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Blackpool Pleasure Beach: General Discussion

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venny said:
Does the value that this thing is attracting not a further demonstration of how silly the premature demolition was?

Now I’m not talking about keeping the thing operating, rather just stood for a year. Given the value of these bids, there would clearly be money to be made in offering tours of the ride for this season before its demolition. There are demonstrably people willing to pay money to experience this type of offer. Emotion and nostalgia aside, from a purely financial standpoint this shows how wrong a decision the demolition was.
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I agree with your sentiments. Around the time @rob666 started saying he thought the Mouse would squeak no more, I heard late last season that apparently the maintenance budget was 'zero' for Wild Mouse for the 2018 season. To that end they could have had it SBNO for a season, during which time they could have gauged public opinion, ie if people were asking frequently about it to park staff, then they'd get a clear indication of how it was being missed in the park's line up and may have reopened it. IF they could have got it insured, that is <lights blue touchpaper>.

Coaster said:
The decision to demolish Wild Mouse was made far too quickly IMO, we're not talking about a bog standard ride, it was one of the most unique coasters in the world and something BPB should have been proud of. Whilst I'm usually against having rides SBNO, giving Mouse a year out may have been enough time for them to have thought of a solution ready for 2019 which could have possibly kept the ride operating.

Instead, they demolished it quickly because they could do it without people knowing, and then didn't even have the decency to announce it properly or hold an event of any kind. They are a horrendous organisation and I'll never lose sight of that despite enjoying the rides there!
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This statement is somewhat harsh, but you're entitled to your opinion (& lucky not to have your season pass revoked talking like that! :p). I really miss Wild Mouse and whilst I feel sad walking past where it once stood, I try to remember the hilariously funny rides I had on it, especially with my brother, in separate rodents both on the track at the same time. Whatever you think of the Thompson family, they are surely better than Merlin. I just hope this isn't the 'thin end of the wedge', from which point the historic rides start disappearing one by one. Ok, so some are listed, but that doesn't necessarily mean they'll be around forever. Remember that its easy to hide behind a keyboard, I can't imagine that you would declare BPB to be "a horrendous organisation" to the face of a staff member whilst getting your wristband, filling your plate with pizza in BPK, or getting your lap bar checked on Big Dipper :D I do agree though that some kind of tour of the ride / workshop & perhaps a ceremony would have been nice. They could have sold a limited number of tickets, with each winner getting to attend the tour, receive a certificate and maybe a ride part or something. But unless anyone has a Tardis, its too late.

Rick said:
As someone who grew up 20 minutes from the park, riding that thing most weekends through long periods of my life, I am sad to see it go, but stuff happens, the park continues to evolve and change.

I never got to ride the Rainbow Wheel, but if people had insisted that remained they'd never have built the Mouse.

Don't be sad it's over, be happy that it happened.
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This is true, but I agree with a heavy heart as I REALLY loved the Mouse, and the Log Flume, and the Monorail. I'm actually still gutted about the Monorail especially as most of the track is still in place, and they can't exactly fit other rides into the space it took up. As such, I have no interest in walking around the park for hours with a giant Toblerone box over my shoulder! I suppose it was both sneaky but somewhat made sense to demolish Mouse as Icon was about to open. It would have been a bit stupid to remove a popular ride without having something new to unveil. Of course, Icon and Wild Mouse could both still be here. But one of them isn't. Sadly.

But yes, if some rides down through the years hadn't have been axed, then other classics wouldn't have been built. Heck, I bet someone out there even misses monstrosities like Bling and Spin Doctor! So, whatever replaces Wild Mouse better be good, though I won't hold my breath.
 
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The most interesting thing about the hate for the Thompson family with regards to the Mouse is that any credit for keeping it for running for the best part of six decades is now gone.

Each generation of the family have made hard decisions. Whether it be the destruction of 'classics' or the divestment and redevelopment of entire parks.

"BUT IT WAS THE MOUSE, THERE ARE ONLY A HANDFUL LEFT". Quite, ask yourself why.

And "BPB are a horrendous organisation, here's more of my money". Grow some principles.
 
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Dipper_Dave said:
This statement is somewhat harsh, but you're entitled to your opinion (& lucky not to have your season pass revoked talking like that! :p). I really miss Wild Mouse and whilst I feel sad walking past where it once stood, I try to remember the hilariously funny rides I had on it, especially with my brother, in separate rodents both on the track at the same time. Whatever you think of the Thompson family, they are surely better than Merlin. I just hope this isn't the 'thin end of the wedge', from which point the historic rides start disappearing one by one. Ok, so some are listed, but that doesn't necessarily mean they'll be around forever. Remember that its easy to hide behind a keyboard, I can't imagine that you would declare BPB to be "a horrendous organisation" to the face of a staff member whilst getting your wristband, filling your plate with pizza in BPK, or getting your lap bar checked on Big Dipper :D I do agree though that some kind of tour of the ride / workshop & perhaps a ceremony would have been nice. They could have sold a limited number of tickets, with each winner getting to attend the tour, receive a certificate and maybe a ride part or something. But unless anyone has a Tardis, its too late.
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I have indeed voiced my opinion on the way it was handled at the park, however the staff issuing wristbands or operating rides are hardly responsible for Mouse going, so it'd be unfair to criticise them for it.

Rick said:
The most interesting thing about the hate for the Thompson family with regards to the Mouse is that any credit for keeping it for running for the best part of six decades is now gone.

Each generation of the family have made hard decisions. Whether it be the destruction of 'classics' or the divestment and redevelopment of entire parks.

"BUT IT WAS THE MOUSE, THERE ARE ONLY A HANDFUL LEFT". Quite, ask yourself why.

And "BPB are a horrendous organisation, here's more of my money". Grow some principles.
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If they'd come out and announced it honestly and properly I'd be much more inclined to give them credit, but they don't deserve any recognition when they didn't even have the decency to announce it until they were forced to (so as to not harm wristband sales for WOW Weekends I would imagine), and then they themselves said in their official statement that it was removed "to make way for future attractions." This official line clearly states that they didn't see the value in keeping it as they removed it to replace it with something new.

In relation to principles, I'd be a moron if I stopped visiting and enjoying rides I like, but that doesn't mean I have to agree with every decision those in charge make. The park still offers on a day-to-day basis a much more enjoyable experience than any other UK park and they still have a lot of rare rides, but I disagree with the handling of the Wild Mouse situation and that'll never change.
 
Sometimes things just cost too much to run or repair and quite honestly they are just knackered. I'd love to know what the insurance was costing them on that ride and a wager it would have been a major factor.

All parks have removed rides against public opinion, I genuinely believe that if the mouse was saveable then it would have happened.
 
Dogdangling said:
All parks have removed rides against public opinion, I genuinely believe that if the mouse was saveable then it would have happened.
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If only because they spent so much money on it in the final season to try and keep it running. People imply that it was some big charade from a company that doesn't care... "OK, let's spent six figures on it this year to make people think we're going to keep it open and then over Christmas we'll rip it down". What sort of asinine plan is that...
 
Rick said:
If only because they spent so much money on it in the final season to try and keep it running. People imply that it was some big charade from a company that doesn't care... "OK, let's spent six figures on it this year to make people think we're going to keep it open and then over Christmas we'll rip it down". What sort of asinine plan is that...
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I personally don’t think they’d spent hundreds of thousands on said improvement works as an elaborate charade. But it makes it all the more bizarre and mysterious that magnetic brakes and double seatbelts had been fitted, yet STILL the insurers supposedly wouldn’t insure them? Surely it would be way more likely to be the other way round, in that if the park HADN’T made those improvements, they may struggle to get insurance. But they did make the improvements and it still wasn’t enough to satisfy the powers that be? It seems then that the person with the final decision flipped and just wanted rid ASAP. A real shame it all ended like that.
 
They could get insurance, the premiums became completely uneconomic, allegedly.
Litigation culture, constant incidents regarding minor injuries, and the new brakes causing further problems due to the additional weight, all contributed to the eventual closure.
Still doesn't explain me being informed by a member of the public that the closure was common knowledge around the chattering classes of the Fylde though, months before the actual demolition.
If the decision had been made, we could have had three months of goodbye rides.
That's the only naughty bit in my mind.
Even though I treat the place as my private drinking club that also has a few rides, and a generous admission policy for occasional guests, it is still a business, there always has to be a bottom line or the end comes quickly.
Mouse dead.
Nearly a year now.
Move on time.
 
That's it I think the ride should've been given a proper send off. Probably would've boosted the attendance figures the last few weeks of the season. Could've sold commemorative t shirts and the likes, stationed a picsolve person on the upper part of FY4 to take on ride photos, and auctioned off the last 10 or so public goes on the ride.

Not visited for a few weeks now, need to sort that but now my weekends will also be dominated by football as well.
 
Just saw a guy get a donut stolen by a seagull whilst it was about an inch from his face. As he stood there seething one of its mates delivered further insult from above onto his shoulder.

That's some pure Pleasure Beach magic right there.
 
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So the parking rose massively this season anyway, then they add another £3 onto what was already an expensive £15. Very poor. The car park won’t get a penny from me when I visit this week
 
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