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Blackpool Pleasure Beach: 2024 Discussion

"Come on just get it going". Jeez that brings backJim really did motivate people to work quicker. He'd never compromise safety though and was a good laugh at times.
2 stand out interactions with him

1. A day assigned to Trauma towers had me dressed like a f£%king Bell hop (uniform department idea of a practical joke to get me back for my practical jokes on them. JR looked at me I the park and started laughter "what the hell do you look like, Buttons?" Told him to "do one nugget" with everyone around jaws dropping he simply laughed and said that he deserved that.

2 a week later in the canteen he walked in and asked everyone if they'd ever seen such a fine in shape person. I told him.he looked like a nugget to which he threatened to dress me as "buttons" and sit me in the laughing clown box for an hour.
Park ops would run a lot better under him I feel.

As for the future of the park it's been said before, they are getting a lot of end of life attractions now and some serious investment is needed to get the park back to scratch. Much as we may hate it I am actually thinking that grand prix is the beginning of the realisation of that.
I have heard talk today that pleasure beach is in advance talks with a rude manufacturer and had actually hoped to have reached an agreement for the last lap event but it wasn't finalised.
I have slso been told they are looking for a different manufacturer to retrack the big one someone who may provide a better quality workmanship.
River caves is struggling with defunct ride software and may not open this season

Ice blast may not return in its current guise the reason for Amanda is so quiet about it needing "a part" is because its a BIG part with S&S rumoured to have been asked about retrofitting the ride with their new spinning shot carriage to the existing tower.


Out of all the info I have been told (not saying who told me) but I think if the latter happens it'll be this season and will then add credence to the rest of what I've been told
 
Isn't River Caves losing water, hence shutting? The leak into the sand will wash the building out if not careful.
 
At the time with the documentary it just seemed great to see somewhere you visited on the TV. Was one of the very earliest 'reality' TV drama/documentarys after stuff like Driving School.

I remember visiting the park a year or so later during the early season 50p weekends and seeing JR walking down the prom prior to park opening and sort of being in awe at someone who'd been on the TV.
 
Bowser said:
Well now i'm in bits after seeing the dog have 15 puppies! :sob:

Anyway sorry to takeover the thread, i really am loving this show so back on topic somewhat, i cannot fathom what they were thinking approving this. Showing rides breaking down, distraught customers, drunks assaulting people and so on, it's hardly a glowing advert for the park? Suppose i'm viewing it through the eyes of modernity. Was there any comment from the park at the time on the series?

Also is JR still alive?
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Back in t'day when you were shooting a documentary, you really were shooting a documentary. The venue you were working at, or documenting, didn't have any say in editorial direction. There was no final approval. The documentary makers really were allowed to show everything warts and all, because the park didn't know better yet.

With PR firms and parks getting a better idea of the control over the commodity they have, with entertainment companies seemingly needing content participants more than TV coverage, the shift in power has changed.

The show was shown on BBC One (stylised then as BBC 1) in 1998, before the mass adoption of satellite and cable TV (poor Rishi). IPTV was still in early stages of research and development. Channel 5 still couldn't be picked up by most of the country. It was also shown during a relative prime time slot. Historical viewing figures aren't easily accessible and, as much as I love being a nerd, I don't fancy paying BARB for them.

Given average viewing figures, for the time, it's safe to say that around 3 - 4 million people tuned in weekly for it. This is why the park agreed. This a viewing number which vloggers can only dream of and Doctor Who barely hits now. Additionally, a documentary on BBC One, of all places, was considered prestige for the park.
 
Steve Minor said:
As for the future of the park it's been said before, they are getting a lot of end of life attractions now and some serious investment is needed to get the park back to scratch. Much as we may hate it I am actually thinking that grand prix is the beginning of the realisation of that.
I have heard talk today that pleasure beach is in advance talks with a rude manufacturer and had actually hoped to have reached an agreement for the last lap event but it wasn't finalised.
I have slso been told they are looking for a different manufacturer to retrack the big one someone who may provide a better quality workmanship.
River caves is struggling with defunct ride software and may not open this season

Ice blast may not return in its current guise the reason for Amanda is so quiet about it needing "a part" is because its a BIG part with S&S rumoured to have been asked about retrofitting the ride with their new spinning shot carriage to the existing tower.


Out of all the info I have been told (not saying who told me) but I think if the latter happens it'll be this season and will then add credence to the rest of what I've been told
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This is one thing that has always bugged me about parks like BPB. Surely the cost of maintenance on older rides, at the end of their life, will cost as much, if not more than the cost of implementing a new ride and said ride lasting 30 years before it needs any serious life extending maintenance. At the moment, BPB is a bucket of water with a huge hole in the bottom.

Right, so there's the conundrum, where do you start? Obviously we have seen Grand Prix axed. It makes you think now, what is next for the chopping board.
 
Steve Minor said:
....I have heard talk today that pleasure beach is in advance talks with a rude manufacturer and had actually hoped to have reached an agreement for the last lap event but it wasn't finalised....
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A rude manufacturer ? Sounds interesting. Typical Blackpool

A shot tower in the shape of a willy ? - The Ejaculator !
A rollercoaster going over large breasts ? - The Bigger Booby One !
 
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Pleasure Beach was definitely more authentic and fly-on-the-wall than what we'd call reality TV today, but it still has it's artifice.

For example, the IRA calling in a bomb threat as well as JR subsequently making the decision not to evacuate the park, did take place. However, it happened to occur on the one weekend during the Illuminations that the filming crew were working on a project elsewhere. The director couldn't believe he'd missed it, but JR was up for recreating the stress and uncertainty to camera. It's a great performance, and the episode itself is particularly compellingly edited.
 
Sharko said:
This is one thing that has always bugged me about parks like BPB. Surely the cost of maintenance on older rides, at the end of their life, will cost as much, if not more than the cost of implementing a new ride and said ride lasting 30 years before it needs any serious life extending maintenance. At the moment, BPB is a bucket of water with a huge hole in the bottom.

Right, so there's the conundrum, where do you start? Obviously we have seen Grand Prix axed. It makes you think now, what is next for the chopping board.
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That's part of BPB's USP though, if it was a park like Six Flags with a tonne of off the shelf rides it wouldn't be as unique. The fact it's got a fair few historic rides is what sets it apart, but they need to find the right balance between preserving history and keeping afloat with new investment.
 
The bigger problem is say you remove Revolution and Steeplechase they don't really free up much room due to the way they've been built. One has all the stations and ride area 30 foot in the air so it's not using up any space. And other than the station area of Steeplechase it all wraps around other attractions.
 
John_P said:
The bigger problem is say you remove Revolution and Steeplechase they don't really free up much room due to the way they've been built. One has all the stations and ride area 30 foot in the air so it's not using up any space. And other than the station area of Steeplechase it all wraps around other attractions.
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Maybe BPB can get a good deal from S&S:

Old wild Mouse site - El Loco
Ice Blast - Spinning seat retro fit
Steeplechase - Rebuild with modern design
Revolution - Replace with free Freespin
Grand Prix site - Axis coaster
 
Is there much of a case for the park to buy older coasters / rides from other parks?

An example is Lightning, a B&M invert from Kuwait Entertainment City which has been SBNO since 2020. Obviously it would have to fit somewhere, but is it ever worth parks buying a used ride, maybe even modifying the layout and saving on the base cost of having it made and designed new? Thinking of that one as a quick and easy replacement for Infusion whenever they decide its time is up which is surely fast approaching given its age and rough ride.

Alternatively, a multi-ride deal from Six Flags parks as mentioned, acquiring some used flat rides on the cheap. Im not sure if there are any examples of this whereby other UK or European parks have purchased used rides from major US parks.
 
Ares said:
An example is Lightning, a B&M invert from Kuwait Entertainment City which has been SBNO since 2020. Obviously it would have to fit somewhere, but is it ever worth parks buying a used ride, maybe even modifying the layout and saving on the base cost of having it made and designed new? Thinking of that one as a quick and easy replacement for Infusion whenever they decide its time is up which is surely fast approaching given its age and rough ride.
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That invert has been sat in the desert for ages and is in a pretty bad state. The cost of refurbishing it to get it up to working standard wouldn’t be far off getting a new Vekoma STC or something, and it certainly wouldn’t be a quick replacement. Sad really as the batclone layout is solid.
 
Episode 5 is the craziest yet. The disabled customers protesting was really interesting to see how things have changed. In fairness it was much less offensive than i expected, though i imagine some of the punter comments weren't shown.

Amanda's one line of the episode being at the launch of a new ride telling them to hurry up so she can get back to Hot Ice :tearsofjoy:

Good example for the Hyperia haters too of rides never working opening day.

Are the Blackpool Illuminations still popular? Even as a Southerner they were so famous when i was a kid, i'm guessing not so much these days?
 
They are very popular still over weekends and the half term, more for the locals and the tartan army...often crazily so on warm/dry weekends after spells of rain.

True old git tale from my personal experience, for any locals.

I remember, with both family and school/church choir trips in the late sixties and early seventies, queueing for the Illuminations, on Blackpool Road through Preston, no M55 joy back then...from the bloody North End football ground...so about fifteen miles to go before the start.
The speed from there was about ten miles an hour all the way, and we often got home in the middle of the night.
Sometimes we gave up and viewed them across the river at Southport.
The lights were often left on until about two in the morning at weekends, to let those poor sods stuck in the jam get through.
So from about nineteen eighty I have avoided autumn weekends like the plague, apart from all those joyous Sunday mornings...what hangovers were made for.
Never quiet at weekends, but "bike the lights" is a stunning midweek sneaky peak, even if not on a bike.
 
Ares said:
Is there much of a case for the park to buy older coasters / rides from other parks?

An example is Lightning, a B&M invert from Kuwait Entertainment City which has been SBNO since 2020. Obviously it would have to fit somewhere, but is it ever worth parks buying a used ride, maybe even modifying the layout and saving on the base cost of having it made and designed new? Thinking of that one as a quick and easy replacement for Infusion whenever they decide its time is up which is surely fast approaching given its age and rough ride.
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I think that buying used rides suits a parks like Flamingo Land better than BPP as they have open layouts that are less densely packed with existing attractions (and indeed they picked up Sik after it passed through the hands of two other parks).

Space is at a real premium at Pleasure Beach but they’d do well to note how other amusement parks with limited space have managed to fit it a very well chosen coaster. Monster at Grona Lund, Daemonen at Tivoli Gardens, and Valkryia at Liseberg are all good coasters that show what parks can do with fairly small plots if they want to fit in a quality ride and think creatively.
Gesengte Sau at Wien Prater (or Vilda Musen at Grona Lund) is a ride that you’d imagine could be a perfect fit for Pleasure Beach. Gertslauer Bobsleds aren’t queue munchers but they do make for a great family thrill ride.
 
Leigh said:
That invert has been sat in the desert for ages and is in a pretty bad state. The cost of refurbishing it to get it up to working standard wouldn’t be far off getting a new Vekoma STC or something, and it certainly wouldn’t be a quick replacement. Sad really as the batclone layout is solid.
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I believe it has gone to one of the Wonderla parks in India?
 
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