Blackpool Pleasure Beach: 2023 Discussion

[Poisson]

I get the impression she has some good ideas but she needs forcing into a PR course and several management courses. I don't think she's inherently nasty most of the time, but gets frustrated and can't get through what she wants. What she needs to be is some non-executive board member of a steering committee and let go of day to day and also not be able to have a go directly at people.

 

[Enter Valhalla]

No, is the short answer. It's not helpful to always take notice of what the people are saying, unfortunately 'the people' en masse are idiots and not to be trusted.

Ultimately she runs a for profit company, and she is beholden to the capital interests of that company. She is not beholden to her customers, but she obviously would do well to please them.

To quote Henry Ford (of Ford Motors) “If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.”

She can pay attention to the good ideas, but she doesn't have to pay attention to the obviously bad ones.

Just look back at some of the suggestions on this very forum, for this park and others, and you'll see that some ideas are demonstrably terrible. (A carvery at Towers, or a Wetherspoon, or a Gregg's, seriously?)

She's also being honest in her response. Sometimes she'll hear an idea and take notice, sometimes she won't. We all do that every day in our lives. If we paid everyone and everything they said notice we'd never get very far.

I don't think that she should, or anyone should, always take notice of what people are saying. You can also get bogged down in bad reviews, or immediate feedback, and then never get out the other end as you'll be forever chasing your tale.

If Towers had paid attention to what everyone was saying, we'd still have The Black Hole and Log Flume. Instead we've got two of the best coasters in the country as their replacements. I have fond memories of both former rides, but even I've got to admit that their replacements are better for the park as a whole, and the general experience.

There’s a difference between taking notice of what customers say, and actually doing everything customers say. She’s said that she doesn’t take notice.

All suggestions should be listened to, considered and not just dismissed offhand.

I know that it’s a family business, but having just one person listening to suggestions/ feedback and going “nope, we’re not doing that” isn’t the best way to do business.

Feedback from customers should be discussed and other members of park management team should be able to have an input in the decision making process.

There have been times in my workplace for example, where I’ve had something which I think is a great idea, but when I discuss it with my team, it becomes obvious that there are issues with it. Likewise, I’ll hear a suggestion and think it’s terrible but once discussed properly, I realise it does have some potential.

The point I’m making is that Amanda’s “sometimes I listen, sometimes I don’t” comment suggests that if she hears something she doesn’t like, she just ignores it and doesn’t discuss it with anyone else. Lots of potentially great ideas are therefore getting lost because one person hasn’t picked up on their potential.

Of course I’m not suggesting that this is how BPB management actually operate, but the way she worded that quote certainly makes it sound that way.

 

[Jim]

Full tubs of Roses, Celebrations and Quality Street are permitted on the first/last days of the season for staff treats.

Just out of interest... Is this allowed over the last weekend (Sat & Sun) or just the last day (Sun)?

 

[Rob]

Just out of interest... Is this allowed over the last weekend (Sat & Sun) or just the last day (Sun)?

Ignoring the fact that it was posted well over a year ago, I think it may have been somewhat tongue in cheek...!

 

[rob666]

The hot bar staff that I wanted to give sweeties to have all buggered off for the winter already.
Without even saying goodbye.
Often taken sweets and chocolate in at the end/start of the season.
You hand them out to all the ride staff, then shout out in your best Mandy voice...
"Are you chewing?"
Then watch them choke to death with the giggles.
Done it for years.

Back on topic, may be having a fallow year next year.
Will have three new coasters unridden, and my last three visits to the Beach have made me puke.

 

[Matt N]

Amanda’s comments have generated a lot of outrage, but I think they were taken out of context a tad, and I’m not sure that she’s necessarily entirely wrong.

Yes, perhaps it wasn’t the best idea for her to be so openly critical of passholders. “Don’t bite the hand that feeds you” and all that.

However, I do think that die-hard fans can have a tendency to complain a lot, take things for granted and feel a certain degree of ownership over the park. Theme park fans absolutely can be opinionated at times (and I include myself in that statement), and feel that the park are “doing it wrong” because they aren’t bending to their personal view of what the park should be. I do feel that it’s fair to say that, and to say that these criticisms are not always the most constructively put. We don’t have an insight into how the park is actually run, and I think that not having that insight can make us want certain things without the economic or practical perspective. As I say, I’m not criticising anybody, and indeed, I would say I myself fall into the same boat at times. However, I do feel that what Amanda says about theme park fans sometimes being overly critical and resistant to change is not entirely wrong.

With that being said, I’m sure I speak for everyone on here when I say that any criticisms and wishes I express come from a place of care for the park and a deep-rooted desire for it to do well rather than actual hatred and just wanting to moan. We all want Blackpool Pleasure Beach (and any other park) to thrive and do well, and I’m sure none of us make criticisms of the park and express wishes about what we’d personally do with it to be difficult or just to be negative for the sake of it. We make criticisms and express wishes because we care so deeply about it. Fans of something will always be its harshest critics, and that comes from a place of deep-rooted care and passion.

 

[shakey]

..... However, I do think that die-hard fans can have a tendency to complain a lot, take things for granted and feel a certain degree of ownership over the park. Theme park fans absolutely can be opinionated at times (and I include myself in that statement), and feel that the park are “doing it wrong” because they aren’t bending to their personal view of what the park should be. I do feel that it’s fair to say that, and to say that these criticisms are not always the most constructively put. We don’t have an insight into how the park is actually run, and I think that not having that insight can make us want certain things without the economic or practical perspective. As I say, I’m not criticising anybody, and indeed, I would say I myself fall into the same boat at times. However, I do feel that what Amanda says about theme park fans sometimes being overly critical and resistant to change is not entirely wrong ....

To be fair Matt, there is a LOT to complain about regarding Blackpool Pleasure Beach - and very little to praise them for at the moment , unfortunately.

 

[Ethan]

However, I do think that die-hard fans can have a tendency to complain a lot, take things for granted and feel a certain degree of ownership over the park.

You have to be joking right? I can't tell if you're being serious or not. This women nearly made me punch a wall after hearing her comments about passholders. She threw her rattle out the pram because the people that love the park most spoke out about the absolute bin bag of a place it is

 

[pjanvil]

She could go down the Phantasialand route and discontinue Season passes all together? She did speak about Phantasialand doing that in the podcast.

 

[IDB]

She threw her rattle out the pram because the people that love the park most spoke out about the absolute bin bag of a place it is

Or as she likes to refer to them “nerds”

 

[Matt N]

You have to be joking right? I can't tell if you're being serious or not. This women nearly made me punch a wall after hearing her comments about passholders. She threw her rattle out the pram because the people that love the park most spoke out about the absolute bin bag of a place it is

I’m deadly serious.

I’m not saying that complaints are always unwarranted by any means (far from it), and I’m not saying that fans need to be positive all the time (there is absolutely a balance between positivity and negativity that is ideal to strike; I think that too much of either isn’t a good thing), but I think that some of the things Amanda said in that interview aren’t necessarily wrong. Some of them were also taken quite strongly out of context.

I don’t think Amanda Thompson is wrong when she says that fans can complain a lot. I don’t think she’s wrong when she says that fans can be resistant to change. I don’t think she’s wrong when she says that fans can take things for granted and sometimes assert a very specific view of how they want the park to be without necessarily considering the wider picture. For clarity, I am not criticising anybody and I 100% include myself in that. I know that I’m guilty of many of the things Amanda complains about and I’m certainly far from perfect.

I’m not saying that fans shouldn’t have their say or that fans shouldn’t be allowed to air constructive criticisms by any stretch of the imagination. If I did believe that, I probably wouldn’t be on this forum, and if I was, my posting history would probably be very different. However, I do think that sometimes, we enthusiasts can have a tendency to be very opinionated about what we’d personally like the park to do without necessarily having sufficient insight into how the park runs, the sort of decision making processes that are needed to make things into a reality and the wider picture that the park is dealing with. It’s only natural; people who passionately love something will naturally be its harshest critics and have strong opinions about it, good or bad. But just because it’s natural, that doesn’t mean that we should deny that it happens or pretend that everything enthusiasts say is necessarily right or 100% justified within wider context.

With that being said, I’m not necessarily sure that Amanda aired these things in the most constructive way, or that she should necessarily have been so critical so publicly…

 

[Ethan]

Or as she likes to refer to them “nerds”

Wait? That's what she called them? She called the biggest fans of her park nerds? Time to go then. Blackpool thoosies deserve better

 

[Rob]

Wait? That's what she called them? She called the biggest fans of her park nerds? Time to go then. Blackpool thoosies deserve better

Call me a nerd over a bloody thoosie any day of the week thank you very much!

I've somehow missed Mandy's latest comments, I'll have to catch up with them over the weekend.

 

[IDB]

Wait? That's what she called them? She called the biggest fans of her park nerds?

"Amusement parks have to change to stay alive and that's something that's really important for every so called nerd to take onboard."

 

[Ethan]

"Amusement parks have to change to stay alive and that's something that's really important for every so called nerd to take onboard."

Can she remind me what changes have happened to the park apart from Icon in the last 15 years? The parks not exactly evolved or improved significantly. 15 years ago was Blackpool much different than it is now? 15 years ago Corckscrew was still operating that's how far towers have come in comparison. Installing Icon and refurbing Valhalla isn't exactly evolving compared to Th13teen, Smiler, Wicker man, Cbeebies, walliams, Curse, Sub-terra

 

[Matt N]

Can she remind me what changes have happened to the park apart from Icon in the last 15 years? The parks not exactly evolved or improved significantly. 15 years ago was Blackpool much different than it is now? 15 years ago Corckscrew was still operating that's how far towers have come in comparison. Installing Icon and refurbing Valhalla isn't exactly evolving compared to Th13teen, Smiler, Wicker man, Cbeebies, walliams, Curse, Sub-terra

Icon certainly hasn’t been the only new addition to Blackpool in the last 15-20 years (i.e. during Amanda’s tenure).

Just off the top of my head, we’ve had:

• Infusion
• Nickelodeon Land
• Wallace & Gromit’s Thrill-O-Matic
• Red Arrows SkyForce
• Icon
• Boulevard Hotel
• Valhalla revamp (this might be pushing it slightly, but it still wasn’t an insignificant investment, and probably comparable to something like Curse)

For better or worse, many attractions have also closed or been changed during Amanda’s tenure. Just off the top of my head, Amanda’s tenure has seen the demise of:

• Wild Mouse
• Log Flume
• Space Invader 2
• Spin Doctor
• Bling
• The Gold Mine
• Beaver Creek

We’ve also seen the introduction of things like paid entry, which do count as changes no matter how academic they may seem in the grand scheme of things.

 

[GooseOnTheLoose]

You have to be joking right? I can't tell if you're being serious or not. This women nearly made me punch a wall after hearing her comments about passholders. She threw her rattle out the pram because the people that love the park most spoke out about the absolute bin bag of a place it is

You nearly punched a wall and broke a fist, after reading something mean, which someone didn't actually say, on the internet? Pot, kettle, black.

She didn't throw her rattle out of a pram. She said that she wished that fans, or annual pass holders, gave them a little understanding, or cut them some slack, when they didn't paint something immediately after it was brought to their attention. Also, if you actually listened to her, you would hear that she was calm and collected and certainly not at the level where she felt the need to punch a wall.

There are some wonderful meditation exercises available for free, on YouTube. These should help you not feel as though you need a punch a wall when you read a summary of an interview, translated three times, on the web.

 

[George W]

Nah she was just throwing her toys out the pram and damaging the business she inherited, nothing new.

 

[Stuie]

Amanda’s comments have generated a lot of outrage, but I think they were taken out of context a tad, and I’m not sure that she’s necessarily entirely wrong.

Yes, perhaps it wasn’t the best idea for her to be so openly critical of passholders. “Don’t bite the hand that feeds you” and all that.

However, I do think that die-hard fans can have a tendency to complain a lot, take things for granted and feel a certain degree of ownership over the park. Theme park fans absolutely can be opinionated at times (and I include myself in that statement), and feel that the park are “doing it wrong” because they aren’t bending to their personal view of what the park should be. I do feel that it’s fair to say that, and to say that these criticisms are not always the most constructively put. We don’t have an insight into how the park is actually run, and I think that not having that insight can make us want certain things without the economic or practical perspective. As I say, I’m not criticising anybody, and indeed, I would say I myself fall into the same boat at times. However, I do feel that what Amanda says about theme park fans sometimes being overly critical and resistant to change is not entirely wrong.

With that being said, I’m sure I speak for everyone on here when I say that any criticisms and wishes I express come from a place of care for the park and a deep-rooted desire for it to do well rather than actual hatred and just wanting to moan. We all want Blackpool Pleasure Beach (and any other park) to thrive and do well, and I’m sure none of us make criticisms of the park and express wishes about what we’d personally do with it to be difficult or just to be negative for the sake of it. We make criticisms and express wishes because we care so deeply about it. Fans of something will always be its harshest critics, and that comes from a place of deep-rooted care and passion.

Seriously, Matt... if you have a business with customers that give you there money, whatever you think about them you DO NOT tell them

 

[Matt N]

Seriously, Matt... if you have a business with customers that give you there money, whatever you think about them you DO NOT tell them

I’m not saying that she should have “told them”. I’m not saying that she necessarily aired her views in the most constructive manner either.

However, I do think that some of the things she said aren’t entirely wrong.