Blackpool Pleasure Beach: 2024 Discussion

[John]

They did offer entry with a minimum number of ride tickets - the big 1 ticket. Was £15 for entry and any ride IIRC. It was mainly useful to the capture the "I just want to do pmbo" crowd without offering anything to those not interested in big rides - it's possible that was by design to prevent groups pooling resources and potentially spending no more than if entry were completely free.

I'd be interested to know how many non-rider tickets they actually sold TBH. The idea that the removal of free entry killed the park seems pretty speculative

 

[shakey]

Goosey on a scooter...the price had been six quid for about a decade...and they had added on the River Caves.
Jog on.

Didn't it go up from £5 to £6 a few years earlier ?

It was a rip off at £10. And I am convinced it's why the park was dead in 2019. People were not coming into the park because the walk round price was too high. And that shiny new coaster couldn't tempt them in.

No point in telling Grandma she can go on river caves if she physically can't get in and out of the boat!

And they can't add river caves now anyway . It looks like it will be shut for the foreseeable future. Can't wait till it's re-imagined so it's worse than before !

I doubt they will bring back the walk round pass anyway. Hope they do because it could get a few more people through the gates but I would be surprised, unless the owner actually admits she got something wrong.

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[pjanvil]

How do people think the park would be different if Nick Thompson had taken over instead of Amanda. I know its likely Wild Mouse would likely of been saved by I'm wondering what else might be different?

 

[Ares]

Suppose an investment consortium expressed interest in acquiring the park, with a willingness to engage enthusiasts through a shared ownership framework aimed at ensuring sustainability and maintaining public representation at the ownership level. Would enthusiasts be receptive to such an arrangement?

A portion equivalent to X% of the park's shares would be made available at a price of £X per share to facilitate capital raising and enable approximately 10-20% ownership by enthusiasts.

Furthermore, the park would transition temporarily to a wristband system, offering varying tiers of access to accommodate different levels of ridership:

• Non-Riders: Entry to the park only, priced at £5 per person.
• Kids Pass: Grants access to a select list of children's rides at a discounted rate.
• Family Fun: Provides access to all children's rides as well as selected family-oriented thrill rides.
• Thrill Seekers: Grants access to all rides within the park.

Alternatively, the interim wristband system could feature both full-day and half-day entry options, catering to different schedules and preferences, with distinct pricing structures for riders and non-riders:

Full-Day Entry (Standard hours: 10 am - 5 pm / Extended hours: 10 am - 9 pm)

• Non-Riders: £5.00
• Children: £20.00 (standard hours) / £25.00 (extended hours)
• Adults: £30.00 (standard hours) / £35.00 (extended hours)

Half-Day Entry (Standard hours: 2 pm - 5 pm / Extended hours: 4 pm - 9 pm)

• Non-Riders: £2.50
• Children: £10.00 (standard hours) / £15.00 (extended hours)
• Adults: £20.00 (standard hours) / £25.00 (extended hours)

This approach aims to allocate exclusive ride time for full-day ticket holders in the mornings, while attracting increased park traffic in the evenings. It offers flexibility for visitors interested in exploring other attractions in Blackpool by allowing afternoon park visits. Additionally, it presents an alternative for multi-generational or larger families to enjoy the park more affordably while still experiencing the majority of available attractions.

I would greatly appreciate honest and constructive feedback on the above concepts.

 

[jibbsie]

I have an outsider point of view as I have not been to BPB but from my perspective it seems as though BPB are trying to copy other parks with their pricing structures but are failing to realise the market they are in, blackpool! They seem to have a pricing structure that targets people to come and visit for just BPB, for instance alton towers, most people won't visit alton, they will make the day out just for alton towers, so it makes sence for instance to charge more on the day as most people will plan ahead and book a couple days away, but BPB is in blackpool with many other tourist attractions arround, whilst it is competition it also helps as people will travel to blackpool for a vacation they should try to encourage people visiting on holiday to visit them, as when people are on holiday a lot of the decisions they make are impulsive. For instance if you were on the beach and decided to go on the big one, the only was currently is spending £50+ on the day that will turn away many people, but if they had a big one pass, for a reasonable amount where most people will say go on lets have a go then they will bring in a lot more people.

 

[Mick]

I don’t see that a walk-round pass would help in any way, it’s not like it’s the Towers Gardens or anything is it, it’s a neglected and empty theme park/amusement park/resort.

It needs bigger action to turn Blackpool round in my opinion, a clear vision, clear communication and most importantly investment. The sheer number of broken rides is unacceptable and that number will only be increasing given the age of some of their attractions. They can’t bury their heads in the sand.

 

[shakey]

I don’t see that a walk-round pass would help in any way, it’s not like it’s the Towers Gardens or anything is it, it’s a neglected and empty theme park/amusement park/resort.

It needs bigger action to turn Blackpool round in my opinion, a clear vision, clear communication and most importantly investment. The sheer number of broken rides is unacceptable and that number will only be increasing given the age of some of their attractions. They can’t bury their heads in the sand.

It's so families with non riders will come into the park instead of choosing to do other stuff in Blackpool.

And burying her head in the sand is a favourite passtime of the current owner. Along with sticking her fingers in her ears and going la la la la.



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[jesterrace989]

Unfortunately i could see Mandy being too stubborn to admit they are struggling with it and would rather see it crumble than pass it on to new management. It will be everyone else's except her own.

I doubt it. I highly doubt she wants the park to be shut down. She's surely well aware that there's too much money to be made from the park for it to be closed down for good.

 

[Call_um]

A bit criminal of me but I'd never visited Blackpool pleasure beach. Always been a bucket list park for me from a young age due to their wide selection of coasters, a lot of which are very unique.

I visited last Thursday for my first ever time so I thought I'd share my thoughts. Heard lots of mixed things about Pleasure beach recently, mainly negative so I was a bit skeptical on how my day was going to be, but I had a great day and thoroughly enjoyed myself.

The park was open 11-5, and advertised to be closed was Ice Blast, River Caves and Grand Prix, (now announced it'll be closed for good) Nickelodeon land is also advertised to close at 4pm an hour before park closing.

I expected the park to be quiet, but the park was empty, according to staff this was the quietest day so far this season at just over 600 people on park. Most of the queue times on the app showed 10 minutes but nothing had a queue all day.

I'll list the coasters in the order I rated them worst to best...

10. Blueflyer - Smooth classic woodie, but very short and more of a kids coaster. Would be a great first coaster.

9. Infusion - Was dreading this but not as bad as people make out. Not a lot else to say really, standard SLC.

8. Steeplechase - Good fun and very unique but I did find a little uncomfy, every corner the seats dug into my hip a little.

7. Avalange - Enjoyed this, much preferred it to Europas. Although its short, it had a lot of force. Lovely station and a nice soundtrack.

6. Nick streak - Great airtime hills and very very smooth for its age. Trains were really comfy with all the padding.

5. Big one - Didn't know if I was going to get this as it was closed all day Wednesday due to high winds and high winds predicted for my visit too. Looking at the forecast winds were due to pick up at 1 so my best chance of getting this was getting on it early. Luckily it opened first thing but it did later close for the rest of the day. They were only loading the front 2 cars with the rest sandbagged.

First drop was great but apart from that, the rest of the layout nothing really happens. I imagine it was running slower than usual due to the winds. Would've liked to have tried the backrow (backrow looks lethal on that first drop) but was happy to get on it nonetheless!

4. Big dipper - Oldest rollercoaster I've ever ridden but was riding great for its age. Had some good drops and good airtime hills. All round enjoyable.

3. Grand national - I expected a lot from this, with people saying this is the best woodie in the country. I went straight on the back row and honestly felt like I'd just been beaten up. I saw someone on the other train on the 2nd to last row and it reminded me to ride non wheel seats Much more enjoyable but could definitely do with some more work. Would've loved to have tried the other trains back in the day. The racing aspect of it is great fun and you do get some nice airtime.

2. Revolution - Had never done an Arrow launched loop so was great to get on one of these - good airtime moments especially on the front and back row. Chucks you out your seat. Particularly enjoyed going backwards on this.

1. Icon - This was great fun. Although this is my favorite at the park is it my favorite in the UK? Absolutely not. Do think its a bit over-hyped but its up there. Some good airtime on the back row and really enjoy the top hat too. Its a great length and its great how it interacts with other rides too.

Unfortunately didn't get to give Enso a go. Apparently they had the Enso train on first thing but took it off as it was predicted to be really quiet. Its a management decision weather to put it on or not in the afternoon based on crowds but they didn't, but understandable. Very expensive for what it is but would've liked to have gave it a go.


Onto Valhalla - although it was a cold, windy and little wet day I couldn't come to Blackpool without getting on this.

Always loved indoor water rides, but wow. Completely blew me away. Hands down my favorite dark ride in the UK by far. I didn't know how I was going to find this as reviews are nowhere near as good as they were before.

I didn't get particularity wet on the drops, just from the effects but every time I went on the boat was to myself so I imagine thats down to the weight of the boat.

I know from reading before that the effects are unreliable and can differ all the time so I did lots of re-rides to see if it was any different.
Everything was consistent on my rides apart from the ring of fire which I only saw twice, although all the other fire was on every other ride. Also the waterfall as you go into the building didn't turn off on my first ride. For the rest of the day this was then just turned off.
After doing a bit of research since I've been back, the only effects I didn't see on any of my rides were the crashing logs and the rolling log. There also didn't seem to be any mist outside the ride like I've seen online too.


Particularly enjoyed Skyforce too. My first Gerst Sky Fly and really enjoyed this. 1 good gust of wind and you are off for the rest for ride. Operator said I did 64 spins, which is certainly the most I've ever been upside down on a ride before.


So overall a good day. Got on everything I wanted to with lots of re-rides. For the most part staff were friendly enough and were fine with re-rides if there wasn't anyone waiting in the air gates. Hard to comment on operations, everything was on 1 train but there wasn't need for more than that on anything. I got my ticket just the day before for £35 which is reasonable too. I wouldn't rush back. Its nearly a 6 hour drive for me so unless they get something new worth traveling up for I wouldn't bother.

Bit worrying a bit recent ride closures and hearing how quiet it is even on weekends at the moment. Will be interesting to see how the park does going forwards as the future isn't looking particularly great. They have a lot of old rides which can't be cheap to maintain and the park isn't the most presentable...

 

[Ares]

I have an outsider point of view as I have not been to BPB but from my perspective it seems as though BPB are trying to copy other parks with their pricing structures but are failing to realise the market they are in, blackpool! They seem to have a pricing structure that targets people to come and visit for just BPB, for instance alton towers, most people won't visit alton, they will make the day out just for alton towers, so it makes sence for instance to charge more on the day as most people will plan ahead and book a couple days away, but BPB is in blackpool with many other tourist attractions arround, whilst it is competition it also helps as people will travel to blackpool for a vacation they should try to encourage people visiting on holiday to visit them, as when people are on holiday a lot of the decisions they make are impulsive. For instance if you were on the beach and decided to go on the big one, the only was currently is spending £50+ on the day that will turn away many people, but if they had a big one pass, for a reasonable amount where most people will say go on lets have a go then they will bring in a lot more people.

I think the core issue, per my understanding and opinion, is that BPB has tried to selfishly cannibalize Blackpool tourism by locking visitors into the park all day via the current ticketing system.

Of course though, as you have mentioned, families will want to walk up and down the promenade, catch a tram ride, go up the tower or visit the piers for penny slots or arcades too, that is the essence of a trip to Blackpool. You simply cannot do this with the current ticketing system, and it is so expensive on the gate it is ridiculous.

I remember visiting the park as a child with my father back in the pay-per-ride days and still visiting the tower via tram, grabbing chips along the front, and frequenting the arcades.

I haven't visited the park since 2015 now, despite it only being within an hour's drive. However, I did stop by the park on the penultimate day of last years season. I had my baby and partner with me, and hoping to get in the park for a low fee for a quick go on Iceblast and Big Dipper before closing, I was absolutely astounded that with 30 minutes to go they would still happily charge £50 entry. It is utterly disgusting.

They could have easily gained £15 out of myself, and perhaps £5 entry for my partner just for a quick thrill of a few rides within the last 30 minutes or so given it looked like walk ons. But no, greed is killing the park alongside the stupidity of its current pricing system which defies all logic of a seaside amusement park.

 

[rob666]

Pay one price.
Six hundred on park.
Anyone want to try to get a working profit out of that?

Another park dying by "the death by a thousand cuts..."
Lots of minor problems that tend to snowball into one big problem.
Remember Camelot Mandy.

 

[Relife]

If you look at what Drayton does with it's promos, there run offers to get people in the park at quieter times and even do combi deals with thier sister park as well as well offers with a hotel stay included.

Pleasurebeech does none of this, I can't remember seeing anything on social media or other media with any kind of offer or deal that would grab your attention. I'm really not sure what thier marketing team do

 

[Sharko]

Serious question, if the BPB open the floodgates, went PPR/WB, would we have a big security issue and if so how could we resolve it? Would the amount of through traffic and extra revenue in food/retail negate the cost of providing extra security on the park?

 

[Enter Valhalla]

How do people think the park would be different if Nick Thompson had taken over instead of Amanda. I know its likely Wild Mouse would likely of been saved by I'm wondering what else might be different?

What makes you think that Nick would have saved the Mouse?

 

[pjanvil]

What makes you think that Nick would have saved the Mouse?

I heard this at the time he wanted to spend the money on it to resolve the insurance issues whereas Mandy was of the opinion Icon was opening and that would serve as a replacement to the Mouse.

As for why the Mouse didn't have a farewell do like Grand Prix I think again the difference was it couldn't get insurance and the park didn't plan to scrap it. Hence why they didn't give it a closing down do. Without Insurance a ride cannot operate with members of the public hence why it went quickly without a sendoff.


On a separate note, I've ridden Valhalla plenty this year but have not seen much fire operating at all also the Hammer Logs seem to have not been operating all season does anyone know whats wrong with them or has anyone else seen them operating?

 

[shakey]

I heard this at the time he wanted to spend the money on it to resolve the insurance issues whereas Mandy was of the opinion Icon was opening and that would serve as a replacement to the Mouse.

As for why the Mouse didn't have a farewell do like Grand Prix I think again the difference was it couldn't get insurance and the park didn't plan to scrap it. Hence why they didn't give it a closing down do. Without Insurance a ride cannot operate with members of the public hence why it went quickly without a sendoff.


On a separate note, I've ridden Valhalla plenty this year but have not seen much fire operating at all also the Hammer Logs seem to have not been operating all season does anyone know whats wrong with them or has anyone else seen them operating?

I doubt a ride suddenly becomes uninsured half way through a season.

I don't even think the insurance thing is even a thing. Do parks insure rides individually ? I would have thought the park as a whole would be insured .

But even if they do insure rides individually , I am not convinced the ride closed because it could no longer be insured.

I believe it closed because the park were worried about the long list of complaints about the ride , including one particularly incident where some child had managed to undo their seat belt and nearly got flung out of the car. It is why they fitted the double seat belts that were never actually used because the ride didn't reopen. I think the parent of the child in question , was threatening to sue the park. They just decided enough was enough.

And it didn't get a send off because of the fear of protests about the ride closing.

We could of course just believe the parks official statement , which was that the ride was removed to make way for new developments !!

Regarding Nick, I think the mouse would still be there today if he had been in charge. I think he even wanted to rebuild the reel at one point !

And regarding Valhalla, it's Valhalla, just as unreliable as it has always been.

 

[pjanvil]

I wonder why Amanda was chosen to run the park over Nick if she wasn't really interested and just wanted to focus on the Ice Shows. purely because she was eldest child? Also interesting to speculate how things would be different if Geoffrey Thompson lived another 10 years. How different the park might have been, would pleasureland Southport survived?

 

[John_P]

Geoffrey Thompson who made the decision to close Frontier Land in Morecambe? Maybe it might've struggled on for a few years.

Sadly I think with the Wild Mouse something eventually would've happened, most likely due to the stupidity of a guest that would've forced them to close it. Probably lucky in the end it was an incident they were able to quietly move away from.

 

[Mark84]

The morcambe and Southport parks is a very interesting subject and something from my interpretation that significantly affected pleasure beach’s growth and investment for a lot of years and in some extent to this day. As for morcambe it didn’t really take any money and always made a loss and was never going to be viable. Looking at accounts it looks like Its closure and sale at the time resulted in its debts being paid and prevented it affecting the pleasure beach going forward before it got out of hand. Southport is a different story. It did take more money than Morcambe but did lose a lot and had debts with a negative equity of around 8 million. As a stand alone business it would have gone bankrupt many years previous but was supported by Blackpool pleasure beach limited. I believe it only lasted so long and they tried as long as they did due to the effect its closure would have on pleasure beach accounts due to money being owed to pleasure beach. I’m sure no one wanted it to work more than they did if not only for this reason. However I guess eventually they realised it was better to close it and take the hit as loses were still mounting up and was just going to get worse. Its closure was very very costly to pleasure beach and resulted in Blackpool pleasure beach limited losing around 5.5 million that year. I think In total around 7.5 million in debt to pleasure beach was wiped off due to the closure. This could explain why there was little to no investment in the years prior and after the closure other than relocating infusion. In my opinion Southport should have been closed at the same time as Morcambe if not quite a few years before as this would have saved them millions. But easier to say with hindsight

 

[Ares]

Serious question, if the BPB open the floodgates, went PPR/WB, would we have a big security issue and if so how could we resolve it? Would the amount of through traffic and extra revenue in food/retail negate the cost of providing extra security on the park?

This is definitely a consideration for any park entry changes and something highlighted by the 1997 Pleasure Beach documentary.

I think in terms of rowdy teenagers, times have changed, and drinking culture seems to have changed somewhat too. I don't think rowdy behaviour would be so prevalent as long as there is a non-rider walk-around wristband fee and a full-day / half-day rider ticketing system - potentially paired with a tiered ride access system such as; Kids Rides, Family Rides, and Thrill Seekers. This is inclusive for the whole family then, non-riders for grandparents, kids rides for the kids, family rides for mum and thrill seeker dad to generalize.

Just to conclude the security risk element, you don't want non-paying customers in the park, and anyone with ill intent will pay to enter to cause harm regardless if it is predatory or worse behaviour. A paid entry system should also help to keep out any rowdy Hen or Stag parties, stopping them from just wandering on the park as was the issue previously during PPR. People are less likely to cause trouble if they have paid to be there and know they will be thrown out.

It is the best happy medium to enable flexibility of entry time and ridership level to the GP without the need for PPR. I think PPR has had it's day, and there is better value gained from flexible fixed pricing where you gain your profits on purchase regardless of what the customer does within the park after that point.

It would also be much easier to calculate ROI from marketing efforts too by calculating ticket purchases by ride access tiers and by full-day / half-day duration correlated to promotions, and to better identify ridership levels i.e Kids Rides, Family Rides, Thrill Seekers and appetite for duration on park as well as attendance levels throughout the day.

There's also a marketing point around the wristbands being accessible for all age ranges, where older or less economically adapt customers may not have access or the understanding of smartphones and app installs for ride access. There's certainly a positive spin, and the wristband is always something you can retain after a visit for a memory box or scrapbook. I know I have old football ticket stubs, festival wristbands and so forth stored in a box. Anything to put the phones away for a few hours is a win for families too.

If you look at what Drayton does with it's promos, there run offers to get people in the park at quieter times and even do combi deals with thier sister park as well as well offers with a hotel stay included.

Pleasurebeech does none of this, I can't remember seeing anything on social media or other media with any kind of offer or deal that would grab your attention. I'm really not sure what thier marketing team do

As someone in the marketing and advertising industry, my assumption is they do exactly as they're directed from above.

I really feel for anyone working under that direction, and I'm sure it does not allow for much creative freedom. My guess would be everything is ideated and signed off by Amanda or a senior team that understands that any efforts need only appeal to Amanda's taste to get anything greenlit. Either that, or they are just so blind to see that what they are doing isn't effective, or as effective as it could be and that ranges from paid advertising efforts to organic content, events and influencer/enthusiast partnerships.

I say this given her twitter antics and a lack of any public relations interventions showcases that there seems to be a culture of fear of management. This also comes from every sentiment I have picked up on from Youtube comments about people who have, or have known people to work at the park under Amanda's stewardship over the last 2 decades as well as the general sentiment amongst enthusiasts.

The park is absolutely crying out for some PR management, a revitalized and coherent brand identity that offers a concise message to a target demographic it actually understands and wishes to pursue, and for a highly effective digital marketing strategy to be implemented and activated to relay the above information to said target demographic to increase revenue and profitability.

The simple fact is the parks ownership takes the public for idiots, and is happy to sleep with anyone willing to put money in their pockets regardless of if they fit the target demographic or not, to rinse you of all you have and toss you aside ready for the next chump willing to pay £50 on the gate for Theme Park, sorry, Resort, sorry... Seaside Amusement Park access.

The magic has been lost at Blackpool because there's no love in it from management. It is all transactional. It's business sure, and do what you need to do to survive, and sometimes that means making hard decisions that arent popular. But the path the park has gone down is now leading it into a very tight corner between a rock and a hard place with so many rides reaching end of life, ridiculous pricing, an ever declining Blackpool as a town and tourist destination, and a sustained period of economic hardship - the worst of which is yet to come.

The clock is ticking, and I genuinely do not think the park can continue to operate as is by 2030. I think change has to happen within 2-3 years max to save the park's very existance now.