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Blackpool Pleasure Beach: General Discussion

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Indeed. I have no problem with a park closing at 4pm in February as Alton Towers used to do during their FHT event. However there is a massive problem with just closing your park earlier than you have previously announced because it's too quiet. That is extremely poor customer service, even if it was somewhat justifiable.

:)
 
Rob said:
Indeed. I have no problem with a park closing at 4pm in February as Alton Towers used to do during their FHT event.
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Yeah but Towers opened at 10am, BPB opens at 11am for WOW Weekends :)

11am-4pm was still probably enough time to do everything though, there was literally nobody there. All stuck in the snow :p
 
If you recall the reason the ‘earliest closing time’ wording came about because they brought the closing times forward by an hour. The change of the closing times to include the word ‘earliest’ was combined with this as a sort of concession to recognise they may extend back to the original closing time (or later) if the situation merited, but never close earlier than the stated time.

To close earlier than this earliest closing time just because the park is quiet is pretty scandalous. I appreciate the park may have been deathly quiet, but that doesn’t make up for publishing an outright lie. Equally it’s probably not much comfort to the likes of Season Pass holders who may have made the journey to enjoy a late afternoon there or indeed just people arriving later due to weather or traffic.

Having said that, they did at least open the park. I hope they gave free or at least discounted returns for those in attendance. I guess if you’re a Season Pass holder you just have to suck it up.
 
To be fair to the park, they stayed open until 5pm yesterday. A member of staff informed me that only 400 people went through the turnstiles. So, its unlikely it closed saturday due to low attendance. Rides were walk on, including PMBO. All the staff were very friendly and courteous, despite the biting cold weather. There was ice on all water rides apart from Valhalla. It would appear that the park closed early for the sake of the staff and I'm sure they did not take that decision lightly given it would annoy many people on park. The park were great for opening up at all. They gave out vouchers for free hot drinks on both days - not sure about any discounts.
 
I disagree with the idea of closing earlier than advertised, it's terrible customer service when people travel for miles and choose to spend their time and money at your park.

It's all well and good offering rainy day returns, but in what way does that benefit season pass holders? It's a kick in the teeth for the park's most regular visitors who may still travel a significant distance to visit, to cut their day short with no prior notice.

I haven't known any other park operate in this way with their opening hours.
 
I doubt anyone was that bothered last Saturday, it wasn't busy enough to justify being open at all.

Big One ran with 3 out of 5 carriages open and didn't get more than a 10 minute queue all day, that tells you all you need to know about how busy it was.
 
ScottPBE said:
I doubt anyone was that bothered last Saturday, it wasn't busy enough to justify being open at all.
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We go round in circles with this argument each time the park closes early to trigger it, but it's moreso the commercial principle. If I had visited PBB for the day, I would want them to stay true to their word, regardless of the conditions or temperature. Same is true for any other park. This policy is a bit of a hangover from their Pay-Per-Ride days, and I can see it getting them in trouble down the line. And as somebody who only makes irregular visits to the park, perhaps my perspective is a little more relevant than someone who is there every weekend?

On the other hand, I do like just sitting in The Velvet Coaster too, so it wouldn't be the end of the world. But I don't think it reflects well on the company.
 
ScottPBE said:
I doubt anyone was that bothered last Saturday, it wasn't busy enough to justify being open at all.

Big One ran with 3 out of 5 carriages open and didn't get more than a 10 minute queue all day, that tells you all you need to know about how busy it was.
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Still doesn’t excuse poor customer service by closing earlier than advertised time.
 
They just need to change the wording on their website. There is no point in claiming the "Earliest Ride Close Time" if that is not the case.

Better to just say that park closing times may vary depending on weather conditions. Simple as that. (I appreciate that similar wording may be buried somewhere in the small print but it needs to be clearly stated on the website)

The current wording is misleading to say the least.
 
ScottPBE said:
I doubt anyone was that bothered last Saturday, it wasn't busy enough to justify being open at all.

Big One ran with 3 out of 5 carriages open and didn't get more than a 10 minute queue all day, that tells you all you need to know about how busy it was.
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Everything you say may be perfectly correct in terms of the number of guests being very low, but the park should not close earlier than advertised. The few hundred who did make the effort could well have travelled some hours to visit. I know Pleasure Beach doesn't tend to get day guests from the south of England, but you'll certainly get Midlanders driving 2 hours+ to get there - even at this time of year.

They should say earliest close is 4pm instead. Then there'd be no problem because they were open and transparent with guests.

Alton's hours are of course dire, but you'd not catch them doing this. Nor would you find it at Thorpe, Lego or Chessington. Period.

:)
 
deathproof69 said:
Can someone tell me about Planet Rock? I'm always intrigued when I walk past! Guessing it was a bar/night club?
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The building used to be a waltzer in the dark (many years ago), more recently it has been used for a music show of some kind (I think?), UV puppet show and "meet the insects" at Vampire Beach in collaboration with Blackpool Zoo.
 
deathproof69 said:
Can someone tell me about Planet Rock? I'm always intrigued when I walk past! Guessing it was a bar/night club?
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Used to be the home of a 'rocket carousel' ride before the dome roof was added, similar to the ride found in Discoveryland at Disneyland.

Then the roof was added and it became a Waltzer in the dark ride, then a 4D Cinema, then a show building etc.

There are plans to use it again for a new show this season.
 
Pleasure Beach was like a ghost town by ride close on Saturday, nobody gave a toss about them closing earlier as most were long gone and out of the cold well before 3pm anyway.

I would understand the fuss if advertised closing was 8pm and it had gone down to 6pm when the park was busy, but the park was very quiet from the off and I believe 4pm close had been decided on before park opening so everyone will have found out when buying/collecting wristbands and tickets.
 
ScottPBE said:
Pleasure Beach was like a ghost town by ride close on Saturday, nobody gave a toss about them closing earlier as most were long gone and out of the cold well before 3pm anyway.

I would understand the fuss if advertised closing was 8pm and it had gone down to 6pm when the park was busy, but the park was very quiet from the off and I believe 4pm close had been decided on before park opening so everyone will have found out when buying/collecting wristbands and tickets.
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Would Pleasure Beach give customers a refund if they arrive and then find hours have been changed and decide not to enter the park?

Either way if there’s 2 or 2000 on the park it shouldn’t close earlier than the advertised time. The weather last week was also known for at least a week before, Pleasure Beach should of been proactive and announced it before the day.
 
People who bought their wristbands online will have done so under the initially advertised 5pm closing time, which I would suggest with WOW Weekends being half price, would be the majority of guests.
 
On Saturday, they changed the 5pm close to a 4pm close 5 minutes before the park opened. Many people had already collected their wristbands and were queuing at the doors. None of these people were told of the earlier closure when buying wristbands so there was quite an uproar when they changed the sign. Staff were very quick to give out free return vouchers as compensation and people seemed happy with that resolution.

To me, a 4pm close was very justifiable on Saturday. It was so cold to the point that staff and guest safety was under review. Evacuating some rides would’ve been hazardous so fair play to Pleasure Beach for even opening.

The issue is the way the park handled the change of closing time. Swapping out the sign 5 minutes before opening comes across as quite unprofessional, a lot of people understandably felt short changed at first. With that said, I imagine those feelings will have gone once they realised how dead the park was.

The T&Cs do say the park can alter opening and closing times at its discretion so they’re within their right to do so. When you purchase any kind of entry pass you agree to this statement so legally they’re doing nothing wrong. Perhaps changing or deleting the website’s “earliest ride close” line might be wise. “The Park is scheduled to be open until [insert time here] but may close early due to weather or other factors” would work.
 
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I must add that every day that the park has announced earlier closing when I have been actually on the park I have always thought, yup, fair enough in the circumstances.
Extreme cold, extreme rain, gale force winds...proper Lancashire weather, have meant there has been me and three nutters, well ok, four nutters, on the park, with about two hundred staff.
The people who complain about the early closures are very rarely the people who were actually on the park at the time.
Jamie excepted here of course!
 
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