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Blackpool Pleasure Beach: General Discussion

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DiogoJ42 said:
Or they could just cut the crap and become a "pay one price" NORMAL park. Scrap the wristbands and those stupidly narrow turnstyles on every ride alltogether.
I'm sure the wristband system does not help the perception of the place as "a tacky seaside grothole", given the only parks that ever use wristbands are tacky seaside grotholes. ;)
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While I'm not in favour of that, if they aren't going to price the PPR system in a attractive manner that represents value for money, they may as well go POP.
 
DiogoJ42 said:
Or they could just cut the crap and become a "pay one price" NORMAL park. Scrap the wristbands and those stupidly narrow turnstyles on every ride alltogether.
I'm sure the wristband system does not help the perception of the place as "a tacky seaside grothole", given the only parks that ever use wristbands are tacky seaside grotholes. ;)
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And getting rid of wristbands would also cut staffing costs, no need for someone stood manning the scanners on some of the rides anymore.
 
Ash84 said:
While I'm not in favour of that, if they aren't going to price the PPR system in a attractive manner that represents value for money, they may as well go POP.
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They are effectively trying to be POP by stealth. Plus, the seemingly scandalous PPR pricing is intrinsic in the value proposition for wristbands.
 
I just don't understand the logic behind keeping a PPR system when it's so extortionate. I'd love to know if anyone actually uses it.
 
I’d like to think that if they did go POP then people would stop whinging about the ‘scandal’ that is paying to get into an attraction. Unlikely though.
 
Rick said:
They are effectively trying to be POP by stealth. Plus, the seemingly scandalous PPR pricing is intrinsic in the value proposition for wristbands.
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But why keep a system in place for the sake of it if it' so ridiculously expensive it' turning people away? Surely it would be better to welcome guests who arrive mid afternoon /evening and take them for all they are worth. As it stands they are saying 'I'm not paying to get in with 2 hours left' and leaving.

BPB ought to look at Southend's business model rather than inland parks. They have more similarities in customer trends.
 
@Ash84 For the reasons I outlined the last time we had this debate and the time before that and the time before that.

Adventure Island is fundamentally different due to its scale and in part due to its location. The inland parks are far closer to Pleasure Beach's business model nowadays as it works to create a one day/one night proposition.
 
I think there is another separate issue to the PPR one, and that is the gate price.

Everyone knows that you can easily get half price vouchers for Alton Towers on cereal, crisps and snacks, which effectively makes the gate price at towers £27.50 and most non pass holders still pay on the gate using vouchers.

Blackpools gate price is £39 and there is no way round that unless you book in advance, and many people simply don't want to do that.

I can see that PB are trying to counter any weather issues by forcing people to book 10 days in advance but I think they would be better off reducing the gate price by £10-£12. It may mean a few less people on rainy days but overall I think it would increase custom.




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Random question, but is the £6 walk-in entry fee included in wristbands? Or would my parents have to pay that upon arrival at the park?
 
Matt N said:
Random question, but is the £6 walk-in entry fee included in wristbands? Or would my parents have to pay that upon arrival at the park?
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A Pleasure Beach Pass costs £6. If you buy a wristband you get the pass for 'free'.
 
Rick said:
@Ash84 For the reasons I outlined the last time we had this debate and the time before that and the time before that.

Adventure Island is fundamentally different due to its scale and in part due to its location. The inland parks are far closer to Pleasure Beach's business model nowadays as it works to create a one day/one night proposition.
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But how long does the park have to make a small profit (or actually loose money as has happened many times in the last 15 years) before someone thinks 'you know what guys, maybe this isn't for us.'

You can't make or force the public to do something they don' want to do. Sure SOME want the one day deal, and it works great for them (especially when they are one of about 2000 people on park with a new coaster to play on) but what about everyone else?

BPB have got a potential second wave of customers who would be willing to spend so much money, if they would be willing to let them. To keep them out or rip them off is madness.
 
Ash84 said:
BPB have got a potential second wave of customers who would be willing to spend so much money, if they would be willing to let them. To keep them out or rip them off is madness.
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As a family owned business, BPB can be more stubborn than other parks, but I'm confident that if they thought it was worth the bother to reverse the system or implement a new one, they would do so.
 
Plastic Person said:
As a family owned business, BPB can be more stubborn than other parks, but I'm confident that if they thought it was worth the bother to reverse the system or implement a new one, they would do so.
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There sits the problem as I see it. They want this system to work so badly they are too stubborn to make the changes needed. BPB can do what they want, but Blackpool with never be a 10-5 resort, and by restricting themselves to that particular target audience they are potentially harming the business.

If you opened a pub you wouldn't open it 9am-5pm because that was convenient for your lifestyle and you wanted to watch the football in the evening would you? If people want a drink in the evening the pub should be open to accommodate that demand. A seaside amusement park is something people want open beyond the times BPB currently offer. They also was an affordable PPR system that doesn't involve having ones pants pulled down to the tune of £8-£15 for the coasters.
 
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The pub analogy is not helpful. A pub is entirely PPP (Pay Per Pint), therefore you open when customers are wanting to come in and pay for their pints. That is the complete opposite of how the park is working to define their operating model whereby they seek to define an operating day based on their budget with advanced purchase commitment and a minimum per cap spend.

If you want to follow that analogy a little further you'd end up at Bottomless Brunch and the parallels between how the economics of those operate vs the Pleasure Beach aren't massively different!

I don't disagree (and didn't the 47 other times we have debated this) that there are some people who want PPR - but I think the volume is vastly exaggerated and the impact is nowhere near as large as suggested for the following reasons:
  • This way of operating is not 'new' - people are understanding how the park operates now vs then and adapt their plans to suit. It's nearly two decades since the wristband landed - people have largely adjusted. PPR is a thing of the past in almost all 10 coaster parks, the model just doesn't work.
  • We live in an age where people can understand how the park operates, their options for visiting and the associated costs well in advance. It's not like when we first visited as kids and the closing time was only known as you passed under Ark.
  • I don't buy that people who do turn up to find the park is closing soon never return - they'll come back another day and buy a wristband - the park doesn't lose out.
shakey said:
I can see that PB are trying to counter any weather issues by forcing people to book 10 days in advance but I think they would be better off reducing the gate price by £10-£12. It may mean a few less people on rainy days but overall I think it would increase custom.
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The problem with reducing the gate price at this stage is that they need to incentivise people to book online. If the rack rate was £27 you have very little room to move in terms of discounting, with either the 3 for 2 scheme or advance purchases.
 
To be fair the model of getting guests to pre book is very logical if you could get 90% of guests to book online you could better plan staffing numbers and opening times.

I know a few in Merlin are really keen to push the model to most guests using online booking but there is some reluctance to move away from the voucher culture.
 
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