• ℹ️ Heads up...

    This is a popular topic that is fast moving Guest - before posting, please ensure that you check out the first post in the topic for a quick reminder of guidelines, and importantly a summary of the known facts and information so far. Thanks.

Blackpool Pleasure Beach: General Discussion

Status
This topic has been locked. No further replies can be posted.
ScottPBE said:
... the very fact it was no longer possible to run it is why it has been removed.. .
Click to expand...

But that is what I can't quite believe.

I am sure everything came about from the complaint i saw on trip advisor where someone had said their son had accidentally undone the seatbelt and almost came out.

That would explain the extra seat belts that were fitted, and why allegedly the ride was then given the all clear and ready to go again.

Why it then didn't re-open only the people in charge will know, and Scott i suspect that you are not being told the 100% truth by the park.








Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk
 
I thought this was "fake news" when I first saw it this morning.
Really saddened to hear of the demolition of the most unique and intense attraction at one of my favourite parks.
I remember the first time I saw the mouse back in the 90's thinking "how can a ride which looks so dangerous still be allowed to operate?"
I can appreciate the decision made by the park but it would have been nice to get a final ride.
They will probably replace it with a wobbly ladder or a climbing wall or something dreadful.
I've always thought the world's largest drop tower would be at home in Blackpool. Not sure this is the right place to put it though as there's not much queue space.
RIP Tom, Jerry and Gazza! You will be missed.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I get the business decision. I don’t get the lack of respect for the ride. They could of announced its closure end of season due to whatever(safety blah) the fact its gone and gone so quick hurts a lot of ppl. Like the ride has not been given a good send off but just erased.
Why could they not spend 2018 fixing the “issues”? Worst case scenario they had to re track/new cars etc. At least we would of had something! Then we could argue about old/new

Scott@pbe this is obviously news to you too as you’re claiming it was normal maint for close season. You have good ties with the park why does this seem to be a rash decision by the powers that be.
To get contractors in over Xmas/new year period this would have been booked in +4 weeks ago.
Are your jungle drums broke or missing off your Xmas list??
 
Jamie said:
It does seem odd that people were claiming "maintenance work has begun" just a couple of weeks ago.
Click to expand...

Yes, and it is utterly ridiculous that BPB's own website still shows Wild Mouse amongst its 'thrill rides'. I've never run a website, but really, how hard is it to remove a piece of inaccurate and misleading information from your website? Perhaps they mean visitors are welcome to ride it providing they are able to build it first, like an Ikea cabinet!
 
What says it all about the sorry experience is none of BPB’s social channels / website have been updated.

Yes it’s the weekend but if someone was able to put out that statement on Saturday there’s no excuse it wasn’t posted on the Facebook page at very least.

They’ve made the situation much worse than it needed to be. God help the social media team today!
 
From BPB's own website just now:

One of the world's last remaining wooden wild mouse rides! Tick this off your bucket list!

Not for the faint-hearted! This hair-raising coaster with its 90 degree turns and speedy pace will take you on a wild trip up and down steep drops before whizzing round a seemingly endless array of bends. Pleasure Beach boasts one of the last remaining wooden wild mouse rides in the world!

Please note: Wild Mouse is closed today for scheduled maintenance.

Ride Info
High speed, turbulent coaster.

Guests must exhibit the following attributes for admission to this amusement ride:

  • At least 132cm tall
  • Wristband or 6 Ride Tickets
  • Ability to independently maintain seated postural control under the dynamic conditions of the ride
  • Ability to withstand high G-forces and/or sudden and rapid changes in direction of forces
  • Muscular control of upper torso, neck and head
  • Ability to enter/exit the device unaided through proper entrance/exit
  • Ability to properly fit in ride under all restraining devices
  • Ability to grasp/grip with 2 functional arms
  • Ability to brace with 2 functional legs
  • Ability to walk/climb unassisted over obstacles
 
MakoMania said:
Exactly my thoughts. I bet it might be quite frightening as a park owner to think that much of your limited land may become listed and undevelopable.
Click to expand...

Somewhat ironic that the people trying to force BPB to keep the ride may well have been a significant factor in the parks decision to get rid of the ride sooner than they might otherwise have.
 
On Twitter, Blackpool south pier posted (can someone embed the tweet for me?) something along the lines of "its hard to get rid of mice, they always come back" or something, think it means anything?
 
Britford said:
On Twitter, Blackpool south pier posted (can someone embed the tweet for me?) something along the lines of "its hard to get rid of mice, they always come back" or something, think it means anything?
Click to expand...

I think this has been addressed here already: they are getting a steel Mouse
 
Dipper_Dave said:
Yes, and it is utterly ridiculous that BPB's own website still shows Wild Mouse amongst its 'thrill rides'. I've never run a website, but really, how hard is it to remove a piece of inaccurate and misleading information from your website? Perhaps they mean visitors are welcome to ride it providing they are able to build it first, like an Ikea cabinet!
Click to expand...
PB's website has been pants for years.

5 minute job (If that) to change it.

Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk
 
shakey said:
But that is what I can't quite believe.

I am sure everything came about from the complaint i saw on trip advisor where someone had said their son had accidentally undone the seatbelt and almost came out.
Click to expand...

What is it with people and not taking responsibility for their own actions or failings nowadays? You don't accidentally undo a seatbelt. There was a woman on breakfast this morning calling for laser pens to be banned because her (presumably) 6 year old blinded himself playing with one, totally glossing over the fact she let him buy it and play with it unsupervised without even considering it might be dangerous if he shone it in his eye 'but it didn't have a warning on' - you mean like slippery when wet or sharp on one side like knives have?

I remember quiet clearly telling my fiddle with everything 10 year old to stop playing with the seatbelt mechanism while we were sat waiting on the mouse, only for the ride operator to laugh and say yeah, don't undo that, before sending us off on our merry way with a 'hold tight' lol

Kid goes on Rollercoaster, undoes seatbelt and wonders why he get's hurt - but it's not his fault... FFS. Sometimes I dispair at how dumb some people seem to be. It's a real shame if this is one of the reasons the mouse shut.
 
Last edited:
IanSR said:
What is it with people and not taking responsibility for their own actions or failings nowadays? You don't accidentally undo a seatbelt. There was a woman on breakfast this morning calling for laser pens to be banned because her (presumably) 6 year old blinded himself playing with one, totally glossing over the fact she let him buy it and play with it unsupervised without even considering it might be dangerous if he shone it in his eye 'but it didn't have a warning on' - you mean like slippery when wet or sharp on one side like knives have?

I remember quiet clearly telling my fiddle with everything 10 year old to stop playing with the seatbelt mechanism while we were sat waiting on the mouse, only for the ride operator to laugh and say yeah, don't undo that, before sending us off on our merry way with a 'hold tight' lol

Kid goes on Rollercoaster, undoes seatbelt and wonders why he get's hurt - but it's not his fault... FFS. Sometimes I dispair at how dumb some people seem to be. It's a real shame if this is one of the reasons the mouse shut.
Click to expand...

Well done Sir. We're not talking about a little toddler unable to steady themselves or grasp the concept of holding onto something. Anyone 132cm or taller in a Mouse car should surely be able manage to successfully ride the Wild Mouse. If the billion to one thing of a seatbelt release accidentally being knocked happens (you do have to press quite hard and precisely on them after all, has anyone ever released a car seatbelt 'by accident'?) then surely holding onto the sides / front bar on the mouse, as well as the forces that pin you into it, would keep you in the car. We're not talking a coaster with inversions here. Couple this with the fact that a responsible (we presume) adult was behind the child and upon noticing the belt had retracted surely instantly positioned her arms across the child to keep them safe, it seems rather silly if that was a deciding factor in shutting the mouse. I am not sure why some people think an accident was 'inevitable' on the ride and I am also not sure why the park is deemed to be at fault and seen as the bad guy for something that was admitted right away as 'user error.' Easy to say now but I went on Mouse once with my eldest son and made sure that he was holding on (and well cushioned!). I intended to take my youngest son on it twice this season and both days it was 'closed for maintenance.'

Really, to back up the seatbelt in case of a future highly unlikely accidental seatbelt release, a Big Dipper style lapbar could have been installed maybe? It seems like this seatbelt incident was the final straw and thinking about it, maybe should not be taken in isolation (yes, even though I've just been blabbing on about it!). Perhaps it was a convenient way for the park to simply announce that they had indeed had enough of the ride and simply couldn't be bothered fighting the insurers etc. anymore.

Anyway, I don't think I have much else to say on the matter now. I am gutted the ride has gone and just hope that some day a good coaster covers that area. Sad that Nash is now the only proper coaster in North park. Mouse was a popular first ride of the day because of where it was, and that's also now one ride less for when half the park shuts early for fireworks.
 
Last edited:
Some quotes from Amanda Thompson in the Blackpool Gazette:
Amanda Thompson said:
I attended the dismantling of The Wild Mouse and was in tears.

It was a huge part of my life. I can not explain how sad and disappointed I am.

Regrettably some rides just have a life span.

The only good news from this is that we can create a different thrill for all our fans in the future.

We are all really sad at Pleasure Beach. This has been truly devastating for us all.

Blackpool Pleasure Beach has to change, that is what we are all about and has been since we first opened.
Click to expand...

:)
 
She could have made a bundle had she thought about it, how many people do you think would have made a special journey to the site for a behind the scenes tour and maybe a lump of wood, then how much would these pay? If people are willing to pay £35 to have their photo taken with someone at comicon, surely there would have been a market for something similar?

Obviously that doesn't take account for nutters like @DiogoJ42 threatening to chain themselves to the structure, but then there's a easy solution to that, just cut the beam out and send him home with it still handcuffed to his wrist, I'd love to see you explaining that to Security at Paddington when you got back to London lol
 
Official statement just released
DTBx7NdW0AE4FNf.jpg
 
Status
This topic has been locked. No further replies can be posted.
Top