• ℹ️ Heads up...

    This is a popular topic that is fast moving Guest - before posting, please ensure that you check out the first post in the topic for a quick reminder of guidelines, and importantly a summary of the known facts and information so far. Thanks.

Blackpool Pleasure Beach: 2023 Discussion

Status
This topic has been locked. No further replies can be posted.
John_P said:
They just need to say its 2023, even if it could open in October why would you bother for 6 weeks of the season.

Just aim for Easter next year now.
Click to expand...

Don't forget this is Blackpool Pleasure Beach we are talking about, the only place on the planet that resides in a completely different universe, where the rules of logic are so different to our own that we can't even begin to comprehend them.

They could quite easily open Valhalla for the November weekends or leave it closed until 2024 or send the bulldozers in over winter. I wouldn't like to bet which one is more likely , but I would quite like to see it open in November just to see @rob666 ride it in a t-shirt and shorts :)
 
Excuse my ignorance but theme park legends? What exactly has she done for the industry apart from run her farthers legacy into the ground?

She is a legend in her own right for sure. Unless I am missing something all the major contributions that put Pleasure Beach on the map were before her time. I hope I am proven wrong.
 
I didn't get that email

Shame it's not actually advertised anywhere on their website !!

Suppose it could annoy folks that have pre-booked if they find out. Maybe that's why it's email only to keep it quiet.

Last minute desperation.

Should have been £30 max from the outset (and same price on the gate, reduced to £20 on the gate for last couple of hours)

EDIT: email has just arrived

Sent from my Pixel 6 Pro using Tapatalk
 
Last edited:
Desperate times indeed. It's time to find new investment / owners or this place will go under.
 
If the time ever did come for the Thompsons to give up the park, perhaps something similar to the arrangement Drayton Manor have with the Looping Group, where the Looping Group took over the park but kept some of the family members on board in director-type roles, would work? I know some would bemoan the fact that it would see another family-owned park going corporate, but the Looping Group's tenure at Drayton Manor seems to be doing wonders for the park so far!

Are things really that bad under the Thompsons, though? I know Valhalla is clearly encountering some kind of issues, but they appear to be outside of the park's control with the energy crisis, COVID, Brexit, the Ukraine war etc causing those, and other than that, are things really that much worse than they ever were? Things seemed fine when I last visited in 2019, and the way some are talking, there would have had to have been a pretty drastic decline in 3 years for the park to be matching some of the comments across the internet.

Granted, I haven't been to the park in 3 years and have only ever visited twice in my life, so I don't have an overly up-to-date view of the situation on the ground at Pleasure Beach, but that's just my thought.
 
Pretty sure non of the Bryan family have any role in the running of of Drayton Manor.

I couldn't think of anything worse for new owners having members of the Thompson family about, or members of the Thompson family thinking their only still around for the name/brand recognition.
 
John_P said:
Pretty sure non of the Bryan family have any role in the running of of Drayton Manor.
Click to expand...
Ah, my mistake; I was under the impression that some of the Bryans had been kept on in some form, but clearly not.

In that case; whatever arrangement Drayton has seems to be working very well for them!
 
It beggars belief that Amanda Thompson is still quoting this year. Even if the ride is ready today, it makes no sense to waste the marketing capital on relaunching a wet ride in October, just before the closed season.

I hadn't thought about the energy crisis angle but @rob666 makes a very good point indeed - that ride must be an absolute beast on energy usage.

Parques Reunidos will be the owners when it gets sold, fulfilling its destiny to become a sister park to Kennywood.
 
WillPS said:
It beggars belief that Amanda Thompson is still quoting this year.
Click to expand...
That's not quite what she said, though, if that quote is accurate. Being 'determined' to do something this year is a neat linguistic twisting of words, which doesn't actually require anything to happen this year.

It sounds a lot like she might be setting herself up to be "just as disappointed as the park's fans" when the ride doesn't manage to return this year.
 
Matt N said:
Ah, my mistake; I was under the impression that some of the Bryans had been kept on in some form, but clearly not.
Click to expand...
You're both right. William Bryan stayed on for a year or so as Managing Director, but has since left.
 
Rick said:
You're both right. William Bryan stayed on for a year or so as Managing Director, but has since left.
Click to expand...
Yeah it's pretty standard when buying out a company that has ongoing operations to keep on the old MD / CEO etc for 12 months or so for continuity. Can you imagine just signing on the dotted line and having to operate the park the next day!

On BPB I suspect they would run it into the ground before they sold out. Needs somebody with fresh eyes to ask some awkward questions. Look at the ROI on each overhead etc. Tough calls to be made.
 
Status
This topic has been locked. No further replies can be posted.
Top