stuck in massive near-hour long queues all day. At least with Pleasure Beach it can seem that on a busy day there you can get on more rides than on a busy day at Towers perhaps. There are many different ways of looking at theme parks and many different metrics that can be used but just solely saying that one park is better than another because it costs less to get in to doesn’t really tell the whole story. I think a better way to look at it is to consider the experience of the park as a whole more and the attractions on offer more so than just looking at the price. Both parks have their pluses and minuses and ways in which one can be seen to trump the other, but ultimately though it’s all just personal opinion.

 

[Zeock]

So are you trying to say that National, Big dipper, Nick streak, Infusion, Revolution, Avalanche and Big one are as good as Galactica, Nemesis, Oblivion, Rita, Th13teen and Wicker man

For some people, they might be. People have different opinions, although admittedly the one stated here is probably quite uncommon.

 

[shakey]

Things that Blackpool does better than towers ......

Shorter queues
Shorter walks
Cheaper parking (as in free and less of a walk away than towers parking)
Cheaper food and drink inside the park
The option to leave the park to eat / drink etc.
Cheaper queue jumping system (if that's your thing)
Wider selection of rides other than coasters

I don't think you can argue too much with that.

Things that towers does better......

It's not in Lancashire !!












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[Ethan]

Things that towers does better......

It's not in Lancashire !!

-Better coasters
- Better dark rides
- Better family area
- Resort with multiple hotels and other attractions
- Beautiful towers and gardens that not many parks in the world have
-Rides hidden away which gives a sense of adventure rather than just having rides crammed on top of each other
- Feels magical and has disney VIBES

 

[shakey]

-Better coasters
- Better dark rides
- Better family area
- Resort with multiple hotels and other attractions
- Beautiful towers and gardens that not many parks in the world have
-Rides hidden away which gives a sense of adventure rather than just having rides crammed on top of each other
- Feels magical and has disney VIBES

Have you been at the gin Ethan

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[Shaggy_Dog_]

- Resort with multiple hotels and other attractions

Surely Blackpool itself, with its vast array of hotels, restaurants and wide range of attractions including a zoo, waterpark, piers, midway attractions, and the Tower makes it more of a complete destination than Alton Towers?

We’ve got whole threads here discussing the issues and problems of the hotels at Towers and Aramark catering at Merlin parks so it’s pretty strange to try and mention them as a positive over Blackpool Pleasure Beach?

 

[Ethan]

Surely Blackpool itself, with its vast array of hotels, restaurants and wide range of attractions including a zoo, waterpark, piers, midway attractions, and the Tower makes it more of a complete destination than Alton Towers?

We’ve got whole threads here discussing the issues and problems of the hotels at Towers and Aramark catering at Merlin parks so it’s pretty strange to try and mention them as a positive over Blackpool Pleasure Beach?

It's more about the place being a resort making it feel more exclusive. Realistically pleasure beach is a big square dumped next to the seaside

 

[shakey]

£2.49 pint of Ruddles to wash it down. Merlin need to up their game here.

£1.71 in my local spoons !!! That's 20th century prices.



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