Which are being being replaced, I am basing this off to how Legoland was in the early years.
Sounded like a useful attraction for getting around the park and probably shouod of been kept
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Blackpool Pleasure Beach: 2026 Discussion
GooseOnTheLoose
TS Member
Benjsh
TS Member
I don't greatly miss any of the rides PB has closed down.
I think the last one they did that i have mostly fond memories of was Space Invader 2. I know the Mouse holds a special place in many hearts but I was never a great fan of it. It was a one and done attraction for me and on some visits I'd skip it entirely.
I think the last one they did that i have mostly fond memories of was Space Invader 2. I know the Mouse holds a special place in many hearts but I was never a great fan of it. It was a one and done attraction for me and on some visits I'd skip it entirely.
Benjsh
TS Member
I know. Its sacrilege in this community to have not enjoyed the Mouse but it was never my sort of ride really. Didn't hate it or anything that extreme but it wasnt my favourite at all.
In fact I dont care for many of the coasters still operating. Sometimes I wonder to myself why I held this park in such high regard for so long as a child.
The platform and staircase for the promenade station survived long after the ride itself, even considering it hadn't been used operationally for a long time prior. You can see from Google Maps:
Hopefully that link should take you to the correct spot, but if it doesn't, it's slightly to the north of where Boulevard stands these days.
The switch track and maintenance building still stand to this day, and can be observed just before the first drop on Grand National if you look to the left.
Ares
TS Member
I've been chatting with Claude AI on what it thinks the park should do differently. There are many devicive things its suggested which I agree with - but one really low budget and great ideas to implement I think was this;
BPB should lean into being one of the world's most historically significant amusement parks - not just say it in the brochure, but make it experiential.
A proper heritage trail through the park — plaques, QR codes linking to archive footage, physical displays at each historic ride. Sir Hiram Maxim's ride should have a full contextual experience explaining who Maxim was and what this machine meant in 1904. The Ghost Train should have a proper history of how it invented an entire ride category. Visitors who aren't coaster enthusiasts often respond more to story than to thrills.
An archive and exhibition space — BPB has extraordinary photographic and physical history. A properly curated permanent exhibition, ticketed separately or free with entry, that tells the story of the park and of Blackpool itself as a social history. School trips. Enthusiast tours. A reason for people who don't ride to still want to come.
It would be fun to have QR Coded plaques in ride queues linking to web pages showcasing ride history and construction photos where applicable too. Something cheap and easy to implement and fun to do whilst in a queue - even maybe a quiz for each ride to do whilst queuing too on the same web page.
For all the big ideas, the small ones make a big difference too. I'd love to see something like this take shape.
The Heritage Programme
BPB should lean into being one of the world's most historically significant amusement parks - not just say it in the brochure, but make it experiential.
A proper heritage trail through the park — plaques, QR codes linking to archive footage, physical displays at each historic ride. Sir Hiram Maxim's ride should have a full contextual experience explaining who Maxim was and what this machine meant in 1904. The Ghost Train should have a proper history of how it invented an entire ride category. Visitors who aren't coaster enthusiasts often respond more to story than to thrills.
An archive and exhibition space — BPB has extraordinary photographic and physical history. A properly curated permanent exhibition, ticketed separately or free with entry, that tells the story of the park and of Blackpool itself as a social history. School trips. Enthusiast tours. A reason for people who don't ride to still want to come.
It would be fun to have QR Coded plaques in ride queues linking to web pages showcasing ride history and construction photos where applicable too. Something cheap and easy to implement and fun to do whilst in a queue - even maybe a quiz for each ride to do whilst queuing too on the same web page.
For all the big ideas, the small ones make a big difference too. I'd love to see something like this take shape.
Bowser
TS Member
Wasn’t sure where to put this but as Blackpool are the quoted theme park this seems most appropriate. Definitely agree as it’s something I’ve personally complained to my wife about numerous times and we’ve cancelled plans to visit parks as a result:
Major UK tourist attractions including Chester and Edinburgh Zoo are calling for changes to the way weather forecasts are displayed on mobile phone apps - warning that "misleading" rain icons cost venues up to £137,000 a day.
Blackpool Pleasure Beach Resort has also backed the call for clearer forecast presentation.
Spokesman James Cox said: "In the current economic climate... families see a leisure day out as a considered investment, rather than the throwaway discretionary spend of old.
"The impact of the weather forecast is therefore intensified, particularly for outdoor attractions.
"A significant amount of our bookings come within 24 hours of any given day, because people rely on that weather icon.
"Accurate reports with imagery that better reflects overall conditions are vital."
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/czj18j09wvro
Major UK tourist attractions including Chester and Edinburgh Zoo are calling for changes to the way weather forecasts are displayed on mobile phone apps - warning that "misleading" rain icons cost venues up to £137,000 a day.
Blackpool Pleasure Beach Resort has also backed the call for clearer forecast presentation.
Spokesman James Cox said: "In the current economic climate... families see a leisure day out as a considered investment, rather than the throwaway discretionary spend of old.
"The impact of the weather forecast is therefore intensified, particularly for outdoor attractions.
"A significant amount of our bookings come within 24 hours of any given day, because people rely on that weather icon.
"Accurate reports with imagery that better reflects overall conditions are vital."
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/czj18j09wvro
The forecasts for Blackpool are very often pessimistic.
The BBC designate any moisture whatsoever as a percentage within the hour.
Ten seconds of fine drizzle means a wet/showers icon for the hour.
Technically correct, but no use in the real world.
edit...and amusingly, the BBC is blaming the Met office for the pessimism.
The BBC forecast, different for the last few years from the Met Office one, is usually far more negative regarding rain than the Met Office forecasts they appear to be blaming.
From this outdoor workers perspective, the BBC forecasts have been different from the Met Office ones, less accurate, and are usually worse regarding such matters!
Repeatedly.
BBC news deflecting negativity from its own weather forecasts.
They are worse than the Met Office on forecasts, simple.
Bit poop really, and shows why we should not always believe what is reported on individual companies, by other companies in the same field.
The BBC designate any moisture whatsoever as a percentage within the hour.
Ten seconds of fine drizzle means a wet/showers icon for the hour.
Technically correct, but no use in the real world.
edit...and amusingly, the BBC is blaming the Met office for the pessimism.
The BBC forecast, different for the last few years from the Met Office one, is usually far more negative regarding rain than the Met Office forecasts they appear to be blaming.
From this outdoor workers perspective, the BBC forecasts have been different from the Met Office ones, less accurate, and are usually worse regarding such matters!
Repeatedly.
BBC news deflecting negativity from its own weather forecasts.
They are worse than the Met Office on forecasts, simple.
Bit poop really, and shows why we should not always believe what is reported on individual companies, by other companies in the same field.
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Now that display advert for nickland blocks the old staircase to the monorail, and also an access gate down to the bottom of the first drop on the Big One.
The outer access gate was always unlocked, the inner gate to the big one drop was always locked.
But standing by that locked gate as the big one dropped was amazing!
Whoosh!
Finally fully locked a few years ago, sadly.
Great fun for scaring small children.
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I still do wonder what would of happened if Geoffrey Thompson lived another 5-15 years. The park would of been even better than it currently is. Some of the investments over the last 20 years were still good such as Nickelodeon Land, Icon and now Aviktas, but I still wonder on what attractions in which were removed after his passing would still be here under his leadership.
Pleasureland Southport would of also remained as well. During the time of Geoffrey's death in 2004, the park was at its peak. Geoffrey had ambitious and great plans to expand the park onto the former plot of the Southport Zoo with more new rides and attractions but sadly this was all thrown out the window due to his unexpected sad passing and the fact that Amanda did not any interest in the place at all unlike him, hence the entrance fee and the unexpected 2006 closure. Frontierland in Morecambe was sadly doomed to close anyway, due to council not caring and even wanting the park even with Geoffrey's plans of investment. Infusion (Traumatizer) was said to be planned there at first before the park ultimately closed.
Plastic Person
TS Member
However long he had lived, the creditors would have arrived as soon as he passed. WGT did amazing things and with a lot of panache, but there was always a debt that was going to need to be serviced.
But yes, if we're talking hypotheticals, it would have been interesting to see how he would have ushered the park further into the new millennium. I'd hazard a guess that whatever happened, we probably would have seen less fountains.
Matt N
TS Member
I’m doubtful that the direction taken would have been overly different had Geoffrey Thompson lived longer.
Yes, his death may have accelerated certain things, but other factors like the general decline of Blackpool as a holiday destination would always have come back to bite the park in the end and he would have had to respond. I don’t see how he could have kept the roaring atmosphere of the 90s going amidst considerably more difficult financial circumstances (in the years following Geoffrey Thompson’s death, we had the 2008 financial crash, which I do think changed the industry for better or worse).
His exact investments and responses to things might have differed, but as much as Amanda is demonised in comparison to her father, I’m not so sure that Geoffrey Thompson would have taken an overly different path to the one his daughter took overall.
Yes, his death may have accelerated certain things, but other factors like the general decline of Blackpool as a holiday destination would always have come back to bite the park in the end and he would have had to respond. I don’t see how he could have kept the roaring atmosphere of the 90s going amidst considerably more difficult financial circumstances (in the years following Geoffrey Thompson’s death, we had the 2008 financial crash, which I do think changed the industry for better or worse).
His exact investments and responses to things might have differed, but as much as Amanda is demonised in comparison to her father, I’m not so sure that Geoffrey Thompson would have taken an overly different path to the one his daughter took overall.
Valhalla was only a millstone though because it came at the birth of POP.
It was created in an age of pay per ride...tickets or cash were the norm when the ride was designed...good old double a tickets sponsored by the Daily Star.
At four quid a time...that would be over eight quid a shot now.
No wonder it is shut at thirty quid a day on POP.