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Blackpool Pleasure Beach: 2024 Discussion

John_P said:
www.lancs.live

Blackpool Pleasure Beach rebrand likened to IKEA and Ryanair

Blackpool Pleasure Beach has changed its name and logo on social media - but it hasn't gone down well
www.lancs.live www.lancs.live

An article on the changes which also includes a statement from from the park about it
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So that “statement” pretty much confirms what’s already been said here, BPB are ashamed to say they are in Blackpool and when people hear / see Blackpool Pleasure Beach they are put off from going.

Funny though that there are times the other attractions in Blackpool are busy when BPB aren’t…
 
Having looked through the article I'm puzzled as to how they think this will increase visitor numbers.

Maybe some new rides and an overhaul of thier ticketing/ pricing structure should have been a higher priority, I dread to think how much this logo cost them.
 
The Ice Blast car as of yesterday is still missing from the Tower and the seats are piled in the Car Park, so it's unlikely it will be operational anytime soon.

Intamin were on site in January, whether this is related to Valhalla or something different is unknown, but they were definitely on-site.

Avalanche has had a full repaint on the outer tubing and they have started painting the inner sections (so far not a lot has been done).

Ghost Train has some new models and the exterior has had a freshen up, same with River Caves.

Icon has started testing, along with Revolution, Nickelodeon Streak, Grand National, Sky Force and Avalanche.

Infusion queue bridge is still being replaced and sections of the Big Dipper station are still being painted, so these rides have not been testing as of yesterday.

Big One scaffolding is coming down this week, so hopefully it will be ready for opening weekend.
 
My understanding is, the Resort name change is to reflect the fact that they are planning on extended the Accommodation to include Luxury Holiday Apartments along Ocean Boulevard and the entertainment offering. There were plans to build a 60m Ferris Wheel in the Promenade Car Park, but this was scrapped as Amanda went off the idea (one of the Pods was delivered on-site, but it was sent back when the idea was dropped). There were also plans to transform the Casino Building into a brand new entrance with a restaurant with facilities to include entertainment and a large gift shop, however only the gift shop materialized due to space, and the restaurant ended up becoming a sort-of night club that is only used for special events (it seems the whole Casino Building project was downscaled due to budgetary reasons). They did spend a fortune replacing the steps from the Gift Shop to the park entrance, but everything else has either been postponed or cancelled.

I believe the speculation that they are planning a new attraction, but that they are refraining from revealing anything about it in the midst of Hyperia, Drayton Manor's new coaster and other investments like the Legoland dueling coasters. The park were allegedly interested in the Axis Coaster design a few years ago (post-Icon), but again this got scrapped. In my opinion (just hear say), they are working on a project with a famous manufacturer as we speak. Ice Blast is clearly at the end of its shelf life, the car has been removed with no sign of it being returned anytime soon. The cost to have it in an operational state probably isn't worth even considering, specially as it had so much downtime last year. The park bought the compressor from Uppskujutet (Liseberg) to prolong its life further, but this was at the end of 2015 season which is almost a decade ago!

People might say "they can't afford a new attraction of significance", but they invest off of the back of bank loans with long-term interest terms, and this has generally always been the way. So long as they always pay back the loans (which they always do), the bank will always fund their investments.

We will never truly know what BPB (or is it PBR now?) are planning, because they are so secretive, and because they seem to alter and change plans at the drop of a hat. This whole change of identity has come out of the blue, and we already know that past investments such as the Wheel were cancelled without warning. We also know they it isn't beneath them to remove rides without announcement. One thing is for sure, it will be very interesting to see what direction the park takes from this point onwards.
 
metalhead98 said:
How so exactly? The place looked like it was thriving back in the 70s 80s and 90s
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It was busy, but it wasn't exactly a 'wholesome' environment. Drugs, alcohol, pickpocketing, assaults, overcrowding and accidents weren't exactly unheard of. The 90's PB documentary shows some of the work practices being questionable at best.

There is always rose-tinted reminiscence of the place. I loved it and have fond memories, but was lightyear's from what is acceptable today.
 
ScottishChris said:
It was busy, but it wasn't exactly a 'wholesome' environment. Drugs, alcohol, pickpocketing, assaults, overcrowding and accidents weren't exactly unheard of. The 90's PB documentary shows some of the work practices being questionable at best.

There is always rose-tinted reminiscence of the place. I loved it and have fond memories, but was lightyear's from what is acceptable today.
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I suppose free entry clearly has it's cons as well as it's pros. It baffles me how so many people want free entry brought back when it wasn't exactly a pleasurable environment according to the way you described it
 
metalhead98 said:
How so exactly? The place looked like it was thriving back in the 70s 80s and 90s
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Holidays to the Med shattered their market...starting in the sixties, all the quality punters with big money vanished overnight.
Spain beat Blackpool five nil in the first half of the seventies, so the town turned to "adult" themes to seek out a new market.
The stags and hens scared away lots of families, so lots of good B&B's went to the wall, then cheap flights due to crazy fuel subsidies to rich companies meant that it was cheaper to fly to Poland than go thirty miles to Blackpool on the train.
The Beach has suffered bad marketing and leadership for some time, money invested in an unpopular show means new attractions have been extremely limited.
Plus everything Chris said...only place my pocket was picked, ever, was on the Beach.
The only place I have been offered sexual services while having a drink, male and female...on the Beach, or by the entrance.
Fighting at every home match at the football, lots and lots of large group intimidation, and a park so packed with freeloaders it would take over an hour to walk round the park.
Then there is the overworked and underpaid staff, who were always under the threat of no work next year if you didn't toe the line.
One of the poorest, unhealthiest towns in Britain, with a sprinkling of glitter along the front.
 
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Blackpool was a scruffy dump back in the 90s but it was busy and had plenty of shops and attractions. A quick drive down the front now and it's considerably worse with boarded up hotels, derelict shops and and scenes resembling the walking dead.

Non of this is Pleasurebeech fault and I do have some sympathy that they are also victims of the terminal decline of Blackpool. That said they don't half make some daft decisions.
 
Blackpool's issue is that they have an utterly inept council. They don't have a clue. Their desperation to cling onto tourism is creating terrible poverty through the rest of the town. They seem to have forgotten that people actually live in Blackpool.
 
Sharko said:
Blackpool's issue is that they have an utterly inept council. They don't have a clue. Their desperation to cling onto tourism is creating terrible poverty through the rest of the town. They seem to have forgotten that people actually live in Blackpool.
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But without the tourism what jobs are there for the people living in Blackpool? Probably easier to support the existing tourism industry than scrap it and start again with something else, particularly when manufacturing is all in China now really and office work is moving towards work from home.
 
Sharko said:
Blackpool's issue is that they have an utterly inept council. They don't have a clue. Their desperation to cling onto tourism is creating terrible poverty through the rest of the town. They seem to have forgotten that people actually live in Blackpool.
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Thankfully the insane 'business' decision to turn everything in the town into an overpriced car park for the three days a year they are needed seems to have ended. The 'Talbot Gateway' project seems to actually make some sense - moving the DWP and some civil service functions into the town center will give good year-round footfall, and give proper work opportunities which are not reliant on 'tourism'.

Blackpool has one heck of a corner to turn as a town. They need to bring more 'proper' (as in year round) work into the town centre. This is the only way to level up the town in terms of poverty, drugs and the other effects of a failing tourism market. If they do this, who knows the town might even become 'gentrified' - haha.
 
The other issue is the fact that homeless/rootless people tend to flock to the coast, and Blackpool in particular.
Have you been run out of your small northern town for not paying your drug debts?...you head to Blackpool apparently.
 
So it's all doom and gloom in Blackpool then.

Come on @rob666 get yourself a season pass. Even our rick has got one now. 5 trips to make it worth while, probably less when you take into account the excellent company from over the border.
 
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