The thing I often failed to realise in this debate in the past is that Blackpool Pleasure Beach, despite having an attraction lineup that matches that of the Merlin parks on paper, is rightly or wrongly not viewed in the same way as the Merlin parks. It is also in a location where it could benefit from considerable passing custom.
Unlike Alton Towers and Thorpe Park, the clientele who mostly visit Blackpool Pleasure Beach do not view it as an attraction in itself, but rather a constituent part of the wider “package” of Blackpool. Despite how many enthusiasts (myself included) go to Blackpool primarily to visit the Pleasure Beach, Blackpool is a holiday resort with a wide variety of attractions, including the beaches, the piers, the Tower, the Merlin attractions and Sandcastle Waterpark, amongst others. Many families will go to Blackpool for their annual seaside holiday, spend a few days or a week there and loiter casually around the town’s various attractions, of which Pleasure Beach is one of them. On a seaside holiday like that, families may not want to commit to a full day at the Pleasure Beach, and might want the flexibility to just pay a small fee to go in and ride a ride or two.
This type of holiday is also far more likely to attract non-riders, as nans and grandads and such will often go on seaside holidays with their children and grandchildren. If the Pleasure Beach has an entry fee, families may not want to pay £80 or so for Nan and Grandad to enter the park and not ride anything. But at the same time, they may not want to leave Nan and Grandad at the hotel or house either, so in the end, that scenario would probably end with none of the family members going to the Pleasure Beach and the park getting nothing from them.
Alton Towers and Thorpe Park are not located within popular holiday resorts and are not likely to be visited in the same manner; if a family wants to visit Alton Towers or Thorpe Park, they will view Alton Towers or Thorpe Park as attractions in themselves, visit them accordingly for either a day trip or a 1 night hotel stay, and just not invite Nan and Grandad along. With Pleasure Beach, which often acts as a constituent part of a longer family holiday where Nan and Grandad have been invited, it’s not quite so easy to just leave Nan and Grandad behind.
Finally, a reason the entry fee is so contentious is good old precedent. Alton Towers and Thorpe Park have never had free entry or a walk around pass, so they never set a precedent of having it, whereas Pleasure Beach has over 100 years of precedent in this regard, so people will naturally be a bit angry that it’s gone regardless of what the park actually offers.
For clarity, I don’t believe that free entry is what the park should return to, but I would support the return of the more lowly priced walk-around pass.
