Blackpool Pleasure Beach: General Discussion

[Matt N]

Yep, I spotted that (page 170). Seems to be a real cock up not having the Steeplechase tracks on, only the station. Does nobody proof read these before they print thousands of them? It looks rubbish!

Must be suffering from the same problem as Towers, where Nemesis "has the g-force of a rocket lunch", where "technology [took] the reigns" during Wicker Man's marketing and where you need to "get you bags ready for checking at the turnstiles".

 

[rob666]

I queued for just under three hours for the big one on day two, literally out the park gates.
I imagine Icon is going to be a two hour queue on all non school days from opening to close, with a sprint for the gates at opening.
The other queues were very quiet though...very similar to Mr Whicker at the Towers.

 

[ringo]

• Is there a good Premier Inn in Blackpool, as my family and I often like staying in those? Even though I reckon Big Blue looks lovely and would be worth a try

Premier inn Beach (Yeadon Way) have upgraded rooms despite the old exterior and reception.
They also have one massive quad room, no.23 if I remember right. Plus free car park so park up and walk to Pleasure Beach.

 

[Matt N]

Premier inn Beach (Yeadon Way) have upgraded rooms despite the old exterior and reception.
They also have one massive quad room, no.23 if I remember right. Plus free car park so park up and walk to Pleasure Beach.

Fantastic! Thanks @ringo! And @rob666!

 

[Dipper_Dave]

Matt, prepare to have a great day in BPB. Loads of rides, good variety, great coasters, short walks between rides, everything is really crammed into the park. Very little space is wasted. Good advice from @venny too. Unlike AT, you won’t get queue times from a website or boards in the park though. If you go on a busy day it can be worth walking the length of the park (only 5 mins walk) to go straight onto The Big One and get it done early. On a day when it’s on one train operation the queues get silly.

Also Streak (the orange woody) only ever operates on one train, which grinds the gears of many a coaster fan, it’s worth doing either early in the day or later on. But be aware that the kids area (Nickelodeon Land) which Streak is in, sometimes shuts an hour before the rest of the park. It’s a good, but not great, woody compared to Grand National and Big Dipper. One train ops and speedy pass really make it a painful wait. If the queue stretches round the bend when you look down at the station from the ramp above, out to the Krusty Krab ride, you’re looking at an hour long queue.

Derby Racer and Flying Machines (right next to each other) are proper queue munchers. Be aware that Grand National can be very rough on the back row. If you want to be near the back, the second to back row is much better.

A ride on the Pleasure Beach Express Train is essential as it will give you great overall views of the rides.

If you want to ride Valhalla, you will get ridiculously wet, so unless you go on it last, you must take a full change of clothes and shoes! In fact even if you do go on it last, you may need to change anyway unless you have a very short walk to your hotel.

Big Blue hotel is great. If you get a room overlooking the park you’ll get great views but it’s a bit pot luck. You may get one overlooking the road out the back instead which is a bit crap. Great breakfasts though!

Grand Prix is fun in terms of it giving good views of the park, but it was way better back in the day when they ran on petrol! It’s a ride that has a deceptive queue line in that if they are queuing over the bridge, you may think the queue looks short if you’re new to the park, but it actually moves painfully slowly as only 1 or 2 people get on at a time, and some kid always gets stuck partway round as they take their foot off the pedal, and someone will get bollocked for having their camera or phone out.

 

[Matt N]

Matt, prepare to have a great day in BPB. Loads of rides, good variety, great coasters, short walks between rides, everything is really crammed into the park. Very little space is wasted. Good advice from @venny too. Unlike AT, you won’t get queue times from a website or boards in the park though. If you go on a busy day it can be worth walking the length of the park (only 5 mins walk) to go straight onto The Big One and get it done early. On a day when it’s on one train operation the queues get silly.

Also Streak (the orange woody) only ever operates on one train, which grinds the gears of many a coaster fan, it’s worth doing either early in the day or later on. But be aware that the kids area (Nickelodeon Land) which Streak is in, sometimes shuts an hour before the rest of the park. It’s a good, but not great, woody compared to Grand National and Big Dipper. One train ops and speedy pass really make it a painful wait. If the queue stretches round the bend when you look down at the station from the ramp above, out to the Krusty Krab ride, you’re looking at an hour long queue.

Derby Racer and Flying Machines (right next to each other) are proper queue munchers. Be aware that Grand National can be very rough on the back row. If you want to be near the back, the second to back row is much better.

A ride on the Pleasure Beach Express Train is essential as it will give you great overall views of the rides.

If you want to ride Valhalla, you will get ridiculously wet, so unless you go on it last, you must take a full change of clothes and shoes! In fact even if you do go on it last, you may need to change anyway unless you have a very short walk to your hotel.

Big Blue hotel is great. If you get a room overlooking the park you’ll get great views but it’s a bit pot luck. You may get one overlooking the road out the back instead which is a bit crap. Great breakfasts though!

Thank you very much @Dipper_Dave! Really instills me with great excitement for my visit in the summer! Well, I was excited anyway, but my parents are utterly dreading it.

 

[venny]

North end of the park looks somewhat bare

Feels it as well, especially around FY4. I feel like there’s something missing!

@Matt N it’s kinda local, definitely the best. There's a Premier Inn by the South Main Car Park, right at the end of Yeadon Way overpass. Never stayed. It’s further than I’d like from BPB and the Premier Inns and Travelodges in Blackpool are usually relatively expensive. You’re better trying somewhere local for value.

Who knows on Icon’s queue. At a guess it would be quieter mid week, but you might get caught in the lower throughout trap. Best bet would be get the wristbands posted out to you prior, arrive at security 20 minutes before opening and head straight to Icon. The combination of Big One and Icon in that area of South Park is going to create a big rush there first thing, so be prepared.

 

[Matt N]

@Matt N it’s kinda local, definitely the best. There's a Premier Inn by the South Main Car Park, right at the end of Yeadon Way overpass. Never stayed. It’s further than I’d like from BPB and the Premier Inns and Travelodges in Blackpool are usually relatively expensive. You’re better trying somewhere local for value.

Who knows on Icon’s queue. At a guess it would be quieter mid week, but you might get caught in the lower throughout trap. Best bet would be get the wristbands posted out to you prior, arrive at security 20 minutes before opening and head straight to Icon. The combination of Big One and Icon in that area of South Park is going to create a big rush there first thing, so be prepared.

I will definitely be recommending the Big Blue to my parents judging by what you and @Dipper_Dave have said, then! Everyone seems to be singing the Big Blue Hotel's praises, which makes me confident!

With regards to getting to Icon and Big One early, I will try, but that was also our tactic for Wicker Man, and we didn't get off that until 1pm! So we'd best hope for no major technical problems with Icon!

I really hope that going to BPB will surprise my family, because they don't seem to be looking forward to it in the slightest.

 

[Rob]

Old park map:

New park map:

Quite bland in comparison to the old one, and where the hell is Steeplechase? There is definitely not that much grass either. Also interesting to note is another shoe box structure on Icon's layout. Will be interesting to see if this appears in the coming weeks.

Erm, well that looks awful! I actually quite liked the old map design, it made the park look really quite impressive. The new one is boxy and horrible; The Big One looks like a glorified Vekoma Junior Coaster (although one could put forward a convincing argument that it is just that).

 

[John_P]

There's a travelodge right by the main park entrance. However I'd certainly suggest checking out the prices for the big blue as sometimes you'll find there similarly priced but you get breakfast included in the big blue. Plus you can have your ride wristbands in the hotel lobby and the hotel guests get to use the old south entrance at the start of the day which is pretty close to the icon and big one entrances. Also guests get the £6 entry passes for free so if anyone with you doesn't want to go on the rides they can get in for free. The hotel food is great as well.

 

[rob666]

If they are dreading the cheesy side of Blackpool, The Big Blue, combined with meals out in Lytham St Annes in the evenings, would be acceptable.
The beach to the south of the Pleasure Beach is pretty quiet and clean too.
The cafe across the road from the huge glitter ball on the prom is very nice for a parental chill too, Solarium centre I think it is called.

 

[MakoMania]

I queued for just under three hours for the big one on day two, literally out the park gates.
I imagine Icon is going to be a two hour queue on all non school days from opening to close, with a sprint for the gates at opening.
The other queues were very quiet though...very similar to Mr Whicker at the Towers.

Still think you're overestimating the queue times

Maybe in the first few weeks and on very busy days, but personally I just can't see Icon having massive queues all year.

 

[Matt N]

Fantastic stuff! Thanks for all the tips, guys! If you've got any others you think might be useful, then keep 'em coming!

 

[Thrillomatic]

What I think makes BPB so great is the huge range of attractions in such a small area. I think your parents may be pleasantly surprised as there really is something for everyone AND without having to walk huge distances. I would recommend Speedy Pass in order to maximise rides in a one-off visit. We usually manage 40 - 50 in a day.

 

[Matt N]

What I think makes BPB so great is the huge range of attractions in such a small area. I think your parents may be pleasantly surprised as there really is something for everyone AND without having to walk huge distances. I would recommend Speedy Pass in order to maximise rides in a one-off visit. We usually manage 40 - 50 in a day.

Not having to walk huge distances is good, as my Mum has a bad ankle at the moment.

 

[venny]

Still think you're overestimating the queue times

Maybe in the first few weeks and on very busy days, but personally I just can't see Icon having massive queues all year.

I hope for my sake it’s walk-on, but it would be fantastic to see BPB absolutely hammered again. The Ticket Centre may not be as fantastic.

 

[DiogoJ42]

I'd say that's one of the better map's I've seen in recent years. It shows the layout of the park pretty well.

 

[MakoMania]

The wasteland under PMBO's first drop will finally be put to use as a car park for the new hotel, looks like South Entrance is due to become a road, so looks like it won't be reopening, not like it was expected to anyway.

You have to marvel at how efficiently BPB use space.

Credit to Pleasure Beach Updates.

 

[Sauron97]

Oh dear. It looks like it belongs in a facebook game. It might be better than Towers and Thorpe (which isn't any achievement) but I just don't get why so many maps nowadays sacrifice all their cartographic usefulness for the sake of showing IT skills and as many 3 dimensional images as possible.
It is tilted at an axis as if you are looking at PB from a fixed wing aircraft flying nearby which is annoying. It should be looking from a more vertical angle, almost like an Ordnance Survey map at the very least.
What happened to the amazing park maps from the late 90s and early 2000s...
Drayton Manor is the only park which has stuck to the older style with a highly detailed, highly useful map, which I commend them highly for.

 

[rob666]

Regarding queuetimes for the new ride...I waited 3 hours for the Big One, it ran three trains, all running more seats than Icon.
There was no speedypass back then to slow the queue.
Time will tell, but if it has teething troubles...like a certain other new coaster, I can see more three hour queues coming.
At least we don't have to wait too long now to actually find out.

Edit...Spin Doctor often ended up with two hour queues in the school holidays...shocking throughput and everyone wanted to ride it, two hours for a dodgy flat?