Blackpool Pleasure Beach: 2023 Discussion

[rob666]

Correction, officially, the big new dark ride (Space Invader) was touted as the big planned attraction to replace the Reel.
They shoved the Globe on the actual spot for more shows.
Edit...anyone know the reason why you cant book the park 17/18 July...Mon and Tues?
Very strange days to be closed, start of absolute peak.

 

[shakey]

This may not be news to some of you but I heard something interesting related to the Wild Mouse closure, a group were told by Mandy at the time it was basically down to Insurance. The cost to continue insuring it became prohibitively expensive. This also sounds the most plausible to me as i doubt Pleasure Beach would have chosen to remove it and not replace it with anything without a good reason. Also Mandy apparently cried as it was being demolished.

I don't buy that.

Would a park insure rides individually?

Even if they did then are you saying the Wild Mouse was more uninsurable than many dubious fairground rides ? Or more uninsurable than rides where someone has been paralysed or someone has lost limbs or someone has died ? All those rides still operate.

Whatever the real reason I think we can safely say it wasn't the parks official line which was to make way for new attractions!!

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[Rick]

@shakey even if they could get insurance for it and have it work in a way that made everyone happy, they're not obliged to run it. It's a private company, with an individual at the helm who can do whatever they want - it's like a football team, you can sell your players if you don't get on with them, if they're not performing or if they are a pain.

They did spend a huge chunk of money trying to get it to work, but that caused a ton of other problems that I think they didn't have the will, resources or financing to resolve. I know Icon wasn't built in the same spot as Wild Mouse and I know many (ourselves included) don't think it's a worthy 'replacement', but they did spend £16m on a new coaster as they retired the mouse.

The ride closures over the years are pretty far reaching and were for a multitude of reasons :

Post-Wristband

2000 - Cableway (Valhalla played hell with the cable)
2001 - Veteran Cars (converted into Convoy)
2002 - Safari Ride (no idea, crap)
2003 - Millennium Bug (moved to Southport)
2003 - Vikingar (low ridership)
2004 - Turtle Chase (baffling removal)
2004 - Big Apple (also installed post-wristband)
2005 - Black Hole (I don't think it 'fit the brand' - space required for 4D cinema
2005 - Whip (sad, sad closure)
2006 - Alpine Dodgems (two sets of Dodgems fairly excessive)
2006 - Drench Falls (Sigh)
2006 - (Wall's Cornetto Soft ) Spin Doctor (Low capacity, terrible reliability, high staffing)

Post-Entry Fee

2008 - Ellie's Garden Caterpillar (area reconfigured, I guess Nick Land was in the plans at this point)
2008 - Griffin's Magic Dragon (area reconfigured, I guess Nick Land was in the plans at this point)
2008 - Circus Clown (area reconfigured, I guess Nick Land was in the plans at this point)
2008 - Noah's Ark (H&S mooted, but not really sure)
2009 - Superbowl (No idea - replaced by Sculpture Gardens)
2009 - Trauma Towers (tinder box)
2010 - Space Invader 2 (saleable asset, removed for never built Phase 2 of Nick Land)
2010 - Boats (removed for Nickelodeon Land)
2010 - Helicopters (removed for Nickelodeon Land)
2010 - Lunar Carousel (removed for Nickelodeon Land)
2010 - Magic Mountain (removed for Nickelodeon Land)
2010 - Mangnus' Mini Dodgems (removed for Nickelodeon Land)
2011 - Bling (one of the few saleable assets that they had - maintenance headache to boot)
2012 - Monorail (maintenance headache - shame)
2016 - Bridgestone Go-Karts (removed for Icon)
2016 - Tetley Tea Cup Ride (not sure - old)
2017 - Wild Mouse (we'll probably never know for sure)

 

[rob666]

Sorry shakey, I heard the same.
The insurers insisted on the additional safety features, and still kept kicking up the premiums due to the park getting through accident books like toilet rolls.
I watched them being filled in, lots of the short term closures "on the day" were staff filling in accident records for half an hour...often two or three times a day.
Rick's post just pulled the rest of my post...far more thorough than me Rick!
Lots of closures of third rate rides because hardly anyone rode them on quiet days...
Rick described the Whip as a sad sad closure, I only ever considered the ride when I had cheap tickets to burn and it was raining very hard.
It was a slow, flat waltzer that didn't actually spin...and if the turns were a whipping, then my S&M standards are far too high for the Beach.
It was only of use for courting purposes, back in the day when the term was used.

 

[Rick]

I had a bit of a soft spot for The Whip. Very similar to a skid, but with automatic skidding, rather than a peddle. Great placement under the arch of the Revolution - definitive 'stacking' of rides. Pretty iconic paint job. The canopy was/is a beautiful design and it looked fabulous at night.

So it goes ... as they say.

 

[rob666]

They stopped peddling on the Beach with gated entry...
The pedal skid was more fun, you could time it right for a proper whipping.
Only ever rode one on Blackburn Easter fair...was there for years.
Don't be sad that its gone Rick...you know the line!

 

[venny]

You missed Alpine Golf, Rick. And the Swamp Buggies.

Egregious oversights.

 

[Rick]

You missed Alpine Golf, Rick. And the Swamp Buggies.

Egregious oversights.

Haha, indeed. Do you know the years ? I'll add them in.

They stopped peddling on the Beach with gated entry...
The pedal skid was more fun, you could time it right for a proper whipping.
Only ever rode one on Blackburn Easter fair...was there for years.
Don't be sad that its gone Rick...you know the line!

Yeah I know the line. I'm cool with it, really. Stuff happens.

Was Ben Hur on the Beach not a Skid ? (and did that become Black Hole at Southport? - you must have ridden that).

 

[rob666]

Ridden 'em all mate, just can't remember their names, Kevin.
What about these two closed days in the middle of July...Why???

 

[shakey]

@shakey even if they could get insurance for it and have it work in a way that made everyone happy, they're not obliged to run it. It's a private company, with an individual at the helm who can do whatever they want - it's like a football team, you can sell your players if you don't get on with them, if they're not performing or if they are a pain.

They did spend a huge chunk of money trying to get it to work, but that caused a ton of other problems that I think they didn't have the will, resources or financing to resolve. I know Icon wasn't built in the same spot as Wild Mouse and I know many (ourselves included) don't think it's a worthy 'replacement', but they did spend £16m on a new coaster as they retired the mouse.

The ride closures over the years are pretty far reaching and were for a multitude of reasons :

Post-Wristband

2000 - Cableway (Valhalla played hell with the cable)
2001 - Veteran Cars (converted into Convoy)
2002 - Safari Ride (no idea, crap)
2003 - Millennium Bug (moved to Southport)
2003 - Vikingar (low ridership)
2004 - Turtle Chase (baffling removal)
2004 - Big Apple (also installed post-wristband)
2005 - Black Hole (I don't think it 'fit the brand' - space required for 4D cinema
2005 - Whip (sad, sad closure)
2006 - Alpine Dodgems (two sets of Dodgems fairly excessive)
2006 - Drench Falls (Sigh)
2006 - (Wall's Cornetto Soft ) Spin Doctor (Low capacity, terrible reliability, high staffing)

Post-Entry Fee

2008 - Ellie's Garden Caterpillar (area reconfigured, I guess Nick Land was in the plans at this point)
2008 - Griffin's Magic Dragon (area reconfigured, I guess Nick Land was in the plans at this point)
2008 - Circus Clown (area reconfigured, I guess Nick Land was in the plans at this point)
2008 - Noah's Ark (H&S mooted, but not really sure)
2009 - Superbowl (No idea - replaced by Sculpture Gardens)
2009 - Trauma Towers (tinder box)
2010 - Space Invader 2 (saleable asset, removed for never built Phase 2 of Nick Land)
2010 - Boats (removed for Nickelodeon Land)
2010 - Helicopters (removed for Nickelodeon Land)
2010 - Lunar Carousel (removed for Nickelodeon Land)
2010 - Magic Mountain (removed for Nickelodeon Land)
2010 - Mangnus' Mini Dodgems (removed for Nickelodeon Land)
2011 - Bling (one of the few saleable assets that they had - maintenance headache to boot)
2012 - Monorail (maintenance headache - shame)
2016 - Bridgestone Go-Karts (removed for Icon)
2016 - Tetley Tea Cup Ride (not sure - old)
2017 - Wild Mouse (we'll probably never know for sure)

You also missed the small coin operated train that was removed at the end of last season

I think quite a few of those removals were a lot to do with the introduction of wristbands and the gradual move to POP . No need to have 50+ rides when people have paid up front.

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[rob666]

I broke the coin op train...allegedly.

 

[Alexsniff7]

2010 - Space Invader 2 (saleable asset, removed for never built Phase 2 of Nick Land)

Nick land was supposed to have a phase 2? I have always wonderd why they have basically done nothing with that area since it opened

 

[Benjsh]

I don't buy all the excuses constantly made for why PB loses money. It loses money because the people running the place aren't very good at their jobs and truth be told probably don't have deep enough pockets to be running a big amusement park in 2023. Times have changed.

I'm pretty sure if the company that run Liseberg bought the PB.....they'd have it thriving within 2-3 years. I have absolutely no doubt in my mind actually.

 

[rob666]

Six hundred miles between the two.
Or a hundred million miles.

Liseberg is a high class resort in a well developed affluent area, with a booming economy, in a socially balanced society.
Blackpool isn't...it is in one of the poorest areas of the county, and country...the park is sat in a shit hole.
And people don't visit it as much anymore, for many reasons, not just mismanagement of the park.

 

[Benjsh]

Six hundred miles between the two.
Or a hundred million miles.

Liseberg is a high class resort in a well developed affluent area, with a booming economy, in a socially balanced society.
Blackpool isn't...it is in one of the poorest areas of the county, and country...the park is sat in a shit hole.
And people don't visit it as much anymore, for many reasons, not just mismanagement of the park.

I have been today just to walk the dog. It was very windy but the town was absolutely packed.

I don't buy the visitor numbers argument. Blackpool is always a busy place in the spring and summer. People aren't going to the PB like they once did because it's stuck in the dark ages with some rides that could pass as torture devices.

Money could be an issue but people always find a way to pay for a family day out. And if they can't then it's up to a park to make it more affordable i.e merlin with 2-4-1.

 

[rob666]

People aren't going to the Beach because the options are forty quid or bugger off.
It is very much a working class resort...(ask my punters!), and they have been hit hardest.
Very large numbers of those up the north end and between the piers have their hands in their pockets on a cheap easy day out...many in the Hounds Hill are buying Christmas presents...honestly!
The Tartan Invasion has just hit hard as well, peak summer for my boozy Crevettes Jock mates...fresh ones every year.
Just waiting for a pint of heavy with the duck obsessed crow.

 

[Benjsh]

People aren't going to the Beach because the options are forty quid or bugger off.
It is very much a working class resort...(ask my punters!), and they have been hit hardest.
Very large numbers of those up the north end and between the piers have their hands in their pockets on a cheap easy day out...many in the Hounds Hill are buying Christmas presents...honestly!
The Tartan Invasion has just hit hard as well, peak summer for my boozy Crevettes Jock mates...fresh ones every year.
Just waiting for a pint of heavy with the duck obsessed crow.

Well I kind of just said that. The pricing is definitely an issue and who sets the prices? It all comes back to you know who.

The rides aren't very good either. Most of them are relics and uncomfortable which only Die hard enthusiasts swoon over. The lack of investment into the park over the years has been criminal but then to invest into the park you have to make money and they don't.

New blood is needed.

 

[rob666]

Seventeen million on Icon.
Lots of effort on cleaning up the park.
And those torture devices have been torturing people for sixty , seventy, even a hundred years.
And lots complained when the worst offender was removed.
People keep riding them, not just thoosies.

 

[Alexsniff7]

Seventeen million on Icon.
Lots of effort on cleaning up the park.
And those torture devices have been torturing people for sixty , seventy, even a hundred years.
And lots complained when the worst offender was removed.
People keep riding them, not just thoosies.

exactly!! the park was just ranked 8th in the world

it's not some small little seaside fairground that only thoosies like it's a major amusement park in the UK

 

[b2311e]

Email from BPB this morning after absolutely chaotic roads on the way in