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Blackpool Pleasure Beach: 2023 Discussion

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venny said:
I genuinely think that this model would cause absolute chaos. Can you imagine the amount of arguments there would be at turnstiles for someone who “thought it was included in my ticket”?

I know there are not dissimilar ticketing systems in other parks, but I think people are only just getting conditioned to having to pay at all to get in the park (and some have clearly not and never will come to terms with it). Changing again is going to make some people’s brain explode.
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Its not uncommon at the seaside type parks to have a band that groups all rides of a certain colour (usually under a certain height restriction). They used to have a seperate wristband for family rides 10+ years ago too. But yes over the last four years BPB has pushed more and more away from that modal and towards pay one price so the simpler option would be to remove turnstiles.
 
If they do end up replacing Ice Blast it'd be interesting to see if they include a turnstile in the queue line for whatever takes its place.
 
For some unknown reason the Blackpool local rag (Blackpool Gazette) seems to be doing the utmost to portray BPB as money hungry and greed-merchants. Yet another story about having paid entry... https://www.blackpoolgazette.co.uk/...-for-their-golden-wedding-anniversary-4476247

You do wonder if all the people agreeing that an elderly couple should be allowed free entry would think the same about a visit to Towers or Tussauds.

BPB are atrocious at marketing themselves, but it makes you wonder why the local paper seems so intent on disparaging and beating the place up so much.
 
I'm sure many elderly people would like a garden and ruins pass to towers but they don't sell them but they don't get thrown through the press for it. So it does feel like pleasure beach get an unfair time for this
 
pjanvil said:
I'm sure many elderly people would like a garden and ruins pass to towers but they don't sell them but they don't get thrown through the press for it. So it does feel like pleasure beach get an unfair time for this
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Whilst this is likely nothing more than a local rag needing some 'articles' to squeeze between their adverts on the website, the comparison between a seaside pleasure beach and inland theme park is not really fair.

It is still very much in peoples consciousness that seaside 'pleasure beach' style parks have some form of free entry so it is not a surprise that there is some push back from people who find out that is not the case with Blackpool.
 
AT86 said:
the comparison between a seaside pleasure beach and inland theme park is not really fair
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I don't agree. They are both parks with quality attractions that are behind a gateline. However, if you would rather, the same comparison could be made to Thorpe Park - that is most certainly more of an amusement park.

And whilst the free entry may remain in a person's consciousness, it did end 15 years ago.

I also feel that there may be something more to the Gazettes conduct, and don't feel that it is simply 'filler'. This story is the Headline on their website front page today.
 
ScottishChris said:
I don't agree. They are both parks with quality attractions that are behind a gateline. However, if you would rather, the same comparison could be made to Thorpe Park - that is most certainly more of an amusement park.

And whilst the free entry may remain in a person's consciousness, it did end 15 years ago.

I also feel that there may be something more to the Gazettes conduct, and don't feel that it is simply 'filler'. This story is the Headline on their website front page today.
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I still feel that culturally, in the UK that in most guests minds. inland parks = pay one price, and seaside parks = ticket/wristband combos.

BPB is really the only outlier in this regard, and so it is not a great surprise they occasionally get some stick for this. It just going against the expectation.
 
pjanvil said:
I'm sure many elderly people would like a garden and ruins pass to towers but they don't sell them but they don't get thrown through the press for it. So it does feel like pleasure beach get an unfair time for this
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But the Beach had free entry for ninety odd years, then had paid entry cheap for a decade or so.
The only reason for dropping paid entry was covid, which is no longer the problem it was, so why not reinstate paid entry?
Alton however, has always been paid entry, right back to my gran going in the fifties.
The grumble about having to pay thirty quid to walk round the place is fair and perfectly reasonable.
I'm not sure it is actually news however.
 
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.
 
rob666 said:
Nice to see you come over to "the other side" Matt.
You will be arguing for pay per ride next...another loss.
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If the walk around fee returned, I’d actually advocate for the return of some sort of reasonably priced pay-per-ride system. It would really help to attract those people who only want to do a ride or two!

I wouldn’t advocate for removing wristbands, though, as then it becomes a more costly pursuit for people who do want to have a fuller day at the Pleasure Beach. I’d have the two coexist in harmony.
 
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ScottishChris said:
For some unknown reason the Blackpool local rag (Blackpool Gazette) seems to be doing the utmost to portray BPB as money hungry and greed-merchants. Yet another story about having paid entry... https://www.blackpoolgazette.co.uk/...-for-their-golden-wedding-anniversary-4476247

You do wonder if all the people agreeing that an elderly couple should be allowed free entry would think the same about a visit to Towers or Tussauds.

BPB are atrocious at marketing themselves, but it makes you wonder why the local paper seems so intent on disparaging and beating the place up so much.
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Seems to be one particular writer as far as I can tell. Their brief these days is article views, so clearly it’s been identified as key SEO/clickbait material. P-poor by any definition.
 
Pleasure beach definatley should return to there pre covid ticketing system or something that is an improvement on it. Scanning your phone at every ride is just a pain and having a walk around pass is a great idea for them for reasons @Matt N has talked about around how the park is perceived. If people can pay just a little bit then they can go in watch a performer and have to some food all of which is income the pleasure beach desperately need since there loss this year.
 
What people's opinions are regarding the entry system are not important. The park has decided that they are now a POP park. They have also decided the "walk around" pass has been retired. My main issue with this "story" is that this lady believes that the park should have waved their entry prices to allow her elderly parents in. When they wouldn't - she ran to the press. It's all a bit nuts.
 
John_P said:
From the original story it sounded like her parents didn't even spend any money in the park 50 years ago
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Also that they were perfectly aware that Pleasure Beach is now pay one price before attempting to make the trip, but they still thought they'd try and get it for free anyway. It seems that everyone now thinks that their needs are exceptional, and companies should accommodate individual wishes without financial incentive.
 
ScottishChris said:
What people's opinions are regarding the entry system are not important. The park has decided that they are now a POP park. They have also decided the "walk around" pass has been retired. My main issue with this "story" is that this lady believes that the park should have waved their entry prices to allow her elderly parents in. When they wouldn't - she ran to the press. It's all a bit nuts.
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Yes it is important, this isn't about this story in particular, they lost lots of money and unless they want to keep loosing money then they need to make some changes. Allowing entry passes and then having places to eat/drink/be entertained on park makes a lot of sense for pleasure in its environment of Blackpool, where increasingly old people like to visit for a weekend, they might not ride any rides, so at the current time they wouldn't bother going to the pleasure beach, if however they could pay a small fee to have the experience then they'd be more inclined. The park can't keep doing what they are dong because it's a confusing and awkward mess.
 
JAperson said:
The park can't keep doing what they are dong because it's a confusing and awkward mess.
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Which part of you pay the single price to get in, or you can't get in, is a confusing and awkward mess?

You pay a price to get in, but then you need X wristband, with Y package, to ride Z rides, but not A rides is a confusing and awkward mess.

The park's one price strategy makes sense. What they need to work on is affordability, perceived worth and marketing.
 
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