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Blackpool Pleasure Beach: 2023 Discussion

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Dave said:
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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They don't stand stations down, they stand rides down based on attendance. Quite a few planned late openings too, alongside shuttered rides.

More people at the existing gate price feels like a stretch, more people at a reduced gate price is possible, but again that's not straightforward for the reasons we outlined earlier.
 
Rick said:
I don't usually slag them off too much on the closing time changes, but what they have done with LNR this evening is absolutely disgraceful and someone should be shot on the Grand National steps at dawn. We can only hope @Coaster was planning to attend and will be delivering both barrels.
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John said:
If there were any doubt as to why the hours have been cut so dramatically today, the current longest queues:

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I must say, this really grinds my gears. 2 hours cut off the advertised 'Late night' riding time?! Queue lengths and guest numbers should have nothing to do with it. The simple fact is, they promised something and should deliver on it, regardless of whether 400 or 4,000 people are present. They need to realise that not everyone is local, and/or can just come back in a few days/weeks time, and show respect, not contempt, for their guests. This kind of thing royally stinks for those who went specifically to enjoy evening riding, even more so if they have travelled and paid silly money on fuel, hotels, etc. It reeks of CBA and this kind of thing really should stop. But I doubt it will.

I know this has been discussed at length the last few days already, but thinking of the night riding low guest numbers, surely if they had better pricing options, there would be more people in, hence more secondary spend, they would hopefully stay open til the promised time, and people would go away happy, as opposed to feeling ripped off and angry. As it is, @rob666 should be standing at Kentucky Derby, asking leaving punters, in his best Johnny Rotten voice, "Ever get the feeling you've been cheated?"

There really should be a way of offering an all day wristband and pay per ride option/s. I wonder has the park ever actually explained why the £10 (or however much it was) non-rider entry (& annual 'diamond pass') hasn't resumed? They can't blame Covid for it no longer being an option. As Rob said, people are simply not going due to the price. With money flying out of people's bank accounts on life's basic essentials, a day riding rollercoasters is a luxury not everyone can afford, especially factoring in fuel, parking, food & drink.

Also, how long do you think the seemingly pointless ride scanners will exist for?
 
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rob666 said:
Oy dippy, you will like this one.
Rumoured excuse for the early finish last weekend...
Rail strike matey.
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It’s been discussed before what a pain it can be to get to BPB by public transport, I imagine most people drive, and if presumably there were no trains from Blackpool to Preston anyway, they could have still stayed open til 10
 
I think that if BPB really wanted the pay-one-price model to work, then you’d think that they’d try to make it work. Right now it’s like they want it to fail.

They want people to visit Blackpool just for BPB, as they would for a theme park, but they have limited parking available, all of which is massively overpriced, fairly short opening hours which don’t represent a good value day out for the cost, and a now incredibly annoying system of having to get your phone out of your pocket every flipping time you want to go on a ride.

When I go to a theme park I want to have a relaxing all day experience. With BPB, and the way it operates these days, I just can’t be bothered with the faff.
 
Just had a quick look at the ride closures section of the BPB website. Surprised to see a number of mid-week ride closures including the whole of Nickelodeon Land, which is listed as closing early at 4pm on weekdays!
 
Zipperdipper said:
Just had a quick look at the ride closures section of the BPB website. Surprised to see a number of mid-week ride closures including the whole of Nickelodeon Land, which is listed as closing early at 4pm on weekdays!
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I think that's a new thing this season.

Nickland has been closing earlier on the later finishing days for about five years now but closing early on 5pm days looks like another desperate attempt to save money sadly.

Sent from my Pixel 6 Pro using Tapatalk
 
So looking at that page, if you visit on a mid week, when the parks open till 5 (or 6 depending on the day) and you’ll pay £32-£40 (depending when you book and go), not only does Nick Land close at 4, but Dora, Thompson Carousel, Alpine Ralley and Grand Prix are all closed in the week. On top of that Sponge bob splash bash is currently closed every day.

Then Enso seems to just run during peak periods for a few hours a day by the sounds of the website.
 
Yup, that sounds about right for the Beach.
National often opens late or closes early as well to save on staffing costs, (often linked with) if the Big One is open or not due to it being a bit windy.
And they tend to shut Icon for half an hour to put the spinny seats on in the middle of the day, rather handy to give the staff their breaks all at once!
 
They’re closing Dora and Gran Prix midweek as well now? That’s beyond a joke.

It breaks my heart, as this is a park which I used to defend, but over the past few years, that’s simply become impossible to do.
 
djtruefitt said:
So looking at that page, if you visit on a mid week, when the parks open till 5 (or 6 depending on the day) and you’ll pay £32-£40 (depending when you book and go), not only does Nick Land close at 4, but Dora, Thompson Carousel, Alpine Ralley and Grand Prix are all closed in the week. On top of that Sponge bob splash bash is currently closed every day.

Then Enso seems to just run during peak periods for a few hours a day by the sounds of the website.
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Sky Force, Dodgems, Eddie Stobart, Ghost Train and Big Dipper also closing early midweek. (according to the app) , and late opening of Nash and Gallopers, plus the rides @djtruefitt mentioned above that are also closing early or not open at all.

That's a big chunk of rides that are either closed totally or not open for the full day in midweek off peak.

Wouldn't surprise me if they don't move fully to a 11am to 4pm finish on quiet days at some point.

I suppose if its completely dead then it doesn't really affect guest experience that much, as you are going to easily get on everything you want to (apart from the fully closed rides)
 
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shakey said:
Sky Force, Dodgems, Eddie Stobart, Ghost Train and Big Dipper also closing early midweek. (according to the app) , and late opening of Nash and Gallopers, plus the rides @djtruefitt mentioned above that are also closing early or not open at all.

That's a big chunk of rides that are either closed totally or not open for the full day in midweek off peak.

Wouldn't surprise me if they don't move fully to a 11am to 4pm finish on quiet days at some point.

I suppose if its completely dead then it doesn't really affect guest experience that much, as you are going to easily get on everything you want to (apart from the fully closed rides)
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I guess even if the park is quiet it becomes quite a challenge to try and plan your day, especially with rides closing early or opening late when you don’t know before hand, I know how annoying it is getting to rides to find they have already closed for the day.
 
It does also beg the question of, if the park is so dead that it only makes sense to open for a few hours, close multiple rides for the entire day, close multiple more rides early, and still operate staggered openings.. why on earth are they even open on those days? Just close the park and the 200 guests who are in that day can come on a different day. This seems like a no-brainer.
 
Do BPB not get much involved in the school trip market? Towers is stacked at this time of year - you would think Blackpool would want some of that to fill up these quiet midweek days.
 
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